Historical fiction has always been one of my favourite genres, even though it is not the most popular at present. This novel opens on the eve of the Great War, in the summer of 1914. Clarissa Granville is 16 years old and leading a privileged life in a grand country house with her parents and 3 brothers when she meets Tom Cuthbert, the son of her parents housekeeper. Sounds pretty cliched, doesn't it? Well, the story line is just that but as Tom and Clarissa's love story loses its innocence so does their world sink into heartbreak on the bloody battle fields of Europe.
Within 4 years Clarissa believes that Tom is lost to her for ever, 2 of her brothers and her father are dead, another brother is hopelessly damaged by his experiences in the trenches, she drifts into a loveless marriage and her beloved home is sold for death duties.
Raised only to be a wife and mother, in a world that no longer exists, somehow Clarissa must find a life.
Yes, the story is a cliche, but the writing lifts this novel beyond ordinary. The innocence of Clarissa's early life makes this part of the story shine; the tragedy of war, whilst inevitable to the reader, still has the power to bow the head and slow the heart; we all recognise capricious fate and wish it could have been otherwise.
If you like historical fiction, you'll like this. Try it.
Friday, 28 December 2012
Friday, 21 December 2012
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Short listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2010, this is a tale of corruption on a grand scale. Jay Porter is a lawyer with a past he has tried hard to bury. Baptised in the fires of the civil rights movement of the southern USA, betrayed and then painfully reinvented to a new life, his fragile existence is threatened by a good deed one dark night when he rescues a woman from drowning.
His impulse leads him into a trail of corporate and political corruption, threats to his life and the lives of his wife and unborn child and the resurrection of ghosts from his past. The worlds of oil corporations, docklands, civil rights, politics at all levels and personal bravery collide in a wonderfully dramatic story set in a period of huge social change.
This is a tangled thriller, with enough twists and turns to satisfy any fan of the genre. Clever and knowledgeable, Attica Locke is one to watch.
His impulse leads him into a trail of corporate and political corruption, threats to his life and the lives of his wife and unborn child and the resurrection of ghosts from his past. The worlds of oil corporations, docklands, civil rights, politics at all levels and personal bravery collide in a wonderfully dramatic story set in a period of huge social change.
This is a tangled thriller, with enough twists and turns to satisfy any fan of the genre. Clever and knowledgeable, Attica Locke is one to watch.
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
A Perfect Waiter by Alain Claude Sulzer
It's the summer of 1935 in Switzerland. Erneste is the perfect waiter of the title, polite, dignified and private, he aspires to be nothing other than he is. Then into his small life comes a young, handsome man and he is swept into an overwhelming passion. Erneste trains Jakob in the skills of being a perfect waiter but his love and devotion are betrayed when Jakob, ambitious for more than the quiet life Erneste offers and anxious to escape the growing clouds of war, uses his new found skills to hitch a ride to America. Heart broken, Erneste withdraws into the only life he knows.
30 years later Erneste receives a letter from America that opens old wounds. Jakob needs his help and Erneste risks everything to answer the call.
Gently written in a slow but precise style, this is an elegant story evoking the 1930s beautifully. Not for lovers of fast paced thrillers or convoluted mysteries but, if you enjoy subtlety and style, this is for you.
30 years later Erneste receives a letter from America that opens old wounds. Jakob needs his help and Erneste risks everything to answer the call.
Gently written in a slow but precise style, this is an elegant story evoking the 1930s beautifully. Not for lovers of fast paced thrillers or convoluted mysteries but, if you enjoy subtlety and style, this is for you.
Monday, 19 November 2012
A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks
London, Christmas 2007, just before the financial crash. 7 very different people leading very different lives
that are all linked in ways they can't possibly imagine. This novel creates complex patterns that weave a fascinating story of modern life. We see how greed, the differences between what people appear to be and what they truly are, and the silent despair so many people endure, can cause world wide chaos and yet be suppressed beneath a thin veneer of shallow gloss.
A clever story, well crafted, that can teach the untutored reader much about the bloody world of unregulated finance, the ease with which the intensity of youth can be diverted into self-destruction and how lazy parenting fails children.
This sounds like a melancholy, desperate book. Actually, it's clever plot and good writing lifts it into something really worth reading. There's love here, too, in unexpected places, and a reprieve from terrible tragedy, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Recommended
that are all linked in ways they can't possibly imagine. This novel creates complex patterns that weave a fascinating story of modern life. We see how greed, the differences between what people appear to be and what they truly are, and the silent despair so many people endure, can cause world wide chaos and yet be suppressed beneath a thin veneer of shallow gloss.
A clever story, well crafted, that can teach the untutored reader much about the bloody world of unregulated finance, the ease with which the intensity of youth can be diverted into self-destruction and how lazy parenting fails children.
This sounds like a melancholy, desperate book. Actually, it's clever plot and good writing lifts it into something really worth reading. There's love here, too, in unexpected places, and a reprieve from terrible tragedy, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Recommended
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
The Woman in Silk by RJ Gadney
Captain Hal Stirling is a bomb disposal expert. Flown home to recuperate after being hurt by an IED in Afganistan, he begins the journey to the ancestral pile, Stirling Towers and his sick mother, for Christmas. Stopping on the way, he spends a little time with his mistress, Sumiko and her daughter, attempting to persuade Sumiko to spend Christmas with him at his home.
