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Artwork by Ellen Sharman It’s early 1831, George Sand has moved to Paris, penniless, with the intention of becoming a writer. The city is her opportunity for self-reinvention; her chance to change her clothes, disguise her general appearance of vulnerability, and most importantly, discover the freedom of strolling freely through the city. Once in disguise, […]
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Five years ago Christ Church student Scott Whitehead started writing his now finished novel ‘The Light Beyond the Garden Wall’. Set in the Middle East in 700BC, the story is a part historical, part inspirational fiction which follows the prophet Isaiah and the challenges involved in his coming of age. Going through an extremely difficult […]
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Language and music are perhaps not the first concerns when considering a post-apocalyptic world that teeters between utopia and dystopia, yet H(A)PPY revolves around these metaphysical concepts. Mira A, the protagonist of the novel, finds impossible tension between her own, individual existence, and her role as part of The System, a machine that connects all […]
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Or what Jane Austen has been teaching us for over 200 years (and how Clueless we have been about it …) Bride and Prejudice, a 2004 Bollywood musical, was the first version of Pride and Prejudice I came across; then it was the turn of Bridget Jones’ Diary. It was only after watching the 2005 […]
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Dear Freshers, Mammoth reading lists govern the life of most Oxford students’ lives. They dictate your evening plans, your library adventures and your closest friends will inevitably be those whose reading lists are comparable to yours. However, I’m asking you right now to do the unthinkable – forget these all-powerful lists for a while, because […]
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“I’m hearing pillow talk of deadly intent and I’m terrified by what awaits me, by what might draw me in.” So begins Ian McEwan’s most recent novel, Nutshell, a work which both fascinates and disturbs through its unique perspective on a malicious death. Despite first-impressions, the voice McEwan creates is not that of a lover, […]
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Las canciones que mi madre me enseñó or, in English, ‘songs my mother taught me’, is an honest and touching novel by Chilean writer Victor Hugo Ortega C. The book is divided into short chapters, each of them offering the reader different insights into the life of the son and of the mother. Whilst the […]
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Intense, poignant, and fearful, Naomi Alderman’s ‘The Power’ is an apocalyptic vision of a world where the distribution of power amongst humans has become unexpectedly skewed. A post-war chemical phenomenon has imbued the bodies of women worldwide with potent electrical charges, which are at first difficult to control and threaten the safety of others. As […]
Continue ReadingThe Secret History – Donna Tartt A hedonistic, exclusive and troubled group of university friends studying Classics become increasingly obsessed with a noble murder, the ramifications of which undo them all. Rarely do you feel, reading contemporary fiction, that it’s finding its place among the great novels of history. This is certainly one of those: […]
Continue ReadingIt’s that time again when students embark on university life. A new throng of freshers will descend upon the Oxford nightclubs. That first week will be a wonderful blur of neon glow sticks and foam parties. For most, it will be the longest time you have ever spent from home and you will discover the […]
Continue ReadingEmma Berrecloth-Bale, born and raised in Oxford, has taken the route of self-publication and her novel, The Deathday Present, a work of speculative fiction, is available on Amazon in both hard-copy and e-book versions. Let’s start with the beginning. Berrecloth-Bale achieves something quite substantial in the opening pages of this novel. She manages to capture […]
Continue Reading1001 Conversations at the Story Museum Stepping not quite through the wardrobe or into the cupboard under the stairs, but not far off, through the mysterious double oak doors which dominate Pembroke Street there is a world full of enchantment: The Story Museum. This not-for-profit organisation, based on an Oxford side street, was founded in […]
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