Life, literature, legends
Subtitle: collected essays 1996-2011
By: Sophie Masson
Publisher: Quadrant Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Sydney
Language: eng
Number of pages: 311
ISBN-13: 9780980677850
Other titles: Collected essays 1996-2011
Description: "Written over a period of fifteen years, the essays in this collection showcase the adult non-fiction work of Sophie Masson, an author mostly known for her novels for young people. A warmly human mosaic of stories, a sharp eye for nature, an eclectic love of literature, a clarity of exprsession, a deep immersion in myth and legend and a taste for the curious, unexpected and strange: these are some of the characteristics of the essays. Ranging freely over time, place, and themes as diverse as Melbourne ganglands, tyrants and sorcery, Russian history, French country life, children's books and the nature of faith, they offer imaginative and intriguing glimpses into worlds mostly out of the mainstream"--Publisher's description, p. [2] of dust jacket.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Part 1: Life. Glimpses of a French childhood ; Du côté de chez Irma ; The haunting ; The eyes of the icon ; Becoming a writer ; Learning Gaelic ; Other people's photographs ; Two New England pieces; Postcards from Paris; title: Part 2: Literature. School of the globe ; Agatha Christie and the French ; Writers' festivals, now and then ; A grand passion ; A true crime writer of the Golden Age ; Adrift in a perilous kingdom ; The enchanted female realm ; A human mosaic ; Russia by the book ; Why do you write for children? Harry Potter, literary phenomenon of a generation ; A cat's life ; Vale, Lloyd Alexander; title: Part 3: Legends. Angels, fairies and aliens ; Wicked sheriff and outlaw lord ; Fatherless sons : Arthurian heroes ; Captive in fairyland ; The narrow and the numinous ; Tyrants and sorcery ; Melbourne Macbeths.