strange and random happenstance

Name: Jessica De Gouw

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Fantasy Movie Adaptation: Imogen Grantham

First Impression: Dracula, the new campy over the top tv series that is oddly but amusing done by the people who do Downton Abbey. She was not only the perfect independent Mina, but she has real chemistry with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and got to be engaged to sexy Neville Longbottom.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Dream Movie Adaptation: Just look at her! She is the dream model for any Pre-Raphaelite painter. She has the hair, the jawline and chin, plus look at the "Dresden Triptych" from Dracula, it screams Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood! Plus she is able to do a nice transition from naivete to shattered expectations.

Lasting Impression: I've actually only seen Jessica in Dracula... so, lasting impression in one.

What else you've seen them in: Jessica hasn't been in much yet, but I'm sure she will be a big presence in film and television in years to come. Though she was in The Mystery of the Hansom Cab that I've been wanting to watch...

Can't believe it's them: Arrow! She went from supernatural to superhero pretty quickly.

Wish they hadn't: Again, Arrow. This has nothing to do with her, this has everything to do with my hatred of Arrow. Yes, I should love it, yes there are tons of good actors from John Barrowman to Alex Kingston to Jessica De Gouw. But I can't and won't get past the fact that just a year after Smallville ended here they are making a Green Arrow series when Smallville did such an amazing job with Oliver Queen's journey. Oh, and I did watch the first few episode so I could have informed hate here.

Bio: Here's something interesting... she's not English but Australian. One of the many Australians sneaking into our shows. I think there is truly an Australian power elite, Simon Baker is the treasurer. Also, there doesn't seem to be much else out there on her, I'm surprised she doesn't have more fan pages yet... ah, it will only be a matter of time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Kingston, Australia, Downton Abbey, Dracula, Jessica De Gouw, John Barrowman, Lauren Willig, Pre-Raphaelite, Simon Baker, Smallville, That Summer Spotlight

Middlemarch by George Eliot
Published by: Modern Library
Publication Date: 1871
Format: Hardcover, 799 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition then one reviewed)

"When I told my much-beloved little sister that I was going to write a book about a young Victorian woman who married a much older antiquarian and then finds him not at all who she thought him to be, there was a pause, followed by, “So, basically, you’re writing Middlemarch.”

Have I mentioned how much I love my little sister?

I will admit, I did have Dorothea and Casaubon on the brain, as well as Effie and Ruskin, when Imogen and her husband Arthur popped into my head. (That’s what my characters do: they pop. I don’t make them up piece by piece. They come to me fully formed, and then I have to figure them out as I’m writing about them.) But that’s pretty much the extent of the overlap between the two stories.

If you’re going to read Middlemarch, parcel out a long period of time and make a big pot of tea. Because you’re not going to want to stop once you start. Dorothea’s unhappy marriage to Casaubon is just the beginning…." - Lauren Willig

Ah, to be young and idealistic. Dorothea Brooke longs for nothing more then to marry an intelligent man and help him in his great work, like Milton's daughters, but with less complaining. She thinks she finds that man in the much older Edward Casaubon and they are wed. Tertius Lydgate is a young doctor who has bought a practice in Middlemarch and has such visions for the new fever hospital and a life of study and medical advancement. Instead he is beguiled by the young Rosamund Vincy and they are wed. Rosamund's brother Fred has hopes of a large inheritance and the hand of the humble Mary Garth, despite his family's objections to Mary, though they all cling to the thought of the inheritance because Fred doesn't seem that interested in a career. Another young idealist uncertain of where life will take him is Will Ladislaw, the cousin of Casaubon. But after meeting his cousin's young wife he feels that his life will take him wherever Dorothea is. All these young idealists, all these young hearts with dreams and ambitions shall be tried by fire and be thwarted in one way or another as they try to live their lives in Middlemarch.

