49.
Title: [Batman: Year One]
Author: Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
Genre: Comics
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: 28 May 2016
Rating: ****

According to the introduction of Batman: Year One, DC Comics decides to revamp their bi names in the 1980s, afraid that the characters had grown stale. Denny O'Neil writes that Wonderwoman and Superman needed new stories, "but Batman was a problem. He was fine just as he was." Thus, the "editors decided, Batman's origin should not be changed. It could be given depth, complexity, a wider context." This is precisely what Frank Miller aims to do in Year One, originally published in 1986, and offering an origins story that fixes Gotham in the cultural imagination, and broadens the task of origin narration to include other significant characters. I haven't yet made it to my omnibus to see how much of, say, Gordon's story is original to Miller, but the book as a whole is dedicated to a consistent level of struggle and searching, looking forward to the characters so well known today.  Jim Gordon is transferred to Gotham after past failures, bringing along a newly-pregnant wife and a deep-seated repulsion for his newly assigned city; Bruce Wayne returns from twelve years in Europe, perfectly charming and confident, but in secret plagued with a sense of inadequacy that drives him to work harder and harder. Selina Kyle watches from the shadows before developing her own alternative identity, and pits herself in a contest of reputations with the mysterious Bat.

Batman: Year One does exactly what it promises, returning to the real origins of Batman - not the murder of the Waynes, but when Bruce Wayne seeks out an alternative identity through which to exercise his manic desire for revenge and street justice. What Batman No. 1 does in approximately nine frames Frank Miller details in ninety-six pages of thoughtful development.  Bruce Wayne, though wealthy and physically practiced, is uncertain of his means, and blunders in his first days on the street, making mistakes and earning scars - and a nasty official reputation.  Gordon, too, has his flaws, not quite the boyscout he is in my head, but with a sense of right stronger than a sense of self-preservation.  Selina Kyle isn't given quite the same attention, to my dismay, but it's not her book.  Though I found the clipped and awkward narrative jarring and pedestrian, the story itself was well paced, and the visual narrative more than made up for the staccato writing.  This is the Batman I've known all my life (I'm only a year older), and it was a pleasure to go back and see where he came from.

48.
Title: [Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain, 1942]
Author: United States War Department.
Genre: Historical Guide
Medium: Web
Acquisition: Read Online
Date Completed: 20 May 2016
Rating: *****

Conduct guides are rich and valuable cultural objects capable of articulating not just the guidance f their intention, but the cultural and social values of a society. Conduct guides allow historians a better understanding of social anxieties and expectations of behavior, and clearly articulate politics of identity at a given time. Such is the case with the 1942 Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain, written and distributed by the US War Department to educate (and correct) American soldiers stationed in Britain after the United States formally enters World War II. Opening with an identification of a joint threat seeking to disrupt a potentially powerful alliance (Hitler), the guide opens with the assertion that this is "No Time to Fight Old Wars," and in the resulting paragraph illustrates the prolonged mistrust of the British by Americans in the 1940s due to the Revolutionary War: "you may think of them as enemy Redcoats who fought against us in the American Revolution and the War of 1812.  But there is no time today to fight old wars over again or bring up old grievances... The most evident truth of all is that in their major ways of life the British and American people are much alike. "

The text that follows represents the building of contentious masculinities in the US and UK, constructing a definable American cultural standard even as it seeks to inform Americans of the culture of their new station. "It is militarily stupid to criticize your allies" the guide says. Twice.

There is much to value in this text, which serves as a primary source useful for defining masculinity central to my research. But here are some of my personal favorite quips:

1. "Don't be misled by the British tendency to be soft-spoken and polite.  If they need to be,  they can be plenty tough.  The English language didn't spread across the oceans and over the mountains and jungles and swamps of the world because these people were panty-waists."

2. "You will find that English crowds at football or cricket matches are more orderly and polite to the players than American crowds.  If a fielder misses a catch at cricket, the crowd will probably take a sympathetic attitude.  They will shout "good try" even if it looks to you like a bad fumble.  In America the crowd would probably shout "take him out." This contrast should be remembered."

