Alastair Mabbott

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No biography available.

Latest articles from Alastair Mabbott

REVIEW Amid a monstrous Byron and the self-absorbed Shelleys, a woman's life was shattered

Eighteen-sixteen has been called “the year without a summer”. Following the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, sheets of rain swept across Europe and crops failed. Over this failed summer, Percy and Mary Shelley were famously ensconced in the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva with Lord Byron and his friend John Polidori, their extended stay resulting in Mary Shelley’s landmark Gothic novel Frankenstein and Polidori’s The Vampyre. One crucial member of their party, however, has been more or less written out of the story: Mary Shelley’s step-sister, Claire Clairmont.

A woman in control of her own destiny is surely a breeding ground for sin

“Gentlemen and their desires? Don’t you know it’s the stuff of the world?” asks Grace Sutherland, star of the Victorian stage, of aspiring photographer Ellory Mann as they discuss a racy photo session which might net them both a tidy sum. The eroticisation of women’s bodies, and the denunciation of those enterprising, desperate or bold enough to cater to it, are among the burdens borne by the two central characters of Sara Sheridan’s captivating new novel, along with an oppressive church that polices the morals of its congregation but refuses to be held accountable for its own lapses.

'Scots fairy tales have many female protagonists including the fearless Mally Whuppy'

Author of more than 60 books, Rosalind Kerven has spent her life delving into myth and folklore for titles that range from In the Court of the Jade Emperor to Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women. From her home in the rugged landscape of Northumberland National Park, she has put together this collection of fairy tales from Scotland, Ireland and Wales, drawing on numerous versions from a variety of sources and retelling them in her own words.

Scots author behind BBC drama The Cry creates quirky, engaging and frightening novel

Do we like Lou O’Dowd? I’m not sure. Her sole experience of employment, other than a stab at waitressing, seems to be as the kept woman of a sugar daddy, who gave her a Melbourne apartment to live in and money to fund her lifestyle. (As she only needed to spend six hours a week in his company, she figured it was a good deal.) Lou regards friendships as being like romances, in that they reach a peak and then naturally draw to a close. She has a taste for “bad boys” and accepts the inevitable chaos that comes with them. She has no compunctions about lying her way into a job, and little sense of responsibility when she gets it. At the very start of the book, a journalist even suggests she’s a psychopath.