For March’s supermoon, we’re excited to bring you another special treat! In this episode, we are joined by Gabriela Houston (all the way from London!) to discuss her debut novel, The Second Bell. As always, our discussion contains spoilers!
Gabriela Houston is a London-based writer. She was born in Poland and raised in a book-loving household on the nourishing diet of mythologies, classics and graphic novels. She came to the UK at 19 to follow her passion for literature and she completed her undergraduate and Masters degrees at Royal Holloway, University of London. After her studies she worked in publishing for a few years. She now lives with her family in Harrow, where she pursues her life-long passion for making stuff up.
This episode was recorded via Zoom, so there may be occasional audio hiccups. Our theme song is “Moon and Spruce” by Sarah Little Drum.
Listening Guide
- 0:00 – 4:05 Welcome/ Trusty Trousers
- 4:05 – 14:15 Introduction to The Second Bell and Gabriela
- 14:15 – 41:58 “Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?”
- 41:58 – 1:20:40 “Bald Heads and Queer Noses”
- 1:20:40 – 1:36:50 “Round About the Cauldron Go”
- 1:36:50 – 1:45:24 Final Spells
Links
- “A Woman’s Life Doesn’t End at 40–So Why Does Society Make Us Feel That Way?” (The Guardian)
- “Where Are All of the Mothers in Fantasy Fiction?” by Gabriela Houston for Den of Geek
- History of Swear Words (Netflix)
- “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Broke a Major Taboo on Primetime TV” (Refinery29)
- The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford
“All women in patriarchal societies I suppose would experience it to some extent, where you are being held back in quite fundamental ways…It’s a sort of constant struggle, where you’re supposed to hold your nature back and be softer, be less aggressive. Don’t tap into your anger.” @GabrielaHouston
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“Motherhood was really the absolute end of a female character’s journey, traditionally…That means that there’s this whole huge aspect of human experience that doesn’t traditionally get the attention it deserves. ” @GabrielaHouston
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“Words matter. The way we use words matters.” @GabrielaHouston
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Witches in Britches 