I recently ran a question survey via SurveyMonkey and Goodreads to discover people’s ‘most romantics’. For the question ‘Who is the most romantic artist?’, the results were as follows: Monet: 64% Renoir: 14% Da Vinci: 12% Van Gogh: 10% The founder of Impressionist painting, Claude Monet, has topped the poll. It’s
The county of Kent, where my English home is situated, is famous for many things. The White Cliffs of Dover. The Royal Navy heritage at Chatham. Canterbury Cathedral and Chaucer. Jools Holland, a Rochester resident. Hops and oast houses. But it is perhaps best known for its orchards. Pears and
Théophile Gautier was a great traveller, visiting places as diverse as Spain, Italy, Russia, Egypt and Algeria, and his writing based on the various places he visited are works of art. He has a knack of transporting you to the place and making you live the experience he is living. His descriptions are
I was delighted to receive an advance copy of this contemporary women’s novel for review (if you prefer the word ‘chicklit’, it fits into this genre). The blurb intrigued me: When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout “Jessie!” across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed
I recently ran a question survey via SurveyMonkey and Goodreads to discover people’s ‘most romantics’. For the question ‘What is the most romantic food?’, the results were as follows: Chocolate: 50% Strawberries: 36% Ice cream: 7% Oysters: 7% Interestingly, while oysters are proven to stimulate desire, the jury is out
When I get writer’s block, I go for a long drive to Agay (about an hour away). The view on the corniche is breathtaking. The sea is of the most beautiful azure.
Twenty-five years ago this month the film Dirty Dancing was released in cinemas. A low-budget movie made by a new studio and with no stars in the lead roles (hard to believe now, but Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze were relatively unknown before the film), it has gone on to
Honoré de Balzac was a coffee addict – drinking up to fifty cups per day to fuel his prolific writing. Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Verlaine were partial to absinthe. Dostoevsky had a gambling habit and reportedly rushed the end of Crime and Punishment because he desperately needed his advance. William
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