SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

it could have been great!,, 27 Sep 2007
I just got done reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, and thought, I like the concept of Spellbound being a short read, and I liked the storyline. Failed to draw me in and fight for the hero and heroine. If this concept had been developed into a full book, I believe it could have been great! If you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, I'd recommend reading that instead.

Be Aware, 08 Aug 2006
I think it should be clearly pointed out, especially since I was unaware, that this short story is also in the Anthology 'A Little Magic'. I hadnt realised until it arrived this morning and i read the first few pages.
In my opinion this was the weakest story from the anthology and would have much rather seen 'In Dreams' published as a short story.
However, judging by the size of 'Spellbound' it hardly seems worth publishing this short story in the first place.
I believe if you're intrested in buying this short story you might as well purchase the anthology and read two other magical tales.

Tight plot, but too abrupt, 07 May 2006
Unfortunately, as others have commented, this seemed like too small a book. I was left feeling a little cheated and wish that there had been more of a sense of spinning things out. Having said that, the story is tight and gripping, probably due to the prose which is concise and atmospheric. The two main characters are interesting enough and we are given enough to empathise with their issues, but again, a slightly deeper approach might have left me feeling slightly more ecstatic about the writing, which in Roberts's other books has been splendid.

Disappointed, 14 Mar 2006
Being a great Nora Roberts/J D Robb fan I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was disappointed at the length and the content. It was a good story (a classic NR storyline, with excellent prose) but could have been longer; it was very abrupt from start to fininsh leaving one feeling cheated out of a full length story. Not one of Roberts best.

I can't recommend this book and suggest that fans stick to her excellent full length novels and trilogies such as the Key trilogies.

Amazing Nora Roberts Novel, 13 Nov 2005
"Spellbound" is a delicious novel that will keep you turning page after page. As with all of Nora's remarkable books, she shines brighter and brighter with each one she writes.
Also read Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fire In The Ice by Katlyn Stewart

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

it could have been great!,, 27 Sep 2007
I just got done reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, and thought, I like the concept of Spellbound being a short read, and I liked the storyline. Failed to draw me in and fight for the hero and heroine. If this concept had been developed into a full book, I believe it could have been great! If you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, I'd recommend reading that instead.

Be Aware, 08 Aug 2006
I think it should be clearly pointed out, especially since I was unaware, that this short story is also in the Anthology 'A Little Magic'. I hadnt realised until it arrived this morning and i read the first few pages.
In my opinion this was the weakest story from the anthology and would have much rather seen 'In Dreams' published as a short story.
However, judging by the size of 'Spellbound' it hardly seems worth publishing this short story in the first place.
I believe if you're intrested in buying this short story you might as well purchase the anthology and read two other magical tales.

Tight plot, but too abrupt, 07 May 2006
Unfortunately, as others have commented, this seemed like too small a book. I was left feeling a little cheated and wish that there had been more of a sense of spinning things out. Having said that, the story is tight and gripping, probably due to the prose which is concise and atmospheric. The two main characters are interesting enough and we are given enough to empathise with their issues, but again, a slightly deeper approach might have left me feeling slightly more ecstatic about the writing, which in Roberts's other books has been splendid.

Disappointed, 14 Mar 2006
Being a great Nora Roberts/J D Robb fan I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was disappointed at the length and the content. It was a good story (a classic NR storyline, with excellent prose) but could have been longer; it was very abrupt from start to fininsh leaving one feeling cheated out of a full length story. Not one of Roberts best.

I can't recommend this book and suggest that fans stick to her excellent full length novels and trilogies such as the Key trilogies.

Amazing Nora Roberts Novel, 13 Nov 2005
"Spellbound" is a delicious novel that will keep you turning page after page. As with all of Nora's remarkable books, she shines brighter and brighter with each one she writes.
Also read Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fire In The Ice by Katlyn Stewart

Sampling of Modernism, 24 Jul 2001
In the introduction, the editor, Malcom Bradbury, sets out his intention in producing this collection: one was to 'display...the achievement of some the best work produced by the strongest of...recent Britsh authors'; and the other, what Bradbury claims to be a more difficult task, to be 'broadly representative, so that the book might give not only a reasonable idea of the variety, but also the general trends and directions that have been taken by British fiction in the years since 1945'.

Bradbury succeeds in both attempts. This is not paritcularly surprising since this is Bradbury's territory. The collection contains works by some of the biggest names in British Literature: William Golding, Samuel Beckett, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, John Fowles, William Trevor, Ian McEwan, and Kazuo Ishiguro--to name a few. The reason, Bradbury explains, is 'that many of the authors in this collection are our major writers of prose-fiction in general'.