Back in 1996 a costume drama made the biggest splash stateside since Upstairs, Downstairs. I'm of course talking about Pride and Prejudice. While a wet shirt might have changed the fusty notions that are attached to period pieces, it also made a household name of the show's writer, Andrew Davies. Andrew Davies became the go-to screenwriter to adapt 19th century novels into miniseries. Emma, Vanity Fair, Wives and Daughters, The Way We Live Now, Daniel Deronda, He Knew He Was Right, Bleak House, The Diary of a Nobody, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Little Dorrit, have all been adapted by his fair pen. But the fact is Colin Firth isn't the first Firth to brood sexily and shoot pool in an Andrew Davies adaptation. That honor belongs to Colin's younger brother Jonathan, as the gambling Fred Vincy in Middlemarch. We often forget how hard it was to see shows that had previously aired in this current age of streaming and YouTube. Even in the early days of DVDs you had to wait months after they were available to rent in order for them to be affordable to buy. Pride and Prejudice had stoked my interest in costume drama and Andrew Davies was the go-to guy, so obviously I had to get my hands on Middlemarch. With a region free DVD player and an Amazon UK account I was able to achieve my ends.

The adaptation was long and it didn't satisfy any need in me and actually made me want to read the book more. Of course with the length of my to be read pile it isn't any wonder that it took me almost two decades to get to it. I can see what frustrated me in the miniseries because it frustrated me in the book. Middlemarch has an almost unwieldy cast and Eliot has a way of overwriting that makes it very hard to connect. But unlike a miniseries which only has six hours to win us over, with almost 800 pages Eliot is able to build her narrative so that by the end you are so invested in the characters lives that if she hadn't written that little "finale" you would have wept tears of frustration. As for her overwriting and meandering habits to pad chapters with so much information that doesn't build on the plot to insane degrees, I can actually forgive her. The reason being that every once in awhile there is such an insightful line or comment that gives you a clear beam of light shining down from on high that you just want to shout "Yes, a million times yes!" There is also the fact that over time Eliot tends to pontificate less and less focusing more on the plot and the interaction of the characters. I also wonder if the fact that the novel was published in serialized form might have something do to with this shift. By writing in this way I'm sure she was able to gauge what her readers wanted and tweak the novel more to their tastes, and to mine.

What struck me most forcefully about Middlemarch is that while this book was written 142 years ago it is still so relevant in it's issues that it's eerie. With this "study of provincial life" Eliot taps into the universality of people everywhere. Jealousy, money problems, medical advancement, xenophobia, misunderstandings, misconceptions, thwarted ambitions, atonement, all these issues and more are handled in such a way that you, as the reader, connect with a similar incident in your life. The one thing I really connected with was an interesting aspect of Lydgate's practice which caused much stir in the town among his prospective patients. Unlike other Doctors, Lydgate didn't deal with prescriptions for medication cutting out the middle man. It is unclear among the villagers if this is from a lack of knowledge or a lack of self interest, because Doctors could make more money if they cut out the pharmacist, as it were. But it seems to me more that Lydgate, with his newfangled ideology and research believed more in the idea that under most circumstances the body can heal itself and therefore doesn't need drugs. This rang so true to what Doctors say nowadays. Of course, when you now go to the Doctor it's more they're worried that if they proscribe something when they don't need to that you will develop an immunity to the drug that will later cause problems when you truly do need drugs. How many times have I been on the losing end of that argument that I needed drugs for a sinus infection and they told me no? The answer is too many to count... so I have a feeling that if I did reside in Middlemarch, Lydgate just might not be my Doctor because of how many times I then ended up in Urgent Care getting the meds my Doctor was hesitant to proscribe.

