Articles by Melanie Gay

The other day at lunch with Daffers, Ivan was shouting the odds for Sussex sport. I will leave this to him. Alice Mansfield observed that in the art field Constable lived and painted in Brighton, Jaques Emile  Blanche, more known for his portraiture, lived and worked in Brighton and was a member [...]

With the big beasts of American literature – Bellow, Roth, Updike – moving on or in advanced years, there is a vacuum at the top end. Jonathan Franzen, Dave Eggars, John Irving, Thomas Puncheon, Richard Ford, Anne Tyler, Jane Smiley enjoy both critical and popular acclaim. Another who [...]

There was an interesting interview with James Daunt in the Financial Times on Saturday. Slowly he is turning around Waterstone which was in dire straits. This is important as Daunts, which he founded, and Waterstone which has a high street presence are vital for the selling and survival of physical [...]

Hilary Mantel has won acclaim for Wolf Hall  and Bring up The Bodies but I believe CJ  Sansom to be the better author on the England of Henry V111. His latest Lamentation features Matthew Shardlake the chancery lawyer who appears in all of his 6 Henry  v111 novels. This features two story [...]

The name Bill Naughton  may not resonate with the modern reader till I explain that he was the author of Alfie. He was from the gritty northern  school of writers of the sixties typified by Keith Waterhouse, John  Braine and Alan Sillitoe who are largely unread these days . Bill Naughton was [...]