On Frances Castle’s “Stagdale Part 1”. (3 of 3)

concluded from here. 7 That gap, between pristine myth and overripe reality, is constantly on display in Stagdale’s pages. A double-sided spread of the town centre – see above for part of it – looks at first like the kind of rural Shangri-la that estate agents would haul each other viciously through any […]

On Frances Castle’s “Stagdale Part 1”. (2 of 3)

contccontinued from here; 5. At first glance, the very format of Stagdale Part 1 suggests a gently nostalgic read. Although hardly commonplace in 2019, Stagdale‘s particular shape and size – roughly that of a medium-formatted paperback turned on its side – was frequently used in the post-war decades, and indeed right up until the Eighties, […]

On Frances Castle’s “Stagdale Part 1”. (1 of 3)

1. Please do be forewarned: here there be spoilers, although I’ve tended far more towards the general rather than the specific in what follows. 2. This isn’t going to be a short review, it really isn’t, so if you’d rather just cut to the chase, here’s what my conclusion’s going to be; I genuinely enjoyed […]