Review of ‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt

I like this review and agree with it, so I have re-blogged it to my blog.

lightlit

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a wildly popular Pulitzer Prize winning book, it has been read by millions but it seems to divide opinion. People complain about it’s 864 page length and sometimes unnecessary winding descriptions. Others have issues with the plot itself and the philosophical notions which become more apparent as the book develops. In stark contrast to these views, I loved this book. It was one of the few books I have read recently where time disappeared, where I was completely engrossed in the life of Theodore Decker. It is a book with an explosive start(no pun intended) and slowly drifts along, describing different periods in Theo’s troubled life. I think this book is very much a Dickensian style novel where one could draw comparisons between Pip in Dickens Great Expectations and Theo in this book, both the unwanted boys who must fight every inch to survive…

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Interview with Sarah Gorrell on Radio Sussex

Book Cover

On 17h October the day after my book launch I had an interview with Sarah Gorrell on Radio Sussex/Surrey Drivetime about my novel ‘Just Two Weeks’. It’s been a month but I’ve only just found out how to put the interview on Sound Cloud! Sarah Gorrell is a great interviewer and she really put me at my ease. Click on Drivetime  to hear the interview!

Mr Turner

From Mr Turner

I haven’t talked about a film before. And maybe this will be the first and last time. Who knows? But I saw this film last week and I thought it was brilliant. Quite unusually, we couldn’t go on the day we’d wanted, because it was fully booked out. And when we went to the cinema. every seat was taken. Now I know there’s been a lot of hype about this film and  to be honest, that usually puts me off.  But this was different. I was absorbed from the start, the three hours passed in no time. I read somewhere that the film took two years to research. I would say the money was very well spent. But some of my friends disagreed. One said they found the constant submission of Mr Turner’s maid irritating, a figure of fun. But wasn’t she in love with Mr Turner, if not obsessed? Yes, he took advantage of her, but quite probably this was normal behaviour during those times. After all it is only relatively recently that domestic violence has become a crime and not that long ago men were permitted to beat their wives ‘to within an inch of their lives’. Another friend said they disliked the fact that Mr Turner was portrayed as not a nice man after all. But he was portrayed as flawed, a three dimensional character obsessed with his art. I think this film deserves every award it gets.

Me at my book launch plus another 5* review!

I got this review of my novel from Jack Magnus of Reader’s Favourite. I thought I’d also post a photo of me reading at my book launch!

‘Amanda Sington-Williams’ psychological thriller, Just Two Weeks, is suspenseful and exciting. Jo’s idyllic two weeks in paradise becomes a disorienting and terrifying ordeal. Sington-Williams swiftly immerses the reader in her protagonist’s place, alone with no money in a strange culture, and haunted by a woman whom she supposedly knows. Even after Jo gets back home, everything is strange and altered. Raquel is actively stalking her, and Mark seems strangely complicit. Just Two Weeks feels a lot like a Hitchcock thriller — it keeps the tension up and the reader can’t help but keep on reading and experiencing Jo’s fear first-hand. I had a grand time reading this book. Sington-Williams is a marvelous writer, and her plot is tight, fast-paced and compelling. Just Two Weeks is very highly recommended’.

Just Two Weeks by Amanda Sington-Williams. Published by Cameron

A good review of my novel Just Two Weeks!

For the Love of Books, a look at what's new and exciting in the world of reading

After being laid off, Jolene Carr decides to make lemonade from lemons and takes a two week vacation in the sun. On the first day of her break, she meets Raquel, a woman staying at the same hotel and they strike up a casual friendship. Not long after, Jolene begins to experience odd and unsettling events. Back at home she becomes convinced that Raquel has followed and is now stalking her. But why? Did Jolene do something to invite this behavior? How much will she be able to withstand?

A frightening novel about the terror of being stalked. Keep reading – there are some surprises in store. A jolly good read

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Psychological Thriller Book Tour & Giveaway: Just Two Weeks by Amanda Sington-Williams 11/24/14 – 12/22/14

My book blog tour is nearly underway!

On not relapsing

I read this with baited breath. I honestly hope Anthony’s relapse continues for a long long time

Lifesaving Poems

A year ago I had a relapse of my cancer.

Except I didn’t.

For a week or so I knew I was ill again. I saw it in the doctors’ eyes and felt it in the tremble of their hands as they prodded my internal organs, meeting my own eyes with a look that was part nod, part sadness.

No one outside of my immediate family knew.

For a week we hunkered down, ate soup and spoke to nobody. Normal things continued: teaching, working, shopping, writing, even blogging.

There is no point, we said to each other, not until we know.

Except we did know. We absolutely knew.

It began so similarly to my original diagnosis, with pain. Searing, crawling into work bent double and being sent home, no, to the doctors immediately, Anthony! That kind of pain.

Not man-flu.

Pain. Crying for a day under the duvet pain.

How…

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Guest Blog: Five Fascinating Facts about Alexander Pushkin

I just came across this post and thought it worth re-blogging under interesting facts

Interesting Literature

By Karen Langley

1. His matrilineal great grandfather was a black African page brought over to Russia as a slave. Abram Petrovich Gannibal (1696–1781) was kidnapped and taken to Russia as a gift for Peter the Great. Gannibal was educated in France to the profession of a military engineer, later progressing to become governor of Reval and finally Général en Chef (which was the 3rd most senior army rank) – in charge of the building of sea forts and canals in Russia.

2. Pushkin met Gogol!  By 1831 Pushkin’s literary influence had grown and at that time he met Nikolai Gogol, who was then in the early stages of his career. Gogol had published his first volumes of Ukrainian tales and Pushkin supported him, publishing some of his most famous short stories in the The Contemporary, a magazine he founded in 1836. After Pushkin’s death, Gogol went on…

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Radio Interview about my novel on BBC Radio Sussex

On Friday 18th October I will be interviewed on the radio about my forthcoming novel ‘Just Two Weeks’

I will be interviewed by Sarah Gorrel live on ‘Drivetime’ at 4.00.

Why not listen!  95.3 FM    104.5 FM Digital

Book Cover

Book cover New!

This is the new cover for my psychological suspense ‘Just Two Weeks’. I think it’s a Wow! My book launch is on 16th October and the release date is 11th November.