Like most Jane Austen fans, I focused my Austen attention on her six fully completed books. I really thought I had my Austen down, but then I thought I better look at some of her earlier writing and OMG HAVE YOU READ LADY SUSAN? This is a book that Austen sort of kind of finished – I mean, it looks kind of done but it reads like she planned to do some major edits and … Continue reading Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Carmilla is an early vampire novel (it heavily influenced Dracula, which was written twenty-six years later). More specifically, it is Victorian Lesbian Vampire Erotica. People who think the Victorians were prudes clearly haven’t read Carmilla, in which a lesbian vampire seduces her victim night after night and day after day with “languid” movements and many “caresses.” To be honest, I pretty much just summed up the plot for you in the paragraph above. The narrator, Laura, is … Continue reading Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH I LITERALLY CANNOT EVEN. We reviewed the tv series as it aired in the US, and PBS was kind enough to send me the first two books in the series, which is what the first season of the TV show was adapted from. I’m obsessed! If you didn’t follow the TV series (and I loved everything about it so you should watch it), the series is … Continue reading Poldark by Winston Graham
The book Calico Palace is a romance/historical novel/adventure story that brings the California Gold Rush to vivid life with wonderful characters, a robust sense of humor, some harrowing tragedy (the Gold Rush was not a place for wimps), and a strong message of the importance of building your own family, being emotionally hardy, and seizing the life you want in a forthright way. It’s a powerfully feminist book and while some of the romance comes … Continue reading Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow
Previously: a lot of shit happened and that’s why these recaps clock in at 4K words and this episode is 2 hours so buckle up. I love the title sequence SO MUCH. Morning. Blamey rides on horseback along the cliffs, hides a sealed letter in a rock wall, and later, D pulls it out. At Trenwith, Verity walks out in the gardens with Geoffrey Charles, and meets up with D, who hands her the letter, … Continue reading Poldark: Episode 7
In the early 1800s, if you were a woman in America or England who wanted to know how to cook, how to run a household, and how to behave, you were likely to turn to Eliza Leslie, also known as Miss Leslie. As a member of the middle class (her father was a watchmaker) who lived in England and America, Miss Leslie imparted advice that could help the reader cope with an aristocratic ball or … Continue reading The Ladies Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners by Eliza Leslie
Previously: Ross made plans to challenge the smelting companies, while Francis fucked up EVERYTHING. In the prison, we visit Jim, who a) I had forgotten about because I’m awful, and b) isn’t doing great. At home, Jinny marks another mark on the wall, tallying the days. The wall is nearly full. Jinny says that he’ll be home soon, and asks D if she’ll find him changed. “He’ll be home, that’s what matters” says D. Francis, … Continue reading Poldark: Episode 6
It’s 1947, and Sherlock Holmes is a 93 year old and retired in Sussex. He lives near the sea, he’s got his bees, and he’s not as sharp as he used to be. He’s got a housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her young son Roger (Milo Parker) and the incomplete memory of the case that drove him into retirement. This is a gorgeously shot, well-costumed, meticulously acted character study of a man in his declining … Continue reading Movie Review: Mr. Holmes
Oh, Cold Comfort Farm, where have you been all my life? This classic went completely past my radar and now that I’ve found it I’m actually surprised that it’s not dedicated to me, specifically. Cold Comfort Farm, published in 1932, pokes gentle fun at the sub-genre of novels that dwells on misery and melodrama on English farms. Early versions of this genre include the works of Thomas Hardy and of course Wuthering Heights by Emily … Continue reading Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Previously: Ross came home from war, everything was terrible. Seagulls in the morning light. Ross is looking over maps and looking at a chunk of ore that has what looks like copper? Jud has a voice over about the vein of copper being the vein of life, blah blah blah, over a montage of workers walking to a mine, and soldiers watching them. Someone nails a notice of closure on the Wheal Reath mine, and … Continue reading Poldark Episode 2
Welcome to our reviews and recaps of BBC’s Poldark, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson, based on the novels by Winston Graham! lets get started with the angst, shall we? It’s woods, in Virginia, 1781. A party of redcoats are camped in the woods, and two of them are playing cards. One, a ruggedly handsome Aidan Turner without his LoTR dwarf get-up, puts in a ring as his stake, and another man snarks “Gambling again? … Continue reading Poldark, Episode 1