But this little meditation of Lydgate's habits only touches on one aspect of one character in a book with enough characters to almost give George R.R. Martin a run for his money. With this many characters, of course you are going to have your favorites, those you love, those you hate, and of course, those you love to hate. But what I found so interesting is that I had sympathy for all the characters, even those I didn't like. In books I usually never root for the antihero. If a character is unlikeable, that's it, we're done, the book and me will not be able to reconcile our differences. But the way in how this community was made up and how each life touched and influenced the other it's like a house of cards or a train of dominoes, you can't pick and choose, everyone is in it together and everyone is therefore needing of our sympathy. While Dorothea is the most obvious character to have feelings for, with her thwarted ambitions in her marriage and then the impositions placed on her by her husband's will, I was even worried about Bulstrode. I worried about a man who, in his past, had dubious dealings which came back to haunt him and I was perfectly happy for him to get away with murder if he could. The lives that Middlemarch is teaming with all need each other and form a perfect view of what provincial life was and how aspects of human nature transcend the generations. This is a must human novel indeed.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: 19th Century, Andrew Davies, Casaubon, Colin Firth, Doctors, Dorothea, DVD, Effie, George Eliot, GRRM, Jonathan Firth, Lauren Willig, Lydgate, Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice, Ruskin, That Summer, This Summer

On Art and Life by John Ruskin
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: September 2nd, 2004
Format: Paperback, 97 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
Out of Print

"Oh, Ruskin. So groundbreaking in his aesthetic. Such a nightmare in his personal life. One of the things I love about this time period—and the Preraphaelites in particular—is their revolutionary ideas of beauty. Flinging aside the constraints of classicism, they (to misuse Shakespeare) found tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

Ruskin laid the groundwork for their upheaval in aesthetics and was one of their key champions. Even if, in his home life, he was a complete mama’s boy who took to his bed with a sniffle—and couldn’t consummate his marriage with his young wife. But that’s next week’s book….

Ruskin pops up in cameo appearances in That Summer, a tall, thin man in his signature blue coat. I took the liberty of borrowing his childhood home on Herne Hill (which he describes quite eloquently in his autobiography Praetorita) and using it as the basis for my heroine’s house.

Thanks, John Ruskin!" - Lauren Willig

The world around us should be our inspiration for art. There is a reason why art and architecture varies by climate. The materials available and the surrounding environment should feed art and make it of it's place, not attempting and hence forcing it to being something it's not. Yet if the labourer who is to create these masterpieces doesn't have any artistic freedom his work is just that of another cog in the industrial revolution. Man can either be a tool or a man. To make a truly great society there needs to be expression allowed in each and every man's work, otherwise society is failing. There needs to be heart in work. Hand, heart, material working in harmony will bring about the artistic revolution that is needed to offset the industrial revolution.

This slim volume contains the chapter "The Nature of Gothic" from Ruskin's The Stones of Venice and a talk he gave on "The Work of Iron, in Nature, Art, and Policy" in Tunbridge Wells in 1858. This book is part of the Penguin Books series of "Great Ideas." Penguin has always been an innovator when it comes to reissuing books of note. As the blurb on the back says "Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them." With the way Ruskin's writing fed the Pre-Raphaelites and their Brotherhood, I think we can safely say that this is one of the books that have enlightened and enriched our lives. Given that art is a difficult and nebulous topic to write on, Ruskin's clarity of vision shines through in such a way that anyone interested in art should pick this up if they can... the Brotherhood certainly did, in more ways then one. Who knows if without Ruskin's vocalization of his beliefs if the Brotherhood would have been able to settle on a cohesive ideology and change the face of art. But more then that, his support of them gave the movement credibility.

Ruskin has such a way with words you can see why the Pre-Raphaelites took him and his writing to heart. He has a way of illuminating the everyday and rising it above the mundane. Through his words you can see a Utopian society for the betterment of man is possible. Yes, these ideals might be romantic, but that is what the Pre-Raphaelites where all about. Ruskin easily breaks down what is wrong with Victorian society. Art and craft are moving towards the mass produced, cookie cutter houses where the decoration in the homes are done by rote, not by feeling, one wonders what he would make of today's subdivisions. A society enslaved by their industrialized homes with the same wallpaper and the identical rosettes lining the walls and ceilings. That is why Ruskin embraces Gothic Architecture. In the Gothic he sees aspects that show the originality of the craftsman. He believes that there is a Gothic Heart that needs whimsy and naturalism among other things in order succeed. Of course the Utopian aspect (ie unrealistic) is where he believes that a society would move away from convenience and back to this time of buying custom objects wherein the maker was able to express themselves and therefore break free of being just a tool, a slave of modern industrialization.

