Saturday, 25 January 2014

Stella Gibbons



A very, very quick weekend miscellany (this week has been so hectic!) which is only one link, and one related thought - a friend forwarded me a link yesterday to the fact that two unpublished novels by Stella Gibbons have been discovered.

"How exciting!" thought I.  And then I remembered that two dozen of her novels have been published, and I've read three and a half of them.
Posted by StuckInABook at 00:00

12 comments:

  1. Furrowed Middlebrow25 January 2014 at 00:30

    I do hope they finally publish them, but it's so odd that they're being presented in the news as if they had just been discovered in the attic (or, more appropriately perhaps, in the woodshed...). Gibbons's biographer, Reggie Oliver (also her nephew), had summaries on his website, which inspired me to add them to my Hopeless Wish List last year. And if I knew about them, then it's very odd if the agent for Gibbons' work didn't, as one of the stories claims. Perhaps she should have me as her assistant! :-)

    Oliver's website seems to have been archived now at http://web.archive.org/web/20061022091606/http://www.catharton.com/stellagibbons/works.html, if you're interested in his summaries.

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    1. StuckInABook1 February 2014 at 21:18

      How intriguing that they're not news! Good PR work from the agent, maybe...

      Delete
  2. skiourophile25 January 2014 at 05:42

    Two dozen, really? Gawd. Now I feel overwhelmed and under-read! ;-)

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    1. StuckInABook1 February 2014 at 21:19

      Ha! So many of that period's writers seemed to get a book out every couple of years. Very demanding to their latterday fans...

      Delete
  3. Sue Gedge25 January 2014 at 13:14

    Stella Gibbons fan checking in here! I've read all of her novels apart from 'Ticky' and 'The Swiss Summer', plus I've read the Reggie Oliver biography. I'm a little concerned that these 2 unpublished books may be the ones that he mentions as having been written at the very end of her life and not really considered up to her usual standard at the time. I certainly noticed a 'falling away' in her last published book, 'The Snow Woman'.

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    1. StuckInABook1 February 2014 at 21:16

      I remember you putting in a good word for her at the Possibly Persephone evening - but hadn't realised quite how many of her books you'd read! I'll be reviewing Here Be Dragons before too long... and have to admit it's my least favourite so far.

      Delete
  4. Cosy Books25 January 2014 at 14:50

    Ha! Ditto, Simon. Well, in my case it's only one title on my shelf waiting to be read.

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  5. Anonymous25 January 2014 at 16:08

    My reaction was exactly the same Simon, except that I've only read two of her books! Intriguing, though...

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    1. StuckInABook1 February 2014 at 21:17

      Isn't it funny? I'll probably never read all 24, but I'm still excited about these extras.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous27 January 2014 at 09:25

    I've read a few of her less-known novels, like Ticky (just weird) and My American (formulaic romance) and concluded that CCF was her one great work. Is that wrong?

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    1. StuckInABook1 February 2014 at 21:17

      I would definitely agree based on the few I've read, but Westwood was very good, and half of Bassett was great.

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