Emma Styles
Bio
Flâneuse. Part-time Parisian. Ocean lover.
Stories (20)
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Raw, Vegan Dragon Fruit Cheesecake
If you're looking for something a bit different, a show-stopping dessert for your first party post-lockdown, I recommend this amazing dragon fruit and raspberry cheesecake. Raw, vegan and really easy to make, it can be made in advance and will serve up to 8 people.
By Emma Styles3 years ago in Feast
The Best Book to Film Adaptations
As a bookworm and a cinephile, I've seen a few book adaptations in my time, some better than others. There is perhaps nothing more disappointing to a bookworm than seeing a beloved novel poorly portrayed on screen, complete with poor casting choices and plot holes developed after crucial scenes from the book were omitted. On the other hand, there's perhaps nothing better than seeing a beloved novel portrayed exactly as you imagined, bringing a favourite tale to life before your eyes.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Geeks
When I Write Female Characters, I Look to Elizabeth Swann
We've all heard of various tropes and cliches often found within fiction, such as the 'impossibly perfect' Mary Sue and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. We see the same stereotypes again and again both on the page, and on our screens; the tough girl with the heart of gold, the ice queen, the brainiac whose sole purpose to the storyline is to supply vital, plot-driving knowledge (that last one can be found in both genders). Enough.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Viva
Once Upon a Time, We Stood Side by Side...
I was already planning to leave Paris when lockdown began and so, with Macron's announcement, I felt that I had little choice but to return to my home country; tiny old England. With a one way ticket to Athens, and a sailing course waiting for me in Corfu, I was packing up my life by March, and just starting to get anxious that Coronavirus would derail my plans. And, of course, that's exactly what did happen. Having just quit my job, and due to soon hand in the keys to my apartment, my flight was cancelled, and so instead I found myself taking a last minute Eurostar to good old London, quite unsure as to what I would do next.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Wander
Classic Childhood TV: Little-Known Gems
When it comes to the pop culture that I was exposed to, it's safe to say that I had an unusual childhood. I clearly remember my mother blaring out 70s boy band, The Osmonds, from the kitchen while I lip-synced Spice Girls, and, later, S-Club Seven, in my bedroom. Mum introduced me to The Jackson 5, while my Dad preferred Pink Floyd and The Who.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Geeks
Lockdown, On My Terms. Top Story - May 2020.
Lockdown began as I packed my bag for a summer at sea. Plane ticket ready. Boat waiting. Life neatly packed away. It was a trip I'd been planning for months, a summer of adventure like I'd dreamed of for over a decade. All on hold, for now.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Wander
6 Books to Devour During Droughtlander
Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Time travel? Check. A main female character called Clare? Check. A sweeping romance strong enough to withstand the oddities of a life of time travel? Check. Ok, so Niffenegger's debut novel may be set in modern-day Chicago rather than the romantic landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, but we're this beautiful novel will pull you in from page one.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Geeks
I Binge-Watched Outlander during Quarantine...
Outlander is a show that has long remained on the edge of my awareness, without my ever really having heard of it, consciously. Which, as a lover of period dramas, surprises me as much as those of my friends when they realise that it took me five seasons, and several years, to truly discover it. Even more surprising, as a bookworm, was my ignorance towards the epic book series, from which the TV-show is based. The series is yet unfinished, but to date, consists of eight novels (ranging from 600-1200 pages each), a ninth oncoming, and a spin-off series, several short stories, and a graphic novel. Clearly, this is a mega-series, a brand in itself, and yet, somehow, it's until now avoided my attention.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Geeks
Quarantine Read-List: Female Authors
White Teeth by Zadie Smith Zadie Smith's first novel, White Teeth, is a novel so rich with the life of London; visuals, scents, sounds, as to have the strength to transport you to the city's busy streets, and almost make you forget the current silence of our times. Following three families of mixed-ethnicity, this powerful novel questions identity, race, culture, prejudice and the theory of nature vs nurture. Samad Iqbal is convinced that British values are corrupting his twin sons, but can only afford to send one to be raised by relatives in Bangladesh. Archie Jones begins New Year 1975 by attempting suicide after his wife leaves him, only for a chance interruption leads instead to his meeting his second wife, the beautiful Clara, a Jamaican woman whose mother raised her as a Jehovah's Witness. As the Jones and Iqbal children reach their teens, we meet the third family of this tale, the white, middle class Chalfen family; Jewish-Catholic liberal intellectuals. As time passes, the lives of the three families become strangely intertwined.
By Emma Styles6 years ago in Geeks