Ruskin's beliefs are impractical but worthy. Ruskin needed the Pre-Raphaelites as much as they needed him. Without someone to latch onto his treatises there was no way to see if they were feasible, even on a small scale. The early doctrine of the Brotherhood believed in genuine ideas, naturalism, empathy, and quality. This tailors so well to all that Ruskin has written. In his talk at Tunbridge Wells he said that hand, heart, and material needed to work together in harmony. Add in Ruskin's belief in this Gothic (literally Northern from "Goths") Heart that believes in changeableness and naturalism and truth, ie, truth to nature, and it's a perfect fit. This naturalism/truth to nature of listening to ourselves as well as our abilities that feeds into our choice of medium aligns the man and the Brotherhood into one.

The nature of your location and the environment creates how you express yourself, but some things can only be done in certain materials. Don't ever try to use a material in a way that is not conducive to what you want to do. If something is light and airy, don't use marble. Each man must believe in truth and beauty. Truth to the world, the materials, the subject, and himself. Each to his own means and own thoughts, the master to perfection, the average man to imperfection, but take joy in both and look for nothing less. The artist shall use his skill to make everything to the best of his abilities, even down to making his own paint. You read these tenets and everything clicks. This is what the Pre-Raphaelites believed. This was their code like the Musketeers, "One for all and all for one." Ruskin was the chronicler and inspiration for them... a little bit ironic though when you realize that Ruskin thought all art should be of it's time, whereas the Pre-Raphaelites loved to paint classic allegorical subjects using real artifacts... but not everyone can agree all the time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art, Brotherhood, Lauren Willig, Musketeers, On Art and Life, Penguin, Praetorita, Pre-Raphaelite, Ruskin, That Summer, The Nature of Gothic, The Stones of Venice, This Summer, Tunbridge Wells, Utopia

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace Hardcover
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Manfred Bernardo is continuing his grandmother's calling, eking out a living with his psychic powers. Though eking isn't quite what he's doing, he's actually doing pretty darn well. He just needed the perfect place to work where no one would ask too many questions and he could be left alone to do his job. Manfred thought he had found that place in Midnight, Texas. In fairness to the town, everyone does kept their secrets to themselves, but there's also a camaraderie among these outcasts. Shared meals at the diner, sitting back and enjoying a drink in the shade, together yet separate. While they strive to keep the outside world at bay a murder just might bring about the wrong kind of attention to this sleepy dried-up western town. Though it's nothing the inhabitants can't handle.

Despite coming to Charlaine Harris through her Sookie Stackhouse books, thank you Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine, it's her mysteries that I love above all others. They seem fresher and more vibrant instead of re-hashing the same old vampire tropes in new and slightly entertaining fashion. The Harper Connelly books in particular are quite possibly one of my favorite mystery quartet out there. This all led me to be excited about Charlaine's new "Midnight, Texas" series. Not only was she going back to her mystery roots, but one of my favorite characters from Harper's world, Manfred Bernardo, would be our conduit into this sleepy town. The book had theoretically everything going for it. Or at least everything going for it to appease me... but the execution left something to be desired.

My main gripe is what I will call paranormal versus supernatural. Yes, technically these words are interchangeable, but to me they aren't. Paranormal to me is phenomena like extrasensory perception, psychic powers, and ghosts, in other words, things that I believe might actually have happened in our world today. Paranormal is out of the ordinary, but still, well, plausible. As for supernatural, I view this as more creature based, ie, aliens, werewolves, and vampires. Supernatural is far less likely to be real. I will point out I'm not discounting it either as possible, just that it's less likely then paranormal. I know people will disagree with my classifications, but this is how I see it. The world Charlaine created with Sookie was supernatural, the world she created with Harper was paranormal, and now the twain shall meet. Sigh.

