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Sarah Matthews

@sarahmatthews.bsky.social
757 followers 544 following 1.1K posts

Reader, Braille tutor, interested in assistive tech, publishing and accessible art. Trying to use this new place while totally blind so please be patient with me and add alt text to your photos Storygraph: app.thestorygraph.com/profile

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Reposted by Sarah Matthews
MadameBibiLophile @madamebibi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today on the blog, my final post for #SpinsterSeptember “On the whole it seems to be English women who don't marry.” (Barbara Pym, Less Than Angels) madamebibilophilerecommends.co.uk/2026/09/29/o...
madamebibilophilerecommends.co.uk
“On the whole it seems to be English women who don’t marry.” (Barbara Pym, Less Than Angels)
Earlier in this month of #SpinsterSeptember hosted by @pear-jelly, I read The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym. I wanted to try and squeeze in another Pym before the end, and I really enjoyed reading…
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Dan "Mr. Bones and Me" Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Don't "relegate reading to the wellbeing section of our lives."
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here are a few thoughts on High Rising by Angela Thirkel, 1933, for #SpinsterSeptember where a spinster is accused of trying to marry her boss, I really enjoyed this one 💙📚 #BookSky app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c8269…
app.thestorygraph.com
Review by sarahmatthews - High Rising
High Rising by Angela Thirkel Read on audio, RNIB Talking BooksHamish HamiltonPub. 1933, 233p...
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We’ve made friends with the neighbour’s super cute cat and it was lovely to hear my husband chatting to her this morning when he put the laundry out as he was previously a cat sceptic having grown up with parents who would only let him have fish as pets haha!
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JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New on the blog today, I've written about ALTERED STATES by Anita Brookner. An exquisitely observed character study in which a quiet, circumspect solicitor loses his head over a vain, self-centred woman. A relationship that leads to a terrible betrayal. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/27/a...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
Altered States by Anita Brookner
Slowly but surely, I’m working my way through Anita Brooker’s exquisitely written novels in publication order – they really are jewel-like in construction. First published in 1996, Altered States i…
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Totally immersed in a biography of Frida Kahlo right now after my interest in her was reignited by visiting the new exhibition at Tate Modern last week! Her life story is captivating 💙📚 #BookSky
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pauline Boty (1938-1966), co-founder of the British Pop art movement #womensart
Monochrome photograph of a standing white woman in a dress with zig zag pattern in an interior surrounded by paintings
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MadameBibiLophile @madamebibi.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Today on the blog, a post for #spinsterseptember: “As a psychologist she began to suspect she was a very good teacher of French.” (Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes) madamebibilophilerecommends.co.uk/2026/09/23/a...
madamebibilophilerecommends.co.uk
“As a psychologist she began to suspect she was a very good teacher of French.” (Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes)
I dithered a bit about posting on Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (1946) as although I enjoyed it, I wasn’t really sure if I could recommend it onwards. It’s an unusual novel written by an estab…
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Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings @kaggsy59.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"There was something shining in the air..." #spinsterseptember #thecountryofthepointedfirs kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2026/09/23/t...
kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com
“There was something shining in the air…” #spinsterseptember #thecountryofthepointedfirs
Despite having overflowing bookshelves and a mountainous TBR, I still always seem to amass multiple copies of individual titles, and today’s book is a good example of that. Back in the 1990s …
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Reposted by Sarah Matthews
JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New on the blog today, my thoughts on THE GENTLEWOMEN by Laura Talbot. I enjoyed this merciless portrait of a monstrous character. It's a cautionary tale of the dangers of delusion and spitefulness towards others - a great choice for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/t...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
The Gentlewomen by Laura Talbot
If you follow Nora (Pear Jelly) on Bluesky or Instagram, you’ll know that she’s currently hosting #SpinsterSeptember, a themed reading event showcasing books featuring unmarried women, from the cla…
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here are a few thoughts on High Rising by Angela Thirkel, 1933, for #SpinsterSeptember where a spinster is accused of trying to marry her boss, I really enjoyed this one 💙📚 #BookSky app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c8269…
app.thestorygraph.com
Review by sarahmatthews - High Rising
High Rising by Angela Thirkel Read on audio, RNIB Talking BooksHamish HamiltonPub. 1933, 233p...