3.  "British churches, particularly the little village churches, are often very beautiful inside and out.  Most of them are always open and if you feel like it, do not hesitate to walk in. But do not walk around if a service is going on."

4. "The British welcome you as friends and allies. But remember that crossing the ocean doesn't automatically make you a hero. There are housewives in aprons and youngsters in knee pants in Britain who have lived through more high explosives in air raids than many soldiers saw in first class barrages in the last war."

5. On "British Women at War": "When you see a girl in khaki or air-force blue with a bit of ribbon on her tunic-remember she didn't get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich."

6. "The British have phrases and colloquialisms of their own that may sound funny to you.  You can make just as many boners in their eyes. "

You can read the conduct guide online here.

47.
Title: The Astonishing X-Men
Author: Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: By shop recommendation
Date Completed: 18 May 2016
Rating: ****

All I've ever known of the X-Men is the animated cartoon, which certainly did its job to hold my attention and spark a strong interest.  Though I've written two papers on a related subject - specifically, Storm cosplay - I've never read a comic proper, and so during our last comic book store trip I asked an employee to point out a good starter book. His suggestion was the Joss Whedon The Astonishing X-Men, both for the interesting premise of a "cure" for a mutation gene, and more generally for Joss Whedon's decision to parse down the field and focus on a select few characters.  After reading I appreciate the employee's care, as I can see how it would be easy to become overwhelmed by the thousands of mutants who appear throughout the lifetime of the property; focusing on a select team makes it easier to think about character development and interpersonal relationships.  With the very little knowledge I have of the title I found it easy to navigate the stories of Hope and Danger (and I'll leave my allusions at that, to avoid spoilers), even though a few characters were barely familiar.  Whedon does well to focus on quiet tension both within the team and in the world at large, and presents believable personal scenarios that, excuse the term, humanize the tensions and politics ad clearly reflect thematic issues introduced by the subject itself.  In short, I found it well done, if not the most compelling comic I've read.  Now that I have my foot in the door I feel more confident seeking out particular story lines that have come up in my research - specifically, when Storm steps up as a team leader, and her punk phase.  In the cartoon

44.
Title: [American Vampire]
Author: Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Stephen King
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: 12 May 2016
Rating: ***1/2

American Vampire is a fantasy of the Old West and silent film Hollywood, each dominated by tyrannical Old World vampires who own banks and studios, and treat humans ("humes." Yes, actually) as the cattle they are so often read to be within the genre.  The Old West sees the birth of Skinner Sweet, whose backstory is penned by Stephen King, and a new, distinctly American race of vampires. Skinner Sweet is no hero - his actions are fairly repugnant, and stereotypically outlaw: theft, rape, and countless murders, including the shooting of a toddler. When he gets into a physical altercation with a vampire whom his gang has robbed a drop of blood gives him new life, and the reader again meets him in 1920s California, acting the same sweets-guzzling creeper that he is in the late nineteenth-century.

While the characters are fairly stock, they're very well-executed, and Skinner Sweet has a ghastly charm that holds attention even as the reader understands that he has no redeeming qualities. Whatsoever. Truly.  Pearl shows promise, although she's given little room to be "new," and could develop into something wonderful if given half a chance. The story itself is likewise trite, but not so wooden that it wears thing, more like a familiar and comfortable sweater than a sodden mess, blending genres in a way that firmly grounds the story geographically and culturally, and leaning heavily on beautiful artwork to pull the book through.

