Not that you could probably tell, but that man posing with John Lennon in the picture above is Lord Jeffrey Archer, best-selling author and former UK politican, who is launching his latest novel, A Prisoner of Birth, in the UK on Thursday 6th March. Having experienced tremendous literary success which has spread across the globe, Archer has attracted a large following of fans and (to a lesser or greater extent) silenced the critics that have made a target of the controversial figure.
Trying to disguise ourselves as serious art journalists with brains and qualifications and stuff, ArtsWom requested an email interview with the author and, rather kindly, he responded to our questions…
Your latest novel, /A Prisoner of Birth/ is released in the UK on Thursday. Interestingly, the novel was released two days earlier in the US – why did you decide to do this?
A Prisoner of Birth was released in America first for a very simple reason – Tuesday is traditionally their chosen day on which to release a new book, as Thursday is for my UK publishing house, so in order for the novel to released in both countries in the same week, it had to be the USA first.
How does this novel compare with your previous work?
I feel that A Prisoner of Birth is probably the best work I’ve ever done, and already the critics are comparing it to Kane and Abel, so I hope your readers agree.
Could you describe your novel-writing process, from initial conception to completion?
I always begin a new book in January, and go overseas to write – away from the London office and the phones and to be able to write somewhere quiet and in the sun. I write the first draft in about 6 weeks, writing each day from 6-8am, 10-12noon, 2-4pm and 6-8pm. The manuscript is then typed up by my PA, and I work again on the typewritten pages. Only then is it shown to my agent and editor. I would normally go away again a couple of months later to edit it, after which it is given to my publisher.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt since releasing your first novel?
That just when you’ve finished the last page of the first draft, you haven’t even really begun – you’ve got to go on working.
We recently presented an article comparing the (as you say) sexy-voiced Mariella Frostrup with some glamour models. Who’s your ideal cultural pin-up?
Annette Benning.
Obviously, in the UK you are something of a household name. When touring abroad, how does your reception compare to local excursions?
This differs from country to country. In Australia I receive a very warm welcome, in America I remain known to only a relatively small core group of fans, and in India I’m about to find out as I’m doing a tour there in a few weeks time.
Apparently, you were once a PE teacher at Dover College and were very popular with your pupils, which is a bit of a rarity amongst PE teachers. Do you have any fond memories of this time, or were all your students as awful and lazy as I was?
I have very fond memories of my short stint as a PE teacher at Dover, and indeed I found the pupils immensely enthusiastic and hardworking.
Would you ever consider a return to teaching?
No.
Are there any passages from past novels which you are most proud of?
No.
And any particular sections you are most embarrassed about?
No.
Which literary figure do you think you could most easily take in a fight?
Alice in Wonderland.
We’ve been asking the readers of our blog the following question and it’d be great if we could hear your response: If the world was about to end due to some unfortunately unavoidable catastrophe, and you only had enough time to read a good book before civilization crashes down around you – what novel would you pick?
The Count of Monte Cristo
Finally, if you have time, could you sum up your opinion of ArtsWom in one pithy sentence?
Author of LA Confidential, amongst other popular crime thrillers, James Ellroy is one of the most intriguing novelists I’ve read about. The author is obsessed with the murders of both his mother and “The Black Dahlia”, and shares all the traits of a serial killer. Are single-minded determination and morbid compulsion the skills you need to make it as a successful crime writer? - read more.
Of course, we like to do things differently here, and so we are judging the respective talents of Ms. Frostrup, Ms. Hazell and Ms. Pinder on three, uniquely ArtsWom-esque, criteria: cultural significance, how they would fit into the ArtsWom team, and overall design.
Cultural significance – While Lucy Pinder may be far better known for her breasts (once voted “the most beautiful all-natural pair in Britain”), not many people will know that she regularly hosts a nightly show on Nuts TV called ‘Book at Bedtime’ in which she reads an extract from a popular novel. That’s pretty cultural, and puts fellow glamour model, Keeley Hazell, to shame. For her part, Keeley has been hailed as an ‘environmental hero’ and made an undeniable impact on the cultural consciousness with a leaked video tape but, as far as we’re aware, her performance did not earn even an honourable mention at the Sundance Festival.
Overall, both ladies are out-shone by the lovely Mariella, who has built a successful career by presenting art programming on a variety of media, writing for a number of publications, and making frequent appearances as a judge for art competitions. Frostrup for the win!