Already I'm a bit confused. The author tells the reader that Hal hates his home and so does Sumiko. His childhood was unhappy, both he and Sumiko believe the house is creepy in the extreme and Sumiko's daughter is positively frightened of the place. Moreover, Sumiko is married. Yet she say's she will consider it, which Hal believe's to be a 'yes'. Huh?
On arrival home, Hal meets 2 'nurses' who have cared for his mother. We learn that she has died and been hastily buried according, we are told, to her wishes. Creepy things begin to happen fast and furiously and it's difficult, and at times impossible, to tell whether Hal is suffering from delusions brought about by the post-traumatic stress of his Afgan experience, whether he's being drugged or whether there really is something supernatural going on. It makes for very disjointed reading.
Whenever I read a story like this, or see a film of a similar kind of story, I find my common sense kicking in. Why stay when you don't have to? OK, so a bond disposal expert is a danger-junky, I get that, but a bomb and the supernatural are exactly the same kind of thing. I love fiction, and am no stranger to suspending disbelief, but this tale was told in a disjointed, confused fashion that was really hard to follow. Very short chapters, unexplained quotations, flashbacks to scenes with no context; it all made for hard work.
Not a very satisfying experience.
Already I'm a bit confused. The author tells the reader that Hal hates his home and so does Sumiko. His childhood was unhappy, both he and Sumiko believe the house is creepy in the extreme and Sumiko's daughter is positively frightened of the place. Moreover, Sumiko is married. Yet she say's she will consider it, which Hal believe's to be a 'yes'. Huh?
On arrival home, Hal meets 2 'nurses' who have cared for his mother. We learn that she has died and been hastily buried according, we are told, to her wishes. Creepy things begin to happen fast and furiously and it's difficult, and at times impossible, to tell whether Hal is suffering from delusions brought about by the post-traumatic stress of his Afgan experience, whether he's being drugged or whether there really is something supernatural going on. It makes for very disjointed reading.
Whenever I read a story like this, or see a film of a similar kind of story, I find my common sense kicking in. Why stay when you don't have to? OK, so a bond disposal expert is a danger-junky, I get that, but a bomb and the supernatural are exactly the same kind of thing. I love fiction, and am no stranger to suspending disbelief, but this tale was told in a disjointed, confused fashion that was really hard to follow. Very short chapters, unexplained quotations, flashbacks to scenes with no context; it all made for hard work.
Not a very satisfying experience.
Shakespeare's Mistress by Karen Harper
I've often wondered about the identity of Shakespeare's 'Dark Lady' of the sonnets, and why there are, apparently, 2 separate marriage entries for a William Shakespeare, just days apart, to 2 different women, in his local Parish records.
This story weaves a fictional account of Anne Whateley, one of those names in the Parish records of Temple Grafton near Stratford-upon-Avon. It cleverly weaves such facts as are known, such as the dates that Shakespeare's plays were performed, the lives and careers of other writers, actors and theatre patrons, with the politics of the times and the lives of Shakespeare's family members.
Anne Whateley tells us how she grows up in Temple Grafton, falls in love with Will Shakespeare, travels to London and is already established there, having inherited her father's merchant carrier business between the Midlands and London on his death, when Will arrives, intent on making a career with his pen and acting talent.
The pair embark on a tempestuous but strong relationship that lasts their lives long against a backdrop of political upheaval, which includes the abortive invasion of the Spanish Armada, plague, rebellion, the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, the death of Elizabeth and the crowning of James I.
A fascinating tale and a well researched history lesson. Good read.
This story weaves a fictional account of Anne Whateley, one of those names in the Parish records of Temple Grafton near Stratford-upon-Avon. It cleverly weaves such facts as are known, such as the dates that Shakespeare's plays were performed, the lives and careers of other writers, actors and theatre patrons, with the politics of the times and the lives of Shakespeare's family members.
Anne Whateley tells us how she grows up in Temple Grafton, falls in love with Will Shakespeare, travels to London and is already established there, having inherited her father's merchant carrier business between the Midlands and London on his death, when Will arrives, intent on making a career with his pen and acting talent.
The pair embark on a tempestuous but strong relationship that lasts their lives long against a backdrop of political upheaval, which includes the abortive invasion of the Spanish Armada, plague, rebellion, the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, the death of Elizabeth and the crowning of James I.
A fascinating tale and a well researched history lesson. Good read.
The Doomsday Machine by Catherine Webb
Another Astounding Adventure of Horatio Lyle! A Gothic, Victorian tale of Daring Do! Magical People and Dastardly Deeds! Phew, that's enough capital letters and exclamation marks.
Horatio Lyle is a Special Constable and very special scientist in Victorian London who, with the help of 2 very special children, magical people with bright green eyes (who might, or might not, be enemies or allies) and other helpers, defeats the powers of evil in the smelly sewers beneath the city. The magical people are called Tseiqin - an older civilisation who have populated the Earth for far longer than humankind but, using their magical powers, are vitually invisible. Not quite fairies but most definitely not human. They are being persecuted by a section of powerful humans who know they are here and see them as a threat to mankind's development. Lots of iron, heat and coal, a huge machine, and a big explosion complete the picture.
Described that way, it sounds more like a children's adventure than an adult book but I found it on the adult fiction shelves. Fun to read, and I enjoyed the silly escapism, but, on reflection, I think it belongs in the teen section.
