The Marriage Question by Clare Carlisle My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is not an academic review, although some of my thoughts are influenced by my PhD research on divorce law reform in the nineteenth century. This is a wonderfully entertaining, well-written, and thoroughly researched book exploring the issue of marriage as it impactedContinue reading “A (non-academic) review of The Marriage Question by Clare Carlisle”
Author Archives: Deborah Siddoway
A Quick Review of The Little Match Girl Strikes Back
LITTLE MATCH GIRL STRIKES BACK by Emma Carroll My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is an empowering re-telling of a Hans Christian Anderson story of an impoverished match-seller struggling to make a living selling matches on the freezing streets. Subverting the tragedy of Anderson’s tale, this transposes the story onto the streets of London,Continue reading “A Quick Review of The Little Match Girl Strikes Back”
The Idea of North by Peter Davidson: Some Thoughts
Books about the North seem to have a magnetic attraction for me at the moment as I continue to explore what it means – for me – to be a Northerner following my return to live in the North East of England. I was drawn to this book, sitting on a bookshelf in a giftContinue reading “The Idea of North by Peter Davidson: Some Thoughts”
Mothered by Zoje Stage: Some Brief Thoughts
At this stage, I don’t even know why I read psychological thrillers any more. I don’t know how to explain it other than it was on my Kindle and I was on holiday. But really… Mothered by Zoje Stage My rating: 3 of 5 stars Anyone who reads my reviews knows my views on psychologicalContinue reading “Mothered by Zoje Stage: Some Brief Thoughts”
Reading the Letters of Mary Shelley – Brief Thoughts on the Second 1899 Volume
The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Volume II by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley My rating: 5 of 5 stars Offering a fascinating insight into the mind of Mary Shelley, with curated extracts of her journal accompanying some of her correspondence to some of her friends and colleagues. This is a reprint of the twoContinue reading “Reading the Letters of Mary Shelley – Brief Thoughts on the Second 1899 Volume”
The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr
The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was something of a slow burn for me. A sense of uneasiness pervades the whole of the novel, with the nomadic lifestyle of the family suggesting that something is not quite right, and that unsettling eerie atmosphere carriesContinue reading “The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr”
Lost Stories, Working Class Women and Kate Mosse’s Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries
Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book reminded me a little of those times you begin to read over the names of fallen soldiers on a war memorial. Name after name is listed, each one representing a chasm in the lives of the loved ones leftContinue reading “Lost Stories, Working Class Women and Kate Mosse’s Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries”
Emma and the Silencing of the Working Class Woman
Today I finally made it to the Manchester Art Gallery to view the epic painting ‘Work’, by artist Ford Madox Brown. It is a dense painting, full of intricate detail, in which Brown attempts to depict the gospel according to Thomas Carlyle – that all work, even cotton-spinning work, is noble. There is much toContinue reading “Emma and the Silencing of the Working Class Woman”
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Lessons by Ian McEwan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Charting the long story of one man’s life, as he tries to piece together his listless wandering from one missed opportunity to the next, the book begins with a piano lesson, where eleven year old Roland makes the same mistake he always makes as heContinue reading “Lessons by Ian McEwan”
Charles II and the First English Divorce
This is an abridged extract from The Story of Divorce, which looks at the first English divorce, and the role that Charles II’s marital woes may have played in the outcome. The year was 1670 and Charles II, the ‘Merry Monarch’, was on the throne. The Cavalier Parliament was only halfway through what would becomeContinue reading “Charles II and the First English Divorce”
Deborah Siddoway 