How they would fit in to the ArtsWom team – Mariella is definitely the more experienced of the three (in terms of arty reporting if nothing else) so would appear to be a perfect addition to the team. Despite this, we’re worried that she would quickly take control and force us to actually work hard for a change. This is something we’re not prepared to do. Our choice of glamour girls is therefore the delightful Keeley.
Why Keeley? Well, as the younger of the two models, we feel she would be the most impressionable and therefore likely to do all the boring stuff we don’t want to do, such as muck out the ArtsWom writer pens and perform all the painful coding tweaks to the blog that we’ve never bothered to learn. Also, she just seems the most pleasant. And ArtsWom needs fun and laughter to keep us going like we need vast amounts of alcohol. Keeley Hazell – welcome to the team.
Overall design – Nearing fifty and still looking good in a schoolteacher-ly crush sort of way, Mariella would be the discerning gentleman’s choice. And, having never seen the page 3 girls in their natural element, we can’t in good conscience judge the aesthetic appeal of the younger ladies. All have their own charm and we’ll be happy to take all to our homes to see our mothers.
Considering Lucy Pinder has yet to pick up a point, however, we’ll let her take the aesthetic accolade. After all, millions of white van men can’t be wrong…
Conclusion – So the results are in – and it’s an undeniably dull, three-way tie. After much deliberation, however, we can confirm that, if we had our way, we’ll take Mariella to the library, Keeley to the funfair, and Lucy Pinder on a worldwide cruise in case we capsize and need some sort of easily-accessible flotation device.
Does Mariella light your cultural fire? - Find out more.
E-books have been eagerly awaiting entrance into the VIP lounge of the ‘Next Big Thing’ club for some time now, but the bouncers continue to turn them away. Even the well-hyped introduction of Amazon’s Kindle, the wireless reading device (as opposed to all those wired reading devices you’ve been getting tangled up in), has failed to make digital books more desirable than those old-fashioned paper ones. Is this a venture that is simply never going to catch on, or is it the fact that e-book readers like the Kindle cost in excess of $300 that puts people off? And if the latter is the case, maybe the mobile phone route is the way forward and this is a brilliant plan?
This leaves the question, could you imagine reading a novel on your mobile? Of course, the medium offers the exciting possibility of Dickensian serials sent to your phone as a text message. Just think, 150 characters of pure drama dropped into your SMS inbox weekly. “It woz t bst of times it woz t wrst of times…” This could seriously catch on…
Whatever you think about Pete Doherty (and that’s probably not much), you can’t deny his influence in the field of poetry - whatever that’s been. Listen in stunned disbelief as the man who’s ruined more lives than ArtsWom’s done bad headline puns reads his favourite poems to you - read more.
Ex-SAS man turned author has revealed he is to try and tempt new readers to buy his book by offering the first chapter to download for free on your phone. For more information, head over here.
When I was thirteen, I was often running amok with a stick, pretending to be some sort of war hero, nobly defending my mother’s dahlias against the invading hordes of the next street along. Fortunately, I had my invisible force field to protect myself from their relentless attack, despite the nonsense claims about magical force-field-penetrating bullets. Ishmael Beah, however, did not have the luxury of simply imagining a warzone when, at the age of thirteen, he became a soldier in the very real, very brutal Sierra Leone civil war. Hear some of his experiences as he appears on The Book Show – read more.
The news that Mills & Boon will soon be penetrating the crime fiction market with as much vigour and tenderness as a Viking rapist, has somehow been met with indifference from the literary community. Not wanting to spoil the publisher of every housewife’s favourite masturbatory tool’s centennial celebrations, but is this move what the already over-saturated genre needs?
The only way we can see this working is if they use the same writers as their romance branch. At least then we’ll get to read about the equivalent of Kay Scarpetta lustfully caressing the naked body of a suave, sophisticated stranger as he lays dead in the gutter with a cut throat and blood sensually flowing down his perfectly-chiselled torso to form a pool around his flaccid, lifeless love truncheon. An eroticised autopsy does have a certain perverse appeal (we imagine), but the necrophilia genre is a niche market that is notoriously hard to break into. Hey, Mills & Boon, maybe it’d be best to just stick to what you’re good at.
The fact is that authoring a crime fiction novel is an involved process, which is heavily dependent on lots and lots of painstaking research. Can Mills & Boon’s lowest common denominator-style, churned-out novelettes achieve that standard? We very much doubt it. And, with that in mind, what is the point of this initiative other than a cynical ploy to make money at the cost of the industry?
