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In Memoriam by Alice Winn- A Review
In Memoriam by Alice Winn is a beautifully written novel that will pull you to pieces. It provides a stark contrast between the insanity of war and the purity of love. It follows the journey of two young men, Gaunt and Ellwood, from an idyllic English boarding school to the trenches of World War One. Upon finishing reading In Memoriam, I found it lingered in my thoughts for days. This novel stood out from others, compelling me to pause reading other books to fully come to terms with its story. This is not like me. I often jump from book to book, or have several books on the go at…
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Yellowface by RF Kuang: Book Review
Yellowface has been one of those books that is all over the place lately. It was featured on Waterstones list of best books of 2023. Every time you walk into a bookshop it’s feels like it’s on display. But what’s going on in this book? Is it worth all the hype? What is it about? Yellowface is about a young white author who steals the manuscript of her dead Asian friend, Athena Liu, finishes it, and publishes it as her own. Throughout the novel, Juniper “June” Hayward, publishing as Juniper Song, works to maintain the lie that her first big hit novel The Last Front, a story about Chinese workers in the British…
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What I read in July
I’ve had a lot on in July, naming moving house and attending music festivals! However, I’ve still found the time to read. Here is a round-up of the main books I read in July. The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow Based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this is the story of Mary Bennet, the plain and quiet middle sister who likes to read and play the piano. Treated unkindly by her mother, and with few friends in the world, her life becomes a precarious round of visiting her married sisters, with little to look forward to. Janice Hadlow reimagines what Mary’s life might have been like and grants her…
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A Little Book Round-up
Such a long time since I’ve written a post. Therefore, I thought it would be a good time to talk about what I’ve been reading over the past few months and my book recommendations. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins I loved this book! It’s a British period drama with a black woman at the core. The book is set in early 19th-century London with the plot following Collins’ heroine, Frannie, a slave-turned-servant who travels with her owner from a Jamaican plantation to 1800s London, where she finds herself accused of the brutal murder of her master and mistress. Frannie is an extremely well-written character with shades of…
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Book Review: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
I read this book as I am a big fan of Agatha Christie’s work and was interested in her life. It was a fascinating look at not just the events surrounding Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance, but also how women were viewed at the time. There’s some great plot twists later on in the novel too. In 1926 Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned to leave her. In 1926, Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned…