Stephen King's introduction nearly ruins the experience before it begins.  He opens by saying, "Here's what vampires shouldn't be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and only work at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes. What should they be? Killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A. Bad boys, and girls. Hunters. In other words, Midnight America." In typical King fashion he thus demonstrates his blinder-version of genre and characters, asserting his "rightness" over the "wrongs" of other authors in a brazen display of ignorance. Clearly, King is not a fan of Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Interview With a Vampire, or ... one I haven't heard of. Nor will I say he should be - each have their targeted audience, and readers like King are not among them. What King here asserts is exactly what this books is - an assertive rewriting of an ageless figure against overly aggressive American archetypes. Essentially, King is arguing for a distinctly masculine American vampire - a violent and twisted creature that runs parallel with a culture of physical violence as old as our first war of Independence. Vampires begin as sexual creatures, which then evolves into romance - their true origins are as spectral figures raping dreamers and strangling children. In their Victorian hey-day they are feared for their sensuality and sexuality more than their physical violence; they are consumptive figures standing in for the tuberculosis that becomes an epidemic in the nineteenth-century, stealing away beautiful young women and supporting the romantic cult of mourning and death in Victorian England.  They are representatives of deviance and inversion - feared for social transgressions rather than outright slaughter. Historically, and personal taste aside, Edward Cullen's theft of Bella is more historically grounded than Skinner Sweet's murderous rampages.  But American horror generally doesn't go for subtlety, and the King I've read hasn't ever struck me as slow, creeping horror. For a good, junky, American punch in the gut, King's vampires will do; to suggest what vampires should and shouldn't be is to artificially limit a tradition that has gone on long before, and will thankfully outlast her abusers.

45.
Title: [Wytches]
Author: Scott Snyder, Joch, Hollingsworth, Robins
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: 13 May 2016
Rating: *****

Pledged is pledged.

Scott Snyder's Wytches is a stunning and horrific graphic novel perfect for a Friday the 13th, or any day one is looking for a creep. Snyder slowly builds a narrative to come back full circle, drawing on pathos and looming shadows to engage readers as they follow Sailor, and the difficult times she's had. Sailor is an adored only child, and when she is involved in a traumatic incident her family decides to move, hoping a fresh start will give her the peace she needs to recover.  In a typical-but-still-enjoyable fashion the new house proves to be less of a fresh start than they believe, and Sailor soon comes face-to-face with a horror story much bigger than she, in which she is enmeshed by the actions of others. It's difficult to be much more clear without ruining the plot, which I certainly don't wish to do - the build and resolution are much better with a veil of uncertainty. I will say that the story is well-paced and fantastically executed, and the dark, sketchy artwork adds perfectly to the tension and the horror.  A sure hit for horror fans - I'll even agree with King on this one, as he says on the cover "It's fabulous. A triumph."


46.
Title: [Coffin Hill] Volume 1: Forest of the Night
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: 13 May 2016
Rating: ***1/2

Moving back and forth through time in a series of exposes, Caitlin Kittredge's first volume of Coffin Hill tells the story of Eve Coffin, the youngest in a line of wealthy witches dating back to Salem. Notoriously selfish, and not balking at evil, Coffin women (Coffin Witches) unapologetically pursue black magic, and when Eve "rebels" she goes straight to the family tradition, leading to a catastrophe that builds for a decade.  Eve is a compelling protagonist, deeply flawed but essentially good, with a hand in both worlds that allows her to function in a series of supernatural conflicts. There is a strong suggestion that there is far more to the story than the first volume relates, establishing enjoyable tension and a drive to the second volume. The epilogue seemingly confuses its own genealogy, which is unfortunate, but Eve's narrative itself is compelling. Though less of a thrill than Snyder's Wytches, it's an enjoyable book with a well-paced narrative and attractive art.

43.
Title: [Lord of the Wings]
Author: Donna Andrews
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: 12 May 2016
Rating: ***1/2

Lord of the Wings takes place during another Halloween in Caerphilly, and follows Meg as her volunteer schedule leads her to manage the "Goblin Patrol" for a week-long town festival; when a series of pranks leads to the discovery of a body in the woods the town discovers that there are more sinister plans in place for the week, and work to balance the festivities with a murder investigation. As usual, Meg's primary focus is her "volunteer" work, but this book at least makes an attempt to address some of the problems of priority. Ironically, Meg laments the time her actual job would take from her family, and many of her volunteer responsibilities are given to a new city employee; here Meg tries to balance time with her twins and her time on the festival. But still I'm left to wonder - why spend all of this time volunteering and longing to go back to work? Why not, as nearly every other resident does, focus on her job? Her father works, her husband works, the librarians work, the police all work ... and Meg volunteers instead of working. Strange. An effort is made to rectify this discrepancy at the conclusion, so an even further balance may be found in the next in the series. I'm not sure I'll continue myself - I've grown bored - but more dedicated fans will likely be pleased with the new direction.

