flirfir

iooksellet‘s sittee l“)—

‘i‘yednesdai In July ROSEMARY CONHCY will be signing enpies ol' lter hook THIS [11]) AN]? THIGH [)1]:ij .ri.\'l) ('UU/{b’UUK (Psi/“fish x’ ('wxjgtr“. Hit}. lg?» tst

7 lit!‘ 7.3llpnt

Refreshments will lie St‘H ed

77) (IU/Y/t i}! .‘i/i'e‘t’l. (i/ds‘gmuf Yet/epitome.- (if: Is‘gr )u' 2.31 0.30..)

Wm tit/NH] lint/Mitt Writ/(rt Wm FEW/W Alttl/{i’t’Y/it/l'

Hutton .‘F/t/HStt/n/trt‘s

EDINBUrioH BOOK ms. s

lZ—ZS August l‘ilt‘s")

Charlotte Square ()ardens

DIARY OF EVENTS N( )‘w x’\\ 3\ l l-:'\ l S l. l:

Over 200 Authors in l7 days. All-day cabaret in the famous lieek's fs‘piegeltent, two theatres, the Post Office Children's Fair & thousands ofbooks. All this and fresh air too!

BOX OFFICE OPEN NOW

lidinhurgh Bookshop s < it-«irge Street lttam (3pm

."\lort~l"i‘t; lttant ss‘ttiwzt \tt thiftl. lw' phone with

:\eeess x it \itsa

For more information or a progranlme please write to Box R, Edinburgh Book Festival, 25a S.W. Thistle Street lane,

Edinburgh E112 IEW enclosing two letter stamps. or eail 031 22. 1915

50 lltel 1st 11 :dltllf l‘tstt

BACK LIST

witlt exeellent reappraisals ot()rwell and lom l’aine. attd iii ltis toreign eorrespondettee. iit w'hieh tlte liastern Bloe. (‘entral Ameriea and tlte \liddle liast t'eeei\'e eool. settsitis‘e iudgentents altout wltere

tlte real tragedy lies. lllleltetts ettds tip erow‘ing delightedls' at tinding out tltat he's .lew islt alter all. gis'ing ntuelt power to the elbow ol ltis estaltltslted aitti-/.iottisnt. (.lolttt Slepokural

SPLITTING PERCEPTION

The Widowearolsn Slaughter (\Villiam lleinemanntl1.95) ('leverls eral'ted arid struetured. Slaugltter's ninth nox‘el minutel} es‘plores the layers ot one woman's pet'sottalit_\. liella. widow ot' the title. graduall_\ lteeomes itt\'ol\ ed w ith ultietuitous hero .loseph l'itting hint itt around lour ghastl_\ ehildren attd an tnplausihle eareer as a lteart surgeon. Slte is a manipulatix e. \‘ital eharaeter who. despite two m_\steriottsl_\ dead ltusltands. eonttnands some s_\ inpaths; .loseph. eoineidentallt a ps_\'eliiatrist to the eritninall_\ insane. realises by page 94 that Bella pl;t_\'s host to a seeond persona. linter Relteeea. earth ntotlter aitd rustie heautt to liellas workaltolie man-eater. ()ur hero. as heroes are wont to do. unras'els then talls in line w itlt liotlt wonten and her kids. and thus preeipitates disaster. Slaughter makes points aliout the dualistie nature ol a woman‘s sell-pereeption. witltout going a s;itisl;tetot‘_\' answer to the prolilent ol tltllt \‘ersus sell. l)tl lltll expeet expansion ol tttittd or tltetttes. 'l‘he ending. predietaltle arid disappointing il elintaetie. seems delilteratel_\ non—lentinist iit tntplieation: dead hushands are soon lotgotten. tltattk ( iod. t.-\nna l5engel

PREDICTABLE RADICALISM

Time and Time Again BM. (tilt

( l lodder a Stoughtott L'llJUS) l’atrieia l ligltsntitlt attd Ruth Rendell ltaVe stteeesslttlly t‘emoVetl most ol the ltland lurnishings assoeiated with arntehairthrillers. esei trting the genre into murkier. less orderly terrains. or else eiting art instanee ol ex'ers'day lite onl_\ to implant Verysinistereonnotations. li..‘\l. (itll writes iii the wake ol this spies erime retorntation. lime aitd lime Again. her seventh intrigue. seleets a semi-stir era/.y young (NI)

supporter. Maeve liarelay. emerging t

trottt art lS—montlt stretelt tor assault w ith a stone. (ml) to diseoVet‘ her marriage is unhelptull} stale attd that new pals lrom the pen plunge her intodangerous. oltligating situations. (’ue l'or ltlood-soaked hate—mail. shopltl’ting. eltild ahuse arid possiltly murder,

