Beren and Lúthien by Christopher Tolkien
The National, June 2017 It’s a new story in the Lord of the Rings universe, except it’s 100 years old. Beren and Lúthien, first conceived by JRR Tolkein in 1917, is the tale of a […]
BOOKS
Sabrina Mahfouz interview
The National, May 2017 Sometimes a book arrives at exactly the right time. The day after the suicide bombing in Manchester, I’m talking to Sabrina Mahfouz, the editor of The Things I Would Tell You, […]
A Good Country by Laleh Khadivi
The National, May 2017 In the aftermath of ISIL-inspired attacks, there are stories we hear far too often. Of young people growing up in the West becoming increasingly alienated, only finding a sense of their […]
Andrew Wilson on his Agatha Christie novel
The National, May 2017 It remains Agatha Christie’s biggest unsolved mystery. The year was 1926, and the “Queen of Crime” had just published one of her finest detective novels, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. With […]
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The National, May 2017 Sometimes, a novel introduces a character so believable, so moving and so original that there is a feeling of real loss when you turn the final page. I reread the ending […]