See I liked that Harper's worldbuilding was plausible to me. I believe in ghosts and weird psychic powers so Harper's ability to see the last minutes of the deceased, call it possible in my world. A little out of the ordinary, but it could happen. Sookie's world, well, now that's all about all the different creatures that either want to kill you or sleep with you, sometimes both. By having Manfred cross over to this new book series I was hoping to have a more grounded urban fantasy book along the lines of Harper with the mystery and intrigue and then in walks a vampire. No! By bringing in the vampire Charlaine just merged all her books into one big fat world which means that Harper's world now has vampires too and to that I strongly object. Yes I like the fantastical, but sometimes I need plausibility. So me and that vampire... well, he just took away all hopes I had for this book.

And maybe I should be grateful to that vampire because, well, he lowered my expectations, besides pissing me off. Oh how he pisses me off. Yep, two months later and that vampire is still the bane of this book. The truth at the heart of Midnight Crossroad is that not much happens and what does happen is so predictable you wonder why you're still reading the book after a while. I mean seriously, if you didn't catch who the the killer was within two seconds and just spent the rest of the book waiting for the reveal to come with a whimper not a bang, then we have some issues you and I. Yet I don't know if this lack of forward momentum and predictability was on purpose or not. Charlaine had a lot of new characters to introduce to us and we had to familiarize ourselves to this new world.

So perhaps the lack of plot was a way to ease us into this bizarre little town, the Texas version of Cicely, Alaska, where everyone knows your name but will keep quiet about your past and never ask any questions. Or Haven, because seriously, it's very Haven like. Sometimes you just need to have the author waiting for you in the corner of your room there to answer questions when you finish. Charlaine, did you plot it this slowly on purpose? Just nod yes or no so I don't need to remove the gag. Yet, despite it all, or in spite of it all I'm still kind of looking forward to the next volume. I know more what to expect. That vampire's appearance won't throw me, and as for the few werewolves and other creatures in town, well, I'm ready for them too. It might not have been what I thought it was or what I was even looking for but there's a part of me still looking forward to returning to this town. I don't know if this makes me a masochist, we'll just have to see what the next volume brings.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlaine Harris, Harper Connelly, Haven, Manfred, Midnight Crossroad, Midnight Texas, Northern Exposure, Paranormal, Sookie Stackhouse, Supernatural, Vampires

The Battle for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Eva Nine is at her bravest in the final book in the New York Times bestselling trilogy from the fantastical mind of Tony DiTerlizzi.

All hope for a peaceful coexistence between humankind and aliens seems lost in the third installment of the WondLa trilogy. Eva Nine has gone into hiding for fear of luring the wicked Loroc to her companions.

However, news of the city Solas being captured by the human leader, Cadmus Pryde, forces Eva into action once again. With help from an unlikely ally, Eva tries to thwart Loroc’s ultimate plan for both mankind and the alien life on Orbona.

Complete with lavish two-color illustrations and spot art throughout, and starring a host of unforgettable characters that reinforce the importance of friendship, The Battle for WondLa has all the hallmarks of a classic book—of the future."

I am SO EXCITED for this book, mainly for the fact that me and my friend Janice are going to one of Tony DiTerlizzi's events for the release of this book. Sqwee!

The One by Kiera Cass
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The highly anticipated third book in Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, The One will captivate readers who love dystopian YA fiction and fairy tales. The One is perfect for the fans who have followed America's whirlwind romance since it began—and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth's Divergent, Ally Condie's Matched, or Lauren Oliver's Delirium.

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!"

New Kiera Cass, rejoice all you non haters!

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace Hardcover
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale—populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that’s how the locals prefer it…

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth..."

I am really excited for Charlaine's new trilogy, mainly because it's going to be so nice to see her write something other then Sookie, and I adore her Harper Connelly series!

Slight Spellbound by Kimberly Frost
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With two kinds of magick at odds inside her and two gorgeous men vying for her attention, Tammy Jo Trask is used to being pulled in opposite directions. But in the latest Southern Witch novel she’ll have to make some serious decisions—like how she intends to stay alive.