Some of the stories are definitely modern, with self reflexiveness, lots of white spaces, single line paragraphs, whimsical subjects, and inscrutable titles; there are pseudo-stories, stories pretending to be something else when all the while the author is trying to tell a story without letting you know the story is being told since it was the 1960's or thereabouts when the writing a straight forward story was almost a shameful act. But none of this stories are the kind found at the height of modernism, where the reader had no idea what was being said. Each of these authors are aiming at something, something new and different, and not just for the sake of only new or different, (though there are a few that fall into that) but going beyond the traditional story and exploring the truth in new ways. There are also some 'straight' acts. And these are the ones that stay in your mind, unlike the others which are fun to read for the moment but which you then tend to forget. Of the former category is Kazuo Ishiguro's tightly written gem 'A Family Supper'. A simple story about the return of a son to his native Japan after his mother's death. In the few pages Ishiguro shows the crumbling of a family. Another story in a similar mode is Graham Greene's 'The Invisble Japanese Gentlemen'. In both cases the commentary on life is left to the reader. In this category one can also include William Golding, V.S. Pritchett, William Trevor, and Ian McEwan. (Here the author simply leaves this thread and jumps to something else).

If you want to know the shape and growth of British Literature, and quickly, or if you want to read something different then this book is a good starting point.

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

it could have been great!,, 27 Sep 2007
I just got done reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, and thought, I like the concept of Spellbound being a short read, and I liked the storyline. Failed to draw me in and fight for the hero and heroine. If this concept had been developed into a full book, I believe it could have been great! If you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, I'd recommend reading that instead.

Be Aware, 08 Aug 2006
I think it should be clearly pointed out, especially since I was unaware, that this short story is also in the Anthology 'A Little Magic'. I hadnt realised until it arrived this morning and i read the first few pages.
In my opinion this was the weakest story from the anthology and would have much rather seen 'In Dreams' published as a short story.
However, judging by the size of 'Spellbound' it hardly seems worth publishing this short story in the first place.
I believe if you're intrested in buying this short story you might as well purchase the anthology and read two other magical tales.

Tight plot, but too abrupt, 07 May 2006
Unfortunately, as others have commented, this seemed like too small a book. I was left feeling a little cheated and wish that there had been more of a sense of spinning things out. Having said that, the story is tight and gripping, probably due to the prose which is concise and atmospheric. The two main characters are interesting enough and we are given enough to empathise with their issues, but again, a slightly deeper approach might have left me feeling slightly more ecstatic about the writing, which in Roberts's other books has been splendid.

Disappointed, 14 Mar 2006
Being a great Nora Roberts/J D Robb fan I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was disappointed at the length and the content. It was a good story (a classic NR storyline, with excellent prose) but could have been longer; it was very abrupt from start to fininsh leaving one feeling cheated out of a full length story. Not one of Roberts best.

I can't recommend this book and suggest that fans stick to her excellent full length novels and trilogies such as the Key trilogies.

Amazing Nora Roberts Novel, 13 Nov 2005
"Spellbound" is a delicious novel that will keep you turning page after page. As with all of Nora's remarkable books, she shines brighter and brighter with each one she writes.
Also read Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fire In The Ice by Katlyn Stewart

Sampling of Modernism, 24 Jul 2001
In the introduction, the editor, Malcom Bradbury, sets out his intention in producing this collection: one was to 'display...the achievement of some the best work produced by the strongest of...recent Britsh authors'; and the other, what Bradbury claims to be a more difficult task, to be 'broadly representative, so that the book might give not only a reasonable idea of the variety, but also the general trends and directions that have been taken by British fiction in the years since 1945'.

Bradbury succeeds in both attempts. This is not paritcularly surprising since this is Bradbury's territory. The collection contains works by some of the biggest names in British Literature: William Golding, Samuel Beckett, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, John Fowles, William Trevor, Ian McEwan, and Kazuo Ishiguro--to name a few. The reason, Bradbury explains, is 'that many of the authors in this collection are our major writers of prose-fiction in general'.

Some of the stories are definitely modern, with self reflexiveness, lots of white spaces, single line paragraphs, whimsical subjects, and inscrutable titles; there are pseudo-stories, stories pretending to be something else when all the while the author is trying to tell a story without letting you know the story is being told since it was the 1960's or thereabouts when the writing a straight forward story was almost a shameful act. But none of this stories are the kind found at the height of modernism, where the reader had no idea what was being said. Each of these authors are aiming at something, something new and different, and not just for the sake of only new or different, (though there are a few that fall into that) but going beyond the traditional story and exploring the truth in new ways. There are also some 'straight' acts. And these are the ones that stay in your mind, unlike the others which are fun to read for the moment but which you then tend to forget. Of the former category is Kazuo Ishiguro's tightly written gem 'A Family Supper'. A simple story about the return of a son to his native Japan after his mother's death. In the few pages Ishiguro shows the crumbling of a family. Another story in a similar mode is Graham Greene's 'The Invisble Japanese Gentlemen'. In both cases the commentary on life is left to the reader. In this category one can also include William Golding, V.S. Pritchett, William Trevor, and Ian McEwan. (Here the author simply leaves this thread and jumps to something else).

If you want to know the shape and growth of British Literature, and quickly, or if you want to read something different then this book is a good starting point.

