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Category: Classic
The Odyssey: A Journey of Return, Gods, and the Self
To put those who are thinking about attempting the great work that is The Odyssey at ease, I want to start by saying that yes, I too was intimidated by the very famous tale of Odysseus’s long journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. My eagerness and enthusiasm weren’t something to doubt, but I… Read More
Nesbit & Hubert Bland: The Truth Behind ‘Woman of Stone’
You might recall that just before Christmas last year I wrote a post about the BBC’s ‘Ghost Story for Christmas’ in anticipation of Woman of Stone. This was an adaptation of E. Nesbit’s 1887 story ‘Man-size in Marble’ by Mark Gatiss, who has breathed new life into the long-running series. Since then, I have had… Read More
Sassy, Sharp & Still Slaying: Why Jane Austen is the Original Literary Queen
At Wordsworth Editions, we’ve published dozens of iconic writers — but let’s be honest: Jane Austen never goes out of style. Two centuries after her death, she’s still setting hearts aflutter, sparking fierce debates, and teaching us the fine art of the slow burn romance. So what makes Austen the timeless force she is? Why… Read More
Yorkshire’s Literary Influence
Does it make sense to think of writing as belonging to a particular place? Sally Minogue reflects on the influence Yorkshire has had on our national literature. A couple of weeks ago I was staying in Yorkshire, my native county, not, as usual, in the homes of my sister or niece, but in a little… Read More
‘The great floodgates of the wonder-world swung open’
Sally Minogue examines the ‘wonder-world’ of Herman Melville’s great novel Moby Dick. ‘Call me Ishmael’: is there a more famous opening sentence in fiction? People who have never read Moby Dick, people who have never read the Bible, and don’t know who Ishmael is in either text, may still recognize and even in some way… Read More
The Power of Expectation
Turning our eyes for the moment fully on the novel Great Expectations rather than its adaptation, Sally Minogue looks at the way Charles Dickens explores the power of expectation. What a brilliant title! In two words Charles Dickens both raises our expectations and undermines them. For if we have great expectations, you can be pretty… Read More