Erica

LATEST ARTICLES ( 422 )

• The Major’s Candlesticks by George A. Birmingham (1929)

  

  Review by Kath R: George A. Birmingham is the pseudonym of James Owen Hannay. Major Kent’s Irish country house is burned down during the Irish War of... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge (1942)

  

  Review by Thecla W: It is early in the War. Miss Brown, aged around 40, has had her boarding house requisitioned by the Army and is in London, staying with a... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (1956)

  

  Elizabeth Goudge’s children’s novels have many admirers, but our reading group found her adult novels pretty heavy-going. Jane wrote of The White Witch: ‘Oh... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• White Fang by Jack London (1907)

  

  Review by Helen N This was quite a hard read for me. If it is not inappropriate to talk about gender-specific books, this is very much a man’s book. Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Son of the Sun by Jack London (1912)

  

  Review by Sylvia D A Son of the Sun is a collection of short stories, all of which originally ran in the Saturday Evening Post in 1911 and all of which feature... Read more

  Posted on 04 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Scarlet Plague by Jack London (1912)

  

  Review by George Simmers (see his Great War Fiction blog here) First published in London Magazine in 1912, then in book form by Macmillan in 1915. Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Whom God Hath Joined by Arnold Bennett (1906)

  Review by Sylvia D: Whom God Hath Joined is one of Arnold Bennett’s Five Towns novels.  It is a powerful read with a strong social message.  It is also a novel... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Vanguard: A Fantasia by Arnold Bennett (1927)

  

  Review by George Simmers: The Vanguard is one of Arnold Bennett’s lighter novels, a story of the (mostly good-humoured)  rivalry between two very rich men. Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett (1923)

  

  Review by Helen N: I found the book very easy to read. Bennett’s style is straightforward and he paints a vivid picture of the Clerkenwell area of London just... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett (1910)

  

  Next some reviews of a very well-known novelist, Arnold Bennett (1867-1931). Probably the most well-known novelist we have read in the 1900-1950 reading group,... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Penguin New Writing 1940-1950 Edited by John Lehmann

  

  Last week the reading group discussed The Penguin New Writing series, edited by John Lehmann. We’ve got a full run of this series, from number 1 in 1940, to... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Love on the Supertax by Marghanita Laski (1944)

  

  Review by Jane V: Lady Clarissa, daughter of a Duke, lives with her parents in their rundown mansion in Mayfair. All their servants have gone to join the war... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Mandoa, Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby (1933)

  

  Review by Judith W: Mandoa is a small African state rarely visited by westerners where the traditions remain undisturbed, until the Lord High Chamberlain, Safi... Read more

  Posted on 12 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Parody Party Edited by Leonard Russell (1936)

  We had a lovely reading group last month where we read books selected from the collection because they been tagged as ‘satire’ or ‘parody’. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Little Soul by Elinor Mordaunt (1920)

  A very odd sounding novel, this, but notable for a sympathetic portrayal of a doctor who performs abortions. Review by Sue R: A  dramatic novel  set before and... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Garden of Contentment by Elinor Mordaunt (1902)

  

  Is this book fiction? Our reader, Mary, wasn’t sure. Like Elizabeth and her German Garden (1898) (which is mentioned in this book) it isn’t entirely clear! Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Prelude to Death by Elinor Mordaunt (1936)

  

  Review by Sylvia D: Prelude to Death is unusual in that it starts with an Epilogue which is continued at intervals throughout the narrative. Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Sinabada by Elinor Mordaunt (1937)

  

  Elinor Mordaunt was born Evelyn May Clowes in 1872 in Cotgrave, near Nottingham. She died in 1942. Another quite prolific popular novelist, Mordaunt doesn’t hav... Read more

  Posted on 29 January 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Refugee by Mrs Alfred Sidgwick (1934)

  

  Another Mrs Alfred Sidgwick review! And a particularly interesting subject for romantic fiction in the 1930s. Review by Judith W: A young Jewish woman, Helga... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Academic Conference

  

  We’re going to hold a one-day conference at Sheffield Hallam University on Saturday 14th June 2014, entitled  ’Culture Wars 1900-1950′. We will be... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2014 BOOKS, CULTURE