Obviously, there’s room for every type of fiction on the bookstore shelves, both highbrow and popular – but there’s never an excuse for bad writing, and has anyone found themselves engrossed in a good Mills & Boon novel recently? Exactly. This is good news for nobody.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. The world may be crashing down around our ears, but there’s still time for one last book - an opinion shared by Jack over at the Alcopop! blog. Having caught wind of our question “If the world was to end tomorrow, what would you read today?” Jack has made a case for ‘Trout Fishing in America’ by Richard Braugtigan to be the last thing on his mind as he departs this Earth:
Meanwhile, in between weeping for both Posh Fish and Ian Dowie this week, I caught a glimpse of this post on artsWOM asking for “people to submit their choices of books they would most want to read just before the end of the world” – which struck me as a rather cool question. So safe in the knowledge that goFASTER>>, 4 or 5 Magicians, Family Machine, Sam Isaac and DSP (amongst others) would be on the stereo whilst civilization crumbled – I decided I’d go for ‘Trout Fishing in America’ by Richard Brautigan as my novel of choice.
Why? Mainly because as the sun set on our dying earth, it would fill me with an ironic sense of humour, pity at the charming, and genuine parts of our lives that were being destroyed – and remind me that for all the brilliance this world provides, there’s a whole lot of crap that deserves to go down with it! Similarly, while this book embraces what is beautiful in the sanctity of nature, unlike those texts that naively paint only the cityscape as a brooding, dark and evil place – Brautigan reminds us that one cannot avoid the death and corruption – even amongst the shady glades.
Secondly, while Brautigan delights in exposing the pollution of nature and society as the result of urban expansion, one poignant scene at ‘The Cleveland Wrecking Yard’ sees a charming salesman selling slabs of the trout river itself amongst a stack of toilets, he does not deny that city life itself still may be fun. Despite their anti-social perceptions, drunken days on the city bench, and sharing happiness with the ‘Kool-Aid Wino’ bring a carefree positivity to proceedings.
A truly flawed genius, Brautigan’s seminal novel of a seemingly whimsical trout fishing journey through America, is in fact a disturbing, insightful and fantastic commentary on youth culture, the beat movement and general American politics. More than that though, it’s one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read, packed with literary and historical references which mean there is always something new to discover (although this could perhaps be mildly frustrating if the world was about to blow) – and written in the kind of poetic prose that genuinely shocks, amuses and challenges the expectations of the reader – without ever appearing pretentious.
Yeah – so have that exploding world!
Have that indeed. It may be a bit of an inconvenience when the world ends, but it’s quite handy for finding new books; books that you’d probably never come across if you weren’t united with random people due to two thing in common: your love of literature and your impending doom.
Mariella’s back all this week with part 16 of The Book Show, featuring Sally Brampton, Jane Green, Alexander McCall Smith and much much more. Oh and don’t forget to enter the competition and win a shelf’s worth of new books!
Good news for people who like bad news: the world is about to end (again) and it looks like Arnie’s too tied up to come to the phone right now and save us. So let’s do the next best thing and settle down with a book before being annihilated. In our fifth installment, litlove from Tales of the Reading Room has provided us with this thoughtful response:
So, it’s quite a prospect, choosing a book to see out the end of the world with, when it’s often pretty tricky deciding what to take on holiday. If life as we know it is in rapid terminal decline then it seems logical to me that I’d pass the last few hours reading, even if what I really ought to be reading is Nuclear Bunkers for Dummies, or, shortly prior to this, Quick Drying Cement: Your Questions Answered. And obviously I’d need to know I had a clear stretch of time ahead. A four-minute warning would leave me with little choice other than reaching for a book of haiku. But still, this is probably not the moment to tackle the Great Literary Work that I’ve been saving up for a rainy day. It’s bad enough the world is ending; no need to make things worse by knowing I’ll never find out how War and Peace concludes.
When I first considered the question my thoughts flew immediately to comfort reading and the works of Colette, one of the greatest authors I know for being wry and witty and resilient in times of trouble. Reading Colette would be analogous to the decision made by a friend of mine that in the event of a nuclear explosion he’d dash into the nearest branch of John Lewis department stores in the belief that nothing unpleasant could ever happen there. Colette’s epicurean delight in food and drink and the company of good friends, as well as her sparklingly poignant tales of love and literature and life on the stage have often made me feel sane and comforted. But I’m not a great re-reader, and to be frank, I get the feeling that familiar prose might not be sufficient distraction to keep my mind off apocalypse.
