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Continue reading →: Mammoth by Eva Baltasar
translated from the Spanish by Julia Sanches – Published 2024 At the age of 24 a young woman comes to a turning point in her life. She works in a university position in Barcelona interviewing the elderly for a sociology study on longevity, and perhaps not surprisingly, is bored with…
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Continue reading →: The Devil In A Domino by Chas L’Epine
British Literature – Published 1897 Published in 1897 this was one of the first novels to be inspired by the Jack The Ripper murders (1888-1891). The novel follows Aleck Severn, born in a prison and raised as an orphan after his parents, his mother an alcoholic and his father her…
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Continue reading →: Teijo National ParkBeing only a thirty minute drive from Turku, and ninety minutes from Helsinki, Teijo National Park is very popular at holidays and weekends. It is 34 square kilometres, but has more than 60 kilometres of hiking and biking trails. It was on,y established in 2015, when it was discovered that…
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Continue reading →: Around TurkuHenrik, the environmental scientist I met a couple of days ago, recommended that I stayed at Ajola Yacht Club, but I had thought it wouldn’t be my scene. I had the image of Lytham Yacht Club in my mind, most members of which didn’t own a boat, but enjoyed the…
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Continue reading →: Nature’s Ghosts by Sophie Yeo
Non-fiction – British Literature This was shortlisted for the Wainwright Conservation Prize though didn’t go on to win it, which makes me keen to read the winner, Czerski’s The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works, as if it’s as informative and entertaining as this, I will be in for another…
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Continue reading →: The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Published 1796 – British Literature At the age of just 19, in 1796, Matthew Lewis wrote what was to be, one of the greatest Gothic novels of all time. Lewis was certainly inspired another English writer of the day, Ann Radcliffe, but he experimented with the conventions of the Gothic…
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Continue reading →: Sannaisten Peninsula – a Ghost StoryThe woman with the dog called Moo, named from the Moomins, who I met a few days ago in the Bothnian Sea National Park, had recommended Sannaisten peninsula and told me about a children’s camp there, that she used to work voluntarily at, and , that she thought would be…
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Continue reading →: Time of the Flies by Claudia Piñeiro
translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Frances Riddle Published 2024 Inés is reintegrating into society following a fifteen year stretch in prison for killing her husband’s lover. She starts a successful fumigation business in an unlikely partnership with, Manca, a former cell-mate, whose contribution is as a private detective. One…
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Continue reading →: Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten
Contemporary British fiction – published 2024 This is a dark satire of almost every contentious political issue of contemporary Britain; the broken refugee system, the decline of the NHS, the crisis of the Met police, pandemic issues, and the rise in popularity of the extreme right, and that’s not all.…
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Continue reading →: Archipelago DaysThe rain today came with some relief, though the warm temperatures continue. It has been particularly warm at night for the last couple of weeks, meaning that Roja stays outside as late as possible, usually until just before midnight. I’m not keen on hot weather either, which is one of…
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 