Change: Who could have imagined?

“Who could have imagined this” we say, as we realise we won’t be hugging our fathers on Father’s Day. But isn’t it striking how badly we failed to imagine everything about the world of Covid-19? Even in February, as the news was filled with reports that thousands of people were falling sick and dying in…

I liked her: Bookclub fiction

One of the most common reasons given by editors for turning a prospective book down is that they find the main protagonist unsympathetic or the characters in general not 'likeable' enough. Writers find this reasoning absolutely maddening of course (all rejections are maddening, but this one especially so), because firstly they rather liked their characters; and secondly…