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Showing posts with the label Nigel Cawthorne

Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...

The Empress of South America by Nigel Cawthorne

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Opening this book was like opening Pandora's box. All the evils came out, not to be spread through the world, but over Paraguay. The title of this book tickled my curiosity when I was offered a review copy from Endeavour press . The Empress of South America? Who could that be? It sounded impressive, but I had never heard about such a title or empress. It all started with Elisa Alicia Lynch, born in Ireland in 1833. Ten years later the family emigrated to Paris due to the Great Famine in Ireland. That was the beginning of a life that was to be anything but normal. She married at seventeen, separated from her husband three years later, and entered into the world of the courtesans. Through connections she managed to move into the highest circle; the one surrounding Princess Mathilde Bonaparte. It was in this circle that she met her fate; the Paraguayan general Francisco Solano Lopez. But, let's start where the book starts. In Paris, one night in May 1961, when a Paraguayan...

Book Beginnings on Fridays and Friday 56

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Better late than never! Here is my contribution for last Friday! Rose City Reader , is hosting  Book beginnings on Friday . She says: Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name. Freda’s voice  is hosting  Friday 56  and the rules are: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.)  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) *Post it. *Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. *It's that simple. My book this week is: I had never heard of this gruesome couple from the 19th century Paraguay. She is Eliza Lynch of Irish origin and he is Francisco Solano López, Paraguayan. Together they managed to kill almost a whole...