A courtyard fountain seen through an archway in South Africa's Waterford Wine Estate.

The journal: Arts & Culture

Destinations12 November 2025
A Day in Les Baux-de-Provence: Monet, Medieval Streets & Alpilles Trails
The road to Les Baux-de-Provence wound around the mountain, going up, up, up through the rocky outcrop. We hugged the narrow road, with a drop on one side and slabs of white stone on the other. As we rounded another bend, the commune of Les Baux rose above, its ruined castle a crowning jewel. Having explored the charming historical village before, I knew my mum would love it. Our plan was…
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Arts & Culture27 August 2024
An Agent of Heritage: Nic Wolpe's Enduring Legacy
Like his favourite fictional secret agent, James Bond, Nic Wolpe had several brushes with death. As an infant, he survived a rare pneumonia he contracted as a six-week-old baby. As an adult, he survived a benign spinal tumour, a heart attack, and a few other near-death experiences. On Saturday 24 August 2024, he passed away after a two-year battle against a brain tumour. He was only 61. Nic’s…
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Arts & Culture1 April 2024
Book Review: The Women
Heartbreaking and raw. These are the words I've used to describe Kristin Hannah's latest novel, The Women, whenever I rave about it to anyone looking for their next page-turner. Hannah expertly weaves a fictional tale among real events and highlights often-overlook narratives. The Women follows Frankie McGrath in the naivety of her early 20s as she enlists as a nurse in the Vietnam War. It…
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Arts & Culture29 October 2023
Book Review: The Nightingale
My introduction to Kristin Hannah was through The Nightingale. A powerful and deeply moving story of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, in World War II-era France. Having never read anything by the author before, I didn't know what to expect but the book's blurb didn't thrill me. Despite this, I found myself captivated by the story almost immediately, and far more than I thought I would be. The…
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Arts & Culture1 November 2022
Book Review: The Midnight Library
From the first page, I was intrigued as you're immediately thrust into the mind of Nora, who has decided to kill herself. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a novel with major self-help vibes that follows Nora as she finds herself in the space between life and death. There, she's able to sample alternative versions of herself - alternative realities shaped by decisions, small and big, that…
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Arts & Culture31 July 2021
Book Review: The Dictionary of Lost Words
Pip Williams’s debut novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, weaves a wonderfully whimsical story between real historical events. In between the writing of the first Oxford English Dictionary, the suffragette movement and World War I, you’ll be introduced to characters plucked from the past and a few conjured from the mind of the author. In this book, Williams imaginatively answers how the word…
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Arts & Culture7 July 2021
Book Review: The Road Trip
After reading The Flatshare I was eager to get my hands on more of Beth O’Leary’s novels. To my shock (and equal delight), this author had already written two other books. Her second book, The Switch, sounded right up my alley but her third, The Road Trip didn’t tickle my fancy quite as much. But after falling in love with the cast of characters featured in The Switch, I decided to put my faith…
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Arts & Culture27 March 2021
Book Review: The Switch
It’s safe to say that I’m a fan of Beth O'Leary. I devoured her second book, The Switch, almost as quickly as I did her first book, The Flatshare. If The Flatshare is the perfect poolside indulgence then The Switch is the kind of book you curl up with in an armchair while drinking hot chocolate next to a roaring fire. The story follows Eileen Cotton the elder and younger, who goes by Leena, as…
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Arts & Culture18 November 2020
Book Review: City of Girls
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert took me by surprise in the best way. It follows the profoundly vain Vivian - a self-proclaimed narcissist - as she recounts the tale of how she met Angela’s father. It’s a little like the TV show How I Met Your Mother and just as long. (The story of how Vivian met Angela’s father could have been told in 100 pages rather than 500). The story starts with Vivian…
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Arts & Culture10 October 2020
Book Review: The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker
Mrs P’s dizzying journey to find her husband, Dr Henry Parker, aboard the ship they’ve spent most of their lives on won’t make my top-20 list. Here’s why: the book describes a fair amount of fantastic destinations without actually taking you there. In fact, it offers the most minimal of snapshots for a book whose main character has travelled the world. The Last Voyage of Mrs. Henry Parker by…
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