Mary Chamberlain writes about the Partisan Coffee House, the socialist cafe which, in its four-year existence, became a creative centre which transformed the political, intellectual and cultural scene in the 1960s. At a time when espresso bars were the rage, and a new, young clientele had cash to spare, the Partisan Coffee House opened its […]
Lullaby Beach by Stella Duffy
When Lucy discovers the body of her great aunt Kitty, with a puzzling note and empty pill bottles by her bed, she can’t believe that the formidable woman who held her family together is gone, or understand why she has taken her own life. Lucy is determined to decipher Kitty’s final message. What she finds […]
Summer of the Three Pagodas by Jean Moran
Hong Kong, 1950. Now the war is over, Dr Rowena Rossiter is ready to plan a new life with her great love, Connor O’Connor. But before they can, bad news arrives. A female doctor is urgently needed in Seoul and the powers that be want Rowena to go. She refuses until rumours begin to swirl […]
Tell Me How It Ends: writing a film noir novel
VB Grey pays homage to the post-war American movies that inspired her novel, Tell Me How It Ends. Tell Me How It Ends is set in London in that moment in 1963 when the 1950s finally gave way to the Swinging Sixties. The young men and women who swept to fame in music, film, photography […]