Reviews of GHOSTLORD

 It's been a wonderful year for reviews of Ghostlord, and I'm delighted to be able to round up some of them here.

Nicholas Tucker, the eminent children's book expert, chose Ghostlord as his Book of the Year for Books for Keeps.

Emily Bearn, the Telegraph children's books reviewer, featured it in her Books of the Year Round Up for the same paper.

Nat Segnit wrote a lovely piece on children's books in the Times Literary Supplement, featuring Ghostlord.

I hope those who come across the book will also come to its predecessor, Wildlord.

Literary Review Christmas Children's Books Round up 2023

 Here is my annual round up of children's books for Literary Review. It features books by Sally Nicholls, Luke Palmer, Lauren St John, Katherine Rundell, Nicholas Bowling, and Helen Cooper, as well as the Folio Society editions of Enid Blyton and Diana Wynne Jones.

The Iliad by Emily Wilson and Homer and his World by Robin Lane Fox: review

I've reviewed two books on Homer: Emily Wilson's new translation of The Iliad, and Robin Lane Fox's book about Homer, for Spectator World. Read it here.

 

 

 

 

Bookmarks

 

My grandmother bristled with bookmarks. When she died, just short of her 100th birthday, her bedside table still crowded with books in various states of perusal, I discovered both that she’d left her library to me, and that her passion for slipping bits of paper into books was hereditary.  

As a boy, I would  spend hours looking at the books in her house, enjoying the gold and morocco bindings, the cloth coverings, the accumulated scents and feelings of more than a century’s reading. She was always generous. When I was around 12, she lent me her childhood copy of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. It was bound in brown paper, as the dust jacket had been torn. At school, curious masters would peep over my shoulder as I read, in case, as my Maths teacher said, I was looking at naked ladies wrestling in mud.

It’s not as if I am lacking in books. I am sent dozens of new volumes a week, all bearing the eager promise of the newly produced. I would like to say that I look at and read them all; you might also see a pig flying over the rooftops of Kentish Town. I  have already (almost) merged my library with my wife’s considerable collection. I spent many happy hours identifying the duplicates (Catcher in the Rye,  A Room with a View, War and Peace, etc); these were initialled (in pencil), and sequestered in the country for weekend re-readings, as I can’t bear to be too far from a volume of Saki for too long. Triplicates went into the cupboard in the downstairs loo, or above my bed, for similar reasons. Have I given away or discarded any? Not bloody likely.

I already have my father’s childhood books; in his copy of Richmal Crompton’s Just William, his name was written in neat italics; I scrawled mine underneath. My son has already done the same. I recently unearthed my father’s Third Form Latin Vocabulary book, neatly printed initially, the handwriting getting steadily worse as term progressed. It’s on my desk, a reminder that education hasn’t change much since the 1960s.

And now here are yet more books, returning with me in boxes each time I visit my parents. Each volume cries out for attention: the lovely bindings of Pope’s Iliad (adding to the already ridiculous number of copies of that book on my shelves), for example. These are confettied with bookmarks: I have enjoyed trying to work out at what particular line my forebears stopped and gasped at the elegance or beauty of a line, enough to mark it for ever. I found a tiny, leatherbound copy of Much Ado About Nothing, inscribed with my grandfather John Womack’s name. The date was 1925. I had to look again, as this wasn’t far off his 5th birthday. I like to think of him carrying it around (it’s slightly foxed), much as I, in my twenties, used to keep a miniature copy of King Lear, in case I got stuck on a train. I already have four Complete Tennysons; now I have another. In a copy of his Poems, from 1893, I found a note: “Mr and Mrs Howard would be glad of Miss Muir’s acceptance of the accompanying volume … as a slight token of regard, and thanks for the kindness shewn to their daughter.” (That “shewn” almost floored me.) This Miss Muir was my great-great-grandmother; her kindness, the Howards, and their daughter long-forgotten. There are more bookmarks in this Tennyson,  clearly added in at different times, maybe even over the decades. Why  a particular part of ‘The Princess’ is marked I will never know, but it’s fun to guess.

Musty  tomes of Dickens, covers all but falling off, bear the name of Henry Martyn, John Womack’s grandfather (hailing from a godly Cornish family, one of whose members was captured by Barbary pirates, and then escaped the Sultan’s harem concealed in a barrel of rum). Martyn,  a gentleman, played the organ at a church, not far from where I now live in North London, where my Womack great-grandparents got married. I like to think that their books have winged their way home.

