Welcome to House With No Name. I write about everything from books and films to education, family and France.
From Desert Island Discs to The Archers, I’m an avid radio listener. Given the choice between the radio and TV, I’d choose radio any day. Depending who’s on I constantly criss-cross between BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 live. I love Tony Livesey on 5 live Drive. The one-time editor of the Daily Sport is genuinely funny but never gets in the way of a breaking news story. I’m ...keep reading
The boyfriend is back. And he’s coming for you… That’s the chilling blurb on the back of Amanda Brooke’s gripping new novel, Don’t Turn Around. This was the first of Brooke’s nine novels that I’ve read and while the subject matter of Don’t Turn Around is distressing the writing is so pacey that I read it in one sitting. It’s ten years since Jen’s bewitching teenage cousin Meg killed herself ...keep reading
January isn’t my favourite month of the year. It’s cold and bleak, Christmas bills are flooding in and it’s tax return time too. To make matters worse, I’m doing Dry January. Actually, I do it every year – a habit dating back to my Evening Standard days, when most of the news room gave their livers a much-needed rest for four whole weeks. But in amongst the January gloom there’s ...keep reading
The Christmas tree is up, festooned with decorations and, thanks to our wonky wooden floor, leaning at a jaunty angle. One of my favourite moments of the festive season is opening the cupboard under the stairs and hauling out the dusty ragbag of baubles, hearts, stars and angels we’ve collected over the years. They all have their own history, from the glittery heart my daughter’s teacher Annie gave her in ...keep reading
It felt strange to be sitting in a café overlooking Edinburgh Castle as this week’s Brexit dramas unfolded in London. During my reporting years I would have been in the thick of it, notebook in hand, waiting for the key players to emerge from meeting rooms and discussions. Yet this week I was miles from the drama, happily sipping a flat white in The Elephant House, one of the Edinburgh ...keep reading
I’ve been an admirer of Cecelia Ahern for years. She wrote her first novel, the bestselling PS, I Love You, at the tender age of 21, and in the intervening years she has published 14 more. In the process she’s sold 25 million books worldwide and has been published in more than 40 countries. Pretty impressive for a woman who’s still in her 30s. When I heard Ahern speak at ...keep reading
“Have you ever stayed at a Hoxton before?” asked the charming hotel receptionist. “I’ve stayed at all of them,” I said proudly, sounding like a middle-aged Hoxton groupie. We’d just arrived at the Hoxton’s first US outpost – in the chic neighbourhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Actually, I won’t be able to keep my record of staying in every Hoxton for long because the hotel group is expanding rapidly. To date it ...keep reading
I’ve known Jane Wenham-Jones for years. A real life-enhancer, usually sporting rainbow-coloured hair, Jane writes novels, short stories and columns, interviews authors at literary events and often pops up on TV and radio too. It’s been a while since she wrote a novel though so I was eagerly anticipating her new book, Mum in the Middle. I’m pleased to report that it’s a cracker of a book, mainly because Jane ...keep reading
The first time I went to the Lake District with my husband I arrived in plimsolls and insisted they were fine for walking. I was stunned when he pointed at the mountain opposite the house where we were staying and said: “We’ll climb that one tomorrow.” At the time my idea of a walk was a gentle stroll through Battersea Park so Cat Bells and Maiden Moor looked like Mount ...keep reading
One of the best things about being a book reviewer is receiving new novels to review (I’m not sure our lovely postman agrees). It’s even better if the novel in question is brilliant, which The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides most definitely is. Michaelides is a successful scriptwriter (his credits include The Devil You Know, starring Rosamund Pike) but The Silent Patient is his first novel. He was inspired to ...keep reading