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The Division Bell Mystery – Ellen Wilkinson (1932)
As part of compiling all of my writing in one place, this is a repost of a Medium post from 2021. I heard about The Division Bell Mystery fairly soon after arriving at the House of Lords to join the ranks of those who “have to be in the House but not of it”. Although it’s almost…
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Nathaniel Hawthorne – Mosses from an Old Manse (1846)
Preamble This is a repost of a review initially published on Medium in 2021. Review (4 out of 5) In general, I find Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) a bit of a bore. I say this up front because I think he makes a great example of how authors vary in quality and across genres. While I find his…
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Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett – When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead (1894)
Preamble As part of bringing all my writing into one place, this is a repost from Medium from 2021. Review (3 out of 5) When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead, subtitled A Thrilling Detective Story, was published in 1894, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett (usually credited as Mrs George Corbett; you can read my biography…
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Mary Shelley – The Last Man (1826)
Preamble As part of bringing all my writing into one place, this is a repost from Medium from 2021. Review (3 out of 5) Mary Shelley is the mother of science fiction, and The Last Man stands as perhaps the first dystopian novel in existence. On that basis alone, it’s worth thinking about picking up a copy…
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Lafcadio Hearn – In Ghostly Japan (1899)
Preamble As part of collecting all my writing in one place, this is a repost of a Medium post from 2021. Review (4 out of 5) Lafcadio Hearn (later known by the name Koizumi Yakumo) was a well-travelled man. Born on the Ionian Islands to an Irish father and a Greek mother, he lived in Ireland…
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Sasha Swire – Diary of an MP’s Wife: Inside and Outside Power (2020)
Preamble As part of collecting all my writing in one place, this is a repost of a Medium post from 2021. Review (3 out of 5) Sasha Swire’s diaries are turgid, and many of the choicest bits were trailed well before the book came out. But, as someone who had never* read a political diary…
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The Adventure of the “Petticoated Police”
As part of compiling all of my writing in one place, this is a repost of a JVC blog post from 2020. “In cases of mere suspicion, women detectives are more satisfactory than men, for they are less likely to attract attention.” Ebenezer Dyer to Loveday Brooke, ‘The Redhill Sisterhood’ What detective doesn’t begin with…
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The Case of the Extraordinary Sidekick
As part of compiling all of my writing in one place, this is a repost of a JVC blog post from 2020. “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies” Sherlock Holmes to Dr John Watson, ‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle’ Policing remains, today, a highly contested activity of the state.…
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Buffy vs Dracula’s Legacy
As part of compiling all of my writing in one place, this is a repost of a Medium post from 2016. One of German media historian Friedrich Kittler‘s few extended literary analyses applies to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), wherein Kittler invites us to see Dracula’s fight as primarily against new mediums, particularly the typewriter and the gramophone. Here, I…
Dominique Gracia 