![]() ![]() Way ahead of her time, Wollstonecraft was convinced that gendered behaviour was learned through education and experience, rather than being something with which one was born. I shall first consider women in the grand light of human creatures, who, in common with men, are placed on this earth to unfold their faculties', and she railed against those male conduct book writers who instead considered 'females rather as women than human creatures ![]() One of Wollstonecraft's main objectives in publishing her Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 was that women should be viewed as human first and foremost rather than as a separate and irreconcilably different species to men. It's clear that debates concerning which characteristics are masculine and feminine rumble on even today and continue to chip away at the idea of equality. More than two hundred years ago, Wollstonecraft similarly asked why particular virtues should be regarded as specifically 'manly' and not - 'more properly speaking' - virtues that ennoble all humans. ![]()
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![]() Although she is known to have lived adulterously with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, accusations of murder and regicide remain unsubstantiated. She bore Edward four children, but was constantly humiliated by his relationships with male favourites. Isabella lived through a long period of Civil War. A pawn in the game of international politics, she was married at the age of twelve to Edward II of England.And, so began a public and private life more turbulent and eventful than any heroine - or anti-heroine - of fiction. Tragic, cruel, tormented: how did Isabella acquire such a reputation? Isabella was born in 1292, the daughter of Philip IV of France and sister to three future French kings. Christopher Marlowe's 'unnatural Queen, false Isabel' has also been described as 'a woman of evil character, a notorious schemer', and as the 'She-Wolf of France'. ![]() ![]() ![]() It's also said that her maniacal laughter can be heard on stormy nights at Castle Rising in Norfolk. Today, according to popular legend, Isabella's angry ghost can be glimpsed among the church ruins, clutching the beating heart of her murdered husband. Among the many crowned heads buried, there was Isabella of France, Edward II's queen - one of the most notorious femme fatales in history. ![]() Entirely paved with marble, this royal mausoleum, built in the 14th century, was set to rival Westminster Abbey. In Newgate Street, in the city of London, once stood the magnificent church of a Franciscan monastery. Print Isabella : She-Wolf of France, Queen of England ![]() ![]() He summons a fairy-"the gentleman with thistle-down hair" -who strikes a bargain with Mr Norrell to restore Emma: half of her life will be spent with the fairy. To ingratiate himself, Mr Norrell attempts to recall Sir Walter's fiancée, Emma Wintertowne, from the dead. He enters society with the help of two gentlemen about town, the superficial Christopher Drawlight and the shrewd Henry Lascelles, and meets a Cabinet Minister, Sir Walter Pole. Segundus's article generates considerable interest in Mr Norrell, who moves to London to revive practical English magic. John Childermass, Mr Norrell's servant, convinces a member of the group, John Segundus, to write about the event for the London newspapers. Norrell proves his skill as a magician by making the statues in York Cathedral speak. The group is stunned to learn of a "practical magician", Mr Gilbert Norrell, who owns a large collection of "books of magic", which he has spent years purchasing to keep them out of the hands of others. The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. ![]() ![]() | quote = He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to listen to him. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke ![]() ![]() ![]() The characters of Roadside Picnic are pretty sure there wasn’t one. No one knows the purpose of the alien’s visit. We only see the remnants of their visit, abandoned gadgets cast-off like so much trash. We don’t meet the aliens in Roadside Picnic nor know anything about them. Red’s a stalker, private citizens who illicitly enter “The Zone,” the area surrounding the location of an inexplicable alien visitation. ![]() Roadside Picnic tells the story of Redrick “Red” Schuhart. While the ennui of Roadside Picnic is more in keeping with Pink Floy’d “quiet desperation” than the diabolical malevolence of Azathoth and Nyarlthotep, that’s actually what makes it even more impactful and unsettling. Lovecraft‘s imagination into paroxysms, with his Great Old Ones acting as allegories of cosmic forces beyond our comprehension. The weight of whirling electrons, the endless expanses of the infinite void, was enough to send H. The reality of humanity’s insignificance lies at the heart of so much 20th Century science fiction. ![]() Suggesting that the heavens did not whirl around the Earth was enough to see Galileo imprisoned for the remainder of his lifetime. Humanity loves to center itself as the center of the universe. Nothing Matters: The Cosmic Indifference of Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky It’s also one of the finest works of Science Fiction of the 20th Century. Roadside Picnic is like a Russian novel’s magic realist take on H. ![]() ![]() ![]() Once Deuce begins to take on duties as an adult and see things beyond the confines of the enclave, she starts to question the rules set in place by the Elders. She's partnered with Fade, an outcast within the enclave who none of the others quite trusts, but who quickly proves himself valuable when it comes to fighting at least. She's trained all her life to be a Hunter, one of the fighters that protect the society from the ever-hungry Freaks, and is proud to join their ranks as Deuce. Like the others that came before her, when Girl15 grows old enough, she is assigned a name and given a place to contribute to the society she lives in. ![]() Then again, this is a story that makes some drastic changes near the halfway point, so it would be difficult to create a cover that would feel appropriate for the book as a whole. I can't quite decide whether the mood is one that fits the book or not. Certainly it's eye-catching, all shiny and embossed, and the cold and creepy feel of it evokes a mood. