Learwife

Classic literature retold through the eyes of a minor (or in this case, absent) female character is a trend that I am honestly growing a bit weary of, so perhaps some of my frustration with this book is down to the fact that I have read its ilk so many times in recent years. Reclaiming women's voice......more

I'm grateful for this book. Thorp created an extraordinary force of nature in her portrayal of Lear's wife. The novel made vivid colors come in my brain. It was such a pleasure to read. All of the characters from the play stepped off of the stage and became human and alive in the memories Lear's wid......more

There are some parts of the immediate that will not fade. Lust still rises. Brushes the inside of my pelvic bone with its gold tail. The turn of a servant girl with her breast in a tunic; some masculine part, a flower’s pendulum, a horse panting at abbey gates. The scent of crushed parsley, which......more

There are but tenne figures that are used in Arithmetick; and of those tenne, one doth signifie nothing, which is made like an O, and is privately called a Cypher. The Grounde of Artes (first published in 1543) Ghosts, look at me. I was twice-queen, mother to three daughters child of good birth, keepe......more

How many people have watched Shakespeare's tragedy 'King Lear' and wondered 'But... what happened to Lear's wife?' This is a question author JR Thorp embraced as the subject of her debut novel which follows the perspective of Lear's exiled queen in the time immediately following the end of the play......more