As Rebecca Roberts in Apocalypse was an ancestor whose achievements have been largely ignored-maybe because of gender-it seemed to be time to redress the balance. A female author may have done the job better, but none stepped forward at the time and Hollywood screenwriter K.Lewis was keen to write a screenplay, requiring a concept screenplay outline as a guide. It was that which later became the 1st Edition of Apocalypse.
This book deals with the life of probably the most intelligent person on the planet at the time-not a fanciful idea as she had the highest pass rate in all of her exams to be the first woman (medical) doctor there has ever been. Her best friend and lifelong supporter was Lady Caithness-direct descendant of Catriona of Caithness who features in my book.
Basically a biography of Anna Kingsford for those who don't like Edward Maitland's. The latter was accused (justly or unjustly) of destroying evidence about Anna—especially about her early life and over-dramatising the occult incidents in her life. This newer biography corrects some of these drawbacks of the earlier version and is more in tune with modern sensibilities.
Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) was an English woman of many talents: physician, feminist, Theosophist, and mystic. She campaigned strenuously for vegetarianism and animal welfare in print and giving lectures. She wrote short stories, a novel, and works on spiritual topics.She crammed much achievement into her short life, dying tragically of TB at the age of 41. Her spiritual writings and activities influenced many people. Among these were MacGregor Mathers, leader of the legendary occult society the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; the poet W.B.Yeats; and Mahatma Gandhi who disseminated her spiritual works in South Africa in the 1890s. This biography…
As well as being the best Gothic style verses in the English language with the possible exception of some by Edgar Allan Poe-there are some way ahead of their time. "If Earth & Moon were gone" prefigures Mach's Principle, which was only formulated 4 decades after EJB thought of it. Anyone lucky enough to find an edition with EJB's Essays she wrote in Brussels will have a copy of her formulation of Evolutionary theory 2 decades before Mr. Darwin claimed it as his own.
In 1846 a small book entitled Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bellappeared on the British Literary scene. The three psuedonymous poets, the Bronte sisters went on to unprecedented success with such novels as Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, and Jane Eyre, all published in the following year. As children, these English sisters had begun writing poems and stories abotu an imaginary country named Gondal, yet they never sought to publish any of their work until Charlotte's discovery of Emily's more mature poems in the autumn of 1845. Charlotte later recalled: "I accidentally lighted on a MS. volume of verse in…
Although written as a play, it has a foreword detailing its subject—the life of Joan of Arc. Joan was the inspiration and much-admired heroine of Rebecca Roberts in my own book. Based closely on the Inquisition records, it has very moving moments, whether read or performed as a play.
'What other judgment can I judge by but my own?' Charting the meteoric rise and fall of Joan of Arc and her mission to drive the English from France, Shaw's Saint Joan draws directly on the medieval records to cut through the sentiment that characterized previous literary treatments of her story. A powerful example of a new kind of history play, its staging of dissent and social constraint, personal responsibility and female assertion, as well as fervent adherence to a cause, gave it a powerful modernity in its own day and continuing resonance in ours. Acclaimed internationally, this instant modern…
The translations are by Christopher Fry-who wrote The Brontes of Haworth, the YorkshireTV series featuring Emily Bronte`s life, and Lillian Hellman. The latter version of The Lark is a reminder that she features in the Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave movie Julia—set in the troubled period before WW2 when both Julia in the film and a main character in my book face the bad side of Fascism.
Her radical view of religion and belief that a seemingly invincible foe could be beaten was important in convincing the—mainly female followers of Rebecca Roberts in my book that they had a chance against overwhelming odds.
Based on real events-Rebecca Roberts (aka Becca the Vampyre Slayer) takes on the section of Prince Rupert`s army known as The Vampyre Legion, which is sent to capture the west coast so that its commander-Lord Capel-can land a huge army and conquer all before him. On the way, Becca undergoes multiple attempts on her life.
Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.
Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart.
He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano…
Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood. Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old, possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart. He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano…