Latest news with #Sabine
The Review Geek
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
‘Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil' by V.E. Schwab
Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is an intriguing queer romance, told from the perspective of three different (Very different!) voices with one thing in common – they're all vampires. Whether these voices are connected in some way is not something I'm about to spoil here, but suffice to say, Midnight Soil is as mesmerising as it is endearing and well-written. The story is split across three distinct timelines, blending Gothic horror with a more modern spin on vampirism. The main character for much of the story is Maria, an untamed girl raised in a patriarchal village in Spain, 1532. She's forced into marriage to a Duke and spends her days miserably hoping she doesn't get pregnant. When Maria becomes entangled with a mysterious, otherworldly woman called Sabine at an apothecary, her life changes forever. What follows is an epic, centuries-spanning journey as Maria adopts Sabine's name and sets off in search of meaning and identity far beyond her village walls. It's here where we're introduced to our second main protagonist, Alice. Alice is a loud, cynical college student who hates men and seems permanently annoyed with the world. After a one-night stand with the mysterious Lottie, who leaves behind only a cryptic post-it note, Alice sets off on a messy, erratic journey to uncover the truth. The third timeline belongs to Charlotte, whose story eventually bridges the gap between Sabine and Alice. This does arrive late in the book though, and Midnight Soil demands a fair bit of patience to untangle the timelines and flashbacks before things begin to click into place. What keeps Midnight Soil from crumbling under its own ambitious weight is V. E. Schwab's hypnotic prose and strong characterisation. Some of the descriptions are genuinely stunning, and Sabine's voice in particular has a dreamlike, almost siren-like pull. When Schwab is in her groove, she writes with elegance and beauty that will see the pages zip by, even when not very much is happening. However, that spell doesn't always hold. Beneath the gorgeous writing is a story that takes a long time to gain momentum. Maria/Sabine's arc is undoubtedly the emotional tissue holding everything together, but it's continually interrupted by Alice—whose sections are, unfortunately, the weakest part of the novel. Her rage rarely deepens into anything more complex, and despite being central to the story's resolution, she remains emotionally static. I won't get into spoilers here because there is a good reason for this anger, which is unveiled through layered flashbacks across her POV chapters. So in essence, we're not just dealing with three timelines but also flashbacks within one of those timelines to an earlier part… of the timeline. That said, Schwab's themes are loud and clear, and this part of the book is certainly not subtle. Midnight Soil is a book about womanhood, identity, power, queerness and survival in a world where men often take the role of aggressor. Most of the male characters here are either antagonistic or outright abusive, but Schwab avoids making her female characters flawless in return. Too often we see the usual trope of 'men bad/women good' but Midnight Soil mixes things up by basically making everybody a different shade of horrible. It's complex, messy, and deeply human – especially when it comes to Maria/Sabine's storyline. The book takes a lot of inspiration from Interview with a Vampire, in both the TV adaptation and the book format, and as the book continues, you can really see those influences shine through in a big way. Bury Our Bones In The Midnight Soil certainly won't be for everyone though. It's undoubtedly atmospheric and moody, but also overly indulgent, slow-paced and occasionally frustrating. However, if you're willing to let the prose guide you through its layered timelines and deeply flawed characters, the finale is explosive enough to look past some of the issue and see a lot of beauty in its bones.
Spectator
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
28 June 2025
At any big international bridge tournament, the chances are you'll end up playing a star name or two. And while it's always a privilege, I find it hard to stop my inner voice whispering how incomparably better they are than me; I'm just a sitting duck. I have a mantra, however, which helps: 'Anyone is beatable.' So I couldn't help laughing when I read an interview with the German champion Sabine Auken recently, in which she revealed she has a rather different mantra: 'Anyone can beat me.' We're both right – there's no place for fear or hubris at the bridge table. Sabine, though, is an unusually tough opponent. She has won countless medals, plays on the German open team with her partner, Roy Welland, and in 2013, became the first woman ever to win the European open pairs. This deal helped seal her and Roy's victory: (* shortage) South led a diamond. Sabine cashed the ♦️KQJ, unblocked the ♠️Q, came to hand with the ♣️Q and cashed the ♦️A. North, knowing a heart or club discard would give her an extra trick, threw a spade. No good: three rounds of spades later, North had to discard on the ♠️10. Dummy was down to ♣️AK8 and the bare ♥️J. North chose to throw the ♥️K, whereupon Sabine crossed to the ♣️A, came back to the ♣️10 and exited with a heart. South, to spare North from having to win with the ♥️Q and play a club to dummy's ♣️K, went for a 'crocodile coup': he hopped up with the ♥️A. But Sabine still made 12 tricks when he then had to concede the ♥️6 to her ♥️7!