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Travelling back from a fabulous gig at The Roundhouse - Saint Etienne got us dancing and singing along and I’m so glad I managed to see them live!
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JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
New on the blog today, my thoughts on A FEW GREEN LEAVES by Barbara Pym. A charming, beautifully observed novel, laced with Pym's trademark gentle humour & quiet insights into the social dynamics of village life. A delightful read for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/13/a...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
I love Barbara Pym, an underappreciated writer whose gentle comedies of manners and unrequited love among the genteel middle classes are charming and quietly poignant. She creates an idiosyncratic …
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Listening to The Shins with a restorative cup of tea after a hectic return to term-time routine this week! #NowPlaying youtu.be/1veF_lrvij8?si=bDATI9ap83h…
youtu.be
New Slang
YouTube video by The Shins - Topic
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Florian Beijers @zersiax.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I got suggested by @sophiemac.bsky.social to write an alt text guide from the perspective of an actual blind screen reader user. Here's me doing that, a thread. Supershort summary: alt text is what you tell your friend you're on the phone with something looks like to include them or get their take
sophiemac.bsky.social
Sophie Mac (@sophiemac.bsky.social)
"It was always like this in life. No one ever had the right reaction to anything." "Like reflections in water, the movie light ripples across her face." "A dark omelette on bleak toast." Settings -...
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Storygraph updated a while back and now I can’t seem to find how to filter reviews so only ones with written explanations come up… the filter options don’t have this.listed so does anyone know if it’s still possible?! 💙📚 #BookSky #blind #accessibility
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Just starting High Rising by Angela Thirkel, 1933, for #SpinsterSeptember only to find there are two spinsters in this delightful book, the first of her Barsetshire series. Loving that the main character is a writer of ‘good bad books’ too 💙📚 #BookSky
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Curtis Brown Creative @cbcreative.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers is open for applications. Two talented writers will be awarded nine months of mentoring, including one-to-one guidance from an author-mentor and a tutorial with a literary agent. Apply by 9 Nov: www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/course/break...
curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers
Two talented disabled writers will receive nine months of mentoring from a published author, plus a tutorial with a literary agent.
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Marie Phillips @mariephillips.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
On the one hand: having a disability is not cool, nor is it invented for attention. It's exhausting and it's life-limiting. On the other hand: compared to reading the Telegraph, having a disability is being a fucking rock star.
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
After reading one too many cosy/whimsical novels by Japanese authors I’m looking for some Japanese classic crime or thrillers for a change! Recs welcome #BookSky 💙📚
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Radz Pandit @radzpandit.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Eight recommendations from me for #SpinsterSeptember including books by Edith Wharton, Barbara Pym, Tove Jansson and more. readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/09/04/s...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
#SpinsterSeptember: Eight Recommendations
Eight excellent books to consider for Spinster September including authors such as Barbara Pym, Tove Jansson, Edith Wharton and more.
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Rose Ruane @regretteruane.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A perfect archive documentary to accompany these fabulous fiction recommendations #SpinsterSeptember youtu.be/sZbvymivTCw?...
youtu.be
1968: A Spinster's Life | Man Alive | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Will other Cazalet fans be reading this new book?! I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist after reading this review #BookSky www.theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/…
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
At KOKO in Camden for Michael Shannon playing REM’s Life Rich Pageant and it is going to be a fun night judging from the atmosphere!
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Veronica Lewis, M.Ed. 👩‍🦯 @veron4ica.com · 29/08/2026
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library gave many children access to their first braille books. Here is a guest post from Paths to Literacy about #DollyParton and her literacy legacy, along with more recommendations for Dolly-approved accessible books! www.pathstoliteracy.org/dolly-parton...
pathstoliteracy.org
Dolly Parton’s Literacy Legacy – Paths to Literacy
Paths to Literacy Dolly Parton’s Literacy Legacy. For teachers, families, and others interested in literacy for children and youth with visual impairments
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ArtReview @artreview.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Speaking to ArtReview in 2007, the late artist reflects on her extraordinary life and work.
artreview.com
Yayoi Kusama: To Infinity and Beyond!
