Reviews Articles
Old Rage, by Sheila Hancock
As many readers will know, Sheila Hancock takes her Quakerism seriously. In this latest work of autobiography (covering 2016 to 2021), she begins with a note about becoming a dame. Should she accept? Is it in keeping with a Quaker belief in equality? She decides that to turn it down would be...
The Salt of the Earth, by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
This 2014 film, which chronicles the life’s work of the photographer Sebastião Salgado, is a hard watch. The camera is pitiless, presenting horrific images – corpses in Rwanda, skeletal bodies in the Sahel – but with deep humanity and empathy.
The Last Days, by Ali Millar
I’ve always found Jehovah’s Witnesses fascinating and, over the years, have come to know several reasonably well. But only one, Kevin our window cleaner, has ever been prepared to talk about faith. We’ve chatted about how he spends Saturdays knocking on doors, and how he remains cheerful,...
Forgiveness: An exploration, by Marina Cantacuzino
This is a significantly hopeful book for our time. We’ve been through the extended trauma of Covid (its impact on our health and our reaction to its mismanagement), and the continuing uncertainty and lack of confidence in our political leadership, direction and competence. The coarsening of public discourse and...
White Debt: The Demerara Uprising and Britain’s legacy of slavery, by Thomas Harding
We inherit a past in which damage was done. We can’t cure the damage, but its effects persist. It presents us with responsibilities.
The Bullet in the Pawpaw: Theatre and AIDS in South Africa, by Kim Hope
In March 2003 I was on my way to Kuruman Moffat Mission in South Africa. I was going to lead some talks and workshops on art therapy, at a conference of people working in prisons. On the way I had arranged a couple of meetings in Johannesburg with conflict resolution organisations,...
Listening as Quaker Practice, by James McCarthy
This little Kindlers book is a gem. It explores listening in depth from a Quaker perspective and draws on many Friends’ experiences.
Queer Holiness, by Charlie Bell
Unlike many who hold forth on the topic of LGBT+ people and the church, Charlie Bell is eminently qualified to talk about it. He is a consultant psychiatrist and academic, and also a curate at a south London Anglican church.
Twist of Love, by Rosemary May Wells
Rosemary May Wells’ fourth collection of poems is the companion to her first, God is an Onion. It encompasses global and everyday life events, as well as people and friendships, and the natural world and the local area. All this is done with warmth, love and grace.
What’s Eating the Universe? And other cosmic questions, by Paul Davies
This book, written with Paul Davies’ trademark clarity and humour, answers many questions we may have about contemporary physics. For example, does it still believe in anti-matter? Somewhat embarrassingly, we read that the first anti-matter particle, the positron, an electron with a positive charge, was discovered ninety years ago. On...