There are multitudes of voices, strange languages and impossible knowledge. Merry – Meredith Barrett – is a 23-year-old woman telling an author about her childhood – how when she was eight, her 14-year-old sister Marjorie suffered a psychotic break, behaving as if she were possessed by a host of spirits. Tremblay’s story, winner of a Bram Stoker award in the US, is told in layer upon layer. I magine a literary horror novel that riffs on one of the best and creepiest short stories out there, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper: “It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please!” Then throw in elements of every tale of possession you’ve read or seen, from Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House to William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, and you’ll end up with Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, one of the most frightening books I’ve read this, or any, year.
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When it becomes apparent that both the original At the Edge of a Wood and her forgery are en route to her museum, the life she has carefully constructed threatens to unravel entirely and irrevocably. Sydney, 2000: Now a celebrated art historian and curator, Ellie Shipley is mounting an exhibition in her field of specialization: female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. When a struggling art history grad student, Ellie Shipley, agrees to forge the painting for a dubious art dealer, she finds herself entangled with its owner in ways no one could predict. The lawyer's marriage is prominent but comfortless, too. It is a beautiful but comfortless landscape. New York City, 1957: The only known surviving work of Sara de Vos, At the Edge of a Wood, hangs in the bedroom of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer, Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner. Defying the expectations of her time, she decides to paint it. Though women do not paint landscapes (they are generally restricted to indoor subjects), a wintry outdoor scene haunts Sara: She cannot shake the image of a young girl from a nearby village, standing alone beside a silver birch at dusk, staring out at a group of skaters on the frozen river below. The lawyers marriage is prominent but comfortless, too. Amsterdam, 1631: Sara de Vos becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the city's Guild of St. New York City, 1957: The only known surviving work of Sara de Vos, At the Edge of a Wood, hangs in the bedroom of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer, Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner. A RARE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PAINTING LINKS THREE LIVES, ON THREE CONTINENTS, OVER THREE CENTURIES IN THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS, AN EXHILARATING NEW NOVEL FROM DOMINIC SMITH. Perhaps the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching is the source of Taoist philosophy, which eventually developed into Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism. Breathing new life into these classics, Hinton’s new translations will stand as the definitive texts for our era. But these new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable-they also apply much-needed consistency to key philosophical terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor heretofore unavailable in English. Hinton’s award–winning experience translating a wide range of ancient Chinese poets makes these books sing in English as never before. Four seminal masterworks of Chinese thought-the Tao Te Ching, the Analects, the Chuang Tzu, and the Mencius -presented in one volume for the first time in nearly two centuries “I’ve deliberately taken an impressionistic view of landscapes and places, because I was feeling unsettled at the time and I wanted to make it unsettling for the reader as well,” Coleman says. Many of the Natives are nomadic by necessity: on the run from the perpetual threat of capture, death or slavery. Her own peripatetic lifestyle flowed into her writing: the book is grounded in natural landscapes, as the narrative passes through desert, bushland and rural townships, evoking the land’s open spaces and the ceaseless movement of its characters. Through shifting perspectives, Coleman tracks the lives of various characters from both groups. After inhabiting the land for generations, the Natives (as they are called in the novel) are subjected to severe, brutal colonisation with the sudden arrival of the Settlers. Terra Nullius opens on what could be an alternate past Australia, or a distant future a country that is both recognisable and indelibly transformed. Aboard the Neverland is a trunk that hold the “greatest treasure on earth” -but is it gold, jewels, or something far more mysterious and dangerous? Page after page of riveting adventures take readers of all ages on a voyage from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent sea. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and fearless Peter. Best-selling authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have turned back the clock to reveal the wonderful story that precedes J. In an evocative and fast-paced adventure on the high seas and on a faraway island, an orphan boy named Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, overcome bands of pirates and thieves in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil. There’s the hero who’s the only one who knows what’s going on, and isn’t believed by people in positions of power there are the sexually adventurous teenagers who come to a messy end there’s an innocent child who falls victim to the voracious menace (i.e. When slugs start coming up in his back garden and one tries to bite his finger, he begins to wonder…Īll the usual tropes are there, as well as a few borrowed from horror’s kissing cousin the disaster story. Health inspector Mike Brady (Chief Martin Brody’s spiritual twin) is one of the first at the scene of carnage and spots slime trails all over the house. They first emerge from their lair in the local alcoholic’s cellar to eat him alive when he returns from the pub one night. Things are going to get nasty though, as beneath the town’s streets, carnivorous slugs are multiplying, and they’re about to get a taste for human flesh. Life is plodding along in the quiet English town of Merton, the hot summer being the worst that people have to deal with. I’m pleased to report that, while there’s no question that it’s trashy and naff, it has stood the test of time pretty well. It belonged to the elder brother of one of my schoolmates (he also owned James Herbert’s The Rats and The Fog), and I used to read the particularly racy and gory bits aloud to my squealing friends at lunchtime. I first pored over this preposterous horror novel back in the heady days of the early ‘80s, when I was ten years old. I'm not really sure why the first two books are set outside of the intended long term atmosphere of the series, but it works well for me so far, and even though everyone and their mother has told me to skip COCKROACHES, I'll be reading it solely just to gain whatever information there is to glean from it. The mystery kept me guessing and I did not have any of it figured out prior to the reveals, which was a nice change of pace. I really appreciated the severely flawed nature of Harry and his past which has shaped who he has become up until this point. The overall feel of the story reminded me a bit of Ragnar Jonasson's Dark Iceland series, except the setting was drastically warmer. While I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I've not experienced this character or series before, I actually loved THE BAT! Perhaps it was having the opportunity to learn Hole's backstory and read the books in their intended order, or maybe simply the fact that I don't know any differently, but I was in the mood for a slow burning police procedural and that's exactly what I got. I know that the first two Harry Hole books are generally the least popular of the series, but I couldn't be persuaded to jump in at book three and altered my expectations accordingly. In this charming sequel to All Four Stars, eleven-year-old foodie Gladys Gatsby now has her first published review under her belt and is looking forward to a quiet summer of cooking and reviewing. (Just dont tell anyone that shes in sixth grade.) Gladys Gatsby has been cooking gourmet dishes. Joan Bauer meets Ruth ReichlTara Dairman’s charming sequel to All Four Stars brings Gladys Gatsby to summer camp. In this charming sequel to All Four Stars. Let’s discuss! Did you enjoy All Four Stars? Are there any food or cooking themed books you recommend? Meanwhile, I’m waiting anxiously for the sequel. The Stars of Summer: An All Four Stars Book eBook : Dairman, Tara, Kelly Murphy: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store. Meet Gladys Gatsby: New Yorks toughest restaurant critic. Joan Bauer meets Ruth ReichlTara Dairmans charming sequel to All Four Stars brings Gladys Gatsby to summer camp. Whether the story features cherished family recipes, has characters in an intense baking competition, or as in Tara Dairman’s middle grade debut, highlights the passion of a young chef, food-centered novels always have me hungry for more. If there is one thing that I think there can never be enough books on, it’s food. 'A great novel of dark and dirty passions, public and private. But the bloody theatre of the queen's final days will leave no one unscathed. A beautifully packaged GiftSmith book box, filled with a sustainable pre-loved copy of Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, a literary quote postcard. With Henry captivated by plain Jane Seymour and rumours of Anne Boleyn's faithlessness whispered by all, Cromwell knows what he must do to secure his position. 'Our most brilliant English writer' Guardianīring Up the Bodies unlocks the darkly glittering court of Henry VIII, where Thomas Cromwell is now chief minister. The second book in Hilary Mantel's award-winning Wolf Hall trilogy, with a stunning new cover design to celebrate the publication of the much anticipated The Mirror and the LightĪn astounding literary accomplishment, Bring Up the Bodies is the story of this most terrifying moment of history, by one of our greatest living novelists. But that's not quite the right definition either. The NA label is more accurately used for older YA, or for crossover novels that don't fit neatly in either the YA or Adult categories. There's a widespread misconception that New Adult is just Young Adult with some Romance-quality smut or even straight-up erotica thrown in. So far no one can provide a definitive definition of the genre. This is a question that writers, agents, and publishers alike are struggling to answer right now, being that the genre is so new (I'm talking like newborn baby new, as in almost no one had heard of it just a few months back). Read and reward yourself-there's a giveaway at the end! But first, a little primer. I'm so excited to introduce a new feature on Fictiffous! Please welcome my first guest blogger, author ST Bende, who's here as part of a blog tour for her upcoming release, ELSKER (book one of the New Adult paranormal romance series, THE ELSKER SAGA, releasing this May from Entranced Publishing). |