'The Rose Field' by Philip Pullman

18 February 2026

It's now more than 30 years since the publication of 'Northern Lights', Philip Pullman's first novel recounting the story of Lyra Silvertongue. We followed Lyra and her companions through the three novels of the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and now with 'The Rose Field' (which I've just finished reading as an unabridged audiobook, narrated by Michael Sheen), Pullman's second Lyra trilogy 'The Book of Dust' is complete. Following on directly from 'The Secret Commonwealth' (reviewed here in December 2019), 'The Rose Field' picks up Lyra's journey east across Europe in search of the Red Building and a doorway to another world. Where 'The Secret Commonwealth' felt like a Cold War spy thriller, 'The Rose Field' returns to more fantastical themes, introducing flying gryphons and other mythical creatures. I found it satisfying how many references there were back to the original three novels, bringing the story full circle. But I could have done with more recap of the events from 'The Secret Commonwealth'. There's so much in this final novel that the plot gets quite confusing at times. The characters, however, - particularly Lyra and Malcolm and their daemons, and the wonderful Abdel Ionides - are beautifully drawn, sympathetic and entertaining. And the audio book is worth listening to purely to hear how much fun Michael Sheen is having performing the dramatic events of Lyra's final chapters. If this is the last we see of Lyra, it's been an amazing 30-year journey. And I've enjoyed it all the way. 

'Hamlet' by Aneil Karia

12 February 2026

On Tuesday we were at Cineworld in Milton Keynes to see Aneil Karia's new film of 'Hamlet'. Set in contemporary London around a wealthy British Indian family, it's a clever take on Shakespeare's play - rooting it in the real world with very believable contemporary characters, but still using the Shakespearean text (albeit with much of the original play omitted and the cast thinned down to a few principal protagonists). Riz Ahmed is excellent as the Prince, a very realistic performance with him whispering his soliloquies as if genuinely speaking to himself. It's an interesting contrast with Robert Hastie's National Theatre 'Hamlet' that we saw recently (reviewed here in January 2026). Although we saw that production on screen at the cinema, it was clearly a theatrical production, and Hiran Abeysekera's Hamlet frequently broke the fourth wall to engage the audience directly. Here Riz Ahmed resists any temptation to look at the camera, very focused on his inner turmoil. And the close-up handheld camera shots show every twitch of his facial muscles revealing his thinking and agony. The rest of the cast are also very strong with Art Malik's Claudius the most Shakespearean sounding. Sheeba Chaddha as Gertrude, Timothy Spall as Polonius, Joe Alwyn as Laertes, and Morfydd Clark as Ophelia (who also takes some of the absent Horatio's lines) are all excellent. Cutting the play to focus on the main story and to compress the action into a suitable length for a film, writer Michael Lesslie has removed all the comic relief leaving this a very grim, dark version of 'Hamlet'. But it's a brutally realistic, thrilling tragedy. The scene in which Polonius is killed is viscerally shocking. This is a clever, gripping, dark, contemporary take on 'Hamlet'. 

'A' Chailleach' by Kim Carnie

5 February 2026

I've been really enjoying the 'A' Chailleach', the new album by the young Scottish Gaelic singer Kim Carnie. She calls it "a concept record rooted in female folklore, spell work and hidden histories". Lom Carnie was awarded Gaelic Singer of the Year 2021 and this is her second solo album, following her 2022 debut 'And So We Gather'. Her gentle, catchy Gaelic folk/pop reminded me a lot of the music of Julie Fowlis (reviewed here in February 2006, April 2007 and May 2014), who features as a guest on one track here. I was particularly interested to hear of her cross-cultural collaborations with West African musicians and there is a track on this album featuring the Senegalese musician Sekou Keita (on kora and vocals). These are beautiful new songs by Kim Carnie, but rooted in the Gaelic folk tradition. 

