So, a quick round-up for now, and I'll sort out something coherent as soon as my brain's cleared of jet-lag, and jet-virus, and jet-landing (as in coming down to earth to laundry, tax bills, empty fridge, Christmas catalogues and so on, after ten days of being dined, wined, conversed with, taxied and bag-carried...)
WIN A SIGNED COPY OF A SECRET ALCHEMY: silly competition coming very soon, so watch this side-bar...
EVENTS: if you feel like dropping by for a listen, do come and say hello. And if after that you feel like buying a copy of A Secret Alchemy or The Mathematics of Love or even both, I'll be happy to deface it/them with a signature and a dedication to whichever aunt on your Christmas list will leave you out of her will if you don't come up with something other than bath salts this year.
Wednesday 19th November at 7.30pm: I'm reading from A Secret Alchemy at one of my favourite indie bookshops, Review, in Bellenden Road, Peckham. This is part of the Peckham Literary Festival, and there'll be drinks, nibbles, and the general atmosphere of off-beat literariness which is South East London's hallmark. Booking by email is advised: review at btconnect.com
Wednesday 3rd December at 5pm: (Note change of date from 26th November - my mistake) I'll be reading at Goldsmiths College. Goldsmiths, in a very real sense, is the birthplace of A Secret Alchemy. Drinks and nibbles, and if you're thinking of doing an MA or even a PhD in Creative Writing, either there or elsewhere, it's a chance to get the low-down from staff and students, as there should be a good few of both present.
PERSONALLY THRILLED: by a review on Adèle Geras's online newsletter:
Another supremely intelligent novel is A SECRET ALCHEMY by Emma Darwin (Headline Review) which comes out in early November. I was lucky enough to read it in proof some time ago and it’s a haunting tale with an unusual slant on the personalities and stories surrounding the mysterious death of the Princes in the Tower. For anyone who is lover of that period, this book is a must. There’s is a modern story of love and family relationships woven into the novel which provides a nice counterpoint to the historical narrative. Darwin is an expert at interweaving past and present and this is a very satisfying read.
VICARIOUSLY THRILLED: by the news that my PhD supervisor, Maura Dooley, has been shortlisted (not for the first time) for the T S Eliot Prize. Her new collection Life Under Water is quite wonderful: there's a rare, spare beauty about the way she connects inner and outer lives, and gives them form in language as clear and mysterious as falling water.
READ AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM A SECRET ALCHEMY: to go with your fiftieth cup of coffee this morning (or is that just me trying to warm myself up?) It's not to be found on my website or anywhere else until the book's published on 13th November, so click here to read.
