Andrea Montgomery's Blog: Andrea Montgomery's Blog, page 8

Recipe for Summer Couscous Salad

This couscous salad is an easy recipe for a light summer meal and has been one of our go-to meals for many years now. We once served it to a vegetarian friend who, although she really enjoyed it, insisted it wasn’t a salad. This led to a lively discussion of what does, and does not, constitute a salad.

To be fair, it is at the debatably-salad end of our repertoire but it still constitutes a nice, light d...

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

I bought Mayflies because the synopsis sounded like there may be similarities to Jack’s first novel which is currently at submissions stage. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two. As it turns out, Mayflies has very little in common with Jack’s, but I’m very glad I bought it, it’s a compelling read.

Synopsis of Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

In the first part of Andrew O’Hagan’s semi-autobiogra...

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Maggie Shipstead’s novel Great Circle, was the first to land in my basket, followed by The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers.

Browsing the shelves of the Hay Bookshop at Hay Festival this year was a test of willpower. I could have bought dozens of books, but we were at the start of a ten-day road trip and half a dozen books were not on the essentials list.

Synopsis o...

Chipotle Black Bean & Pork Bowl Recipe

When Jack and I returned from a jaunt to Scotland and the Lake District with Covid, I lost my appetite entirely for around three days, and my sense of taste for about 2 weeks. As a result of that, I needed to eat food with maximum flavour. We found this recipe for Chipotle Black Bean & Pork Bowl in a Waitrose Weekend paper last October and it instantly went into our favourites file.

As you work your way through the layers, the flavour intensifies, as does the heat, depending ...

The New Normal

Yesterday afternoon I had a follow-up appointment with my ophthalmic consultant. I was diagnosed with glaucoma in both eyes a few months ago and I’ve recently had laser treatment to stop the progress of the disease.

There are a few places around here that still insist on the use of face masks; one is pharmacies, and the other is the surgery. So, I put on a face mask and heade...

Still Life by Sarah Winman

Not for the first time, I have to thank the staff at the Taunton branch of Waterstones for recommending Still Life by Sarah Winman.

“Beautiful,” they said. “Quite simply, beautiful.”

We have a framed print on our living room wall, A Memory of Avignon by Chambré Hardman. We’ve had it for years and if you look closely, you can see the age spots on its surface… rathe...

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

I had just finished reading ‘The Passenger’ by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, a novel first published in 1938, which told one man’s story of trying to evade capture by the Nazis who were burning synagogues, rounding up Jews and destroying their businesses. Although the novel has a key place in history as it reveals the spine-chilling truth, that persecution of the Jews had already been happening long before...

The Joys of a Walking Holiday

April has been a bit of a blur; it’s our own fault, we decided to rediscover the joys of a walking holiday.

The last time we booked a holiday, well, three actually, it was 2020 and we all know how that year of travel went. And this trip was a hangover from that first season of curtailment and disappointment; two BA flight vouchers whose purchase dates back to the wedding of good friends, planned to happe...

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The synopsis to Life After Life by Kate Atkinson reads:

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact, an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventuall...

The New Neighbour

In a departure from my more usual style, this story, written almost 20yrs ago and never published, is a tale of the supernatural inspired by the drama and beauty of the mountains which lay in easy reach of my (then) new home. I found the way of life in the remote villages fascinating, like a throw-back to almost medieval times. It made me think of Gothic ghost stories. I’m not sure it’s a genre I have any talent or affinity for but I think it’s good to explore all avenues.

Th...