Category Archives: Classics

The Parasites

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Teresa

The Delaney children had an unconventional childhood, moving all around, spending time backstage as their famous parents performed, their only constant being each other. And as adults, the can’t seen to form strong relationships with other people. In this 1950 … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction | 6 Comments

Don’t Look Now

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Teresa

The nine short stories in this collection by Daphne du Maurier are wonderfully dark, some of them downright terrifying. Two of them — “Don’t Look Now” and “The Birds”— have been made into classic horror films, and the stories are … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Short Stories/Essays | 16 Comments

Kristin Lavransdatter 3: The Cross

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Teresa

The final book in Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy (translated by Tiina Nunnally) finds Kristin, Erland, and their sons back at Kristin’s childhood home of Jørundgård, thanks to Erland’s political machinations detailed in The Wife. They no longer have the wealth and influence … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction | 4 Comments

Kristin Lavransdatter 2: The Wife

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Teresa

The second volume in Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, translated from Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally finds Kristin newly married and pregnant, learning to adjust to her new home at Husaby. Although she finally has the marriage she longed for for … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction | 2 Comments

Kristin Lavransdatter 1: The Wreath

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Teresa

Sigrid Undset’s trio of novels set in 14th-century Norway tells the story of a young woman named Kristin, daughter of the prosperous farmer, Lavrans (hence the name Lavaransdatter). The first novel, The Wreath, translated by Tina Nunnally, was published in … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction | 10 Comments

The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Teresa

This 1974 novel by D.G. Compton is set in a near-future time period, when death by disease has been pretty much eradicated, leaving people to die of accident or old age. When a person does develop a terminal disease, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | Leave a comment

Twelve Years a Slave

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Teresa

Solomon Northup was a free black man who lived his whole life in New York until, in 1841, he took a job as a traveling musician. This job landed him in Washington, DC, where, despite possessing papers showing he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Memoir, Nonfiction | 4 Comments

Mrs. Ames

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Teresa

This 1912 novel by E.F. Benson focuses on the people of a little English town who don’t seem to have much to do except to watch each other and gossip about who is dining with whom and when. Mrs. Ames … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction | Leave a comment

The Ladies of Lyndon

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Teresa

By just about any measure, Agatha Cocks is lucky in her marriage. Sir John Clewer, while older, is kind and seems fond of Agatha, and she will have the honor of becoming the mistress of Lyndon, a grand country house. … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction | Leave a comment

The Doctor’s Wife

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Teresa

Ever since Kae was a little girl, she was fascinated by the Hanaoka family, especially Otsugi, a beautiful woman who married into the family. So Kae was delighted when Otsugi approached her family to ask if Kae would marry her … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction | Leave a comment