Kate’s 2¢: “Night of fire: a novel” by Colin Thubron

“Night of fire: a novel” by Colin Thubron

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Ray Foushee did an excellent job of narrating this unusual story. The author built suspense by referring to the expanding fire as the scaffolding for each tenant’s memories to surface, not realizing the eminent danger.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colin Gerald Dryden Thubron (born 14 June 1939) is a British travel writer and novelist.[1] In 2008, The Times ranked him among the 50 greatest postwar British writers.[2] He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books,[3] The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, between 2009 and 2017, was President of the Royal Society of Literature.[4]

Early years[edit]

Thubron is the son of Brigadier Gerald Thubron and of Evelyn (née Dryden), a collateral descendant of the poet John Dryden and of Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code. Thubron was born in London, England, and was educated at Eton College. Before becoming a writer, he worked for five years in publishing in London and New York City, and made independent documentary films that were shown on BBC television. He is married to the Shakespeare scholar Margreta de Grazia.

The Middle East[edit]

Thubron’s first travel book, Mirror to Damascus, was published in 1967, the first such book on the city for a century.[5] It was followed the next year by The Hills of Adonis: A Quest in Lebanon, a lyrical account of a journey through the country, pre-civil war, and the next year by Jerusalem. While starting a parallel career as a novelist, he completed a travel book on Cyprus, Journey into Cyprus, in 1974, just before Turkey invaded the island.

Russia and the Far East[edit]

In 1981, during the Brezhnev era, Thubron broke with his earlier work (on cities and small countries) and travelled by car into the Soviet Union, a journey recorded in Among the Russians. This was followed in 1987 by Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China (winner of the Hawthornden Prize[6] and the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award),[7] and in 1994 by The Lost Heart of Asia, the record of a journey through the newly independent nations of Central Asia.

In 1999, his book In Siberia[8] (Prix Bouvier, France), an exploration of the farthest reaches of the ex-Soviet Union, was published. In an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Bookclub in 2018, Thubron discussed the book with the presenter James Naughtie and answered questions from the audience.[9] His 2007 book Shadow of the Silk Road describes a 7,000-mile journey from China to the Mediterranean encompassing cultures in which Thubron has been particularly interested: Islam, China, the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.[10][11] His latest work is The Amur River: Between Russia and China (2021).

Writing[edit]

Most of Thubron’s novels are notably different from his travel books. Several describe settings of enforced immobility: a psychiatric hospital, a prison, an amnesiac’s mind. Notable among them are Emperor (1978), a study of the conversion of Constantine, A Cruel Madness (winner of the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award),[12] and Falling (1989). Others, however, use travel or a fictional abroad: Turning Back the Sun (1991) and an imaginary journey to Vilcabamba, Peru, in To the Last City (2002), long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. It has been described as a “Heart of Darkness narrative” in a “Marquezian setting”.[13] His 2016 novel, Night of Fire, is his most ambitious yet: a multi-layered study of time and memory, which several reviewers named his masterpiece.[14]

Thubron says that he was influenced by Palgrave’s Golden Treasury as a schoolboy, and was initially inspired by the travel writing of Patrick Leigh Fermor, Jan Morris and Freya Stark. Thubron admires the English novelist William Golding[15] and chose Victor Gollancz’s anthology A Year of Grace (1950) as his book for Desert Island Discs.[16]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Night of fire: a novel DB87882

Author: Thubron, Colin

Reading Time: 12 hours, 5 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Ray Foushee

Subject: Psychological Fiction

A house near the English coastline is on fire. Each tenant is asleep as the fire approaches: the landlord, a priest, a neurosurgeon, a naturalist, a photographer, a man remembering his school days, and a world traveler. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2017.

New York, NY : HarperCollins Publishers, [2017]

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Kate’s 2¢: “The night she disappeared by Lisa Jewell

“The night she disappeared by Lisa Jewell

“ by  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Joanne Froggatt did a good job of narrating this intriguing story. The author managed to weave almost every social taboo into this tale, yet come to a satisfying conclusion with a dab of poetic justice, too.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lisa Jewell (born 1968) is a British author of popular fiction. Her books include Ralph’s Party (1999), Thirtynothing (2000), After The Party (2010), Then She Was Gone (2018), Watching You (2018), The Family Upstairs (2019), Invisible Girl (2020), None of This Is True (2023), and Don’t Let Him In (2025).

Early life and education[edit]

Lisa Jewell was born in the West End of London on 19 July 1968, to Anthony and Kay Jewell, then raised in Totteridge with her two younger sisters. She attended St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, North London.[1][non-primary source needed]

Jewell studied art and design at Barnet College, then attended the Epsom School of Art and Design, where she studied fashion illustration and promotion.[1][non-primary source needed]

Career[edit]

Jewell worked in fashion for several years, including at Thomas Pink. After being made redundant, Jewell took a creative writing course.[1][non-primary source needed] After a friend promised to buy her dinner if she wrote the first three chapters of a novel,[2][3] Jewell published her debut novel, Ralph’s Party, in 1999.[4] It became the UK’s bestselling debut novel of the year.[5]

In 2008, she was awarded the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance for her novel 31 Dream Street.[6] In 2024, Jewell won the British Book Awards for Crime & Thriller and Fiction Audiobook for None of This Is True,[7] which also won the TikTok Book Awards U.K. and Ireland for Book of the Year.[8]

In 2022, Jewell’s Invisible Girl was banned from high school libraries in the Wentzville School District after the district was sued,[9] though the ban was later overturned.[10]

Two of Jewell’s novels has been purchased for film production. In 2024, Netflix purchased the film rights to Jewell’s 2018 novel, Then She Was Gone,[11] as well as her 2023 novel, None of This Is True.[12] Then She Was Gone is being adapted by British actress Catherine Steadman and produced by Crystal City Entertainment and Moonshot Films.[11] None of This Is True is being adapted by Eleanor Burgess and produced by Something Happy Productions and Modern Magic, with Jewell serving as executive producer.[12]

Personal life[edit]

Jewell married her first husband, who Jewell claims was emotionally abusive, circa 1991; the couple divorced in 1996.[2][non-primary source needed]

As of 2007, Jewell lived in Swiss Cottage, London,[1][non-primary source needed] with her husband and two children.[13]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The night she disappeared DB105170

Author: Jewell, Lisa

Reading Time: 11 hours, 58 minutes

Production: National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress

Read by: Joanne Froggatt

Subjects: Psychological Fiction, Suspense Fiction

After leaving a party on a massive English country estate, a young couple goes missing. A year later, writer Sophie Beck moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods bordering that same estate. While wandering the wood, she stumbles on a potential clue to the missing couple. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

[New York] : Simon & Schuster Audio/Overdrive, 2021.

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