Tea or Books? #49: Death of the Author?, and The Woman in White vs Possession

Wilkie Collins, A.S. Byatt, and the death of the author (sort of) – episode 49 is quite the mixed bag. nbsp; I found it quite hard to describe the first half of this episode – though hopefully it will become

Wilkie Collins, A.S. Byatt, and the death of the author (sort of) – episode 49 is quite the mixed bag.

https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Tea-or-Books-episode-49.mp3

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I found it quite hard to describe the first half of this episode – though hopefully it will become clear! – and probably the best thing to do is to tell you how Karen described it when she sent us the suggestion (thanks Karen!). Here goes: ‘is it legitimate to read a biography to shed light on an author’s work, possibly colouring/enhancing your interpretation, or should the novels be allowed to stand alone as works of art and appreciated for themselves, independent of their creator?’

In the second half, we compare The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and Possession by A.S. Byatt – Victorian vs neo-Victorian – and I Have Thoughts.

In the next episode, we’ll be doing a Q&A – any questions welcomed; pop them in the comments – and early next year we’ve each chosen a book we really think the other one will love. And we reveal them to each other at the end of this episode…

The books and authors we discussed in this episode are:

Swans on an Autumn River by Sylvia Townsend Warner (as published as A Stranger With A Bag)

Katherine Mansfield

‘The Phoenix’ by Sylvia Townsend Warner

The Element of Lavishness by Sylvia Townsend Warner and William Maxwell

Victoria: a Life by A.N. Wilson

Charles Darwin, Victorian Mythmaker by A.N. Wilson

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Virginia Woolf

Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light

Ivy Compton-Burnett

Agatha Christie

Forever England by Alison Light

Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster

Letters From Menabilly by Daphne du Maurier and Oriel Malet

William Shakespeare

Beryl Bainbridge

Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley

John Clare

Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh

Elena Ferrante

Dan Brown

A.A. Milne

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Two Middle-Aged Ladies in Andulusia by Penelope Chetwode

John Betjeman

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Possession by A.S. Byatt

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

No Name by Wilkie Collins

The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins

The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

The Matisse Stories by A.S. Byatt

The Garrick Year by Margaret Drabble

The Millstone by Margaret Drabble

The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks

The Boat by L.P. Hartley

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner