Book Review
“LOVE - Great Short Stories by Women”
“The Other Bennet Sister” by Janice Hadlow
chosen by Victoria Hislop
For fans of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”, Janice Hadlow’s “The Other Bennet Sister” tells Mary’s story... It is a sad fact of life that if a young woman is unlucky enough to come into the world without expectations, she had better do all she can to ensure she is born beautiful. To be handsome and poor is misfortune enough; but to be both plain and penniless is a hard fate indeed.
‘Love is, of course, a central pre-occupation of literature...’ Victoria Hislop, bestselling author and champion of the short story, has chosen her favourite short stories by women writers. Here are prize-winners, famous wits, well-known feminists, national treasures and rising stars. Love is represented in this volume in all its guises - romantic, maternal, happy and haunting.
CONTRIBUTORS: Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy Parker, Doris Lessing, Margaret Drabble, Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Ellen Gilchrist, Alice Walker, Mavis Gallant, Carol Shields, Anne Enright, Elspeth Davie, Alison Lurie, Jennifer Egan, Jeanette Winterson, Claire Boylan, Maggie Gee, Colette Paul, Rachel Seiffert, Yiyun Li, Nadine Gordimer, Miranda July, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Carys Davies, Alison MacLeod, Emma Donoghue, Roshi Fernando, M. J. Hyland and Avril Joy.
One by one, her sisters marry - Jane and Lizzy for love; Lydia for some semblance of respectability - but Mary, it seems, is destined to remain single and live out her life at Longbourn, at least until her father dies and the house is bequeathed to the reviled Mr Collins. But when that fateful day finally comes, she slowly discovers that perhaps there is hope for her, after all. Simultaneously a wonderfully warm homage to Jane Austen and a delightful new story, in its own right, “The Other Bennet Sister” is a life-affirming tale of a young woman finding her place in the world.
“Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram A beautiful, limited edition of “Guess How Much I Love You” to celebrate twenty-five years of being a heart-warming children’s classic. Sometimes, when you love someone very, very much, you want to find a way of describing just how much you treasure them. But, as Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare discover, love is not always an easy thing to measure! Since its publication in 1994, children and parents worldwide have cherished the beautifully written tale of Little Nutbrown and Big Nutbrown Hare so much that it has become one of the most enduring bedtime classics of our time.
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