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.
Up and down week. The ups were: getting a five star Amazon review for One Scheme of Happiness – I’ve no idea who it was, but when things aren’t easy (lockdown isolation) the idea that someone out there has read and enjoyed my book gives me a little glow! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on … More Writing update
Sky Light Rain, Judy Darley’s second collection of short stories and flash fictions, was published at the end of 2019 by Valley Press a small indie based in Scarborough, Yorkshire. My review copy arrived during lockdown and has been a very welcome distraction from the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic. As I’ve said before, short stories … More Sky Light Rain – a review
When One Scheme of Happiness, my debut novel, was published at the end of February there was time for two launches – one in my daughter’s cafe The English Rose in Victoria, then a second one in Ealing where I live at a lovely independent bookshop The Pitshanger Bookshop. I was planning so much more… … More Writing update
In 2018 I reviewed Amanda Huggins’ very enjoyable first collection of short stories, Separated from the Sea, (read here) and here I am again only two years later reviewing her second. And what a great collection it is, even better than the first. Beautifully nuanced writing that will surprise and move you and includes her … More Scratched Enamel Heart: review
Sophie Mackintosh’s first novel, The Water Cure, announced an assured and confident voice in literary fiction and was deservedly longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2018. Her second novel, Blue Ticket, revisits a similar dystopian world where all the usual facets of normal life are turned upside down. Calla, like all girls knows that … More Blue Ticket – a review
Excellent, atmospheric novel set by a Scottish loch where unrelated families are trying to make the most of a rainy summer holiday. It’s both funny, realistic and also imbued with impending tragedy. The ending is so unexpected it takes your breath away. I enjoyed Sarah Moss’s previous novella, Ghost Wall and although completely different there … More Summerwater by Sarah Moss – a review
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is a second collection from David Coldwell whose debut , Flowers by the Road, won the Templar Poetry Portfolio Prize in 2016. In this new collection there are some very enjoyable and straightforward poems which will appeal to anyone who loves the wilds of Yorkshire. The main themes are change and time, … More The Beekeeper’s Apprentice – a review
This excellent narrative is centred on Rue, one of the ‘conjure’ women of the title, who works as midwife and herbalist for the other enslaved people on a plantation in 19th century America. When Bean, a pale-skinned child with strangely dark eyes is born, Rue is horrified: ‘She felt then that she knew him for … More Conjure Women – a review
Unprotected by Sophie Jonas-Hill is a novel dedicated to ‘all those who have suffered loss and miscarriage, and keep on fighting’. But it’s not a misery-fest. Far from it. Lydia is a tattooist and, when her long-term relationship breaks down after a series of miscarriages, she’s both hurt and supremely angry. After a drunk night … More Unprotected: a review
One week tomorrow my debut novel will be published. It’s been a long wait, but finally the day is nearly here – Thursday February 27th. I can’t believe how great an experience it has been with Retreat West Books who’ve supported me all the way from first meeting to discuss the book through the whole … More Writing update: One Scheme of Happiness
Ali Thurm 