What better way to spend a chilly autumnal evening than listening to the wonderful Jilly Cooper in conversation with Sunday Times columnist India Knight? Like millions of readers, I’ve adored Jilly Cooper’s novels for decades. As a teenager I remember reading a serial of hers called Circles in 19, my favourite magazine at the time (now sadly defunct). She later rewrote it and it metamorphosed into Emily, the first of her six short romantic novels. ...keep reading
“It’s five years since I’ve been able to do a public reading event.” Those were Marian Keyes’s words as she settled into her chair for a Q&A with Sunday Times columnist India Knight at Waterstones in London’s Piccadilly this week. The event marked the publication of Keyes’s 12th novel, The Woman Who Stole My Life, and when she saw the sell-out audience in front of her she admitted: “I’m overwhelmed. ...keep reading
The Chipping Norton Literary Festival is hands-down my favourite lit fest of the year. It’s only been running for three years but it’s the friendliest, most innovative, most inspiring celebration of books that I’ve come across. I ran a freelance journalism workshop the first year and was so hooked by the festival’s buzzing atmosphere that I’ve been back every year since. I’ve heard everyone from Nicci French (pictured), Mark Billingham ...keep reading
I’ve read India Knight’s Mutton and Gill Hornby’s The Hive and expected their event at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival to be all about their novels. How wrong could I be? Chaired by writer Jane Wenham-Jones, the hour-long session was far more entertaining than that. To sum it up, it was all about bees, Botox and bras. The straight-talking conversation began with bees because they helped to inspire Gill Hornby’s ...keep reading
Middle age is a minefield. In my head I still think of myself as 23, even though my children reckon I’m about 123. When I try and impress them with tales of interviewing George Michael and Paul Weller in their heyday (and mine), they roll their eyes and mutter “but they’re so old…” So India Knight is really on to something with her latest novel, Mutton. The second of her ...keep reading
My last pressing book review is done and dusted – so now I can’t wait to get down to some pre-Christmas reading of my own. Top of my list are two treats I’ve been saving up. One is the just-completed manuscript of one of my best novelist friends, the other is Mutton by India Knight. And it’s Knight who gave me the idea for this blog post. She wrote a ...keep reading
Every Saturday the House With No Name blog features a round-up of the week’s highlights. The picture above shows the gorgeous Christmas lights that hover like mysterious planets over St Christopher’s Place in the heart of London’s West End. While I was in the vicinity I couldn’t resist popping into H&M to see the much talked-about new Versace collection. There wasn’t a lot left in the Regent Street branch but ...keep reading
I’m a huge fan of India Knight. She’s wise, fun and talks more sense in her Sunday Times column than most other journalists put together. In short, she sounds like the sort of best friend we’d all like to have. If that wasn’t enough, I opened the December issue of Red magazine to find that her house boasts joyous pink walls (she says they’re “really cheering on a January morning”), ...keep reading
Columnist Liz Jones is a mass of contradictions. She’s forever complaining she’s broke, yet buys Prada, Bottega Veneta and most recently a top-of-the- range facelift. She splashes out on a rambling Victorian pile on Exmoor, complete with 46 acres, then gets fed up and puts it back on the market, saying: “It’s too big. I’ve got seven bedrooms and six bathrooms and about 400 animals.” She finds the men in her ...keep reading