Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Jane Austen Writers’ Club
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Southampton, Hampshire, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/english/about/staff/rs7.page * http://greenacrewriters.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-conversation-with-rebecca-smith.html * http://www.bloomsbury.com/author/rebecca-smith *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Studied history at the University of Southampton.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Jane Austen’s House Museum, Chawton, Hampshire, England, writer in residence, 2009-10; University of Southampton, Southampton, England, teaching fellow in creative writing and instructor in English.
MEMBER:Society of Authors; National Association of Writers in Education.
AWARDS:Southern Arts Award, Arts Council England, 2001, 2007; J. B. Priestley Award, Royal Literary Fund, 2003; short-listed for the Kelpies Prize, 2012, for Shadow Eyes.
WRITINGS
Also the author of the children’s novel, Shadow Eyes.
SIDELIGHTS
British writer and teacher Rebecca Smith, who is Jane Austen’s great-niece (times five), is the author of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World’s Best-Loved Novelist, which uses tips and tricks from Jane Austen’s works to teach young and new writers. Smith was the writer in residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire, England from 2009 to 2010 and is still affiliated with the museum, where she runs writing workshops and judging competitions for young writers. She also teaches creative writing and English at the University of Southampton in Southampton, England.
Smith has published three books for adults: The Bluebird Café and Happy Birthday and All That, both of which are set in Southampton, and A Bit of Earth, which uses the botanical garden of a redbrick university as its narrative backdrop. She has also written a children’s novel about big cats in Scotland, titled Shadow Eyes, which was short-listed for the 2012 Kelpies Prize. Smith is a multiple Southern Arts Award winner and received the Royal Literary Fund’s J.B. Priestley Award in 2003.
In The Jane Austen Writers’ Club, Smith explores aspects of writing fiction, such as plot, character development, dialogue, and setting, through the lens of advice Austen gave in letters to her own nieces and nephew to help them with their writing. Believing that Austen’s advice is still valuable today, Smith presents some of Austen’s writing tips, such as showing your character doing the thing he or she loves the most. This technique gives the reader an understanding of what kind of person that character is. Another bit of advice that Smith offers is that to be a writer, ones need to be a reader. Smith even encourages her readers to try their hand at writing a short story inspired by Austen’s “The Beautiful Cassandra.” In an interview on the Greenacre Writers blog, Smith commented: “I hope would-be novelists will find The Jane Austen Writers’ Club useful. I’ve tried to put everything I’ve learnt from Jane Austen and from my own experience of writing into that.”
A Kirkus Reviews correspondent remarked that “Smith’s research, literary perspicacity, and the use of excerpts make the book a unique tutorial and delicious read,” even though much of her advice is “standard fare” for creative writing instruction. Calling the book “illuminating and entertaining,” a writer for Fantastic Fiction added: “This is an essential companion, guaranteed to satisfy, inform and delight all.” Minneapolis Star Tribune reviewer Maureen McCarthy deemed The Jane Austen Writers Club a “fun read for aspiring writers” and Austen fans, and also suggested that the book “stirs the urge to revisit those rich, romantic stories and leaves writers and readers alike with Austen’s sage advice.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 1, 2016, Kristine Huntley, review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World’s Best-Loved Novelist, p. 31.
Library Journal, June 15, 2016, Maggie Knapp, review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club, p. 84.
Publishers Weekly, July 25, 2016, review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club, p. 65.
ONLINE
Bloomsbury Publishing, http://www.bloomsbury.com/ (June 1, 2017), short profile.
Fantastic Fiction, https://www.fantasticfiction.com (2016), review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club.
Greenacres Writers Blog, http://greenacrewriters.blogspot.com (November 5, 2016), “A Conversation with Rebecca Smith.”
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (June 30, 2016), review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club.
Star Tribune Online (Minneapolis, MN), http://www.startribune.com (December 26, 2016), Maureen McCarthy, review of The Jane Austen Writers’ Club.
University of Southampton Web site, http://www.southampton.ac.uk (June 1, 2017), faculty profile.
A Conversation with Rebecca Smith
Rebecca Smith teaches creative writing at the University of Southampton, and is the author of three novels: The Bluebird Café, Happy Birthday and All That and A Bit of Earth as well as a work of nonfiction, Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas. Her first novel for children, Shadow Eyes, was shortlisted for the 2012 Kelpies Prize. From 2009–2010 she was the Writer in Residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton. She lives in Southampton.
