Eye of a Rook

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Two women separated by time and place but connected by a mystifying illness. This beautifully written novel will appeal to fans of literary historical fiction. In 1860s London, Arthur sees his wife Emily suddenly struck down by a pain for which she can find no words, forced to endure harmful treatments and reliant on him for guidance. Meanwhile, in contemporary Perth, Alice, a writer, and her older husband, Duncan, find their marriage threatened as Alice investigates the history of hysteria, female sexuality and the treatment of the female body - her own and the bodies of those who came before.

Reviews

A masterful exploration of the tangled relationship between body and self; bold and intellectually tough, and intensely lyrical. Lee Kofman

Eye of a Rook is raw and intelligent, a searing depiction of the secret journey of female bodies. Donna Mazza

Courageous and enthralling this compassionate, beautifully written book explores important questions about the forces that make us who we are and who we might wish to become. Susan Midalia

Author Bio

Josephine Taylor is a writer and freelance editor and is Associate Editor at Westerly Magazine and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Writing at Edith Cowan University. Josephine teaches, faciliates and judges literary fiction and creative non- fiction. Her personal essays and fiction have been anthologised, and published in journals including Axon, M/C Journal, Outskirts, Southerly, TEXT and Westerly.