JacquiWine

Gorgeous display of flowers by Balthasar van der Ast of Middelburg who (alas!) died OTD in 1657.

Let’s get a blue plaque for Rebecca West. (Why isn’t there one already?)

The sharp, dark, dazzling fiction of Beryl Bainbridge is being reissued by @dauntbookspub.bsky.social, starting with ‘The Bottle Factory Outing’ & ‘An Awfully Big Adventure’ intros by Yiyun Li & A.K. Blakemore. @mcnallyeditions.com in US. Two of my faves ‘The Dressmaker’ & ‘Harriet Said’ to follow.

ASCENSEUR POUR L’ÉCHAFAUD – Louis Malle (1958)
📷Henri Decaë 🖤✨

In a world of lies, we need the BBC more than ever. This week could be our last chance to save it | Polly Toynbee As the public consultation on the BBC nears its end, the right will be out in force to undermine it. But its supporters can do their bit – with this guidance, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Deadline is Tuesday

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ugh. I hope you feel better very soon!

Painted portrait of the upper half of a white woman with dark hair tied, dressed in grey top

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own #WomensArt #WomensHistoryMonth
Portrait by her sister Vanessa Bell

Good to see that the two of you enjoyed this one!

OFFSIDE is brilliant. Similarly to Wilson, it made a big impression on me at the time. Have either of you seen the Turkish film MUSTANG? A terrific film with some thematic similarities to OFFSIDE…

The poster for Jafar Panahi's The Circle (2000)

First watch: The Circle (2000). Still working through Mubi's Jafar Panahi collection in chronological order and this is a belter. The film follows with great urgency a series of women in Tehran whose lives briefly intersect, finally coming full circle, back to the character in the first scene. 1/3

Yes, beautiful! That’s one of the two I’ve read, along with THE FOUNTAIN OVERFLOWS, also still in print with Virago, I believe.

Awaiting the arrival of my book group for lunch and a discussion of this fascinating novella! #BookSky 💙📚

I’ve only read a couple of her books, both of which were excellent, and she certainly seems worthy of consideration. Have reposted to help spread the word. Best of luck with the application!

Have you tried enlisting Virago’s help as some of her work is still in print with them?

Grateful for any reposts @neglectedbooks.com @john-self.bsky.social @jacquiwine.bsky.social @laurenelkin.bsky.social

🙏🙏🙏💙💙💙

I mean, if you’re going to launch some refreshed reissues, at least make sure that the relevant section of your website is up-to-date!

The Barracks by John McGahern First published in 1963, The Barracks was John McGahern’s debut novel, written when he was in his late twenties. Now considered one of Ireland’s greatest authors, McGahern wrote about a world he kn…

'They came before Elizabeth had her packing finished, all the policemen’s wives, Mrs. Casey and Mrs Brennan and Mrs Mullins. They were excited, the intolerable vacuum of their own lives filled with speculation about the drama they already saw circling...' 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/t...

On the subject of the website…I just received an email promoting their latest VMC reissues in the new-look livery, Classics with Bite. But the website page it links to shows three of the books in their ‘old’ covers, which feels like a basic error!

"A lifelong smoker, who towards the end cut down to “only thirty a day or so,” she lived in a terrace in Camden, clotted with bizarre bric-a-brac including a buffalo’s head in the hallway and a lifesize dummy of Neville Chamberlain (which started out as Adolf Hitler, but was later repurposed)."

Last chance to see this brilliant exhibition, which closes tomorrow! #Art #ArtSky #London

Beryl Bainbridge drew on her own life for her funny, dark novels Two of the British writer’s best works, The Bottle Factory Outing and An Awfully Big Adventure, are republished this month

Beryl Bainbridge drew on her own life for her funny, dark novels. As two of the British writer’s best works, The Bottle Factory Outing and An Awfully Big Adventure, are republished this month, John Self reassesses her writing

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Congratulations! And best of luck for your forthcoming exam. ✨

Oh, I can imagine. Glad you had a fun time with it!

Painting of a black and white cat and a brown cat amongst a plant with pink flowers

'Two cats amongst hellebores' by Elizabeth Blackadder (1931-2021) #WomensArt

I haven’t seen this since it came out, but I recall loving it!

‘Best in Show’ 2000 featuring the cast. Human and canine

‘Best In Show’ on the big screen. Watching with all the dog people going ‘aaaah.’ Redeemed themselves with a round of applause when the late Ms. O’Hara’s credit came onscreen. Short & sharp, hilarious. Fun night.

Cover of Caroline Moorhead 2026 book ‘A Sicilian Man’ on Leonardo sciatica and the Mafia. Orange cover shows a sliver like view of a street scene in B & W

Started this AM. 81 year old Caroline Moorhead has written more non fiction books than we’ve had steak dinners. Her latest was right up my alley when I saw it locally last week before the movies. ‘A Sicilian Man: Leonardo Sciascia, the Rise of the Mafia & the Struggle For Italy’s Soul.’

Yes, absolutely. She manages that dynamic so brilliantly!

👍

The Barracks by John McGahern First published in 1963, The Barracks was John McGahern’s debut novel, written when he was in his late twenties. Now considered one of Ireland’s greatest authors, McGahern wrote about a world he kn…

'He had changed everything in her life and solved nothing: the first rush of the excitement of discovery, and then the failure of love, contempt changing to self-contempt and final destruction, its futile ashes left in her own hands.' #BookSky 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/03/t...

A pleasure! The episode on BLACK GIRL is also very good.