For Christmas I bought my husband a book about a woman who buys a bird and attempts to train it. Not my kind of thing. I'm drawn to books...

You are at the kitchen table, drooping over yet another rejected story. In her basket Ruby, the cocker spaniel, looks expectant, head...

For Christmas my lovely husband ordered a personalised jigsaw from Wentworth Puzzles. Who needs Mr Darcy...?

There are books that you want to read a second time and Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is one. I read the story soon...

I have written before about my enjoyment of good crime fiction, which I find an excellent change of pace from historical novels and...

From time to time I like to include articles about books by writers other than myself, and the following is a piece by Tanya van Hasselt,...

Before reading this book I was already aware that Cecily Neville - granddaughter of John of Gaunt and the mistress who subsequently...

I am delighted to welcome one of my periodic guest contributors, writing here about how she succeeded in having her debut novel...

Short story competitions keep many writers going. Less of a commitment than a novel and good practice for our craft, they offer the hope...

Congratulations to Katie, Charlotte and Trudie, whose names came out of the hat yesterday for free, signed copies of The Servant. They...

My favourite writing places are coffee shops, and now we are allowed back inside... A couple of mornings a week, in normal times, I...

When a corpse is found in the freezer of an unoccupied mansion, DS Alexandra Cupidi is handed a case made even colder by nobody seeming...

If you love historical fiction, you might enjoy a FREE online event on the evening of Wednesday the 14th April. At 7.30 pm, Alison Weir...

Are writers attracted to cats? Or cats to writers? In a Zoom interview last year Maggie O'Farrell spoke of retreating to the solitude of...

Till Death Us do Part by Maggie Davies I wrapped my arms around Neil and kissed the top of his head. His hair might be the colour of...

The hard cover copy of this impressive book was gifted to me a couple of Christmases ago, but is now available in paperback. I cannot...

Inside The Foundling Museum, in London's Bloomsbury, hangs Hogarth's magnificent portrait of a generous-hearted man who should be far...

This book - recommended to me by a friend - took me on the tortuous journey that bee-keeper, Nuri, and his artist wife, Afra, are forced...

For writers, especially during lock down when bookshop signings and talks at the local library are impossible, getting on-line reviews...

If, like me, you're looking for books to put on your Christmas wish list, and you have a weakness for historical fiction, here are three...