Comments on: ‘The Vet’s Daughter’ by Barbara Comyns

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:47:15 +0000

Thank you very much! I loved this book and will be looking out for more Comyns soon. It is a shame about some of the newere Virago covers, but I love their new reissues of Winifred Holtby’s novels, so perhaps they’re getting back on track.

By: Hannah Stoneham

Hannah Stoneham — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Thank you for sharing an excellent review of a top book, I totally agree with you about the covers!

By: It’s late… « Scottish Vegan Homemaker

It’s late… « Scottish Vegan Homemaker — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:43:28 +0000

[...] then picked up Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns, having read a great review Old English Rose wrote about another of B.C.’s books, The Vet’s Daughter. I don’t have that one, [...]

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:09:33 +0000

I’ve just been catching up with today’s Virago posts and commented on your review! Like all Virago authors I’ve so far encountered, I read this one book and found myself wondering why her books aren’t more widely known, as her writing is just superb. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of her writing, so thank you for the recommendations.

By: Simon T

Simon T — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:28:11 +0000

I’ve come here via Rachel’s blog – so pleased more bloggers are reading Barbara Comyns. Five or six of us read The Vet’s Daughter together in mid-2010, and all loved it – Comyns was already one of my favourite authors. She’s so surreal, but matter-of-fact and straightforward along with it. My favourite of her books is Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead – but I’ve also just read The Skin Chairs and loved that; a review will probably be up on my blog by the time you read this comment!

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:33:27 +0000

Yay! What a fortuitous find! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did this one. Please do let me know how it goes.

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:29:28 +0000

Flicking through my Virago pile (there is no space for them on the shelves so they’re stacked neatly up the side of one of them) it would appear that quite a few of them have the giant font, even books which have a relatively high page count as well. I wonder why this is. I hope you enjoy the reading week as well and good luck finding a copy!

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:52:37 +0000

What an amazing sounding book! I’ll certainly be looking out for that one and an edition with the old cover. I agree with you – the new edition’s cover seems a bit mad. Enjoy Virago reading week….I loved your comment about small books with large print being sometimes deceptive

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:20:05 +0000

I’m glad to have nudged her a little further forward in your reading queue! It is a shame about some of the modern covers, although having said that I’m rather fond of the new cover for ‘South Riding’ and vastly prefer it to the older one I have. So perhaps there is hope?

By: oldenglishrose

oldenglishrose — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:18:11 +0000

She is an unusual writer, yes. I’m eager to read more of her work now to see if this book is a one off or if they’re all similarly unusual.