Emily Rhodes

writer

I write, mostly about books. Sometimes books are a means of writing about something else – a way of getting closer to the truth of a situation.

My features and reviews have appeared in publications including the Financial Times, Spectator, Guardian, 1843, the TLS and Country Life.

These pieces are the most important to me:

Meet the librarians - and book-borrowers - of the Calais Jungle (Spectator, 2015)
Read

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval (FT Weekend Life & Arts, 16 November 2018)

A sensual, putrid reimagining of the original sin that explores the dynamics between two young women.
Read

Books on the Street – The Rise of Micro-libraries (FT Weekend Magazine, 3 August, 2018)

While we bemoan the tragic dwindling in our public libraries, informal book-swaps - "micro-libraries" - are on the rise. I look at how, where and why.
Read

You can read more of and about my work here:

I began Emily’s Walking Book Club in 2012, and it's still going strong. We meet monthly, in all weathers, to walk and talk books on Hampstead Heath. Find out more and sign up to the monthly newsletter

Author Events and Broadcasting

I enjoy participating in live events - talking about books, interviewing authors and chairing panel discussions; I’m also confident in broadcast journalism. More on that here.

I hope you enjoy the site. Drop me a line and say hello!

Instagram

Instagram post 2174121243442291580_11051314896

30 years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it was strangely difficult to discuss the fascinating book Red Love by Maxim Leo with Emily’s walking book club today.
.
.
The crux of this thoughtful family memoir is the contrast between Maxim’s grandfathers: Gerhard, who escaped Nazi Germany and fought in the French Resistance, and Werner, who was a minor Nazi. Two men with very different ideologies that somehow came together in their mutual love for the GDR: “a kind of dreamland, in which they could forget all the depressing things that had gone before... New faith for old suffering.”
.
.
The author is brilliant at showing how this dream of the GDR soured over 3 generations, and is also at pains to show the complexity of the situation - the many echoes and dissonances between the different regimes and characters in this looping narrative.
.
.
Nothing in this Red book is black and white.
.
.
Perhaps this is why it felt impossible to resolve the various discussion points raised as we walked across the Heath on this beautiful sunny Sunday. Pleasingly so.
.
.
Next meeting: The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald on 15 December.
.
.
.
.
.
#berlinwallmemorial #berlinwall #gdr #redlove #maximleo #pushkinpress #emilyswalkingbookclub #bookclub #walkingbookclub #familymemoir #memoir #bookishlove #bookishgirl #booksbooksbooks #bookaddiction #bookstagramfeatures #bookcommunity #booksarelife #booksofig #ukbookstagram #bookworm #igreads #whattoreadnext #readmorebooks #womenwhoread #dauntbooks #hampsteadheath
@pushkin_press @dauntbooks

Instagram post 2168350908096814411_11051314896

A few recent reviews, including my Spectator piece on Kathleen Jamie’s beautiful new collection of essays, Surfacing.
.
.
An amazing book - I loved the way her pared-back prose, so deceptively simple and easy to read, is alive with complex ideas. I thought: how on earth am I going to write about this, but then the stars aligned and I think this is one of the best crit pieces I’ve done. Is it ok to say that about one’s own work?! Would love to know what you think. (Scroll through to pics 2&3.)
.
.
I also reviewed Akin by a Emma Donoghue for the FT Life & Arts - a touching portrayal of a relationship between an old academic and his great-nephew that risked being a bit too schmaltzy but I felt stayed just the right side of it. Also some good insight into a France during the Second World War, especially The Marcel Network, which saved the lives of 527 children.
.
.
And a teeny Guardian review of The Sea Cloak by Palestinian activist and author Nayrouz Qarmout - an explosive portrait of innocence corrupted that somehow remained hopeful.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#bookishlove #booksbooksbooks #bookaddiction #bookstagramfeatures #bookcommunity #booksarelife #booksofig #ukbookstagram #bookworm #igreads #whattoreadnext #readmorebooks #womenwhoread #womenwhowrite #bookreview #bookaddict #readersofinsta #newbooks #guardianbooks #spectator1828 #ftweekend #fictionreview #essays #shortstories #emmadonoghue #kathleenjamie #sortofbooks #commapress #nayrouzqarmout

Instagram post 2151697621633268910_11051314896

The Peregrine by JA Baker absolutely split #emilyswalkingbookclub.
.
.
Those who really loved it tended to be pretty knowledgeable about nature, or, in the case of one walker, read it beside her computer so that she could look up what all the wildlife looked like as she went.
.
.
One member made a list of all the types of bird mentioned in the book - quite a few as you can see in the pic!
.
.
We all thought the writing was extraordinary - dense with hyperreal images, thick with verbs turned into nouns and more. Some of us felt it was just too intense to read it all in just a few days, but would rather like to read along with the diary entries, which start in October and end in April, as a way of managing the intensity. People who weren’t so into the book found it was hard to concentrate for pages and pages of description without much really “happening” in terms of plot. We reckon reading it bit by bit like this would be a great fix - so looking forward to hearing anyone’s thoughts on reading it like this back in April. I’m def going to give it a try.
.
.
We talked a lot about killing. There is so much of it in the book. Specifically the purity and efficiency of the peregrine’s kill versus the awful killing of the Second World War and the environmental disaster of DDT.
.
.
Many of us noted that reading the book had changed the way we look at the world. Now we are more inclined to look up at the sky and in the trees as we go. No peregrines spotted on our walk, alas, but we did spot the white rumps of some jays.
.
.
Next meeting on Sunday 10th November to discuss Maxim Leo’s brilliant family memoir of East German life, Red Love. Meeting at @dauntbooks Hampstead at 1130 as usual. All details on the website, or pm me and I can add you to the mailing list.
.
.
Thanks @juliamusings for pic number 2.
.
.
.
.
#theperegrine #jabaker #naturewriting #classicbooks #rereading #whattoreadnext #slowreading #bookclubselection #bookclubofinstagram #bookclubs #bookclubstagram #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #booknook #bookstagramuk #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookfeatures #walkingbookclub #hampsteadheath #outdoorreading #walkandtalk

Instagram post 2149296906982115153_11051314896

Emily Rhodes

Features

Reviews

Books

Emily's Walking Book Club

Author Events and Broadcasting

Instagram