I heard Jake Arnott reading from his novel, The Fatal Tree, at the Hay Festival, and was intrigued by his use of slang words – a historical dialect of thieves and villains, taken directly from the “flash world” of Romeville in 18th century London. The book centres on the true story of infamous jail-breaker Jack Sheppard and his companion, the notorious Edgworth Bess (aka Elizabeth Lyon), but it is not a straightforward telling. Arnott’s narrator (William Archer) is a young hack writer, who gains his material directly from Edgworth Bess herself, as she awaits trial at Newgate Gaol. Continue reading
victorian fiction
Book Review: The White Camellia by Juliet Greenwood
Set in 1909, The White Camellia focuses on the women’s suffrage movement, a group less well-known than the suffragettes who, for years, had been meeting in tea rooms and campaigning peacefully for women’s rights. The book follows the story of Bea, a young woman forced to leave her beautiful home, Tressillion, and move to London, where she finds herself responsible for the welfare of her mother and younger sister. It seems like her only option is to marry her cousin, Jonathan, who inherited the estate, but then Bea stumbles upon The White Camellia, a women’s tea room, and discovers a world of excitement and possibility. Continue reading
Book Review: The Truth in Masquerade by Carole Strachan
The Truth in Masquerade follows the story of opera singer Anna Maxwell as she comes to terms with her husband’s sudden decision to leave her, without explanation, after years of happy marriage. The book has a slow build up, but is exceptionally and beautifully detailed, as we follow Anna to her next role, performing ‘the governess’ in an outdoor operatic adaptation of the ghostly Henry James novel The Turn of the Screw. Continue reading
Book Review – Masque by Bethany W Pope
Why would someone take a well-known story, which has been re-invented many times over, and attempt to re-invent it again? Masque is based on The Phantom of The Opera, the French novel by Gaston Leroux, published in 1911. Since then it has been re-told in various films and novels, and on stage. I wouldn’t have considered reading this book, but I attended the regular ‘First Thursday’ event run by Seren Books, and heard Bethany Pope reading from it. I was entranced, hearing the story from the point of view of each character in turn, and wondering whether it would be the same as the original. These words are printed on the front of the book: ‘This is not the story you think you know…’ Continue reading
What lies behind the mysterious black veil?
Have you ever read a novel by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens and wondered what kinds of books they were reading at the time? Well there is actually a considerable amount known about the reading habits of some of our most well-loved writers. One source of information is the works themselves, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, is a fine example. The protagonist, Catherine Moorland, reads gothic novels, a popular genre at the turn of the nineteenth century. Catherine is particularly engrossed with The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. Continue reading
Book Review: Florence and Giles by John Harding
Florence and Giles is a gripping, re-imagined version of Henry James’ gothic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw. Set in a remote New England mansion in 1891, the novel is narrated by Florence, a twelve-year-old girl who has been left alone by her guardian uncle with nothing but forbidden books and her younger brother for company. It is gripping from the start, as you delve into Florence’s world of literature and loneliness. Continue reading
Cardiff Book Talk: with authors John Harding and Gaynor Arnold
Self Portrait of Lewis Carroll
Cardiff Book Talk is run by Cardiff University’s School of English, Communication and Philosophy. Described on their website as “a University book group with a difference”, it is certainly nothing like any book group I’ve been to before. I was impressed that their events are entirely free and open to anyone. Most seem to be discussion-centred, with academics from various disciplines addressing the literature from their perspective. However, this particular session was an opportunity to actually meet the authors in question: John Harding and Gaynor Arnold. Continue reading
Bath Literature Festival: Part 2 – Jane Austen
After hearing Sebastian Faulks being interviewed about his work, I headed out into Bath to explore, excited to discover the famous sites as mentioned in Jane Austen’s novels. I headed North, up Milsom Street, where the Tilney family had lodgings in Northanger Abbey, and was pleased to discover that there is now a Waterstones there. I think Jane would have been pleased. Continue reading