Carolyn Slaughter Biography
(1946– ), The Story of the Weasel, Columba, Magdalene, Dreams of the Kalahari, The Banquet
British novelist, born in India, educated in South Africa and in England; she worked as a copywriter in London until 1976. Her first novel, The Story of the Weasel (1976), was praised for its sensitive treatment of fraternal incest in Victorian England and for its subtle poetic prose. Columba (1977) again displayed a preoccupation with pathological mental states, impossible love, and loneliness, with compassion and lyricism. Magdalene (1978) explores the myths of early Christianity from an entirely subjective perspective in impassioned tones and poetic prose reminiscent of Elizabeth Smart. With Dreams of the Kalahari (1981) Slaughter turned to South Africa for inspiration, combining the personal with the political in a series of more accessible novels. In The Banquet (1983) Slaughter returns to a controversial theme, but the novel's extended metaphor of cannibalistic desire verges on the lurid and sensationalistic. Slaughter became a resident of America. Other novels include A Perfect Woman (1984) and The Widow (1989).
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Literature Reference: American Literature, English Literature, Classics & Modern FictionEncyclopedia of Literature: Lemn Sissay Biography to Southwold Suffolk