"A must read for the classically educated, this wonderful short had me reaching for my reference notes and chuckling at the subtle nuances throughout. For a piece that's under 10000 words, this strangely terrifying short held me in a disturbed reality for many hours after I'd finished it. Read away, if you dare!"
"A triumph! Bravo Ms Knight, you have a beautiful knowledge of the classics and the sprinkling of references made this a very enjoyable half hour's reading. Thank you."
"I read this in one sitting. It’s short but perfectly formed. It starts with a child, Emily, trapped but it isn’t quite clear where or how. The where and the how unfold with the story. It’s creepy and racks up the tension as Emily gradually finds her friends / toys, and the scene clears. The sense of escaping a ravening horde is nail-bitingly dramatic – and as an aside: Dorabella is a brilliant character! At the end it has come satisfyingly full circle and yet it ends on a shiver as it shows where the futuristic nightmare all began."
"An exquisite coming-of-age prose-poem, written in the form of a second-person dreamlike narrative. A privileged but lonely young female student in her first few weeks away from home at University becomes hopelessly lost in a closing shopping-mall, and searches for escape. Stairs and doors lead to mysterious and disturbing places that morph into tangled labyrinths of red marble and sparkling granite. She is accompanied by her childhood toys, her memories. There are retro-echoes of Alice in Wonderland and the films of Hayao Miyazaki in these dark tunnels and magical doors opening to bright seascapes and cosy fireside parlors. So the imaginary landscape of images and symbolism created by Sue Knight is therefore not really scary at all, but oddly familiar and comfortable, like opening an old sepia photo-album or picking up a long-forgotten tattered favourite childhood storybook."
"This novella is a must for fans of magical realism, and for those who like their stories with a sinister twist. The narrative opens with a sense of mystery - where are we, what is happening? - and slowly builds up into a story with real fear and tension. It's beautifully written, and It's also extremely topical - a timely warning contained in a truly original piece of writing."
"A very dark Alice in Wonderland reimagined through a dystopian lens of corporate greed, consumerism, killer robots, and out-of-control technology. Intelligent literature for grown-ups - highly recommended!"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Till-They-Dropped-Sue-Knight-ebook/dp/B013P0QWO4
I admire Lewis Carroll very much - especially "Through the Looking Glass" - which he somehow gives the logical inconsequence of a dream - so I am honoured by the comparison and I wish I could write like that. And, in some wonderful way, "Through the Looking Glass" is a game of chess. Which I am certainly not capable of. The last time I played chess I lost to my tiny niece in Oz. While I would love to say it was because, as a kind aunt, I let her win, it was actually because I confused my King with my Queen at a vital moment, and she checkmated me.
And I was pleased by the "sepia photograph" and the "long-forgotten tattered favourite childhood storybook", as one of the inspirations for "Till" was an illustration in a tattered old Victorian children's book. It was of three children, in Victorian nightwear, riding through the night on a rocking horse.
And love that Dorabella was appreciated - the 1950s doll who wanted to be a Barbie.
And, of course, when I wrote"Till", I did not know the Bible's promise that Jehovah will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth". All I could see was that we were ruining it.
Yesterday I had my 6 months dental check - OK - and a painful clean - much needed as I have only just been able to start flossing my teeth again - one of the many things that requires two working shoulders. The Captain dropped me at the dentists and afterwards I popped across the road to the Field Service Group - arriving rather late - had to disappear into the loo to deal with my bleeding mouth. (I am not swearing - it was bleeding from the clean!) Then I managed to finish the Close Jean and I were working in last week - have one lady to go back to next month - and walked home, via a stop at Tesco to re-stock the cheese biscuits.
But that was all I could do. My feet hurt so much I could barely stand. So I hope to finish the Flats this morning - IF I have enough invitations left.
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