scuffedgranny

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

A novel based on history and “The Last Duchess”, a poem by Robert Browning – intense and dark, and highly evocative of Renaissance Italy

The best book that I have read this year – a funny, warm, unique book with a biting message about how women should carve their own path

Funny with a good-paced narrative, enough mystery to keep you reading and twists to keep you guessing, Ruby Fox’s book is a great read

Beaulieu’s memoir is a brutally honest examination of her family’s history and, in particular, her three brothers and their untimely ends

A book that discusses the joy of the handwritten letter; an art of correspondence and connection that should endure into the future

A wonderful sequel to a timeless classic, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Did you ever wonder what happened to Mary Lennox?

A memoir, modestly told, of a life varied and, at times, listless and without purpose but with one constant – the writer’s mother

A deeply moving book about a mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the survival of her child – to give him away

Another enjoyable murder mystery from the Gilded Age with Val and Roddy DeVere who investigate a suspicious death in a box at the opera

A book of relative nonsense which is delightful, and perfect for dipping into, and quintessentially British in its eccentricity and humour