Horatio Lyle is a Special Constable and very special scientist in Victorian London who, with the help of 2 very special children, magical people with bright green eyes (who might, or might not, be enemies or allies) and other helpers, defeats the powers of evil in the smelly sewers beneath the city. The magical people are called Tseiqin - an older civilisation who have populated the Earth for far longer than humankind but, using their magical powers, are vitually invisible. Not quite fairies but most definitely not human. They are being persecuted by a section of powerful humans who know they are here and see them as a threat to mankind's development. Lots of iron, heat and coal, a huge machine, and a big explosion complete the picture.
Described that way, it sounds more like a children's adventure than an adult book but I found it on the adult fiction shelves. Fun to read, and I enjoyed the silly escapism, but, on reflection, I think it belongs in the teen section.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Sanctus by Simon Toyne
This is just the opposite from the last blog.......................
Sanctus is a conspiracy theory centred on an ancient fanatical sect.
In an ancient citadel in Turkey, the cradle of civilisation, live a community of secretive monks who shun the outside world and who accept new recruits only after the strictest of tests. They are rumoured to be the keepers of some of Christianity's most treasured artefacts, books and relics but no-one from outside has ever been allowed inside to see and none of the brotherhood has revealed any of the brotherhoods secrets. Until now.
One of the brothers climbs to the top of the mountains citadel, a feat that was considered impossible and, waiting for the media to gather below, he then throws himself to his death. What follows is a race against time to establish and expose the ultimate secret of the citadel, which is far and away more profound than anyone could imagine. Where does the history of mankind begin and who was Eve?
Do I recommend? If you like Dan Brown, you'll probably like this. 'Nough said.
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom also wrote 'Tuesdays with Morrie', among other titles.
This is a true story. Albert Lewis, a Rabbi with a lifelong relationship with his God, asks Mitch Albom to deliver the eulogy when he dies. But Mitch has almost left his faith behind and has certainly left his childhood life behind as he has built a successful career as a journalist Nevertheless, Mitch agrees and, over the next 8 years Mitch visits Albert regularly and grows to know him as a man rather than just as the Rabbi and teacher of his childhood. Genuine affection grows between the two men and, as Albert's health deteriorates with advancing age, Mitch learns some valuable lessons about material and spiritual values.
As the story develops, it draws in another man of another faith, a Christian pastor converted from a life of crime and violence, who ministers in a Church of dire poverty who, nevertheless, shines a light of joy and hope.
Two very different men of different faiths who, nevertheless, make their worlds better places.
Thank God somebody has good news to tell!
This is a true story. Albert Lewis, a Rabbi with a lifelong relationship with his God, asks Mitch Albom to deliver the eulogy when he dies. But Mitch has almost left his faith behind and has certainly left his childhood life behind as he has built a successful career as a journalist Nevertheless, Mitch agrees and, over the next 8 years Mitch visits Albert regularly and grows to know him as a man rather than just as the Rabbi and teacher of his childhood. Genuine affection grows between the two men and, as Albert's health deteriorates with advancing age, Mitch learns some valuable lessons about material and spiritual values.
As the story develops, it draws in another man of another faith, a Christian pastor converted from a life of crime and violence, who ministers in a Church of dire poverty who, nevertheless, shines a light of joy and hope.
Two very different men of different faiths who, nevertheless, make their worlds better places.
Thank God somebody has good news to tell!
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Unforgiven by Jules Hardy
Sammy is an island boy. His early childhood is idyllic, spent on Cyprus with parents who have normal working lives during the week but are glamorous hippies at weekends. Then Sammy is traumatised by 2 tragedies that change him for ever. His island life ends when he is sent to school in England and he finds temporary joy only when he visits Sansobella, in the West Indies, as a teenager.
The story seems to meander through Sammy's life, following him through school, adolescence, a rather dissolute early adulthood and yet another tragedy. Sounds like one of those endless sob stories, doesn't it? Oddly, it doesn't read like that. We learn about Sammy slowly, rather like watching a flower unfurl in slow motion.
The ending, however, is a little puzzling given the way the story begins but I won't say more for fear of spoiling it for future readers. Recommended? Definitely, but don't expect action, mayhem or thriller stuff. This is humanity and the human heart.
The story seems to meander through Sammy's life, following him through school, adolescence, a rather dissolute early adulthood and yet another tragedy. Sounds like one of those endless sob stories, doesn't it? Oddly, it doesn't read like that. We learn about Sammy slowly, rather like watching a flower unfurl in slow motion.
The ending, however, is a little puzzling given the way the story begins but I won't say more for fear of spoiling it for future readers. Recommended? Definitely, but don't expect action, mayhem or thriller stuff. This is humanity and the human heart.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
What the Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill
By the author of The Secret Life of A Slummy Mummy, I wasn't sure about this one, but my local library (Church Stretton) is quite small and I sometimes have to settle for something from a relatively small selection.
Anyway, here goes. Ali Sparrow is fleeing an unsatisfactory relationship with her University tutor (we don't find out about that for some time in the book) and lands herself a nanny's job in London, where she's never been before and which she finds confusing and troubling, looking after 4 children, one of whom (the eldest boy) is only 4 years younger than herself. The time is 2006, and the family is rich, spoilt, with father working for Lehman Brothers and mother working in press PR form the rich and famous, mainly in the financial world.
