Tag Archives: Joan Aiken

There’s more than one kind of wolf

Posted on November 2, 2019 by

Today’s Witch Week post, from my WW2019 co-host, Chris at Calmgrove, is all about the despicable and heinous, the selfish and greedy — the altogether dreadful villains of Joan Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles. Whether you know Aiken’s series well, or are … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Fantasy, Villains, Witch Week | Tagged | Leave a comment

Girls Running from Houses…

Posted on May 20, 2015 by

Originally posted on Joan Aiken:
     What is behind all those fabulously lurid 1960s romance novel covers showing a beautiful young woman fleeing a dark, sinister house in the middle of nowhere? Not what you might expect…! Although the cover…

Posted in Adventure, Romance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Summer omnibus, part 2

Posted on September 15, 2014 by

More from my summer’s reading: Aaron Starmer, The Riverman (2014). In upstate New York, near the Canadian border, Alistair Cleary lives a normal life of taking dangerous dares and avoiding nosy neighbors. Then Fiona Loomis, not yet 13, asks him to write her biography. She tells him about an … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Classic, Graphic Novel, Historical fiction, short stories, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Found it!

Posted on June 24, 2014 by

It must be tough to compete for attention with people like Henry James and characters like EF Benson’s Mapp and Lucia. I went to Rye today, specifically to visit the former home of James, Benson and others, but also to look … Continue reading →

Posted in Time travel, Travel | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

The anxiety of influence

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

… or, why I love Joan Aiken’s books, even though sometimes her writing is so good it makes me cry. I love to read. Given an option, I’ll choose reading over any other activity. If I were the sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Am writing, reading | Tagged | 5 Comments