By Elaine Hunter. I was inspired to get involved in Extinction Rebellion (XR) after the rebellion in London. For me, the rebellion heralded a sense of hope and a feeling that things could change for the better. I, along with other members of the public, really empathised with XR....
Book review: The Quarter by Naguib Mahfouz
reviewed by Will Vigar. To my shame, Naguib Mahfouz is not a name I knew before receiving his book ‘The Quarter’. When you consider that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, this oversight seems all the more shameful. But rather than descend into a Catholic guilt...
Book review: Dead Popular by Sue Wallman
reviewed by Georgina Lippiett. Dead Popular is a Young Adult novel set in Mount Norton School, one of the most expensive boarding schools in the country. With its coastal setting and state-of-the-art facilities, the students are entitled, confident and guaranteed to succeed. It’s the beginning of term and Kate...
Book review: Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie
Reviewed by Chris Richards You don’t read this story. You feel it. Luan Goldie’s Nightingale Point is visceral, not cerebral. It is powerful, engaging, important, and at times painful. A tale of chances, chaos, and consequences. There are criticisms that can be made but, ultimately, it is perfectly imperfect....
October Books: how the radical bookshop is booming
by Sally Churchward. For the staff and volunteers at October Books, there is delicious irony in the fact that the building in which the radical bookshop is now based used to house a bank. “I love it, it’s so ironic,” exclaims volunteer Glyn Oliver, who has been helping with...
Water Life: Southampton’s houseboat community
by Alex Thurley-Ratcliff. What prompts us to choose the homes we inhabit? Is it purely a financial decision, is it the space we need or is it deeper? Maybe it’s family pressures or maybe it’s a dream… Megan had always dreamt of living on a houseboat, so at age...
People in Common: Simon Cotton
by Sally Churchward. POLITICS run in Simon Cotton’s blood. As a child, he spent much of his time hanging out at his grandad’s house in Shirley, Southampton, where The Sun newspaper was banned, and where Simon was schooled in the importance of being in a union. The older man...
The Rebel Gardeners are coming for your street
by Alex Thurley-Ratcliff (I’m the one in the ‘wild’ t-shirt). So here’s the thing – I really don’t like concrete, tarmac and paving stones. Yes, yes, I know they’re useful and are probably the only way for a modern city to function – but seriously? Our cities are a...
People in Common: Marguerite Rayner
by Stephanie Palmer. “I firmly believe that you do volunteering totally for your own benefit.” That’s the self-deprecating start to my conversation with Marguerite Rayner, volunteer for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Retired housing officer Marguerite has spent nearly every Monday morning for the past four...
Health and fitness column: increase your energy, productivity and free time
by Gen Preece. Most people I meet these days ‘firefight’ their way through the day, certainly most of the ladies that contact me about personal training or joining boot camp, who are struggling to juggle work, kids, home and family life. There may be a bit of structure there, eg the...