Items related to The Realm of Shells

Overall, Sonia The Realm of Shells ISBN 13: 9780007184101

The Realm of Shells - Hardcover

 
9780007184101: The Realm of Shells
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

A delicately balanced novel of childhood secrets, hidden treasure and the lengths people will go to in order to protect – or discover – what they deem valuable.

'The Realm of Shells' is the tale of a family corrupted. Set in fashionable Margate in 1835, the novel follows the schemes, betrayals and disappointments of the respectable Newlove family from the perspective of its youngest member, Frances. Frances - or Fanny, as she does not like to be called, but invariably is - is a discerning child with sharp eyes, ready wit and an ingrained sense of responsibility. She also possesses two very distinct voices: the fashioned phrases of a young girl of good family, as recorded in her suitably stylised letters, and the immediate expressions of a clever child who is able to listen without being listened to, and regard without being regarded.

At the age of eight, Fanny is thrown into a new life in the southern seaside resort of Margate. Her northern family are objects of curiosity to the people of Kent, wary of anyone or anything that comes ‘from the Sheers’. Despite their reception Fanny tries to settle and does her best to reconcile herself and her wild brother Joshua to the change. Her evangelist parents set about running private schools, which steadily gain in standing and respectability. All is peaceable enough – until the chance discovery of an underground grotto exposes them to temptation, manipulation and the wilfully unscrupulous dealings of their neighbours. The discovery of the underground realm of shells heralds the uncovering of some unpleasant family truths – and the dark, stark realities of the adult world.

Set against the upheavals of 1830s England – the end of the war with France and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution – ‘The Realm of Shells’ is a bewitching portrait of a family and a country on the brink of irrevocable change.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

‘This novel is very good indeed – confident and vividly energetic in a way that is entirely captivating...I cannot recommend this novel too highly.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Sonia Overall manages to tell a conventional story with remarkable originality...Her confidence is astonishing...It takes a writer of rare ability to produce a novel as good as this. She has made the grade.’ Glasgow Herald

‘While Fanny’s voice, full of onomatopoeic accounts of household noise and incident, is thoroughly engaging, some of the best things here...are perhaps the least Victorian in character. It may be that Overall will eventually come to regard the 19th century as a constraint on her very considerable imagination.’ Independent

‘An engrossing, accomplished tale of lost innocence which tiptoes elegantly towards its tragic denouement with genuine literary flair.’ Easy Living

Praise for ‘A Likeness’:

‘Portraiture, courtiers and a courtesan called Kat England all play their part in Overall's debut historical novel. A treasure chest of detail, A Likeness is all about love and art.' Elle

‘In terms of its visceral resonance, Sonia Overall's dazzlingly accomplished historical debut is ... likely to get under the skin. It's a vivid tale, part-political thriller, part-potent account of the perils of ambition and desire, but while its plot is pacy enough, it is Overall's rich language that intoxicates.’ Observer

From the Author:
Q and A with Sonia Overall
What was it in the Margate junk shop that inspired you to write The Realm
of Shells?
The plan was to go to Margate to look in the junk shop for some furniture.
The junk shop was closed (well, it was Sunday) but I remembered hearing
about the grotto nearby and decided to have a look there instead. An hour
or so later, sitting on Broadstairs beach, I realised I had the plot of
another book. The main inspiration for the story was a short description,
in the grotto's museum, of Joshua Newlove's `discovery' of the grotto in
1835.

The image of a boy climbing down a rope with a lantern round his neck,
and finding an Aladdin's cave at the bottom, was where it all began.
What is the grotto like today?
The grotto now has a very careful owner, which has not always been the
case. The shells have sadly been covered with a layer of soot as a result
of the oil lamps used to light it in the past, which means much of their
colour is lost. Despite this, the mosaics are breathtakingly beautiful.
Whatever its purpose or provenance, the grotto is a treasure and well worth
visiting. There really is nothing else like it.
The sense of time and place comes through in the tiniest details such as
the rhymes the children sing or the excerpts Fanny reads out from the
Kentish Gazette. How do you do your historical research?
I approach research from the outside in. I began by reading about the murky
1830s, before Victoria but after George. It's an interesting embryonic
period. Writers and thinkers of the time are increasingly outspoken about
issues of poverty, education, rights and so on. There's a slide away from
Regency decadence and hedonism towards Victorian asceticism. William's
reign is like the hangover in between.

Historical detail comes from reading texts of the time as well as
modern biographies, histories and so on. I plundered the local studies
collections of Kent libraries for guidebooks and maps of the period, as
well as archives of the local newspaper. A trip to the Bethnal Green Museum
of Childhood was invaluable for detail on childhood games that Fanny and
her classmates would have played.
The Realm of Shells is told from Fanny's point of view: why did you choose
to write from a child's perspective?
Children are constantly overlooked and underestimated by adults, even by
their teachers and parents (both, in Fanny's case). Fanny is the youngest
in the family, and therefore best placed to be ignored, while noticing
everything the adults get up to. It takes someone like Captain Easter, who
needs to cover his tracks, to realise how observant she is. The
relationship between Easter as manipulator and Fanny as observer gave me
the central point of antagonism for the book.

