It's October, which means that the Christmas products have started appearing in shops and supermarkets in the UK. This has clearly had some sort of subliminal effect on me, as I've just finished reading the December-set 'A Snow Garden & Other Stories' by Rachel Joyce.
Few film series are so loved yet controversial as the Carry Ons. Once a staple of weekend TV, I spent many an afternoon watching them as a child. Some I loved, some... not so much. But it wasn't until I read 'Carry On Regardless' by Caroline Front that I began to understand why.
I can't believe it's ten years since I read Rachel Joyce's debut novel, 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry'. This was the unexpected hit that launched many imitations; for a while it felt like every book I was offered was mooted as 'the next Harold Fry'. Regardless, this original novel had such an effect on me that it was only this year - a mere eight since publication - that I final felt able to tackle it's successor, 'The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey'.