'l'he eentral image is prmided hy the traumatised 4 _\'ear old sort ot liarelay’s ex-eelltnate. whose hysterieal phohta l'or huttertlies is stressed on the iaeket where the left w tng ot one speeimen has heen torn tront the ltod} . leasing a nast erimson smear. llte queasy promise

1:15.: L-. '-;'=

‘~.,'\l»‘$:«‘_-§.-.‘ ,-.. .; .

.ng,;:‘s.\:tzr':t' -. . this evokes is ttot matelted hy the rather eomt'ortaltle. insular eltiller—prose w ltielt narrates some supertieiall_\ hattling ex ents tront tlte poiitt ol \iew ol art all'luent. middle—elasswontart sull’ering temporar} alieitattott l'ront her peer group. 'l'hus eix il disoltedienee titillates itselt' with pettt erime. and the reader is eaught ltetween tlteitt like a tl_\ on a window -pane. .\ surltan drattta w itlt little iii the was ol page—turnirtg guesswork. ((‘ltris l.lo_\dt

JUST PUBLISHED .

ITheSilverBought \lxttatt .\le\etllt( .tttotteaie. Pi lttsl.

and lust ol lt‘lll \olanteso! tlte tolklotetlasste. ttt.t:'tt tit [little \\.t\s tltanone

IScotlandThroughthe Ages \ttetrtt-l .lettnet \le'tttt.itd lit to?» //.'t \twfs \Iuen.‘ rev itkedt’ IThe French Revolution llti‘llt.‘.\ (.tll\le'l )\toti‘ll l’. loptetl

IThe Changeling ls’ol‘tit lettkttts it anon. .tZ.-,‘ 1‘ I Irish Wineltiek \thtntet tl’ieadot £3.5tl) ;\ltttlslltgl§ dialogued tale ol attlt—ltet‘itSeatttttsliotle.\olatlle

.‘ltl"\l

reieetedartist. attd ltispe~st»e‘ortti‘ol triend(ienezallstartingwitha tailed suieide. Dreamingol l)ead l’eople Rosalind liellten ( Serpents lail. Ut.‘l5)()uietl_\ told and pow erlul aeeount lw a reluetant spinstet'. detailingherlmelessltle. I The Goose Girl of Eriska .-\nna titan t Rieltard l)rew . till") Sltort. e\'oe;ttt\estorieslrontall .tirtsol Seotland‘. lrottt tlte lone|_\ gttitse—lelttlei‘et'\\ltittt\etlteittsIlte little l’eoples songs to tlte ltist e\ er eaddie. lottnd on liruntstieldl inks. IVariationsintheNighttmtti listtield t liantant. LEW”) .\d|eeti\al tto\el ol a predietaltle relationship wltete some eoittntitntent lteeontes

despite tlte ltest ol llllellllitll‘

ine\italtle. I I'm Dying Laughing Christina Stead tl’engtttn. L5H") Set tn tlte

Kle( Itt‘tlt} era. the last. intensl_\inartated stort ol l'.tttll\ and Stephen. soeialists~;tt~lte.ttt who lt\e li\ es ol 'nttsgutded idealism attd wasted talent‘. Not to mention

I The Rattlesnake Stradivarius let‘esa ls’enttedt l:\l‘;lells t-tht \\ tttt and el'leeti\ e saga. stat ting last eeitturt .

ol a eolourlul lanttlt w hose lt\ es are strung together as muelt lw an immorally—aettuired \ tolnt as lw

ltltttttl ties.

I MOSCOW 2042 \ladtnttt \'«tttto\ telt (l’ieador UV”) .'\ltet a drunken ltttrtle sixty _\ears through tutte.

Vitals ls;tt‘tse\ returns to the

\litsettw lte lett as it tltssltleltl \\ ritet. diseo\ ering himsell to lte an aeeepted. legendary ligure. Sharp. well—maintainedsaute.

IThe Passionate ShepherdesszAphra Behn1640—89 \laureen l)ulil_\ (Methuen £7.99) Skillul ltiographs' ot one ol' history‘s most interesting women. the tirst prolesstonal tentale writer. w ho was seen as 'a dtsgtaee even to the lieentious .tge iit w ltielt slte li\ed‘. J