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A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
Drinking with Dead Women Writers by A.K. Turner, Elaine Ambrose
3.0
There is always a risk when a writer uses a real person or a beloved literary character in a book outside of straight forward historical fiction – the historical fiction that follows the basic outline. There is a Jane Austen who solves mysteries among other famous people who do the same. There is always a risk that a reader will get upset that the person (or character) has been perverted or changed too radically – like say making Charlotte Bronte the killer of her entire family.
Then there are books like this one. This book made me raise an eyebrow, but since it was being offered free, I thought might as well, though I didn’t have high hopes for it. Yet, I found myself being pleasantly surprised.
The conceit is interesting, each chapter, written by one of the authors, is the author meeting a famous (dead) writer for drinks (or in the case of the Brontes, three writers). The nice thing is that it works. There is a large amount of history in the interviews, and while it is impossible to say if the writers nail the “characters” of the famous women, the caricatures are very funny and very poignant in some cases. Look at it this way, the Plath chapter was really good and considering it is about Plath that’s saying something.
While the book might not have new facts for those well versed in the background of the writers “interviewed”, the writing is good and the humor makes up for the already know information. If you are new to the writers being interviewed, both in terms of their work or lives, the chapters do have information and there is a reading list for each author at the end of the book. The writers seem to do a good job of raising interest in the women and encouraging further reading.
Then there are books like this one. This book made me raise an eyebrow, but since it was being offered free, I thought might as well, though I didn’t have high hopes for it. Yet, I found myself being pleasantly surprised.
The conceit is interesting, each chapter, written by one of the authors, is the author meeting a famous (dead) writer for drinks (or in the case of the Brontes, three writers). The nice thing is that it works. There is a large amount of history in the interviews, and while it is impossible to say if the writers nail the “characters” of the famous women, the caricatures are very funny and very poignant in some cases. Look at it this way, the Plath chapter was really good and considering it is about Plath that’s saying something.
While the book might not have new facts for those well versed in the background of the writers “interviewed”, the writing is good and the humor makes up for the already know information. If you are new to the writers being interviewed, both in terms of their work or lives, the chapters do have information and there is a reading list for each author at the end of the book. The writers seem to do a good job of raising interest in the women and encouraging further reading.