Anne Brontë: The Forgotten Sister and Firebrand Feminist

Anne Brontë: The Forgotten Sister and Firebrand Feminist

If you’ve spent any time on my blog or over on my instagram (link) you’ll know that I am a huge fan of the Brontë sisters. And whilst Charlotte, or more specifically her characters, have captured my heart I adore all the works produced by these singularly brilliant women writers.  One thing that has fascinated [...]

The Pull of the Stars: An Account of the 1918 Flu Which Feels Eerily and Uncannily Familiar

The Pull of the Stars: An Account of the 1918 Flu Which Feels Eerily and Uncannily Familiar

2020 has been a year shaped by a global pandemic, which has unsurprisingly in turn shaped my own reading, but something else has also happened. I seem to have read a startling number of books which feature or make reference to global pandemics. Of course the writers of these novels could have had no idea [...]

Reading and Empathy:Can reading fiction make you a more empathetic person?

Reading and Empathy:Can reading fiction make you a more empathetic person?

Can reading help you to understand societal issues and the life experience/lived experience of those who are different from you?  Studies have linked reading fiction with an increase in charitable giving, improvements in wellbeing and better relationship building. Studies have also found that reading can hugely benefit society at large, and empathy is key to [...]