Miss Pym and a Friend
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Sing them Home by Stehpanie Kallos
Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Sing them Home by Stehpanie Kallos: As inspiration, read this book, which I will put into my second ed;. Doll Bibligraphy as well. Bonnie Jones in the book, seeks objects and ...
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Thank you to my Viewers
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Thank you to my Viewers: Thanks to all Viewing this new blog. I hope to have more information about the Snow White/Erzebet exhibit soon. We plan on this fall. I a...
PBS Does The Diary of Anne Frank
PBS has done a beautiful production of The Diary of Anne Frank. It is tonight on your local PBS stations, at 9, cst. My group will be doing an all day teachers institute on Anne Frank, as well as special exhibits at local museums. I will share literature and keep everyone posted.
I also plan on watching and reviewing the latest Jane Eyre film, and The Woman in Black, as soon as is feasible.
Also, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has seen the original Girl with the Dragon Tatoo with subtitles, v. The current American Film that just went DVD.
Will share my article on Research for Writers which includes Jane Eyre and a bit on Pym and A Very Private Eye.
Also, for those who enjoy the parody of an excellent woman, and who know Patricial Routledge played Barbara Pym on a BBS production about Pym, watch "Keeping Up Appearances" on the Saturday Evening Britiish Comedies. I also recommend Lark Rise at Candleford and The Vicar of Dibley.
I also plan on watching and reviewing the latest Jane Eyre film, and The Woman in Black, as soon as is feasible.
Also, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has seen the original Girl with the Dragon Tatoo with subtitles, v. The current American Film that just went DVD.
Will share my article on Research for Writers which includes Jane Eyre and a bit on Pym and A Very Private Eye.
Also, for those who enjoy the parody of an excellent woman, and who know Patricial Routledge played Barbara Pym on a BBS production about Pym, watch "Keeping Up Appearances" on the Saturday Evening Britiish Comedies. I also recommend Lark Rise at Candleford and The Vicar of Dibley.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tess and novels of Injustice
Thought my readers might enjoy this; I'm doing a project in legal ethics using these novels; here are some plot overviews;
Plot Overview
T he poor peddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to learn that he is the descendent of an ancient noble family, the d’Urbervilles. Meanwhile, Tess, his eldest daughter, joins the other village girls in the May Day dance, where Tess briefly exchanges glances with a young man. Mr. Durbeyfield and his wife decide to send Tess to the d’Urberville mansion, where they hope Mrs. d’Urberville will make Tess’s fortune. In reality, Mrs. d’Urberville is no relation to Tess at all: her husband, the merchant Simon Stokes, simply changed his name to d’Urberville after he retired. But Tess does not know this fact, and when the lascivious Alec d’Urberville, Mrs. d’Urberville’s son, procures Tess a job tending fowls on the d’Urberville estate, Tess has no choice but to accept, since she blames herself for an accident involving the family’s horse, its only means of income.
Tess spends several months at this job, resisting Alec’s attempts to seduce her. Finally, Alec takes advantage of her in the woods one night after a fair. Tess knows she does not love Alec. She returns home to her family to give birth to Alec’s child, whom she christens Sorrow. Sorrow dies soon after he is born, and Tess spends a miserable year at home before deciding to seek work elsewhere. She finally accepts a job as a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy.
At Talbothays, Tess enjoys a period of contentment and happiness. She befriends three of her fellow milkmaids—Izz, Retty, and Marian—and meets a man named Angel Clare, who turns out to be the man from the May Day dance at the beginning of the novel. Tess and Angel slowly fall in love. They grow closer throughout Tess’s time at Talbothays, and she eventually accepts his proposal of marriage. Still, she is troubled by pangs of conscience and feels she should tell Angel about her past. She writes him a confessional note and slips it under his door, but it slides under the carpet and Angel never sees it.
After their wedding, Angel and Tess both confess indiscretions: Angel tells Tess about an affair he had with an older woman in London, and Tess tells Angel about her history with Alec. Tess forgives Angel, but Angel cannot forgive Tess. He gives her some money and boards a ship bound for Brazil, where he thinks he might establish a farm. He tells Tess he will try to accept her past but warns her not to try to join him until he comes for her.
