Obviously all any of us can talk about is the heatwave. Oooof! I am very grateful for aircon in the office, and just about surviving the nights (even Hargreaves the cat has decided that sleeping under the duvet, on my legs, is no longer appropriate). But maybe a book, a blog post, and a link will help cool you down…
1.) The book – I just happened to google Michael Cunningham, to see if there was another book on the way. I didn’t have much hope but, excitingly, there is a memoir coming out in July! Unsayable is about his writing life, and I’m already putting it speculatively on my Best Books of 2026 without having read a word.
2.) The blog post – a couple of reviews of the latest British Library Women Writers title are out. I’m so excited that we managed to get The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith onto the list. It’s an absolutely brilliant, sensitive, moving and often funny portrait of a young woman whose ancestral home is turned into a hospital for injured soldiers. Liz and Books and Wine Gums have both written about it glowingly.
3.) The link – I’ve really got into the podcast All British Comedy Explained recently. A British guy shows classic sitcoms and other comedies to an American comedian who hasn’t seen them, and she gives her hot takes. Very nostalgic for those of us who grew up loving The Good Life, Dad’s Army etc, though possibly not as fun if you don’t already know the sitcoms they’re discussing.
Just finished The Spring House and was blown away by it. It was a much meatier, thought provoking novel than the admittedly very pretty cover had led me to expect and I found the ending entirely satisfying.
Only criticism? The book is so tightly bound I had to lay it on a table and weight the two halves down to keep it open(!) and unfortunately the Kindle version, my usual saviour in these circumstances, is faulty: I tried it twice and each time had to return it.
Experience tells me that the publisher will blame Amazon & Amazon will blame the publisher but I hope it will eventually be sorted out so that this lovely novel reaches the widest possible audience.
You cannot beat the old original hardbacks.I am pleased I bought the 1930s hardback of THE SPRING HOUSE many years ago.
I made sure I got my reading mitts on a copy of The Spring House hot off the press; I have been very restrained and am saving it for a treat but I can’t see holding out for long; (there’s just something about having at least one book in the tbr (well, in one of many of mine) that I know I will love. I have been excitedly anticipating its release ever since I knew you had succeeded with BLWW.
Thanks for that link. I have signed up and told my family already so we are all looking forward to listening and laughing later. We definitely qualify as knowing all the shows. I thought you were too young, but then my son’s 16 and he’s pretty familiar!
Happy ‘cooling down after the heat wave’ weekend!