Literature and Poetry
The Cambridgeshire Priest Returns in Grantchester, Season Two: Reverend Sidney Chambers and Inspector Geordie Keating Bring Justice and Spiritual Nourishment to Early 1950s England
Editor's Note: Now that the curtain is being drawn on the Downton Abbey saga we have to quickly turn to the resumption of Grantchester, Season Two, and the handsome priest, Sidney Chambers. We found ourselves disarmed by actor James Norton as Sidney and admit we were previously drawn to Robson Green, playing Inspector Geordie Keating. Green was seen in the series, Wire in the Blood, so the combination of the two actors makes Grantchester even more appealing. There is a dark note to the first episode, but a second season must, by all accounts, startle on some level. more »
Culture Watch Review By Joan L. Cannon: The Social Sex, A History of Female Friendship
This book reminds us how far we have come when there are more highly educated women everywhere than at any other time in history. Still unresolved is the question of friendships between women and men. The difficulty of engaging in this fashion is emphasized by the need repeatedly to declare to doubters that sex is not a component of such a relationship. more »
Beauty's Awakening Exhibit, the Museum's Shop, and the Knight Trueheart's Quest to Find and Awaken "the Spirit of All Things Beautiful"
The young and audacious artists who called themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood revolutionized the British art establishment of the nineteenth century with their medievalist aesthetic. This National Gallery of Canada exhibition illustrates how John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and their fellow Pre-Raphaelites strove to uproot the Royal Academy teachings. Don't overlook the shop! more »
CultureWatch Reviews by Nanda and Gregg Provide Gift Ideas: Crime and Culture, Three Extraordinary Murder Mysteries
Serena Nanda and Joan Greg review: Culture plays an essential role in the crimes committed in these three extraordinary murder mysteries in the lives of the victims and perpetrators, and in the interactions of the investigations. Each narrative situates its action in historical realities that extend from the past into the present. These novels are all available through the public libraries and Amazon.com. more »