Beautiful, 15 Jan 2008
Forget the famous context of the author's suicide and read it for what it is - brilliant poetry and a truly unique account of one person's battle with manic depression, internally and externally. Astounding.

a saner life tomorrow, 26 Sep 2005
I read the text three times this year and saw a german performance on stage. I think the text is difficult to perform because there is no „real" dialogue in the text. The play is like a poem to me. The more you read the text, the more you feel the rhythm of the words.
The play consist of a inner monologue about the feelings and experiences of Sarah Kane. This is intersected by a dialogue between her and a doctor. The central aspect of the play is the unanswered love to a person she will never meet. It causes the pain she describes in her monologue. Her medical treatment in hospital influences the drama. She wants to detach the body from the soul. In this moment she can only be by herself, especially when she cuts her arms. It gives her the energy to go on because she wants to live. In the end she haven't got the strength to carry on because her love is unrequited. The psychosis on 4.48 in the morning is the result of the lack of happiness in her life. The problems she shows us in the text are common in everyone lives but it is not so extreme in ours as in hers.
After forty pages you feel a void and a desired to cease the tension. But you can't help it.

Incredible, 20 May 2005
This is an amazing play. On one hand - Sarah Kane's own suicide note - on another, something much more than that. I experienced a performance of this before I read it - for those of you familiar with Artaudian techniques - this was full on.
My friends were in the production - but I couldn't recognise them. When I looked into their eyes they were blank.
This play touches something really deep in you - it's hard to describe unless you've experienced it.
If you get the chance to see this as a proper Artaudian performance (i.e. no barrier between audience and actor - other than health and safety regulations!) then I would definately recommend it - it's amazing.

Heartbreaking, 17 Oct 2004
Reading this play made me physically ache all over. It is powerful, shocking, moving, beautiful and heartbreakingly tragic. In the most raw and dismal manner it addresses clinical depression, hurling the audience or reader through an intense rollercoaster. I bought it after finding an extract from it as a monologue in an auditions book. The monologue was so striking that I was convinced the rest of the play would scarcely do it justice, and I am pleased to admit how wrong I was. It is not in anyones ability to speculate how autobiographical this play is, nor is it remotely appropriate. The play is a wonderful piece of modern literature. Sarah's heartbreaking and untimely death is an entirely separate tradegy.

The Brilliance of Sarah Kane, 17 Dec 2000
It is hard not to use words such as 'wonderful', 'fantastic', 'stunning' etc when describing Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis. Yet these words are all I can think of whilst trying to write this review. Sarah Kane is pure genius at work, a tragic woman lost to the manic world of depression. This, her final work, sums up her final days - a turbulent rollercoaster of emotions (generally anger and frustration). Although it is not written in a "standard" novel form or "standard" play form, its meaning is still strongly evident. Tragic, funny, depressing, upsetting, wonderful, fantastic, stunning. Goodbye Sarah Kane - you will be sorely missed...

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

it could have been great!,, 27 Sep 2007
I just got done reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, and thought, I like the concept of Spellbound being a short read, and I liked the storyline. Failed to draw me in and fight for the hero and heroine. If this concept had been developed into a full book, I believe it could have been great! If you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, I'd recommend reading that instead.

Be Aware, 08 Aug 2006
I think it should be clearly pointed out, especially since I was unaware, that this short story is also in the Anthology 'A Little Magic'. I hadnt realised until it arrived this morning and i read the first few pages.
In my opinion this was the weakest story from the anthology and would have much rather seen 'In Dreams' published as a short story.
However, judging by the size of 'Spellbound' it hardly seems worth publishing this short story in the first place.
I believe if you're intrested in buying this short story you might as well purchase the anthology and read two other magical tales.

Tight plot, but too abrupt, 07 May 2006
Unfortunately, as others have commented, this seemed like too small a book. I was left feeling a little cheated and wish that there had been more of a sense of spinning things out. Having said that, the story is tight and gripping, probably due to the prose which is concise and atmospheric. The two main characters are interesting enough and we are given enough to empathise with their issues, but again, a slightly deeper approach might have left me feeling slightly more ecstatic about the writing, which in Roberts's other books has been splendid.

Disappointed, 14 Mar 2006
Being a great Nora Roberts/J D Robb fan I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was disappointed at the length and the content. It was a good story (a classic NR storyline, with excellent prose) but could have been longer; it was very abrupt from start to fininsh leaving one feeling cheated out of a full length story. Not one of Roberts best.

I can't recommend this book and suggest that fans stick to her excellent full length novels and trilogies such as the Key trilogies.

Amazing Nora Roberts Novel, 13 Nov 2005
"Spellbound" is a delicious novel that will keep you turning page after page. As with all of Nora's remarkable books, she shines brighter and brighter with each one she writes.
Also read Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fire In The Ice by Katlyn Stewart

Sampling of Modernism, 24 Jul 2001
In the introduction, the editor, Malcom Bradbury, sets out his intention in producing this collection: one was to 'display...the achievement of some the best work produced by the strongest of...recent Britsh authors'; and the other, what Bradbury claims to be a more difficult task, to be 'broadly representative, so that the book might give not only a reasonable idea of the variety, but also the general trends and directions that have been taken by British fiction in the years since 1945'.

Bradbury succeeds in both attempts. This is not paritcularly surprising since this is Bradbury's territory. The collection contains works by some of the biggest names in British Literature: William Golding, Samuel Beckett, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, John Fowles, William Trevor, Ian McEwan, and Kazuo Ishiguro--to name a few. The reason, Bradbury explains, is 'that many of the authors in this collection are our major writers of prose-fiction in general'.

