Archives by Tag '1950′s'
Review: ‘Drina’s Dancing Year’ by Jean Estoril
This year I’ve been reading more sweet, warm, comforting books than I usually do. This has resulted in revisiting some childhood favourites, amongst which, as you may remember, are the Drina books by Jean Estoril. is the second installment in this eleven book series and I enjoyed rereading the gentle story as just as much as [...]
‘The Victorian Chaise-Longue’ by Marghanita Laski
Although I’ve only read one book published by Persephone before now (the delightful Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson) this, combined with the numerous reviews I’ve read for books from this publisher on other blogs, has been sufficient to create a preconception in my mind of what a Persephone book will typically be like. I expect them [...]
Review: ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe
Title: Author: Chinua Achebe Published: Heinemann, 1986, pp. 152. Originally published 1958 Genre: African fiction Blurb: The story is the tragedy of Okonkwo, an important man in the Igbo tribe in the days when white men were first appearing on the scene… Mr Achebe’s very simple but excellent novel tells of the series of events [...]
Review: ‘Mary Anne’ by Daphne du Maurier
Title: Mary Anne Author: Daphne du Maurier Published: Pan, 1979, pp. 381 Genre: Historical fiction Blurb: In the glittering, corrupt world of Regency London, Mary Anne Clarke had beauty, brains and wit — but no money. Spurred on by the demands of a drunken husband, a wastrel brother and four children, she chose an exacting [...]
Review: ‘Prince Caspian’ by C. S. Lewis
Troubled times have come to the magical land of Narnia. Gone are the days of peace and freedom when the animals, dwarfs, trees and flowers could live in absolute peace and harmony. Civil war is dividing the kingdom and final destruction is close at hand. Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, resolves to [...]
Review: ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis
What begins as a simple game if hide-and-seek quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walk through the wardrobe and into the land of Narnia. There they find a cold, snow-covered land frozen into eternal winter by the evil White Witch. All who challenge her rule are turned [...]
Review: ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ by C. S. Lewis
When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory’s peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew’s magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined. Hurtled into the Wood between the [...]