Ali falls in love with her 2 youngest charges, twins Hector and Alfi; worries about Izzy, the 14 year old daughter and eventually begins a passionate affair with Jake, the eldest son. While the parents are preoccupied with their working lives, and with the causal friendship of other nannies, Ali learns how to cope with life as the all-responsible nanny in this chaotically purposeful family.
When Lehman's goes belly up, Dad is accused of insider dealing and, at the same time, Ali's affair with Jake is discovered. Her life comes crashing down around her head, but not before she shows herself as a capable female Sherlock Holmes to prove that her employer, Bryony, is innocent even though Bryony's husband might be guilty.
Much to my surprise, a satisfying read.
Anyway, here goes. Ali Sparrow is fleeing an unsatisfactory relationship with her University tutor (we don't find out about that for some time in the book) and lands herself a nanny's job in London, where she's never been before and which she finds confusing and troubling, looking after 4 children, one of whom (the eldest boy) is only 4 years younger than herself. The time is 2006, and the family is rich, spoilt, with father working for Lehman Brothers and mother working in press PR form the rich and famous, mainly in the financial world.
Ali falls in love with her 2 youngest charges, twins Hector and Alfi; worries about Izzy, the 14 year old daughter and eventually begins a passionate affair with Jake, the eldest son. While the parents are preoccupied with their working lives, and with the causal friendship of other nannies, Ali learns how to cope with life as the all-responsible nanny in this chaotically purposeful family.
When Lehman's goes belly up, Dad is accused of insider dealing and, at the same time, Ali's affair with Jake is discovered. Her life comes crashing down around her head, but not before she shows herself as a capable female Sherlock Holmes to prove that her employer, Bryony, is innocent even though Bryony's husband might be guilty.
Much to my surprise, a satisfying read.
The Brothers Boswell by Philip Baruth
James and John Boswell are close; brought up in Scotland, in the mid-18th century in an age of primogeniture. James pledges his younger brother that this will not cause them to be rivals, as so often happened to brothers at this time in British society but time and nature intervenes. James travels to London, to seek out and befriend his boyhood hero, Dr Samuel Johnson, seek entry to London society and win a commission as an officer in a prestigious Guards regiment.
John joins the Army but, in a cruel twist of fate, finds that he has inherited the family trait of mental ill health and he spends time in an institution. A terrible place to be in those times. His intelligence allows him to earn an early release even though he is still far from well. John travels to London with revenge for real or imagined hurts in his heart so that the brothers are unable to recapture their boyhood loyalty. Misunderstandings, secrets and lies lead to violence.
This is a classy picture of London society in the mid 18th century of Dr Johnson's time. A good history lesson. Also an asute picture of brothers through boyhood and adulthood. We travel with James from his position of the loyal, kind older brother to being the self-centred, ambitious young man about town to the realisation that he has forgotten his boyhood vows and finding, again, his love for his younger brother through a time of trial. With John, we move from a safe, trusting boyhood through the conviction that he has been betrayed, to the confusion of mental ill health to the redemption of forgiveness and love.
I liked this very much. For lovers of historical fiction, recommended.
John joins the Army but, in a cruel twist of fate, finds that he has inherited the family trait of mental ill health and he spends time in an institution. A terrible place to be in those times. His intelligence allows him to earn an early release even though he is still far from well. John travels to London with revenge for real or imagined hurts in his heart so that the brothers are unable to recapture their boyhood loyalty. Misunderstandings, secrets and lies lead to violence.
This is a classy picture of London society in the mid 18th century of Dr Johnson's time. A good history lesson. Also an asute picture of brothers through boyhood and adulthood. We travel with James from his position of the loyal, kind older brother to being the self-centred, ambitious young man about town to the realisation that he has forgotten his boyhood vows and finding, again, his love for his younger brother through a time of trial. With John, we move from a safe, trusting boyhood through the conviction that he has been betrayed, to the confusion of mental ill health to the redemption of forgiveness and love.
I liked this very much. For lovers of historical fiction, recommended.
Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll
A modern fairy story, with vampires and a medieval alchemist, all in todays New York.
Garet (a new twist on Margaret) is a talented jewellery designer and maker who lives with her Dad, an art dealer with a dodgy reputation for insurance fraud. The economic crash of 2008 has left them in poor financial shape and Garet is looking for ways out of their mounting debts when disaster strikes.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Garet becomes the owner of a beautiful silver box by somewhat mysterious means, and menacing things begin to happen. New York is under siege and, much against her better judgement, Garet has to believe that she is the latest in a long line of defences against a (somewhat incompetent, it has to be said) master of the dark arts.
It's always difficult to write a convincing fairy story set in a factual setting. Most tales like this work best in purely fairytale settings, even if they have a foundation in the real world, (Dr Who notwithstanding) think Gulliver's Travels and Harry Potter. Black Swan Rising just, somehow, misses out here. There are too many gaps for my liking. Still, it's a lively tale that moves along at a smart pace and, for readers who enjoy fairy stories with a bit of detective work thrown in with a rather kindly vampire, this is for you. Hope this hasn't spoilt the ending!