Tess struggles. She has a difficult time finding work and is forced to take a job at an unpleasant and unprosperous farm. She tries to visit Angel’s family but overhears his brothers discussing Angel’s poor marriage, so she leaves. She hears a wandering preacher speak and is stunned to discover that he is Alec d’Urberville, who has been converted to Christianity by Angel’s father, the Reverend Clare. Alec and Tess are each shaken by their encounter, and Alec appallingly begs Tess never to tempt him again. Soon after, however, he again begs Tess to marry him, having turned his back on his -religious ways.
Tess learns from her sister Liza-Lu that her mother is near death, and Tess is forced to return home to take care of her. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies soon after. When the family is evicted from their home, Alec offers help. But Tess refuses to accept, knowing he only wants to obligate her to him again.
At last, Angel decides to forgive his wife. He leaves Brazil, desperate to find her. Instead, he finds her mother, who tells him Tess has gone to a village called Sandbourne. There, he finds Tess in an expensive boardinghouse called The Herons, where he tells her he has forgiven her and begs her to take him back. Tess tells him he has come too late. She was unable to resist and went back to Alec d’Urberville. Angel leaves in a daze, and, heartbroken to the point of madness, Tess goes upstairs and stabs her lover to death. When the landlady finds Alec’s body, she raises an alarm, but Tess has already fled to find Angel.
Angel agrees to help Tess, though he cannot quite believe that she has actually murdered Alec. They hide out in an empty mansion for a few days, then travel farther. When they come to Stonehenge, Tess goes to sleep, but when morning breaks shortly thereafter, a search party discovers them. Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is raised over the prison, signaling Tess’s execution.
Plot Overview
T he poor peddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to learn that he is the descendent of an ancient noble family, the d’Urbervilles. Meanwhile, Tess, his eldest daughter, joins the other village girls in the May Day dance, where Tess briefly exchanges glances with a young man. Mr. Durbeyfield and his wife decide to send Tess to the d’Urberville mansion, where they hope Mrs. d’Urberville will make Tess’s fortune. In reality, Mrs. d’Urberville is no relation to Tess at all: her husband, the merchant Simon Stokes, simply changed his name to d’Urberville after he retired. But Tess does not know this fact, and when the lascivious Alec d’Urberville, Mrs. d’Urberville’s son, procures Tess a job tending fowls on the d’Urberville estate, Tess has no choice but to accept, since she blames herself for an accident involving the family’s horse, its only means of income.
Tess spends several months at this job, resisting Alec’s attempts to seduce her. Finally, Alec takes advantage of her in the woods one night after a fair. Tess knows she does not love Alec. She returns home to her family to give birth to Alec’s child, whom she christens Sorrow. Sorrow dies soon after he is born, and Tess spends a miserable year at home before deciding to seek work elsewhere. She finally accepts a job as a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy.
At Talbothays, Tess enjoys a period of contentment and happiness. She befriends three of her fellow milkmaids—Izz, Retty, and Marian—and meets a man named Angel Clare, who turns out to be the man from the May Day dance at the beginning of the novel. Tess and Angel slowly fall in love. They grow closer throughout Tess’s time at Talbothays, and she eventually accepts his proposal of marriage. Still, she is troubled by pangs of conscience and feels she should tell Angel about her past. She writes him a confessional note and slips it under his door, but it slides under the carpet and Angel never sees it.
After their wedding, Angel and Tess both confess indiscretions: Angel tells Tess about an affair he had with an older woman in London, and Tess tells Angel about her history with Alec. Tess forgives Angel, but Angel cannot forgive Tess. He gives her some money and boards a ship bound for Brazil, where he thinks he might establish a farm. He tells Tess he will try to accept her past but warns her not to try to join him until he comes for her.
Tess struggles. She has a difficult time finding work and is forced to take a job at an unpleasant and unprosperous farm. She tries to visit Angel’s family but overhears his brothers discussing Angel’s poor marriage, so she leaves. She hears a wandering preacher speak and is stunned to discover that he is Alec d’Urberville, who has been converted to Christianity by Angel’s father, the Reverend Clare. Alec and Tess are each shaken by their encounter, and Alec appallingly begs Tess never to tempt him again. Soon after, however, he again begs Tess to marry him, having turned his back on his -religious ways.
