Straddling the Border
About fifteen years ago I went to Italy with a couple of friends for a winter week. We stayed first in Verona, a beautiful city,…
Either Side of Berlin
I'm not quite sure where my desire to visit Berlin came from and I can't remember when the divided city was first something I was…
Absolutely Everything! by Christopher Lloyd
As the author himself admits, the title is perhaps a slight exaggeration but the book is a gallop through a history of the world. The…
Continue reading → Absolutely Everything! by Christopher Lloyd
Guernsey Before the Chalet School
As a teenager I found Elinor Brent-Dyer's La Rochelle series quite difficult to get into. They seemed to me to be much more dense than…
A Town Like Alice
From the Ghan As I've written elsewhere, my early life was full of stories and memories of Australia. My parents' stories and memories. It was…
To the Festival
I have always known Edinburgh. I was born here and lived my first five years here. My Mum's parents lived in Musselburgh only a few…
Travel Back in Time
I did mention that Mabel Esther Allan would feature largely in this set of posts and here she is again using her own name. Blue…
Eva Ibbotson’s Memories of Vienna
I have never been to Vienna, although I have long wished to go. I've seen photographs and travelogues of the city and it looks splendid.…
Dorita Fairlie Bruce’s Song of the Clyde
If I ever had to make the decision to keep my entire collection of only one author, my choice would be Dorita Fairlie Bruce. I…
In Priorsford with O Douglas
My first foray into books that were published for adults takes me very close to home. I've known Peebles in the Scottish Borders since I…
