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6th out of 105 books
—
34 voters
The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: Stories
by
Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author)
Donoghue finds her inspiration for these wry, robust tales in obscure scraps of historical records: an engraving of a woman giving birth to rabbits; a plague ballad; surgical case notes; theological pamphlets; an articulated skeleton. Here kings, surgeons, soldiers, and ladies of leisure rub shoulders with cross-dressers, cult leaders, poisoners, and arsonists.
Whether she'...more
Whether she'...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
May 1st 2002
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 2002)
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The more I read of Donoghue, the more I am convinced she is a ventriloquist of sorts. In the short stories collected in this book, she gives voice to a whole host of period characters that she had researched and embellished, switching register and tone with graceful ease. Selecting one interesting or defining moment in their lives, she weaves compelling tales about these figures of the past – some more well-known than others.
Most of her stories in this collection are set in eighteenth century E...more
Most of her stories in this collection are set in eighteenth century E...more
I had to buy this book. I had been captivated by the story of Mary Tofts last year after reading a tiny piece in the paper about her, and her mysterious ability to birth pieces of dead baby rabbits. It's a fascinating tale. I fully understand why Emma Donoghue was fascinated with her. I was too. What's not to be fascinated about? Mary was an illiterate 18th century maid who started birthing bits of dead rabbits. Perhaps because I was familiar with Mary's story, I was disappointed with Emma Donog...more
A mixed bag of short stories based on 18-19th-c (with a smattering of other eras) british history. Since many of the stories are in the first person, one if the treats of the book is figuring out who and when before you get to the endnotes.
The stories themselves range from okay to wonderful. Stories such as "Revelations," "Words for Things," The Necessity of Burning," and "Looking for Petronilla" are well-paced page-turners. Others fell a bit flat. The most disappointing (perhaps because it had...more
The stories themselves range from okay to wonderful. Stories such as "Revelations," "Words for Things," The Necessity of Burning," and "Looking for Petronilla" are well-paced page-turners. Others fell a bit flat. The most disappointing (perhaps because it had...more
After reading Room, I had to go back and remind myself just how much Emma Donoghue's prose has changed direction, and this little book of medieval-inspired tales certainly couldn't be any farther from her recent "ripped from today's headlines" novel.
The title tale concerns the first in a rash of 14th century women to pretend to give birth to rabbits, mostly seeking to exhibit themselves in order to escape starvation. And in my expert opinion, you'd have to be pretty hungry to stuff a bunny up y...more
The title tale concerns the first in a rash of 14th century women to pretend to give birth to rabbits, mostly seeking to exhibit themselves in order to escape starvation. And in my expert opinion, you'd have to be pretty hungry to stuff a bunny up y...more
I read Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins recently, but I think this collection is better, partly because there's no awkward linking of the stories together and I found the subject matter more interesting.
This is probably one of the better short stories collection I've read, simply because I didn't find any true duds in it, although some stories didn't work for me as well as others.
My absolute favourite story in this book has to be 'How a Lady Dies'. The imagery of Bath as a place for th...more
This is probably one of the better short stories collection I've read, simply because I didn't find any true duds in it, although some stories didn't work for me as well as others.
My absolute favourite story in this book has to be 'How a Lady Dies'. The imagery of Bath as a place for th...more
So, I'm not generally a fan of short stories in the literary genre. Neil Gaiman and Stephen King? Yes they can rock a short story. But "literary" short stories are usually just character studies. Where "mother and I drove unti the dashboard grew hot. We parked on a red clay road. The sun hung and mother's eyes were damp. THE END." And that crap does nothing for me.
So I was de-freakin'-lighted by The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits. Donoghue took little snippets of real history, little barely re...more
So I was de-freakin'-lighted by The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits. Donoghue took little snippets of real history, little barely re...more
In this collection, Emma Donoghue elaborates on 17 strange and unexplainable events throughout the history of the British Isles. Her unique perspective breathes life into these remote historical figures in a way that I never could have before imagined.
