A BOOK obtained by an accidental encounter; a volume I had never considered in the several years since it first appeared in 2017 and won the Costa First Novel Award. Not even as an impulse buy while browsing bookshop shelves. This intriguing, mesmerising and continually delightful tale was plucked from a box of unwanted items discarded by a neighbour when she was moving out. Lucky me. Although I did hesitate when glimpsing that inked-in O of the cover illustration; what other markings had been inflicted inside, perhaps obliterating passages of text? The joke was on me; it transpired as a… Continue reading

WOULD it be churlish to suggest that Naomi Osaka, the new prima donna of the tennis world, takes a vow of silence for a week or two? Is it showing lack of empathy or understanding to recommend she has a long and deep session of introspection and self-examination; to think hard  before venting any more of her thoughts and tantrums on a world already burdened with plenty of somewhat more serious issues than her relationship with the media? We will accept that she, along with thousands of others, has “mental issues” (the popular catchphrase) to deal with. Also that they… Continue reading