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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “After the Dam” by Amy Hassinger
Kate’s 2¢: “After the Dam” by Amy Hassinger
“After the Dam” by Amy Hassinger
saying…
Kathy Herbst sis a good job of reading “After the Dam’ for our listening pleasure.
I enjoyed this story, except for the ‘open ending’. Will there be a sequel?
The theme causes the reader/listener to ponder the bigger picture of land ownership and the reality that most of us are probably bi-racial; some combination of a blend of Caucasian, African, Native American.
from the Web:
Amy Hassinger is the author of three novels: Nina: Adolescence, The Priest’s Madonna, and After the Dam. Her writing has been translated into Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, and Indonesian and has won awards from Creative Nonfiction , Publisher’s Weekly , American Best Book Awards, the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY ..
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
After the dam DBC08254
Hassinger, Amy. Reading time: 14 hours, 37 minutes.
Read by Kathy Herbst. A production of Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library.
Psychological Fiction
When her grandmother, Grand, is dying, Rachel Clayborne flees with her baby from Illinois to the Clayborne family farm in Wisconsin. Tensions arise over the legacy of the land, while rachel reconnects with her past. 2016. Unrated.
Download After the dam
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Cradle of Ice” by James Rollins
Kate’s 2¢: “The Cradle of Ice” by James Rollins
“The Cradle of Ice” by James Rollins
saying…
I don’t usually down-load fantasy fiction, but this story came on an NLS cartridge that contained seven books. Early into the story I got the feeling that this must be Book 2 in a series. Then, at the end of the story, I thought there might be a Book3.
When you start to read, you agree to suspend your preconceived ideas and let the author take you on a trip. What a trip this was! I actually enjoyed this story.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins,[1] is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California to be a full-time author. Rollins’ experiences and expertise as an amateur spelunker and a certified scuba diver have provided content for some of his novels, which are often set in underground or underwater locations. Under the pen name James Clemens, he has also published fantasy novels, such as Wit’ch Fire, Wit’ch Storm, Wit’ch War, Wit’ch Gate, Wit’ch Star, Shadowfall (2005), and Hinterland (2006).
Biographical sketch[edit]
Rollins was born in Chicago.[1] His father worked for Libby’s canning plant, his mother was a housewife and mother of seven, and he lived what he likened to a Brady Bunch lifestyle.[2]
He attended Parkway South Junior High School[2] and then graduated from Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri, in 1979. His undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology. He graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D. V. M). Soon afterward, he moved to Sacramento, California, where he established his veterinary practice, licensed July 24, 1985.[1]
In an August 16, 2012 interview, he told SLM’s Jeannette Cooperman:
For 20 years my paycheck was coming from my veterinary degree and my writing was my hobby, and I thought it would be really cool to flip that around. Veterinary medicine is much harder. It’s a 14-, 16-, 18-hour-a-day job. I owned my own practice, had 24 employees. I couldn’t get away, that was the biggest thing. In the 10 years I ran my own practice, I had three weeks of vacation total. I started writing during my lunch hour at the clinic—dogs barking, cats meowing—so now I can write anywhere.
Now, he’s flipped that equation: “Once a week I spend about eight hours spaying and neutering trapped feral cats for the Sacramento Council of Cats. All I do with my veterinary degree now is remove genitalia.”[2]
Influences[edit]
Rollins found the authors of the Doc Savage series inspirational as a youth and acquired an extensive collection of the popular 1930s and 1940s pulp magazine stories.[3] Rollins was fascinated by stories of the exploits of Howard Carter and his discovery of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, King Tutankhamun (King Tut); this true-life tale later inspired Rollins’ novel Excavation, in which the main character, archaeologist Henry Conklin, and his nephew Sam discover a lost Inca city in the mountains of the Andean jungle that contains a treasure—and a curse. He also enjoyed L. Frank Baum’s Oz series, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan novels, and C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Additionally, he was inspired by Jules Verne and H. G. Wells,[4] whose works he used as a springboard for creating similar contemporary novels filled with what he refers to as “the three M’s of fiction: magic, mayhem, and monsters”.[citation
On February 10, 2015, Rollins wrote in an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”[22]) on Reddit.com: “Third book is done; fourth is midway. Once the fifth is done, the entire series is slated for publication, each book coming out 6 months apart, starting with a re-release of the first two.”[23]
MoonFall Saga[edit]
The Starless Crown (2022)[edit]
The Cradle of Ice (2023)[edit]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The cradle of ice DB114604
Rollins, James Reading time: 26 hours, 27 minutes.
