Welcome to my world of books. This is a place where I share my thoughts on literature, culture and publish short reviews.
My name is Joan Smith and I am an editor at L2 Times. You can read more about me here.
Cozy Afternoon
If Winter Comes
O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?
– Shelley
A. S. M Hutchinson was editor of the London illustrated newspaper, The Daily Graphic. He wrote romance and family novels as well as short stories for publications such The Sphere Magazine. His best-selling novel, If Winter Comes, was in many aspects ahead of its time, dealing with an unhappy marriage, eventual divorce, and an unwed mother who commits suicide. According to the New York Times, If Winter Comes was the best-selling book in the United States for all of 1922. The following year, Fox Film Corporation made it into a motion picture of the same name directed by Harry F. Millarde.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “A. S. M. Hutchinson”, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
My Alma Mater
My passion for reading has led me towards literature studies. I remember, as if it was yesterday, climbing the long university hall stairs for the first time. Handbag, heavy with books in my hand and a sense of excitement, that a new adventure is about to begin.
Libre University turned out to be a fabulous establishment, with quality resources, kind and attentive professors and tremendous facilities. The time spent here was a great investment in my future. Shortly after graduating, following the recommendation of one of the professors, I have decided to apply for the position of Editor at the L2 Times.
I can’t recommend this university highly enough.
Trip to the Library
My Favorite Reading Spot
The Libre Cafe was established in 2014 by John Libreton, a retired librarian. What first was a small venue, quickly became a popular meeting spot for local artists, writers and other creatives. In addition to the rich and smooth, barista brewed coffee and comfy chairs, the diverse “take-a-book, return-a-book” collection is the ultimate selling point for me. I can honestly recommend this place to any literature enthusiast.
Cleaning Antique Books
8 Books That Defined a Generation – Part 1
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White is Wilkie Collins’ fifth published novel, written in 1859. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of “sensation novels”.
The story is sometimes considered an early example of detective fiction with protagonist Walter Hartright employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narrators (including nearly all the principal characters) draws on Collins’s legal training, and as he points out in his preamble: “the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness”. In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer listed The Woman in White number 23 in “the top 100 greatest novels of all time”, and the novel was listed at number 77 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read.
The novel was extremely successful commercially, but contemporary critics were generally hostile. Modern critics and readers regard it as Collins’ best novel: a view with which Collins concurred, as it is the only one of his novels named in his chosen epitaph: “Author of The Woman in White and other works of fiction”.
Continue reading “8 Books That Defined a Generation – Part 1”
