These are both fantastic and silly. British Pathé and pulled together 3 newsreels about haunted houses in England that aired in the 1950s and 60s. They also curate a fantastic YouTube channel and all this month they are featuring “The Things That Scare Us.” Be sure to check out some of the 90,000 clips they…
REVIEW: JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL
Why are there no more magicians in England? In the Napoleonic era one man asks the question. Just why are there no more magicians in England? Yes, there are those who study magic, but there are no more practical magicians left. This at a time when the French emperor is trampling all over Europe. Thus far,…
REVIEW: BLACK DIAMONDS by Catherine Bailey
Anyone with a penchant for the tension between the past traditions and the coming future (a la Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey) and historical nonfiction should pick up Black Diamonds. Catherine Bailey, author of The Secret Rooms, has once again scoured archives private and public looking for the missing links in noted family’s story. Posterity…
REVIEW: MR MAC AND ME by Esther Freud
Freud has imagined the summer of 1914 for Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife through the eyes of Thomas Maggs, a thirteen-year old boy who lives on the Suffolk Coast. The artist couple takes a cottage in the small town, far from their busy, stressful lives in Glasgow. The novel is told a first person…
REVIEW: THE BOOKSHOP & others by Penelope Fitzgerald
It’s okay if you haven’t heard of Penelope Fitzgerald. I hadn’t either. I’m an English major who loves British literature and I didn’t even recognize the name, let alone seen any of her stuff. I am not a “cut-and-paster” but I think she needs a little introduction. This is from the book’s author bio. Penelope…