Garet (a new twist on Margaret) is a talented jewellery designer and maker who lives with her Dad, an art dealer with a dodgy reputation for insurance fraud. The economic crash of 2008 has left them in poor financial shape and Garet is looking for ways out of their mounting debts when disaster strikes.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Garet becomes the owner of a beautiful silver box by somewhat mysterious means, and menacing things begin to happen. New York is under siege and, much against her better judgement, Garet has to believe that she is the latest in a long line of defences against a (somewhat incompetent, it has to be said) master of the dark arts.
It's always difficult to write a convincing fairy story set in a factual setting. Most tales like this work best in purely fairytale settings, even if they have a foundation in the real world, (Dr Who notwithstanding) think Gulliver's Travels and Harry Potter. Black Swan Rising just, somehow, misses out here. There are too many gaps for my liking. Still, it's a lively tale that moves along at a smart pace and, for readers who enjoy fairy stories with a bit of detective work thrown in with a rather kindly vampire, this is for you. Hope this hasn't spoilt the ending!
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
John by Niall Williams
I keep picking up books about religious characters. Not sure why, they just keep falling under my hand. Anyway, this one is a fictionalised version of what might have happened to a very ancient, frail and blind John the Apostle in the last few weeks of his life, and what lead him to dictate his Gospel.
John and a small group of his disciples have been exiled, by the Romans, to the Greek island of Patmos. It is winter and the group is sure that they are waiting only for the second coming of Christ. The word comes that their sentence of exile has been lifted and they set sail for Ephesus intending to begin again to preach and teach the words of Jesus of Nazareth. They find chaos, rival preachers with loud and persuasive messages and little stomach for their Christian message of poverty, love and gentleness.
Gradually, however, things begin to change and more disciples come to them. As John approaches death, his spirit remembers again the roads he travelled with Jesus and he is touched with the Spirit and filled with the love that has sustained him for a whole lifetime.
I read this story through to the end because I am a Bible student and a practising Christian, otherwise I might have given up. Most of it is thoroughly dark and depressing. Only at the end does the joy, the love, the hope shine through and illuminate what is, after all, the very heart of the Christian message.
However, in spite of the depressing nature of much of the story, Niall Williams language is beautiful. His prose flows like liquid rainbows and soars like swallows in a summer sky. Beautiful.
John and a small group of his disciples have been exiled, by the Romans, to the Greek island of Patmos. It is winter and the group is sure that they are waiting only for the second coming of Christ. The word comes that their sentence of exile has been lifted and they set sail for Ephesus intending to begin again to preach and teach the words of Jesus of Nazareth. They find chaos, rival preachers with loud and persuasive messages and little stomach for their Christian message of poverty, love and gentleness.
Gradually, however, things begin to change and more disciples come to them. As John approaches death, his spirit remembers again the roads he travelled with Jesus and he is touched with the Spirit and filled with the love that has sustained him for a whole lifetime.
I read this story through to the end because I am a Bible student and a practising Christian, otherwise I might have given up. Most of it is thoroughly dark and depressing. Only at the end does the joy, the love, the hope shine through and illuminate what is, after all, the very heart of the Christian message.
However, in spite of the depressing nature of much of the story, Niall Williams language is beautiful. His prose flows like liquid rainbows and soars like swallows in a summer sky. Beautiful.
Fortune House by Kirsty Scott
Kirsty Scott is a Sunday Times Bestselling Author. Not bad for an author who has published only 2 previous novels. I should be so lucky. Anyway, this is a family saga set in present day Scotland. A family reunion of Great-Grandmother, Gran and Grandad and their 3 daughters with various grandchildren and spouses/partners either present or dropping in temporarily. Plus the unseen presence of Gran and Grandad's lost son, the daughter's brother, killed in his teens in a road accident many years before.
It's quite a gentle tale of quite an ordinary family but Christmas is notoriously a time when close proximity brings out long forgotten challenges in family life and that's exactly what happens here. What I particularly liked about this story, however, is that it didn't seek to solve everybody's problems in the last chapter. We don't get to see what happens to the teenager when he goes back to school after the holiday, or the straight talking Great-Grandmother who is quietly losing her marbles, or the daughter who can't tumble over the edge into commitment and would rather tumble into a bottle instead. They are human, and their stories continue after the book ends. And that's just as it should be. Wonderfully drawn portraits of people of all ages, crafted with love by an observant author who weaves a page turner out of ordinary events. Masterful.
Recommended if you like modern family stuff.
It's quite a gentle tale of quite an ordinary family but Christmas is notoriously a time when close proximity brings out long forgotten challenges in family life and that's exactly what happens here. What I particularly liked about this story, however, is that it didn't seek to solve everybody's problems in the last chapter. We don't get to see what happens to the teenager when he goes back to school after the holiday, or the straight talking Great-Grandmother who is quietly losing her marbles, or the daughter who can't tumble over the edge into commitment and would rather tumble into a bottle instead. They are human, and their stories continue after the book ends. And that's just as it should be. Wonderfully drawn portraits of people of all ages, crafted with love by an observant author who weaves a page turner out of ordinary events. Masterful.
Recommended if you like modern family stuff.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Blood Ties by Sam Hayes
This is another story told in multiple voices. They only work well if the author can successfully take on the different personality's voices quickly as they switch, otherwise it's easy for the reader to become confused. This book manages, in the main, to avoid that confusion.
The story has 3 central characters, 2 women and one man. At the beginning of the story one woman is pregnant and one has recently given birth. Both lose their babies and the story then confuses the reader, time and again, until the last chapter. Mystery follows enigma, eventually solved through the stubbornness of a paranoid but rather clever husband, who just avoids causing even more tragedy before getting there, almost, in the end. I won't spoil the ending, but life is often messy.
