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Oleander, Jacaranda
Oleander, Jacaranda
Oct 9, 2024 10:22 PM

Author:Penelope Lively

Oleander, Jacaranda

This autobiography is about growing up in Egypt. It is also an investigation into childhood perception in which the author uses herself and her memories as an insight into how children see and know. It is a look at Eygpt up to, and including, World War II from a small girl's point of view, which is also, ultimately, a moving and rather sad picture of an isolated and lonely little girl.

Reviews

So vividly evocative that you can smell the dust and dung, jacaranda and the oleander. It offers potent glimpses of British colonial life 50 years ago: the snake-charmer in the garden; the nine-year old Penelope spying on de Gaulle at Government House... The result is a wise, colourful and touching tale

—— The Times

Lively uses the imaginative power of a mature novelist to evoke the sounds, sights and smells of Cairo which is not so much 'another country as another century'

—— Independent

When it comes to human evolution [Chris Stringer] is as close to the horse's mouth as it gets...The Origin of Our Species should be the one-stop source on the subject. Read it now

—— Henry Gee , BBC Focus

Combining the thrill of a novel with a remarkable depth of perspective, the book offers a panorama of recent developments...Stringer's original ideas will open up avenues for those who deal with genes, fossils or artefacts.

—— Jean-Jacques Hublin , Nature

The Origin of Our Species [is] the right book by the right author at the right time. It highlights just how many tantalising discoveries and analytical advances have enriched the field in recent years, and folds them into an appropriately comprehensive, generous and nuanced reflection.

—— Marek Kohn , Literary Review

The Origin of Our Species starts as a clear, perceptive survey. It ends by introducing a new way of defining us and our place in history

—— Mike Pitts , Sunday Times

Sets out to tackle the big questions about human origins...written in a personal, unpretentious style...a laudable summary of a vital subject

—— Matt Grove , British Archaeology

The most up to date synthesis available

—— Steven Mithen , London Review of Books

[The Tunnel Through Time is] absorbing.

—— Sunday Times

The hidden tales she recounts are the distilled results of knowledge acquired over decades by a veteran historian with an eye for the macabre, the quirky and the absurd…she deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy…expect to be constantly surprised, even if you think you know London well.

—— The Times

Meticulously researched and full of lively vignettes.

—— Spectator

What differentiates Tindall…is the sheer scale of her enterprise and the breadth of her knowledge.

—— Literary Review

These underground stories remind us that buried spaces are places of protection as well as of the fearfully unknown, of hope and of political resistance, of science as well as of persistently chthonic mythology. There’s always a quirky and sometimes a grisly journey to be had beneath our streets.

—— Evening Standard

The book is at its best when Tindall is concerned with the city’s guts, the workings, when she lets herself witness this great transformation of our own time. Transport aficionados will appreciate her attention to detail while general readers will be heartened to be introduced to this mysterious world.

—— Craig Taylor , Observer

[Tindall] has written an absorbing account… This is a work of love and scholarship.

—— Catholic Herald

A thoughtful and engaging interpretation of London’s history through metaphors of tunneling and excavation.

—— Richard Dennis , History Today

Enchanting.

—— Daily Telegraph

Fascinating… One of her strengths is to discover historical first-person narratives, and this, plus her extensive research, make her book an entertaining and informative read

—— Chris Nancollas , Tablet

Engaging… It’s an entertaining book. Crossrail should stock copies on its trains, ready for the inevitable day when signal failure traps thousands of us between Bedlam and a plague pit.

—— Richard Morrison , The Times
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