Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

Cockles of the Heart by Marion Halligan

by
April 1996, no. 179

Cockles of the Heart by Marion Halligan

Minerva, $15.95 pb, 266 pp

Cockles of the Heart by Marion Halligan

by
April 1996, no. 179

Until I reviewed Marion Halligans novel Lovers’ Knots, I didn’t really know much about what a lover’s knot was. And now I know more than I used to know about the word ‘cockle’.

Quite simply, the cockles on cockle shells are the distinct ribs, and since the ventricles of the human heart resemble in some ways the shape and ribbing of the shells of scallops, we have the expression ‘cockles of the heart’. Certain furnaces are called ‘cockle stoves’ because of their shape, and something that appeals to your deepest feelings is said to ‘warm the cockles of your heart’. Christian pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela, the legendary burial place of St James the Great in northern Spain, have always worn the cockle shell because it is one of the attributes of St James.

Carmel Bird reviews 'Cockles of the Heart' by Marion Halligan

Cockles of the Heart

by Marion Halligan

Minerva, $15.95 pb, 266 pp

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.