What I need to do is put something to one side specifically for moments of cataclysmic crisis: the death of a loved one, the end of hope, the sentence of life imprisonment. I think I’d need something philosophical and beautiful, wise and serene, a transcendent viewpoint. And thinking of that brought the Sufi poets Rumi and Hafiz to mind. If forced to confront death, then I would want a mystic poet to put it into context for me, to make it part of a rich, extraordinary life whose meaning it is not always for us to understand. I would want a work of literature that would help me to learn acceptance, to recall me to my dignity and to encourage me to embrace loss, just as these poets have helped people through the centuries to do. Here’s an excerpt from a poem by Rumi:
now how can I be
a skeptic
about the
resurrection and
coming to life again
since in this world
I have many times
like my own imagination
died and
been born again
that is why
after a long agonizing life
as a hunter
I finally let go and got
hunted down and became free
Rumi
The idea of reading something to comfort oneself in a time of crisis is definitely a wise move, especially when confronting something as big as your own mortality. Thanks to Victoria for pointing us in the direction of Rumi and Hafiz, two poets to investigate further.
Don’t forget that The Book Show is on tonight at 7pm on Sky Arts and features presenter Mariella Frostrup talking to Helen Dunmore, Sophie Kinsella and Prof. Richard Dawkins. For more details, click the link. And, of course, there’s Sky Arts’ ace competition to win a bookshelf’s worth of reading material - head over to try your luck.
Civilisations rise and fall, worlds come and go in the blink of an eye, but literature is eternal. Inspired by The Book Show’s fantastic weekly competition to win a whole bookshelf’s worth of books, we’re asking the (thankfully) hypothetical question of “What would you choose to read if the world was to end tomorrow?” to bloggers who love literature. In part four, Kim from Reading Matters has kindly written why she would re-read George Johnson’s ‘My Brother Jack’.
“If the world were to end tomorrow what book would you read today?”
This is the question that the lovely people at ArtsWom asked me this week. I’ve been mulling it over for days — should I opt for something new, something old or something I’ve never actually read before?
I don’t know about you, but if Armageddon was just around the corner and there was nothing I could do about it, I’d be inclined to find some words of comfort in an “old familiar”, a book that I’d read many times, knew well and loved a lot. I’m not the type of person to re-read books, because there’s always too many unread ones awaiting my hungry eyes, but over the years I’ve made one singular exception. I have read My Brother Jack by George Johnston, a war correspondent turned novelist, three or four times over the course of my life, and every time I read it the story resonates on a different level, almost as if it mirrors my own growing maturity.
My Brother Jack, first published in 1964, is an old Australian classic and not much known outside of its homeland. It was the first book of George Johnston’s to achieve critical acclaim and popular success. It won the Miles Franklin Award — Australia’s equivalent to the Booker Prize — in 1964 and has been adapted for TV twice.
The book, which is semi-autobiographical, tells the story of two brothers who grow up in suburban Melbourne between World I and II. The elder brother, Jack Meredith, is the epitome of the macho Aussie male, full of bravado and determined to fight for his country, while David, the narrator, is more introverted, unsure of himself and his place in the world. Ironically, it is David who gets to see the front line as a celebrated war correspondent while Jack, through one misfortune after another, never passes his army medical.
What I love so much about this story is its brooding intensity and its quiet cynicism. It shows a harsh world in which ambition and material success are no replacements for a rich personal life. But I particularly identify with the narrator, a journalist who becomes an expat Australian, which is kind of the story of my life too.
All in all, it is a powerful read about a man struggling to come to terms with his own sense of self and sense of country at a time when such things were not discussed. The prose, too, is wonderfully evocative of another time and era, when class prejudices and propaganda dominated the ways in which people lead their suburban lives.
The reason My Brother Jack would make a good end-of-the-world read is simply because it’s one of those books that makes you feel all the more richer for having read it, as if you’ve learnt something new about the human spirit and the ways in which we all long for acceptance, particularly from our immediate family. And that’s kind of comforting if the world’s about to explode all around you, right?
Kim would like you give your own opinion on what you’d read if the world was to end, so let her know what you think, as well as us.
