Jack London’s Wolf House

Like Steinbeck, Jack London always intimidated me. He still does. I can’t bring myself to sit down and delve into one of his novels out of fear that it will fail to fulfill my romantic inclinations. Maybe, like Steinbeck, he’ll surprise me. Of course,  I can appreciate his work and recall it from high school [...]

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Jane in the Modern Day

My book club’s selection this month is Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I think it’s blasphemy for me to admit this in a literary blog, but. . . I’m having trouble getting through it. I’ve read the book before but her beautifully convoluted writing is harder to follow than I remember. It pains me to admit this. [...]

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“D’rymple mild” – Literary Edinburgh

I’ve always identified with my distant Scottish roots. It’s all in the name – Dalrymple. It’s a very Scottish surname and an actual town in Ayrshire, situated in the Scottish lowlands. My cousin Dan (whom inspired this post with a surprise phone call this evening) has spent an immense amount of time composing a thoroughly [...]

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Fitzgerald’s Grave

There is a piece of art that has hung in my bedroom for the past twelve years. It’s become a fixture in my life, something I pass by daily and occasionally take a moment to consider more deeply. In the Spring of 1999 while working at a high-tech PR firm in San Francisco, I received [...]

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The Bronte Moors – Part 2

The sky felt like an extension of the earth, almost as if you had to duck down to avoid hitting your head on the clouds. Walking on the Yorkshire Moors was like nothing I’d ever experienced. My friend Eric and I embarked early in the day upon the six-mile hike to Top Withens – an [...]

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The Bronte Moors

This time of year makes me long for a good, tortured romance – preferably one involving a windswept landscape, dark and stormy nights and, of course, a graveyard.  There’s no better novel of Gothic passion than Wuthering Heights. Ever since first being introduced to Heathcliff in a college English course, I fell under his spell. [...]

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Stevenson and Steinbeck in Monterey

As I was researching my masters thesis, which focused on both Robert Louis Stevenson and John Steinbeck, I was always (a little too) excited when I found connections between the writers. I was aware of Stevenson’s Napa connections, having spent time in the valley. However, it wasn’t until reading Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, that I realized [...]

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Stevenson’s Napa – Part 2

On a clear January day, a friend and I ventured up Mount St. Helena at the northern tip of the Napa Valley in search of the legacy left by Robert Louis Stevenson 129 years prior. The drive was long and winding- daunting by today’s standards. I couldn’t fathom what would have possessed him to bring [...]

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Stevenson’s Napa – Part 1

I’ve lived in the Napa Valley for more than a year now and sometimes I still can’t believe I managed to make it happen. I’ve always loved Napa and made frequent visits while growing up in the Bay Area, hoping that someday I’d end up finding a way to live in this amazingly beautiful place. [...]

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Keats House – Part 2

Today is Bloomsday, so I feel like I should be writing about James Joyce. I have another topic in mind, but will add the James Joyce Centre in Dublin to my “must visit” list. Today, I’m back to Mr. Keats. My fourth and most recent pilgrimage to the Keats House in North London happened just [...]

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