I’ve put a piece of paper into the Tennyson, with a note about Miss Muir. Perhaps my great-great-grandchildren will find it, and wonder too about those lives, only a few handshakes away, and yet so impossibly distant, bound together as the leaves of a book, each generation adding its own page. As for my ever-expanding collection: I hope that they won’t reach the charity shops and the second hand shelves. May they be found, still bearing their bookmarks, in guest rooms and lavatory cabinets for ever.

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll: review

 

I've reviewed Emily Carroll's new graphic novel, A GUEST IN THE HOUSE, for the Spectator World edition. Read it here.

Prophet by Helen MacDonald and Sin Blaché

 

I've reviewed PROPHET by Helen MacDonald and Sin Blaché, a science-fiction collaboration, for The Times Literary Supplement. Read it here.

The Fraud by Zadie Smith: review

 I've reviewed Zadie Smith's new novel, THE FRAUD, for Spectator World. Read it here.

You're Missing Out Podcast on the Prisoner of Zenda

 

I enjoyed talking about The Prisoner of Zenda on this podcast, You're Missing Out. Listen here.

The Green Lady by Sally Bayley: review

 

I've reviewed Sally Bayley's enchanting new book, The Green Lady, for The Spectator. Read it here.

The Romantic by William Boyd: review

 William Boyd's latest novel, The Romantic, is great fun. I've reviewed it for Spectator World.

Q & A with Books Ireland

 I enjoyed giving this Q & A to Books Ireland.

Reading from the first chapter of GHOSTLORD

 Books Ireland have posted a reading from the first chapter of GHOSTLORD. You can see it here.

Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week: Ghostlord

 I was absolutely astonished to turn over the pages of the Culture section of the weekend's Sunday Times, and discover that Ghostlord is Nicolette Jones' Children's Book of the Week. I'm so thrilled! The review is here.

Ghostlord reviewed in The Telegraph

 Here is a lovely review of Ghostlord in The Telegraph, by Emily Bearn. Read it here.

Finished copies of Ghostlord, and first review in Literary Review

 I'm absolutely thrilled with the finished copies of Ghostlord, which arrived this morning, and on the same day that the first review came out in Literary Review.  It looks wonderful next to Wildlord, and Karen Vaughn has done a beautifully mysterious job of the cover. Published by the mighty Little Island, this coming May 4th - no Stars Wars jokes please.

"Ghostlord... has the feel of a classic tale, one that beguiles at every turn. Womack conjures each setting, real and otherworldly, so vividly and moves between them so seamlessly that the reader can't help but be pulled into his fable-like narrative. And at the centre of this story about ageless beings facing off against an ancient evil is just a teenage girl trying to understand herself and the power growing within her. Gripping and richly imagined, this is a wonderful book." - Joel Arcanjo, Literary Review.

 

 

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

 

My review of Elaine Feeney's latest book, HOW TO BUILD A BOAT, in the Times Literary Supplement.

Cover reveal for GHOSTLORD

 The lovely cover of Ghostlord is by Karen Vaughn (who also did Wildlord). You can order the book here.

Review of Kelly Link's White Cat, Black Dog

 

I've reviewed Kelly Link's new collection of short stories for The Spectator. Read it here.

Interview with Suzi Feay's Book Bag

 

I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by Suzi Feay for her new series, Suzi's Book Bag. You can listen to / watch the interview here.

Children's Book Round up for Literary Review

 

 

I've reviewed three new books for Literary Review: Natasha Farrant's Ravenwood House; Ally Sherrick's Vita and the Gladiator; and Yvonne Banham's The Dark and Dangerous Gifts of Delores Mackenzie. You can read the review here.

The Cloisters by Katy Hays: review

 

I've reviewed Katy Hays' debut novel, THE CLOISTERS, for Spectator World. You can read it here.

My Reading Habits: for the Royal Literary Fund

 Here's a little podcast on my reading habits for
the Royal Literary Fund.

GHOSTLORD available for advance orders

I'm delighted that my new book, GHOSTLORD, which is set in the same world as WILDLORD, will be out this year with Little Island. The book is available for advanced orders. These all help a book gain traction - if you enjoyed WILDLORD, I hope you will enjoy this one too. (The picture is of John Dee's obsidian mirror - one of these features prominently in GHOSTLORD...)

You can order it here from Waterstones.

December Children's Round up for Literary Review

 

I realise I didn't post my regular Christmas children's book round up for Literary Review - December was a busy month. Here it is, with books by Judith Eagle, Anthony McGowan, Sam Thompson, S F Said, Frances Hardinge, Berlie Doherty and Smriti Prasadam-Halls.

Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon

 

Here's my review of Locust Lane, a classy thriller by Stephen Amidon, for Spectator World.