Jodie Matthews – författare

A haunting ode to Cornish folklore and the secrets of the places we call home 'This powerfully brutal novel is the most exciting thing I've read in years' S. J. WATSON'A strange and beautiful novel' OBSERVER'A wild and darkly exuberant ride of a novel' JEFF VANDERMEER Everything that comes from the ground must go back down… eventually Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.When Merryn returns home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She’s sure that her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what? And then there’s a notebook, found in an old chest of drawers, full of long-forgotten folklore that seems to be linked somehow to Claud…

A haunting ode to Cornish folklore and the secrets of the places we call home 'This powerfully brutal novel is the most exciting thing I've read in years' S. J. WATSON'A strange and beautiful novel' OBSERVER'A wild and darkly exuberant ride of a novel' JEFF VANDERMEER Everything that comes from the ground must go back down… eventually Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.When Merryn returns home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She’s sure that her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what? And then there’s a notebook, found in an old chest of drawers, full of long-forgotten folklore that seems to be linked somehow to Claud…

A haunting ode to Cornish folklore and the secrets of the places we call home 'This powerfully brutal novel is the most exciting thing I've read in years' S. J. WATSON'A strange and beautiful novel' OBSERVER'A wild and darkly exuberant ride of a novel' JEFF VANDERMEER Everything that comes from the ground must go back down… eventually Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.When Merryn returns home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She’s sure that her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what? And then there’s a notebook, found in an old chest of drawers, full of long-forgotten folklore that seems to be linked somehow to Claud…

The exotic and dangerous stereotype of the Gypsy woman formed in 19th-century literature and visual culture remains alive today. These contemporary cliches about Gypsy culture - both negative and romanticised - have a long history. In The Gypsy Woman, Jodie Matthews analyses why the representation of female Gypsy figures in print, painting, television series such as Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and social media sites like Instagram matters so much. Some of these images have been so damaging that they require legal regulation, but Matthews claims that supposedly positive portrayals are just as detrimental by reiterating the same story about Gypsies that have been told since the 19th century. Her study makes this book a highly relevant resource for students, teachers and researchers working in literary, cultural, gender and Romani studies.

The exotic and dangerous stereotype of the Gypsy woman formed in nineteenth-century literature and visual culture remains alive today. These contemporary cliches about Gypsy culture - both negative and romanticised - have a long history. In The Gypsy Woman, Jodie Matthews analyses why the representation of female Gypsy figures in print, painting, television series such as Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and social media sites like Instagram matters so much. Some of these images have been so damaging that they require legal regulation, but Matthews claims that supposedly positive portrayals are just as detrimental by reiterating the same story about Gypsies that have been told since the nineteenth century. Her study makes this book a highly relevant resource for students, teachers and researchers working in literary, cultural, gender and Romani studies.