Jilli, did you know there was LitGothic site with a listing on Vernon Lee?

And are you familiar with the work of Simon Raven (What a goth name!)

There's a gorgeously gothy cover for his novel The Roses of Picardie

Fascinating overview of Vernon Lee by Brian Stableford. Wow, she had a really interesting life.

Why must you make me spend money, Hec? You just made me break my Amazon moratorium less than an hour after declaring it.

Yes I have a problem.

(Also: Hi!)

Will I be the first one to say: KNUT!!!1!

Hi, Knut!

Hey Knut!

This is not how I would have imagined E. Nesbit (as described by a contemporary):

"Mrs. Bland — E. Nesbit — the popular author of "The Would-Be-Good," was always surrounded by adoring young men, dazzled by her vitality, amazing talent and the sheer magnificence of her appearance. She was a very tall woman, built on the grand scale, and on festive occasions wore a trailing gown of peacock blue satin with strings of beads and Indian bangles from wrist to elbow. Madame, as she was always called, smoked incessantly, and her long cigarette holder became an indissoluble part of the picture she suggested–a raffish Rossetti, with a long full throat, and dark luxuriant hair, smoothly parted. She was a wonderful woman, large hearted, amazingly unconventional, but with sudden strange reversions to ultra-respectable standards. Her children’s stories had an immense vogue, and she could write unconcernedly in the midst of a crowd, smoking like a chimney all the while."

Bless my stars, so it is. Wait. Who had the dirndl?

Also (re HP), she put a whole lot of emphasis on wordless spells this book, didn't she? Does anyone remember any instances of wordless spells in previous books? Also, was Dumbledore's freezing Harry without Draco knowing the only payoff? Or am I forgetting something? Or is the payoff likely to show up next book?

Knut! Babe... hey. And a matter not related to Knutliness, what exactly is "orange squash." Is it mass-produced orange soda, or is it that you make it yourself and it has little orange bits in it, like orangeade? (I read it in a book. Therefore it's a literary question. Because I said so.) Just trying to square the visuals. Ta ever so.

Emily, the wordless spells also helped Harry get the memory from Slughorn. He used the spell to keep refilling his mug in Hagrid's hut.

Orange squash, in my memory, is a sweet uncarbonated orange-coloured drink.

Here you are.

Hi, Knut!

Emily, (re: HP) Dolohov had to use a wordless spell to curse Hermione in the Ministry of Magic at the end of OotP, since she had put a Silencio curse on him. It was a pretty effective curse, since it laid her up for a few weeks afterward--I wonder if it would have been lethal if he was able to talk. As for Dumbledore freezing Harry in the tower, I think that he knew that there was too many DEs around for him to get to Snape without blowing Snape's cover. With Draco coming up the stairs, most likely with other DEs soon to follow, he knew that the only way to stop Harry from fighting, and most likely dying, was to stop him in his tracks.