Happy March! Here in the UK we seem to be alternating bright sunshine and torrential rain. As I write this, it’s one of the sunny days – cold, sunny weather is my favourite, and hopefully it’ll continue as I jaunt round London this weekend. The world might continue to get worse and worse every day (don’t you miss the days when villains were at least a little nuanced? Not ‘I’m going to deprive the world’s most vulnerable and then lie about fraud’ levels evil?) but here’s a book, a link, and a blog post to make things feel momentarily less bleak.
1.) The book – I’m halfway through a proof copy of Mark Hussey’s Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel and absolutely loving it. Hussey goes from the genesis of the novel through its writing to its publication, reception and aftermath. Definitely one for people who already know and love Mrs Dalloway, but I am happily in that camp. Looks like it’s out in May, so get your pre-orders in now.
2.) The link – not a usual one for me, and not about books, but this long read in the Financial Times by Madison Marriage is absorbing, excellent, and devastating. It’s about the inquest into her brother’s death, and the 48 hours that led to it while he desperately tried to get an urgent repeat prescription – and the ways the NHS, pharmacies and others failed him.
3.) The blog post – March is Reading Wales month – get some suggestions over at Booker Talk.
Thanks for another inspirational weekend miscellany. It’s your favourite sort of day here too – frosty and sunny. I hope you enjoy your London jaunt. Just before I read your post, I had been checking the London weather forecast, as I am going there tomorrow for a week too. I am hoping to research bookshops near where I will be staying later! (any good recommendations accessible on foot from near The Millennium Bridge?!).
The Mark Hussey book immediately went on my wish list. I’ve been reading Mrs Dalloway again this week (inspired by The Hundred Years hence challenge but I did not really need an excuse!).
Thanks for the reminder about Reading Wales. I will save the Madison Marriage article for later, although my own last few years’ experience of fighting for treatment from the NHS, sadly means I was not surprised to read the headline.