InterestingLiterature

E. Nesbit’s Wardrobe World: On ‘The Aunt and Amabel’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Which book for children is this? Written by one of the twentieth century’s most popular British authors of books for children, it features a young girl who is sent away from her parents to stay in a strange house. Finding herself in the large house’s spare room, the girl steps into a wardrobe, only to be transported into a magical fantasy world where everything is cloaked in white and silver. The book also features a lion, a lantern, and a White Witch.

A Summary and Analysis of ‘The Purple Pileus’ by H. G. Wells

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Purple Pileus’ is a short story by H. G. Wells (1866-1946), first published in Black and White at Christmas 1896. The story tells of a man who eats a purple fungus – the ‘purple pileus’ of the story’s title – and becomes intoxicated. This experience alters the whole course of his life.

The Curious Origins of the Word ‘Dollar’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The word ‘dollar’ is, of course, widely used, not only in the United States but also in various other countries. Indeed, there are more than twenty different currencies around the world known as the ‘dollar’, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, the Solomon Islands, and, most famously, the US.

A Summary and Analysis of ‘The Jilting of Jane’ by H. G. Wells

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Jilting of Jane’ is a short story by H. G. Wells (1866-1946). It’s included in his Complete Short Stories, although according to the Wells scholar J. R. Hammond, its publishing history is somewhat sketchy: he tells us it was ‘first published circa 1894’, although where it appeared has apparently been lost in the mists of time.

Who Was Really the First Female Writer on a British Banknote?

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

In my younger and bolder days as a university teacher, I was occasionally fond of beginning lectures and seminars with a new group of students by asking them a very straightforward question: who was the first female writer to appear on a British banknote? I’d then brandish an English ten-pound note as a potential prize for the first person who was able to provide me with the correct answer.