Blazing World and Whispering Door
Jan. 15th, 2022 09:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe Blazing World and Other Writings by Margaret Cavendish is a collection of three stories, written by the Duchess of Newcastle in the mid-1600s.
The Contract tells of a young woman who takes a man to court for defaulting on a marriage agreement arranged between their guardians when she was only seven years old. It's an amusing concept, with a very strong female protagonist, and an entertaining conclusion.
Assaulted and Pursued Chastity tells of a young woman who disguises herself as a man, in order to escape pursuit by an unwanted suitor. They eventually end up as generals on opposites in a war between monarchs of neighbouring kingdoms. This was also well-written and engaging, with a great female protagonist and a lot of exciting twists and turns. I was disappointed by the ultimate conclusion, though, because both the protagonist and the queen she serves end up accepting their unwanted suitors, despite the men's earlier intentions to force marriage or sex on them.
The Blazing World tells of a woman who is transported to another world, where she is made Empress and spends her life learning about her subjects and teaching them about herself and her values. I found this one very dense, with pages of very dry explanations of science, politics, philosophy, religion and morality. It was amusing, though, that the Empress brought the spirit of the author into the story, to help her draft a constitution for her subjects.
Overall, this was a fascinating collection of very feminist stories from a female author who was obviously very far ahead of her time.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is about a ferryman of souls, who runs a tea shop - and it's marvellous. The protagonist is a man who dies at the start, and is then taken to the tea shop, to prepare for the ultimate journey through the door at the top of the building, to whatever lies beyond. The audiobook narrator was great, imbuing all the characters with distinctive voices and approaching both the humour and the sadness of the book with equally emotive narration.
It's a really lovely story, though quite dark in places. It's about found family, learning to be a better person, navigating complex relationships, finding a purpose and a place to belong - and the importance of sharing tea. I loved it.
The Contract tells of a young woman who takes a man to court for defaulting on a marriage agreement arranged between their guardians when she was only seven years old. It's an amusing concept, with a very strong female protagonist, and an entertaining conclusion.
Assaulted and Pursued Chastity tells of a young woman who disguises herself as a man, in order to escape pursuit by an unwanted suitor. They eventually end up as generals on opposites in a war between monarchs of neighbouring kingdoms. This was also well-written and engaging, with a great female protagonist and a lot of exciting twists and turns. I was disappointed by the ultimate conclusion, though, because both the protagonist and the queen she serves end up accepting their unwanted suitors, despite the men's earlier intentions to force marriage or sex on them.
The Blazing World tells of a woman who is transported to another world, where she is made Empress and spends her life learning about her subjects and teaching them about herself and her values. I found this one very dense, with pages of very dry explanations of science, politics, philosophy, religion and morality. It was amusing, though, that the Empress brought the spirit of the author into the story, to help her draft a constitution for her subjects.
Overall, this was a fascinating collection of very feminist stories from a female author who was obviously very far ahead of her time.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is about a ferryman of souls, who runs a tea shop - and it's marvellous. The protagonist is a man who dies at the start, and is then taken to the tea shop, to prepare for the ultimate journey through the door at the top of the building, to whatever lies beyond. The audiobook narrator was great, imbuing all the characters with distinctive voices and approaching both the humour and the sadness of the book with equally emotive narration.
It's a really lovely story, though quite dark in places. It's about found family, learning to be a better person, navigating complex relationships, finding a purpose and a place to belong - and the importance of sharing tea. I loved it.