Nicola Barber
Suspense Fiction
Fantasy Fiction
“To stop the coming apocalypse, a fellowship was formed. A soldier, a thief, a lost prince, and a young girl bonded by fate and looming disaster. Each step along this path has changed the party, forging deep alliances and greater enmities. All the while, hostile forces have hunted them, fearing what they might unleash. Armies wage war around them. For each step has come with a cost—in blood, in loss, in heartbreak. Now, they must split, traveling into a vast region of ice and to a sprawling capital of the world they’ve only known in stories. Time is running out and only the truth will save us all.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Download The cradle of ice DB114604
Kate’s 2¢: “The Blind” by A. F. Brady
“The Blind” by A. F. Brady
saying…
The phrase that came to my mind was: physician, heal thy self. Jon Huffman did a great job of reading this story. I enjoyed listening to it.
A few take-aways:
–Desperation makes you hold on to funny things.
–We need to have a forum to discuss issues.
–We are the only resource for many of our patients here.
–In front of others, we put on the show that we need to pretend to our selves that each of us is fine.
–A trauma released is better than a trauma retained.
–I see the lines between my patients and myself mixing.
–We need to keep up a professional appearance both on and off the unit.
–I could wallow as the victim, removing any responsibility from my shoulders.
–Self forgiveness is freedom
–You tell us what to do, but you never tell us how.
–I killed a person, so I’m atoning by saving a person.
From the WEB:
A.F. BRADY
“With the intensity and rawness of Girl, Interrupted and Luckiest Girl Alive comes this razor-sharp debut, which reveals how one woman can go so far off the deep end, she might never make it back up.
Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan’s most challenging psychiatric institution. She boasts the highest success rates with the most disturbed patients, believing if she can’t save herself, she’ll save someone else. It’s this savior complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil.
When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. What she can’t figure out is why does Richard appear to be so completely normal in a hospital filled with madness? And what, really, is he doing at the institution? As Sam gets pulled into Richard’s twisted past, she can’t help but analyze her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her. And so the mind games begin. But who is the savior and who is the saved?”
“An intriguing debut from a New York-based psychotherapist writing about a world she knows extremely well.”
-The Daily Mail
“Beyond brilliant.” – Free-Lance Star
135-7598124-6206765 _encoding=…
Published by Park Row Books,
an imprint of HarperCollins/Harlequin.
“Brady’s fast-paced, riveting psychological chiller will wow suspense and thriller lovers alike. Brilliant character study and superior writing make this an outstanding debut.”
– Library Journal (Starred review)
“A woman in pieces must put herself back together before she loses everything she’s worked for and everyone she cares about.
Brady’s entertaining debut is told in the wry voice of Sam, who uses black humor to hide an undercurrent of pain. Sam is an irresistible diversion even if she can’t seem to get out of her own way and be herself. A satisfying, darkly funny tale of redemption.” – Kirkus Reviews
“A suspenseful look at our weaknesses and ability to forgive” -Booklist
“This psychological thriller grabs the reader and doesn’t let go until the truth about Richard’s past is finally revealed.”
– Publishers Weekly
from NLS/BARD/LOC:
The blind DB89547
Brady, A. F. Reading time: 12 hours, 53 minutes.
Read by Jon Huffman.
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
Sam James, who works as a much-admired psychologist at a Manhattan psychiatric institution, hides the fact that she drinks heavily and is in an abusive relationship. But now a work-required psychiatric evaluation and a mysterious patient threaten her work identity. Strong language, some violence, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2017.
Downloaded: January 8, 2024
Download The blind
Kate’s 2¢: “Blame” by Jeff Abbott
saying…
Greg Tremblay, Lauren Fortgang, Vanessa Johannson, and Bailey Carr did a good job of reading this story. How terrifying it must be to not know what everyone else seems to know about you and what happen, but they won’t give you the straight story.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has degrees in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. Before writing full-time, he was a creative director at an advertising agency. His early novels were traditional detective fiction, but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, France and Portugal.[1] He is also Creative Director at Springbox, a Prophet company.
from NLS/BARD/LOC:
Blame DB88326
Abbott, Jeff. Reading time: 12 hours, 33 minutes.
Read by Greg Tremblay; Lauren Fortgang; Vanessa Johannson; Bailey Carr.