Tammy Jo’s romance with the wizard Bryn Lyons is on hold while her ex-husband is in town trying to remind her of the good old days. Choosing between them isn’t easy, and it doesn’t help that a skeletal creature is spying on her, a faery knight is hunting her, and she just made friends with Evangeline Rhodes—a rich witch who thinks her own family is trying to kill her.

When Evangeline disappears under suspicious circumstances, Tammy Jo is determined to find out what happened. As she uncovers a secret more dangerous—and personal—than she could have imagined, she also discovers that, in both love and magic, you can’t stay neutral forever."

What with the rebranding of this series I was hoping for a new book, and viola!

Magic City Recent Spells edited by Paul Guran
Published by: Prime Books
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bright lights, big city... magic spells, witchcraft, wizardry, fairies, devilry, and more. Urban living, at least in fantasy fiction, is full of both magical wonder and dark enchantment. Street kids may have supernatural beings to protect them or have such powers themselves. Brujeria may be part of your way of life. Crimes can be caused (and solved) with occult arts and even a losing sports team's "curse" can be lifted with wizardry. And be careful of what cab you call - it might take you on a journey beyond belief! Some of the best stories of urban enchantment from the last few years is gathered in one volume full of hex appeal and arcane arts."

New story from Patricia Briggs? All the rest of the awesome authors are like icing on a cake!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlaine Harris, Kiera Cass, Kimberly Frost, Magic City, Midnight Crossroad, Patricia Briggs, Slightly Spellbound, Southern Witch Series, The Battle for Wondla, The Selection, Tony DiTerlizzi, Wondla

Name: Jessica Stroup

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Fantasy Movie Adaptation: Julia Conley

First Impression: Reaper. Damn, I really loved this way too short lived show with gay demons played by Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black. The show was about Sam, a normal guy who finds out he's the son of Satan. One of his love interests, played by Jessica Stroup, may or may not have been his half sister and yet another of Satan's childern. Seriously, it's funny and a little sick all in one.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Dream Movie Adaptation: There's something no nonsense and tough about her that I think really gets to the heart of who Julia is.

Lasting Impression: The Following. Joining this deliciously campy show about a serial killer and his followers in season two as Kevin Bacon's niece Sam, she's a kick ass female Ryan Hardy who better hook up with Mike, that's all I'm saying.

What else you've seen them in: She's been around for years popping up here and there. When she showed up on The Following it was really bothering me where I had seen her before until I was able to get on imdb and go, oh yeah, Reaper! Jessica has been on Grey's Anatomy, Family Guy, True Blood in the memorable opening scene of the series before it went to shit, among others.

Can't believe it's them: 90210. Seriously, why, just why?

Wish they hadn't: Again, shall we discuss 90210? I tried to watch this when it came back and barely lasted to the reveal of who is the father of Kelly's baby, it's Dylan by the way. Just no.

Bio: Born in South Carolina, she headed to LA at the age of 17, turning down a scholarship to the University of Georgia. Taking acting classes she was soon being cast in horror movies, which also happens to be a genre she likes, with The Shining being a favorite film. She's one of the characters I hope will survive on The Following to come back next season. But if she doesn't... maybe we can get this whole Lauren Willig dream movie franchise off the ground?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 90210, James Purefoy, Jessica Stroup, Julia Conley, Lauren Willig, Reaper, That Summer, That Summer Spotlight, The Following, The Shining, True Blood

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Published by: Atria
Publication Date: January 1st, 2008
Format: Hardcover, 552 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

"Novels that moved back and forth between two time periods existed before Kate Morton—including my Pink Carnation books, of which the first came out in 2005—but she is undoubtedly the standard-bearer for the genre that has come to be known as “time-slip”, so I would be remiss if I didn’t mention her books here.

