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The BookViral Review:
A book comprising of the ‘Facebook Blog’ meanderings of Bridgette Campbell, Denham Hall is an amusingly wry observation of the upper class, seen through the eyes of an oestrogen-fuelled pubescent teen. A tale of English snobbery at its best, this collection of mini-stories makes for a refreshingly unique tongue-in-cheek read.
Denham Hall is a shockingly expensive private girl’s school, inhabited by Bridgette and her friends, who are swapped around in order of favouritism with alarming frequency, the constant being the brazen Tamzin, who ‘there is no messing around with’.
Set between the school and the castle which she calls home, Bridgette expertly elicits humour out of seemingly humdrum day-to-day activities, interspersed with a steady stream of schoolgirl fantasies.
In between discovering priceless artefacts of historical interest and identifying fraudulent art pieces, Bridgette and her friends’ touchingly innocent fixation on ’specimens of the opposite species’ (though vehemently denied!), makes for some hilariously accurate interactions and wicked putdowns.
Back at the castle Bridgette and her friends’ antics are perfectly foiled by a Mother worryingly obsessed with the after-life and a Father who spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the merits of Chivas Whiskey.
School life is no less nonsensical, complete with Mr Crisis, the alien science teacher, and crazy happenings such as Millicent Martin floating away to France on an inner tube during a day trip. Interspersed with hilariously wild gossip (for which Chloe Higgins is always blamed), the girls ghost fixated forays and adventures warrant more than a chuckle or two.
In classic radio comedy style, and complete with deliberate mistakes, Campbell reaches far into the teenage psyche, showing a surprisingly comprehensive understanding of a young mind’s thought patterns.
With a cleverly disjointed delivery; self-confessed ‘no real beginning, no middle and no end and no protagonist’, and interspersed with chapter titles that have absolutely nothing to do with the content, this is a bonkers book at its best, with Campbell nevertheless holding her tale together with structurally sound repetition and flashback.
Undeniably original and highly enjoyable if you are looking for a laugh and something very, very different, Denham Hall is the book for you!
Are we desensitising our young people with the graphic offerings of modern media? And going even further, do the conclusions of ‘Bandura and the Bobo doll’ still hold true in the modern era?
Punchy, fast-paced and well-written, with an air of authenticity, Watters clearly knows his stuff, embedding technically plausible detail whilst creating an authentic world in which to place his characters.
Courageously told, powerful and compelling It Won’t Hurt None speaks directly to those who find their lives sapped by past traumas.
As fantastical as science fiction seems, there is often something familiar about the incredible concepts dreamt up by its writers. In fact, not only familiar at times but eerily accurate about future advances. Is this some kind of scientific prophesy? Is there something sinister going on?
While the occult is a broad umbrella, hiding its many forms under its silky black folds, it’s concepts have endured through time, enjoying many a resurgence through the ages. The term ‘occultism’, is relatively new, not used in French or English literature, for instance, until the 19th Century, although the term ‘occult sciences’ was commonly used in the 16th Century to describe practices such as astrology, alchemy, mysticism, and natural magic.
You don’t have to be a romantic to believe in broken hearts and yet heartbreak is an intrinsic part of the romantic cycle.
The last year has demonstrated that people will not stop buying books. They offer pleasure, escape, entertainment, and at the very least distraction. But what is the future of self-publishing?
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