Category Archives: Biography

The shogun’s queen by Lesley Downer (Bantam)

Posted on November 5, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Japan has been at peace for close on 250 years, ever since Ieyasu Tokugawa unified it in 1603 and took the title of Shogun – Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo.” WHAT Hilary Mantel is to the Tudors or Rosemary Beard to the Romans, … Continue reading →

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The Crossing by Michael Connelly

Posted on October 26, 2016 by drewsmith28

“They ate at Traxx in Union Station. It was a nice place that was courthouse close and favored at lunchtime by judges and lawyers. The waiter knew Haller and she didn’t bother giving him a menu. He simply ordered the … Continue reading →

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His bloody project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Contraband)

Posted on October 16, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I am writing this at the behest of my advocate, Mr Andrew Sinclair, who since my incarceration here in Inverness, has treated me with a degree of civility I in no way deserve.” GOOD writing is like singing, you hit … Continue reading →

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Cry, mother Spain by Lydie Salvayre (Maclehose)

Posted on September 27, 2016 by drewsmith28

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A ceremonial ring on his venerable hand, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Palma pointed at the chests of the ‘guilty poor’, singling them out to … Continue reading →

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The American plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby (Berkley)

Posted on July 26, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The rain came in west Africa. A massive wind blew in from the Atlantic coast bringing the deluge of water known as the south-west monsoon.” IT is fitting that there is quote early on here from Edgar Allan Poe. Before … Continue reading →

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Allen Klein by Fred Goodman (Mariner)

Posted on July 14, 2016 by drewsmith28

“It may have been the dramatic grounds; he may have been impressed that George C Scott and Colleen Dewhurst were renting it. Whatever the reason, Allen Klein wanted the house.” THE house was where the deals were done. In the … Continue reading →

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The story of the lost child by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by drewsmith28

“From October 1976 until 1979, when I returned to Naples to live, I avoided resuming a steady relationship with Lila. But it wasn’t easy.” OF COURSE,  it was not easy. Lila “remained the same restless creature with an irresistible force … Continue reading →

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Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (Scribner)

Posted on June 9, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Once upon a time, before the boys were killed and when there were more houses than cars, before the male servants disappeared and they made do, at Upleigh and at Beechwood, with just a cook and a maid, the Sheringhams … Continue reading →

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Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on May 31, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I saw Lila for the last time five years ago, in the winter of 2005”. FERRANTE starts the third book of her Neapolitan quartet with a burst of energy, bubbling to get on with things. She leaps forward, gathering her … Continue reading →

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The story of a new name by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on March 24, 2016 by drewsmith28

“In the spring of 1966, Lila in a state of great agitation, entrusted to me a metal box that contained eight notebooks”. NEW readers do not start here. The second part of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan passionatas is not a sequel, … Continue reading →

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