Woman causes Oxford mayhem: Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson

This Really Like this Book podcast scripts catch-up is about the incomparable Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm, from 1911. Tremble at the tale of her assault on the august traditions of Oxford and its university, when she made every student fall in love with her, and worse, after which she went home to have a relaxing bath before taking … Continue reading Woman causes Oxford mayhem: Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson →

Violent objections to the outdoor life: Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Caravaners

The great English-Australian novelist Mary Annette Beauchamp lost her real name as soon as she married a Prussian count, and it became doubly lost when she had her first best-seller with her first novel, Elizabeth’s German Garden, in 1898. This was such a rocketing success that 'Elizabeth of the German Garden' was her name for all her … Continue reading Violent objections to the outdoor life: Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Caravaners →

First Light for Alan Garner

First Light is an Unbound book, initially paid for by its subscribers. Because the book has to sell before it’s published Unbound have to do a great deal of pre-sell publicity, and it certainly helps if the author, or subject, is famous. In this case – First Light: A Celebration of Alan Garner, edited by Erica … Continue reading First Light for Alan Garner →

The end of Pilgrimage: Dorothy Richardson’s Dimple Hill, and March Moonlight

This is the end of Pilgrimage, and for the first time I understand why Richardson named this sequence after a religious journey of self-examination and hope. I don’t understand the worship part, but I completely understand the point of her writing this journey, begun in wartime to say that all experience matters, and the future is something … Continue reading The end of Pilgrimage: Dorothy Richardson’s Dimple Hill, and March Moonlight →

Dorothy Richardson’s Dawn’s Left Hand, and Clear Horizon

With nine volumes of Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage down, and four to go, Dawn’s Left Hand is the one in which Miriam has sex with H G Wells. It’s an extraordinary episode, and if you’ve read H G Wells’ Ann Veronica, you’ll be fuming, because the setting is exactly the same as the attempted rape of … Continue reading Dorothy Richardson’s Dawn’s Left Hand, and Clear Horizon →

Dorothy Richardson’s The Trap, and Oberland

After the long trudge through the last four novels in Pilgrimage, Dorothy Richardson's The Trap, and Oberland, are a surprising contrast. They’re short, they’re full of recognisable and traceable incident, they have drama rather than meandering conversations, and Miriam learns to sledge. The main reason for this difference in tone and mood is that The Trap … Continue reading Dorothy Richardson’s The Trap, and Oberland →

Dorothy Richardson’s Deadlock, and Revolving Lights

Continuing this series of posts about successive volumes in Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage, here are volumes six and seven, Deadlock, and Revolving Lights. We’re at the halfway mark, and I have to say that this is now a trudge for me. It’s grim duty and a distant curiosity about what will happen next that keeps me … Continue reading Dorothy Richardson’s Deadlock, and Revolving Lights →

Reading Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage

This conversation began when Brad Bigelow of The Neglected Books page noticed that I'd reviewed Pointed Roofs, the first volume of Pilgrimage. We began to chat about our respective experiences of reading the books, since he was only five volumes ahead of me, as I posted about Backwater and Honeycomb, and The Tunnel and Interim. … Continue reading Reading Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage →

Beginning a festival of Dorothy Richardson: The Tunnel, and Interim

Today begins a total splurge of reviews of the remaining novels in Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage. I've already written about the first volume, Pointed Roofs, and Backwater and Honeycomb. Today I'm tackling The Tunnel and Interim, and next week's posts begin with a long conversation with Brad Bigelow of The Neglected Books Page about how we both read Pilgrimage (more or less … Continue reading Beginning a festival of Dorothy Richardson: The Tunnel, and Interim →

Angela Thirkell in print

Virago Books (did you know that they're now owned by Little, Brown? I hadn't realised ... there goes another independent publishing house into the maw of Big Business); anyway, Virago Books are republishing Angela Thirkell novels, having finally realised that (1) they are terrific, and (2) people want to buy them. They asked me if … Continue reading Angela Thirkell in print →