Oh joy! The latest Persephone Biannually has dropped through the letterbox, complete with a bookmark for The Journey Home by Malachi Whitaker, whom I have never read, but this edition includes her short story Smoke of the Tide, so I can give her a try! And there are all sorts of other articles, including one on Guard Your Daughters and its author Diana Tutton. Persephone remains one of my favourite publishers, and the bookshop in Lamb’s Conduit Street is always worth a visit, even if you don’t buy anything, though personally I don’t think it’s possible to come away empty-handed. On my last visit a few weeks ago I gave up all pretence of succumbing to temptation on the spur of the moment, and went armed with a list. But I was very restrained and only bought three titles – Minnie’s Room, Tea With Mr Rochester and Greengates. Then, when I was at my mother’s last week I found a copy of the Persephone edition of Someone at a Distance, by Dorothy Whipple, in a charity bookshop for just £1! I queried the price, because it’s worth more, and it’s in pristine condition although, alas, there is no bookmark… still, you can’t have everything. Anyway, I’m half-way through Someone at a Distance, which is very good indeed, and I’m planning a bit of a Persephone marathon at the moment fortified, as I always say, by tea and cake!