Lissa Evans
@lissakevans.bsky.social
Novelist (Old Baggage, Small Bomb at Dimperley, Wed Wabbit etc), ex TV producer (Room 101, Father Ted), voracious reader, owner of an adored and ancient dog, desultory gardener, attention span of a flea.
lissaevans.com
lissaevans.com
I am reading an Edwardian memoir and have stumbled across the most boring man who ever lived.
November 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I am reading an Edwardian memoir and have stumbled across the most boring man who ever lived.
Yesterday I was asked which book of mine is my favourite - which, of course, is like being asked to name a favourite child. But I definitely have a favourite first sentence . It's from 'Old Baggage', my novel about a former Suffragette...
November 12, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Yesterday I was asked which book of mine is my favourite - which, of course, is like being asked to name a favourite child. But I definitely have a favourite first sentence . It's from 'Old Baggage', my novel about a former Suffragette...
King of the Heath.
November 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
King of the Heath.
Keats’ House, partially concealed by mellow fruitfulness.
November 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Keats’ House, partially concealed by mellow fruitfulness.
As is traditional on October 31st, I present my greatest ever Halloween costume triumph: Watson as Cardinal Woofsley.
October 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM
As is traditional on October 31st, I present my greatest ever Halloween costume triumph: Watson as Cardinal Woofsley.
The origin of the words ‘beanfeast’ and ‘beano’, from Alfred Duggan's 'Growing Up in the Thirteenth Century' (courtesy of @charliefarrow1 on X)
October 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM
The origin of the words ‘beanfeast’ and ‘beano’, from Alfred Duggan's 'Growing Up in the Thirteenth Century' (courtesy of @charliefarrow1 on X)
I wonder when the very last beanfeast took place…?
October 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I wonder when the very last beanfeast took place…?
I knew that Granny’s Flag - a picture book with a lovely rhyming text by Rachel Rooney and witty & detailed illustrations by Ros Asquith - would be a delight, but I didn’t expect that it would also bring tears to my eyes! ❤️❤️
October 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I knew that Granny’s Flag - a picture book with a lovely rhyming text by Rachel Rooney and witty & detailed illustrations by Ros Asquith - would be a delight, but I didn’t expect that it would also bring tears to my eyes! ❤️❤️
Apologies for publishing self praise, but when I saw this piece by India Knight in today's @thetimes.com , I thought I might burst with happiness.
October 18, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Apologies for publishing self praise, but when I saw this piece by India Knight in today's @thetimes.com , I thought I might burst with happiness.
This recently re-appeared on my twitter timeline, so I thought I'd share it here. It's a list of books for escaping into, compiled during the very first lockdown. They're all personal favourites, pulled out of my memory and so not in any way definitive.
October 17, 2025 at 11:40 AM
This recently re-appeared on my twitter timeline, so I thought I'd share it here. It's a list of books for escaping into, compiled during the very first lockdown. They're all personal favourites, pulled out of my memory and so not in any way definitive.
Smashed windows and graffiti at the Brighton Conference Centre, where women have come from all over the world to talk about male violence and women's human rights. This is trans activism, and it's misogyny in action.
October 10, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Smashed windows and graffiti at the Brighton Conference Centre, where women have come from all over the world to talk about male violence and women's human rights. This is trans activism, and it's misogyny in action.
It’s very difficult (as you’ll see) to get a good pic of
Fortnum & Mason's window displays. They’re always imaginative, but these creatures, made of recycled materials, are absolutely magnificent. I’m bagging the hyena for my living room.
Fortnum & Mason's window displays. They’re always imaginative, but these creatures, made of recycled materials, are absolutely magnificent. I’m bagging the hyena for my living room.
October 7, 2025 at 10:26 AM
It’s very difficult (as you’ll see) to get a good pic of
Fortnum & Mason's window displays. They’re always imaginative, but these creatures, made of recycled materials, are absolutely magnificent. I’m bagging the hyena for my living room.
Fortnum & Mason's window displays. They’re always imaginative, but these creatures, made of recycled materials, are absolutely magnificent. I’m bagging the hyena for my living room.
