I liked this one well enough, but I can’t say it wasn’t a little bit of a disappointment after liking Faye’s other books so much. The pacing was very uneven here and I wonder if cutting some of the material (the book is about 400 pages) would have helped. There’s a great book in here somewhere, surrounded by too much extra. One thing I really loved? The setting. I don’t think I’ve ever read pre-civil war historical fiction that isn’t pioneer-ish before. This takes place […]
Lyndsay Faye is the best.
I’ve read quite a bit of Sherlock Holmes pastiche, though by no means even close to all of it, and so far, I think Lyndsay Faye’s version of Holmes and Watson is my favorite. This collection, which was gifted to me by Bunnybean for Book Exchange in CBR9, is made up of fifteen stories published over a period of ten years, many of them in The Strand, the very same magazine that published Conan Doyle’s original stories. All of the stories mimic Conan Doyle’s style, […]
Jane Steele – a superhero of the 1800’s
After seeing Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye on Cannonball and on NPR’s Best Books of 2016, I was intrigued. I’ve read Jane Eyre, and liked it–even though it was as long time ago. But a retelling of Jane Eyre, with Jane as a serial killer? I just couldn’t guess how that would work. But it also got consistently good reviews, which was more than enough for me. I was most curious how Faye would make Jane Steele a sympathetic character as a “cold-blooded killer.” Jane Steele kills her cousin when she […]
Thank you, Bunnybean!!
Thank you so much to Bunnybean for these books. I’m very excited to read both of them! One I’ve been eyeing for months (I squealed when I saw The Whole Art of Detection–I’m really on a Sherlock Holmes kick right now, which is a bit of an understatement, actually), and one was a happy surprise. Who can say no to Pride & Prejudice plus dragons? Not me. This book exchange is the best tradition.