By Nava Atlas | On September 8, 2019 | Updated June 12, 2023 | Comments (0)
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson (1916 – 1965) was this prolific American author’s fourth novel, published in 1958. It was generally well received, though she had yet to reached her peak as a novelist.
Jackson was already famous for her iconic short story, “The Lottery,” and her amusing memoirs of prettied-up domestic life.
After the publication of her masterpiece novels, The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) Jackson struggled with writer’s block and agoraphobia, as well as a host of physical ailments. She died at age 48, a victim of poor health and habits. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On August 22, 2019 | Updated September 3, 2022 | Comments (0)
Come Along with Me is the novel Shirley Jackson (1919 – 1965) was working on at the time of her untimely death in 1965 at the age of forty-eight. This unfinished novel was collected in the book of the same title: Come Along with Me: Part of a novel, sixteen stories, and three lectures, and edited by Stanley Edgar Hyman, her husband at the time of her death.
Known for her stories and novels of psychological terror, including The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson didn’t leave behind a huge body of work but what she did produce was hugely influential. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 30, 2019 | Updated September 4, 2022 | Comments (0)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1903 – 1992) is the first volume a classic series of children’s books by this British author. First published in Great Britain in 1952 and in the U.S. in 1954, the Borrowers are perhaps themselves “borrowed” from the tradition of Ireland’s little people.
Humans in miniature who live behind the wainscoting or under the floors of big old houses, they survive by borrowing whatever it is they need, as their name implies.
As Mrs. May muses in the book’s first chapter, what do you think happens to the countless safety pins, pencils, spools of thread, match boxes, and knitting needles that are lost every day? How do they disappear without a trace? Read More→
By Magdalena Macinska | On July 26, 2019 | Updated August 17, 2025 | Comments (0)
There’s a profound connection between Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797) and Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851), author of the 1818 masterpiece Frankenstein. These two iconic authors were mother and daughter.
The remarkable biography, Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon is well worth reading.
Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley were part of one another’s lives for only a few days. The elder Mary died ten days after giving birth to her daughter due to an infection. Yet the space her mother filled in her daughter’s life was much wider. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On July 14, 2019 | Updated September 19, 2023 | Comments (0)
Are you in the mood for romance? Most of us are, at least some of the time. Did you ever ponder how to write a romance novel? If you’ve ever fancied giving it a try, the editors of Avon Books, one of the leading publishers of romance books, have produced How to Write a Romance: Or How to Write Witty Dialogue, Smoldering Love Scenes, and Happily Ever Afters (Morrow Gift, July 2019).
It’s a cleverly designed guided journal that just might get you going, and a perfect gift for the aspiring romance writer in your life.
Many of the most beloved novels of all time are incredibly romantic, and perhaps the literary predecessors of contemporary romances. Classic plot lines often feature a plucky heroine who wants to be her own person, while at the same time, yearns for the love of a brooding, mysterious man. Read More→
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