Tess learns from her sister Liza-Lu that her mother is near death, and Tess is forced to return home to take care of her. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies soon after. When the family is evicted from their home, Alec offers help. But Tess refuses to accept, knowing he only wants to obligate her to him again.
At last, Angel decides to forgive his wife. He leaves Brazil, desperate to find her. Instead, he finds her mother, who tells him Tess has gone to a village called Sandbourne. There, he finds Tess in an expensive boardinghouse called The Herons, where he tells her he has forgiven her and begs her to take him back. Tess tells him he has come too late. She was unable to resist and went back to Alec d’Urberville. Angel leaves in a daze, and, heartbroken to the point of madness, Tess goes upstairs and stabs her lover to death. When the landlady finds Alec’s body, she raises an alarm, but Tess has already fled to find Angel.
Angel agrees to help Tess, though he cannot quite believe that she has actually murdered Alec. They hide out in an empty mansion for a few days, then travel farther. When they come to Stonehenge, Tess goes to sleep, but when morning breaks shortly thereafter, a search party discovers them. Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is raised over the prison, signaling Tess’s execution.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Scrapalbum.com
This is a wonderful site for Victorian and other ephermera. It is the kind of thing Jane Eyre might have enjoyed perusing. Here is a brief article of their links and other materials.
Interesting Links
The Ephemera Society (UK)
The Ephemera Society is concerned with the collection, preservation, study and educational uses of printed and hand-written ephemera.
The Ephemera Society of America
A non-profit organization formed in 1980 to encourage the preservation and study of paper ephemera.
Centre for Ephemera Studies
The Centre - the first of its kind in the world - is housed in and administered by the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication of the University of Reading.
St Bride Printing Library (UK)
Its world-famous collections cover printing and related subjects: paper and binding, graphic design and typography, typefaces and calligraphy, illustration and printmaking, publishing and book-selling, the social and economic aspects of the printing, book, newspaper and magazine trades.
The John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera
Offers a fresh view of British history through primary, uninterpreted printed documents which, produced for short-term use, have survived by chance.
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections
Included amongst the collections are the outstanding Laura Seddon collection of Victorian greetings cards as well as the Sir Harry Page collection of albums and scrapbooks.
Musée de l'imprimerie de Lyon
Lyon’s Museum of Printing is one of Europe’s most important historical museums in the field of graphic arts and trade. It contains a significant collection of books, old documents, machines and tools from the invention of printing up to the twentieth century and is particularly strong on French sixteenth-century printing. An educational programme is run with frequent exhibitions, including ones on ephemera.
Quadrille Ephemera
Valerie Jackson-Harris, trading as Quadrille, has been dealing in ephemera for over thirty five years. Her expertise has enabled museums, libraries and private collectors around the world to acquire rare and difficult to find items to complement their collections.
The Valentine & Expressions of Love
Expressions of love are the centerpiece of collector Nancy Rosin’s site, interesting articles and useful links provide access to some fascinating resources for the collector, historian, or craftsperson.
Lewis Carroll Scrapbook
At the Library of Congress is an original scrapbook that was kept by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Better known as Lewis Carroll, the Victorian-era children’s author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
A Flowering of Affection
Victorian Valentine cards at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, USA.
Victorian-Imagery.com
Buy scraps from the on-line Store of this site, and learn about The Beryl Peters Collection of antique paper ephemera.
Victorian Glass Diamond Mark Translator
An easy to use on-line method of dating and finding the manufacturer of any glass item registered in England between 1842 and 1883. The translator will return the year, month and day of printed ephemera items bearing the Diamond Registration Mark but would not give a manufacturer.
Stevengraphs Bookmarks & Postcards
Malcolm Roebuck’s resource to silk bookmarks and postcards.
The Trade Card Place
US trade cards of the Victorian era.
Wendy Hall Cards
Beautiful Victorian images form the basis of this wonderful range of paperware products.
Emergence of Advertising in America
The Scrapbook category contains 4 scrapbooks with 166 images. Advertisement and trade cards are included in the four selected books and the images under each scrapbook are listed as they appear in the scrapbook itself. The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 presents over 9,000 images, with database information, relating to the early history of advertising in the United States.
Heritage Scrapbooks
Heritage Scrapbooks is a digital archive of vintage scrapbooks dating from 1700 onwards. The scrapbooks are from Dr. Gary Kelly’s private collection, as well as from generous patrons willing to share their collections online with the rest of the world.
