BOOK REVIEW-Barabus by S.J. Fowler

So far a unique way for me to discover a book - from a link in the footer of an email sent to me by the author; the title caught my eye. Unlike the novel with a similar name by Pär Lagerkvist, this isn’t a story about the man who was expecting to be crucified until Jesus took his place on the cross. But both seem to offer rich points of reflection on matters central to our faith.

The life-saver in this novel is an unnamed paramedic. Such is the depth of the honest and sometimes uncomfortable detail, I wondered if the author had direct experience as a first responder?

BOOK REVIEW-The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys. A Novel

There must have been more than a few novels inspired by St Olave Hart Street and the area around it - and if not, there are plenty to be written! Jack Jewers opens his imaginary “post diary” life of Pepys with a veiled reference to one of the many legends associated with this place - the burial of Mother Goose here (who he calls Mother Quick in the novel) - said by some to have been the Madam of the Winchester Geese - streetworkers licensed by the Bishop of Winchester - who we glimpse in the novel, in a flash.