September’s here which means university – which means I’ve got books to read before I start my second year. Dubliners is one of the ten books that I need to read and so far, we’re not off to an amazing side. Sure, 3 stars doesn’t make it a terrible book, then it’s not great either. …
I first read this book when I was about twelve and I just couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t the type of book that I liked to read and I remember the size of the book just made reading it so much harder. But I finished it and never even thought about reading the next two. But ten years later, and I found myself returning to the world of Lyra, polar bears, daemons and witches. This time, I listened to it on audiobook (which is also narrated by Philip Pullman), and I found myself engrossed. …
The Help was another book that I had to read for university, alongside The Color Purple. I knew that The Help was a newer book than The Color Purple so I was a bit weary that it wouldn’t be as good (I don’t know why I thought this, but I just thought that Stockett wouldn’t capture the racism of 1962 in Mississippi. …
I have been meaning to read this book for so so so long… I mean, it’s a classic so obviously, I have seen it absolutely everywhere and loads of people have been telling me to read it – but with my already-massive TBR pile, I knew it would be a while until I got to it. BUT THEN… I had to read it for university, so The Color Purple got bumped up to the very top of my reading list. And because it was for university, that’s why there are all of the different coloured tabs in my book. Each coloured tab represents a different theme throughout the book. Anyway! Let’s get into the review! …
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a book that captured the minds of millions of people when it was first published in 1886. 201 years later, this captivating novella by Robert Louis Stevenson is a book that delves into the question of dual identities and the repression of society.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a book that I have read over and over again. This was the final novel of Shirley Jackson and in my opinion, it’s her best. It’s like she collected everything that she had learned over her time of writing and put it all into this book.
Studying English and Media at my university has opened my eyes to a whole different section of literature that I never thought I would enjoy: short stories. Not just any old short story though, short stories that have a deeper meaning and a through close reading, you can take a lot away from it.
A couple of years ago, I read one of Shirley Jackson’s more popular books: We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I found it amazing. The writing was beautiful and the storyline instantly captured my attention.
I have been wanting to read more of Jackson’s work ever since but I have just never gotten around to it. My Dad recommended that I read The Haunting of Hill House since it was also quite a creepy book with a brilliant narrative. I decided that I would trust his recommendation so I went to his bookshelves, plucked it off the shelf, sat myself down and immersed myself in it straight away.
When I was given the list of books that I had to read for my English and Media course at university, I let out a groan. Whenever I think of study texts for anything, whether it was at school, college or university, I always think that they’re going to be boring.
I was proved wrong when I studied To Kill a Mockingbird at Secondary School, I was wrong when I also studied An Inspector Calls and The Woman in Black there. I was proved wrong when I studied The Time Machine in college (even though I was proved right when we were also given Hard Times by Charles Dickens!) and now I’m at university. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Great Expectations, I didn’t really enjoy To The Lighthouse and now Affinity by Sarah Waters.
Is this book going to go against the stereotypical texts of studying or not?
An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London’s grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work.
Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed.
Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions
When I read the blurb of this book, I had to admit, it sounded rather different than any university book that I was expecting. A feminist, gothic, Victorian-era book. Sounds pretty good right?
It was.
It really was.
Although this book was slow to start off with, I found myself becoming hooked. I have never read about women’s jails (or gaols – as they are written in Affinity) before and I found the subject intriguing.
The whole premise of this book was fascinating: a ‘lady’ that has tried to commit suicide, women’s jails, spirit mediums and an LGBT theme.
Sarah Waters writes her characters with such depth that, when I was reading the parts of Margaret, I felt like I was actually her walking through Millbank jail, I felt like I was her when she would go and talk to Selina Dawes. I was sucked right into her world and couldn’t seem to find myself getting out of it.
That ending though?!!! The last 50 pages were probably one of the best sections of literature that I’ve ever read. (Not THE best, ONE of the best – nothing can ever beat To Kill a Mockingbird). I have no one to talk about this book with as no one that I know has read it. I need to rant and rave about what happened at the end because it was so darn good! When I finished the book, I think I was sat on my bed in disbelief for about an hour, trying to take everything in that I had just read.
Just wow.
I cannot wait to study this book in more depth at university. I can’t wait to read more work by Sarah Waters. This book is a strong five out of five and I definitely recommend this book to everyone. I think this is a must-read book.