Cosmopolitan
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Read V.E. Schwab's ‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' Annotated Excerpt
Welcome to The Scroll, a new column that checks in with your favorite writers, asking them to exclusively reveal and annotate the best moments from their brand new books. We also get them to dish on their writing process and divulge a few plot secrets along the way. This round we chatted with V.E. Schwab, author of the iconic Villians series and The Secret Life of Addie LaRue. The author is changing what we thought we knew about our favorite creatures starting with a different kind of vampire story in her new novel Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Here, she shares an exclusive excerpt and talks about the power of writing hungry and vulnerable villains. I like to write fantasy that has a single point of departure, because you essentially start with both feet on the ground in a known place and then move from there. And I think I approach tropes the same way. My vampires do age, just on the inside instead of the outside. They wither and they decay morally, existentially, romantically until all that's left is the urge to hunt. 'The heart dies last' is part of that. The last piece to go for the vampire is also what was sustaining them emotionally. Sabine is a character that definitely strikes a very specific note. She is like, 'Kill first; ask questions later.' I think it's really important—especially when dealing with a villain—to show you that behind the curtain, there are still fears. It's showing you both her strength and her weaknesses. She is learning that she has something to be afraid of, but there is no moment where she is afraid. 'The heart burns last' is a lot of foreshadowing for every character in that scene, some in very, very literal ways and some in metaphorical ways. For an immortal, the passion, the hunger, the need, the desire is what keeps you going. It's the idea that once it's gone, there's nothing keeping you going. If you look at the three women at the heart of this story, hunger means a variety of things. The hunger to be free from the constraints of your life as it's been determined, the hunger to be recognized as a whole person, the hunger for rights, the hunger to be witnessed by somebody for what and who you really are. Sabine is driven by her hunger, in the literal sense, long before she's a vampire. Hunger is an insatiable thing. Hunger is like a moving goal post in life. We hunger for success and we hunger for recognition. We hunger for revenge, we hunger for everything. Hunger is at the heart of this book, in the traditional sense, because they're vampires. But there's also a really strong existential threat as there is with everything in this book. Each of the three women learn that, actually, no matter how much they feed, they will never feel satiated. At the end of the day, I am a fiction writer. I'm a fantasy writer. So I'm sure I got something wrong. Despite all of the research that I did, it's just inevitable. I am not a non-fiction historian, so I'm here for the vibes, right? I think I was so excited to look at three really distinct time periods and places, not only through the lens of history, but through the lens of queer history and closeting specifically. Queer people have always existed. It's not like we grew out of the soil a decade ago. These three women have such different historical contexts for their own identity and how they process it. I really wanted to talk about gay trauma and talk about queer joy. I really appreciate the need for both. I spent the first 15 years of my career not writing lesbian villains for that reason. But that's so reductive when we break it down because what we're saying is that queer people and queer characters don't deserve the same complexity and nuance as their straight counterparts. I write villains. That's what I do for a living. They're all messy, all accountable in different ways. These three women have moments where they are villainous and moments where they are heroic and moments where they are everything in between. I wanted to write somebody who made me feel seen. BOOK COVER: Courtesy of Tor Books. Excerpt and Annotations: Used with permission from Tor Books, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group, a trade division of Macmillan Publishers. Copyright © 2025 V. E. Schwab. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, by V.E. Schwab will be released on June 10, 2025. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice: AMAZON AUDIBLE BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION BOOKSHOP APPLE BOOKS KOBO TARGET WALMART POWELL'S BOOKS HUDSON BOOKSELLERS GOOGLE PLAY
The Courier
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
23 photos of Dundee firefighters include heroes fighting city's biggest blazes
