Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 4

Life as I know it

Life as I know it

It seems that my life as I know it is about to change, though I have no idea when. My mother, who for several years has ‘enjoyed indifferent health’ – the kind of health that Georgette Heyer gifts to the hypochondriacal mothers of her feisty heroines, so my mother would appreciate the joke: she doesn’t enjoy her indifferent health at all – is on a steady decline. Another one, following several previous occasions when her life hung in the balance. It is testament to...

‘Snap’ by Belinda Bauer

‘Snap’ by Belinda Bauer

Where can you buy good books at the moment? Almost no-where is available for the impulse purchase. So the box of books at our local post-office is very welcome. Come and browse, take what you want and leave a donation. There is something about the handling of actual books that also makes it easier to find reading outside one’s usual range, and ‘Snap’ is the first book I have read by Belinda Bauer.

‘Snap‘ starts out as standard thriller fare: Three children...

‘Harbour Ways’ by Valerie Poore

‘Harbour Ways’ by Valerie Poore

‘Harbour Ways‘ is the second book I’ve read by Valerie Poore, (this is the first) and I’m in awe at her industry: how she has managed to move around the world, raise a family, maintain full-time employment and write such lovely books is a wonder. She reminds me in many ways of my sisters: multi-talented, able to put her hand to most things and energetic, yet modest withal.

Poore writes with an immediacy and warmth that I wish I could manage in my o...

‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes – Concluded

‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes – Concluded

You can find the first part of this review here

‘Grown Ups’ feels like the first volume in a longer series. I would love Keyes to write a follow up as I’m keen to know what happens next to all the characters, chancers and sweet souls that people this novel. To see how Keyes brings each character to life and keeps them distinct and relevant is impressive, as the story weaves and comes to its conclusion. It’s a good, long read, with no wasted...

‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes

‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes

Published and set in 2020, ‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes is the story of an extended family, in which it steadily becomes apparent – to me, at least – that the grown-ups behave with varying degrees of childishness, and the children, with surprising maturity. In this family, the materfamilias Jessie, wife of the eldest brother of three, is energetic, opinionated, and since she does a lot of the decision-making and organising – her husband Johnny acting as he...

‘Me Before You’ – concluded

‘Me Before You’ – concluded

I can testify that there are few things more soul-destroying than the awareness that one cannot do physical, active things one yearns to do; a realisation that dogged me for decades and which frequently left me suicidally unhappy, burdened as I was by so many conflicting hopes and realisations, dreams and disappointments. That I am still alive today is testament to the love of those around me, and to my writing, which have enabled me through the years to ...

‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes

‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes

I’ve read ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes, and seen the film, several times now. Indeed, I bought the DVD last week and have been watching it. And I’m puzzled I haven’t reviewed the book or the film yet, given that the story very obviously features a disabled main character. So, despite the controversy – or perhaps because of it – here goes.

I wasn’t even aware that there was any controversy around the book and film. The portrayal of a disabled charact...

‘The Other Bennet Sister’ – Concluded

‘The Other Bennet Sister‘ – Concluded

In the second part of my review of ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ by Janice Hadlow, we find Mary Bennet, of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ infamy, in the company of the cheerful Gardiner family.

Faced with their easy kindness and general optimism, Mary Bennet quickly realises that growing up means, rather paradoxically, learning to present a buoyant and kind exterior; and, whatever one’s personal doubts and feelings, consciously making the best of whatever po...

‘The Other Bennet Sister’ by Janice Hadlow

‘The Other Bennet Sister’ by Janice Hadlow

Though I hesitate to buy books at supermarkets, I picked this up quickly: where else, at the moment, can we buy new books? Needing something to read, ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ looked a safe bet. I love Jane Austen, for her wisdom and her wit, and have read all her books, seen the films… And ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is my favourite.

TOBS is a good book, an interesting story that does very well to graft itself into the original story while ke...

More discoveries in lockdown

More discoveries in lockdown

Finding any reason to laugh and stay positive is more important than…almost anything.

If, like me, you live in a small flat with minimal privacy or free space, it becomes immensely important to get along. And in doing my best to get along, I’ve rediscovered my sense of humour, and a willingness to compromise and let go of things that previously, I had a view on: take-away for supper? Fine… Coke with that? Fine… Watch repeats of favourites...