Sarah CrabtreeRezensionen

Early American Quakers have long been perceived as retiring separatists, but in Holy Nation Sarah Crabtree transforms our historical understanding of the sect by drawing on the sermons, diaries, and correspondence of Quakers themselves. Situating Quakerism within the larger intellectual and religious undercurrents of the Atlantic World, Crabtree shows how Quakers forged a paradoxical sense of their place in the world as militant warriors fighting for peace. She argues that during the turbulent Age of Revolution and Reaction, the Religious Society of Friends forged a "holy nation," a transnational community of like-minded believers committed first and foremost to divine law and to one another. Declaring themselves citizens of their own nation served to underscore the decidedly unholy nature of the nation-state, worldly governments, and profane laws. As a result, campaigns of persecution against the Friends escalated as those in power moved to declare Quakers aliens and traitors to their home countries. Holy Nation convincingly shows that ideals and actions were inseparable for the Society of Friends, yielding an account of Quakerism that is simultaneously a history of the faith and its adherents and a history of its confrontations with the wider world. Ultimately, Crabtree argues, the conflicts experienced between obligations of church and state that Quakers faced can illuminate similar contemporary struggles. - from book jacket

When I started reading Terror From Beyond Middle England, I was expecting something. Don’t ask me what, I still can’t name it. But as I continued to read and I read others reviews, I started to realize that Terror from Beyond is meant to be a ride. No matter how bad my day was, sitting down and following the roller coaster that is Zara’s adventure helped me escape. She escaped to Linchfield and falls into the arms of Alan, a young and mysterious scientist. The adventures and ups and downs continue and Terror makes for a great escape book for this very reason. I found I loved some characters and dislike others, but that I just needed to let go of the expectations I had. If you find that your live is hectic and you just need to escape to some distant world, read Terror From Beyond Middle England. You won’t be disappointed.

This book too long to get the point, and by the time it did, the book was over.

Something about genetic engineering, being both good and bad, or something.

I was hoping that all ENC books would be as enjoyable as the first one I read (The Alphabet Challenge). Sadly no. This one suffered from unbelievable dialogue (do people in the UK really say such obvious rod-and-don things to each other?), a tortoise-slow pace, and an overarching lack of purpose/focus. This could have been a good book, but it really fell flat.

It felt like a shaggy dog story, only not remotely funny.

Terror From Beyond Middle England, by Sarah Crabtree, was another recent--and rather enjoyable--read.

Escaping from her ho-hum life as a secretary, Zara (our heroine) finds herself in Lichfield, England, and decides to do something she's never done before: crash a party. Feeling very proud of herself for slipping in unnoticed, she immediately bumps into Alan, one of the party's hosts. (Oops.) Moving in with Alan (20 minutes later), Zara and Alan find themselves in a rather serious relationship after only 24 hours. (They've slept in the same bed, eaten out, and Alan has been introduced to Zara's cousin Julia, recently separated from her husband, Carl. Apparently, meeting the family is stage three. Who knew?)

Falling madly, deeply, truly in love, (although Zara is rather worried about the physical aspect of their relationship) each of the lovers also has a secret that they've been keeping from everyone: Zara's is that she slept with her cousin's husband, while Alan's secret...well, he's really not allowed to talk about it. (Hint: think snow globes Chernobyl.)

Tearing around Middle England, they meet a host of other characters, including Zara's neglectful family, her cousin Julia, Carl, her cousin's estranged husband, Gary, one of the groomsmen at Julia and Carl's wedding, Gary's ex, Linda, lesbian activists who are protesting against GM foods, ghosts, intruders & thieves, missing manuscripts, and ants. You cannot forget about the ants. (Seriously. Their role is epic.)

I really enjoyed the humor in this book and I especially liked the character of Zara. She's zany and fun, serious and sober, and she keeps going left when I expect her to go right. Terror From Beyond Middle England is a twisty, entreating ride of a story, with morals and qualms and the reminder that family and friends are always there (whether you want them to be or not), and that while it's important to know our past, we have to know when to move past it. Or the past becomes your future, and we all know where that leads...

Adorably English, dark twist on a chick novel. Sarah Crabtree takes the chick novel formula and stands it on its head. Hilarious only in the way Douglas Adams could be - if he were a ditzy, scatterbrained Englishwoman. Can't stop smiling.

