Another Space in Time

Dixiane Hallaj is a particular good writer of social/historically placed, politically pointed, drama, both in her creative fiction and as in this case in the writing of Biography augmented with fictional reality. In fact, most biographies contain some invented content, and/or augmented interpretation. There are going to be gaps to fill in any knowledge that reports anything deeper than the bare historic/factual bones. Hallaj writes, very-broadly speaking, women’s literature, in that central female figures and through them family, are her bread and butter. That shouldn’t deter any but the most misogynistic of male readers. There is plenty of the gritty content and adventure to balance the childcare and dressmaking. This is a lot on female, and male, sensitivities, but certainly very little sentimental. Lola had as psychologically tough a life as most male heroes, and survived an extraordinarily mixed bunch of husbands and other male figures. I may have lost count, but she had certain...

This is a very well written fiction story that adds interesting fuel to the debate between those that support the `rights' of the individual and those that put the rights of community ahead of those of the individuals. Should the individual be expected to suffer, even to risk life, for a common good? Should we all, ultimately, be conscript soldiers of society? The principle character is fascinating, complex, and totally credible. Whether she is actually a hero, a coward, or a genuine conscientious objector, each of us has to decide for ourselves. For me Kelsey was a mix of all three, just as most of us would probably be, depending on the degree and type of cultural indoctrination we had experienced. The only flaw of the plot was for me the over close relationships of all the principle characters in Kelsey vs The State. This tightness helped drive the intensity of the drama, but it all proved to strain my buy in to its plausibility. Wouldn't the prosecution have ripped t...

Lumière is a delightful book. I particularly loved the start: the steam elephant. I hope he reappears in future stories. There are only two factors making this book less brilliant than its potential. Firstly, there are far too many deadly situations from which Eyelet `only just' escapes. She ran just fast enough too often, for my liking. The second was the generally over frantic pacing of events in the story, which left me feeling that I really didn't have enough opportunity to deeply explore this strange landscape. My view is that a page turning book need not be conducted at frenetic speed from cover to cover. I was held enough by the quality of both the writing and the story to have read a much longer book. I accept that possibly even most modern readers don't share my opinion. Me though, I wanted to know so much more about Eyelet's world. More words, more words! I liked the mix of reminders I got from authors like Mervyn Peake, L.Frank Baum and Ray Bradbury. I'...