Two hundred years ago, a young woman — barely more than a teenager — wrote a daring novel that questioned the limits of science and discovery, and challenged notions of agency, self, family and moral obligation. Her character created a monster, but she fabricated something much more complicated.
A calm of pleasure listens round / And almost whispers winter bye / While fancy dreams of summer sounds / And quiet rapture fills the eye… ~ from “The Shepherds Calendar – February – A Thaw” by John Clare
It’s what we obsessive readers do — make ever-longer lists of books we want to read. Looking ahead at the publishing calendar next year, here are some titles that have piqued my interest.
Fourteen Agatha Christie novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s all made-up … Today is the 125th birthday of Agatha Christie. Few readers can claim they don’t know her. Exceedingly prolific, she has never been out of print and is outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. She is a curious contradiction…