Meandering, and a trifle too pleased with itself, but there is something to like here. Zara is wandering aimlessly (meandering, now that I think of it, and . . . yes, a trifle too pleased with herself) away from the charmless-man stereotypes of southern England, a basket-case mother, philandering dad, peer group that cheat on each other and call each other "cow", etc. She reaches her spiritual home in Lichfield and in a flower bush she meets her man, a twee sciencey type named Alan who is nevertheless enough of a northern soul to slap her bottom twice a chapter (really, England? I seem to be asking "really" a lot lately, but . . . really?). Their eyes meet as the Pet Shop Boys play and she moves into his country house, but their parklife is quickly interrupted by a succession of quirky characters, unusual events, teenagery groping on all accounts after the type of life that will make everybody feel good about their respective selves, and a weird sci-fi plot that simmers irrelevantly and then busts out at the end by surprise, yet halfheartedly too. There are some good jokes and cute moments and bits where you're like "yeah, we're a self-pitying lot and sometimes squalid, but we're the only us we've got, humans". But this is just so, I dunno, awkward. Awkwardly English. "Do a pooh"? Rrrrreally?½

I understand that Sarah Crabtree is a horror fiction writer though this novel seems to be in a different vein.

Zara is an unusual, small-town temp travelling through middle England who stumbles upon odd characters on the way.

I have to go along with the majority of reviews on this one that the story was all over the place. It is a book that if you stop reading it for a while and come back to it, it is hard to remember what happened before. I'm still trying to figure out the plot.

What a fun little read. I dumped The Lost Symbol for this and never looked back. I was reminded of Jane Austin and loved how all was resolved in the end.

I am still waiting for this book (which I won in the Member Giveaways) to show up. Will write a review when it gets here.

I got this book through the members giveaway program.
Big question: what am I doing here, this here meaning both the book and Lichtfield, Middle England?

I can't help but agree with Sumanam: Sarah Crabtree is capable of writing, she should work on the subject though.
The real terror is being boared from the beginning to the middle of the book, while nothing changes even when characters show up, and you fill caught among the ants, no matter which reading strategy you try.
Sorry for the author, I quit, she should try again, for sure she should not give up but work on it

A fast-paced read full of flawed, disconnected characters and the truths and lies they tell each other and themselves. The book is engaging and provides a reasonable wrap up for the many plot threads, large and small. It has a large cast, but even those we meet only briefly are written clearly enough to get a sense of them and their place in the story.
Oddly, although I enjoyed the story, some of the main characters' actions or motivations didn't make much sense. Zara had a annoying tendency towards weeping and shouting and taking over Alan's life (and house) while Alan was often too passive and accepting.

I cannot say this was a book I enjoyed. It seemed to be all over the place somewhat like the characters. I struggled to finish it. The characters were not developed enough to create a strong storyline. The writer is very capable of writing but this was not for me.

“Terror from Beyond Middle England” begins in the hollyhocks, where Zara surreptitiously observes the geriatric party that she decides to crash. Almost immediately, she is thrown into the life of the mysterious Alan and drawn to his world in the cottage of the elderly couple, Hilda and James. On a two-week holiday from her secretarial duties, Zara finds Alan’s presence strangely comforting. However, the French windows are one day wrenched open and one of Alan’s t-shirts goes missing. A myriad of happenstances ensue, all surrounding: an illicit manuscript in the attic, an anti-GM foods advocacy group, clandestine love affair after love affair, an endless tirade of ants in the kitchen and many cups of tea going cold.

Author Sarah Crabtree creates a novel of relationships, loneliness and identity. Zara is bombarded by each of her family members, whom she seems to despise and yet can’t refuse. Almost every character is unfaithful, and amongst all the tension, there are incredibly strong bonds that tie each of the characters unwillingly to one another.

This is a novel of passing time, finding people and finding ourselves mixed in with all of the life that we can’t stop from happening. It’s about recognizing when it’s time to forgive, cope with the present and venture onward. “Terror from Beyond Middle England” is a quirky and absorbing read, realistic and yet so out of the ordinary.

A delightful, hilarious and engaging story. A humorous portrayal of several flawed people and their various foibles. I thought the characters of Zara, her mother, and Alan were especially well done.