Welcome to the fourth journey inspired by my desk calendar—first described en route to Copenhagen, then London and Havana. Just this random spark, my curiosity, and my library card: everything I needed to expand my horizons, to counter the inclination to withdraw when the news seemed menacing. But
How pleased was I, to flip the calendar to March and see Havana. Later last year, writing a review of Teresa Dovalpage’s new mystery novel for The Chicago Review of Books, I realized just how little I knew about Cuba. And #HereandElsewhere started with my wanting to look for
When I flipped the calendar page to February and saw London, I immediately thought of reading a Margaret Drabble novel, or something by Penelope Lively – two of my MRE authors (MustReadEverything) because I didn’t get to reading from their backlists last year. But #HereandElsewhere started with my
It’s easy to allow one’s world to get smaller, when one is overwhelmed by some of the sadness and struggle in this world; the opposite is also true, that it’s easy to expand your world under the same set of circumstances. A random spark, like this desk calendar by
“I dare say old Red-head will be delighted. If there is one thing above another that pleases him it is an addition to the clan.” That’s Renny and, it’s true, his heart beats for Jalna, which is where the Whiteoaks are. But he has standards. He’s not about the