Some of the stories are definitely modern, with self reflexiveness, lots of white spaces, single line paragraphs, whimsical subjects, and inscrutable titles; there are pseudo-stories, stories pretending to be something else when all the while the author is trying to tell a story without letting you know the story is being told since it was the 1960's or thereabouts when the writing a straight forward story was almost a shameful act. But none of this stories are the kind found at the height of modernism, where the reader had no idea what was being said. Each of these authors are aiming at something, something new and different, and not just for the sake of only new or different, (though there are a few that fall into that) but going beyond the traditional story and exploring the truth in new ways. There are also some 'straight' acts. And these are the ones that stay in your mind, unlike the others which are fun to read for the moment but which you then tend to forget. Of the former category is Kazuo Ishiguro's tightly written gem 'A Family Supper'. A simple story about the return of a son to his native Japan after his mother's death. In the few pages Ishiguro shows the crumbling of a family. Another story in a similar mode is Graham Greene's 'The Invisble Japanese Gentlemen'. In both cases the commentary on life is left to the reader. In this category one can also include William Golding, V.S. Pritchett, William Trevor, and Ian McEwan. (Here the author simply leaves this thread and jumps to something else).

If you want to know the shape and growth of British Literature, and quickly, or if you want to read something different then this book is a good starting point.

Beautiful, 15 Jan 2008
Forget the famous context of the author's suicide and read it for what it is - brilliant poetry and a truly unique account of one person's battle with manic depression, internally and externally. Astounding.

a saner life tomorrow, 26 Sep 2005
I read the text three times this year and saw a german performance on stage. I think the text is difficult to perform because there is no „real" dialogue in the text. The play is like a poem to me. The more you read the text, the more you feel the rhythm of the words.
The play consist of a inner monologue about the feelings and experiences of Sarah Kane. This is intersected by a dialogue between her and a doctor. The central aspect of the play is the unanswered love to a person she will never meet. It causes the pain she describes in her monologue. Her medical treatment in hospital influences the drama. She wants to detach the body from the soul. In this moment she can only be by herself, especially when she cuts her arms. It gives her the energy to go on because she wants to live. In the end she haven't got the strength to carry on because her love is unrequited. The psychosis on 4.48 in the morning is the result of the lack of happiness in her life. The problems she shows us in the text are common in everyone lives but it is not so extreme in ours as in hers.
After forty pages you feel a void and a desired to cease the tension. But you can't help it.

Incredible, 20 May 2005
This is an amazing play. On one hand - Sarah Kane's own suicide note - on another, something much more than that. I experienced a performance of this before I read it - for those of you familiar with Artaudian techniques - this was full on.
My friends were in the production - but I couldn't recognise them. When I looked into their eyes they were blank.
This play touches something really deep in you - it's hard to describe unless you've experienced it.
If you get the chance to see this as a proper Artaudian performance (i.e. no barrier between audience and actor - other than health and safety regulations!) then I would definately recommend it - it's amazing.

Heartbreaking, 17 Oct 2004
Reading this play made me physically ache all over. It is powerful, shocking, moving, beautiful and heartbreakingly tragic. In the most raw and dismal manner it addresses clinical depression, hurling the audience or reader through an intense rollercoaster. I bought it after finding an extract from it as a monologue in an auditions book. The monologue was so striking that I was convinced the rest of the play would scarcely do it justice, and I am pleased to admit how wrong I was. It is not in anyones ability to speculate how autobiographical this play is, nor is it remotely appropriate. The play is a wonderful piece of modern literature. Sarah's heartbreaking and untimely death is an entirely separate tradegy.

The Brilliance of Sarah Kane, 17 Dec 2000
It is hard not to use words such as 'wonderful', 'fantastic', 'stunning' etc when describing Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis. Yet these words are all I can think of whilst trying to write this review. Sarah Kane is pure genius at work, a tragic woman lost to the manic world of depression. This, her final work, sums up her final days - a turbulent rollercoaster of emotions (generally anger and frustration). Although it is not written in a "standard" novel form or "standard" play form, its meaning is still strongly evident. Tragic, funny, depressing, upsetting, wonderful, fantastic, stunning. Goodbye Sarah Kane - you will be sorely missed...

Not as good as expected, 20 Jul 2005
I thought this book would be really good, and there are 19 writers who all have their own little short stories, I was quite bored with this book, some of the stories were ok, but some i didn't bother finishing off and i found them rather boring.

Chance is the central theme and malevolent force of William Trevor's The Story of Lucy Gault. In this haunting novel, suffused with melancholy, Trevor, a masterful chronicler of the sad, lonely and unfulfilled, recounts the tragic life story of a woman buffeted by fate.

The book opens in County Cork in 1921 with the eponymous Lucy as a small girl oblivious to the changes sweeping across Ireland. The Gaults are a Protestant land-owning family: Lucy's father, Captain Everard, was an officer in the British Army and her mother Heliose is English. When three local lads attempt to set fire to their ancestral home Lahardane (a country house in the vein of Elizabeth Bowen's Bowen's Court) Everard shoots and wounds one of the intruders, Horahan. The shot proves to have disastrous and reverberating consequences for the family: consequences that might appear melodramatic if Trevor didn't unfurl them with such subtlety and poise.

