Pamela Norris
A Terrible Warning to Keep Clear of Cornwall
Long ago, before the land mass divided, a great forest stretched from Brittany to Cornwall. The haunt of wild beasts and the untamed men of ancient folklore, it was also a realm of secrets and enchantment. According to legend, the Holy Grail was buried there, and the magician Merlin was bound forever inside an oak tree by his vengeful lover. As Senga (‘Agnes backwards’) explains in A L Barker’s The Haunt, ‘People said the way through the wood was the way from earth to heaven.’
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
‘"I feel", Lowell told Hardwick ... "as if I were pulled apart and thinning into mist, or rather being torn apart and still preferring that state to making a decision."'
Richard Davenport-Hines on the letters of Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Hardwick.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/yours-unfaithfully-2
'To me, Elmore Leonard is as comforting in extremity as Pym, and as safe, in the last resort, as Wodehouse. The guys with the best lines are going to come out the other side; the dumb fucks are going to get it in the head or chest.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-spoonful-of-elmore
'As we read, we know that in a short time the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and colour television will sweep that age over the balustrade and into the sea, but for now everyone is happy.'
Simon Baker is charmed by Graham Swift's new novel, 'Here We Are'.
http://ow.ly/uDL050ylh80