“I can see you like books,” Alan Yentob remarks as he steps over the threshold of Howard Engel’s Canadian home. “Well, is there anything else?” the crime author replies, and this does indeed appear to be true in his case: every available wall is lined with tightly crammed bookshelves. The question Engel poses is one he had to confront when, in…
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The life of a writer can be a solitary existence, although technology means that it is easy to reach out to a reader – and for a reader to reach out to an author. In my perfect world, every day would start with a letter from someone who has enjoyed somthing I have written. Today’s letter – leaving me with an enormous smile…
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Iris Murdoch called her garden The Wilderness. This is ours.

This week, it seem, is all about books. 18th – 25th June is Independent Booksellers Week, a week-long celebration of the most romantic of institutions. Somewhere that lets you step outside yourself or back in time, offers refuge from the bustle of the high street, provides a visual or a tactile feast. Tucked away in…
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Be part of something inspirational. Now is the time to start compiling the list of your top 10 books of all time. This is not the Booker or the Orange award. It is a search for the Nation’s favourite voted for by people who love to read; the titles that you think will inspire non-readers to pick up a…
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For years, I refused to let anything containing a drop of caffeine past my lips. I would insist on de-caff in the numerous meetings I attended and drink a punishing two litres of water a day. Now, each day begins with the brewing a large pot of Lavattza. Is this hypocrisy? Is it rebellion? No! It is the not…
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“The thing at the heart of the story is the thing that must never be said. It must be kept intense and undiluted in your head.” Esther Freud

Speaking at the Writers’ and Artists’ Conference, author Esther Freud told how her first novel, A Home for Us, suffered rejection after rejection…until, one day, a friend suggested changing the name of the title. Esther was dubious. The name proposed was the punchline of a childhood joke: it meant nothing to anyone outside her immediate family. However,…
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