Mark Rowlands
Of Rhinos and Lizards
This is a book about Jenny Diski. Animals feature to the extent that they impinge on the author. These animals need not be real or living: fictional, otherwise imaginary, stuffed and toy animals all find a way in. There’s a lot about cats, and quite a bit about crabs (pubic – real or not; Diski apparently suffered from delusional parasitosis). The criterion of inclusion is having played some role in the life of the author.
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The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad
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https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-spy-who-taught-me
In this month's Bookends, @AdamCSDouglas looks at the curious life of Henry Labouchere: a friend of Bram Stoker, 'loose cannon', and architect of the law that outlawed homosexual activity in Britain.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-gross-indecency