My second novel, The River Brings The Sea was published in December 2025. My debut, One Scheme of Happiness was published in 2020 by Retreat West Books. In August that year it was longlisted for Not The Booker Prize. I also write poetry and short stories.
I enjoyed Sarah Moss’s best-selling short novel, Ghost Wall, 2018, a chilling story which focused on an iron age enactment weekend, where one character’s obsession with authenticity infects the whole group, and highlights the historical roots of misogyny, domestic abuse and the class system. It’s political but also poetic. As is Ripeness, her ninth novel. … More Ripeness – a review
Evelyn and her older sister, Moira in post-war, working class Bristol experiment with relationships. This subtle story looks at the culture clash of class – both girls are attracted but also repelled by upper-class men they meet. We follow the story from Evelyn’s point of view as she’s introduced to the adult world of alcohol … More The Party – a review
A powerful trauma narrative where we see in fragmented kaleidoscopic chapters called “then”, “after” and “before “ how the past echoes down through the generations. Hannah, an Australian, is living in South London and coming to terms with the sudden death of her boyfriend. As a ghost he observes her, providing an element of comedy … More The Echoes by Evie Wyld
I’ve started a Substack… Finding the Plot, mainly for writing about my allotment and gardening, but also for updates about my progress towards publication 🤞🏽Any book reviews I’ll still post here. Thank you for reading! https://open.substack.com/pub/alithurm/p/finding-the-plot-c23?r=je6wl&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=post_stats
But the garden beckons. Tube trains rattle past and there’s a green parakeet squawking in the lime tree on this warm May afternoon. My two old cats Lola and Toby (aka Little Fatty) wander in and out- sleeping on the sofa or on the sunny doorstep. And the garden beckons: Come outside. Come and play… … More May … trying to write
There’s a real 70s vibe to this pacy thriller with references to food, TV shows and all the grim misogyny and racism of the era. If you lived through the 70s as I did, it’s all very familiar: from Rimmel lipstick to The Sweeney and Crackerjack via public call boxes and tank tops. At 600 … More Gorgeous & Adorable
by Eleanor Catton Mira and Shelley run Birnam Wood, a free-lance collective of guerrilla gardeners, taking over waste land to grow crops., but their relationship is becoming fraught. When their paths cross with a ruthless billionaire their eco-ideals are put under pressure. Set in a fictionalised New Zealand, ‘Birnam Wood’ is a genuine page-turner but … More Birnam Wood
image from Waterstones website Powerful and persuasive about the damage the industrialisation of farming has had on the environment and people’s lives, this is a wonderful book. After a childhood immersed in the traditional farming ways of his grandfather’s farm in the Lake District, James Rebanks recounts how his father’s farm became the new norm … More English Pastoral – review
How’s your writing going? The question that non-writers love to ask. But so hard to answer. I’m doing a bit of this and that. Working on a poem. Submitting my work for publication (Jacob’s Ladder, my second novel – there’s a third one too but that’s on hold). And… I’ve started something new, something lighter … More Writing update
Ali Thurm 