Speaking to ArtReview in 2007, the late artist reflects on her extraordinary life and work
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Frida Kahlo, Self portrait with Bonito, 1941 #womensart
Head and shoulders painted portrait of the artist wearing black with a parrot on her shoulder looking outwards against a backdrop of green foliage
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Tilly Guthrie @tillyguthrie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Audiobooks. A whole day dedicated to discussing their history, creativity, retail, and accessibility. If this sounds like your bag, come along to 'Literature Out Loud' @universityofleeds.bsky.social and online, 7th September. #BookHistory #Audiobooks sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
sites.google.com
Literature Out Loud
REGISTER NOW! https://forms.gle/ZGWeR5LtKHRPy7v1A
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BlindNewWorld @blindnewworld.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A new digital archive aims to tell the history of Britain's #DisabilityRights movement through oral histories, films, photographs and personal collections gathered from the people who lived it. #BlindNewWorld (Story via @museumsassociation.org ⬇️) www.museumsassociation.org/museums-jour...
museumsassociation.org
Q&A | ‘The disability rights movement is presumed to have been small and niche, but it was huge’  - Museums Association
David Hevey tells us about a new digital archive dedicated to the civil rights struggle that Britain forgot
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Radz Pandit @radzpandit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Magda Szabó's ABIGAIL is wonderful and riveting - a boarding school novel exploring female friendship, war and resistance set in provincial Hungary. Translated by Len Rix. Read this for #NYRBWomen26 and #WITMonth. My post here: readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/08/26/a...
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
Abigail – Magda Szabó (tr. Len Rix)
Abigail by Magda Szabó is a gripping boarding school novel that explores themes of female friendship, war, and resistance in the Hungarian countryside.
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Had a nice morning out, walked to a local cafe with my PA for a bit of exercise… there was a funny moment when we arrived when I asked to sit out the back and she said ‘there is no back, no steps, no garden’ and I was very confused, until I twigged she’d taken me to the wrong cafe! 🤦
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Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a music legend and titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time. 🦋❤️
Dolly Parton reads to children in the Library’s Great Hall in 2018. Photo by Shawn Miller.
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Accessibility Awareness @a11yawareness.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Alt text and photo captions serve different purposes, so they should not be identical to each other. If you duplicate the photo caption text in the alt text, users are going to hear the same text twice. This is annoying for one image, let alone multiple images. Don't do this.
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
All #braille readers & others who work with braille - take & share this survey which seeks to gather information about global trends in braille literacy, access & familiarity / usage of tools & technologies that support braille #BrailleLiteracy #a11y tiny.cc/braillesurvey
tiny.cc
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
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Marc Venema @marcvenema.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Puffin Love. Puffins typically mate for life, yet spend winters by themselves out at sea. When they reunite at their nesting burrow, they perform a greeting ritual called "billing", which is what they are doing here. Taken at sunset. #birdphotography #birds #birding #wildlife #photography #nature
A pair of puffins rub their beaks together, known as "billing". The background is warm orange tones from the sun setting over the ocean.
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Peter Ross @peteralanross.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I like this piece on Newgrange, by Kevin Rushby. It fulfils the obligations of a newspaper travel feature, but you can tell it really wants to be a short story. www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...
theguardian.com
Island hopping through stone-age history in Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man
Exploring prehistory sites around the Irish Sea – that were old even before the pyramids were built – throws a magical light on our ancestors
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I’m finally getting around to reading Sally Huband’s beautiful book Sea Bean, 2023, about her move to Shetland… gorgeous nature writing about island life, the simple yet special act of beach combing, her journey with chronic illness after having children, and our changing climate 💙📚 #BookSky
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
All #braille readers & others who work with braille - take & share this survey which seeks to gather information about global trends in braille literacy, access & familiarity / usage of tools & technologies that support braille #BrailleLiteracy #a11y tiny.cc/braillesurvey
tiny.cc
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
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grantrintoul.bsky.social @grantrintoul.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
New for #WITMonth, Claudia Pineiro's novel of faith and love, Cathedrals, translated by Frances Riddle and published by @charcopress.com 1streading.wordpress.com/2026/08/20/c...
