The Scattergun Approach
I’ve been jumping around like a jackrabbit when it comes to reading during the past year. One week I’m delving into The Europeans by Henry James then I’m switching centuries to read about modern-day émigrés in Janice Lee’s The Expatriates. I burrow into Renaissance...
Beginnings
The opening chapter of a novel is the element that is rewritten, amended and tweaked more than any other part of a story. Ask any writer how many versions of an opening chapter they have written, and the answer will be dozens, if not more. Deciding on exactly where...
Classics
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read Pride and Prejudice. I discover something new on each reading: a witticism from Elizabeth or a snipe from Mrs Bennett that I hadn’t fully appreciated during an earlier reading. Classic novels never lose their appeal,...