Creepy children, and indeed twins, are not a new idea - they appear in countless films and books as a classic scary, horror motif, and aren't very original. And yet they are still creepy, and probably always will be. In The Ice Twins S. K. Tremayne (the "pseudonym of a journalist and bestselling writer", according… Continue reading The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne
Category: Reviews
Fancy A Little Gothic With Your Christmas?
'Tis the season for all things Christmas, but I for one am still thinking about Halloween and all things Gothic... partly because I love Halloween, but also because I recently did two things that have made the Gothic stick in my mind: attending the Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination exhibition at The British Library,… Continue reading Fancy A Little Gothic With Your Christmas?
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Can We Agree On No More Sylvia Plath Biographies?
I think we can all agree that a mythology has grown around Sylvia Plath and her husband Ted Hughes. Both her writing and her short life were undoubtedly remarkable, but it is also the fact of Hughes' control over what was published or not published after her death that has gained notoriety and drawn endless… Continue reading Can We Agree On No More Sylvia Plath Biographies?
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“It is not uncommon, when one is young, to think that life is simple.”
So opens The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart. Life is simple when it is only one thing, when it is all that we know. It is only when our world is broken that life becomes complicated. The simplicity of Polly's life comes through fear of her father, Silas. He is her daily torment and she has… Continue reading “It is not uncommon, when one is young, to think that life is simple.”
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#thisbeautiful : Growing Up in the 1970s
There was buzz around this novel a long time before publication. I started seeing the #thisbeautiful hashtag on Twitter in I think May, a full five months before the publication date. Promotion seems to be starting earlier and earlier for books these days! As long as we keep it up and don't forget the books… Continue reading #thisbeautiful : Growing Up in the 1970s
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The Undertaker’s Daughter by Kate Mayfield
I mentioned The Undertaker's Daughter in my post about 'simplifying women' in book titles. Kate Mayfield is more than just the daughter of an undertaker, of course; but the title is warranted here as this book covers the first part of her life, when she mostly lived at home, and when her father was an… Continue reading The Undertaker’s Daughter by Kate Mayfield
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Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Part of the Capote Readathon)
Like most people, I think, I saw the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany's before I read the book. The film itself is so famous, so remembered for the iconic images of Audrey Hepburn with her pearls, and her sunglasses, and her cigarette in its holder, that I think sometimes the details of the story… Continue reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Part of the Capote Readathon)
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The Collector by John Fowles
What makes a book a 'classic'? What makes it last, what makes publishers choose to reprint it for years? Popularity is certainly a huge factor; but what about 'cult classics' or those that are a little under the radar? Take for instance The Collector by John Fowles - what made Vintage reprint it in 2004… Continue reading The Collector by John Fowles
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Capote Readathon: Short Stories (Part Two)
For those of you who have been following the Summer Capote Readathon that I've been doing with Kirsty of The Literary Sisters, you'll know that we are reading from The Capote Reader - a sort of compilation of his best short work, including twelve short stories. We wrote about the first six of these at… Continue reading Capote Readathon: Short Stories (Part Two)
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The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Well, well, well... hello again Sarah. We have all missed you. I don't remember when I first decided I loved Sarah Waters. We studied Affinity for a course about the modern novel at university, so maybe it was then. I've since read all of her novels except one, which I plan to read very soon, and though… Continue reading The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
These Little Words 