Victorian Gadgets
Maurice Collins' collection of bizarre, weird and unusual manufactured devices and gadgets, used in everyday life between the years of the Great exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain 1951.
Victorian Era
Victorian Britain in pictures.
Victoria's Jewelry Box
Where Historical Re-enactors, Victorian Costumers, and Hat pin Collectors love to shop!
The Ephemera Catalog
A wide range of printed and manuscript ephemera for sale.
The Collectors Weekly
Presenting, amongst other things, interviews with top collectors and details of their websites.
Mishutka Design Studio
This collector creates products inspired by Victorian crafts; some scraps from the collection can be purchased on the site.
The Hyper-Concordance for Victorian Studies
A KWIC concordance website for Victorian studies.
T Vennett-Smith
Auctioneers of postcards, printed ephemera, cigarette and trade cards.
The Memorabilia Pack Company
Specialises in the reproduction of memorabilia and ephemera.
Nursery Rhymes & Nursery Songs
A site inspired by arrangements of nursery rhymes from the Victorian period.
Kate Greenaway Cards
Includes Christmas and New Year greeting cards, Valentines, trade cards, calendars and other paper ephemera.
Whimzy Treasures
Victorian ephemera & paper collectibles
VintageClipArt.com
The nostalgic graphics shop that sells honest, old-fashioned clip art.
The Victorian Villager
Great source for Victorian and Angel Links. Victorian Santa & Angel Galleries.
Carriage House Gifts
Beautifully reproduced nostalgic Victorian paper products.
Victoriana
The Victorian resource.
Scraps
An interesting site of scrap sheets and other items from the collection of Dutch collector Annie Schepens.
Antique Prints
Collectible and antique prints, especially children's and nursery prints.
The Cartophilic Society of Great Britain
For every collector interested in the welfare of card collecting.
Victorian Station
The ultimate guide to all things Victorian.
Copenhagen Antique Toys and Dolls
A Danish shop specialising in early dolls, dolls houses, Victorian scraps, prints, paper toys and games.
The Card Mine
For continental trade cards, chromos, cigarette cards, advertising postcards and ephemera.
Collectomania
Liebig trade cards collector also Kemmerich, Cibils, Van Houten, Guérin Boutron, Cibils, Huntley & Palmer, Suchard - all kinds of Victorian trade cards: chocolate, coffee, extract, etc.
Victorian Style Printable Photo Album Pages
For those enthusiasts of scrapbooking and for all lovers of the style and art characteristic of the Victorian era.
Interesting Links
The Ephemera Society (UK)
The Ephemera Society is concerned with the collection, preservation, study and educational uses of printed and hand-written ephemera.
The Ephemera Society of America
A non-profit organization formed in 1980 to encourage the preservation and study of paper ephemera.
Centre for Ephemera Studies
The Centre - the first of its kind in the world - is housed in and administered by the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication of the University of Reading.
St Bride Printing Library (UK)
Its world-famous collections cover printing and related subjects: paper and binding, graphic design and typography, typefaces and calligraphy, illustration and printmaking, publishing and book-selling, the social and economic aspects of the printing, book, newspaper and magazine trades.
The John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera
Offers a fresh view of British history through primary, uninterpreted printed documents which, produced for short-term use, have survived by chance.
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections
Included amongst the collections are the outstanding Laura Seddon collection of Victorian greetings cards as well as the Sir Harry Page collection of albums and scrapbooks.
Musée de l'imprimerie de Lyon
Lyon’s Museum of Printing is one of Europe’s most important historical museums in the field of graphic arts and trade. It contains a significant collection of books, old documents, machines and tools from the invention of printing up to the twentieth century and is particularly strong on French sixteenth-century printing. An educational programme is run with frequent exhibitions, including ones on ephemera.
Quadrille Ephemera
Valerie Jackson-Harris, trading as Quadrille, has been dealing in ephemera for over thirty five years. Her expertise has enabled museums, libraries and private collectors around the world to acquire rare and difficult to find items to complement their collections.
The Valentine & Expressions of Love
Expressions of love are the centerpiece of collector Nancy Rosin’s site, interesting articles and useful links provide access to some fascinating resources for the collector, historian, or craftsperson.
