Book reviews – Page 4 – Ali Bacon, Author

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020

Helpers and Handmaids: Miss Emily by Nuala O’Connor #historicalfiction #biographicalfiction

In June 2018, Nuala O’Connorwas kind enough to give me a copy of her 2015 novel Miss Emily when we met at the Bath Flash Fiction Festival I’ve only just got around to reading it and discovering that rare thing – a really lovely and satisfying example of historical/biographical fiction. A famously reclusive writer can’t … Continue reading Helpers and Handmaids: Miss Emily by Nuala O’Connor #historicalfiction #biographicalfiction

January 30, 2019

More Fiction and Photography (#PhotographyinFiction 3)

This month I’ve unexpectedly stumbled on two novels featuring photography to add to my growing blog category ‘photography in fiction’. These writers are less well-known than Theroux or Boyd but there are points of similarity worth mentioning. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children which I was given as a gift, follows William Boyd’s idea in … Continue reading More Fiction and Photography (#PhotographyinFiction 3)

December 5, 2018December 4, 2018

The Truth about Archie and Pye by Jonathan Pinnock

Today I’m delighted to welcome again someone whom I first interviewed here when my blog was a mere babe in arms. Since then he has completed four (?) books that I can think of to my measley two. But the reason (or excuse) for his appearance today is publication of his very latest offering – … Continue reading The Truth about Archie and Pye by Jonathan Pinnock

August 17, 2018

Novella in Flash – Three Men (and one writer) on the Edge

Last year when I noticed a new competition from Bath Flash Fiction called Novella in Flash (2019 entry here), I thought straight away of my St Andrews 2016 collection ‘In Sunshine and in Shadow’ which with some stringent editing could have qualified. But in the end I was too busy expanding this into the novel … Continue reading Novella in Flash – Three Men (and one writer) on the Edge

July 17, 2018

Historical Fiction: The Sir Walter Scott Prize

So now I have read two of the novels shortlisted for the 2018 Sir Walter Scott Prize which seems like a good time to tell you what I think. I was attracted to Sugar Money when I saw it was set in Grenada because a) I had never read a novel set in Grenada and b) … Continue reading Historical Fiction: The Sir Walter Scott Prize