In her latest work of nonfiction, The Jane Austen Writers Club, Rebecca examines the major aspects of writing fiction - plotting, characterization, openings and endings, dialogue, settings, and writing methods--sharing the advice Austen gave in letters to her aspiring novelist nieces and nephew, and providing many and varied exercises for writers to try, using examples from Austen's work.
Pretty much anything anyone needs to know about writing can be learned from Jane Austen. While creative writing manuals tend to use examples from twentieth- and twenty-first-century writers, The Jane Austen Writers' Club is the first to look at the methods and devices used by the world's most beloved novelist. Austen was a creator of immortal characters and a pioneer in her use of language and point of view; her advice continues to be relevant two centuries after her death.
Bursting with useful exercises, beautiful illustrations and enlightening quotations from the classic author’s novels and letters – and written by none other than Austen’s five-times-great-niece – this book will teach you her methods, tips and tricks, from techniques of plotting and characterisation through to dialogue and suspense.
“This book channels Jane Austen so convincingly I wasn't at all surprised to learn that Rebecca Smith is her five-time great niece. Smith doesn't just use Austen's writing to illustrate important points in creating fiction, but offers letters where Jane advised aspiring writers on their craft. She even has a few saucy tricks up her sleeve that are surprisingly modern--such as torturing your darlings.” – Book Trib
Jane Austen is one of the most beloved writers in the English literary canon. Her novels changed the landscape of fiction forever, and her writing remains as fresh, entertaining and witty as the day her books were first published. We'd like to thank Rebecca for taking part in A Conversation with...
Tell us of your journey as a writer
I started writing when I was a teenager. My mother, Shena Mackay, is a writer so I grew up thinking that being a writer was very normal. When I was a student I started what would have been a truly dreadful novel. The title was from Candide… I’m so impressed by the things my undergraduate students write – a thousand times better than anything I was doing when I was their age. The first novel I finished was The Bluebird Café. I started it just after I’d finished university but it took me ages to complete as I didn’t focus on it properly until I was on maternity leave with my first child, Harry. I worked in short bursts when he was asleep; somehow having less time made me work much more efficiently.
I didn’t do an MA in Creative Writing as they hardly existed when I was starting out. I would love to have done one. If I had I would probably have completed The Bluebird Café much sooner. What I did do was read - that is the most important education for a writer. Bloomsbury bought The Bluebird Café and commissioned my next two novels (Happy Birthday and All That and A Bit of Earth). I was very lucky. I work best to deadlines. Since then I’ve written a novel for children, Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas and The Jane Austen Writers’ Club and have just about finished another novel, but hardly anyone has seen it yet.
How do you see your role as a writer and what do you like most about it?
I can’t say I’ve ever really thought about “my role as a writer”. Writers write. I like telling stories, inventing characters and trying to capture places at particular times. I like thinking about the shape and structure of what I’m working on. With my non-fiction I aim for clarity and I hope to entertain. In my Jane Austen books I’ve wanted to communicate my love for her work and to share what I’ve learnt from her novels, letters and spending so many happy hours at Jane Austen’s House Museum. The Jane Austen Writers’ Club grew from the workshops I’ve run at the Museum.
I’m very lucky to be a writer. I love the days when I’m at home and writing, that’s the most enjoyable thing, The earliest stages of a book are the most exciting, but I like the editing and polishing stages too. You have to be tireless and meticulous if you want to get things right, obsessive really. Writers aren’t the easiest people to live with.
Have you ever created a character who you dislike but find yourself empathising with?
In Happy Birthday and All That, husband and wife, Frank and Posy Parouselli are both a bit dreadful but I wanted readers to sympathise with them equally. The novel’s ending comes down more on Posy’s side, but actually I feel sorrier for Frank.
What has been your experience of writing about diverse characters?
I had an Indian grandmother who, very sadly, died when my father was little. In the novel I’m just finishing I’ve tried to imagine what it was like for a woman like her, having children with a white tea planter in India in the 1930s and 40s. The novel isn’t about her or my family, but I have been inspired by some letters and photos. That novel spans 100 years and I have a diverse range of characters.
My first three novels are set in contemporary Southampton. I came to Southampton as a student in the 80s and have got to know the city well. I would never try to write about a character whose voice and point of view I didn’t think I could capture effectively. I do enjoy creating characters of varying ages and backgrounds.
If you could be transported instantly, anywhere in the world, where would you most like to spend your time writing? And why?
I’m really lucky to have been the Writer in Residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire so have already spent time writing in one of the loveliest places imaginable.
I would choose to go to Klovharu, the tiny Finnish island where Tove Jansson lived and worked. (See http://tovejansson.com/eng/saari.htmlI ) I would love to visit there. I don’t think anybody not related to her would or should be allowed to stay in her house, so perhaps I could have a temporary hut next to it. I adore her writing, not just the Moomins, but her fiction for adults, and her drawings and paintings. I feel very drawn to the north and would also like to visit other parts of Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska, anywhere within the Arctic Circle…
What is the one book you wish you had written?
There are too many to pick just one. Emma by Jane Austen, Howards End by E M Forster, Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book and A Winter Book, Lorrie Moore’s short stories and novels, all of Carson McCuller’s work, Anne Tyler’s novels, particularly Saint Maybe, Dinner at The Homesick Restaurant, Searching for Caleb, A Patchwork Planet and Morgan’s Passing…Dogger by Shirley Hughes and The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr are perfection.
What advice do you have for would be novelists?
Read. That is what Jane Austen would say too. I hope would be novelists will find The Jane Austen Writers’ Club useful. I’ve tried to put everything I’ve learnt from Jane Austen and from my own experience of writing into that.
What are you currently working on? What can we look forward to reading?
I’ve pretty much finished a novel. My one after that is going to be set in a seaside town. I’m going back to using a contemporary setting – much easier.
Who is your favourite literary character from childhood and why?
Garnet Linden of Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright which was first published in 1938.
“Garnet was halfway between nine and ten. She had long legs and long arms, two taffy-coloured pigtails, a freckled nose that turned up, and eyes that were almost green and almost brown. She wore a pair of blue overalls cut off above the knee. She could whistle between her teeth like a boy and was doing it now, very softly, without thinking.”
Garnet finds a silver thimble when she’s swimming in a creek and a strange and wonderful summer ensues. This novel for 7 to 12 year olds is perfect in every way – characters, setting, plot, structure. I realised after I’d finished my first two novels that it had been a huge influence on me and my writing. I adored it when I was a child. Elizabeth Enright also wrote The Saturdays which is the perfect book to read if you are ill in bed, particularly if you are under 13.
The Jane Austen Writers Club is published by Bloomsbury.
Ms Rebecca Smith
Teaching Fellow
Ms Rebecca Smith's photo
Related links
Ms Rebecca Smith is a Teaching Fellow in English at the University of Southampton.
My first three novels are published by Bloomsbury. The Bluebird Cafe (2001) and Happy Birthday and All That (2003) are set in Southampton, whilst A Bit of Earth (2006) takes the botanical garden of a redbrick university as a backdrop. My first novel for children, Shadow Eyes, is a story of big cats wild in Scotland. It was shortlisted for The 2012 Kelpies Prize.
From autumn 2009 until summer 2010, I was the Writer in Residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire. I continue to work closely with the Museum. My first work of non-fiction, Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas, is published by Ivy Press in the UK and Tarcher Penguin in North America.
I studied History at The University of Southampton. I now teach the undergraduate modules, in creative writing, and the MA module, Writing for Children and Young People. I am also supervising several creative writing PhD projects.
In 2001 I was given a Southern Arts Award to support the writing of my second novel. I won The Royal Literary Fund's J B Priestley Award of £10,000 in 2003. In 2007 I was awarded another Arts Council England grant, this time to support the writing of my fourth novel.
I am a member of The Society of Authors and The National Association of Writers in Education.
Rebecca Smith's most recent book is The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist. She is also the author of three novels: The Bluebird Café, Happy Birthday and All That and A Bit of Earth (all Bloomsbury) and Jane Austen's Guide to Modern Life's Dilemmas, which has been published around the world. Her first novel for children, Shadow Eyes, was shortlisted for the 2012 Kelpies Prize. From 2009-2010 she was the Writer in Residence at Jane Austen's House Museum in Chawton. She lives in Hampshire and teaches creative writing at the University of Southampton.
Writes: Writing
Author of : The Jane Austen Writers' Club
- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/author/rebecca-smith#sthash.iqVjVlDx.dpuf
4/12/17, 11(20 PM
Print Marked Items
The Jane Austen Writers Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist
Kristine Huntley
Booklist.
113.1 (Sept. 1, 2016): p31. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Jane Austen Writers Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist. By Rebecca Smith. Sept. 2016.352p. illus. Bloomsbury, $26 (97816328658851.808.
