The best way of thanking those that helped in my work for Chiselled Features is to show here the acknowledgments I made in the back of the book… I would like to thank above all my wife Susie Bicknell who was both encouraging during three years of cogitation and constructively critical at the final stages of the book’s creation, including two complete read-throughs for typos … Continue reading Thanks to all those who helped
C’est avec un sentiment d’honneur que je vous annonce aujourd’hui la publication de mon deuxième roman qui se déroule à Nancy dans les années 1890. Honneur parce que la richesse de la culture et des habitants de Nancy m’a donné un fond de toile parfait sur lequel poser ma fiction, et parce que vous avez été nombreux à m’encourager dans mes recherches. De quoi s’agit-il? … Continue reading Fiction à Nancy: tome II
I am pleased to inform my readers that the follow-up to Sculpted Love will be out in spring 2024. Chiselled Features, the second in my City of Nancy Trilogy, has come back from readers for final edits and is in preparation for publication. Something to look forward to in the spring. What’s it about?The romance and skulduggery of Sculpted Love, and the same characters, move … Continue reading Here comes the follow-up book
Even though Scultped Love is past the first flush of youth as a book, those who get to read it continue to like it. Alexandra Richardson was born in the USA and worked for the USIA in Bangkok but has lived most of her life between Italy and the UK. She has been a professional writer all her life including a long stint with Newsweek … Continue reading Review from writer Alexandra Richardson
I was privileged to know Helga for 25 years and even more honoured to have written her obituary in The Times (8th March 2023). I spent 4 weeks after her death on 8th February 2023 researching her life including being incarcerated aged 18 in a concentration camp by the Nazis just for liking jazz. She was one of the Hamburg Swingjugend, the Swing Kids, who … Continue reading Helga E Wall-Row Raw – her life
Nine rare books from the 1960s and 70s by the Cambridge University Printing House director Brooke Crutchley were presented by Marcus Bicknell to the Cambridge University Printing House’s museum on 25th January 2023. The Printing House made a book every Christmas for 40 years to give to clients and friends.One recipient was Nigel Bicknell, a friend of the Crutchleys and a fervent typographer and designer. … Continue reading Nigel Bicknell’s Cambridge Christmas Books find their way back home
I was pleased to get this article from friends in the USA, Emile Friant lovers. Susan Lapene wrotes this blog 10 years ago on the web site of Rau Antiques in New Orleans https://rauantiques.com/blogs/canvases-carats-and-curiosities/birds-of-a-feather and I think her appraisal is spot on. The sitter is Friant’s favorite, Gaby, and I am learning more about her. Here’s the article… May 27, 2012 | Susan Lapene The … Continue reading Friant’s Familiar Birds. “After all, life is to enjoy!”
Nous avons passé, Susie et moi, quatre nuits agréables, trois jours complets, à Nancy les premiers jours de décembre. Très peu de touristes étrangers donc la place Stanislas était luxueusement spacieuse et il n’y avait pas de files d’attente pour les musées (mais n’oubliez pas, si vous y allez, de réserver la Villa Majorelle en ligne). Le Musée des Beaux Arts de la Place Stanislas … Continue reading Un pèlerinage d’hiver – Nancy et Emile Friant
Susie and I got through Covid requirements in both directions, by car through the Eurotunnel, and had an enjoyable four nights, three full days, in Nancy in the first days of December. The objectives were to enjoy some culture, to wallow in our new-found interest in Nancy’s realist painter Emile Friant and to research some details for my second novel. There were very few foreign … Continue reading Pilgrimage to Friant – trip to Nancy
Susie and I had an enjoyable four nights, three full days, in Nancy in the first days of December. Very few foreign tourists so the Place Stanislas was luxuriously spacey and there were no queues for the museums (but don’t forget, if you go, to book the Villa Majorelle online). The Musée des Beaux Arts in the Place Stanislas is a gem. Luckily the curators, … Continue reading The Musée des Beaux Arts in Nancy – our visit last week
Marcus Bicknell: new novel 