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Kate Macdonald

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Category: biography

I vent my spleen on duds

Reading good books is a joy. Reading duds is not. Reading when the supply of books through libraries and bookshops and second-hand outlets has been more difficult (though never impossible, unless money is also tight), is more of a commitment. Reading duds in those circumstances is downright annoying. Here is my latest parade of failures. … Continue reading I vent my spleen on duds →

Kate 20thC, 21stC, animals, biography, community life, David Garnett, Edith de Born, Edwardian, historical romance, literary history, middlebrow studies, Naomi Royde-Smith, nature, Neil Gunn, outdoor adventure, passion and secrets, political / social commentary, publishing, Sarah Knight, the life of the times Leave a comment January 19, 2021

Letters to and from Sylvia Townsend Warner

I've spent the sixteen days since Christmas reading the letters that Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote to and received from two of her most constant and articulate correspondents, David Garnett and William Maxwell. Both books were presents, and shoved aside all other claims from the reading pile. Sylvia and David knew each other in the 1920s, … Continue reading Letters to and from Sylvia Townsend Warner →

Kate 20thC, animals, autobiography, biography, community life, David Garnett, diary, getting published, humour, letters, literary history, memoirs / diaries, nature, passion and secrets, poetry, political / social commentary, short stories, Sylvia Townsend Warner, the life of the times, the world of work, William Maxwell 4 Comments January 11, 2021January 10, 2021

Sarah Lonsdale, Rebel Women Between The Wars

I pre-ordered this book because I’ve been waiting for it for a very long time. Lonsdale has been researching women journalists and journalism in British fiction for much of her career as an academic at City University London, and before that was a journalist writing for a variety of papers and magazines. Rebel Women Between … Continue reading Sarah Lonsdale, Rebel Women Between The Wars →

Kate 20thC, baroque and dramatic, biography, community life, Edwardian, fashion history, feminism, getting published, history, letters, memoirs / diaries, outdoor adventure, passion and secrets, political / social commentary, Sarah Lonsdale, technology, the life of the times, the world of work, wartime 1 Comment November 7, 2020November 7, 2020

Rupert Hart-Davis, Hugh Walpole

This biography took forever to read. It's dense, in the leisured style of the 1950s (reissued unrevised in the 1980s), and it is very odd to read such a long study of a life that is pretty nearly forgotten now. None of Walpole's novels are in print now, as far as I can see, though … Continue reading Rupert Hart-Davis, Hugh Walpole →

Kate 20thC, biography, Edwardian, Hugh Walpole, literary history, memoirs / diaries, middlebrow studies, political / social commentary, the life of the times, the world of work 8 Comments September 11, 2020September 11, 2020

Penelope Lively, A House Unlocked

Once again, I am delighted and impressed by Penelope Lively's effortless skill in winding me into her story. In this case, it really is her story. A House Unlocked is her ruminative ramble through British (and Russian) history, prompted by objects, plants and memories of her grandmother's house in rural Somerset, where Lively spent much … Continue reading Penelope Lively, A House Unlocked →

Kate 20thC, architecture, art, autobiography, biography, community life, family saga, fashion history, feminism, history, memoirs / diaries, nature, Penelope Lively, political / social commentary 2 Comments August 5, 2020

Michael Bloch, James Lees-Milne. The Life

I read the first volume of James Lees-Milne's edited diaries, Ancestral Voices, which cover the years 1942-43, and was both repelled by his spiky and judgemental personality, and intrigued by his account of social history and the Blitz experience. But the diaries were very edited, and JLM assumed that his readers would understand his allusions … Continue reading Michael Bloch, James Lees-Milne. The Life →

Kate 20thC, architecture, art, baroque and dramatic, biography, diary, fine art, history, James Lees-Milne, letters, memoirs / diaries, Michael Bloch, oneupmanship, passion and secrets, political / social commentary, publishing, terribly refined, the life of the times, the world of work 8 Comments May 19, 2020

Mary Beard, The Invention of Jane Harrison

This is an early book by Mary Beard, from 2002. It costs a LOT for a slow print on demand order from an online bookshop which doesn’t begin with A, ultimately from Harvard University Press. But it’s worth it, I think, and here are the reasons. If you’re interested in Jane Ellen Harrison, one of … Continue reading Mary Beard, The Invention of Jane Harrison →

Kate 21stC, archaeology, architecture, art, biography, diary, Eugenie Sellers, feminism, fine art, Hope Mirrlees, Jane Harrison, letters, literary history, memoirs / diaries, oneupmanship, outdoor adventure, passion and secrets, political / social commentary, the life of the times, the world of work, travelogue 3 Comments March 30, 2020

Where are The Women? A Guide to an Imagined Scotland

Poised as I was to fly to Scotland for a pre-Christmas visit, this was an excellent guidebook to dip into. Sara Sheridan decided that a new guide to Scotland was needed, that included all the women who have not been celebrated as they should have been. She was inspired by Rebecca Solnit's map of the … Continue reading Where are The Women? A Guide to an Imagined Scotland →

Kate 21stC, archaeology, architecture, art, biography, community life, feminism, history, literary history, myth, outdoor adventure, political / social commentary, Sara Sheridan, the life of the times, travelogue 2 Comments December 26, 2019December 21, 2019

Mo Moulton, Mutual Admiration Society

The subtitle of this impressively large group biography makes a big claim: 'How Dorothy L Sayers and her Oxford Circle remade the world for women'. The publishers have latched onto the most obviously marketable aspect of the book - the selling power of Dorothy L Sayers' name and life - and thus skewed the reader's … Continue reading Mo Moulton, Mutual Admiration Society →

Kate 21stC, biography, community life, letters, literary history, middlebrow, Mo Moulton, passion and secrets, political / social commentary, the life of the times, the world of work, theatreland 3 Comments December 6, 2019

Raging aggravations

Another in an irregular series of reviews of books I have not enjoyed. Links to earlier episodes are at the end. Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough, Beyond the Northlands. Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas This book, bought at the British Museum’s bookshop, was so promising, with such a good pedigree: an exciting young(ish) scholar; a … Continue reading Raging aggravations →

Kate 21stC, biography, community life, D J Taylor, Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough, feminism, getting published, history, literary history, memoirs / diaries, middlebrow, middlebrow studies, myth, outdoor adventure, political / social commentary, S I Viehl, science fiction, space opera, the life of the times, the world of work 1 Comment July 12, 2019July 12, 2019

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this is what I write about

1920s 1930s 1950s 1960s aliens Angela Thirkell archaeology architecture art Barbara Pym biography birds Cambridge detection Dornford Yates Dorothy Richardson drinking family life fantasy farming fashion fast cars feminism First World War France gender Germany Harry Potter H G Wells history Ireland John Buchan John Lehmann journalism King Arthur literary history London magic memoir middlebrow murder music Naomi Mitchison newspapers New York Paris Penguin New Writing poetry politics post-war poverty publishing Rivers of London romance satire science science fiction Scotland Second World War servants small-town America space opera Sylvia Townsend Warner Terry Pratchett translation travel village life Vulpes Libris Wales wartime witchcraft witches women women's history women's lives

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