Book Review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have…

My Classics TBR

Over the years Classic literature has transformed from something that felt really rather daunting and out of reach to something that I actively enjoy engaging with, and this is largely down to mandatory explorations of such texts at school. In my love for deep analysis I found a real love for the types of literature…

Book Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison

"It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves." Reading this novel it is clear that Morrison's Nobel Prize award was certainly deserved! 'Beloved' is a poignant and truly impactful story that follows Sethe…

Book Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

“Their reality was far more interesting than any idealised version could possibly be”   THIS. BOOK. I’m finding it incredibly hard to articulate the way this book made me feel. I know that some of my opinions on the book are ones that many will not agree with, nevertheless I will stick to my guns…

Book Review: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

“’But I’m a man,’ I cried, ‘a man! What do you think can happen between us?’  ‘You know very well,’ said Giovanni, slowly, ‘what can happen between us. It is for that reason you are leaving me.’   Set in 1950’s Paris, Baldwin’s lyrical, melancholic prose serves to tell an incredibly moving story of lost…