![Books as a Covid passport Books as a Covid passport](https://bookanista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/We_Are_Not_In_The_World_feature.jpg)
Books as a Covid passport
Earlier this year, my novel The Butchers won the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize, awarded to the book which best evokes ‘the spirit of a place’. The prize seems like a lovely thing at the best of times – I am a big believer in the transportive power of books – but this year it felt...
![On ghosts and grace On ghosts and grace](https://bookanista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jenn_Ashworth_slider-290x290.jpg)
On ghosts and grace
At the outset of our email chat about her new novel Ghosted, when I tell her how deeply I connected with her story, Jenn Ashworth accepts my heartfelt praise with the comment: “It’s all I want, really, when people read my books – just to feel like they’ve been acknowledged and offered something half-useful.” It’s...