1streading.wordpress.com
Cathedrals
Claudia Pineiro is now well known for exploring social issues through novels which read like thrillers, but she does not perhaps get the credit she deserves for the way she structures her stories. …
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Jonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
39 years ago, in hardback, my first novel was priced at £9.99 (£36 in today's money). My new one will be £20 if you pay full price. Books have become such a ridiculous bargain, really. (Thought prompted by visiting the booking site for a West End play where the few remaining tickets are £215 each.)
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JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
New on the blog today, I've written about GAINING GROUND (ABRA) by Joan Barfoot. A radical, beautifully written novel about liberation, self-discovery and the rejection of traditional societal expectations of marriage & motherhood. Highly recommended! 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/08/18/g...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
Gaining Ground (Abra) by Joan Barfoot
Back in 2023, I read and loved Claire Kilroy’s Soldier Sailor, a superb novel in which ‘Soldier’, a married woman in the early months of motherhood, experiences a loss of identity, an erasure of he…
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 18/08/2026
Disabled creatives like me are behind many of your favourite shows – so why has our work support been withdrawn? | Annalisa Dinnella
theguardian.com
Disabled creatives like me are behind many of your favourite shows – so why has our work support been withdrawn? | Annalisa Dinnella
Cuts to the Access to Work scheme will mean no more contributions to shows like Sex Education, Call the Midwife or The Hack. It will be devastating to lose such talent, says TV writer Annalisa Dinnella
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Radz Pandit @radzpandit.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"A daring thought was taking shape in her mind. She began to anticipate a solitude of her own, peaceful and full of possibility. She felt something close to exhilaration, of a kind that people can permit themselves when they are blessed with love."
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
Fair Play – Tove Jansson (tr. Thomas Teal)
Fair Play by Tove Jansson is a wonderful, deceptively simple yet profound novella about creativity and art, friendship and love.
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
My family have all gone out to watch the partial solar eclipse so I’m settling down to some reading then will be watching the European championship athletics coverage later 😆
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Here are a few thoughts on The Last September by Elisabeth Bowen, 1929, my first by this author, it’s full of rich descriptions and a great portrait of a teenage girl 💙📚 #BookSky #Braille app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9e9ed…
app.thestorygraph.com
Review by sarahmatthews - The Last September
The Last September by Elizabeth BowenRead in BraillePub. 1929, 320pp ___This book popped up on...
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The Women’s Press, London, founded in 1977 by New Zealand-born publisher Stephanie Dowrick, was a feminist publishing company. The “iron” icon was created by artist Donna Muir #Womensart
Three images, left with an illustration of an iron on an ironing board, top right, thd book The Color Purple, bottom right a pile of books by the publisher
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Mariana J López @marianajlopez.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The survey on sounds that are important culturally/personally to people in different parts of the world is now available in 4 different languages. Please do complete it and share it if you can 🙏 tinyurl.com/2twuzpfd
A circular image formed by colourful swirls. At the centre, bars that come together to indicate sound levels. Within different parts of the central image there are outlines of symbols of different sound experiences, such as Notre Dame and Stonehenge.
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A list to keep handy for future! I requested The Dressmaker to be added to the RMIB braille library ages ago so I must chase that up
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JacquiWine @jacquiwine.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
'All those things he’d said—she didn’t believe a word of it. She could tell that he was used to lying to women, she’d have to be very careful. Family, family everywhere, and no one to turn to—she was on her own.' #BookSky 💙📚 #WITMonth jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/08/09/l...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang (tr. Karen S. Kingsbury and Eileen Chang)
Last year, I wrote about Jasmine Tea and other stories/novellas by Eileen Chang, one of the greatest chroniclers of Chinese life in the 20th century. In these pieces, Chang exposes the traditional …
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Sarah Matthews @sarahmatthews.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Here are a few thoughts on The Last September by Elisabeth Bowen, 1929, my first by this author, it’s full of rich descriptions and a great portrait of a teenage girl 💙📚 #BookSky #Braille app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9e9ed…
app.thestorygraph.com
Review by sarahmatthews - The Last September
The Last September by Elizabeth BowenRead in BraillePub. 1929, 320pp ___This book popped up on...
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