These archive images show Dundee firefighters in the 1980s and 1990s. They show crews battling some of the city's most memorable blazes. These included the 1980 Palais dance hall fire and the £6.4m blaze that reduced the Ashton Works jute mill to a smouldering shell in 1983. The faces of those who fight the flames are also shown. There are pictures of the crew in full uniform and raising money for charity. Enjoy having another browse back through the ages courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday. Some of these images have not been seen for years. Will they awaken any memories for you? The Palais in South Tay Street opened in 1928 and hosted acts over the decades such as Louis Armstrong, David Bowie and the Bee Gees. It ceased to be the Palais in October 1976 and became Samantha's disco. The blaze on February 20 1980 was known as the day the music died and the iconic entrance of the former ballroom is now all that's left of the old Palais. A mass meeting at Blackness Road Fire Station in November 1980. Over 270 members of the Tayside branch of the Fire Brigade Union attended and overwhelmingly supported industrial action in a national dispute over pay. The fire service workers voted to handle emergency calls only. Flames and thick smoke trapped 15 tenants as 30 firefighters battled to contain a blaze at the multi-storey block at Butterburn Court in March 1983. Some were hanging from the top windows, calling for help and waving blankets. Firefighters fought for more than an hour to bring the blaze under control. Firefighters at work on the roof of a lab in the University of Dundee after a fire. The incident happened in April 1983. Ashton Works was destroyed following a devastating fire in September 1983 that caused the equivalent of £6.4m of damage in today's money. More than 60 firefighters battled for more than three hours to contain the blaze. A German-registered coaster, the Sabine, collided with the Tay Road Bridge in heavy rain and fog in October 1984. Firefighters were at Dundee docks after the vessel returned to the harbour. The Fountain Disco in Brown Street offered Dundee clubbers cheap drinks, pounding chart music and the best light show in Scotland. Tragedy struck on June 25 1985 when fire ripped through the upper floor and completely destroyed the roof. It reopened in April 1986 following repairs and improvements. Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus during an exercise in July 1985. Sets are carried on all frontline fire engines. Firefighters attending a tanker fuel leak on the Kingsway in August 1995. A firefighter does more than put out fires. A firefighter also helps with hazardous materials and road traffic accidents. A firefighter being sprayed with water to decontaminate following a disaster simulation exercise at Dundee Airport in October 1989. The full-scale emergency response was scrambled following a mock crash between two light aircraft that left nine people 'killed' and 17 with 'serious injuries'. Exercises of this sort became an annual event. A mock fire exercise at the Wellgate Centre in November 1989. Dummies were used and the aim of the simulation was to test the ability of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to penetrate deep into the burning area Ian Johnston and Morris Anderson undertaking a training drill with a hose in February 1991 at the Macalpine Road Fire Station. The station opened in November 1990. The new building replaced the Northern Fire Station at Strathmore Avenue. Long service awards recipients at Blackness Road Station in February 1991. The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is awarded under Royal Warrant to full time, retained and volunteer staff who have completed 20 years' service. A simulated rail crash between a passenger train and chemical-carrying tanker was staged at the northern approach to the Tay Rail Bridge in September 1991. A ScotRail carriage was derailed to add realism. The simulated crash resulted in 10 fatalities, which were all dummies. Blue Iris was the first large-scale civil emergency exercise to be carried out in Tayside since town and village were lumped together under regionalisation in 1975. Part of the exercise involved the simulated evacuation of 160 nearby residents whose homes were affected by toxic fumes from the rail tanker. National Fire Safety Week arrived in the Murraygate in October 1991. Firefighters were spreading the message outside a portable fire safety awareness unit. Senior officers getting in some practise at Macalpine Road Fire Station in August 1993. They were getting ready to pull a 10-ton fire engine 100 metres in as short a time as possible to raise money for the Ninewells Cancer Research Appeal. Station Officer Jim Pearson retired from MacAlpine Road in May 1994. He received a crystal figurine from Divisional Officer Alexander MacPherson. Remember the Zapp Zone at the Megabowl in Lochee? Firefighters were showing off how a thermal imaging camera works in June 1994. A new helmet was introduced in Tayside featuring a visor. Bruce Henderson and Fraser Cochrane were comparing the old and new helmet at Blackness Road Fire Station in September 1995. Bruce, at the back, was modelling the new version. Forty firefighters with eight appliances were involved in Exercise Grandstand at Dundee United's Tannadice Park home ground in August 1996. The mock test was to keep them up to scratch on dealing with incidents at stadia. A new Comet store opened at the Milton of Craigie retail park in November 1999. The previous store suffered £200,000 of damage in an extensive fire in February with 35 firefighters involved in the emergency operation. The new store was opened by Fireman Sam and his Dundee colleagues. It's the final image in our gallery of Dundee firefighters. Did you recognise anyone? Let us know.