I chose The Forgotten Garden because it’s Victorian-set, but there are other similarities as well. In both That Summer and The Forgotten Garden, a modern heroine inherits a house in England and must uncover a mystery of which the key is an object from the past: in The Forgotten Garden, a book of fairy tales, in That Summer, a lost Preraphaelite painting." - Lauren Willig

Nell dies with an unanswered secret. A secret she bequeaths to her granddaughter Cassandra. Nell raised Cassandra ever since her own daughter abandoned her at Nell's little house in Brisbane back in the seventies. Nell's secret took her clear across the world to England, but answers were not forthcoming. Nell has felt a stranger in her own life since she learned from her father that she was a foundling, wandering the wharves of Australia. She was the answer to their prayers and so they kept her. On his deathbed he leaves the suitcase that was found with Nell. A suitcase with a very rare and beautiful book of Fairy Tales by one Eliza Makepeace. Nell takes the leap and heads to England in such of the one link she has, Eliza Makepeace. Her journey leads her to Cornwall and Blackhurst Manor. She gets an inkling as to her heritage and buys Cliff Cottage from the now broken up Blackhurst Estate, planing to return and find out who she is. She never returns.

Thirty years later Cassandra journeys to England following Nell's death, to Tregenna. Her life, like Nell's, is mired by shadows and memories. She has given up on her art, she has almost given up on life now that Nell is gone. The least she can do is come to this poky little cottage that she never knew existed and find out the truth about her grandmother. The beginning of Nell's story is back in the time when Dickens walked the streets. High above the Thames in a windowless room above Swindell's Rag and Bottle shop, Eliza Makepeace and her twin brother Sammy eek out a living after the death of their mother. They are poor but happy, with Eliza able to take their mundane and bleak lives and spin stories of pure magic. But their little hideaway is soon invaded. Her brother is killed playing a game they invented.

The bad man whom her mother always warned them of comes to take Eliza away. Far away from London to the cliffs of Cornwall. To Blackhurst Manor. The home her mother ran away from all those years ago and brought shame to by becoming pregnant by a sailor. Eliza's mother Georgiana also broke her brothers heart. Now Eliza spends her days with her Aunt and Uncle Linus and their sickly daughter Rose. In between all the visits and checkups from Dr. Matthews, Eliza is a fountain of stories and adventures that help to bring young Rose back to life. They grow together, as close as any sisters, till one day Rose journeys across the sea and falls in love with a young painter, Nathaniel Walker. Everything changes, and Eliza feels that she must make one last sacrifice. One last gesture to prove that she loves Rose more than anyone else.

Spanning over a hundred years and several generations of women, this book asks the question, can you live a fulfilled life if you don't know where you come from. While this quest would drive many, I think turning up on a dockside after a long sea journey and not knowing the how and the why would make me more than a little curious. Nell's father changed her life forever when he told her the truth. Instead of setting Nell free, the feverish quest that grips her is what drives the novel. Skipping back and forth between time periods we glean bites and pieces of the puzzle till at last all is revealed, or almost all, I still think there's more with that creepy Uncle Linus that we're not being told.

I had some issues with the book. The time periods where not very seamless, and when that first jump to Victorian times happens it changes the entire tone of the novel. It's as if Jack The Ripper himself has taken the narration away from the author and brought a dark, forbidding air that never quite leaves and is never fully satisfied. My mind would wander over all these gruesome possibilities and scenarios. Who was the bad man, whose baby was it really, is Blackhurst Manor the seat of the devil. Some of these answers I guessed right away, though Kate Morton added a twist here and there so I wasn't 100% spot on. But there were so many juicy ways she could have taken this plot and in the end I felt let down. The truth is far more mundane than my imagination wanted the story to be. Like Eliza's gift for weaving the perfect yarn, The Forgotten Garden had me thinking and plotting more than any book I've read recently. This book could have been spectacular, but at the close, it was a lackluster ending that brought dissatisfaction.

