Saturday, June 13, 2009

Desperate Romantics by Franny Moyle


subtitled : The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites
This has received rather mixed reviews but I enjoyed it and learnt things I didn't know. Some of her writing is a bit heavy and feels like an essay based on good research. I didn't see the tv programme (I don't have a tv) so can't comment on that. Several of the reviews on Amazon raise reasonable points about the lack of proof reading and some of the interpretations seem a little superficial, though to me, "The Pre-Raphaelites as interpreted by Mills & Boon" is going too far! Another comment is probably fairer, "Although I welcome and rejoice the current interest in the Pre-Raphaelites, unfortunately it brings to the fore work like this which is all very pretty, but relies on research which has been superceded. For more current thought, check out the marvellous 'Rossetti's Wombat'. " Still I rattled through the book and felt I knew more at the end than the beginning.

2 comments:

Grace said...

I'm dying to read this book, but can't find it anywhere in the good ol' US of A

Hermes said...

Hi Grace, in your lands it is called Earthly Paradise for some reason. Amazon.com says the paperback edition should be out in August. I enjoyed it.