Stella Gibbons flashes of the novels' wit". Such lines as "my thoughts, like purple parrots / Brood / In the sick light" come dangerously close indeed to the overblown rhetoric she satirized in "Cold Comfort Farm": "How like yaks were your drowsy thoughts". The immediate and enduring success of "Cold Comfort Farm" dominated the rest of Gibbons's career. Neville thought that after so singular a success at the start of her career, the rest was something of an anticlimax, despite her considerable industry and undoubted skills. The 1985 edition of "The Oxford Companion to English Literature" defines Gibbons solely in terms of
Star of the Sea (novel) work or travel on the sea and under which title she is venerated in many Catholic seaside communities. Indeed, in Dutch and other translations the book was given the title ""Stella Maris"". In 2008, London band Silvery released the song "Star of the Sea" on their debut album "Thunderer & Excelsior" on Blow Up Records, loosely following the narrative of the book. "Star of the Sea" has collected many awards and shortlistings: Star of the Sea (novel) Star of the Sea is a historical novel by the Irish writer Joseph O'Connor published in 2004. The novel is set in 1847