Lord of the World (1907) by Robert Hugh Benson

Book Review by Sylvia D: It’s striking that all the reviews that have been posted so far have been of dystopian novels. I wonder if that is a reflection of the strange and troublesome times we are living through. My first choice was Swastika Night but I couldn’t get hold of a reasonably-priced copy so … Continue reading →

Robert Peckham (1930) by Maurice Baring

Book review by Sylvia D: Maurice Baring OBE (1874-1945) was the eighth child and fifth son, of Edward Charles Baring, first Baron Revelstoke, of the Baring banking family. His published works date from 1903 and include drama, poetry, translations, essays and novels. Robert Peckham which was first published by Heinemann in 1930 is a fictional … Continue reading →

Review of Descent into Hell (1937) by Charles Williams

Review by Mary G Thecla W pointed me to the comment on the dust jacket as she lent me her copy of Descent into Hell: ‘These novels have been constantly asked for by a small but enthusiastic public’. I have only met three members of this small but enthusiastic public but all value him very … Continue reading →

The Vicar’s Daughter by E. H. Young (1928)

Review by Margaret B: The story takes place over a period of a week at the end of the summer. Edward Stack, his wife Margaret and their nineteen year old daughter, Hilary, return from two months’ holiday. Edward’s cousin Maurice Roper has been looking after Edward’s parish while they are away. Just after they had … Continue reading →

‘Trollope meets King Lear’: The Cathedral by Hugh Walpole (1922)

Review by Margaret B: The initially humorous tone of Hugh Walpole’s The Cathedral for a while masks what is eventually a very tragic story with parallels to King Lear. We are introduced to the handsome, rather pompous, arrogant but successful Archdeacon of Polchester, Adam Brandon, his adored son and rather neglected wife and daughter, his … Continue reading →

The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge (1942)

Review by Thecla W: It is early in the War. Miss Brown, aged around 40, has had her boarding house requisitioned by the Army and is in London, staying with a cousin and unsuccessfully looking for work. On her way to visit another relative, she is moved by the playing of a street violinist and … Continue reading →