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Food in fiction, from fantasy stew to johnny cakes, by Gillian Polack
This last fortnight I’ve been indulging in comfort reading and comfort cooking. I need a couple of hours safety in my day in order to cope with our current interesting times. My reading time has been...
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Ōtūmoetai Pā: an 18th century fortified village by Debra Daley
Last month I wrote about the discovery in my neighbourhood of extensive food storage pits of late 18th century origin that had once belonged to the large pā, or fortified village, above the shore of...
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The Goldfinch - Joan Lennon
By the time this post goes up, I will have seen this little gem in the flesh. But if I hadn't watched that BBC 4 documentary on Still Life back last year (I posted a HG blog about it here) and got all...
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The Proper Olden Days
I love old school magazines. In 2004, when I was a teacher, I based an exhibition about the school’s experiences in World War One largely around a stack of 1914-1919 school magazines. In 2014, I...
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AFRICA.......by Adèle Geras
I am posting the link below to Lantana Publishing's page about the book which has just been published. It's called A WISP OF WISDOM, and brings together many writers and a wonderful illustrator in a...
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'Getting Pregant the Medieval Way' by Karen Maitland
St Anne, with her daughter the Virgin Mary and grandson, Jesus.There’s been much discussion recently about whether certain expensive treatments sold by some private fertility treatment centres actually...
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Irving sighed and glanced at the glowing red numbers of the atomic clock as he poured himself another cup of coffee. It was only 2 am, he had another three hours of monitor duty. As he tasted the...
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The original snake oil - Michelle Lovric
This post is a companion piece to mine of November 10th, about the grand ceremony of confecting Venetian Treacle.This post looks at what went inside this Venetian drug that captivated the imaginations...
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A Brief History of Mince Pies by Katherine Clements
This weekend I’m making mincemeat. As I scoured the Internet for a suitably simple recipe, I wondered about the history of mince pies and just how far back their association with Christmas goes.I’m...
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Witch Marks and Curses: The Rituals of Protection by Catherine Hokin
In the midst of all the Halloween madness around crazed-clown sightings (surely a PR stunt for the forthcoming Stephen King movie) and poor-taste celebrity costumes, my eye was caught this year by a...
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The Drover's Dogs by Susan Price
'Some years ago the late Miss Stewart Mackenzie of Brahan, 'The Drover's Dogs' by Susan Price. Artwork by D SimpsonRoss-shire, informed a friend that in the course of journeys by coach in the late...
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A BOOK IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS – Elizabeth Fremantle
It's that time of year again, so I'm going to take the stress out of your Christmas shopping chaos and suggest you find everything at your local bookshop. After all the pleasure of a book lasts a...
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A Christmas Present - Jake Arnott talks about The Fatal Tree Catherine Johnson
This month I'm happy to introduce a guest writer who isn't a girl, but don't worry, his new book features a particularly interesting woman from history, Edgeworth Bess, harlot and consort of gaol...
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History in a Cake
by Marie-Louise JensenI always find it fascinating to see how the movement of people around the world transports and alters dishes and customs. I'm not completely sure where the English tradition of...
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'The secret ministry of frost'... Coleridge and Nether Stowey: by Sue Purkiss
A couple of weeks ago, while the weather was still sharp and bright and frosty (as opposed to dim and damp and dismal, as it is now), we went down to Nether Stowey, which nestles at the foot of the...
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THE BELLS, THE BELLS! by Penny Dolan
Last week, meeting friends in York for lunch, I heard the clock chimes ring out from the Minster, reminding me that York, like many old cities, once resounded with the ringing of bells, which grew from...
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My History Picks for 2016 - Celia Rees
It's that time of the year as Elizabeth Fremantle pointed out earlier this month. The book pages of the weekend papers are full of round ups as reviewers and writers select and present their choices...
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A Postcard from Prague by Katherine Webb
This close to Christmas, and newly returned from a short break to Prague for Christmas markets and beer, I had, of course, intended to write a post about King Vaclav the Good, aka Good King Wenceslaus,...
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The Rough Wooing - by Ann Swinfen
It must have seemed the perfect solution. Marry Edward, the boy heir to the throne of England to Mary, the child queen of the Scots, and you would have peace and prosperity between the two countries....
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Studies of Revolutionary Times by Imogen Robertson
Leo Tolstoy in 1908Photograph by Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-GorskyMemory is a slippery thing. At the end of my first year studying Russian at University I went on a month long trip to St Petersburg...
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