Eater
28-05-2025
- Business
- Eater
How Our New Concept Brought In 30 Percent More Guests
A version of this post originally appeared on May 28, 2025, in Eater and Punch's newsletter Pre Shift , a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world. This send is the second of a four-part series on restaurant growth, presented by Square . Organize all your orders — dine-in, online, and third-party — and fulfill them in a flash, right from your POS . Subscribe now for more stories like this. Sabine, according to operating partner Rich Fox Where: Seattle The growth: In March 2020, James Weimann and Deming Maclise of Yes Parade Restaurant Group closed their 11-year-old bistro, Bastille. In October, they converted the space into Sabine, a counter-service cafe and bakery. Its scope has since expanded with the addition of a bar and table-service dinner from Tuesday to Sunday. In March, the restaurant group announced a forthcoming second location. Here, Rich Fox, one of the operating partners of Sabine, explains why the pandemic was the right time to shift the business model. Increase in daily guest count from 2019: 31 percent, with a similar increase in sales revenue On closing Bastille When the pandemic hit, some [of our] restaurants lent to the [new operating conditions] much easier than others in terms of going takeout-only or outdoor-only. The feeling with Bastille was that the menu presentation and dynamic would have been harder to shift. Independent of the pandemic, there was also the feeling that Bastille had maybe run its course. The idea of shutting down and changing the concept during that time was easier than it would have been previously. On updating the concept We had to take out a big portion of the seating to build the coffee counter. The inside space lost about 24 seats, but at the same time, we had a 'streetery' that added back all of those seats and more. We're replacing that with a street cafe, so when all is said and done, we'll probably net out at the same number of seats. Bastille was a dinner house and very wine-forward; the check average was high. [At] Sabine, being more of a coffee counter, our check average is smaller but our volume is higher. We're actually open more hours. We're open from 8 in the morning until at least 10 at night, five days a week. On counter service Initially during the pandemic, we didn't know from one minute to the next what the city or state was going to hand us. Having really limited counter-service staff was a huge asset in the beginning compared to the restaurants that were full-service. It makes hiring easier, first of all, and you can lean into the staff that you have and really work on those relationships. On expanding It came earlier than expected. It was born from having a great relationship with the building owner and their willingness to work with us on a landlord-tenant deal that made sense for all of the worries we have right now. Part of what made us feel good is counter service: That model does make the overhead less. Between the work our chef has done, our coffee program, and our bar, we felt we had a unique concept that had not been replicated, at least locally. On flexibility There are places [within the restaurant group] where we tried counter service, and for us, it didn't seem like an advantage based on the concept. We have only one other location that switched that's still doing counter service today and that's a place in Leavenworth, outside of Seattle. There are other restaurants where it felt better for us and for our style of service to go back to full service. It's very subjective, but for Sabine, it's been wonderful.