Everard and Heloise opt to leave Ireland but just before they are about to depart Lucy runs away. Convinced that she has drowned, the Gaults reluctantly head off into exile. Lucy is discovered alive but attempts to contact her kin fail. As her parents mournfully journey across Europe, Lucy, raised by two faithful servants, whiles away the years reading and waiting for their return. Her isolated existence at Lahardane is finally broken when Ralph, a young teacher, accidentally stumbles upon the house. Slowly, a romance blossoms, although Lucy, plagued by guilt and the ghosts of the past, is simply unable to grasp this chance of happiness. She does eventually find a kind of redemption (kept tantalisingly until the final chapters) but her tale, told with extraordinary beauty, compassion and precision, is ultimately one of endless disappointments. --Travis Elborough

SOLD IN MARRIAGE, 13 Jun 2008
A VERY SAD STORY, A BOOK WRITTEN WITH FEELING, THIS BOOK YOU WANTED TO REACH OUT AND PROTECT THE AUTHOR, WHAT AN AWFUL LIFE SHE HAS LED, NO DOUBT SCARED FOR EVER. THIS BOOK HAS LEFT AN EVERLASTING IMPRESSION.

Unbelievable, 19 Jul 2005
Unbelievable, but believable. Sad and outraged is what you will feel. Unable to put the book down as you challenge her to get through the pain and torment to live a fulfilling life.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo and Little Prisoner

amazing courage, 23 May 2004
i read this book many years ago now and the heartache and and horror that something like this could happen is still with me. I rember feeling at the end of reading this book that if someone can come out of something as unimaginable at this and still find the will to go on and fight it than what have i got to complain about.It is trully imsipiring into the what the tinest bit of hope can do.

I couldn't put it down!!, 28 Jan 2004
Although at times a harrowing read, this book is a story of a truely strong spirit, it seems unbelievable these things could happen in modern times,(a time of happiness and discovery to most of us in this age group) I could hardly breath when reading of her escape. The fact that she has survived to raise her children is inspiring. God bless you and give you peace in the rest of your life

wicked, 18 Dec 2003
wicked being in the sense that this was allowed to happen and for so long.Nualas ordeal was a travesty ,how her parents slept at night is beyond me and why the police and others failed her beggars belief.Thank goodness she has managed to walk away from all this with at least some of her dignity intact,AND hold her head up as well,for none of this was her fault,only societys.

Experience Rapture, 26 Jun 2008
Who said the love poem is dead? Carol Ann Duffy's Rapture stands with shining silver defiance against any such assertion.

Starting with one of my all-time favourite poems, "You", Duffy writes "the thought of you stayed too late in my head/so I went to bed, dreaming you hard". The collection moves with quiet ease, showcasing Duffy's natural inclination to form and rhyme, through to the final line "a gift, the blush of memory".

The poems in this book are all love poems, although love is written about in all its various colours, from intense longing and the grief of separation, to love as a great redeeming power.

Duffy is so important as a figure in contemporary poetry, one of the few living poets who actually manages to sell books. Her poetry is very accessible for any reader, not just those interested in poetry, echoing her own belief that poetry should be able to speak for everybody.

This book makes a wonderful gift. The hardback is beautiful, it has a fairytale cover in silver and red, and even a red ribbon to use as a marker.

Rapture isn't just a book of poems, it's an experience.

Love in all its Manifestations, 22 Mar 2008
Rapture is Carol Ann Duffy's seventh collection of poems. It is a collection that has love as its underlying theme or unifying idea. The collection is made up of short lyrical poems in which Miss Duffy sets out to express and explore a range of emotions and ideas surrounding the notion of love. Given this narrow subject matter, the question at the back of my mind as I set out to read the collection was just how well will Miss Duffy maintain my interest?

Most of the poems are delivered by a first person narrator speaking to a second person, "you". Although it is not always clear who the second person is, nonetheless this approach gives the poems a personal and intimate feel. The intensity of feelings conveyed are even further heighten by, in some instances, setting them against the background of a river, a forest, rain, etc. In the poem River, the intensity of feelings is made real by the fact that the poet personifies the river leaving the reader with a clear image of just how tender love can be.

Almost as if harking back to the romantic era, in the poem Haworth Miss Duffy continues to draw on natural phonomena as a backdrop to her theme of love. Haworth presents a powerful way of recalling a love vanquished by death. The natural surroundings are full of reminders of lost love. But this is not just a lament for a lover passed on it is also a love song for and to nature.

One of the things these poems reminds us of is that although the person whom one has loved is no longer present, love continues. The reminders of what was once in place with all its impact is to be seen everywhere, for example, in places (Haworth), in time (Hour), in nature (Rain), and in the everyday things we take for granted (Swing). Love never really dies.

What I found particularly interesting about Rapture is that for the contemporary reader hell bent on materialism it shows that love is not about money or the over extensive use of material gifts but instead the idea of being together, doing and sharing the everyday things of life. Take for example the poem Tea, the first verse with its ordinary activity states: "I like pouring your tea,/ lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up,/ so the fragrant liquid steams in your China cup". How much more down to earth can you get than this?

