A lil’ haul from London:

Last Wednesday, I headed to London for a lil’ day trip. I somehow managed to land an interview for the Curtis Brown Books internship. It’s safe to say that the interview went terribly, so I treated myself to some books n that. Any excuse, really…

London was an OK place.

I’ve always been a little sad about having to one day move there. All the jobs I want are London-centric. I knew I’d have to up my life and start all over again there. I was always a little despondent about it, though. I’ve only been to London twice and I never really got to explore the place. It was hop on coach, hop off, and then hop back on again.

Wednesday was the first day in London that I actually got a feel for the place. I don’t feel too scared about moving there now – well, one day. I’m actually quite looking forward to it. It’s so big, and there’s so much to do. I mainly spent my time in two different Waterstones, but I did head to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Brontë paintings!

Anyway, long story short, I felt awful after the interview. I haven’t found out whether I got the internship yet, but I just know I haven’t. It didn’t go well. I clammed up and I was uming and arring a lot. I decided to treat myself to make it all better. So, yeh, let’s discuss the things I picked up.

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February Reading Wrap-Up:

I’ve been super busy in February, hence the lack of posts (I’m really sorry, OK). I’ve been at work pretty much every day as I head to Krakow next week and Belfast the week after. I did manage to get quite a bit of reading done, though, so let’s chat about that.

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Here’s all the nine books I read this month:

– The Binding by Bridget Collins / 4.5 stars

– A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin / 4.5 stars

– The Foundling by Stacey Halls / 4 stars

– Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg / 4 stars

– The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins / 0 stars

– And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou / 0 stars

– No One is Too Small to make a Difference by Greta Thunberg / 3 stars

– A Storm of Swords: Part One by George R.R Martin / 4 stars

– The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker / 2 stars

The Foundling // Can Bess Find Her Child?

I’m heading off to Stacey Halls’ author event at Waterstones this evening. I’ll be listening to her chat about her debut, The Familiars, and her most recent novel, The Foundling. I didn’t want to go without having read her newest work, so I dedicated the weekend to it.

So… It’s London, 1754. Six years after leaving her newborn at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the illegitimate daughter she never knew. But her daughter has already been claimed, by her…

Less from a mile from Bess is Alexandra, a wealthy housebound woman, who is persuaded to hire a nursemaid to take care of her daughter. Her past is threatening to catch up with her, and will soon tear her carefully constructed world apart…

It sounds like a lot, right?

It was brilliant. Halls writes such captivating stories. She has quickly become a favourite author of mine, writing such tense and atmospheric historical fiction. Her writing style is simple but elegant. It’s enchanting and addictive. I flew through it in two days, which could have easily been one, because I couldn’t get enough of these characters.