Ever Heard of This Book?

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Mon March 29th, 2010, 1:00 am

Has anyone read Flow down like Silver about Hypatia of Alexandria? Ki Longfellow wrote it and it came out last year. I havent heard anything about it though.

I tried to read her last novel and it wasn't so great.

So has anyone read it?

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 3:02 pm

I got this query the other day and nothing's coming to mind. Can anyone help identify this novel?

"Please can you tell me the female author who wrote her first book last year? Set in murky victorian age. The cover had a coloured print of a circus on the front. The book was a square type almost like a child's book. The main character was a man who was on the run from his killers."

The person asking is from Britain.

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 4:53 pm

I'm wondering if it could have beem Ann Featherstone's "Walking in Pimlico"
I'm pretty sure it was her first novel.

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 5:11 pm

Thanks, Annis! I think that has to be it. I've never heard of the book nor seen the cover so had no idea. I'll email her back and let you know if you've got it

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 5:51 pm

Yes, that was it! Thanks again, Annis, the person who asked is very pleased and says thanks to you as well. Lots of exclamation points in her email

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 7:27 pm

Glad it turned out to be the one your reader was after- there's nothing as frustrating as remembering a storyline but no helpful details like author or title.

There's nothing like a good Victorian mystery- all that gloom, gaslight and hidden secrets

Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did it so well, and there are some good modern authors working in the genre - I enjoyed Sarah Waters' "Fingersmith" and have long been a fan of Anne Perry's series. As most people probably know, AP has a spectacular New Zealand connection- as a teenager, she and a close friend committed a premeditated murder in Christchurch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker-Hulme_murder

There's a documentary featuring Anne Perry doing the rounds here shortly which looks very interesting- I'll certainly try to catch it if I can
http://www.flicks.co.nz/movie/anne-perry-interiors

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 7:50 pm

Yes, I loved Fingersmith and also Anne Perry's Monk series (went on a glom of them a while back, reading 10 in a row...) I'd known of her background and would like to see that documentary but have my doubts it'll be shown here. Unless I'm able to catch it via Netflix at some point in the future!

Chatterbox · Post by **Chatterbox** » Wed March 31st, 2010, 7:57 pm

I am fascinated by the fact that Perry committed this crime and then went on to write about crime, in fictional form. Interesting that both the girls/women found religion (Perry as a Mormon) and neither has ever married.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Tue September 7th, 2010, 11:44 am

I picked a couple of books up from my mum's the other day and was wondering if anyone had heard of them?

Rose, Rose, Where Are You? by Rosemary Ellerbeck (it looks like it's been republished with a new title and under another pseudonym - The House by the Sea by Nicola Thorne)
The House of Moreys by Phyllis Bentley

If anyone has heard of them, are they any good? I think Rose, Rose has references to Joan of Arc and House of Moreys could be set in the Victorian era.

Libby · Post by **Libby** » Tue September 7th, 2010, 12:50 pm

I've heard of Phyllis Bentley. She was a well known Yorkshire novelist and I can recommend her work. There's more about her here: clickie

I have read a lot of her books but I don't think I've read The House of Moreys. Or if I have it was so long ago I can't recall it. But I did find this:

"A memorable Gothic mystery-romance about a young girl's flight into danger in a haunted and haunting old mansion, and the ghost-ridden man whose life-and sanity-she fought to preserve."