Blog Archive

I recently finished rereading The Grapes of Wrath, and its impact has been even greater in these times (big corporations, billionaires etc). To hear again Steinbeck’s voice for the little people has been wonderful and moving. In one of my old notebooks from when I...

A  photo of my mother, Noreen, around 1931 when she would have been 10, with her elder brother, Herbert. They are outside their home, a cottage by Scaleby Moss, near Carlisle, in Cumbria. This photo, which appeared in the Cumberland News, pictures them with their goat...

This is a direct descendant of a Begonia that belonged to Sigmund Freud. He gave its ancestor to the world-famous Norwegian opera singer, Kirsten Flagstad. She, in turn, gave it to Bernard Miles, (later Lord Miles) who had supported her in her early career. She also...

Back in the mists of time (at school), I remember having the difference between ‘owing to’ and ‘due to’ explained quite clearly. I raise the distinction because the shorter-to-print and quicker-to-say ’due to’ seems to be driving ‘owing to’ close to extinction. Have...

The Jewish Museum in London is mounting a must-see exhibition based on the delightful notion of showing everyday objects, historic artefacts, and works of art inspired by love. When my wife and I talked of what objects we might have submitted, she came up with a bread...

OK, only a dusting of snow in London today but enough to remind me of this great poem: Snow by George Bilgere A heavy snow, and men my age all over the city are having heart attacks in their driveways, dropping their nice new shovels with the ergonomic handles that...

The Londonist – London Fiction Roundup The Pimlico Kid by Barry Walsh Childhood on the streets of Pimlico was much like childhood anywhere else in the 1960s: bad parents, good parents, bullies, a penn’orth of sweets and regular trips to the cinema. In The Pimlico Kid,...

None of these reviews are by my mother using pseudonyms and no reviewer was harmed or threatened when writing them! http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0007468202/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1        

A genuine pleasure to feature on Undercover Soundtrack which is hosted by the multi-talented Roz Morris. It was harder than I thought it would be to pin down the music that inspired or represented The Pimlico Kid but well worth it – thanks to Roz. Here are my...

Now that my first novel is finally being published, I remember my Irish father. On St Patrick's Day 1985 he sang 'The Old House'' and 'Down by the Green Bushes' to my mother, my brother and me in the Duke of Wellington in Eaton Place, London. Then he  took my hand in...