I had the brilliant idea of making a mitred square blanket (you join it up as you go along) to use up all my odds and ends of wool, except I've now run out of 'odds and ends' and the blanket is only a quarter finished so I'm having to buy vast amounts of extra 'odds and ends' just to carry on....
October 6, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I had the brilliant idea of making a mitred square blanket (you join it up as you go along) to use up all my odds and ends of wool, except I've now run out of 'odds and ends' and the blanket is only a quarter finished so I'm having to buy vast amounts of extra 'odds and ends' just to carry on....
You can always tell a book that was published during the war - poor-quality paper, narrow, often sloping margins - but still, amazing that it was published at all. This is ‘Daylight on Saturday’ by JB Priestley.
September 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
You can always tell a book that was published during the war - poor-quality paper, narrow, often sloping margins - but still, amazing that it was published at all. This is ‘Daylight on Saturday’ by JB Priestley.
Husband is reading a political biog which contains this fantastic anecdote about George Brown, the boozy Deputy Leader of Harold Wilson’s cabinet:
September 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Husband is reading a political biog which contains this fantastic anecdote about George Brown, the boozy Deputy Leader of Harold Wilson’s cabinet:
I keep a note of what I read and give a tick to books that have made a particular impact on me. I’m pretty stingy with ticks so this month’s four-in-a-row is unprecedented (the ‘RR’ means a re-read). Oh, and the correct title of the second book is ‘Saltwater Mansions’, duh..
September 28, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I keep a note of what I read and give a tick to books that have made a particular impact on me. I’m pretty stingy with ticks so this month’s four-in-a-row is unprecedented (the ‘RR’ means a re-read). Oh, and the correct title of the second book is ‘Saltwater Mansions’, duh..
I found this book compulsive reading: hypnotic, moving, lonely & strange - but am finding it difficult to recommend it to people because I can't for the life of me remember a single word of the title when I'm not directly staring at it.
Sort of Groundhog Day by a Danish Writer.
Sort of Groundhog Day by a Danish Writer.
September 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I found this book compulsive reading: hypnotic, moving, lonely & strange - but am finding it difficult to recommend it to people because I can't for the life of me remember a single word of the title when I'm not directly staring at it.
Sort of Groundhog Day by a Danish Writer.
Sort of Groundhog Day by a Danish Writer.
Went to the Andy Goldsworthy retrospective & it feels full of ancient magic. Ended up having a long conversation with someone about the books of Rosemary Sutcliff which are imbued with the same deep sense of the past…
September 20, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Went to the Andy Goldsworthy retrospective & it feels full of ancient magic. Ended up having a long conversation with someone about the books of Rosemary Sutcliff which are imbued with the same deep sense of the past…
‘Use the Force, Luke, though not till you’ve topped up my bowl. There are some chicken bits on the middle shelf of the fridge…’
September 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM
‘Use the Force, Luke, though not till you’ve topped up my bowl. There are some chicken bits on the middle shelf of the fridge…’
That’s tea-time sorted, I’d imagine.
September 6, 2025 at 12:05 PM
That’s tea-time sorted, I’d imagine.
From @drmatthewsweet.bsky.social ‘s marvellous ‘Shepperton Babylon’.It chimes with my own encounter with Norman Wisdom, when he was a guest on ‘Clive Anderson Talks Back’. In his mid 70s, he walked on, did a huge comedy pratfall & missed fatally hitting his head on a step by about a millimetre.
September 1, 2025 at 1:13 PM
From @drmatthewsweet.bsky.social ‘s marvellous ‘Shepperton Babylon’.It chimes with my own encounter with Norman Wisdom, when he was a guest on ‘Clive Anderson Talks Back’. In his mid 70s, he walked on, did a huge comedy pratfall & missed fatally hitting his head on a step by about a millimetre.
I’m in Ravilious country.
August 20, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I’m in Ravilious country.
The Chalk Path.
Ooh, that gives me an idea…
Ooh, that gives me an idea…
August 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The Chalk Path.
Ooh, that gives me an idea…
Ooh, that gives me an idea…