These are poems in which the narrator's reminiscences are triggered by places and events. This method gave scope to Miss Duffy to undertake an exercise in craftmanshift and technical accomplishment. So in The Lovers there is a contrast between two sets of lovers one with a home and one without or notice the way Miss Duffy manages to maintain a perfect rhyming scheme in the triplet stanzas of Haworth. I was dazzled by Miss Duffy's display of control over the form in which she presents her subject. But sometimes the brevity of the poems made the subject fleeting in terms of the significance it was meant to convey.

The poetic devices Miss Duffy uses renders her language afresh. Her poems are littered with internal rhymes sometimes quickening the rhythm and pace of the language - see for example the poem Quickdraw. Miss Duffy's use of poetic devices also had the effect of making me look at the familiar in a fresh light. Take the poem New Year, how refreshing it is to ring in the new year with these thoughts: "I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl/ and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves/ against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency." Then in the poem Art, Miss Duffy does an almost comprehensive display of poetic devies: there is a sustained rhyming scheme, there is alliteration and there is even onamatopoeia - brilliant or a little too much?

Rapture is a delightful collection of love poems. It was refreshing to see how Miss Duffy managed to sustain a comparison between love and ordinary everyday things and activities. I was also beguiled by Miss Duffy's use of language and poetic devices.

A strikingly original collection of love poems, 15 Nov 2005
I recently had the privilege of attending Carol Ann Duffy's poetry reading in Lancaster and was compelled to buy Rapture after hearing her read extracts from the book. I have yet to encounter another contemporary poet with such a flair for honesty when dealing with such a sentimentalised subject, chronicling every fleeting emotion associated with love and relationships. Carol Ann Duffy never fails to delight her readers with yet more witty, entertaining, and often heartbreaking words, and her symbiotic relationship with language and syntax remains present in each poem. This collection is worth every penny and I urge all fans of the poet and newcomers to her work to buy it now!

it could have been great!,, 27 Sep 2007
I just got done reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, and thought, I like the concept of Spellbound being a short read, and I liked the storyline. Failed to draw me in and fight for the hero and heroine. If this concept had been developed into a full book, I believe it could have been great! If you missed Tino Georgiou's novel--The Fates, I'd recommend reading that instead.

Be Aware, 08 Aug 2006
I think it should be clearly pointed out, especially since I was unaware, that this short story is also in the Anthology 'A Little Magic'. I hadnt realised until it arrived this morning and i read the first few pages.
In my opinion this was the weakest story from the anthology and would have much rather seen 'In Dreams' published as a short story.
However, judging by the size of 'Spellbound' it hardly seems worth publishing this short story in the first place.
I believe if you're intrested in buying this short story you might as well purchase the anthology and read two other magical tales.

Tight plot, but too abrupt, 07 May 2006
Unfortunately, as others have commented, this seemed like too small a book. I was left feeling a little cheated and wish that there had been more of a sense of spinning things out. Having said that, the story is tight and gripping, probably due to the prose which is concise and atmospheric. The two main characters are interesting enough and we are given enough to empathise with their issues, but again, a slightly deeper approach might have left me feeling slightly more ecstatic about the writing, which in Roberts's other books has been splendid.

Disappointed, 14 Mar 2006
Being a great Nora Roberts/J D Robb fan I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was disappointed at the length and the content. It was a good story (a classic NR storyline, with excellent prose) but could have been longer; it was very abrupt from start to fininsh leaving one feeling cheated out of a full length story. Not one of Roberts best.

I can't recommend this book and suggest that fans stick to her excellent full length novels and trilogies such as the Key trilogies.

Amazing Nora Roberts Novel, 13 Nov 2005
"Spellbound" is a delicious novel that will keep you turning page after page. As with all of Nora's remarkable books, she shines brighter and brighter with each one she writes.
Also read Black Rose by Nora Roberts and Fire In The Ice by Katlyn Stewart

Sampling of Modernism, 24 Jul 2001
In the introduction, the editor, Malcom Bradbury, sets out his intention in producing this collection: one was to 'display...the achievement of some the best work produced by the strongest of...recent Britsh authors'; and the other, what Bradbury claims to be a more difficult task, to be 'broadly representative, so that the book might give not only a reasonable idea of the variety, but also the general trends and directions that have been taken by British fiction in the years since 1945'.

Bradbury succeeds in both attempts. This is not paritcularly surprising since this is Bradbury's territory. The collection contains works by some of the biggest names in British Literature: William Golding, Samuel Beckett, Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, John Fowles, William Trevor, Ian McEwan, and Kazuo Ishiguro--to name a few. The reason, Bradbury explains, is 'that many of the authors in this collection are our major writers of prose-fiction in general'.

