Catherine Hokin tells the story of Birmingham activist and campaigner, Jessie Eden.
From Disturbing to Disney: the Strange Tale of the Nutcracker
Catherine Hokin investigates the history of festive favourite, The Nutcracker ballet. A deeply creepy inventor ‘uncle’, a seven-headed mouse, a little girl who tears her arm open on broken glass and a curse which traps first a queen and then a boy inside the misshapen body of a giant nutcracker: what better story to entertain your […]
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
“What a life that man had led: first a farmer in West Africa, then a soldier, then a prisoner of war, a slave in Seville, a soldier again in the Netherlands and at last a rich Antwerp iron maker.” An epic sweep of a life in an epic sweep of a book. Ken Follett’s A […]
City of Masks by S D Sykes
City of Masks is the third outing for medieval crime-solving Lord of the Manor Oswald de Lacy and an excellent addition to a thoroughly enjoyable series. As one would expect from a writer of Sykes’ calibre, the novel works perfectly well as a stand-alone but I would recommend reading them in order if only for the […]
Historia Interviews: Margaret George
Historical novelist Margaret George is well-known for her impeccably researched novels about such fascinating characters as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Cleopatra. As her latest book, The Confessions of Young Nero, launches in the UK, Catherine Hokin caught up with her to find out more about the eras and people which attract her and the […]
The Vanishing by Sophia Tobin
The Vanishing, Sophia Tobin’s third novel, tells the story of a young orphan, Annaleigh, and the isolated house on the Yorkshire Moors where she becomes housekeeper, the shadowy and secretive White Windows owned by Marcus Twentyman and his sister Hester. As this short premise suggests, this is a novel firmly in the Gothic genre. Annaleigh […]
Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty
The latest exhibition at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery is a celebration of the work of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), the Czech artist whose stylishly elegant theatrical and advertising posters are synonymous with the late nineteenth century Art Nouveau movement. It is a beautifully-curated show full of all the lush familiar images I expected, but this is […]
The Devil’s Feast by M.J. Carter
Some reviews come with spoiler alerts, this one comes with a warning: reading M.J. Carter’s wonderful The Devil’s Feast will leave you both incredibly hungry and far too scared to eat. It may be the best diet book I have ever read. The Devil’s Feast is the third outing for Victorian investigative duo Captain William […]