Don’t forget tonight’s Book Show is on at 7pm on Sky Arts and you can find out who’s speaking to host Mariella Frostrup by heading over to The Book Show’s dedicated page on the Sky Arts website.
As the Boy Scouts always say, be prepared – even in the unlikely event of the complete destruction of this glimmering blue planet we call home. To some this might mean simply stockpiling Mars bars and building a garden-based bunker, while others might feel more comfortable preparing a small escape shuttle to whisk their infant child safely across the galaxy equipped with only a cape and the inevitable acquisition of super powers. ArtsWom, however, are preparing the ultimate end of the world reading list – and we need your help.
ArtsWom have been asking people to submit their choices of books they would most want to read just before the end of the world. Now remember, we’re not asking for any old ‘books to read before you die’ list, we’re saying, literally, what would you want to be sat down reading as civilization as we know it crumbles down around us.
Are you happy? No? Maybe you should quit your job and become a money-starved art blogger – that’ll cheer you up!
Oliver James, author of the books Affluenza and The Selfish Capitalist discusses his theory that our increasingly wealthy, ‘have-it-all’ society has actually made us more miserable. Perhaps more interestingly, he notes that since the 1970s there has been no real increase in the income of the average worker while the rich have actually grown twice as wealthy. Watch the clip from The Book Show below. Does his theory hold any weight, or does Mariella gently tear it apart in her friendly, husky tones…?
The next episode of The Book Show is on tonight at 7pm on Sky Arts channel 267 and is repeated Saturday morning at 10am. Follow this link to find out more.
ArtsWom have been asking literary bloggers from across the World Wide Web to share the books they would most want to snuggle down and read as the world crumbles apart around them. The latest to respond to this question is Helen, writer of the blog No Such Thing As Too Many Books, who chose Reunion by Fred Uhlman. Find out why below…
Although a part of me thinks I ought to read a book I’d never read - one of the many I’ve been ‘meaning to’ read for years but never got round to (such as Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment), I would probably go for this one, Reunion by Fred Uhlman, which I’ve read several times already. Barely the length of a novella, it’s the book that has probably affected me more profoundly than any other.
On the face of it, it’s a simple tale. The year is 1932, and a friendship forms between classmates Hans Schwartz and the aristocratic Konradin von Hohenfels. Hans is Jewish; Konradin’s mother keeps a picture of Hitler on her dresser. Inexorably, the boys’ simple world begins to change. Political events test their friendship. What makes this book truly special - apart from Uhlman’s unsentimental writing - is the ending, when, many years later and living in America, Hans learns something about his former friend. I can’t tell you what that something is without giving away a denouement that you really need to read for yourself; suffice it to say that the first time I read the book, the ending affected me to such an extent that I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach.
Of the many books that I treasure, this is probably the book that means the most to me. If the world were to end, this is the book I’d read to remind myself of what it means to be human in an often brutal world.
Thanks Helen.
I find it interesting how everyone who has answered this question so far has chosen to re-read a favourite of theirs rather than try a new book. Would anyone want to spend their last moments alive risking an untested read, or would we all like the comfort of the familiar before the end…?
In this modern age of walking robots, iPhones, 48” LCD screens and microwave ovens, it can often be difficult manoeuvring around the hundreds of TV channels to find what you want. For this little problem, there are two possible solutions. You can either switch over to MTV and watch 24hr repeats of Cribs, or you can read this article and become enlightened by ArtsWom’s choice of the best programming Sky Arts has to offer this week. For the sake of all that is decent in the world, please do the latter…
Monday 4th Feb –
The Book Show, series 2 episode 13 (7pm) - Your last chance to see episode thirteen of the Mariella Fostrup-hosted lair of all that is literary known as, The Book Show. As the only TV programme dedicated entirely to books, tuning in to this little gem should become as familiar to every book fan as paying off those overdue fines at the library. Lesley Garrett’s 20 Operas to see before you Die, episode 1: The Barber of Seville (8pm) – This series, as presented by the delightful pin-up for men of a certain age, looks set to be a compelling introduction to opera for many who have thus far only dabbled in the art form and a must-see for aficionados. The first of the twenty operas is The Barber of Seville and we would offer a short synopsis, but it is opera after all and isn’t really supposed to make sense.