41.
Title: [The Good, The Bad, and the Emus]
Author: Donna Andrews
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: 8 May 2016
Rating: ***

It must be difficult to maintain a cozy mystery series for so long, as small towns and craft fairs can only yield so many bodies. To alleviate some of the body count, and protect the convivial small-town feel of Cearphilly, Andrews sends Meg Langslow into a neighboring community in The Good, The Bad, and the Emus with P.I. Stanley, sent on a mission by her grandfather. After all of this time, and having made the acquaintance of the family he didn't before knew he had, Meg's grandfather has hired Stanley to locate his former lover - only to discover that she is not only dead, but was likely murdered six months before. In an effort to win over the reclusive cousin with whom Cordelia lived before her death, Meg manipulates her grandfather into capturing and re-homing the emus Cordelia and Annabel were recently working to protect, placing them in close proximity and allowing for snooping, cautious family bonding, and bird-rescue.  Though the story can feel a bit claustrophobic, and the shallow characters wooden, the plot maintains a consistent pace, and delivers on the promise of the series thus far.

42.
Title: [The Nightingale Before Christmas]
Author: Donna Andrews
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: 10 May 2016
Rating: **1/2

In an effort to protect her home and peace of mind, Meg volunteers to manage a show house decorated by local professionals as a fundraiser for the historical society - provided the show house isn't her house. This puts Meg into the position in which she does best. No, not blacksmithing - she certainly doesn't have time to work, now that she has twin boys! And no, not parenting those boys - sure, she sneaks off for a couple of outings, but largely leaves their care to other family. She's too busy managing decorators to be bogged down with the children! ... For whom she (apparently?) gave up her job...

I intend to raise no arguments about mothers and work and parenting responsibilities - real life is full enough of those empty debates. Rather, I'm snarking because I am less certain of Meg's priorities, and thus connect less with her as a character. Once very capable, Meg now just seems flighty. If she's going to resolutely pursue one occupation over another, which she seemingly feels she needs to do, I wish she would. I want to see Meg as herself, and less of Meg as a tool for everyone else around her.

At one point in the needless character criticism that makes up Meg Langslow's internal (or in this case, actual) dialogue, she asks if a "self-respecting Goth" would actually carry a coffin purse.  This is a passing and relatively insignificant moment, to be sure, and Andrews uses it to offer the suggestion that the character in question has an eye for quality and detail, and could be successful if she outgrows the macabre. It makes a good point of illustration, though, for the trope into which Andrews falls, and one that is beginning to grate so far into the series: wooden stock characters that establish a critical social hierarchy irrelevant to the narrative progress, and reflective of a stodgy world view that masquerades for broad observation.  The decorator is not the first victim of this lack of understanding, as before the same could be said about so many, from computer geeks, to New Agers, to theater types. Heck, Meg even paints Michael into a corner before realizing he "defied type" and isn't actually gay. By pigeon-holing characters into cartoon-like personae, Andrews is carelessly coloring her texts and masking a lack of depth, which is problematic in a series that attempts to drive plot through character.  Meg herself would bristle at being judged on the surface knowledge of being a blacksmith (not that she works much anymore), so she seems much less reasonable than she's otherwise presented in her poor social readings. This works to challenge the suspension of disbelief, and ultimately renders the book - and the unnecessarily repetitive Christmas plot - tiring.

The fact that I'm so focused on poor character development in a character-driven novel is symptomatic of the lack of surface pleasure I found in reading the book, which is the real reason I pick up cozy mysteries. I don't expect them to be anything more than good fun (and highly value them as such!), and when they're not I start to wonder just why that may be. The holiday theme is exactly like the last. The decorating discussions are what you've seen before. The characters are all recycled.  If I didn't have one more book from the library I'd say it was time for me to put down Meg for good, but I'll give it one more shot.

As I prepare for my final term paper I realized that I hadn't yet posted some of my independent study readings.

