World War Two fiction and the difference between fantasy and fantastic fiction – welcome to episode 77!
In the first half of this episode, I dive back into the topic of my DPhil and we talk about fantastic and fantasy fiction. In the second half we compare two of the new Furrowed Middlebrow reprints from Dean Street Press – Beneath the Visiting Moon by Romilly Cavan and Wine of Honour by Barbara Beauchamp.
You can find the podcast at Apple podcasts – please rate and review, it really helps us – or download the episode from your podcast app of choice. You can support the podcast at Patreon – and please get in touch if you need any reading advice at teaorbooks@gmail.com!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Notes Made While Falling by Jenn Ashworth
A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie by Charles Osborne
Eric Rabkin
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
The Love Child by Edith Olivier
Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Lady Into Fox by David Garnett
Daniel Defoe
The Sheik by E.M. Hull
Miss Carter and the Ifrit by Susan Alice Kerby
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple
Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
The House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon
The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski
Look Back With Love by Dodie Smith
Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff
I Was A Stranger by John Hackett
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Corduroy by Adrian Bell
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Village by Marghanita Laski
Elizabeth von Arnim
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Sanditon by Jane Austen
The Watsons by Jane Austen
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Hmmm – I’m not actually seeing the new ep in my feed (I use Overcast) or in iTunes. Is there a glitch somewhere? Is it me?!? Thanks Simon and Rachel. Love the show and have reviewed it!
Oo thanks for the comment – I’d ticked the wrong box when I was uploading it. It will hopefully appear now but I might have to republish… And thanks for the review!
Oddly, this episode popped up under the Peas in a Podcast banner (I subscribe to both). That might be what Jennifer was referring to?
Just had to say that I agree with everything you and Rachel said about why you aren’t into fantasy as a genre. I’ve never warmed to it either. I also think I’m too lazy a reader to invest a lot of time in learning the rules of a fictional universe. I want to get right to the human drama of the world I know.
Anyhow, thanks for your podcasts — I’m always happy to see a new episode in my feed.
I have discovered your podcast recently and am enjoying listening to your brilliant discussions.
I understand your point of view regarding fantasy and fantastic books, even if I don’t totally agree. Yes, some of that fiction is as you say, war and dragons (I don’t rate Wheel of Time books either, but I do love LOTR), but like in every genre, there is a variety of ‘sub-genres’ and range of quality. There is lot of great work done (and older forgotten ones) in speculative fiction, fantasy and scifi, focusing on feminism, race, diversity, mental illness, to name a few – as indeed in romances, another vilified genre. The writing also varies greatly.
I’m that odd fish, the eclectic bookworm, who reads nearly everything, from speculative fiction, historical novels, 19th century classics, to golden age of crime writing, children’s books, romances, and 20th century ‘forgotten’ women writers (addicted to Persephone, Dean Street Press, British Library Women Writers, etc.).
Dare I recommend a fantasy title? Let’s try this. Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave is one I think that has appealed to readers who don’t like fantasy. More recently, Susanna Clarke won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for Piranesi, which is beautiful.
Thank you so much, Veronique – really glad you’re enjoying the podcast. I listened to the audiobook of Piranesi recently, and really enjoyed it.