Suspense Fiction
Mystery and Detective Stories
Psychological Fiction
Jane Norton crashed her car two years ago, leaving her with amnesia and killing her friend David. When they found a note purportedly by Jane that wished for death for both of them, the town blamed her. Now an anonymous note writer claims to know what actually happened. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Downloaded: January 8, 2024
Download Blame
Kate’s 2¢: “Stay Awake” by Megan Goldin
saying…
This is a good one! It must be terrifying to not know what everyone else seems to know, and if you fall asleep, your won’t remember what you knew before you fell asleep.
Imogen Church; January LaVoy read in such a way as to keep your attention, however, the narrative arc does that very well. I really enjoyed this story.
The perp is introduced in the beginning, but, as with good mysteries, you won’t know who it is until the end.
from the web:
Megan Goldin is an Australian author who is best known for her dynamite novel, The Escape Room. Prior to releasing her first novel, Megan Goldin worked for ABC and Reuters in Asia and the Middle East as a foreign correspondent. She covered war zones and covered topics like terrorism, war, and the quest for peace.
She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs.
From: Imogen Church – Biography – IMDb
She is best known for her voice work, for which she has multiple awards, and has narrated roughly 300 audio-books as well as starring in audio drama like Dr Who and Blake’s 7, plus she is the voice of The Harry Potter Quiz on Alexa UK and The Wizarding World Quiz in.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January LaVoy (born in Trumbull, Connecticut) is an American actress and audiobook narrator. As an actress, she is most recognized as Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. LaVoy made her Broadway debut in the Broadway premiere of the play Enron at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 27, 2010.[1]
As an audiobook narrator, she received five Audie Awards and been a finalist for nineteen. In 2013, she won Publishers Weekly’s Listen Up Award for Audiobook Narrator of the Year.[2] In 2019, AudioFile named her a Golden Voice narrator.[3]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Stay awake: a novel DB109491
Goldin, Megan Reading time: 11 hours, 2 minutes.
Imogen Church; January LaVoy
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
“Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers—a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE. Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget—permanently. A complex thriller that unfolds at a breakneck speed, Stay Awake will keep you up all night.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “There are places in the world where rules are less important than kindness: and other thoughts on physics, philosophy and the world” by Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell, Erica Segre
Kate’s 2¢: “There are places in the world where rules are less important than kindness: and other thoughts on physics, philosophy and the world” by Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell, Erica Segre
“There are places in the world where rules are less important than kindness: and other thoughts on physics, philosophy and the world”
by Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell, Erica Segre
I think the publisher said it all. There is a lot to ponder in the essays.
From the web:
Carlo Rovelli was born on 3 May, 1956 in Verona, Italy.
Simon Carnell’s most popular book is Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.
House Rabbit Society
Erica Segre, Fellow of Trinity since 1998, and Affiliated Lecturer at Newnham, passed away on 21 April after a long illness. As a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American culture, Erica led generations of students in Trinity, and across Cambridge, in their discovery of the wonders of art and literature.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
There are places in the world where rules are less important than kindness: and other thoughts on physics, philosophy and the world DB108234
Rovelli, Carlo; Carnell, Simon; Segre, Erica Reading time: 6 hours, 37 minutes.
Landon Woodson
Science and Technology
Philosophy
Literature
“A delightful intellectual feast from the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of Time One of the world’s most prominent physicists and fearless free spirit, Carlo Rovelli is also a masterful storyteller. His bestselling books have introduced millions of readers to the wonders of modern physics and his singular perspective on the cosmos. This new collection of essays reveals a curious intellect always on the move. Rovelli invites us on an accessible and enlightening voyage through science, literature, philosophy, and politics. Written with his usual clarity and wit, this journey ranges widely across time and space: from Newton’s alchemy to Einstein’s mistakes, from Nabokov’s lepidopterology to Dante’s cosmology, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism, from the future of physics to the power of uncertainty. Charming, pithy, and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential minds of our age.” — Provided by publisher. Translated from the original 2018 Italian edition. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
Download There are places in the world where rules are less important than kindness: and other thoughts on physics, philosophy and the world DB108234
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Milo’s eyes: how a blind equestrian and her “seeing eye horse” rescued each other” by Lissa Bachner
Kate’s 2¢: “Milo’s eyes: how a blind equestrian and her “seeing eye horse” rescued each other” by Lissa Bachner
“Milo’s eyes: how a blind equestrian and her “seeing eye horse” rescued each other” by Lissa Bachner
saying…
Well, to begin with, she is not blind, as in totally blind. She is legally blind, which means she can see enough to spot landmarks while she’s riding and the horse isn’t a trained guide horse. He loves jumping, so when he is facing a jump, he aims his ears forward, and runs for it. Lissa and Milo go over and over the courses to memorize the patterns for that class.
This in no way diminishes the accomplishments of this team. I’m sure that it is beauty in motion to see them glide over the jumps during a competition.
As a totally blind person, I did get a bit emotional listening to Lissa’s trials and travails with the various doctors. I applaud her perseverance in setting out goals and working toward them…with success.
Johanna Parker did a good job of narrating the NLS version of this story. I enjoyed listening and cheering for Lissa and Milo, and even Max.
From the WEB:
A Very Special WEF Hunter Roundup: Legally Blind Lissa Bachner Prevails in Week 10
MARCH 20, 2018
Lissa Bachner and Meridian Prevail in Triple Crown Blankets Adult Amateur Hunter Middle Section A In Spite of Unique Personal Challenge
Lissa Bachner and her entry, Meridian, overcame the odds and captured the championship title in week ten’s Triple Crown Blankets Adult Amateur Hunter Middle Section A division. Despite being legally blind, Bachman piloted her mount to a first, first, first, and second over fences in addition to a third in the under saddle.
The 44-year-old rider of Wellington, FL, has a condition called uveitis that caused her to lose her left eye when she was 25, and her vision entirely after surgeries on her right eye in 2001. In total, Bachner has had over 100 surgical procedures, but the Wellington rider hasn’t let any of this stop her. After six months of complete blindness following her initial procedures, a new medication available only in Italy allowed Bachner to gain back limited vision, and to finally be able to return to the hunter ring.
from NLS/BARD/LOC:
Milo’s eyes: how a blind equestrian and her “seeing eye horse” rescued each other DB110604
Bachner, Lissa Reading time: 10 hours, 38 minutes.
Johanna Parker
Biography of Persons with Disabilities
Sports and Recreation
Biography
Animals and Wildlife
“The extraordinary bond between Lissa Bachner, a young blind woman and Milo, a neglected, frightened horse, helped them overcome staggering odds to become one of America’s most inspiring, successful riding teams in the world of show jumping. Lissa Bachner was born with a passion for horses and won her first blue ribbon at age five. Other awards would follow as a young rider, and for years Lissa trained with jumpers, tackling more difficult leaps, and working to perfect her ?ride. ?When blindness struck in her teens, it appeared her ?passion for riding would come to an end. How could she ?jump hurdles when she could barely? navigate through her own home? But success, trust, and love came to Lissa when her trainer convinced her to buy a “diamond in the rough” from Germany. On New Year’s Eve, Milo arrived at the barn, frightened and neglected. Taking one look at his shaking, filthy body, Lissa promised Milo that he would only know kindness. In return, Milo took special care of her in the ring. Through countless eye surgeries and the many months of training and work, Lissa and Milo formed a magic bond that made them inseparable. And winners. With effortless humor and penetrating compassion, Lissa weaves a story of unfaltering faith in Milo, and the unconditional love they shared.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
Download Milo’s eyes: how a blind equestrian and her “seeing eye horse” rescued each other DB110604
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Everything under: a novel” by Daisy Johnson
Kate’s 2¢: “Everything under: a novel” by Daisy Johnson
“Everything under: a novel” by Daisy Johnson
Jill Fox did a good job of reading this really weird story. Death of a parent and sex with a parent are the only events related to the myth of Oedipus, as far as I could see. What is more puzzling is how several characters have total gender confusion as well as name changes. Add jumping back and forth in time, and this is one weird tale. I didn’t even like the ending, either.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daisy Johnson (born 1990) is a British novelist and short story writer.[1] Her debut novel, Everything Under, was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize,[2] and beside Eleanor Catton is the youngest nominee in the prize’s history. For her short stories, she has won three awards since 2014.
