Catherine Ramsdell

Detailed and Memorable, the Middle Ages Are Brought to Life in ‘Illuminations’

Why Wouldn’t One Hang One’s Christmas Tree from the Ceiling? ‘Inventing the Christmas Tree’

His Mouth Wrote a Check His Ass Couldn’t Cash: ‘A Nation of Deadbeats’

‘From the Forest’ Is as Magical as the Fairytales It Discusses

On the Line Between Legitimate Biography and Gossipy Tell-All: ‘The Great Charles Dickens Scandal’

Helen Dunmore’s ‘The Greatcoat’ Is Beautifully Haunting

Imagine Oscar Wild, Scandalous and Daring: ‘The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray’

Nick Hornby Goes from Inspirational to Wickedly Funny in ‘More Baths Less Talking’

Even the Scientifically Challenged, Thanks to Their DNA, Will Enjoy ‘The Violinist’s Thumb’

In ‘Hellbender’, Is He Speeding Away from Trouble? Or Toward It?

‘Grimm’s Household Tales’

‘Poison, Detection, and the Victorian Imagination’ Asks, Is Poison the Poetry of Homicide?