Simon Varwell's Blog

January 13, 2023

Death of a book

This website has been gathering dust for a considerable time, for various reasons, and reflects the decreased focus that writing has in my life. One consequence of that is that there are almost certainly no new travelogues coming any time soon (the last of my three books was published in 2014).

I had, over-optimistically, imagined a fourth book based on travels to Scotland’s island breweries and created a holding page for it. Island Hopping, as I provisionally titled it, was a fun concept, ai...

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Published on January 13, 2023 05:35

Island Hopping


This is the fourteenth in my occasional series of “Books on the Horizon” – travelogues I dream of researching and writing, though probably never will. My “Books on the Horizon” are an exercise in creativity, idle whimsy and – through any reactions I get – testing the water.


Read more about the series in this introductory page, and see the idea that inspired it – The Impossible Books of Keith Kahn-Harris.


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Island Hopping: Travels to Scotland’s Island Breweries.

THE ELEVATOR ...

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Published on January 13, 2023 05:35

The House Without Windows, by Barbara Newhall Follett

Cover of The House Without Windows, by Barbara Newhall Follett. Around the text are lots of butterflies.

Sometimes, the story behind a story can be just as interesting as the story itself. The weird but wonderful novel The Wake is a case in point, with the background and context of the book as compelling as the story itself (here’s my review). Similarly with the haunting film Leave No Trace, the film’s inspiration lingers as much as its content (again, here’s my review).

It’s also the case with one of my other recent reads, a beautiful novel called The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhal...

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Published on January 13, 2023 02:16

August 6, 2020

King Brude’s Treasure

It’s sometimes hard to remember, or even to realise to start with, that we walk on terrain trodden by countless generations before us, that the land on which we live has a story that is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. That’s especially true here in the Highlands of Scotland, where – due to the dramatic passage of our country’s history – the past, even very recent, can be so easily forgotten.





I’ve had cause to reflect on Inverness’s own dramatic history thanks to an exciting project ...

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Published on August 06, 2020 05:15

January 23, 2020

January 13, 2020

What the Scottish Government should have been doing

One of the big complaints among some supporters of Scottish independence in recent years has been about the apparent foot-dragging by the Scottish Government in their supposed pursuit of the powers to hold a second referendum on independence.

Following the SNP’s overwhelming victory in Scotland in the General Election at the end of last year – in the face of the Conservatives gaining a healthy majority at the UK level – arguments have intensified as to whether there should be a second...

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Published on January 13, 2020 14:50

January 4, 2020

All Strangers Are Kin, by Zora O’Neill

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One of the titles I strongly considered for my 2017 project to read only travel writing by women was All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World by the American travel and food writer Zora O’Neill.

As I wrote previously, I didn’t include it on the grounds that it felt too much like a language book to fit into a year of travel writing. But the mix of language and travel – two big interests of mine – plus the author being an engaging and thoughtful follow on Twitter, kept it...

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Published on January 04, 2020 14:53

November 10, 2019

The war in Stroma

I often think back to my visit to the extraordinary island of Stroma. It was only two and a bit years ago, but the fact that it was such a strange, liminal place, coupled with the day trip passing like a blur, means that my time there feels like it took place in another era. My memories of it – lucid, but as if from a vivid dream – certainly make it feel like it was another world.

I have only my photos to cement the trip in reality, a rooting that is helped whenever others find them.

And that’s what happened the oth...

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Published on November 10, 2019 11:50

May 29, 2019

What the second Yes campaign should look like

In an earlier post, I called for more “boring” in the arguments for independence, as a way of emphasising the ordinary and unremarkable nature of running your own affairs as an independent country.

And linked to that – though perhaps a distinct point – is the need for politeness and respect, and a desire to convert rather than alienate by way of a moderate tone. This has been discussed at length in Scottish political discourse and therefore is not something to which I feel I have anything fr...

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Published on May 29, 2019 12:25

May 27, 2019

We must revoke

Following the news that Theresa May is to step down as Prime Minister after failing to implement her deal, the questions are now moving to who will replace her and what that will mean for the defining issue of the day – Brexit.

Of course, the correct answer to the question is – who cares? Because, sadly or otherwise, it doesn’t particularly matter.

Most of the Conservative Party – and all of those capable of winning a leadership election – are committed to delivering on Brexit. That means pur...

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Published on May 27, 2019 02:17