As I read this, now and then I thought of the strange insular world of Gormenghast, as though it had been dialled down into faded, if odd, normality. This isn't a very accurate description of the book, but the eccentricity of an insular, aristocratic existence, built on strange ritual and isolation is in both. All... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on the election, part two.
It didn't take long for disappointment to turn to bitterness, certainty of blame, recrimination. That's understandable. But I see equal measures, equally certain about what went wrong and who is to blame coming from opposite directions. MPs blaming Labour's leadership and Momentum for the party failure when surely they should know that some of them... Continue Reading →
This is Not A Funeral and You Are Not Alone
In 1992 I had been living abroad for several years and was in New Zealand before going back to the UK. Then, I heard the news. Inexplicably, in spite of the damage they had already done, the Tories had won another election. That win felt devastating, even from the other side of the world. The... Continue Reading →
No Ghosts
I was on a long drive last weekend. It was tedious and came on the end of a busy few days. I pulled into a motorway services, parked, turned off the engine and draped a large dark blue scarf over my head and upper body to take a reviving nap. I wondered what this... Continue Reading →
Lulu Allison, contemporary fiction author 