Category Archives: Fiction

Fleabag and Julia Flyte

The final episode of Fleabag’s second TV series was broadcast yesterday on BBC. The series has occasioned more than the usual amount of comment in the press. See earlier post. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Serena Davies has high praise … Continue reading

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Roundup: Lenten Love and Lots of Books

–In the Church Life Journal published by University of Notre Dame, Patrick Tomassi has written an essay on the themes of love in Brideshead Revisited and their particular relevance to the observance of Lent. Here is a summary: Sorting out … Continue reading

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Justin Cartwright (1943-2018): R.I.P.

In a recent issue of TLS, DJ Taylor reviews the works of South Africa-born British novelist Justin Cartwright who died late last year in London at 75. He wrote 17 novels (although, as Taylor notes, he disowned some early ones) … Continue reading

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Evelyn Waugh, Brexit and Prendergast’s Wig (More)

A new magazine based in London and called The Fence has published its first issue which is declared a “Brexit Special”. It describes itself as featuring: “Haunting insights, ridiculous conceits, pulsating fiction and just straight up lies: The Fence is … Continue reading

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Waugh and Two Catholic Novelists

Recent articles in the Roman Catholic literary press have linked Waugh to two largely neglected (in the English speaking world at least) Roman Catholic novelists. The first is an essay by Luca Fumagalli in the Italian-language online journal Radio Spada … Continue reading

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William Boyd to Lecture on Waugh

Lancing College has issued the formal announcement and details of its annual Evelyn Waugh Lecture that was mentioned in an earlier post: We are delighted to welcome William Boyd, author and screenwriter to Lancing for the first time to give … Continue reading

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Roundup: Fleabag and Brexit

—The Times earlier this week carried a review of an ongoing BBC TV series called Fleabag, currently in its 2nd season. The review by Ann Marie Hourihane opens with this: God is what you’ve got left when you’re done with sex; … Continue reading

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Last Orders at Mrs Roberts’

The Daily Mail reports that a Waugh landmark in North Wales is about to disappear. This is the Fair View Inn in Llanddulas which was the model for the pub in Llanabba run by Mrs Roberts (but never otherwise identified … Continue reading

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Literary Chagford

The following paragraphs open a recent story in The Moorlander, a local Dartmoor area newspaper: Chagword, Dartmoor’s Literary Festival, [was held last] weekend with big named authors coming to the festival in Chagford, but literary links go much further back, … Continue reading

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Roundup: Party Fiction and Personal Libraries

–The National Review has published a symposium on the subject of personal libraries in which participants explain the pleasure and burden they impose. Here’s the contribution of American literary critic Terry Teachout: My Manhattan apartment contains a thousand-odd books, but … Continue reading

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