Book Review: Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
This is a very awkward book for me to review, because I have spent a long time trying to decide what I thought of it, and I still don't know.

Louisa wants to be a doctor and an independent woman, but Victorian England won't allow her to be anything other than a delicate wife and mother. When she follows her dreams just a little bit close, she is sent to a home for the insane, and told her name is Lucy Childs. Her attempts to clear up the "confusion" only make things worse for ...more
This is a very awkward book for me to review, because I have spent a long time trying to decide what I thought of it, and I still don't know.

Louisa wants to be a doctor and an independent woman, but Victorian England won't allow her to be anything other than a delicate wife and mother. When she follows her dreams just a little bit close, she is sent to a home for the insane, and told her name is Lucy Childs. Her attempts to clear up the "confusion" only make things worse for her, after all, it seems quite crazy to deny your own name...
The longer Louisa spends in Wildthorn, the more she suspects that it is not just he lack of "womanly pursuits" that got her sent there, it may have to do with one experience with her beautiful cousin Grace...


I like Grace and Eliza and Beatrice as characters, but I had such a hard time reading about Louisa. I love when characters in books/movies/tv shows are able to rebel against society by deftly playing the games and rules of the society. Louisa most emphatically does not. Her father gave her leeway growing up, and her mother was particularly strict. This leaves me confused as to how Louisa thinks it is alright to travel alone in a third class carriage, or to jump up at a dinner party and say that she thinks women should be doctors. She has to KNOW that it is not acceptable. Her heavy hand and naive outlook drove me crazy (no pun intended).

The romance was sweet, but light, and (at least on Louisa's side) rather sudden. This book definitely fills a niche in a YA collection, but I can't completely, whole-heartedly recommend it either.

(Note: this book was made available to me for free by the publishers through NetGalley. I have made every attempt to not allow this to bias my opinion in any way.)

Use your latent psychic ability, and the clues from this picture of my recent purchase (a 5lb bag of dark chocolate wafers, shot glass for size comparison purposes) to guess whether I will be doing a lot of baking this fall and winter.

If you are intrigued, let me tell you that my absolute favorite cookie recipe can be found at Nosh With Me, a blog that makes me want to run to my KitchenAid mixer and get baking. Every single recipe she posts gets my mouth watering. It helps that we seem to have similar taste preferences. Salty chocolate chip cookies. Salty caramel cookies. Kitchen gadgets of every sort.

I have made this chocolate chip recipe many, many times, and actually have yet to make it exactly as written. For some reason, I can easily get my hands on bread flour, but not cake flour. So I have made it with bread flour and regular flour replacing the cake and I have made it with regular flour in place of both of them. The texture was probably different, but since they weren't side by side compared but they WERE still delicious cookies, I have been happy. I have also made the same recipe but with almonds and dried cranberries instead of the chocolate.

SO yummy!

Book Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue


Very good, very intense.

Jack has lived his whole life in Room with Ma, Rug, and Walls. Sure there are trees and dogs and even Dora, but that's just in TV. Not in real life.

It's difficult for me to explain why I was drawn to this book, since it is very morbid to admit fascination with the several recent cases of capture. Still, I was intrigued by the plot of this book (a woman is kidnapped and held captive in a tiny room for seven years) and the viewpoint (the narrator is the woman's son, Jack, born in the room and not aware that there is anything more). This was everything I was looking for and more. A 5 year old narrator is a very tricky subject, but Jack's voice is perfect: naive and childlike, believable but not so childish that it is annoying to read.

The psychology of the characters is fascinating as well, we get a lot of insight into "Ma" despite the fact that the narration stays with Jack. The reader sees her frustration as well as her strength all through the eyes of her son who adores her.

Some reviews give some spoilers, and I will refrain, but if anyone reads the book and would like to discuss some of the later parts, I have a lot to say! All in all, highly recommended.


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Take a look at the book's beautiful website, a definite example of design done right, and tying in with the cover design.