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Harriet Vane
Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957). Vane, a mystery writer, initially meets Lord Peter Wimsey while she is on trial for poisoning her lover (''Strong Poison''). The detective falls in love with her and proposes marriage but she refuses to begin a relationship with him, traumatised as she is by her dead lover's treatment of her and her recent ordeal. In ''Have His Carcase'', she collaborates with Wimsey to solve a murder but still finds him to be overbearing and superficial. She eventually returns his love (''Gaudy Night'') and marries him (''Busman's Honeymoon''). Character biography Harriet Vane is the only daughter of a country doctor. She was an undergraduate at Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Sayers' own Somerville College, the location of which is given as the Balliol College Sports Grounds, now partly occupied by a residential annexe, on Holywell Street) and took a Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strong Poison
''Strong Poison'' is a 1930 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the first in which Harriet Vane appears. Plot The novel opens with mystery author Harriet Vane on trial for the murder of her former lover, Phillip Boyes: a writer with strong views on atheism, anarchy, and free love. Publicly professing to disapprove of marriage, he had persuaded a reluctant Harriet to live with him, only to renounce his principles a year later and to propose. Harriet, outraged at being deceived, had broken off the relationship. Following the separation, the former couple had met occasionally, and the evidence at trial pointed to Boyes suffering from repeated bouts of gastric illness at around the time that Harriet was buying poisons under assumed names, to demonstrate – so she said – a plot point of her novel then in progress. Returning from a holiday in North Wales in better health, Boyes had dined with his cousin, the solicitor Norman Urquhart, be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest museum in the United Kingdom, and several educational institutions, including University College London and a number of other colleges and institutes of the University of London as well as its central headquarters, the New College of the Humanities, the University of Law, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the British Medical Association and many others. Bloomsbury is an intellectual and literary hub for London, as home of world-known Bloomsbury Publishing, publishers of the ''Harry Potter'' series, and namesake of the Bloomsbury Set, a group of British intellectuals which included author Virginia Woolf, biographer Lytton Strachey, and economist John Maynard Keynes. Bloomsbury began to be developed in the 17th century under the Earls of Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Teeth Of The Evidence
''In the Teeth of the Evidence'' is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers first published by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Victor Gollancz in 1939 in literature, 1939. The book's title is taken from the first story in the collection. Contents *Lord Peter Wimsey stories: **''"In the Teeth of the Evidence"''A dentist is poisoned and dies in a car fire, supposedly by suicide or accident, but Wimsey suspects murder and identity fraud. **''"Absolutely Elsewhere"''Wealthy debt-collector Mr. Grimbold is murdered, but all the suspects have alibis related to a series of phone calls, which Wimsey and Parker must unravel. *Montague Egg stories: **''"A Shot at Goal"''Mr. Egg is drawn into a murder mystery revolving around a heated soccer, football controversy. **''"Dirt Cheap"''A fellow traveling salesman is murdered for his jewelry case, and the evidence of Mr. Egg's clock helps to avenge him. **''"Bitter Almonds"''An old gentleman's death causes great embarrassment for Mr. Egg wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cournos
John Cournos, born Ivan Grigorievich Korshun () (6 March 1881 – 27 August 1966), was a writer and translator of Russian Jewish background who spent his later life in exile. Early life Cournos was born in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), and his first language was Yiddish; he studied Russian, German, and Hebrew with a tutor at home. When he was ten years old his family emigrated to Philadelphia, where he learned English. Literary career In June 1912, Cournos moved to London, where he freelanced as an interviewer and critic for both UK and US publications and began his literary career as a poet and, later, novelist. He later emigrated to the US, where he spent the rest of his life. He was one of the Imagist poets, but is better known for his novels, short stories, essays, and criticism, as well as a translator of Russian literature. He used the pseudonym ''John Courtney''. He also wrote for ''The Philadelphia Record'' under the pseudonym "Gorky." Later in life he marri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Master Of Arts (Oxbridge And Dublin)
In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts are promoted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts (MA) on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university (including years as an undergraduate). It is an academic rank indicating seniority, and not an additional postgraduate qualification, and within the universities there are in fact no postgraduate degrees which result in the postnominals 'MA'. No further examination or study is required for this promotion and it is equivalent to undergraduate degrees awarded by other universities. This practice differs from most other universities worldwide, at which the degree reflects further postgraduate study or achievement. These degrees are therefore sometimes referred to as the Oxford and Cambridge MA and the Dublin or Trinity MA, to draw attention to the difference. However, as with gaining a postgraduate degree from another university, once incepted and promoted to a Maste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-insertion