Some of the stories are definitely modern, with self reflexiveness, lots of white spaces, single line paragraphs, whimsical subjects, and inscrutable titles; there are pseudo-stories, stories pretending to be something else when all the while the author is trying to tell a story without letting you know the story is being told since it was the 1960's or thereabouts when the writing a straight forward story was almost a shameful act. But none of this stories are the kind found at the height of modernism, where the reader had no idea what was being said. Each of these authors are aiming at something, something new and different, and not just for the sake of only new or different, (though there are a few that fall into that) but going beyond the traditional story and exploring the truth in new ways. There are also some 'straight' acts. And these are the ones that stay in your mind, unlike the others which are fun to read for the moment but which you then tend to forget. Of the former category is Kazuo Ishiguro's tightly written gem 'A Family Supper'. A simple story about the return of a son to his native Japan after his mother's death. In the few pages Ishiguro shows the crumbling of a family. Another story in a similar mode is Graham Greene's 'The Invisble Japanese Gentlemen'. In both cases the commentary on life is left to the reader. In this category one can also include William Golding, V.S. Pritchett, William Trevor, and Ian McEwan. (Here the author simply leaves this thread and jumps to something else).

If you want to know the shape and growth of British Literature, and quickly, or if you want to read something different then this book is a good starting point.

Beautiful, 15 Jan 2008
Forget the famous context of the author's suicide and read it for what it is - brilliant poetry and a truly unique account of one person's battle with manic depression, internally and externally. Astounding.

a saner life tomorrow, 26 Sep 2005
I read the text three times this year and saw a german performance on stage. I think the text is difficult to perform because there is no „real" dialogue in the text. The play is like a poem to me. The more you read the text, the more you feel the rhythm of the words.
The play consist of a inner monologue about the feelings and experiences of Sarah Kane. This is intersected by a dialogue between her and a doctor. The central aspect of the play is the unanswered love to a person she will never meet. It causes the pain she describes in her monologue. Her medical treatment in hospital influences the drama. She wants to detach the body from the soul. In this moment she can only be by herself, especially when she cuts her arms. It gives her the energy to go on because she wants to live. In the end she haven't got the strength to carry on because her love is unrequited. The psychosis on 4.48 in the morning is the result of the lack of happiness in her life. The problems she shows us in the text are common in everyone lives but it is not so extreme in ours as in hers.
After forty pages you feel a void and a desired to cease the tension. But you can't help it.

Incredible, 20 May 2005
This is an amazing play. On one hand - Sarah Kane's own suicide note - on another, something much more than that. I experienced a performance of this before I read it - for those of you familiar with Artaudian techniques - this was full on.
My friends were in the production - but I couldn't recognise them. When I looked into their eyes they were blank.
This play touches something really deep in you - it's hard to describe unless you've experienced it.
If you get the chance to see this as a proper Artaudian performance (i.e. no barrier between audience and actor - other than health and safety regulations!) then I would definately recommend it - it's amazing.

Heartbreaking, 17 Oct 2004
Reading this play made me physically ache all over. It is powerful, shocking, moving, beautiful and heartbreakingly tragic. In the most raw and dismal manner it addresses clinical depression, hurling the audience or reader through an intense rollercoaster. I bought it after finding an extract from it as a monologue in an auditions book. The monologue was so striking that I was convinced the rest of the play would scarcely do it justice, and I am pleased to admit how wrong I was. It is not in anyones ability to speculate how autobiographical this play is, nor is it remotely appropriate. The play is a wonderful piece of modern literature. Sarah's heartbreaking and untimely death is an entirely separate tradegy.

The Brilliance of Sarah Kane, 17 Dec 2000
It is hard not to use words such as 'wonderful', 'fantastic', 'stunning' etc when describing Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis. Yet these words are all I can think of whilst trying to write this review. Sarah Kane is pure genius at work, a tragic woman lost to the manic world of depression. This, her final work, sums up her final days - a turbulent rollercoaster of emotions (generally anger and frustration). Although it is not written in a "standard" novel form or "standard" play form, its meaning is still strongly evident. Tragic, funny, depressing, upsetting, wonderful, fantastic, stunning. Goodbye Sarah Kane - you will be sorely missed...

Not as good as expected, 20 Jul 2005
I thought this book would be really good, and there are 19 writers who all have their own little short stories, I was quite bored with this book, some of the stories were ok, but some i didn't bother finishing off and i found them rather boring.

LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION..., 18 Jun 2008
This is a beautifully written book, rife with emotion and feeling. It is a book that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very last one is turned, so absorbing is the story. It is, as the title of the books says, the story of one Lucy Gault. Her story begins in Ireland in 1921, in the shadow of the Partition of Ireland. Feelings against the English and Protestants were running high, and many of the manorial estates were being targeted for destruction by the local Catholic peasantry in that time of unrest.

The Gault family lived in a lovely ancestral home, Lahardane, tucked away in the remote Irish countryside. Captain Everard Gault, Lucy's father, though Irish, was Protestant and had served in the English Army. He was married to Heloise, an English woman. These facts had evidently not gone unnoticed by the local yokels. When the Gaults find that their home has been targeted for destruction and the threat of arson is all too real, the Gaults reluctantly decide to leave their beloved home in the care of their two faithful family retainers and relocate to England for safety's sake. This is a decision that leaves their nine year old daughter, Lucy, heartbroken.

Lucy is loath to leave her beloved home with its resplendent land, rolling acres of lush greenery, as well as its lovely beach, and a beloved dog for which her feelings run deep. Lahardane is, indeed, a child's paradise. Just before they are due to leave, a distraught Lucy, desperate to change the way things are going, decides to run away in hopes of having her parents see things her way. Instead, what occurs is a tragedy of epic proportions, one that would have far reaching ramifications, changing the lives of many. It would certainly impact profoundly upon Lucy.

This is truly a gloriously written, thematically complex book in which the author examines the way that love and calamity can shape destiny. Its complexity is belied by its simple, yet rich and lyrical, prose. The author lovingly tenders the delicately nuanced words that express the strong undercurrent of emotion that ripples beneath the surface of this haunting novel, drawing the reader into its heartbreaking story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. The fatalism of its characters aptly mirrors the historical fatalism of the Irish. This is a literary gem that the reader will, undoubtedly, read in one sitting, as I did, loath to break the careful cadence of the words that tell so compelling a story. Bravo!

Relentlessly depressing, 17 May 2008
Very readable, but ultimately this book is page after page of depression, sadness and disappointment. I didn't find it particularly moving, because I felt irritated by several of the main characters. Don't read this if you are ill, or recovering from 'flu! It might tip you over the edge!!

Extraordinary Circumstances Leads To A Very Sad Life, 03 Feb 2008
The blurb on the back of the book reads well and the opening few chapters were quite chilling and gripping. The middle and end of the book were, although very well written, quite lacking in actual story. There was little incentive to make me pick the book up again as not a lot happens throughout Lucy's eighty years or so of extraordinary but rather boring life. William Trevor is a beautiful writer with lovely, haunting descriptions and prose `of the old school'. The book is not the easiest to read and because of his writing style I found myself re-reading several sentences and even paragraphs to get a full understanding. I think that I was trying to make myself enjoy the book because it was written by a very accomplished author rather than a gripping storyline.

Not an easy book to read, but a rewarding one..., 22 Apr 2007
The Story of Lucy Gault opens in southern Ireland in 1921. It is a country in torment, a country at war, a country seeking its own destiny. The Story of Lucy Gault is both gentle and heavy at the same time. Not an easy book to read in parts, nevertheless it leaves you with images and thoughts that remain firmly in the mind long after you set it to one side.

The Gaults are Protestant in a predominantly Catholic country. Men come to the house at night, frightening men, and the Gaults, like so many other families, decide to leave.

But the daughter Lucy, nine, doesn't want to leave. She loves the house and the woods and the beach and the people. She loves her home. She won't leave, she won't. Instead, she disappears.

Her cardigan is found beside the sea. The parents imagine she has drowned and leave in mourning, grieving for their only child. But Lucy is not dead.

So begins William Trevor's fascinating novel. Mister Trevor has a way with words quite different to any other writer I have read. Several times I had to re-read a sentence to make sense of it, several times I was left wondering if the printer had made a mistake. And more times too, I re-read a sentence just because of the wonder of it.

The book is full of heartache and sorrow, and yet beautifully written. Time passes by so slowly. Will Lucy ever find happiness? She might do, one day.

William Trevor was born in Ireland in 1928, but now lives in Devon in the south west of England. He has written a huge body of work, and won innumerable awards, and if you haven't dipped your toes in the Trevor stream before now, this may well be a good place to begin.


LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION..., 25 Jun 2005
This is a beautifully written book, rife with emotion and feeling. It is a book that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very last one is turned, so absorbing is the story. It is, as the title of the books says, the story of one Lucy Gault. Her story begins in Ireland in 1921, in the shadow of the Partition of Ireland. Feelings against the English and Protestants were running high, and many of the manorial estates were being targeted for destruction by the local Catholic peasantry in that time of unrest.

The Gault family lived in a lovely ancestral home, Lahardane, tucked away in the remote Irish countryside. Captain Everard Gault, Lucy's father, though Irish, was Protestant and had served in the English Army. He was married to Heloise, an English woman. These facts had evidently not gone unnoticed by the local yokels. When the Gaults find that their home has been targeted for destruction and the threat of arson is all too real, the Gaults reluctantly decide to leave their beloved home in the care of their two faithful family retainers and relocate to England for safety's sake. This is a decision that leaves their nine year old daughter, Lucy, heartbroken.

Lucy is loath to leave her beloved home with its resplendent land, rolling acres of lush greenery, as well as its lovely beach, and a beloved dog for which her feelings run deep. Lahardane is, indeed, a child's paradise. Just before they are due to leave, a distraught Lucy, desperate to change the way things are going, decides to run away in hopes of having her parents see things her way. Instead, what occurs is a tragedy of epic proportions, one that would have far reaching ramifications, changing the lives of many. It would certainly impact profoundly upon Lucy.

This is truly a gloriously written, thematically complex book in which the author examines the way that love and calamity can shape destiny. Its complexity is belied by its simple, yet rich and lyrical, prose. The author lovingly tenders the delicately nuanced words that express the strong undercurrent of emotion that ripples beneath the surface of this haunting novel, drawing the reader into its heartbreaking story of love, forgiveness, and redemption. The fatalism of its characters aptly mirrors the historical fatalism of the Irish. This is a literary gem that the reader will, undoubtedly, read in one sitting, as I did, loath to break the careful cadence of the words that tell so compelling a story. Bravo!