Once I had worked out Fanny's character and role I had to write it in
her voice. I relished the challenge of writing in the present tense too - a
child's mind required that immediacy. It was also a good excuse to regress
a bit.
Does she move from innocence to experience?
Fanny learns a lot about adult behaviour over the course of the book, as
any child of her age does. I don't think current notions of innocence would
have made much sense to the Newloves and their contemporaries. Besides,
children are much crueller, and cleverer, than we care to believe.
Fanny is constrained because she is a girl; her sisters and her mother are
used by men in different ways. Can you say a bit about gender in the book?
I didn't write the women in this book with any gender agenda. Having said
that, it's impossible to ignore nineteenth-century attitudes towards women.
The blanket view of the period is that women were considered by men as
either saints or whores, but the truth is always more complex than that, as
even the smallest research will show. The Newlove women certainly don't fit
this pattern, although their unconventional attitudes cause them problems.
Arabella is a businesswoman, and the older girls are expected to work and
study responsibly, and to be useful rather than ornamental. Fanny's father
believes that girls should be given a good education. He treats his wife as
an independent individual, and it is partly because of this that he expects
her to share responsibility for solving their problems with Easter, however
undignified or immoral.
`The realm of shells' is described by Mr Davidson as `the hidden world of
the demonic that exists about us, yet cannot be seen' but Fanny calls it a
`fairy palace'. Who is right?
Both of these characters describe the realm of shells in the way that makes
most sense to them. One doesn't necessarily preclude the other.
Fanny is keen to help George learn to read. Do you believe in the power of
reading?
Yes, very strongly. When Fanny teaches George to read she gives him a very
valuable tool, and those that disapprove do so because they are afraid of
how he, and people like him, might use it.
There are echoes of Jane Austen in the novel. Are you a fan of her work and
which other writers inspire you?
I love Austen. Underneath the romantic packaging she is a very shrewd
social commentator and deliciously acerbic. She never resorts to caricature
like Dickens, or preaches like George Eliot, but she stills manages to
expose the hypocrisy of her characters and the world they exist in. I'm
inspired by many different writers of fiction and non-fiction - too many to
mention without missing someone important out!
Your previous novel A Likeness was also set in the past. Will your next
book be a historical novel too?
My third book is a contemporary novel, but history plays an important role
in it. I'm very interested in how the past influences and affects us.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherFourth Estate
  • Publication date2006
  • ISBN 10 0007184107
  • ISBN 13 9780007184101
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages336
  • Rating
Buy Used
Condition: Very Good
USED BUT OTHERWISE OF EXCELLENT... Learn more about this copy

Shipping: FREE
Within United Kingdom

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to Basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780007184118: THE REALM OF SHELLS

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780007184118
Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2011
Softcover

  • 9780007226634: The Realm of Shells

    Fourth..., 2006
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Overall, Sonia
Published by Fourth Estate (2006)
ISBN 10: 0007184107 ISBN 13: 9780007184101
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Monster Bookshop
(Fleckney, United Kingdom)

Book Description hardcover. Condition: Very Good. USED BUT OTHERWISE OF EXCELLENT QUALITY ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780007184101-VG

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 3.45
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Overall, Sonia
ISBN 10: 0007184107 ISBN 13: 9780007184101
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Better World Books Ltd
(Dunfermline, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # GRP68801791

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 4.61
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

OVERALL, Sonia.:
Published by London: Fourth Estate (2006)
ISBN 10: 0007184107 ISBN 13: 9780007184101
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Portman Rare Books
(Tonbridge, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. Fine condition, medium octavo, brown boards, in fine dust wrapper , 326 pages. [GENERAL INFORMATION: Photographs available - please specify. Postage and packaging at cost based on average size book and surface post outside UK. Sets and heavy items may require additional postage charges: please contact us before ordering.]. Seller Inventory # 6157

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 10
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.60
Within United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Overall, Sonia
Published by Fourth Estate (2006)
ISBN 10: 0007184107 ISBN 13: 9780007184101
Used Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Chapter 1
(Johannesburg, GAU, South Africa)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. Seemingly unread. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # 843m

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 4.90
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 15
From South Africa to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Overall, Sonia
Published by Fourth Estate, London (2006)
ISBN 10: 0007184107 ISBN 13: 9780007184101
Used Hardcover First Edition Signed Quantity: 1
Seller:
Greystone Books
(Margate, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardback. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition, First Printing. Fine/Fine. First edition, first printing in d/w not price clipped. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, without dedication or inscription. Dustwrapper photograph of Margate shell grotto. A novel concerning Fanny, aged eight, and her family in which they move to Margate, Kent in 1835. All is well until they discover an underground shell grotto in their garden. A fine copy, in a fine d/w, of a SCARCE first edition, first printing SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 12723

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 18
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.50
Within United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds