Bookish Birthdays: Anne Brontë

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Born on this day in 1820, Anne Brontë – author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – has sometimes been overshadowed by her sisters, but was a great novelist, poet and social critic in her own right. You can read my tribute to her at For Books’ Sake.

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Bookish Birthdays: Emily Brontë

Charlotte Brontë’s Corset

Sixty Years Ago: Marilyn Marries Joe DiMaggio

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After a two-year romance, Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio in San Francisco on January 14, 1954. Sadly, they would part just nine months later in a blaze of recrimination and heartbreak. However, the couple remained friendly until Marilyn’s death. Joe was devastated by her passing, and sent roses to her grave each week for twenty years. He never remarried, and is the only one of Monroe’s three husbands never to discuss their relationship with the press.

This extract from my novel, The Mmm Girl (2007), revisits the day of their wedding, exactly sixty years later.  Continue reading

Lana Del Rey: Paradise

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Lana Del Rey’s Paradise EP was released in November 2012, on CD in Australia and Germany; as CD or digital download in the US; and on vinyl worldwide. For most music buyers, though, it’s simply the second disc in ‘The Paradise Edition’; a reissue of Born to Die, first released in January 2012. Continue reading

Best Books of 2013

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The time has come for bloggers like myself to make their ‘Best Of’ lists, and mine has more than a hint of Americana this year. But who knows what 2014 may bring?

Continue reading