Carrie Smith crafts compelling mysteries and literary fiction, known for her intricate plotting and profound character development that immerse readers in complex investigations and human dramas. She delves into the darker aspects of urban life and the complexities of the human psyche. Her writing offers a distinctive blend of suspense and psychological insight.
"NYPD Detective Claire Codella has just won a tough battle with cancer and lands a high-profile case on her first day back to work. As she races to track down the killer, she uncovers dirty politics, questionable contracts, and dark secrets. Each discovery brings her closer to the truth, but may cost Codella her life"--
The book delves into Ted Hughes's poetic evolution by examining his drafts, typescripts, and correspondence, revealing the intricate layers of his creative process. It uncovers the hidden narratives behind his work, providing insights into his artistic development. Additionally, it proposes innovative methods for studying authorship, reshaping the understanding of Hughes as a significant literary figure of the twentieth century through the lens of his unseen creative history.
Revolting Families places the literary depiction of familial and intimate relations in 1960s West Germany against the backdrop of public discourse on the political significance of the private sphere. Carrie Smith-Prei focuses on debut works by German authors considered to be part of the "new" and "black" realism movements: Dieter Wellershoff, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, Gisela Elsner, and Renate Rasp. Each of the works by these authors uses depictions of neurosis, disgust, vertigo, or violence to elicit a reaction in readers that calls them to political, social, or ethical action. Revolting Families thus extends the concept of negativity, which has long been part of post-war German philosophical and aesthetic theory, to the body in German literature and culture. Through an analysis of these texts and of contextual discourse, Smith-Prei develops a theoretical concept of corporeal negativity that works to provoke socio-political engagement with the private sphere.