It's a clever story that makes the most of the strange coincidences that plague us in life and that we often don't believe when we see them in fiction. It's a testament to maternal love, in many forms, when it's right and when it goes wrong. Be prepared to condemn but remember that we're all human.
The story has 3 central characters, 2 women and one man. At the beginning of the story one woman is pregnant and one has recently given birth. Both lose their babies and the story then confuses the reader, time and again, until the last chapter. Mystery follows enigma, eventually solved through the stubbornness of a paranoid but rather clever husband, who just avoids causing even more tragedy before getting there, almost, in the end. I won't spoil the ending, but life is often messy.
It's a clever story that makes the most of the strange coincidences that plague us in life and that we often don't believe when we see them in fiction. It's a testament to maternal love, in many forms, when it's right and when it goes wrong. Be prepared to condemn but remember that we're all human.
Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Chosen by Richard and Judy as one of their best selling authors, I thought this was worth a go.
Vida Angstrom has been dying of heart disease since she was born. Her mother cares for her obsessively and her only friend is an elderly Holocaust surviver, Esther, who lives upstairs. Then Vida receives a new heart. The donor has died in a car crash and Vida decides that she is in love with Richard, the bereaved husband.
The story is based on the premise of cellular memory; that is, that each cell of the human body carries some memories of the person in which it lives. In receiving a donated heart, Vida receives some shadow memories of the woman to whom the heart originally belonged. Throughout Vida's recovery from the surgery, a series of stressful events, a road trip, soul searching and a death, Richard works through his grief for his wife, Vida learns about life and her mother learns to let go. It's an interesting story and a great idea for a novel.
However, there are quite a lot of very short chapters in this book. Some are only a page in length. I think this is what made the read feel disjointed for me. It felt a bit like some of those TV programmes where the action is split into bursts of a few seconds at a time and I generally switch off after a minutes as I find I lose track of what's going on! In a book, it's easier because you can go back and reread, but why should you have to?
Vida Angstrom has been dying of heart disease since she was born. Her mother cares for her obsessively and her only friend is an elderly Holocaust surviver, Esther, who lives upstairs. Then Vida receives a new heart. The donor has died in a car crash and Vida decides that she is in love with Richard, the bereaved husband.
The story is based on the premise of cellular memory; that is, that each cell of the human body carries some memories of the person in which it lives. In receiving a donated heart, Vida receives some shadow memories of the woman to whom the heart originally belonged. Throughout Vida's recovery from the surgery, a series of stressful events, a road trip, soul searching and a death, Richard works through his grief for his wife, Vida learns about life and her mother learns to let go. It's an interesting story and a great idea for a novel.
However, there are quite a lot of very short chapters in this book. Some are only a page in length. I think this is what made the read feel disjointed for me. It felt a bit like some of those TV programmes where the action is split into bursts of a few seconds at a time and I generally switch off after a minutes as I find I lose track of what's going on! In a book, it's easier because you can go back and reread, but why should you have to?
The Shack by William Paul Young
I wouldn't normally read this kind of book, having read the jacket blurb, but it sort of fell under my hand after a number of similar instances over the previous couple of weeks and it seemed almost like a message,so I gave it a go.
A quote on the jacket cover reads 'This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good' Having read it, I'm not sure I entirely agree with that fulsome praise but I understand where he's coming from.
Mackenzie Allen Phillips (Mack) has had a troubled childhood and, having achieved a settled adult life against all the odds, faces tragedy again when his daughter, Missy, is kidnapped whilst the family is on a weekend camping trip. As time passes it becomes apparent that Missy has been taken by a serial killer and that his victims' bodies are never found.
Struggling with his 'Great Sadness', Mack receives an mysterious invitation to spend another weekend at the campsite cabin. Unable to resist, he returns to the scene of his distress and meets God. Over the weekend, he learns about the power of love, forgiveness and redemption and how to live in the world with all the muddle and contradiction of being human.
It's a powerful story that affected me deeply. So much so that, when it was time to take the book back to the library, I trotted off to my local book shop and bought a copy. Even more strange - they had a copy on the shelf! You should see my local book shop - it's tiny!
No book can answer all your questions about God - we're all still human and no-one has all the answers, but I recommend this one to anyone with questions. It has much to recommend it.
Monday, 6 August 2012
Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
What a lovely story! What glorious writing! This book was a Richard and Judy British Book Award for 2008, only just discovered by me on the shelf of my local library (Church Stretton in the glorious Shropshire Hills) this week. It proves that some of the best story themes come from true tales and that truth is often much stranger than fiction.
Moritz Daniecki and Leo Deakin are both in love. They are born 2 generations and half a world apart but love keeps them alive and yet threatens their sanity. Their loves are bigger than each of them, transcends death and teaches each of them fear and joy in equal measure. In the end, they learn that they are joined by love more closely than they could ever imagine.
A wonderfully uplifting story that made me believe in the power and glory of love as never before - it has too because Moritz and his Lotte are real people! Read it and laugh as you weep.
Moritz Daniecki and Leo Deakin are both in love. They are born 2 generations and half a world apart but love keeps them alive and yet threatens their sanity. Their loves are bigger than each of them, transcends death and teaches each of them fear and joy in equal measure. In the end, they learn that they are joined by love more closely than they could ever imagine.
