Nicola Sturgeon - trang moi

Andrew Miller, Books, Culture, Leonora Carrington, Nicola Sturgeon, Patricia Lockwood, Sách & Tri thức

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in September

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

I am really excited by Namanlagh, the first poetry collection in 10 years from the great Tom Paulin. A tone-perfect meditation on illness and recovery, partnership and writing, violence and historical neglect, it is an absolute cracker. There are subtle nods to Derek Mahon and Seamus Heaney, and many of the poems are filled with a sense of late style and unfinished business.

thanhtoong0
October 3, 2025

Autobiography and memoir, Books, Culture, Nicola Sturgeon, Politics books, Sách & Tri thức, Scottish National party (SNP)

Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon review – the ex-first minister opens up

Scotland’s former leader addresses conflict with Salmond and rumours of a lesbian affair, but stops short of full disclosure

When the title of Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir, Frankly, was first announced, I had my doubts. Partly, of course, it was a touching nod to her late friend, the comic Janey Godley. Godley’s viral Twitter voiceovers of the first minister of Scotland’s press conferences always ended with the catchphrase: “Frank, get the door!”

As a reporter covering her decade in power, however, I’d always found her to be a master of the lengthy, lawyerly obfuscation and the disarming but consequence-free apology. Would she really engage with the questions that overshadowed the final years of her leadership until her shock resignation in 2023? Questions about Alex Salmond’s sexual harassment investigation, the Scottish government’s secrecy during the pandemic, the toxic legacy of her gender recognition reforms, the stalled delivery of some of her flagship policy pledges, not to mention independence itself. And what about that rumoured lesbian affair?

thanhtoong0
August 12, 2025