Biography[edit]
Johnson was born in Paignton, Devon, in 1990, and grew up around Saffron Walden, Essex.[1][3] She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Lancaster University before earning a master’s degree in Creative Writing at Somerville College, Oxford, where she also worked at Blackwell’s bookshop.[4][5] While at Oxford, she won the 2014 AM Heath Prize for fiction while working on her first short story collection, and had short stories published in The Warwick Review and the Boston Review.[6][7][8] Shortly after, she won the 2016 Harper’s Bazaar short story prize for “What The House Remembers”.[9]
In 2015, she won a two-book deal with publisher Jonathan Cape for a collection of short stories and a novel.[10] The short story collection titled Fen was published in 2017. Set in the fens of England, it draws upon the memories of the area where Johnson grew up. It comprises a set of linked short stories, focusing on the experiences of women and girls in a small town. Johnson describes the collection as liminal and mythic.[11] The collection won the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize.[12]
Johnson followed Fen with her debut novel, Everything Under, in 2018. The novel focuses on the relationship between Gretel, a lexicographer, and her mother and is set against a backdrop of the British countryside. Gretel grows up on a canal boat with her mother and they invent a language to use between them. Gretel’s mother abandons her when Gretel is sixteen, and the novel starts sixteen years later with a phone call. Johnson worked on the novel for around four years,[3] starting it at the same time as her short story collection to challenge herself to write something longer. She went through at least five drafts of the book (which she has said had seeds in her studies of the Greek myth of king Oedipus),[13] made several changes to characters and setting,[14] and for a period, it was titled Eggtooth.[15]
Everything Under was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Johnson is the youngest author to be shortlisted for the prize.[16]
Johnson currently lives in Oxford.[17] Her favourite writers include Stephen King, Evie Wyld, Helen Oyeyemi and John Burnside. Her favourite poets include Robin Robertson and Sharon Olds.[18] Had she been unsuccessful as a writer, Johnson suggests that she would have been a shepherd.[1]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Everything under: a novel DB93481
Johnson, Daisy. Reading time: 7 hours, 42 minutes.
Read by Jill Fox.
Psychological Fiction
In this reimagining of the myth of Oedipus, Gretel gets a voicemail from the mother who abandoned her sixteen years ago. She remembers her childhood on the canals of Oxford, England, and the runaway boy they sheltered one winter, Marcus. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2018.
Downloaded: November 2, 2023
Download Everything under: a novel
Kate’s 2¢: “Dark Corners” by Ruth Rundell
“Dark Corners” by Ruth Rundell
saying…
Laura Giannarelli did a good job of reading this story and I enjoyed listening to her voice.
It was interesting how the apparently unrelated characters became connected to bring about the conclusion.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE (née Grasemann; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.[1]
Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.[2] A second string of works was a series of unrelated crime novels that explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine.
Life[edit]
Rendell was born as Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930, in South Woodford, Essex (now Greater London).[3] Her parents were teachers. Her mother, Ebba Kruse, was born in Sweden to Danish parents and brought up in Denmark; her father, Arthur Grasemann, was English. As a result of spending Christmas and other holidays in Scandinavia, Rendell learned Swedish and Danish.[4] Rendell was educated at the County High School for Girls in Loughton, Essex,[3] the town to which the family moved during her childhood.
After high school, she became a feature writer for her local Essex paper, the Chigwell Times. However, she was forced to resign after filing a story about a local sports club dinner she had not attended and failing to report that the after-dinner speaker had died midway through the speech.[5]
Rendell met her husband Don Rendell when she was working as a newswriter.[3] They married when she was 20, and in 1953 had a son, Simon,[6] now a psychiatric social worker who lives in the U.S. state of Colorado. The couple divorced in 1975 but remarried two years later.[7] Don Rendell died in 1999 from prostate cancer.[6]
She made the county of Suffolk her home for many years, using the settings in several of her novels. She lived in the villages of Polstead and later Groton, both east of Sudbury. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours[8] and a life peer as Baroness Rendell of Babergh, of Aldeburgh in the County of Suffolk, on 24 October 1997.[9] She sat in the House of Lords for the Labour Party. In 1998 Rendell was named on a list of the party’s biggest private financial donors.[10] She introduced into the Lords the bill that would later become the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (the intent was to prevent the practice).
In August 2014, Rendell was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September’s referendum on that issue.[11]
Rendell was a vegetarian who was described as living mostly on fruit.[12] She described herself as “slightly agoraphobic” and slept in a specially made four-poster bed because “I like to feel enclosed.”[12]
from NLS/BARD/LOC:
Dark corners: a novel DB86756
Rendell, Ruth. Reading time: 7 hours, 57 minutes.
Read by Laura Giannarelli.
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
When twenty-three-year-old novelist Carl Martin inherits his father’s house, he takes on an odd renter, Dermot McKinnon. Carl’s father has left an assortment of alternative remedies, and Carl’s overweight actress friend Stacey asks him to sell her some diet pills. The pills kill Stacey, and Dermot quickly exploits the situation. 2015.
Download Dark corners: a novel
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Dark Flood Rises” by Margaret Drabble,
Kate’s 2¢: “The Dark Flood Rises” by Margaret Drabble,
“The Dark Flood Rises” by Margaret Drabble,
saying…
Although Laura Giannarelli did a good job of reading this story, nothing in this story resonated with me the way I thought it might. I guess I’m not old enough to ‘get it’.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, DBE, FRSL (born 5 June 1939)[1] is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer.