39.
Title: [The Woman in White]
Author: Wilkie Collins
Genre: Victorian Gothic
Medium: Broadview Paperback
Acquisition: Victorian IS Reading
Date Completed: Spring 2016
Rating: ******

Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White is a wonderfully gothic sensation novel, rich in themes of morality, madness, deceit, and romance. Walter Hartright (heart - right) is engaged as a drawing instructor in a wealthy country household, and, predictably, falls in love with the beautiful sister, Laura.  Thematically consistent is Laura's standing engagement to the reprehensible Sir Percival Glyde, to whom Laura promises herself at her father's deathbed, and to whom she is married in the early course of the novel.  Glyde is not what he appears to be, and his repugnant characteristics reveal themselves as a mysterious young woman, Anne, makes herself known as a one-time childhood companion of Laura, devotee to Laura's late mother, and keeper of a secret that threatens Glyde in some mysterious way.  Though many of these narrative devices and themes are consistent within the genre, to the point of near-cliche, Collins masterfully builds mystery and suspense, serving his readers both what they expect of the material, while using strong characterization to heighten the reader's engagement with the narrative.  The reader will shrink from Glyde, mistrusting his actions, and feeling anxiety over Laura; though traditionally pathetic, Laura's strong character allows for a level of sympathy occasionally denied heroines her her position; Count and Countess Fosco are perhaps even less trustworthy than their friend and host, Gylde, and loom ominously around the edges of the narrative, and so forth.  That the romantic lead Walter is a shallow wash of a character does not hinder the plot, but rather allows for the substitution of one's own romantic figure in his place, allowing a personal entry into the narrative for maximum fantasizing.

For my own purposes and writing, Anne is the most engaging character, and her relationship to Laura provides a point of fascination.  The titular "woman in white," Anne is both phantom and fleshly, represented as slightly mad and therefore less trustworthy, but a keeper of some of the most extraordinary knowledge in the novel.  In reading the material construction of identity, I am struck by the other characters' reading of her blanched wardrobe, and its purported significance, not so far from a time when such choices would be fashionable and romantic.  Significant, too, is her status as a doppelganger, and the machinations surrounding this pot device.  I find it difficult to go further without spoiling the mystery of the novel, but promise to make good use of these points in my final semester writing.

Highly recommended for fans of the Victorian or the Gothic.

40.
Title: [The Odd Women]
Author: George Gissing
Genre: Victorian
Medium: Broadview Paperback
Acquisition: Victorian IS Reading
Date Completed: Spring 2016
Rating: ****

The position of women in nineteenth-century England cannot be over-exaggerated: they are victimized at every level of society, and have to fight extraordinary social and political battles to attain even the most basic rights. Gissing's The Odd Women works to illustrate society's failure in relation to unmarried women specifically, Gissing's "odd" women being the "redundant" women of Rathbone's lamentation.  The novel opens with the orphaning of the Madden sisters, daughters of a physician of various ages and levels of education, none of whom are prepared for self-support.  When Dr. Madden's untimely demise leaves the girls to fend for themselves they, as a rule, fail, and the novel follows the regrettable existence of half of these daughters, along with their bluestocking friend, Rhoda.  The text works hard to reveal social ills, and to illustrate the efforts being made to rectify these shortcomings.  Critically, Gissing's work feels extraordinary, and is a significant critique that belongs on any introductory English or gender studies syllabus.  Personally, I did not enjoy the text; the Madden sisters in their poor state are wooden ad monochromatically pathetic, and so while I lament greatly their position my emotional response comes wholly from my own historical research rather than the narration of the sisters themselves.  Similarly, I found Rhoda to be exceptionally abrasiveness, and while I enjoy her position, and can laugh at some of her extremist views, I found her to be ineffective for my own current position. Final thoughts: important and useful social text, but not necessarily an engaging personal read.