My personal favorite is "Dido," the tale of Elizabeth Dido Lindsay, the daughter of Sir John Lindsay with an African slave woman he rescued from a Spanish ship in the West Indies. Despite her acceptance by Lord Mansfield as a family member and her...more
My personal favorite is "Dido," the tale of Elizabeth Dido Lindsay, the daughter of Sir John Lindsay with an African slave woman he rescued from a Spanish ship in the West Indies. Despite her acceptance by Lord Mansfield as a family member and her...more
A collection of short stories, well written and engaging, bringing snippets of untold English/Irish/Scottish history to life. Subtly feminist and some glimpses of queerness from history. I enjoyed Donoghue’s narration and prose very much.
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Some quotes I liked:
“Silence, like quicksand, under their feet.” (p. 47)
“When I sit up, cold air worms its way into the bed; Martha burrows down deeper.” (p. 71)
“Scotland is plague-stricken. Folk wear bruises of mauve and orange and yellow for...more
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Some quotes I liked:
“Silence, like quicksand, under their feet.” (p. 47)
“When I sit up, cold air worms its way into the bed; Martha burrows down deeper.” (p. 71)
“Scotland is plague-stricken. Folk wear bruises of mauve and orange and yellow for...more
Hmm. I've forgotten some of the stories in this collection, but I remember I liked them well enough. This format that Donoghue uses, of weaving into stories obscure news items from the 18th century works well with me. It's when she makes these snippets into long novels - see Life Mask, The Sealed Letter - that's when I have a problem.
Out of the stories I remember and I still think of fondly, the best one has got to be Looking for Petronilla. The last story of the collection, this one is a stunne...more
Out of the stories I remember and I still think of fondly, the best one has got to be Looking for Petronilla. The last story of the collection, this one is a stunne...more
Emma Donoghue is fast becoming one of my favourite authors - I adored Slammerkin and read the Booker nominated Room just a couple of weeks ago, so was interested to see what this collection of short stories would be like.
This is a book of fictions that are also true, over the years Emma Donoghue has come across snippets of history that are so bizarre, yet true that she felt the urge to write a story around the facts and this is the collection of those stories.
Like most short story collections, s...more
This is a book of fictions that are also true, over the years Emma Donoghue has come across snippets of history that are so bizarre, yet true that she felt the urge to write a story around the facts and this is the collection of those stories.
Like most short story collections, s...more
I was intrigued by the concept of this book: the author usew her imagination to flesh out short stories lurking behind various textual catalysts: an historical event, a piece of art, or a work of fiction--for example. However, I found that the prose style did not mesmerize me as much as the project itself.
Although not clear from the beginning, these stories primarily champion female characters, many of whom were social activists of some kind. Unfortunately, many of the male characters are flat...more
Although not clear from the beginning, these stories primarily champion female characters, many of whom were social activists of some kind. Unfortunately, many of the male characters are flat...more
“The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits” is an historian’s story collection: in these thirteen tales, Donoghue brings to life some odd and often touching moments in British and Irish history. Some of the stories are about famous figures–John Ruskin’s passionless wedding night, Mary Wollstonecraft’s ill-fated turn as a governess–but most are little-known or anonymous, like a medieval ale-wife in an age of peasant rebellions or the dwarf child who dies far from home while on public display. This is t...more
This book has been on my to be read shelf for at least a couple years, and I decided to finally get around to reading it. I bought it because a couple other Emma Donoghue books had been recommended to me; they were not at the store the day I went to look for them, but this one was and was cheap, so I got it instead. I probably should have just kept on looking for the others.
