“Hitchhiker” and “Harry Potter:” Part 1 – Celebrating Towel Day 2021
A closer look at “Harry Potter” shows that it may have been inspired by aspects of Douglas Adams’s work.
Category: Bathilda’s Notebook
Trouble in Faerie Land – Part 3: Searching for Duessa in “Troubled Blood”
Were you surprised by the murderer in “Troubled Blood”? A closer look at “The Faerie Queene” epigraphs reveals extra clues that lead you in the direction of the proper suspect…
Trouble in Faerie Land – Part 2: Shipping Robin and Strike in the Epigraphs of “Troubled Blood”
By pairing Robin and Strike with characters from “The Faerie Queene”, Dr. Beatrice Groves reveals how “Troubled Blood” foreshadows what’s to come in the detectives’ relationship.
Trouble in Faerie Land – Part 1: Spenserian Clues in the Epigraphs of “Troubled Blood”
Dr. Beatrice Groves explores how “The Faerie Queen” epigraphs in “Troubled Blood” impart clues about the story and characters as well as illuminate the book’s central themes.
“Troubled Blood” in London
Dr. Beatrice Groves predicts that “Troubled Blood” will take us from St. John’s Gate to the Hampton Court astronomical clock, all while weaving in elements of tarot and the occult.
“Troubled Blood” in Cornwall
In anticipation of the imminent release of “Troubled Blood”, Dr. Beatrice Groves predicts that the upcoming novel will include Cornish myths, occult presences, and a mysterious place known as the Doom Bar.
The Epigraphs of “Lethal White”: Shipping Strike & Robin
Dr. Beatrice Groves explores how the “Rosmersholm” epigraphs in “Lethal White” reveal not only the importance of the white horse motif but also the passionate partnership at the forefront of both stories.
Handfasting in “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and “Harry Potter”: A Discovery of a Walt Whitman Poem?
Dr. Beatrice Groves argues that the unnamed poem Lula Landry recites in “The Cuckoo’s Calling” is Walt Whitman’s “Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances” – a poem that connects to the theme of handfasting in both “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”.
The Names of “The Ickabog” – Part 2: Ichabod
Dr. Beatrice Groves uncovers how “The Ickabog” alludes to not just the name “Ichabod” but also the themes, plot, and narration of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
