The Outcast Woman Archives - Huguenot Jo

“My two lovely girls”

Huguenot Jo — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 18:07:29 +0000

February 22 is never a good day for me – it’s the anniversary of my mum’s death, and I ignore it at my peril.

Better to acknowledge it than have things go wrong all day as the subconscious wreaks havoc.…

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To be disreputable, disrespectful, disobedient

Huguenot Jo — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 16:35:20 +0000

Sarah Perry’s latest publication, “Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere”, is a tiny little book based on a Harriet Martineau lecture she gave; it’s an entertaining read for any woman who doesn’t like to shut up.

Sarah Perry …

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For God’s sake: the things they do to you

Huguenot Jo — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 12:07:24 +0000

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Half-Hanged Mary and The Handmaid’s Tale

Huguenot Jo — Sun, 15 Jul 2018 10:56:11 +0000

Margaret Atwood dedicated her novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” to Mary Webster – “Half-Hanged Mary”. Webster was hanged from a tree for witchcraft in 17^th century Puritan New England, yet – remarkably – survived overnight, was cut down, and subsequently …

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Cardinal Richelieu and the Devils of Loudun

Huguenot Jo — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 14:23:06 +0000

I had to buy a second-hand copy of Aldous Huxley’s “The Devils of Loudon” from Amazon Marketplace, having searched unsuccessfully in independent bookshops for a current edition. “Do people no longer read it?” I wondered. When the vintage Penguin paperback …

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Corrag, The Highland Witch

Huguenot Jo — Mon, 28 May 2018 13:59:11 +0000

Susan Fletcher’s novel “Witch Light” is set in 1692, a handful of years after my Huguenot ancestors fled France and landed in England – hopeful of a warm welcome, since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 had ousted James II (a …

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Dreams, nightmares and the possibility of flight

Huguenot Jo — Mon, 21 May 2018 09:23:02 +0000

The stand-off between pagan superstition, Christian rationalism and science is a central theme in Sarah Perry’s second novel The Essex Serpent. Perry was brought up a Strict Baptist; Strict Baptists, like monks, live in the world but not of …

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