I've recently reviewed a couple of excellent books for Shiny New Books and thought you might like to have the links in case you haven't been over to visit the new-look Shiny. I absolutely loved Carol Dyhouse's lively and informative Heartthrobs. Subtitled 'A History of Women and Desire', the book explores literature, film and popular romance to show the changes in women's attitudes to men. From Byron and Jane Austen, through Rudolf Valentino and Elvis Presley to Mills and Boon and 21st century boy-bands, this is a terrific whizz through popular culture and tells us a huge amount about women in a changing society. Read the full review here.
Then we have a fantastic psychological thriller, The Girl Before. As far as I know the identity of the writer, apparently a successful and experienced author already, has not been revealed, but whoever s/he may be they have put together a really enthralling page-turner of a novel. Briefly, a girl moves into a stunning, minimalist, architect designed house and discovers some unsettling things about the girl who lived there before and who died in suspicious circumstances. Could the handsome, controlling architect, with whom both girls became involved, have anything to do with it? Brilliant. Read the full review here.
