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y separately published work icon Eye of a Rook single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 Eye of a Rook
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In both contemporary Perth and nineteenth-century England, a woman is suddenly struck by a mystifying and very private pain. Alice, a writer, and her older husband Duncan, an academic, find their marriage threatened as Alice investigates the history of hysteria, female sexuality and the treatment of the female body, while in 1860s London, Arthur sees his wife suddenly struck by a pain for which she can find no words, forced to endure harmful treatments and reliant on him for guidance.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: Fremantle Press , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 5069757219415462592.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 216p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2nd February 2021
      ISBN: 9781925816716

Works about this Work

Breast Augmentation and Artificial Insemination: Monstrous Medicine and the Female Body in Recent Fiction Amber Moffat , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture , vol. 11 no. 1-2 2022; (p. 163-177)

'Recent fiction that depicts medical intervention upon the female body as monstrous reveals societal anxiety around aesthetic and reproductive medicine. As biotechnology rapidly advances, the female body continues to be a site on which improvements, efficiencies and controls are imposed. While Kristeva’s abject and Creed’s ‘monstrous-feminine’ explain the capacity of the female body to imbue horror, this literary analysis explores how the experience of the medicalized female body can convey anxiety relating to escalating aesthetic and reproductive demands. Works of fiction by Kawakami, Mazza, Hortle, Booth, Giddings, Gildfind and Taylor are considered in terms of medicine and the female body, with the narratives revealing common themes of monstrosity. Bakhtin’s grotesque and Kristeva’s abject informs the analysis, as does Foucault’s concept of the ‘medical gaze’. Bartky’s ‘fashion-beauty complex’ frames the investigation into depictions of cosmetic surgery, while the impact of capitalism is considered in relation to reproductive technologies and medical experimentation. The power structures that medicine operates within are considered and the article argues that the representation of medicine as monstrous in relation to the female body expresses collective unease about the increasingly unstable boundaries of the human body itself.' (Publication abstract)

Review of ‘Eye of a Rook’ by Josephine Taylor Jen Bowden , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Editor's Desk - 2021 2021;

— Review of Eye of a Rook Josephine Taylor , 2021 single work novel
Lip Lit : Q&A with Author Josephine Taylor about Her Debut Novel Eye of a Rook 2021 single work interview
— Appears in: Lip Magazine 2021;

'Josephine Taylor’s new work of historical fiction brings into focus a hidden condition called vulvodynia. It’s a chronic pain experienced by too many women, many of whom are under 25. We spoke to Jo about the book, the condition and her research into the history of hysteria, female sexuality, and the treatment of the female body for Eye of a Rook.' (Introduction)

Review of ‘Eye of a Rook’ by Josephine Taylor Jen Bowden , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Editor's Desk - 2021 2021;

— Review of Eye of a Rook Josephine Taylor , 2021 single work novel
Breast Augmentation and Artificial Insemination: Monstrous Medicine and the Female Body in Recent Fiction Amber Moffat , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture , vol. 11 no. 1-2 2022; (p. 163-177)

'Recent fiction that depicts medical intervention upon the female body as monstrous reveals societal anxiety around aesthetic and reproductive medicine. As biotechnology rapidly advances, the female body continues to be a site on which improvements, efficiencies and controls are imposed. While Kristeva’s abject and Creed’s ‘monstrous-feminine’ explain the capacity of the female body to imbue horror, this literary analysis explores how the experience of the medicalized female body can convey anxiety relating to escalating aesthetic and reproductive demands. Works of fiction by Kawakami, Mazza, Hortle, Booth, Giddings, Gildfind and Taylor are considered in terms of medicine and the female body, with the narratives revealing common themes of monstrosity. Bakhtin’s grotesque and Kristeva’s abject informs the analysis, as does Foucault’s concept of the ‘medical gaze’. Bartky’s ‘fashion-beauty complex’ frames the investigation into depictions of cosmetic surgery, while the impact of capitalism is considered in relation to reproductive technologies and medical experimentation. The power structures that medicine operates within are considered and the article argues that the representation of medicine as monstrous in relation to the female body expresses collective unease about the increasingly unstable boundaries of the human body itself.' (Publication abstract)

Lip Lit : Q&A with Author Josephine Taylor about Her Debut Novel Eye of a Rook 2021 single work interview
— Appears in: Lip Magazine 2021;

'Josephine Taylor’s new work of historical fiction brings into focus a hidden condition called vulvodynia. It’s a chronic pain experienced by too many women, many of whom are under 25. We spoke to Jo about the book, the condition and her research into the history of hysteria, female sexuality, and the treatment of the female body for Eye of a Rook.' (Introduction)

Last amended 16 Oct 2020 09:23:19
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  • Perth, Western Australia,
  • London,
    c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • 1860s
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