A wonderfully uplifting story that made me believe in the power and glory of love as never before - it has too because Moritz and his Lotte are real people! Read it and laugh as you weep.
Thursday, 7 June 2012
The Left Hand of God
by Paul Hoffman. A fantasy novel. I like fantasy novels. My first big love, as a little girl, was Wind in the Willows and, a little later, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The Left Hand of God is a tad darker than these.
I enjoyed this fast paced story, even though it is rather crudely crafted in places. I'd have enjoyed it more, however, with fewer reference to real places (York, Silbury for example) which just felt as though the author had run out of original ideas. Not bad, though, and worth the trip to the library.
Thomas Cale is special, although he has no idea how special. All he knows is that he is brutalised and abused, by men who call themselves Redeemers, along with thousands of other boys, for reasons no-one explains. Thomas and two friends escape from their small world and, through a series of adventures, it gradually becomes clear why he is so special and why his training has been so important. Thomas fights, kills, learns to love and to be a friend as e also learns about freedom and making choices. The final twist is masterly and powerful, bringing to mind the same feeling I had when watching the final scene of the original Planet of the Apes movie.
Try it.
I enjoyed this fast paced story, even though it is rather crudely crafted in places. I'd have enjoyed it more, however, with fewer reference to real places (York, Silbury for example) which just felt as though the author had run out of original ideas. Not bad, though, and worth the trip to the library.
Thomas Cale is special, although he has no idea how special. All he knows is that he is brutalised and abused, by men who call themselves Redeemers, along with thousands of other boys, for reasons no-one explains. Thomas and two friends escape from their small world and, through a series of adventures, it gradually becomes clear why he is so special and why his training has been so important. Thomas fights, kills, learns to love and to be a friend as e also learns about freedom and making choices. The final twist is masterly and powerful, bringing to mind the same feeling I had when watching the final scene of the original Planet of the Apes movie.
Try it.
Remember Me
This book, by Melvyn Bragg, took me a long time to read. It was a bit of a challenge. I freely admit to liking stories with a bit of pace, stories that move forward. This one is slow and very wordy. Melvyn can find 6 ways of saying the same thing - beautiful ways, it's true, lovingly crafted sentences that roll sensuously across the page - but which left me thirsting for something to get hold of. Nor could I find any sympathy for either of the two main characters in the saga. Still, in that sense they were, I suppose, very real. Very few of us are the neat characters we often find in most contemporary novels, after all.
Natasha and Joseph meet in Oxford. From different backgrounds, different nations and with different aspirations they have nothing in common but, thanks to Joe's persistence, they become a couple, marry and have a daughter. Eventually their respective pasts overwhelm them with tragic results. The narrative is told in the form of Joe's letter to his grown up daughter, written when he is an elderly man, and in the present tense during their courtship and marriage. It's introspective, thoughtful and slow paced. Literary in style, with language that caresses and fills the mind with pastel colours, it's also overblown, overdone and pretentious.
Natasha and Joseph meet in Oxford. From different backgrounds, different nations and with different aspirations they have nothing in common but, thanks to Joe's persistence, they become a couple, marry and have a daughter. Eventually their respective pasts overwhelm them with tragic results. The narrative is told in the form of Joe's letter to his grown up daughter, written when he is an elderly man, and in the present tense during their courtship and marriage. It's introspective, thoughtful and slow paced. Literary in style, with language that caresses and fills the mind with pastel colours, it's also overblown, overdone and pretentious.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie
Told in 2 strands, one in the present day and one in 14th century, this is the tale of 2 women. One is a young girl, growing up in dangerous times in Tuscany, when petty tyrants seize power and use patronage to amass wealth and influence. The other is an educated woman, practicing corporate law in modern day San Francisco. Not much in common, you might think but, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the threads of family connect these 2 very different woman, and the parallels between their lives are intriguing and significant.
I enjoy historical tales and admire the scholarship that goes with the research necessary to combine historical fact with entertaining fiction. If I have a criticism of this book, it centres on the dialogue. Titania Hardie has her characters express themselves in ways that real people simply wouldn't use. It's not easy to give fictional characters believable voices whilst using that dialogue to develop personality and Ms Hardie hasn't, in this readers opinion, always got it right.
Having said that, this is a solid novel based in a period of history rarely explored. A little uneven, in that the reader can easily care about one of the heroines more than the other but this is, nevertheless, a good read and well worth a go.
I enjoy historical tales and admire the scholarship that goes with the research necessary to combine historical fact with entertaining fiction. If I have a criticism of this book, it centres on the dialogue. Titania Hardie has her characters express themselves in ways that real people simply wouldn't use. It's not easy to give fictional characters believable voices whilst using that dialogue to develop personality and Ms Hardie hasn't, in this readers opinion, always got it right.
Having said that, this is a solid novel based in a period of history rarely explored. A little uneven, in that the reader can easily care about one of the heroines more than the other but this is, nevertheless, a good read and well worth a go.
Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson
Great literary fiction it isn't but I really enjoy James Patterson. This one is a simple story about a seemingly innocent bystander, witnessing a death in suspicious circumstances, who finds a bag full of diamonds and decides to keep it. Bad move. Hunted by the Syndicate to which the diamonds belong, Matthew Bannon goes on the run with his girlfriend but all isn't what it seems. I won't spoil the ending but the twist in the tail is easier to spot than the culprit in an Agatha Christie. It doesn't spoil the fun, however, as James Patterson is a consummate teller of a yarn even if this tale feels as though it's been rattled off at speed as a nice litte earner.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Sylvia by Bryce Courtenay
Like many fictionalised versions of history, this story of the Children's Crusade of the early 13th century is centered on one character. In this case, a young girl named Sylvia. Taking in the true historical character of Nicholas of Cologne, and the mythical character of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, (who might, actually, have been one and the same) the tale tells of how Sylvia becomes involved with thousands of children who were called to the banner of Christ to start a disastrous pilgrimage to regain the Holy Land for Christendom.
Sylvia's life veers from an early childhood which is dominated by a doting mother, through a period when she is at the mercy of a violent and sexually abusive father, via Jewish tailor's household, a brothel and a nunnery, to a harrowing journey, on foot and overland, from Germany to the Mediterranean coast. All before she is 16.
The language Bryce Courtney places in the peasant girl Sylvia's mouth, as she tells her tale, appears to be intended to convey a medieval atmosphere. In this readers opinion, however, it is unnecessarily verbose, detracting from the storytelling and giving a lie to Sylvia's peasant origins and age. Still, it's an original take on an obscure period of European history and does, in spite of the overblown language, tell a rich story and convey the futility and tragedy of thousands lost children.
Not the easiest read but a good story told almost as a fairytale.
Friday, 24 February 2012
A Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
Does a novel about a Dutchman in medieval Japan interest you? No? Well, it should. This is a love story, and its consequences, set against the backdrop of large commercial enterprise gone wrong on a big scale. Sounds like today, doesn't it? Except this is a secret world, where Japanese Shoguns add their own layer of power to that wielded by the Emperor in far off Edo (modern Tokyo) in order to keep Japan cut off from the rest of the world.
Jacob is an innocent abroad, trying to make his fortune whilst maintaining his dignity and honesty in the corrupt world of the failing Dutch East India Company. He makes enemies everywhere, some of whom use his deepening, but forbidden and dangerous, attraction for a local girl against him to bring about his fall. The girl, Orito, is consigned to a closed community of women where she discovers slavery and infanticide.
Jacob and Orito meet again in later life, when destiny has built very different lives for them, and there is no going back. The gentle sadness of their loss is beautifully described as is everything else in this excellent story.
This novel is so full of poetry and the poetic that it glows with soft light and subtle hints that captured my imagination in a way I haven't experienced since I read The Waterbabies as a child. It's a page turner because of its scholarship, poetry, the cleverness of the plotting and the layers of humanity in its characters. Highly recommended.
Jacob is an innocent abroad, trying to make his fortune whilst maintaining his dignity and honesty in the corrupt world of the failing Dutch East India Company. He makes enemies everywhere, some of whom use his deepening, but forbidden and dangerous, attraction for a local girl against him to bring about his fall. The girl, Orito, is consigned to a closed community of women where she discovers slavery and infanticide.
Jacob and Orito meet again in later life, when destiny has built very different lives for them, and there is no going back. The gentle sadness of their loss is beautifully described as is everything else in this excellent story.
This novel is so full of poetry and the poetic that it glows with soft light and subtle hints that captured my imagination in a way I haven't experienced since I read The Waterbabies as a child. It's a page turner because of its scholarship, poetry, the cleverness of the plotting and the layers of humanity in its characters. Highly recommended.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Salem Falls by Jody Picoult
I've been off-line since before Christmas - sorry to any readers out there. A pretty awful virus caught up with me and, although I've done quite a bit of reading in the interim, I haven't felt motivation enough to blog about any of them. Whether this is a reflection of me, or of the books I chose to read, is debatable. Still, I'm back now.
Jody Picoult has millions of fans, and I'm one of them. In each of her several books, she deals with a moral issue of our time and Salem Falls is no exception. Jack St Bride is accused of raping one of his students. He pleads guilty to a lesser charge, and accepts an 'easier' punishment, in order to avoid the very real risk that his protestations of innocence will not be believed. At the 11th hour his 'victim' tries to save him, only to be disbelieved and her motives suspected.
The reader is asked to consider the morality of a harsh justice system in which a process supposedly designed to protect the innocent and punish the guilty can, all too easily, confuse which is which and damage both, irreparably. There is also the issue of courage and cowardice, where we are asked to recognise that the line between them can be paper thin; the supposed coward can still be a hero and bigotry masquerades as righteous courage.
A good read, with satisfying twists and turns.
Jody Picoult has millions of fans, and I'm one of them. In each of her several books, she deals with a moral issue of our time and Salem Falls is no exception. Jack St Bride is accused of raping one of his students. He pleads guilty to a lesser charge, and accepts an 'easier' punishment, in order to avoid the very real risk that his protestations of innocence will not be believed. At the 11th hour his 'victim' tries to save him, only to be disbelieved and her motives suspected.
The reader is asked to consider the morality of a harsh justice system in which a process supposedly designed to protect the innocent and punish the guilty can, all too easily, confuse which is which and damage both, irreparably. There is also the issue of courage and cowardice, where we are asked to recognise that the line between them can be paper thin; the supposed coward can still be a hero and bigotry masquerades as righteous courage.
A good read, with satisfying twists and turns.
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