'Placing the work of an author like Angela Carter who consistently plays around with the notion of the writing self and whose own autobiographical essays and statements are not to be entirely trusted within its biographical and cultural contexts is a demanding project. In Angela Carter: A Literary Life, Sarah Gamble rises to the challenge, demonstrating convincingly that Carter's portrayal of the self as provisional and contingent does not mean that we cannot make connections between her art and her life. Gamble's emphasis upon Carter as an astute observer of the societies in which she lived and worked is a refreshing perspective on a writer more commonly associated with fantasy than political comment.' - Professor Linden Peach, University of Gloucestershire, UK 'Angela Carter: A Literary Life offers insight for appreciating Carter's style, but more importantly it demonstrates Carter's relationship to the social and historical contexts within which she wrote. As part of Palgrave's Literary Lives series, Gamble's book establishes these contexts through careful reasoning and thorough research... Gamble's method provides a thoughtful and coherent reading of Carter's major works.' - Carolyn Perry, Literature& History, 2008
