Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where this week we have been rather distracted by the rather sudden switch to homeschooling, or, er “remote learning,” as it is now known, here in England.  I say distracted. Perhaps blindsided is a better word? Bludgeoned over the head? Confined against my will? For those outside the UK,

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, and Merry Christmas. Christmas literature, film and poetry are regrettably replete with trite tropes and maudlin sentiment. I don’t mean this as a ‘Bah humbug!’ to the great Solemnity, but rather as the lament of one who loves Christmas and its ceremonials: its music, food and drink, decorations, parties,

The chaos is a part of the joy.

Readers are advised that this essay contains disturbing details of horrific crimes. Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk. In an ordinary week I would begin this column by saying that we are contemplating the image of Mary Magdalene, because we are, but I have other things on my mind as well, and they are what

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where this week we are wondering about People Like That. You know the kind of people I mean. People Like That. People who think that way, and do those things, and behave like that. They probably vote like that, too. Ugh. People. They give me headaches. Fortunately, for all

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where this week we are righteously indignant and spilling ink on our editor’s dime, and I’m promised he buys by the barrel.  Last week, on the same day the Literary Helpdesk published, Chapter House featured a piece by another regular columnist, Niall Gooch, with the hook The need for

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where we are meditating upon patience (which is far easier than acquiring it, believe you me!). You might think that reading books like War and Peace or Moby Dick necessarily takes patience. It takes a long time to read them after all. The thing is, how long something takes

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk where this week we are disenchanted with dystopia. Reading this in 2020 you might think this is commentary on current events: plague, politics, polarisations, and so forth. But actually I mean all the stories — in print and film — that make an idol of bleakness. (My husband has

“What is pornography?” is the nutshell version of one major question Victoria Seed this week on the Literary Helpdesk. Another: “What’s so bad about it?” The answers may be clear and the conclusions inevitable, but the way by which we approach the questions and reach the answers is not a matter of critical — hence,

The changed – and changing – rhythms of life in ‘ronatide can be jarring. They can also lead to poetry. Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where we are out of sorts. I’ve had a cold and it didn’t get me out of doing anything. This was especially aggravating because, to quote Mary from Persuasion:

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk, where school is in session. From time to time I am asked to recommend “a good writing guide,” or “a book that every writer should read,” meaning a guide to writing that I consider to be generally useful if not indispensable. It is a difficult request to meet, not

Welcome back to the Literary Helpdesk where this week we are reading Pride and Prejudice in the north of England. I always read Jane Austen on holiday in northern climes. It is both the perfect pairing — my favourite part of the world with my favourite author — and a small act of literary rebellion.

Lisa Montgomery’s execution was not justice. It did not make the world better, restore it to order, or net off the debt of sin.

Victoria Seed says the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are right to demand the government account for the suppression of public worship.