I’m reading 20 classic, modern-classic or cult books. I aimed to read them all in 2011, but that’s beginning to look unlikely. Read more about this project here. Why did I want to read it? I think I knew about the film before the book, but I’m yet to see it. The main reasons I wanted to read it … Continue reading 20 Classics #9: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
gothic
Ink, dust & darkness: Magpie Hall by Rachael King
Vintage (New Zealand, 2010/Kindle) 9781869792886 Rosemary, a vintage-dress-wearing tattooed taxidermist, decides to spend some time in her family’s run-down old manor Magpie Hall – to work on her gothic literature thesis and simultaneously escape an affair with her supervisor. But there are plenty of distractions at Magpie Hall: memories of her recently deceased grandfather, her … Continue reading Ink, dust & darkness: Magpie Hall by Rachael King
Julia Leigh's Disquiet
9780143009573 Penguin (Aus, US/Kindle) In an active, atmospheric introduction, a woman and her two children arrive at the gate, and then the house, of the woman’s childhood. The woman, Olivia, explains to her mother she ‘had to come home’ and is accepted. Soon arrives Olivia’s grief-stricken brother and wife, with their baby’s body (who has … Continue reading Julia Leigh's Disquiet
The Sinkings by Amanda Curtin
UWAP, 9781921401114 (Aus, US) Amanda Curtin's atmospheric novel begins with a bizarre and horrific murder at the Sinkings, in Western Australia, 1882. Flash forward to the present and reclusive, aging writer/editor Willa is reflecting upon the daughter that has gone away from her. Tying these two narratives together are the hermaphroditism of both 'Little Jock' - … Continue reading The Sinkings by Amanda Curtin
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