‘Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane’ by Paul Thomas Murphy (review)

Greenwich, 1871. On an unlit lane traversed by a brook, a policeman finds a young woman who has been so viciously beaten that she is barely recognisable as a human being. She later dies of her injuries. The brutality of the act, the ineptitude of police, and the rock-solid Victorian class system will lead to…

Godless (2017): Review

With beautiful cinematography, fine performances and an occasionally impressive script, Godless never quite succeeds at making us take it as seriously as it clearly takes itself.

‘To the Bright Edge of the World’ by Eowyn Ivey (review).

A striking novel of love, discovery and the culture of cold, To the Bright Edge of the World brings nineteenth-century Alaska to searing, glorious life.

Thoughts on the new ‘Fantastic Beasts’ trailer.

Dumbledore is gay, Grindelwald is messianic, Leta is a Lestrange trapped by her own lineage and the Niffler is back with all his usual gold-seeking badassery. Squeee! Let’s dive right in!

‘Vikings’ 5B Comic-Con Trailer Analysis

The thumb twiddling, nail biting, destructive hypothesising and other such nefarious activities that Vikings fans have been engaged in for months have finally come to an end with the release of the first Season 5B trailer at Comic Con. In this article, Her Ladyship will provide a brief synopsis of the action, then a detailed analysis using…

Nine Emmy categories ‘The Terror’ could have been nominated in.

Television’s golden age hit an unexpected low on the 12th July when the announcement of this year’s Emmy nominees failed to include AMC’s masterful The Terror in a single category. Her Ladyship is not amused, and proposes nine categories in which the series could easily have been, and deserves to be, nominated. Outstanding Drama Series….

Historical inaccuracies in the ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ trailer.

The first trailer for Mary, Queen of Scots is here, and promises the same quantity of misinformation and fantastical spins on this story that we have come to expect from Hollywood.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Season 2 (review)

Season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale reminds me of Briony Tallis’ words at the end of Atonement: “What sense of hope or satisfaction could a reader derive from an ending like that?” It’s the type of question that characterises much of this season, which snatches hope away from the characters in such a jarringly constant,…

‘The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock’ by Imogen Hermes Gowar (review).

In recent years, authors of historical fiction have become more and more innovative, from Suzanna Clark’s re-writing of English history (with magic) in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to Hilary Mantel’s vision of Tudor England in minimalistic, modern English in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Imogen Hermes Gowar continues this tradition by coaxing us down into…

‘The Weight of Ink’ is not ‘Possession’.

Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink, a novel of supreme beauty and intelligence, is accused of subjecting A.S. Byatt’s Possession to carbon copying, 3D printing and creepy stalking in the manner of Frankenstein’s monster. Her Ladyship sips some tea and raises her pinkie to the critics. Warning: Spoilers for The Weight of Ink and Possession….