fictional narrative

See What I Have Done: Sarah Schmidt’s Fictional Take On The Controversial Murder

27th June 2017 by Gemma 2 Comments

See What I Have Done Sarah Schmidt

See What I Have Done is the debut novel of Australian author Sarah Schmidt about the famous axe murders in 1892 at Massachusetts, USA. It was famously thought to have been committed by the victims’ daughter, Lizzie Borden. Lizzie was acquitted but remains to be the prime suspect even after her death — everyone is convinced she was the murderer, and it remains a subject of speculation more than a century after the events.

Sarah was inspired to tell write a book about this more than a decade ago from a pamphlet she found at a secondhand bookshop. …

From the Publisher’s Desk: The Girls

30th August 2016 by Gemma 3 Comments

Who has not heard of this book? Written by Emma Cline, her debut novel The Girls has been dubbed as the book to read this summer, and even the UK cover starkly reflects the idea of summertime — sun-streaked hair, loose summer dresses, and bright blue skies. One of the ladies from a book club I’m part of actually took it along as one of her beach reads!

Unfortunately, if your definition of a beach read does not involve cults and murders, then you might prefer to not bring this book along. On top of this, if your idea of a holiday read does not involve a lot of introspection and analysing and should, instead, contain quick-paced plotting, then I might suggest scheduling The Girls for another time.

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On The Nightstand: The Little Women Letters

14th June 2016 by Gemma 2 Comments

Every, if not most, women who have been avid readers since their childhood would know Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. It is a children’s classic after all, and dare I say, well-loved. I myself have read it a long time ago in my youth, but I must add it was because I saw the movie first, and dear god, was Christian Bale as Laurie a sight! As with Jane Eyre in a previous post, I have not read this book since then, so I only remember details, such as being heartbroken over Beth, and why oh why did Jo not end up with Laurie*?? Bear in mind I had Christian Bale on the head, so I just found this development utterly unacceptable.

So yes, Little Women is a book quite dear to me. I was pleasantly surprised, of course, to then learn of this book, which I must have found featured in an article online. More about the March sisters, and a modern day connection**? Why yes, I’ll take that!

Written by Gabrielle Donnelly and published in 2011 by Penguin Books, The Little Women Letters “explores the imagined lives of Jo March’s descendants–three sisters who are both thoroughly modern and thoroughly March.” It parallels the lives and characters of the three March sisters — Meg, Jo, and Amy — with Jo’s great, great granddaughters — Emma, Lulu, and Sophie. The reader gets little glimpses of the March family’s life after Little Women ended and before Little Men began, as one of the modern girls get to know their ancestor through her great, great grandmother Jo’s letters.

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From the Publisher’s Desk: Dandy Gilver & the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom

19th May 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Dandy Gilver & the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom is a book of the mystery genre, written by Catriona McPherson. Set in Glasgow in 1932, Dandy and her detective partner Alec Osborne are immersed in the world of competitive ballroom dancing as they uncover secrets, deal with rivalries, and, of course, death threats.

Firstly — I must admit that I have not heard of Dandy Gilver prior to getting this paperback*. As it turns out, this is the tenth book in the series, with another one coming out July of this year in the UK. So while I am ignorant of these books until recently, they are undoubtedly popular.

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Book Club Read: The Versions of Us

28th April 2016 by Gemma 2 Comments

The Versions of Us is the first novel by art journalist and theatre critic Laura Barnett. Pegged as ‘Sliding Doors meets One Day’, it tells the story of Jim Taylor and Eva Katz who meet by chance in 1958 while they are students in Cambridge. A bicycle accident brings them together, and from there three different stories unfold, three disparate worlds where they got married in one, initially started off as strangers in another, and fallen in love but circumstances kept them apart in the third. These three narrations are different but have similarities, and there are instances where the plot converge on life occasions, such as birthdays or relatives passing away.

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