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Continue reading →: Villages of NormandyThis weekend I’m at Saint-Lô-d’Ourville just a kilometre or so from the Channel in the Côte des Isles, very near to the Isle of Alderney; so much so that I can receive British cell phone reception.
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Continue reading →: Canone Inverso by Paolo Maurensig
translated from the Italian by Jenny McPhee – published 1998 This was Maurensig’s second novel, and the last of his five translations into English that I have read, and every bit as good as the others. Framed within a frame, the story begins when an unnamed narrator is fortunate to…
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Continue reading →: Weekend in Genillé, Loire valleyIt’s quiet in northern France as the flooding slowly subsides in the Loire valley. Today I moved a 90 minute drive north of Genillé, where I spent the weekend, and many of the villages have been devastated due to the water level. I went into a Carrefour which was recovering,…
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Continue reading →: This Is Where The Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Pakistan – Published 2026 This outstanding book explores the lives of several wonderfully described characters as they age through a post-partition Pakistan to the modern day. Stories about the class or caste system are usually told be the wealthy, who have seen the poor from their elevated position and now,…
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Continue reading →: From the Dordogne to the LoireThe affects of Storm Nile are still very much present in Central France. One reason is the severity of the storm, and another has been that there has been lots of rain this week also. Consequently therefore, I’ve had a pleasant though unremarkable week making my way steadily north through…
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Continue reading →: International Booker Longlist – Wish List
It’s that time of year again.. well, at least I’m excited about it. The announcement of the Longlist for the International Booker Prize, which will be made next Tuesday, 24th February. I’ve read almost fifty novels that will qualify. For the last few years I have enjoyed naming my favourites…
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Continue reading →: Aftermath of Storm NilsStorm Nils has devastated this area of southern France. There is a lot of flooding with many residents having to leave their homes. Though the area is liable to floods there has not been anything as serious as this in living memory. 90 mph winds brought trees down as well,…
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Continue reading →: Berlin Shuffle by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
translated from the German by Philip Boehm – originally published in 1927, translated edition in December 2025 This is a tremendous piece of writing, though its subject matter, the resilience of characters just about surviving in the squalor of 1920s Berlin, is bleak and depressing. It is set in a…
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Continue reading →: The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson
British Literature – Published 2026 In his debut novel Rollinson sticks to material with which he is familiar; he grew up in Newcastle in the 1970s and that forms the backdrop for a good portion of this novel; a city in the midst of industrial decay with its dying coalfields,…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 