Dr Olivia Gomersall

A stunning frozen Staffordshire #staffordshire #england

10. The Twelve by Liz Hyder

A fantastic young adult book. With its folk horror elements, it really harks back to classics like The Dark is Rising. That said, it is a fabulous book in its own right.

9. North Woods by Daniel Mason

A hugely clever novel charting the changing residents and fate of a New England house over 400 years. A great supernatural undercurrent.

8. Kala by Colin Walsh

A group of friends look back on the moment their friend went missing during their heady teen years. In doing so they open themselves up new danger

7. The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

Wonderfully creepy, a horror novel set in Poland pre-WW1. Imagine being trapped in a sanatorium as things keep getting more and more scary and strange…

6. The Party by Tessa Hadley

A beautiful novella set in austerity post-war Bristol. About sisterhood and testing the boundaries growing up in a new age.

5. The Peepshow by Kate Summerscale

A history of the horrific murders at 10 Rillington Place which shifts the focus onto the victims and the society which allowed such crimes to happen.

4. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Heartbreaking and hopeful, this is a wonderful literary study of memory, difficult histories and love.

3. The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts

Monica Potts explores how women from her background have fallen through the cracks in an America doesn’t catch the vulnerable. This is an important book.

2. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

A magical springtime trip to Italy with four women each trying to escape their everyday lives. You can smell the Mediterranean gardens.

1. Long Island by Colm Tóibín

A beautiful and sensitive return to the life of Eilis Fiorello years after Brooklyn

67 books read this year. Everything from New Zealand crime thrillers, to analysis of postwar war crimes trials. My top ten:

🎄 It's Day 5 in our #Shropshire advent calendar and here is Laura's Tower at Shrewsbury Castle, seen beneath a bright blue sky after overnight snow. It was built by Thomas Telford in around 1790 as a 21st birthday present for the daughter of Sir William Pulteney MP. ☃️

I fear the day when those who help me advocate for myself are no longer around or able to support

The Waterstones #BookOfTheYear winners are here!

A sensation with booksellers and readers from day one, it could only be BUTTER by Asako Yuzuki 🐄

And Children’s Book of the Year is I AM REBEL by Ross Montgomery, an unforgettable canine adventure 🐕

📚 www.waterstones.com/category/cul...

Enjoyed taking a friend out to look at the beautiful churches I get to spend my time around. St Bartholomew’s Tong was looking rather sparkly in the frost and St Andrew’s Shifnal was busy and full of life as always #shropshire #church #england

“Or who is clinically depressed”.

A cold sky in Bridgnorth #shropshire #england

A snowy morning in Ironbridge today #weather #StormHour #Snow #Telford

Fabulous! A Folklore starter pack. Thank you @paulcowdell.bsky.social

⚠️ New Post ⚠️

I've have completely rewritten my article about The Devil's time in Shropshire to reflect my research. You can read all about Owd Scratch and why Shropshire really is his county by following the link below

nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-...

#Folklore #Shropshire