One of the things I love about independent presses is the wide variety of books they publish. Some will focus on new works which wouldn’t necessarily get a chance of exposure with a mainstrea…

Today I want to share my thoughts on another book from Michael Walmer; my last post was on one of his older titles, but today’s is on a brand new release, and an interesting one at that! The …

Review by Rob Spence We don’t celebrate the linguistic diversity of these isles anything like enough. Just think of the rich heritage of Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Manx, Scots, Cornish, Norn -- n

Review by Rob Spence Ada Leverson should really be better known than she is. Born in 1862, she is probably best remembered now as a devoted friend of Oscar Wilde. She was there to greet him wh

Review by Helen Parry One of the great mysteries of recent literary history is the relative obscurity of Rosalind Brackenbury. Although her work is extremely good, although she is still writing, h

My final read for Short Story September is a collection which only arrived recently at the Ramblings, but which I was very excited to receive – “No Such Thing as a Free Lunch” by …

Buy No Such Thing as a Free Lunch by Rosalind Brackenbury, Michael Brackenbury from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

I’ve written about the Edwardian author Saki a number of times on the Ramblings; remembered now mostly for his satires, I’ve read his adventures of Reginald, his “Chronicles of Cl…

Review by Helen Parry Suppose Germany and Britain went to war and Britain lost and was absorbed into the German empire? What would British people do? What would you do? This is the basis of Sa

An ominous snowstorm is predicted, and our city is shutting down. The snow plows are at the ready, and it will be the first work these men have had this year. The townspeople will rise at dawn and …

Reviewed by Harriet I had never heard of Janet Burroway until Mike Walmer recently republished her 1965 novel, The Dancer and the Dance. It was the second of her eight novels. Considering that

Translated by George Burnham Ives Review by Rob Spence Version 1.0.0 Opposite the title page of this new edition of George Sand’s novel is a list of her works of fiction. It contains 76 no

February is drawing to an end, but I’ve managed to get in with a Read Indies post – #ReadIndies being an annual event run by Karen and Lizzy, encouraging us all to read books from indep…

John Cowper Powys was a remarkably individual author, and he’s made a few appearances on the Ramblings in the past. I’ve read one of his long novels, “Wolf Solent”, and he&#…

Reviewed by Rob Spence, 28 January 2025 One of the most welcome developments in literary studies over recent years has been the rediscovery of works by previously neglected women writers of the ear…

1934 novels, neurodiversity, novellas, art

“I’m not a blooming suffragette.” – Mabel in Miss Browne’s Friend No one knows how much I hate the cold. Proust may or may not have worn his fur-lined overcoat when he…