Lewis Carroll Scrapbook
At the Library of Congress is an original scrapbook that was kept by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Better known as Lewis Carroll, the Victorian-era children’s author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
A Flowering of Affection
Victorian Valentine cards at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, USA.
Victorian-Imagery.com
Buy scraps from the on-line Store of this site, and learn about The Beryl Peters Collection of antique paper ephemera.
Victorian Glass Diamond Mark Translator
An easy to use on-line method of dating and finding the manufacturer of any glass item registered in England between 1842 and 1883. The translator will return the year, month and day of printed ephemera items bearing the Diamond Registration Mark but would not give a manufacturer.
Stevengraphs Bookmarks & Postcards
Malcolm Roebuck’s resource to silk bookmarks and postcards.
The Trade Card Place
US trade cards of the Victorian era.
Wendy Hall Cards
Beautiful Victorian images form the basis of this wonderful range of paperware products.
Emergence of Advertising in America
The Scrapbook category contains 4 scrapbooks with 166 images. Advertisement and trade cards are included in the four selected books and the images under each scrapbook are listed as they appear in the scrapbook itself. The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 presents over 9,000 images, with database information, relating to the early history of advertising in the United States.
Heritage Scrapbooks
Heritage Scrapbooks is a digital archive of vintage scrapbooks dating from 1700 onwards. The scrapbooks are from Dr. Gary Kelly’s private collection, as well as from generous patrons willing to share their collections online with the rest of the world.
Victorian Gadgets
Maurice Collins' collection of bizarre, weird and unusual manufactured devices and gadgets, used in everyday life between the years of the Great exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain 1951.
Victorian Era
Victorian Britain in pictures.
Victoria's Jewelry Box
Where Historical Re-enactors, Victorian Costumers, and Hat pin Collectors love to shop!
The Ephemera Catalog
A wide range of printed and manuscript ephemera for sale.
The Collectors Weekly
Presenting, amongst other things, interviews with top collectors and details of their websites.
Mishutka Design Studio
This collector creates products inspired by Victorian crafts; some scraps from the collection can be purchased on the site.
The Hyper-Concordance for Victorian Studies
A KWIC concordance website for Victorian studies.
T Vennett-Smith
Auctioneers of postcards, printed ephemera, cigarette and trade cards.
The Memorabilia Pack Company
Specialises in the reproduction of memorabilia and ephemera.
Nursery Rhymes & Nursery Songs
A site inspired by arrangements of nursery rhymes from the Victorian period.
Kate Greenaway Cards
Includes Christmas and New Year greeting cards, Valentines, trade cards, calendars and other paper ephemera.
Whimzy Treasures
Victorian ephemera & paper collectibles
VintageClipArt.com
The nostalgic graphics shop that sells honest, old-fashioned clip art.
The Victorian Villager
Great source for Victorian and Angel Links. Victorian Santa & Angel Galleries.
Carriage House Gifts
Beautifully reproduced nostalgic Victorian paper products.
Victoriana
The Victorian resource.
Scraps
An interesting site of scrap sheets and other items from the collection of Dutch collector Annie Schepens.
Antique Prints
Collectible and antique prints, especially children's and nursery prints.
The Cartophilic Society of Great Britain
For every collector interested in the welfare of card collecting.
Victorian Station
The ultimate guide to all things Victorian.
Copenhagen Antique Toys and Dolls
A Danish shop specialising in early dolls, dolls houses, Victorian scraps, prints, paper toys and games.
The Card Mine
For continental trade cards, chromos, cigarette cards, advertising postcards and ephemera.
Collectomania
Liebig trade cards collector also Kemmerich, Cibils, Van Houten, Guérin Boutron, Cibils, Huntley & Palmer, Suchard - all kinds of Victorian trade cards: chocolate, coffee, extract, etc.
Victorian Style Printable Photo Album Pages
For those enthusiasts of scrapbooking and for all lovers of the style and art characteristic of the Victorian era.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Our Undying Admiration to Rivertown Creative and T...
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Our Undying Admiration to Rivertown Creative and T...: Sara, you are wonderful! To Sara and Doecker of Rivertown Creative for doing such a wonderful job with our metal doll book, and also for be...
