Other work includes, as Co-founder and principal cellist of Parallax Orchestra, working in theatre, pop, rock and alternative music. One bitterly cold winter's evening driving back to London from her parents' home, she encounters a car that has skidded from the road and is witness to the last few minutes of the driver's life. Alys, Always is entertaining and well-cast; Froggatt convinces as a couple of instances of being in the right place at the right time give her the idea to aggressively pursue her best interests. But Hytner’s pace is a bit too steady, and you feel like there should be a big twist coming; as I saw we were minutes away from the end it became clear it would never materialise. What I didn't realise at the time is that Harriet Lane is in THE BUSINESS, so good reviews can be expected when the author's colleagues review and praise.

Theatre includes, for The Bridge: A Christmas Carol, Beat the Devil, Talking Heads, A German Life and Alys, Always.Her work in London includes The Family Reunion, The Cherry Orchard, Breaking the Code and A Voyage Round My Father (from the Donmar) in the West End; Stages and Absolute Hell at the National Theatre; Ring Round the Moon at the Playhouse; Hobson’s Choice at Regent’s Park; and Home Chat at the Finborough. Perennials PERENNIALS constant friends A selection of novels, memoirs and more by some of our favourite authors.

Frances Thorpe (Froggatt) is a lowly minion on a newspaper books desk, almost entirely overlooked by her confident, condescending colleagues. Alys, Always is one of those books that the less you know about the plot coming into it, the better your reading experience of it will be. Like a figure in some Hitchcock film, she starts to imitate Aly's identity, dressing like her, cooking her recipes and changing her hair and make-up.

This novel came with brilliant reviews but though I enjoyed it, I felt somewhat cheated because it could have been so much better. THEATRE includes Alys, Always at The Bridge; Herding Cats for Hampstead Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath; What Are They Like?

Later, when Alys's famous family gets in touch, Frances finds herself ushered for the first time into the world on the other side of the window. It's uneasy but intriguing reading thanks to the accurate illustration of her middle class characters. By contrast, Glenister has neither the charisma nor the darkness to be thoroughly convincing, and his exchanges with Froggatt completely lack the spark of attraction.

However, this isn't just humour for the sake of it, it is fundamental to Frances's ambition to escape the middle of the road existence and the run of the mill life of her elder sister. A dark and delicious thriller, Alys, Always, the first novel by Harriet Lane, is a book you immediately want to pass on to all your friends. Frances is a thirty-something sub-editor, an invisible production drone, on the books pages of the Questioner .

Both clever satire on the (north) London literary scene and compelling thriller worthy of Patricia Highsmith, [ Alys, Always ] is unshowy and modest.One night driving back to London from her parents' home, Frances encounters a car that has crashed off the road and she witnesses the last few moments of the driver's life. Suffice to say that this is a little gem of a book - and your jaw will get a good work out as it drops further and further as you discover more about quiet Frances. It’s never particularly obvious what she actually wants; but probably she doesn’t know herself, her entire journey a sort of listless poking at her own spiritual void. Please note that this performance includes the use of haze, herbal cigarettes, vaping devices and contains strong language.