I like Brigitte Macron. She’s smart, chic and looks like she’d be fun to spend time with. She literally hasn’t put a foot wrong since she moved to the Elysée Palace – a point highlighted by her radical new approach to work meetings. Instead of holding interminable meetings around a boring conference table Mme Macron has introduced the concept of walkabout meetings. With staff from her office at her side, ...keep reading
My room at The Pig on the Beach had everything a hotel guest could wish for. Stunning décor, a view across the sea towards Old Harry Rocks and a rolltop bath strategically placed by the window to enjoy the amazing vista. I was so determined to make the most of my one-night stay that I even set my alarm for an hour earlier than usual. When it went off at 6 am ...keep reading
The Dorset seaside looks lovely this Easter, which probably helps to explain the endless queue of cars for the Sandbanks ferry and the hordes of cheery tourists everywhere. I’ve just discovered my new favourite walk, between Anvil Point Lighthouse and Dancing Ledge, and have walked it three times in three days, barely seeing a soul. So it seemed very apt when two brand new editions of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five ...keep reading
It’s 45 years since Enid Blyton died but she’s still one of the best-known and best-loved children’s writers ever. Her books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, been translated into 90 languages and adapted countless times for film and TV. So it’s pretty smart of Seven Stories, the national children’s literature centre in Newcastle, to launch a massive Enid Blyton exhibition. Mystery, Magic and Midnight Feasts, the Many ...keep reading
A few years back it would have been impossible to believe that The X Factor might one day lose its shine. I was completely hooked on the show and spent every Saturday night gripped by Simon Cowell’s acid comments to the wannabe stars. By the rival judges at each other’s throats, the contestants’ dazzling white teeth (apparently Cowell’s team always insists the young hopefuls get their gnashers whitened) and the ...keep reading
Downthorpe Hall is a posh boarding school in the wilds of the Oxfordshire countryside. Fresh from working in an inner-city comprehensive, Will Hughes has just been appointed as the new head. He knows there will be a host of challenges ahead. Tricky parents, rebellious teenagers and teachers who will fight his attempts to reform the school. He doesn’t expect a battle for his heart. But when he meets two women ...keep reading
The Queen isn’t the only one celebrating a major anniversary this year. The Famous Five are too. Did you know that Enid Blyton’s classic stories of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and George’s mongrel Timmy have been entrancing generations of children for a magnificent 70 years? I was one of them. I loved Enid Blyton books so much that every Saturday morning I’d spend the whole of my two shillings and ...keep reading
The first Joanna Trollope book I ever read was The Rector’s Wife. I was so captivated by her 90s tale of a vicar’s wife who shocks everyone by taking a job at a supermarket to make ends meet that I was desperate to read her earlier books. The instant I’d finished that one I rushed out to buy another, feverishly working my way through her backlist in the way I used ...keep reading
I’m busy reviewing a batch of children’s books and can’t get over the fantastic array of titles. So far I’ve whizzed through a novel for teenagers about a missing girl, a gorgeous story by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie called Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes and I’m now on to Jacqueline Wilson’s Sapphire Battersea. When I was little I loved books like Richmal Crompton’s Just William and Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes. ...keep reading