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[...] I imagine I've mentioned many times before on this blog, Hilary Mantel is my favorite author and Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies are my favourite books. Ever. (Sorry, A Song of Ice and Fire.) [...]

[...] me to read your book step one: put a review on the cover from the New York Times comparing it to Wolf Hall. How to get me to read your book step two: put it in a Waterstones two for one offer. This is [...]

[...] fascination. Last year I also devoured Hilary Mantel's amazing series of historical novels - Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - that tell the story of Henry's marriages through the eyes of his right [...]

[...] they're all super easy to follow and basically idiot proof. And much cheaper than therapy. 10. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel The best book I've ever read, full stop. Pretty easy really. Now I know I have [...]

[...] Remember Stephen Ward, the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical with the artistic and musical merit of a discarded crisp [...]

[...] it was, then, that we had excellent seats from which to enjoy Andrew Lloyd Weber's new musical Stephen Ward, the story of the society osteopath who was embroiled in, and ultimately destroyed by, the [...]

[...] mind? I'll give you a minute. If anything, I'm guessing you got as far as Anne Boleyn's sister? Henry VIII's mistress? Francois I's mistress? Well done, because that's about as much as anyone knows [...]

[...] we also did a bit about the Tudors. Or to put it more accurately, we also did a bit about Henry VIII. I remember being fascinated then, and a raft of excellent BBC documentaries in 2012 (I think) [...]

[...] coat Look at this. Just look at it. LOOK AT IT. I'm so into this coat that it's getting a Weekend Wishlist all of its own. There's nothing I don't love about it. The colour is bang on trend. The [...]

I'm all about the accessories this week... Givenchy Obsedia tote Givenchy's bags are to die for at the moment. I love the beautiful detail on the si [...]

This week I'm all about fun and quirky pieces. Charlotte Olympia Flashback brass and textured leather clutch Just so cute. It's the tiny details as [...]

Spring has finally sprung in West Sussex and I'm lusting after bright colours and summery cuts. This is the first time I've created an outfit for my [...]

[...] the above then I'm guessing you're thinking of a beloved partner or family member. Me? Kenneth Branagh. To be more specific, and less stalkery, Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth. Eagle eyes readers [...]

[...] - and its film version - is probably most famous for the careers it helped to launch: Kenneth Branagh and Rupert Everett got their big breaks as Judd and Bennett respectively in the [...]

[...] ridiculous it would be of them to write their life story. Such was the general reaction to Kenneth Branagh’s autobiography, Beginning, when he published it at the tender age of 28. The reaction and [...]

[...] or anything, just because it's one of the books I've most enjoyed reading. 7. Beginning - Kenneth Branagh I love autobiographies so there had to be a couple on this list. I've reviewed this on the [...]

[...] same day, especially when those plays are the critically lauded James Plays at my beloved National Theatre. The James Plays, the first ever collaboration between the National Theatre of Scotland and [...]

[...] , and thus does it much better than many who do. A Small Family Business, playing at the National Theatre, is one of the moral comedies that Ayckbourn is famous for. It tells the story of Jack [...]

[...] Are you bored of my blog posts extolling the virtues of every play the National Theatre ever stage? Then move along, there’s nothing for you here. This weekend I headed to my [...]

[...] , and if Simon Russell Beale is mine then I'm totally cool with that. Elsewhere, the supporting cast is universally strong. And pretty huge - there are a lot of non-speaking soldier/knight [...]

[...] . The ballroom numbers were lovely too, especially the simple and romantic waltz. His supporting cast, including fellow Strictly pro Aliona Vilani (who I was amazingly un-annoyed by) and [...]

[...] you only really realise is so shocking when reflecting on the play after it's ended. The supporting cast are uniformly excellent too - I particularly liked Debra Gillett as Jack's scatty-but- [...]

[...] damned spot' was great; better, I thought, than in Manchester. A fantastic turn. The supporting cast was great too, although I did miss the raw emotional power of Ray Fearon's Macduff from [...]

[...] BBC documentaries in 2012 (I think) rekindled that fascination. Last year I also devoured Hilary Mantel's amazing series of historical novels - Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - that tell the [...]

[...] As I imagine I've mentioned many times before on this blog, Hilary Mantel is my favorite author and Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies are my favourite books. Ever. ( [...]

[...] easy to follow and basically idiot proof. And much cheaper than therapy. 10. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel The best book I've ever read, full stop. Pretty easy really. Now I know I have some [...]

[...] going through my Tudor phase (though how long that will last since I've just picked up Hilary Mantel's French revolution set A Place of Greater Safety remains to be seen), I intend to read [...]

[...] to devote my precious free time to reading a whole book about her. Plus I really enjoyed Alison Weir's Six Wives of Henry VIII (featuring, of course, a Mary Boleyn cameo). An Alison Weir [...]

[...] eyes of his right hand man Thomas Cromwell. I noticed in Mantel's bibliography that the name Alison Weir kept cropping up. She'd also cropped up as an expert in some of the BBC docs. So when I spotted [...]