Britain's leading monthly literary magazine. For people who devour books. Read our latest: literaryreview.co.uk Get our free newsletter: http://eepurl.com/daK84fhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mllfiqfmd22sFor years, the classical tradition has trained female musicians to do away with their vocal break, smoothing it over in the quest for an idealised tone. @marenmein.bsky.social explores the politics and ideas that have controlled the female voice. https://literaryreview.co.uk/while-the-music-lasts11 May 2026 13:38 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mllfiqfmd22shttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mlbjrxxssk2nDogs are everywhere in art, at the feet of scholars and St Jeromes, posing with their owners and striding through Paris. What can we learn about ourselves, Kirsten Tambling wonders, from the ways we depict our animal companions? https://literaryreview.co.uk/artists-best-friend07 May 2026 15:28 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbjrxxssk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3ml6zksnhlc2aOut now! Literary Review's May 2026 issue, featuring Ritchie Robertson on Weimar @chasd2.bsky.social on Louise Bourgeois John Guy on the Tudors Kirsten Tambling on dogs in art @nixonsimon.bsky.social on private equity and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk06 May 2026 15:33 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6zksnhlc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mjwnob5ijc2hFrom Alexandra’s lace and pearls to Elizabeth II’s technicolour tweeds, royal attire has long projected continuity and control. Wendy Holden finds the craftsmen behind it all. https://literaryreview.co.uk/sovereign-style20 Apr 2026 14:13 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwnob5ijc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mhzylcdqss2gAntiquary, biographer, folklorist and natural philosopher John Aubrey was born in this month four hundred years ago. To mark his quadricentennial, Peter Davidson reflects on Aubrey’s legacy. https://literaryreview.co.uk/speaking-through-the-ages27 Mar 2026 11:16 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhzylcdqss2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mhgl5hxki22pIn 1971 George Lucas wandered upstairs at Francis Ford Coppola’s party to watch a film called Duel. By the first commercial break he was convinced: director Steven Spielberg possessed rare talent. Graham Daseler reflects on these three men. literaryreview.co.uk/19715-2 https://literaryreview.co.uk/19715-219 Mar 2026 17:55 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhgl5hxki22phttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3meqdzx7ju22jDespite adopting a pseudonym, George Sand lived much of her life in public view. Lucasta Miller asks whether Sand’s fame has obscured her work. https://literaryreview.co.uk/life-work-adoration13 Feb 2026 10:59 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3meqdzx7ju22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mdvcs342gs2iOut now! Literary Review's February 2026 issue, featuring Norma Clarke on Charlie Chaplin’s London Richard Bourke on revolutions Lucasta Miller on George Sand Peter Davidson on Constable @phmarliere.bsky.social on far-right France and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk02 Feb 2026 16:55 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdvcs342gs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mcsazv6xq22cMargaret Atwood has become a cultural weathervane, blamed for predicting dystopia and celebrated for resisting it. Yet her ‘memoir of sorts’ reveals a more complicated, playful figure. Sophie Oliver introduces us to a young Peggy. https://literaryreview.co.uk/ms-fixits-characteristics19 Jan 2026 18:20 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcsazv6xq22chttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mcamhrxoks2wFor a writer so ubiquitous, George Orwell remains curiously elusive. His voice is lost, his image scarce; all that survives is the prose, and the interpretations built upon it. @dorianlynskey.bsky.social wonders what is to be done. https://literaryreview.co.uk/doublethink-doubt12 Jan 2026 17:57 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcamhrxoks2whttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mboeawgj4c2xThe court of Henry VIII is easy to envision thanks to Hans Holbein the Younger’s portraits: the bearded king, Anne of Cleves in red and gold, Thomas Cromwell demure in black. Peter Marshall paints a picture of the artist himself. literaryreview.co.uk/varnish-virtue https://literaryreview.co.uk/varnish-virtue05 Jan 2026 11:42 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mboeawgj4c2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3mb53iqpyis24The latest volume of T S Eliot’s letters, covering 1942–44, reveals a constant stream of correspondence. By contrast, his poetic output was negligible. Robert Crawford ponders if Eliot the poet was beginning to be left behind. https://literaryreview.co.uk/advice-to-poets29 Dec 2025 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3mb53iqpyis24https://bsky.app/profile/litreview.bsky.social/post/3may3nn2yzk2bJacques-Louis David immortalised Jean-Paul Marat as a serene martyr in a bathtub, but his life was spent in furious activity. David Andress considers the fruits of Marat's wild energy. https://literaryreview.co.uk/exquisite-corpse-227 Dec 2025 15:09 +0000at://did:plc:5kmhttec5dxcgis3karx2v63/app.bsky.feed.post/3may3nn2yzk2b