Tuesday 5th Feb – John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth (9pm) – Part of Sky Arts’ Backstory series of behind-the-scenes documentaries, Gimme Some Truth reveals the creation of Lennon’s acclaimed album, Imagine. This is a great opportunity to follow the studio process, from inception to completion, of all the songs on the album. You can also see some mushy moments between the genius and Yoko Ono, if you’re into that sort of thing. So Wrong They’re Right (00.25am) – Want to make an entertaining documentary? Pick some weirdness, travel to America, and expend a wad of video-tape interviewing these wackos. In the case of So Wrong They’re Right, the eccentricity of choice is a love of 8-track tapes. Not to be missed.
Wednesday 6th Feb –
London Visions with Peter Ackroyd (6.30pm) – Check out some spectacular shots of London from the most unusual vantage points with the author of London: The Biography. This unique and inspiring programme makes use of seasons, time, and weather to present some incredible views that will allow you to appreciate the capital in a completely new way. Alice Cooper’s Rock Revolutionaries: Beach Boys Good Vibrations Tour (9pm) – It’s 1976, you’re in Anaheim Stadium and the five original members of the Beach Boys return to perform Good Vibrations, Surfin’ USA and It’s Ok for your benefit. They’d better play Sloop John B too…
Thursday 7th Feb –
Outback Opera (3:55pm) – It’s such a shame that shows like this one rarely make it to the primetime slot. Follow Opera Australia as they take Puccini’s tragic opera of bohemian love, La Boheme, on the road into rural Australia.
The Book Show, series 2 episode 14 (7pm) – Stick those reading glasses back on for more bookish banter. This episode features Helen Dunmore, Sophie Kinsella, and controversial atheist (is there any other kind?) Richard Dawkins.
Friday 8th Feb –
Ballet Boyz Night (8pm) – Settle in for the long haul as The Ballet Boyz hijack Sky Arts for a night of their schedule picks. Starting at eight with Johnny Cash: Live at Montreux, the night continues with a documentary following Radiohead on tour and concludes with Kuroneko, a Japanese film which tells the tale of a mother and daughter who are raped and murdered by soldiers, but return as vampire spirits, bent on revenge.
The second respondent to our refreshingly depressing feature, “What novel would you want to be reading when the world ends?”, is Crimeficreader, writer of the crime-fiction reviews and insights blog, It’s a Crime! (Or a Mystery). Crimeficreader selects Black Out by John Lawton as their pre-armageddon read. Why? I’ll let Crimefic explain…
It’s an exceedingly rare occurrence for me to re-read a book/novel. So, with the end of the world imminent, I’d grab the one book I can admit to reading twice and dipping into on another two occasions. For me, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining novel, first published in 1995 and that novel is Black Out by John Lawton.
The setting is London during WWII and the star of the show is one Freddie Troy, the younger son in a wealthy Russian immigrant family. However, Freddie does not want to enter the family’s newspaper business. He becomes a copper. The novel opens with a group of boys finding a hand in the rubble of the Blitz-torn East End. Where it might be all too easy to assume that this is a victim of the bombing, Freddie’s sharp eye and intellect lead him to suggest otherwise. Forensic pathologist Kolankiewicz, Freddie’s partner in investigations and sometimes off the record personal doctor, backs him up. And so begins an investigation that is satisfyingly complex, going to places you’d never have imagined.
Lawton creates a strongly believable period setting and wonderfully rich characters that traverse all walks of life and ages, from members of the aristocracy to snotty nosed boys bunking off school to American (and British) femme fatales. There is plenty of eccentricity on hand, often from the Troy family alone, with Kolankiewicz a truly unforgettable creation. Lawton also manages to throw in Chelsea allotments and pig farming, with Freddie being a pig fan long before George Clooney. And the prose is tight - there is nothing superfluous here - so every word will contribute to making the last hours on planet earth enjoyable.
When the end of the world is nigh, what could be better than spending time with a beautifully written novel? An engaging few hours with Freddie Troy, or “smarty-arse” as Kolankiewicz would call him, would be an appropriate end. If for some reason, that meteor missed earth and we lived to see another decade, I imagine I’d find myself re-reading the series.
What do you think of Crimefic’s choice? Either leave a comment below with the book you’d rather be reading come the apocalypse or, if you fancy a more descriptive declaration, feel free to email us with your selection at the usual address.
If you can detect a faint whiff of garlic in the air, it’s because the French Film Festival UK has invaded our shores with the typically-French intention of mocking our dainty, English sensibilities and seducing our spouses. That’s just the price we p
