As I am about to post chapters 11 and 12 of my version of Hard Times, shadowing Dickens’s instalments from 170 years ago, I wanted to shared where I got the idea for writing it, as well as talk about where the two songs that were sung in last week’s instalment by Kit and AiliseContinue reading “Writing Dickens – Week 6”
Tag Archives: Dickens
Writing Dickens – Week 3
I don’t know how Dickens did it. Right now, I am on week 3 of writing in instalments, exactly as Dickens did, 170 years ago. So far, I have written chapters 1 to 6, publishing them in the same increments as Dickens did: 1 April 1854 1–3 Book I 8 April 1854 4–5 15 AprilContinue reading “Writing Dickens – Week 3”
My World of Dickens
It started with a message. It was from my sister, telling me that my nieces were to appear in their latest theatre school production, and asked me if I would like tickets. The show in question, Oliver. Of course it is. When I caught up with my nieces later that week, their talk was ofContinue reading “My World of Dickens”
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”
Dickens in the Pits: My Paper from the Dickens Symposium 2022
What follows is the text I prepared for the presentation of my paper. I know I digressed from the text at times, but I think I stuck to what I had planned to say – for the most part: Those of you who know me are probably aware that the main area of interest forContinue reading “Dickens in the Pits: My Paper from the Dickens Symposium 2022”
On the overturning of Roe V Wade…
Over the last two days, I have veered between despair and disbelief as I contemplate the overturning of the decision of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court of the US this week. I have already heard countless people, mostly men, saying it is a US problem, and therefore should not impact on those ofContinue reading “On the overturning of Roe V Wade…”
Mordew: When a Dickensian reads Fantasy
Mordew by Alex Pheby My rating: 5 of 5 stars I readily confess that I am not a lover of the fantasy genre. Therefore, when I received my copy of the book, it languished in the old TBR pile for a considerable period of time. Even the fact that many of the reviewers used theContinue reading “Mordew: When a Dickensian reads Fantasy”
2020: ‘I could not help considering what strange stuff all our little stories are made of’
When Dickens received a letter from his youthful flame, Maria Beadnell, some three or four and twenty years after his romantic pursuit of her was thwarted, he wrote, in his reply to her, about the ‘changeless Past’ and observed that he could not help considering what strange stuff all our little stories are made of.Continue reading “2020: ‘I could not help considering what strange stuff all our little stories are made of’”
‘Bleak House, the fact that Esther gets smallpox…’: Dickens in Ducks, Newburyport
This is the paper I gave at The Impact of Dickens conference on 17 September, with many thanks to Dr Pete Orford, Dr John Drew, my fellow panelists and the attendees for a brilliant discussion of all things Dickens over the two days. In 2019, the novel Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann was published toContinue reading “‘Bleak House, the fact that Esther gets smallpox…’: Dickens in Ducks, Newburyport”
Lovechild: A Sloppy Affair?
Reading over Our Mutual Friend again, one word (or two words joined by a hyphen) shook me out of my comfortable familiarity with the text: ‘love-child’. I suppose in some ways, I shouldn’t have been surprised. There is a long tradition of exploring illegitimacy in fiction. Indeed, the nineteenth century is awash with characters bornContinue reading “Lovechild: A Sloppy Affair?”
Deborah Siddoway 