Slightly Foxed No. 83: Benefit of Clergy

by Gail Pirkis (Editor)

Genres: Essays

96 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2024

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This issue was excellent! Jane Austen, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Mary Norton, Barbara Tuchman, Leon Garfield, etc.

I loved the final essay Counting my Chickens especially!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A top-notch edition of Slightly Foxed for autumn after a couple of below par numbers. Every article has new light to shed on books familiar and unknown. It’s hard to pick favourites from among them, but Posy Fallowfield’s piece on Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont is bound to make anyone who hasn’t read Elizabeth Taylor’s brilliant novel about aging and loneliness search out a copy with all due speed; Nick Hunt’s article on William Golding’s remarkable, strange masterpiece, The Inheritors, does ample justice to a book that is unlike any other and David Fleming makes a powerful case for rediscovering the poems of A. E. Housman beyond A Shropshire Lad. As with all the best editions of SF, I’ve also come away with a list of books to seek out: Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time to Keep Silence, Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia and essays, Leon Garfield’s Smith and Mary Norton’s The Bread and Butter Stories. Fortunately, these last two are already on my shelves, so they’ll be easy to get going with.

[Annie Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall enjoyed, but nothing particularly wowed me as it usually does.

However did enjoy;
- Rachel Sherlock’s essay on Mary Westmacott
- Richard Crockatt’s piece on Persuasion
- Suzi Feay’s piece on Smith
- Jane Ridley’s essay on The Little Princesses
- Rafaella Barker’s piece on her mother, Elspeth Barker (this one in particular made me want to read EB’s pieces)

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful issue, with just about every essay being a gem. Pieces on Barbara Tuchman, Maurice Sendak, “Crawfie,” and more were highly enjoyable and very well written.

[Marie-Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely review of yet more books to read.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful essays as usual...adding 3 to my TBR pile:

Absent in the Spring - Mary Westmacott (pseudonym for Agatha Christie)
Persuasion (Jane Austen)
A Time to Keep Silence (Patrick Leigh Fermor)