The Voluble Topsy

Women’s Weird 2 contains thirteen remarkably chilling stories originally published from 1891 to 1937, by women authors from the USA, Canada, the UK, India and Australia.
Following the success of Handheld Press’s 2019 best-selling anthology Women’s Weird, Women’s Weird 2 will be published alongside James Machin’s anthology of classic British Weird fiction, British Weird. Women’s Weird 2 contains thirteen remarkably chilling stories originally published from 1891 to 1937, by women authors from the USA, Canada, the UK, India and Australia. Featured stories will include: Lettice Galbraith’s ‘The Blue Room’ (1897), Barbara Baynton’s ‘A Dreamer’ (1902), Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The House’ (1912), Bithia Mary Croker’s ‘The Red Bungalow’ (1919), Marjorie Bowen’s ‘Florence Flannery’ (1924), L M Montgomery’s ‘The House Party at Smoky Island’ (1934) and Stella Gibbons’ ‘The Roaring Tower’ (1937). Melissa Edmundson’s introduction will explore how the evolving Weird tradition was interpreted using colonial settings, and focus on how Weird fitted naturally into the careers of writers like Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) and Gibbons (Cold Comfort Farm) who were not normally considered exponents of supernatural fiction.
Topsy is a girlabout town in late 1920s London, a society deb, a dashing flapper. She writes breathless, exuberantletters to her best friend Trixabout her life, her parties, her intrigues, and the men in her life. Topsy isunexpectedly drawn into politics, and to her amazement, she is elected as amember of Parliament.Topsy’sextensive social life, her adventures in and out of the House of Commons (andher audacious attempts to legislate for the Enjoyment of the People), and herwartime activity as the mother of twins, were recorded faithfully by the greatcomic writer A P Herbert. Handheld Press is publishing a new omnibus edition of Topsy's adventures, consisting of The Trials of Topsy (1928),TopsyMP (1929)and TopsyTurvy (1947), for the delight and admiration of a newgeneration. For lovers of Nancy Mitford and The Diary of a Provincial Lady Topsy will be a fresh delight. In the late 1920s Topsy is a girl about town, a society deb, a dashing flapper. She writes breathless, exuberant letters to her best friend Trix about her life, her parties, her intrigues, and the men in her life. One particular man draws her into politics, and to Topsy’s amazement, she is elected as a member of Parliament.
Topsy’s extensive social life, her adventures in and out of the House of Commons (and her audacious attempts to legislate for the Enjoyment of the People), and her wartime activity as the mother of twins, were recorded faithfully by the great comic writer A P Herbert.