PHILIP WOMACK: June 2019

Thursday, 27 June 2019

This Brutal House by Niven Govinden: review

I've reviewed Niven Govinden's latest book, This Brutal House, for The Spectator.

Wednesday, 5 June 2019

Mazes in The London Magazine

When I had just left Oxford, I spent, as many new graduates do, many weeks sending out things to magazines. I still have the list: it encompasses a whole page of A4 in my journal. Some of them I sent CVs, begging for work experience or internships; others I sent bad short stories and worse poetry. One of the ones I dreamed about publishing in was The London Magazine. From the first great age of magazines, and founded in 1783, this was the place where Thomas de Quincey wrote about opium-eating; Shelley, Hazlitt and Keats all contributed; later on it was a home for Eliot, Auden and Waugh, and later still William Boyd, Nadine Gordimer and Derek Walcott. Beautifully produced (I was told by Jeremy Lewis that it was done from a shed in the editor's garden), and full of interesting things that were not pegged to the general round of public relations and trends, it seemed one of the pinnacles of literary life. So I am absolutely delighted to have a piece in the June/July issue, on mazes, which is also a review of Charlotte Higgins and Henry Eliot's books on the subject. There's plenty of lovely things in the mag, too, including a poem by Frieda Hughes, short stories and essays. Their website is here.

Saturday, 1 June 2019

June Children's Book Round up for Literary Review 2019

My latest children's book round up for the June issue of Literary Review.

Books reviewed:

Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black

By Marcus and Julian Sedgwick

Walker Books 320pp £12.99

The Good Thieves

By Katherine Rundell

Bloomsbury 336pp £12.99

The Time Travel Diaries

By Caroline Lawrence

Piccadilly Press 272pp £6.99

Diver’s Daughter

By Patrice Lawrence

Scholastic 176pp £6.99

The Closest Thing to Flying

By Gill Lewis

Oxford University Press 240pp £6.99

The Unexpected Find

By Toby Ibbotson

Scholastic 400pp £6.99

The Descenders

By Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Doubleday 528pp £14.99

Quotes

Praise for The Arrow of Apollo

"The Arrow of Apollo ... drawing deeply and with great intelligence on classical mythology, is beguilingly original. ... The prose is both elegant and muscular ... There is much to admire in this intriguing, ambitious, immersive book." Julia Gray, Literary Review.

"Womack is a classicist so his grasp of the intricacies of Greek mythology is sure. Here he weaves the complexities of family relationships, the dark deeds that arise from jealousy, passion and revenge – and the consequences with assurance. He is not retelling the myths, already well known, he is carrying them forward, creating a group of very believable characters in so doing. The result is an exciting, immersive and engaging story that carries its learning lightly ... Though this is a novel to appeal to KS3 readers Womack’s uncluttered contemporary style – no anachronisms here – make it ideal for confident KS2 readers whether they have met the mythological world of the Greeks and Romans or not. Excellent." Books for Keeps

Praise for The Double Axe

"I began to leaf through, then could not put the book down, so easy to read it was like being in a trance. You can virtually taste the blood, smell the sea breezes, touch the stone walls of the palace as you run your hands along them, inhabit the strong young body of the 13 year old narrator and feel his fear and exhilaration. The pages almost turned themselves as my brain was effortlessly filled with data normally the preserve of scholarly classicists." Mary Killen, The Lady

"Womack’s fifth novel, unsettling, original and absorbing, shows him at the height of his powers." Imogen Russell Williams, Literary Review.

"Learned and exciting." Suzi Feay, Financial Times.

"...a clever rummage through the myth that manages to turn it on its head and recast it in a new light... promises great things to come." Toby Clements, The Telegraph.

" You should try this book. The spare, simple narrative tightens the tension in every page and keeps you reading. There is suspicion, trust, betrayal, and death. Curses, prophecies and magic. Excellent stuff!" Reading Matters.

Praise for The King's Shadow

"The King's Shadow, like The Broken King and Womack's two previous books, remains full of atmosphere, menace and lightly-worn learning. Classical influence is evident in the lunar names of King Selenus and his daughter and in the compass directions of the Roman winds; and there are nice, unsettling touches of warped courtliness and chivalry throughout. A darkly disconcerting high fantasy, in the vein of Alan Garner or Susan Cooper, it should appeal to adventurous young readers." - Imogen Russell Williams, Literary Review

"Womack delivers a whole, satisfying story ... Giants, dwarfs and magic all bubble in the mix - along with a dash of romance." Suzi Feay, The Financial Times.

Praise for The Broken King

"Philip Womack is one of the best contemporary writers of children's fantasy... There's a real sense of deepening menace... will please any young fantasy fan." Philip Reeve, author.

"[Womack] does conjure an eerie poetry of the subconscious, a kind of Alice in Terrorland." Suzi Feay, The Financial Times

"A magical story full of powerful images and unexpected consequences." Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4Kids

" The Broken King is superbly written and totally gripping, and I want the next bit now." Kate Saunders, Literary Review.

"Like Alan Garner, Philip Womack takes ancient fairy-tales about searching for a child kidnapped by dark magic, and turns it into a haunting adventure exploring love, courage, fear and friendship. Written with sensitivity, intelligence and conviction, it's the kind of classic story readers can't get enough of." Amanda Craig

"A cracking pace, enigmatic characters and terrifying adversaries will have you clamouring for the next in the series. " - Sarah Naughton

Praise for The Other Book

"Philip Womack is a writer of huge talent" - Artemis Cooper in The Daily Telegraph

'Womack is not simply writing for children, he is, like many of the best children's writers, remembering how it felt to be a child'. Roz Kaveney in Times Literary Supplement

'Womack excels at vivid and lyrical phrasing ... Can't wait for more.' Elspeth Barker in Literary Review

'A ripsnorting children's adventure ... the helter-skelter pace will keep any right-thinking ten year old hooked.' Archie Bland in The Spectator

Praise for The Liberators

What is so rewarding about Womack’s book is that the quality of the writing is good enough to slow you down. From the “pall of fear” that “hung over London as its citizens mobbed around, uncertain of the dangers that hid in their midst” to the conversations between children and adults, the pace and mystery are underscored by a poet’s imagination. This is a proper, copper-bottomed magical story of the kind once written by Alan Garner and John Masefield, and it uses the sinister side of Greek myth with brio.' Amanda Craig, The Times

Pages