‘The first Englishman’ [book review]

A review of Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City by Edmund Richardson ‘This is a story about following your dreams to the ends of the earth’. So writes Edmund Richardson in his introduction to Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City, which one could be forgiven for thinking – on the basis of that

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‘Exercising an unnecessary degree of enthusiasm’ [book review]

A review of There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton I have a friend who writes about work. She writes about team-building strategies and co-working spaces, working from home and how to avoid burnout. About how to strike a good work–life balance, finding ways

‘There is no other place in the world like the Sahara.’ [book review]

A review of Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao, translated from the Chinese by Mike Fu The very first time I read about Sanmao I was smitten. Remembering her aunt in an article for Words Without Borders, Jessica Chen conjured up a character so enthralling that I found – still do find – it hard

‘Hungry for knowledge in all its forms’. A review of Square Haunting by Francesca Wade

Sometimes the right book comes along at exactly the right time – and recently I’ve been lucky enough for this to happen often. The latest example is Francesca Wade’s Square Haunting, a fascinating, in-depth look at the lives of five women who lived and worked in Bloomsbury between the wars. While a couple of them

World’s Greatest Bookshops: Persephone, London

The Persephone bookshop has long been a darling of Instagram, but I often wonder if places like this can really live up to the hype. And, more importantly, whether beyond the like-inducing interiors they can actually do their job – which in this case is something that particularly matters to me. On a recent trip