Book-Bosomed

Our first delve into literature outside of the UK and Ireland brings us face to face with a lot of wonderful questions: how different is English lit to Russian? Are descriptions of mental health cultural or purposeful? And what's up with Tolstoy? Join us this month for part one of our deep dive into the world of Russian Literature.

This month we discuss The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by, perhaps the lesser known sister, Anne Brontë. We delve into representations of masculinity, the Byronic hero, romanticism versus realism, the marriage plot and a whole lot more.

What do we know and what do we think we know about Ireland and Irish history and culture? Syndey Owenson must have asked herself this question whilst writing The Wild Irish Girl, which came to define Irish national identity in 1806. We discuss this novel in relation to history, politics, religion, and more, forcing us to ask: do we know as much about Ireland as we should? Technical issues: apologies about Michelle's audio!

If you've seen or read Outlander, you already have a good working knowledge of the Scottish Jacobites in the mid eighteenth century. However, this pinnacle novel by Sir Walter Scott was one of the first lengthy literary explorations of these historical Scots, and it's a book we can't put down.

One of Austen's more underrated novels, Northanger Abbey mimics Austen's Gothic predecessors such as Ann Radcliffe. In fact, Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho is referenced throughout! This episode continues our January discussion in which we explore the extent to which Northanger Abbey is Gothic, satirical, or just plain silly!

Known as the archetypal Gothic, Radcliffe's 1794 novel follows a young French noblewoman through more than just a spooky castle adventure. In this episode, we explore the influence of the picturesque, female authorship and, of course, the Gothic, in our modern interpretations of this classic story.

Nothing screams Christmas more than this classic Dickens story. In this Christmas special we (although a man-down without Grace) explore the role of religion in this ghostly story, and how Dickens' own experiences growing up in the industrial revolution impacted his emphasis on good-will during the festive season.

We've dedicated an entire episode to Middlemarch's women because there just that much to say... In this episode we explore how George Eliot thought and wrote about women and marriage, influenced female writers that followed, and joined a century-long discussion on feminism that (arguably) began with Mary Wollstoncraft.

Because it's known as the one of the great books of British literature there was no way we were going to squeeze all 880 pages of Eliot's iconic novel into one episode! Check out part one of our two part special in which we explore the contextual information that inspired Eliot's study of provincial life.