Smith, a descendant of Jane Austen, mines her revered ancestor's novels to reveal their brilliance and show other writers how they can learn from Austens example. Smith starts with how to plan your novel by sharing advice taken from one of Austens letters about what not to do, including having heroes and heroines who are beyond reproach, villains who are simply evil through and through, and an aimless and meandering plot. In her letters to young hopefuls, Austen also cautions against overwriting and encourages the use of humor. Next, Smith explores Austen's multifaceted characters: how she describes them, how they are tested through adversity, and even how their clothes reflect their inner conflicts. Smith goes on to explore Austen's use of place, her sharply witty dialogue, and her deft, careful plotting. Throughout the book, Smith offers exercises for writers to help jump-start their own creativity. Chock-full of passages from Austen's novels, this is a great guide not just for aspiring writers, but also for all Austen lovers who want to delve deeper into her layered novels.--Kristine Huntley
YA/S: Aspiring teen writers, especially those enamored of Austen's novels, will appreciate this helpful guide. KH. Huntley, Kristine
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Huntley, Kristine. "The Jane Austen Writers Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist."
Booklist, 1 Sept. 2016, p. 31. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463755029&it=r&asid=8a647a3e38ea13428c0bb5476dcc7f52. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463755029
about:blank Page 1 of 3
4/12/17, 11(20 PM
The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist
Publishers Weekly.
263.30 (July 25, 2016): p65. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist Rebecca Smith. Bloomsbury, $26 (352) ISBN 978-1-63286-588-5
Who better to provide good writing advice than Jane Austen herself? Smith (Jane Austen's Guide to Modern Life Dilemmas), Austen's great-great-great-great-grandniece, deploys the master author's novels, letters, juvenilia, and even a late poem as lessons in the creative process. Various sections focus on point of view, irony, characterization, central images, dialogue, travel, building suspense, "the writer as sadist" (to her characters), and more. Smith quotes extensively from Austen to illustrate her points. For Austen lovers, the book will be a treat, a chance to luxuriate in some of her best prose. Moreover, the chosen passages aptly support Smith's points about writing, which she supplements with a solid set of exercises. Smith understands Austen as both a stylist and satirist, and she appreciates the challenges she faced as a "lady" writer, not dissimilar to modern authors who often have to shoehorn their creative work into distracted lives. If there's a quibble, it's that Smith uses very long passages from Austen at the expense of shorter but equally cogent snippets. All in all, however, this easy-to-follow book offers sensible advice and is a fine writer's guide. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist." Publishers Weekly,
25 July 2016, p. 65+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA460285548&it=r&asid=70aa2212f1d4dbf41d8a45cc2fd84d09. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A460285548
about:blank Page 2 of 3
4/12/17, 11(20 PM
Smith, Rebecca. The Jane Austen Writers' Club:
Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-
Loved Novelist
Maggie Knapp
Library Journal.
141.11 (June 15, 2016): p84. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Smith, Rebecca. The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist. Bloomsbury. Sept. 2016.352p. Illus. notes, bibliog. index. ISBN 9781632865885. $27; ebk. ISBN 9781632865908. COMM
Using excerpts from Jane Austen's letters and enduringly popular novels along with advice from her own creative writing classes, Smith (creative writing, Univ. of Southampton; fane Austen's Guide to Modern Dilemmas) guides readers on the study and practice of Austen-inspired techniques of plotting a novel, developing characters, and formulating dialog. Those familiar with Austen's fiction will find Smith's ample examples by other authors all the more pleasurable. Modern works are occasionally mentioned (usually only by title) to demonstrate further specific literary methods. About half of the book comprises passages from Austen's works, while the other half supplies explanation, commentary, and exercises from Smith. The suggestions are solid and thoughtful, though probably not news to most serious writers: build a believable world (whether in Devonshire or on Mars), allow readers to discover the characters, dialog should ring true, a healthy dose of wit never hurts. Above all, the author advises to edit, edit, edit. VERDICT This guide steers away from lists of how-tos, filling a niche for readers and writers who are as interested in experiencing the journey to better writing as arriving at the destination.--Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sell., Fort Worth, TX
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Knapp, Maggie. "Smith, Rebecca. The Jane Austen Writers' Club: Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-
Loved Novelist." Library Journal, 15 June 2016, p. 84+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA455185435&it=r&asid=6197e4f79af59cd3abb430f57e58c3a7. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A455185435
about:blank Page 3 of 3
THE JANE AUSTEN WRITERS' CLUB
Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist
by Rebecca Smith
BUY NOW FROM
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
LOCAL BOOKSELLER
GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
Email Address
Enter email
Subscribe
Email this review
KIRKUS REVIEW
Jane Austen’s “five-times-great-niece” draws inspiration and instruction from her ancestor’s novels and letters in this valuable compendium of advice.
