Hello to all Pitshanger customers! I’m a literature graduate who has been working in the book industry since leaving university. Needless to say I am almost never to be found without a book in my hand. I am always more than happy to discuss, debate and recommend over a wide variety of adult and children’s fiction.

 

My current recommend would be The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt. Despite finishing the book a few months ago, I cannot seem to get over Byatt’s vivid and detailed re-creation of the late 19th and early 20th century. Grounded in history, it is well researched and centres around the Fabianism movement. Historical figures, political and literary references weave themselves throughout the story, from William Morris and Arts and Crafts to J.M. Barrie and Kenneth Grahame. This is a story of art, socialism and utopian contradictions, as children struggle to grow up in a dark world of adult hypocrisy. As the first Byatt novel I have read The Children’s Book was a wonderful introduction to her writing and I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her work.