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Automatons, Hugo and Cabinets of Curiosities
Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Automatons, Hugo and Cabinets of Curiosities: Here is a great link for automatons: http://www.worldsstrangest.com/drb/amazing-automatons-ancient-robots-victorian-androids/ Welcome to m...
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Ezebet and the Legend of Snow White
An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Ezebet and the Legend of Snow White: This is the first of several blogs comparing the legend of Snow White to the legend of Erzebet. There are similarities between Erzebet and ...
Monday, March 5, 2012
Doll Museum: While we are on the Subject -Paper Dolls and 18th ...
Doll Museum: While we are on the Subject -Paper Dolls and 18th ...: Here is a preview of things to come; this link is for 19th c. paper dolls. This is the gallery, with free printables. http://19thcenturypa...
Pym Society Meeting
Greetings from the Barbara Pym Society!
It's March 1st, and the 2012 North American Conference is just two weeks away. 86 people have registered so far, meaning that there are only 12 spaces left, and we can only accommodate 5 more for the Saturday night dinner, so if you're planning to come but have not yet registered, don't delay.
The complete program, conference details, and registration forms are on our web site, www.barbara-pym.org
Best wishes,
Tom Sopko
North American Organizer
The Barbara Pym Society
It's March 1st, and the 2012 North American Conference is just two weeks away. 86 people have registered so far, meaning that there are only 12 spaces left, and we can only accommodate 5 more for the Saturday night dinner, so if you're planning to come but have not yet registered, don't delay.
The complete program, conference details, and registration forms are on our web site, www.barbara-pym.org
Best wishes,
Tom Sopko
North American Organizer
The Barbara Pym Society
Sunday, March 4, 2012
From a Friend; Books Pym Read
From my dear friend; we call each other "Les Petites Nerdettes:"
In Hazel Holt's biography of Pym I learned about two books Barbara P. and her friends not only liked, but got into, to the extent of tracking down all sorts of info on the authors, going to places where they'd lived, etc. I decided to order both, used from amazon, and see why she liked them.
The first was Denton Welch's Maiden Voyage. Welch had had a rather tragic life and was dead in his 30s by the time Pym et al. read his work, and looked ascetic, scholarly, and interesting in his photos. Those are the only reasons I can see why the Pym circle liked this book. It's about a teenager who runs away from private school and gets to go to China with his grandfather....should be lively, right? Instead it's purely aesthetic and amoral. It consists mostly of the protagonist's descriptions of exotic, rare, beautiful collectors' objets d'art which he mainly went to China to obtain. He has no human feelings for anybody, no warmth or fondness whatsoever, actually commits cruelty to animals, is not attracted to males or females, and shows no interest in anything but himself and precious objects until literally the last two pages of the book, when he is somewhat sad to be parting from a female friend (not girlfriend). It's as if Aubrey Beardsley wrote a novel.
The other was fantastic and wonderful and if you haven't read it, READ IT!!! it's The Brontes Went to Woolworth's by Rachel Ferguson. I won't summarize it as I suspect you've read it. If not, details on request. I now want to read everything this writer wrote
In Hazel Holt's biography of Pym I learned about two books Barbara P. and her friends not only liked, but got into, to the extent of tracking down all sorts of info on the authors, going to places where they'd lived, etc. I decided to order both, used from amazon, and see why she liked them.
The first was Denton Welch's Maiden Voyage. Welch had had a rather tragic life and was dead in his 30s by the time Pym et al. read his work, and looked ascetic, scholarly, and interesting in his photos. Those are the only reasons I can see why the Pym circle liked this book. It's about a teenager who runs away from private school and gets to go to China with his grandfather....should be lively, right? Instead it's purely aesthetic and amoral. It consists mostly of the protagonist's descriptions of exotic, rare, beautiful collectors' objets d'art which he mainly went to China to obtain. He has no human feelings for anybody, no warmth or fondness whatsoever, actually commits cruelty to animals, is not attracted to males or females, and shows no interest in anything but himself and precious objects until literally the last two pages of the book, when he is somewhat sad to be parting from a female friend (not girlfriend). It's as if Aubrey Beardsley wrote a novel.
The other was fantastic and wonderful and if you haven't read it, READ IT!!! it's The Brontes Went to Woolworth's by Rachel Ferguson. I won't summarize it as I suspect you've read it. If not, details on request. I now want to read everything this writer wrote
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