The Haunted Tea-cosy

Seasonally-appropriate fiction for the student services blog this month...

The Haunted Tea-cosy by Edward Gorey*

The Haunted Tea-cosy is classic Gorey and perfect for the holiday season. It is essentially a retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The story begins with protagonist Edward Gravel is interrupted from his correspondence and fruitcake by a human-sized cockroach that seems to have jumped out from underneath his tea cosy. This is the Bahhum Bug** who will introduce Gravel to Gorey’s versions of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

Gorey has a macabre and wonderfully eccentric sense of humor that makes reading his books quite an experience. While the drawings in The Haunted Tea-cosy are less detailed than Gorey’s usual work, they will no doubt intrigue readers new to Gorey and hopefully inspire them to check out some of Gorey’s other work.

* Expect to see this book here again a little later this month ;)
**This type of wordplay is typical Gorey

The Tattooed Map

The Tattooed Map by Barbara Hodgson

Reading The Tattooed Map is a sensory experience (much like reading Nick Bantock's novels). It's a novel presented as a travel diary, in which its authors (our protagonists) paste tidbits much like a scrapbook. Surrounding the main text of the story are hand-written annotations as well as pasted-in maps, photographs, and other ephemeral material. Because of that, the reader lingers on each page, making sure to soak up all the details and all of the various meanings that are hidden in it.

I'm not going to try to include a synopsis. Even the ones given by the publisher seem to include too much in the way of spoilers. Suffice it to say that The Tattooed Map is a mystery that both inspires and repels wanderlust. It is remarkably evocative and a joy to read.

The Forgetting Room

The Forgetting Room by Nick Bantock

I hadn't read Nick Bantock before. I'd heard interesting things about his work, but The Forgetting Room was my first Nick Bantock book.

To some extent, it defies explanation. On the surface, The Forgetting Room is the story of a Massachusetts-based bookbinder named Armon, who inherits a family home in Ronda, Spain after the death of his grandfather, and his trip to Spain in order to settle the estate.

Of course, the fact that artist Rafael Hurtago's will actually says "to my grandson, Armon Hurt, I leave my house in Ronda, Spain and the uncertainty of its contents. May he discover his belonging" is the first clue that the story is more than it seems. Though the novel is short (a mere 106 pages), it contains an entire creative universe. There are tales within tales. A puzzle leads to self-discovery and nine days in Ronda have the potential to change the protagonist's life.

Reading Bantock's work is a sensory experience. The Forgetting Room is gorgeously illustrated. The art is integral to the story and the scrapbook-like nature of the book allows for the reader to interact with the narrative and participate in the story.

Jane Eyre... bigger and better

I saw the coolest book at the book store yesterday... an absolute must-have book...


Charlotte Brontë’s sweeping Victorian romance is reborn through the striking illustrations of the inimitable Dame Darcy.

A devoted readership will recognize Dame Darcy as the creator of highly original and off-kilter comic books. Here she uses her lavishly detailed illustrations to bring the best-loved Victorian novel Jane Eyre back into the spotlight. Darkly elegant illustrations draw back the novel’s curtain, revealing the depths of human depravity, despair, and ultimate redemption. Sure to impress traditional fans and newcomers alike, The Illustrated Jane Eyre updates the classic for a new era.

It's time to start your holiday shopping (not to mention Buy a Friend a Book Week) and this is the perfect gift for the lit majors on your list! Also a good choice for teenagers that could use a little motivation to read the classics.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting a copy for my birthday ;)