Bits and pieces

Little things I've picked up here and there.

Alison Weir's next historical biography will be on Katherine Swynford, the heroine of Anya Seton's classic novel Katherine. I've heard rumors that Weir's novel about Lady Jane Grey, Innocent Traitor, will be out in the US next spring, but no official word from the publisher yet. I'm impatient and ordered a copy from a British bookseller last weekend.

An interview with Malaysian novelist Vyvyane Loh about her novel Breaking the Tongue. What do you think of this technique of hers?

As Breaking the Tongue comes to its end, there is a section where the text is suddenly written in Chinese characters. The author excluded an English translation, deliberately shutting out English-only readers, leaving them to grope their way through via context and insinuation, only half-joking when she says she wanted her readers to “work a little”.

More on Geraldine Brooks and her Pulitzer. Her next novel sounds most intriguing:

...She is now working on another piece of historical fiction, tracing the history of a real-life Jewish manuscript from the 14th century.

Oh, and the Gallery of Reusable Cover Art has been updated.