I’ve written recently about the first two stories in Michael Flay’s 1999 collection Closed Doors; today I’d like to consider a story with a different theme and tone. Many of the stories in this collection are baleful protests at the … Continue reading
Michael Flay, Closed Doors: Polar Books, 1999 After Mike’s funeral last week I’ve had time to return to the stories in Closed Doors, from his own Polar Books imprint. The second in the collection is ‘The Theorist’. Unlike ‘The Mad Mother’, written … Continue reading
Michael Flay, Closed Doors (Polar Books, Cheltenham 1999) I’m sad to say that Mike passed away last month, far too soon. In his memory I’d like to devote some posts over the next few weeks – holidays will intervene so not … Continue reading
The Persian Wedding (Polar Books, Cheltenham: 2015) is a timely, angry novel. I’m writing this on the day after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, apparently by Islamic extremists. Over the past couple of weeks lurid stories have … Continue reading
John Harvey, Pax. Holland House Books, England. 2019. 354 pp. In his last novel, Subject of a Portrait (2014: my post on it is HERE; Mike Flay’s guest post HERE; Harvey’s own guest post HERE; see below for links to related … Continue reading
Every summer I take the train to Plymouth to re-enact my regular trips there to meet one of my oldest friends, Mike Flay. He died in May 2016, so this was the third time I’d made this special journey, having … Continue reading
For the past two years I’ve made a visit to Plymouth in memory of my old friend Mike Flay, who died in May 2016. We used to meet a few times a year there and talk about books, football, family, … Continue reading
On July 14, 2016 I wrote this post about my visit to Plymouth in memory of my oldest friend, Mike Flay, who’d died earlier that year. As I wrote then, we used to meet there often, usually ending up at the … Continue reading
Plymouth pilgrimage If you’ve read this blog recently you’ll know that one of my oldest friends died in May. Michael Flay’s works (reviewed by me) and contributions have featured many times over the years here. He and I used to … Continue reading
Stanley Middleton, Holiday (title quotation from the Guardian obituary, 2009) What governs your choice of what to read next? The last two novels I opted for weren’t on my TBR pile (still teetering); I was inspired by two other bloggers … Continue reading