37.
Title: Selections from the [Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry]
Author: Various
Genre: Poetry
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Victorian IS Reading
Date Completed: Spring 2016
Rating: *****

Tennyson: “The Lady of Shalott”; The Epic Morte d’Arthur, “Morte d’Arthur”
Browning: “My Last Duchess”, “Porphyria’s Lover,” “Count Gismond”
D.G. Rosseti, “The Blessed Damosel”
William Morris: “The Defense of Guinevere”
C. Rossetti: “Goblin Market”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from Sonnets from the Portuguese (BA 25-29)
Elizabeth Siddal, all selections (BA 410-11)
Augusta Webster, “A Castaway” (BA 475)
Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873) "What is poetry?"
Ruskin, John (1819-1900) Of the Pathetic Fallacy
Meynell “Robert Browning”

No individual reviews, because I'm neck-deep in writing a paper on all of this material, but a couple of notes: Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" has long been my favorite poem, but having now read "Porphyria's Lover" I have fallen in love with Browning's macabre all over again.  Some of the poetry was a review for me, but Webster's "A Castaway," detailing the narrative of a "fallen woman" was new, engaging, and fantastically assertive.  I found the theory to be much less engaging, in part because I find poetry less engaging than fiction.

38.
Title: Selections from the [The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Prose] and [ Victorian Prose]
Author:Various
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Victorian IS Reading
Date Completed: Spring 2016
Rating: *****

Dodd from A Narrative of the Experience…
Wilde, from De Profundis
Dickens “A Walk in a Workhouse”
Hill, from “Blank Court”
Booth, from In Darkest England
Carpenter, from Reformatory Schools
Davies, from Higher Education of Women
Maudsley, “Sex in Mind”
Anderson “A Reply”
Collins, “Educational Crisis”
Jameson, from Legends of the Madonna
Wilde, from “Critic as Artist”
Lee, from “Beauty and Ugliness”
Becker, “Study of Science by Women”
Proctor, “A Voyage to the Ringed Planet”
Huxley, “Struggle for Human Existence”
Bates, The Naturalist on the River Amazons
Stanley, How I Found Livingston
Marsden On Sledge and Horseback

36.
Title: [The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon]
Author: William Thomas Stead
Genre: Journalism, History, Victorian
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Victorian IS Reading
Date Completed: May 5, 2016
Rating: *****

In 1885, dissatisfied with the lack of protection afforded minors by the law, William Thomas Stead published a four-part work of investigative journalism, exposing the insidious world of child prostitution in London, and specifically the thriving market for virgins supplied through coercion, deceit, and frequently rape.  Often posing as a gentlemen in the market for a "maiden," Stead meets with brothel owners and introducers, follows the mistresses and their charges to midwives and doctors for certificates of virginity, and even manages private conversations with girls during which he tries, often unsuccessfully, to more fully explain their situations. Time and time again Stead secures the sale of these young women, for £5, £7, £10 pounds, and hears of patrons who brag of requiring so many virgins a fortnight, or having "ruined" over 3,000 girls in the course of his sexual career. As a body, and with no exception in his writing, Stead views these children and young women as victims of a malicious system that is unchecked by law and instead protected by a judicial system which favors the wealthy men who are its clientele. At a time when a child of thirteen can consent to sexual acts, despite her more common ignorance of sex , the law wholly protects the men who participate in what Stead calls "organized rape" (9). Even when raped, the victims of this industry have no recourse: "No one will believe for story, for when a woman is outraged,by fraud or force, her sworn testimony weighs nothing against the lightest word of the man who perpetrated the crimes" (34).

Stead's publications is both fascinating and heartbreaking. He exposes the machinations of the industry, and brings to light the various methods "introducers" and procuresses use to harvest young women for the commodity of their virginity, most often manipulating them into an arrangement which leaves the young girls ignorant of events to come, and later traps them in a web of prostitution from which very few are ever able to escape. Personal narratives humanize the subject, balancing Stead's observations with purportedly true accounts of women trapped in the industry, at times outright kidnapped, and even sold abroad to European and American brothels. The legal, gendered, and sexual problems that allow for the commercial system Stead so aptly vilifies are far from resolved; though the legal age of consent was eventually raised in the UK, child sexploitation and human trafficking persist, often relying on the same commodification of the young, often female, body, and a gendered system of dominance and abuse.  In this way, Stead's accounts are timeless, and serve as a strong historical primary source to understand a bit of a continually contemporary horror.


35.
Title: Student Papers
Length: Over 300 pages
Date Completed: May 3, 2016