Also, a niggling aside. There is so much mention of the beautiful fairy drawings by Nathaniel Walker. Now, the endpapers of my edition have gorgeous drawings by Arthur Rackham. This does a disservice to the novel. While, yes, I will admit it's why I first picked it up, once I read the book I thought that a more unknown illustrator, more in keeping with the style of the book within the book was necessary. How about Charles Van Sandwyck? So you won't instantly be pulled out of the book by Rackham's distinctive style. Yes, every aspect of a book needs to be fully taken into account to make me happy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Arthur Rackham, Blackhurst, Cassandra, Charles Dickens, Charles Van Sandwyck, Cliff Cottage, Cornwall, Eliza Makepeace, Jack the Ripper, Kate Morton, Nathaniel Walker, Nell, The Forgotten Garden

As most of you know by now I have a deep abiding love for Lauren Willig's writing. For a fan this is an exciting time in her writing career. With last year's The Ashford Affair she officially branched out from her Pink Carnation series, which is sadly winding down, and has started to write stand-alones. That Summer is her new stand-alone which is coming out this summer (get the theme month title eh?) I have to say, if she wanted to hook me more then Kenya, choosing the Pre-Raphaelites was a sure way to do it. Everyone knows who the Pre-Raphaelites are even if they aren't aware of it. I remember back in high school my English classroom had the ubiquitous Pre-Raphaelite posters on the back bulletin board. There was Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee's La Belle Dame Sans Merci and John William Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott. They never removed these posters in the four years I had classes in that room on and off. There's just something so magical about these paintings, the way they convey such detail and meaning to the written word that it captures the cross pollination of artistic mediums that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood embraced and made me want to learn more versus those people who just slap the posters up on their walls. 

When I was in undergrad getting a BS in Art there was a plethora of Art History courses that were required which I took to with great zeal, even adding in such classes as German Architecture: The Modern Movements, which oddly ties into the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Because the classes covered such a wide range of time, literally from Ancient Egypt to Picasso, there wasn't as much time to dwell on each subject as I would have liked. What was interesting though is that later when I took my German Architecture Class so many of the ideologies of these German artists harked back to the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood believe in craftsmanship, romanticism, spiritualism, nature, ideas, and never forget that signature jawline. They believed in elevating art for the people while there was always the irony that they spent so much time and effort on their art that it wasn't the common man but the wealthy who could afford their work, much like the Arts and Crafts movement, but more on that later. The German's believed in this craftsmanship and this love that was put into every aspect of the work with amazing attention to detail, which Frank Lloyd Wright would later use, going so far as to design the clothes that the inhabitants of his houses wore. If you have ever had the honor to see some of the Brotherhood's work, they made the frames that houses the paintings because it was the only way to truly view the art. They were Victorian Renaissance men that were both craftsmen and artists.

A few years back the Pre-Raphaelites got a little buzz again off the BBC Miniseries, Desperate Romantics, which I hope Lauren has finally watched after much urging on my part. While the series plays fast and loose with facts, making it in essence "Victorian Entourage," it once again ignited my interest in these artists. It didn't hurt having Aidan Turner playing Dante Gabriel Rossetti is all I'll say on that. At the same time the Art Institute of Chicago did a fascinating exhibition called Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago. The synchronicity of the exhibition's timing was eerily awesome for me. Because any way you look at it the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Arts and Crafts are connected movements with John Ruskin and Williams Morris being figureheads in both. The centerpiece of the exhibit was Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Beata Beatrix. But the exhibit had innumerable sketches and paintings and even house plans that gave such insight into the movements that I just wanted to learn more. Therefore this month is all about learning more. To delve into Lauren's research material, to read what inspired her, to find out the origins of That Summer and get special insights into why this world called out to her and me. And in another wonderful twist of fate, the MET is having a Pre-Raphaelite exhibition opening this month and thankfully lasting until I go to New York in August called The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy: British Art and Design. I'm positive they did this just to coincide with That Summer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Aidan Turner, Art History, Beata Beatrix, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Desperate Romantics, John William Waterhouse, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation, Pre-Raphaelite, That Summer, The Ashford Affair, This Summer