Self-insertion is a literary device in which the author writes themself into the story as a fictional character. Forms In art, the equivalent of self-insertion is the inserted self-portrait, where the artist includes a self-portrait in a painting of a narrative subject. This has been a common artistic device since at least the European Renaissance. This literary device should not be confused with a first-person narrator, an author surrogate, or a character somewhat based on the author, whether the author included it intentionally or not. Many characters have been described as ''unintentional'' self-insertions, implying that their author is unconsciously using them as an author surrogate. "X-insert" or "reader-insert" fiction has the reader appear as a character in the story; their name is substituted with "you" or "y/n" ("your name"). Examples * ''The Razor's Edge'' by Somerset Maugham. * ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' by Kurt Vonnegut * ''Breakfast of Champions'' by Kurt Vonnegut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Presumption Of Death
''A Presumption of Death'' is a 2002 Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane mystery novel by Jill Paton Walsh, based loosely on ''The Wimsey Papers'' by Dorothy L. Sayers. The novel is Walsh's first original Lord Peter Wimsey novel, following ''Thrones, Dominations'', which Sayers left as an unfinished manuscript, and was completed by Walsh. ''A Presumption of Death'' is written by Walsh, except for excerpts from ''The Wimsey Papers''. Plot Harriet (Lady Peter Wimsey) has evacuated her family to the Wimseys' country house, Talboys in Hertfordshire, taking her two children, along with the three children of her sister-in-law, Lady Mary, and Peter's venerable old housekeeper, Mrs Trapp. Peter and Bunter are away on an undercover assignment. During an ARP drill, a young woman is murdered in the village, and Superintendent Kirk (who last appeared in ''Busman's Honeymoon'') recruits Harriet to help solve the murder, as the police are short-staffed due to the war and Harriet, as a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epistolary Novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered to include novels composed of documents even if they don't include letters at all. More recently, epistolaries may include electronic documents such as recordings and radio, blog posts, and e-mails. The word ''epistolary'' is derived from Latin from the Greek word ἐπιστολή ''epistolē'', meaning a letter (see epistle). In German, this type of novel is known as a Briefroman. The epistolary form can add greater realism to a story, because it mimics the workings of real life. It is thus able to demonstrate differing points of view without recourse to the device of an omniscient narrator. An important strategic device in the epistolary novel for creating the impression of authenticity of the letters is the fictional editor. Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated novel ''Knowledge of Angels'' and for the Peter Wimsey–Harriet Vane mysteries that Continuation novel, continued the work of Dorothy L. Sayers. Personal life Gillian Honorine Mary Bliss was born on 29 April 1937 to John Bliss, an engineer for the BBC who at his death had 363 patents to his name, and Patricia Paula DuBern, a homemaker. She went with her mother and siblings to live with grandparents in St. Ives, Cornwall, when she was three years old because of the World War II bombings. In 1944, after the grandmother had died, Bliss returned to London to live with her mother and her younger siblings, who had returned to London earlier. Bliss was educated at St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley, London. She attended St. Anne's College, Oxf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it forms part of the East of England region. Hertfordshire covers . It derives its name – via the name of the county town of Hertford – from a hart (stag) and a ford, as represented on the county's coat of arms and on the flag. Hertfordshire County Council is based in Hertford, once the main market town and the current county town. The largest settlement is Watford. Since 1903 Letchworth has served as the prototype garden city; Stevenage became the first town to expand under post-war Britain's New Towns Act of 1946. In 2013 Hertfordshire had a population of about 1,140,700, with Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St Albans (the county's only ''city'') each having between 50,000 and 100,000 r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrones, Dominations
''Thrones, Dominations'' is a Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane murder mystery novel that Dorothy L. Sayers began writing but abandoned, and which remained at her death as fragments and notes. It was completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published in 1998. The title is a quotation from John Milton's ''Paradise Lost'' and refers to two categories of angel in the Christian angelic hierarchy. Background Sayers had charted the developing relationship between Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane over four published novels, culminating in ''Busman's Honeymoon'', the action of which takes place immediately following the couple's wedding. The characters appeared thereafter only in a few short stories and other published pieces, revealing only glimpses of their married life. According to Sayers' friend and biographer Barbara Reynolds, Sayers had begun work in 1936 on ''Thrones, Dominations'', a murder mystery novel in which the Wimsey marriage was to be contrasted with those of two other coup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