Bedford Sinfonia concert

27 January 2026

On Saturday I was at All Saints Church, Queens Park, Bedford to play in the Bedford Sinfonia concert, conducted by Ian Smith. It's more than 10 years since I last played with the orchestra (accompanying a Bedford Choral Society concert, reviewed here in November 2015). Saturday's concert was a programme of pieces by female composers. We started with Ethel Smyth's Overture 'The Wreckers' - which was, for a long time, the only orchestral piece by a female composer in the repertoire of many orchestras. I enjoyed discovering the 'Gaelic Symphony' by Amy Beach (whose piano concerto we played with Northampton Symphony Orchestra a couple of years ago, reviewed here in July 2024). The second half of the concert featured the 'Overture' by Fanny Mendelssohn, followed by 'Symphony No 1' by Florence Price - the first work by a Black woman composer to be performed by a major US orchestra. I had seen a performance of the symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival (reviewed here in September 2022) and it was great to get the chance to play it. I hadn't played any of the four pieces in Saturday's concert before. It was an interesting and entertaining programme - though quite a long, tiring concert to play. 

'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare

26 January 2026

On Thursday evening we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to see the NTLive screening of Hamlet, recorded at the Lyttelton Theatre in London. This National Theatre production, directed by Robert Hastie, stars Hiran Abeysekera as a fast-talking ,mischievous Hamlet who spends much of the performance breaking the fourth wall. It's an entertaining and compelling performance. The production emphasises the humour of the play with Geoffrey Streatfeild's Polonius less a bungling old fool than a court jester performing to the king (complete with ukulele) and Francesca Mills' performance as Ophelia straying close to clowning at times, which makes her descent into madness a bit of a handbrake turn. But Alistair Petrie as Claudius and Ayesha Dharker as Gertrude provide a serious center to the story, both making their characters realistic, believable, and surprisingly sympathetic. And Tessa Wong is moving as a caring and emotional Horatio. The last Hamlet we saw was Rupert Goold's incredible production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford last year, setting the whole play on the deck of a ship (reviewed here in February 2025). This new production was always going to struggle to match that wow moment. But while in Stratford Luke Thallon was a brilliant, restless, twitchy Hamlet, it's Es Devlin's magnificent set that I remember, whereas this Hamlet definitely belongs to Hiran Abeysekera. 

'Coven' by Rebecca Brewer and Daisy Chute

20 January 2026

On Saturday we made a first visit to the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, North London, to see 'Coven' - a new musical about the Pendle witch trials written by Rebecca Brewer and Daisy Chute, directed by Miranda Cromwell. The story is built on the possibility that Jenet Device, who was accused of witchcraft by an 11 year old boy in 1633, could have been the same Jenet Device whose evidence as a child witness against her own family in the Pendle trial of 1612 set the precedent for the use of child testimony in witch trials. 'Coven' is a powerful show, performed by an all female cast (with the musicians also forming part of the on stage ensemble). Given the 17th century Lancashire setting I had assumed the music would have a folk feel but the show features an eclectic range of styles from traditional folk to rock, pop, rap and gospel. There is some very impressive singing throughout - with Gabrielle Brooks as Jenet and Lauryn Redding as Rose the standout performances. Jasmine Swan's inventive set suggests Pendle Hill in the background and has a few surprises in store. The show addresses a dark subject and is angering, moving and powerful but also finds humour in a desperate situation and uses some satirical scenes to good effect. The finale packed a strong, emotional punch and had the sold-out (mostly female) audience spontaneously on its feet. 

'Suspicion' by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

14 January 2026

Having enjoyed 'Tokyo Express', Seicho Matsumoto's intriguing Hitchcockian mystery novel set in 1950s Japan (reviewed here in June 2024), I came across another book by Matsumoto, 'Suspicion' (also recently translated by Jesse Kirkwood). This is more a novella than a novel - a short tale told through the eyes of a journalist who talks to the lawyers defending a woman with gang connections who is suspected of murdering her husband. Loosely based on an actual crime from 1974, 'Suspicion' was first published in Japanese in 1982. It's a slight story but is still a satisfying puzzle, beautifully written in that same lovely polite style (feeling more 1950s than 1980).