In the decades that followed it witnessed the trials of the most famous and infamous defendants of the twentieth century. The principal criminal court of England, historically reserved for the more serious and high-profile trials, Court Number One opened its doors in 1907 after the building of the 'new' Old Bailey. but this is ultimately an affecting study of how the law gets it right - and wrong' GuardianĬourt Number One of the Old Bailey is the most famous court room in the world, and the venue of some of the most sensational human dramas ever to be played out in a criminal trial. Thomas Grant offers detailed accounts of eleven cases at the Old Bailey's Court Number One, with protagonists ranging from the diabolical to the pathetic. 'These tales of eleven trials are shocking, squalid, titillating and illuminating: each of them says something fascinating about how our society once was' The Times ' scholarship and depth of evidence' London Review of Books 'Superbly told' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
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Most importantly, she writes a story about friendship, and the importance of never giving up. Legrand writes a story about a very clever and strong girl. She writes a story about the importance of learning that it’s what inside that counts and ugliness can come from within. In fact, those were my favorite parts of the novel. One of the things that stuck out to me while reading The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls was the way in which Claire Legrand doesn’t shy away from the so called “dark” elements. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Adam Gidwitz, and Tim Burton. Recommended For: Reders looking for a book that doesn’t shy away from the dark and rough patches of growing up. Source: Purchased for my personal library Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror Publishing Information: Augby Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Title: The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls It's well-appointed, it's remote, it faces the sea, it's everything Cleo had hoped, except for one thing: It was double-booked. So off she goes to a remote island off the coast of Ireland to come to terms with singledom. (It's either that or a tattoo, apparently.)īut Cleo has to believe it, first. Most of "One Night on the Island" is narrated by Cleo Wilder, a singles columnist for a London magazine who chronicles her own dismal dating life for readers.Īs Cleo's 30th birthday approaches, her editor suggests that she take a long vacation and "marry herself" - that is, affirm that it is not a failure to be single, and that as "a vibrant, independent woman" she understands there are many ways to have a successful life. In Silver's hands, it's a place with mountains and rain, crashing ocean and tide pools, friendly strangers and a whiff of love. Josie Silver's third novel walks a romantic line between fantasy and reality, and that turns out to be a very satisfying place to dwell for 350 pages. She also asserts that in her father’s Greek-loving house, what mattered was the appearance of keeping Judaic laws. Her father is head scribe to Herod Antipas, and through him Ana is tutored and provided the tools she needs to write. Whereas The Red Tent entrenches the reader in the nomadic life of a tent dwelling/compound, The Book of Longings takes the reader to a well-to-do house in Sepphoris, with Ana’s mother, her father, her adopted brother, and her aunt. Details of the era and place flow throughout the story, like, “It was the first day of the month of Tishri, but the cool fall rains had not yet come.” Carefully chosen words and sentences that reflect the era, obviously the product of meticulous research, allows me to be a first-person witness to Israel in the Herodian period, setting the mood for the writing and story of Ana, herself. I love to read a book like this and actually feel like I’ve been transported into the story as though it’s happening in real time. I was completely enthralled by the history, by the surroundings in which the story is set, and by becoming saturated within first century Jewish customs and life. Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees, has written a historically captivating book that I couldn’t put down (ancient history lover that I am). I found The Book of Longings to ultimately be a love story between the permanence and power of writing, and the finite life of a young woman named Ana, fringed by those her love story impacts. |