Catholic Herald Obituary of Audrey Donnithorne

My obituary for the wonderful, much missed Audrey Donnithorne can be found here and in the current print edition of the Catholic Herald.

The Jesuits in China

  The first Jesuit missionaries to China were a really fascinating group and Liam Matthew Brockey’s Journey to the East provides many new insights into their mission. Whereas previous accounts tended to emphasise the Jesuit mission to the imperial court, Brockey conclusively shows that they also made a big impact in the countryside among ordinary folk too.

Audrey Donnithorne RIP

Audrey Donnithorne, one of the true greats, died today at the age of 97. When she was two years old, she was kidnapped by bandits along with her parents in Sichuan and promptly disarmed her captors (but, sadly, only metaphorically) by chatting away to them in Chinese. This incident (which ended happily when all the

More thoughts on the spectacular

Sight and blindness, both literal and metaphorical, are key themes in my novel, Between Darkness and Light. In this passage, for example, we see what Wang Weijun now experiences, having lost one eye in a childish game of William Tell:

Exciting news about my first children’s novel

I’m really delighted to announce that the wonderful Cranachan is going to be publishing my first children’s novel next year. I’ll write more soon but here’s the press release: Scottish publisher Cranachan has signed author Roy Peachey to its middle-grade imprint, Pokey Hat, for his debut children’s title, The Race. The dual narrative, which will

Grace Lin’s ‘Where the Mountain Meets the Moon’

Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is the most enjoyable children’s book I have read in a long time. It is surely destined to become a 21st century Classic.