It's not exactly bad; there were a couple stories I quite liked (the last one! and the one about the blind girl). But the c...more
It's not exactly bad; there were a couple stories I quite liked (the last one! and the one about the blind girl). But the c...more
Each story is a well-researched excursion into some minor realm of Irish (or Brit or Welsh or Scottish) Verified History and Anecdotage. But nearly all of them are a snooze, which proves that trying to grow stories around an eccentric chrestomathy ain't worth trying. I checked this out of the library because I heard "Come, Gentle Night" was about John Ruskin's wedding night, wherein the sight of Effie's pubic hair detumesced him and put consummation off indefinitely. But Donoghue's version of th...more
Okay, I admit it: I got this one because of the title. Seemed quirky enough. In this collection, Emma Donoghue fleshed out seventeen stories about real, but obscure and nearly forgotten, people and events from several centuries of British history: the woman in the title story, Mary Toft, managed to convince the 18th century medical profession (albeit briefly) that she had given birth to a vast number of rabbits; in the 1850s and 60s, Dr. Isaac Baker Brown used clitoridectomies as a way to “cure”...more
Emma Donoghue is a fabulous author. I'm not normally a fan of historical fiction because a lot of it tends to be cheesy/romance sort of stuff, but Donoghue has a Ph.D. specializing in 18th Century British literature and history, and her work is always spot on and fascinating!
In _The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits_, Donoghue takes actual historical figures and expands on their stories, writing speculative short fiction about their lives. For instance, she writes a story about a girl who was a ch...more
In _The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits_, Donoghue takes actual historical figures and expands on their stories, writing speculative short fiction about their lives. For instance, she writes a story about a girl who was a ch...more
Historical fiction in bite-sized form, Donoghue's short stories give us a look at the lives behind some odd notes in history. Some of the tales fall a bit flat, but overall, the characters are well-crafted and relatable. I enjoyed hearing the voices of those who may not have been deemed "important" enough to speak for themselves in the pages of history. A quick read, but a good one.
A very good collection of short stories based off of historical events in the British Isles, mostly between the 1600s and 1800s. While none of the main characters identified as lesbians in any sort of contemporary sense, most of the principal women lived on Adrienne Rich's "lesbian continuum."
Well worth the time to read. Fascinating, great stories.
Well worth the time to read. Fascinating, great stories.
http://nhw.livejournal.com/46408.html[return][return]A fascinating set of short stories with a theme of how we live in our own bodies. I bought it because I had spotted her as an Irish author of occasionally sff-type stuff. The last story in this collection, "Looking for Petronilla", does turn out to have fantasy elements and to my great annoyance takes an idea for a short story I have been working on recently and does it much better than I could hope to. The whole collection is excellent. The t...more
This is a very different book than I would ever pick out for myself and very different from Room. My daughter, the history major lent it to me. It is amazing how Donoghue's imagination works.
Love love loved the idea of this book, that she was attracted by historical anecdotes and then wrote short stories based on researching them. I wish I had thought of it first.
I wasn't sure I enjoyed reading short stories before this. I think there could have been a better first exposure to short stories. I'd be willing to try them again.
Interesting, quick bites of a stories. Not particularly easy to read, but engrossing and based on actual events. That actually makes it a bit more disturbing.
Great short stories that fill in the gaps of some odd and unexplained happenings from the past centuries. I am actually rereading this book.
This book is a must read. I loved the way that actual events were borrowed from history and made real
This was one of the books I speed-dated to try to weed my to-read list a bit. I would rate this as just not for me - it reminds me of another Donoghue book I tried to read once, Slammerkin, which received that same verdict. I just don't like the forced period writing, it feels too inauthentic the way she does it. I liked Room very much and would still try a future novel, but these stories will be passed on elsewhere.
lovely. i love how she uncovers archival moments of queerness or oddity and then rewrites them
A sneak peek as to life in other centuries. Not always happy or nice but always interesting
Dec 07, 2012
Amanda Avery
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sense-of-history,
short-fiction
Quite impressive, what she could do, with the smallest snippets of forgotten history.
short and sharp reaction - bollocks!
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Emma is the youngest of eight children of Frances and Denis Donoghue. She attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one year in New York at the age of ten. In 1990 she earned a first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin, and in 1997 a PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of...more
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Feb 20, 2013 04:41pm