'I preferred the rose garden, after all, to the sound of the sea': Floral Hauntings in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca
For this episode of the Writing Women Podcast, I researched one of my favourite novels to dig out Daphne du Maurier's incredible use of the floral metaphor. From the frightening, other-worldly rhododenrons to the confines of the rose gardens to the mournful hydrangeas, the flowers in Manderley reflect their inhabitants and give clues to how the novel is going to end from it's opening paragraph.
Let me know what you think at writingwomenpodcast@gmail.com!
You can find me on my other podcast Culture Hang or sign up to my newsletter and everything else!
Links:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/23/olivia-laing-on-daphne-du-mauriers-rebecca-80-years-on
https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/nightmares-mirrors-and-possession-in-daphne-du-mauriers-rebecca
https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/daphne-du-maurier-and-the-gothic-tradition
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/last-night-i-dreamt-i-went-to-manderley-again-rebecca-and-me-1.3402476
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/books/daphne-du-maurier-enthusiast.html
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21:52
What if Lolita had Lived: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Content warning: discussions around the depictions of childhood sexual abuse, rape, grooming, manipulation
Kate Elizabeth Russell's 2020 novel, My Dark Vanessa, captures the intricate nuances of how one of the legacies of Vladimir Nobokov's controversial 1955 novel, Lolita, has been utilised by child sexual abusers as a tool for their manipulation. In this narrative, however, set in the dawn of MeToo reckonings, Russell gives Vanessa the gift not afforded to Dolores Haze, Vanessa lives.
Let me know what you think at writingwomenpodcast@gmail.com!
You can find me on my other podcast Culture Hang or sign up to my newsletter and everything else!
Links:
https://www.nylon.com/fiona-apple/amphttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/style/modern-love-how-lolita-freed-me-from-my-own-humbert.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/05/vanessa-springora-consent-blake-bailey-literary-mentor-abuse/618928/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/03/girlhood-melissa-febos-lucid-expose-rape-culture/618445/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a31282424/kate-elizabeth-russell-my-dark-vanessa-interview/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/13/kate-elizabeth-russell-my-dark-vanessa-interviewhttps://kateelizabethrussell.com/note-to-readers
https://open.spotify.com/show/4dvc06zTAaAylzdTrsgKzp?si=903e8c9127794d6a
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42:13
Artists in Love, Orpheus and Eurydice, Fame & Adoration: The Giant Dark by Sarvat Hasin
Happy new year (at the end of February) from me at the Writing Women Pod! This time I cover falling in love, the perils of being adored by a crowd and by the one you love all in this incredibly beautiful, favourite read of 2022, The Giant Dark by Sarvat Hasin.
Buy the book (not sponsored just loved it), full Foyles blog quoted at the beginning.
Let me know what you think at writingwomenpodcast@gmail.com!
You can find me on my other podcast Culture Hang or sign up to my newsletter and everything else!
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30:32
Laying a God to Rest: The Biography & Work of Sylvia Plath
For my final episode of the year, I wanted to return to a poet who has obsessed, confounded and finally been settled by me throughout my young adolscence and into my academic years, Sylvia Plath.
The 2020 essay in full
Let me know what you think at writingwomenpodcast@gmail.com!
You can find me on my other podcast Culture Hang or sign up to my newsletter and everything else!
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11:38
On Writing & One Year On for the Writing Women Podcast
It's been quite an inaugural year for the Writing Women Podcast and I have loved every second of it. Thank you for coming along for the journey and may there be many more episodes and books to come!
Links:
Andrea Long Chu in Vulture
My essay 'An Exercise in the Art vs the Artist'
Let me know what you think at writingwomenpodcast@gmail.com!
You can find me on my other podcast Culture Hang or sign up to my newsletter and everything else!
After finishing an English Literature degree at the beginning of the pandemic, writer and podcaster Holly Miller has decided to not read any more books written by men. This is a female literary podcast where Holly gets to talk about Women Writing books!
Ireland