Drabble’s books include The Millstone (1965), which won the following year’s John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and Jerusalem the Golden, which won the 1967 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She was honoured by the University of Cambridge in 2006, having earlier received awards from numerous redbrick (e.g. Sheffield, Hull, Manchester,) and plateglass universities (such as Bradford, Keele, East Anglia and York). She received the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award in 1973.
Drabble also wrote biographies of Arnold Bennett and Angus Wilson and edited two editions of The Oxford Companion to English Literature and a book on Thomas Hardy.
Early life[edit]
Drabble was born in Sheffield, the second daughter of the County Court judge and novelist John Frederick Drabble and the teacher Kathleen Marie (née Bloor). Her elder sister was the novelist and critic A. S. Byatt;[1] the youngest sister is art historian Helen Langdon, and their brother is the barrister Richard Drabble, KC. Drabble’s father participated in the placement of Jewish refugees in Sheffield during the 1930s.[2] Her mother was a Shavian and her father a Quaker.[2]
After attending The Mount School, a Quaker boarding school at York where her mother was employed, Drabble received a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge.[1] She studied English Literature whilst attending Cambridge.[3] She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960, and, before leaving to pursue a career in literary studies and writing, served as an understudy for Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg.[1][4]
Personal life[edit]
Drabble was married to the actor Clive Swift between 1960 and 1975. They had three children, the gardener and TV personality Joe Swift; the academic Adam Swift; and Rebecca Swift (d. 2017), who ran The Literary Consultancy.[5][6][7] In 1982, Drabble married the writer and biographer Sir Michael Holroyd;[8] they live in London and Somerset.[1]
Drabble’s relationship with her sister A. S. Byatt was sometimes strained because of autobiographical elements in both their writing. While their relationship was not especially close and they did not read each other’s books, Drabble described the situation as “normal sibling rivalry”[9] and Byatt said it had been “terribly overstated by gossip columnists” and that the sisters “always have liked each other on the bottom line.”[10]
When sought out for interview by The Paris Review’s Barbara Milton in 1978, Drabble was described as “smaller than one might expect from looking at her photographs. Her face is finer, prettier and younger, surprisingly young for someone who has produced so many books in the past sixteen years. Her eyes are very clear and attentive and they soften when she is amused, as she often is, by the questions themselves and her own train of thought”.[3] In the same interview she admitted there were three writers for whom she felt an “immense admiration”: Angus Wilson, Saul Bellow and Doris Lessing.[3]
Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq[edit]
In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Drabble wrote of the anticipated wave of anti-Americanism, saying: “My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux, that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world”, despite “remembering the many Americans that I know and respect”. She wrote of her distress at images of the war, her objections to Jack Straw about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and “American imperialism, American infantilism, and American triumphalism about victories it didn’t even win”. She recalled George Orwell’s words in Nineteen Eighty-Four about “the intoxication of power” and “the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever”. She closed by saying, “I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn’t been (so narrowly) elected, we wouldn’t be here, and none of this would have happened. There is another America. Long live the other America, and may this one pass away soon”.[11]
Writing[edit]
Drabble’s early novels were published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1963–87), while the publishers of her later works were Penguin, Viking and Canongate, and a recurring theme is the correlation between contemporary England’s society and its people. Most of her protagonists are women[12][13][14] and the realistic descriptions of her figures often derive from Drabble’s personal experiences; thus, her first novels describe the life of young women during the 1960s and 1970s, for whom the conflict between motherhood and intellectual challenges is being brought into focus, while The Witch of Exmoor, published in 1996, shows the withdrawn existence of an elderly writer. As Hilary Mantel wrote in 1989: “Drabble’s heroines have aged with her, becoming solid and sour, more prone to drink and swear; yet with each successive book their earnest, moral nature blossoms”.[15] Her characters’ tragic faults reflect their political and economic situation. Drabble wrote novels, she claimed in 2011, “to keep myself company”.[16]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The dark flood rises DB87316
Drabble, Margaret. Reading time: 13 hours, 58 minutes.
Read by Laura Giannarelli. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.
Psychological Fiction
Fran, an expert in housing for the elderly–who is advancing in age herself–travels across England for conferences and caring for her family. Her son Christopher mourns the death of his girlfriend while maintaining a professional relationship with Bennett, who confronts his own advanced age in the Canary Islands. 2016.
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