Tag Archives: Short Story Collection
London Stories: A Little Place Off the Edgware Road by Graham Greene
This is a very short review! I read Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair awhile back. I liked his writing, but the plot not so much – I was put off by the long talks of God – which pained me at the time because I was hoping Greene would be a good pick […]
A Forsyte Encounters the People, 1917 by John Galsworthy
A Forsyte Encounters the People, 1917 is from John Galsworthy’s novel On Forsyte ‘Change. Galsworthy who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932 wrote a number of books on the Forsyte family. Even though On Forsyte ‘Change is not a part of The Forsyte Saga, it looks into the lives of older Forsytes before the […]
London Stories: The Elephant Man by Frederick Treves
I think most of you would be familiar with the story of Joseph Merrick thanks to the 1980 movie, The Elephant Man. I haven’t watched the movie, but I had a vague idea of who Joseph Merrick was before reading Dr. Frederick Treves first-hand account from the book, The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences. For […]
London Stories: The Fetching of Susan by Alfred Walter Barrett
The Fetching of Susan is probably the most unusual short story I read this year. Written by Alfred Walter Barrett in 1912, the story chronicles London suburban life. I couldn’t find much information about Barrett on the internet. He seems to be an enigma – The Fetching of Susan is from Neighbours of Mine, which […]
London Stories: Christopherson by George Gissing
Christopherson, written in 1902 is a short story in George Gissing’s collection The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories. For George Orwell, Gissing was “perhaps the best novelist England has produced.” This was my first time reading Gissing’s work, and I think Orwell might have been onto something – Gissing is a fantastic storyteller! 🙂 […]
London Stories: My First Soiree by Eliza Lynn Linton
My First Soiree by Eliza Lynn Linton was a delightful read! It’s a story about a young married couple who have been married for about two years. Jonathan, the husband one day proposes to his wife, Totty that they should invite a few friends for tea. Next day Totty comes up with a list of […]
London Stories: The Walworth Jumpers by C. Maurice Davies
The Walworth Jumpers is an essay about C. Maurice Davies’s visit to a sanctuary in Walworth to listen to the preaching of Mary Ann Girling. Girling created Walworth Jumpers (or Children of God), an alternative spirituality which assured the followers of its doctrine that they will never experience bodily death! She was a simple woman […]
London Stories: Down With The Tide by Charles Dickens
This is a very short review! Down with the Tide is Charles Dickens’s account of the night he spent with the Thames Police Force. Along with his companion Pea, Dickens lurk quietly in the dark waiting to surprise the thieves who might come their way. Dickens describes the different kinds of thieves on the Thames […]
London Stories: Watercress Girl by Henry Mayhew
The little watercress girl who gave me the following statement, although only eight years of age, had entirely lost all childish ways, and was, indeed, in thoughts and manner, a woman. There was something cruelly pathetic in hearing this infant, so young that her features had scarcely formed themselves, talking of the bitterest struggles of life, […]
London Stories: Going to see a man Hanged by William Makepeace Thackeray
In 1840 Francois Courvoisier was hanged outside the Newgate Prison for the crime of murdering his employer. Executions were a public spectacle those days, so 40,000 people gathered to witness the morbid affair of Courvoisier facing death. In the crowd was William Makepeace Thackeray and in his essay Going to see a man Hanged Thackeray […]