In a letter to her niece Caroline, an aspiring writer, Austen, a longtime member of the Chawton Book Society, stressed, “if she wanted to be a writer, she had to be a reader.” It’s common enough advice for writers, but it’s worth reiterating in an era when reading material is becoming increasingly truncated. Smith (Creative Writing/Univ. of Southampton; Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas, 2012, etc.), who had the “immense good fortune to be the writer-in-residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum,” knows the value of this directive firsthand. After reading and rereading Austen’s works, she led writing workshops based on what she learned. She structures this guide, which grew out of that effort, around the essential components of good storytelling: plot, character, sense of place, point of view, dialogue, and a number of devices—suspense, irony, and pacing, for example—writers can employ. Much of this material is standard fare for a book on writing, but Smith’s research, literary perspicacity, and the use of excerpts make the book a unique tutorial and delicious read. She uses passages to demonstrate elements of writing, such as the “sparkling” dialogue in the conversation when Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth promise she will never marry Mr. Darcy. A scene from Emma, when the protagonist tries “to engineer an opportunity for Mr. Elton to declare his love for Harriet Smith,” is a prime example of a subjective point of view. Those struggling with the writing life will find a sympathetic voice reaching out from more than two centuries ago. Among the gems is this basic advice written in inimitable Austen style: “It may be your head is full of joints of mutton (ugh!) and doses of rhubarb, but if you do have time to sit down and work, you can often still get things done.”
A worthy companion for writers and readers that entertains and enlightens.
Pub Date: Sept. 20th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63286-588-5
Page count: 352pp
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 30th, 2016
The Jane Austen Writers Club (2016)
Inspiration and Advice from the World's Best-Loved Novelist
A non fiction book by Rebecca Smith
Jane Austen is one of the most beloved writers in the English literary canon. Her novels changed the landscape of fiction forever, and her writing remains as fresh, entertaining and witty as the day her books were first published. Now, with this illuminating and entertaining new book, you can learn Jane Austen's methods, tips and tricks - and how to live well as a writer.
The Jane Austen Writers' Club explores the techniques of plotting and characterisation through to dialogue and suspense. Whether you're a creative-writing enthusiast looking to publish your first novel, a teacher searching for further inspiration for students or an Austen fan looking for insight into her daily rituals, this is an essential companion, guaranteed to satisfy, inform and delight all.
Review: 'The Jane Austen Writers' Club,' by Rebecca Smith
NONFICTION: Beloved novelist's "five-times-great-niece" mines stories for advice, revisits favorites.
By Maureen McCarthy Star Tribune DECEMBER 23, 2016 — 10:38AM
itemprop
STUART MACAW
Rebecca Smith Photo by Stuart Macaw
TEXT SIZE
0
EMAIL
PRINT
MORE
For those who admire the novels of Jane Austen and wonder, “How did she do that?” a new book aims to tell you — and help you do it, too.
It comes from Rebecca Smith, a novelist herself and a “five-times-great-niece” of Jane Austen. To her credit, Smith calls that “a nice thing to be but no claim to fame.” After being a writer in-residence at Jane Austen’s House Museum and conducting writing workshops there and elsewhere, Smith felt steeped enough in Austen’s work to put her expertise in book form.
The result is a fun read for aspiring writers and just plain Jane-ites. For writers, Smith parses Austen’s stories into specific challenges: understanding your characters, writing dialogue, slowing down time — plus exercises and tips such as, “When it looks like things can’t get any worse, they should.”
For fans, she leads a guided tour of some of our favorite passages, such as feisty Elizabeth Bennet’s showdown in the garden with the imperious Lady Catherine in “Pride and Prejudice.”
Smith stirs the urge to revisit those rich, romantic stories and leaves writers and readers alike with Austen’s sage advice: “Let us not desert one another.”
Maureen McCarthy is a Star Tribune metro editor.
The Jane Austen Writers' Club
By: Rebecca Smith.
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 336 pages, $27.