The Literate Kitty

When you hear the word “honeymoon”, chances are, you picture a happy couple walking into a posh hotel suite (complete with artfully-folded towel swans surrounded by a heart made of rose petals, laid out on the bed). Holding hands as they stroll along a sandy beach, pausing for long kisses as the sun sets in glorious technicolor behind them. Clinking glasses of bubbly together while lounging in a hot tub, all heart-eyes between them.  [Basically, what every wedding and travel brochure catering to the newly-hitched advertises in beautifully-printed, vivid colors.] So, there’s a honeymoon in Simone St. James’ latest novel, too… but darlin’, this ain’t remotely that kind of honeymoon. In fact, you might say that the after-ceremony vacay in Murder Road would more aptly be called a “ bloodymoon ”…  _______________ It’s 1995, and Eddie and April—the brand-spanking-new Mr. and Mrs. Carter—are cruising along a deserted Michigan road (bizarrely named Atticus Line) late at night, ...

I just died a hundred little deaths, watching Netflix’s take on Jane Austen’s final published work, Persuasion . [And, green eyes looking directly at the camera, “I was not the better for it”.]   A s her last completed story,  Persuasion  has always held a special place in my heart, for it is Austen’s most mature, most serious in tone, and most deeply felt… not only for Ms. Austen, who knew of love and loss, but for discerning readers, everywhere.  [If you wanted to go out on a high, you’d make  Persuasion  your last book.] [It should be noted that I'm fine with whatever “favorite” Austen tome anyone prefers, for that is not the point, here; the point, if you will, is that her stories—though set in a very specific period (the early 1800s)—have always translated easily , to other generations, other centuries… without the use of special plot devices that change the very tone of her witty, incisive writing.] Yet, what Netflix gives us today is a mind-n...