Virginia Woolf! Publishers! Welcome to episode 154.
In the first half, we compare independent publishers and the big-name publishers – and in the second half, we pit two Virginia Woolf novels against each other: Jacob’s Room and The Waves.
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The books and authors we cover in this episode are:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
And The Crying Wind by Simon Dare
Mary Essex
Ursula Bloom
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
Lady Into Fox by David Garnett
All I Could Never Be by Beverley Nichols
W. Somerset Maugham
Olga Tokarczuk
A Bite of the Apple by Lennie Goodings
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
Hugh Walpole
Rose Macaulay
Recommended! by Nicola Wilson
Twice Lost by Phyllis Paul
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Debbie Voisey
Douglas Bruton
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Ian McEwan
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
Daisy’s Aunt by E.F. Benson
The Rabbits by A.A. Milne
The Lark by E. Nesbit
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Waves (play adaptation) by Flora Wilson Brown
Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot
The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe
Thank you for another thought provoking and entertaining episode. I immediately knew what my answer would be to the question about independent publishers vs big name ones; I’ve really appreciated the wonderfully fascinating selection of less ‘run of the mill’ titles published by the indie presses over the past few years especially. I wouldn’t single out a favourite but I do own, and have borrowed many Fitzcarraldo (blue fiction and white non fiction – (the latter I like library covered ones because they do look grimly grubby so quickly!), Faber, Pushkin Press, Daunt Books, Persephone and (of course) British Library Women Writers. You two did not change my answer!
I had planned to read Jacob’s Room and The Waves before listening but, other books jumped ahead in my piles over the summer. I have read The Waves three times but I stalled when I tried Jacob’s Room a few years ago. The bookmark stayed at p33! I just felt I wasn’t engaged with any of the characters even though I admired the writing. Your discussion really helped me nail why I felt like that, thank you.
I had Gaining Ground already, my appetite having been whetted by Faber’s first pages feature shortly after its republication. Not sure if I will be able to source the Book of Eve, but I will try.
P.S I plan to see if I can find Stone Yard Devotional to borrow at the library. I’d been put off by the plague of mice but I am now tempted to see if I can cope with that based on Rachel’s recommendation.
Such an interesting discussion! Obvs, with my hosting of ReadIndies, I have nailed my colours to the mast and I always know I’m going to find interesting and wonderful fiction (and translated works) from the indie presses. I do have time for e.g. Penguin, as I love their classics and modern classics. But the new titles the mainstream presses release are rarely interesting for me.
As for Woolf – I love all of her books and am never going to be able to pick favourites!!!!
Having been published by both, I listened to the Independent Publishers vs Big Name Publishers segment with particular interest. In my experience, the former devote significantly more time to the editing process.
Simon, you asked for Independent Publisher recommendations, Knowing your interest in things Canadian, I hold up Windsor, Ontario’s Biblioasis. Not only has it provided a home to midlist literary authors the Big Name Publishers have jettisoned, the house has brought numerous first time authors to national and international attention. Since you mentioned the novel, it was Biblioasis that published Ducks, Newburyport in both Canada and the United States.
You may be interested in its ReSet imprint, which is dedicated to returning neglected, forgotten, or hard-to-find Canadian titles to print.
(Full discloser: Biblioasis published my most recent book.)
Good luck with Gaining Ground, I’m just finishing it for book group … can’t believe there’s a waiting list of around 60 people for this at the library. Should the publisher wish to balance out the eulogies on the front cover, ‘deep, deep torpor’ would sum it up from me! Weed a row of cabbages and live the feminist dream! Aaarrrgghh … I can imagine Guardian wimmin discussing it earnestly in 1978 over parsnip wine and a nice lentil stew.
Another thought provoking episode, thank you! In terms of publishers, how about Wordsworth Editions? In the interests of honesty, I should admit I used to contribute to their online blog.
As for Virginia Woolf, I haven’t read Jacobs Room, but a couple of years I taught The Waves to my literature class. We spent several sessions ploughing through the text and it was quite an experience. Many of them said they were really pleased they had read the text as without the input of readings and discussion, they would not have stuck with it. One member of the group knew someone who read the book every few years!