Cressida Connolly
Provincial Portraits
The publication of a book by Elizabeth Strout always merits rejoicing and this one is especially welcome, for two reasons. First, Strout used to take an agonising number of years to produce a new book, but the gap between this and its predecessor, the bestselling novel My Name Is Lucy Barton, has been less then eighteen months. Secondly, and more importantly, Anything Is Possible is absolutely wonderful. Here is a writer at the peak of her powers: compassionate, profoundly observant, laser-cut diamond brilliant.
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'"Dutch Light" roots its subject in his local environment, explaining, for example, how an abundance of sand for making glass led naturally to a thriving business in optical instruments in Holland.'
Patricia Fara on the life & work of Christiaan Huygens.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/through-the-magnifying-glass
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'We may not be able to shield ourselves from irrational passions such as hatred, anger, envy, mockery and pride, or from the buffetings of circumstance, but we can rise above them by obtaining insight into their nature and their causes.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-poetry-of-reason