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the cover art. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() There’s lots about the countryside, Cornish history, wreckers and smugglers.įor more about the Jefferson Tayte series, crime novels with a genealogical twist, click here for Steve Robinson’s website. It’s an intriguing mixture of history, mystery, genealogy, set in Cornwall which is a beautiful backdrop. But who stands to gain from a mystery 200 years old, and which Cornish locals can JT trust?Īt times I wished there was a cast list at the front of the book as I got a little confused between the family connections, but as that is what JT was researching I guess it was inevitable. JT’s search, initially for documents, suddenly becomes dangerous when local woman Amy discovers a wooden box. The story weaves back and forth between the two, in fact I enjoyed reading the eighteenth century strand and would have liked more of the Fairbornes’ story. There are two parallel timelines, the ship voyage in 1783 and JT’s trip to England set in the present day. His assignment – to uncover the truth of what happened to a family who set sail from Boston to England in August 1783 – takes him across the Atlantic to Cornwall. I warmed to JT quickly, he’s not a typical hero and seems very real. FREE for Kindle: IN THE BLOOD by Steve Robinson, a gripping mystery novel about a family historian attempting to unlock a dark secret from the past. Steve Robinson is a new author for me and this is the first in his series of novels about American genealogist Jefferson Tayte. ![]() ![]() ![]() Overall, 621 (31%) of the 2022 patients allocated tocilizumab and 729 (35%) of the 2094 patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0♸5 95% CI 0♷6-0♹4 p=0♰028). The trial is registered with ISRCTN (50189673) and ( NCT04381936).īetween April 23, 2020, and Jan 24, 2021, 4116 adults of 21 550 patients enrolled into the RECOVERY trial were included in the assessment of tocilizumab, including 3385 (82%) patients receiving systemic corticosteroids. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. A second dose could be given 12-24 h later if the patient's condition had not improved. Those trial participants with hypoxia (oxygen saturation <92% on air or requiring oxygen therapy) and evidence of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein ≥75 mg/L) were eligible for random assignment in a 1:1 ratio to usual standard of care alone versus usual standard of care plus tocilizumab at a dose of 400 mg-800 mg (depending on weight) given intravenously. This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy ), is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of tocilizumab in adult patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 with both hypoxia and systemic inflammation. ![]() ![]() ![]() Robin DiAngelo coined the term 'White Fragility' in 2011 to describe this process and is here to show us how it serves to uphold the system of white supremacy. After, all, a racist is the worst thing a person can be, right? But these reactions only serve to silence people of colour, who cannot give honest feedback to 'liberal' white people lest they provoke a dangerous emotional reaction. These are the ways in which ordinary white people react when it is pointed out to them that they have done or said something that has - unintentionally - caused racial offence or hurt. ![]() A practical, crystallising guide for how white people can change the way they communicate and fight racismĪnger. ![]() ![]() "How the Camel Got His Hump"Ī camel refuses to work and only says “humph” in response to requests for work.so a Dijnn gives him a “humph” as punishment for laziness.Ī drawing leads to misunderstanding then friendship. ![]() ![]() "How the Whale Got His Throat"Ī whale eats a crafty man, who finds a way to escape and dam up the whale’s throat. How elephants got trunks, and how the Elephant’s Child learned to like his new feature. The Eldest Magician helps the Man with the flooding problem caused by Pau Amma, the monster crab. The story involves King Solomon, a butterfly and their wives and the question of keeping up appearences in front of one’s spouse.Ī story about the animals in the Wet Wild Woods and how the cat that walked helped domesticate all the wild animals. Tortoise and Painted Jaguar come across a new kind of creature in the woods and try to decide what it is with the help of Mother Jaguar. They give fantastical explanations for various phenomena. ![]() Just So Stories are considered some of Kipling's best works. ![]() ![]() ![]() Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.īurning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents-the fascinating but caustic Mr. ![]() Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. ![]() After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. The reimagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer that The New York Times Book Review calls “wonderfully entertaining” and USA Today describes as “sheer mayhem meets Victorian propriety”- nominated for the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Novel.Ī sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. ![]() |