When my beloved father died in 2021, my five siblings and I were told we were not allowed to attend his funeral. It was his and his fourth wife’s wish that only she should be there. The sadness led me to write a novel. None of the characters in STEALING DAD are based on my family (we didn’t steal Dad), but the book stems from emotional truth.
Thrilled to see it mentioned in today’s @obsmagazine as one of @ahmpreston choices for “Fiction to look out for in 2025.”
Published by Corsair @littlebrownbookgroup_uk@hachetteuk May 2025.
Many people have asked if it was cathartic to write ‘Stealing Dad’, a novel inspired by the aftermath of my father’s death when nobody but his 4th wife was allowed to attend his funeral. Not really, I usually say. But it allowed me to think about the significance of death rituals, & the family ruptures & reconfigurations that bereavement can bring.
Now though, 4 years after my dad died and 3 years after my 5 siblings & I finally received some ashes & buried them in a belated ‘funeral’ of our own, there has been a shift. The book being out in the world has brought catharsis. Being back on the remote Hebridean island where my father was often at his best brings catharsis. And forgiveness.
I’ve gathered more stones (many with fossils he taught me to recognise), carried them up the hill to the place he used to say he’d like to be buried. I’ve added them to the small but growing mound that we hope might one day turn into a cairn, & there’s satisfaction in ‘tending the grave’. There’s a new kind of peace. Might RIP refer to mourners as well as to the deceased?
Still... I am horribly aware of the ‘luxury’ of having funerals, graves & memorials at a time when dead Palestinian children & parents lie beneath their destroyed homes in Gaza, unburied, perhaps forever. Those traumas will surely take generations to resolve into emotional peace, whatever the politicians do.
#ceasefirenow #freepalestine
Thanks @rachelsermanni for the gorgeous song
I’ve become very attached to the complex and beautiful neighbourhood around Victoria Square in Athens. It was a joy to write about it in Stealing Dad and thanks to @guardian for commissioning a piece about this fascinating, multicultural area.
First two photos are by friend and Victoria local, @katerina_bakogianni - thanks for making me feel at home.
Thanks @athensville for taking me on magical mystery tours and for his fabulous online videos of unsung Athens
Hexham Station is so pretty and surely a candidate for recreating one’s own Brief Encounter. They even serve something like Bath buns as in the film in their lovely Platform Bar.
Thank you Hexham Literary Festival for the wonderful hospitality.
The paperback of Stealing Dad is out today. My dear friend @katerina_bakogianni snapped me on her windy balcony in Victoria Square in celebration.
Thank you to everyone who has helped get this book out into the world. It had a rocky path to publication, but a soft landing and I’m very grateful.
Upcoming events are on my website and include:
Hexham Literary Festival 29.4.26
Cheltenham Science Festival 7.6.26
Dr Johnson’s House with Julia Samuel 10.6.26
Owl Bookshop with Esther Freud 8.9.26
Sherbourne Literary Society 9.9.26
Corfu Literary Festival 21-26.9.26
I’m a huge admirer of Julia Samuel @juliasamuelmbe & her groundbreaking, wonderful work on grief as a psychotherapist, author, interviewer & podcaster. When my father died, I was helped by her wise words & they resonated when I wrote my novel Stealing Dad.
So I’m deeply honoured & excited to be doing an event with Julia in London at Dr Johnson’s House @drjohnsonshouse - June 10. We’ll be talking about love, loss, grief and rituals.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Dr Johnson, you can have a drink & look around the house before the event. I just listened to the wonderful podcast series on Boswell & Johnson by The Rest is History team @theresthistory which will get you in the mood.
Check my website or for details
Hurrah! We have the shortlist. It was hard leaving out so many wonderful books from the long list - I wanted to have special consolation prizes for some. But this is a fabulous and varied selection from which the winner will emerge.
THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2026 SHORTLIST
In alphabetical order
🌟Joshua Barley @joshuabtbarley (tr.), Athens Tales (Oxford University Press)
🌟Agnes Callard @agnes_callard Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life (Penguin)
🌟Julian Hoffman @jhoffmanprespa Lifelines: Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece (Elliot and Thompson)
🌟Peter Jeffreys & Gregory Jusdanis, Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine Cavafy (Simon and Schuster)
🌟Daniel Mendelsohn @danielmendelsohn1960 (tr.), Homer, The Odyssey (University of Chicago Press)
Hugo Shakeshaft @hugoshakeshaft Beauty and the Gods: A History from Homer to Plato (Princeton University Press)
🌟Brian Sneeden (tr.), Phoebe Giannisi, @giannisiphoebe Goatsong (Fitzcarraldo)
Hold onto your hats philhellenes, bibliophiles, logophiles (and cynophiles)! This week we decide the shortlist for the 2026 Runciman Award. The winner is announced in June for the best book in English about Greece or a Greek subject. Each year it is an extraordinary experience to read our way through a fantastic and varied longlist. It’s going to be tough choice. What are your favourites?
#runcimanaward #anglohellenicleague
1. This weekend’s @fthtsi@ft_weekend has all sorts of useful pieces, like the coolest cabin escapes or 23 ways to wear neon.
2. You can also read my article about how funerals and attitudes to death are changing in the UK. Thanks @liviamanerasambuy for snapping it in a Parisian cafe!
3. Plus some top books that deal with grief and that I’ve loved.
4. Plus a great illustration by the wonderful @drorcof
5. Everyone I meet seems to have their own death story or funeral drama… Do you agree that we are starting to change or is death still taboo and funerals not discussed until we are forced to?
