Historian Joan Severance returns to the Sicily of her childhood, ostensibly to do research in the archives of the remote fortress town of Valpar... read full description
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Mar 03, 2009
Wisteria
rated it: 
Reading The Night Battles, evokes dark forgotten memories from the past when monsters lived under beds and in closets. Psychologically awakening this book will stimulate your neurons to that time long ago when fantasy fogged reality.
Joan Severance, an anthropology professor at Brown University has reached an impasse in her career, her future in academia tenuous. Granted a sabbatical, she accepts a position in Valparuta, Sicily, to work as an archivist under the tutelage of Signor Chi More...
Joan Severance, an anthropology professor at Brown University has reached an impasse in her career, her future in academia tenuous. Granted a sabbatical, she accepts a position in Valparuta, Sicily, to work as an archivist under the tutelage of Signor Chi More...
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Mar 27, 2009
Julie
rated it: 
This was an interesting book. I was amazed at how Bloxam was able to create an atmosphere, so that it almost seemed like I could smell the pungent aromas of Sicily and feel the summer heat. Not to mention the dark, brooding, almost threatening air everywhere in the small town of Valparuta. When I allowed myself to really fall into the book, I was enthralled, and felt like I was taking an uncomfortable, but fascinating trip. If you expect to understand everything that's going on, you're not going
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Dec 21, 2008
Stephanie
rated it: 
M. F. Bloxam’s novel, THE NIGHT BATTLES, tells the tale of an unlikable woman, Joan Severance, who goes to Sicily to research probate inventories of the 1500s.
She becomes involved with the archivist and with the small town of Valparuta. The story goes back and forth between her time in Valparuta, her growing up in Sicily, and the life she left behind Brown University.
This could have been a great book, but the writing is hit and miss.
On the positive side, I was unaware that ther More...
She becomes involved with the archivist and with the small town of Valparuta. The story goes back and forth between her time in Valparuta, her growing up in Sicily, and the life she left behind Brown University.
This could have been a great book, but the writing is hit and miss.
On the positive side, I was unaware that ther More...
Jun 23, 2010
Belinda
rated it: 
I reread this for the deeper meanings I missed the first time through (I struggled a bit with some of the mythology). Glad I did!
Joan was on my mind often over a year after first spending time with her in this this rich, layered novel. She is not easy to like yet that is what I came to do very much. She is brilliant yet her own worst enemy, hard to relate to in many ways, yet someone I felt deeply sad for. Paralleling Joan's struggles with herself, her past, and her mysterious, trag More...
Joan was on my mind often over a year after first spending time with her in this this rich, layered novel. She is not easy to like yet that is what I came to do very much. She is brilliant yet her own worst enemy, hard to relate to in many ways, yet someone I felt deeply sad for. Paralleling Joan's struggles with herself, her past, and her mysterious, trag More...
Nov 14, 2009
Judith
rated it:
A pre-Christian fertility cult is alive and well in modern-day Valparuta, Sicily. The "Benandanti" still do battle with the "Melandanti"...in Night Battles..to ensure the success of the Harvest. I am in no way equipped to discuss the historical aspects of this book...so i point my finger in the direction of a title mentioned by the Author herself The Night Battles: Witches and Agrarian Cults in the sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries by Carlo Ginzburg....there is also a Webs
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Jun 01, 2010
Beth
rated it:
If you are looking for a supernaturally charged novel full of intriguing characters, charged settings, and beautiful prose...look no further than The Night Battles by M.F. Bloxam. And make sure to check out the Acknowledgements...I'm honored to be included there by my amazing friend!!!! :)
Jan 29, 2009
"Bloxam’s ornate prose is the perfect complement to her complex heroine and the creepy goings-on in this eerie and satisfying debut novel." -Publishers Weekly
Jan 14, 2012
Lucie
rated it:
Read it because it took place in Sicily. DIDn't much care for the story, but I liked the author's use of language.
Jul 07, 2009
Jesse
rated it:
Excellent work for a debut novel. This is a darkly stylish and enigmatic tale of an ostracized academic and her awakening into a higher spiritual calling. Yet be warned, for this calling harbors hidden demons that dwell both amongst and within it.
Having read the studies of Carlo Ginzburg, and being a student of bibliographyand antiquarian books, I can respect the considerable amount research that was neatly integrated into the story. All of this was achieved without losing the reade More...
Having read the studies of Carlo Ginzburg, and being a student of bibliographyand antiquarian books, I can respect the considerable amount research that was neatly integrated into the story. All of this was achieved without losing the reade More...
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