Pictures and Conversations

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

Jean Estoril is one of the many pseudonyms of Mabel Esther Allan and so it should come as no surprise to those following this series…

Just before the axe fell I was in New Zealand, endeavouring to pretend that life was normal. My plan was to have a week there…

Higher and higher they climbed, now and then stopping at a tiny wayside station, till at last...before them, dark, beautiful, and clear as a mirror,…