“Why umbrellas?” I’ve been fielding this question ever since I started talking about an odd little project of mine: I was writing a book about umbrellas. Umbrellas in literature, I… Read more »

An almost entirely unknown story by P.L. Travers — the author who created Mary Poppins — about the real-life woman who inspired the character will be released this fall, Alison Flood… Read more »

In 1982 a 20-year-old woman moved from Leicester to London to take up the occupation of nanny to two boys, to help out their single-mother. She remembers the house was… Read more »