Nightwoods is by the author of Cold Mountain, which I didn't read but saw as the movie, so wanted to read this book.
Luce is a recluse, living away from town in a ramshackle, now unused, forest holiday home in North Carolina a decade after World War II. We learn, slowly, about her family background, drip fed to us as the story unfolds and as each piece becomes important to our understanding of who Luce is and why she lives the way she does.
She 'inherits' 2 silent children and other characters join the cast as the tale progresses. Stubblefield, Bud and Lit - of them, too, we learn gradually and as the back story gathers pace. The children disappear as winter arrives, turning the forest into a place of ice and snow. They have a fascination with fire, but all they have with them is an old pony and some food. Pursuing them is a man bent on their destruction.
Charles Frazier is a master of delicate prose. He gives his characters voices in an unusual way, which enhances a feeling of slightly unworldliness his novel creates, perfectly in tune with the era and place. Beautifully written, Charles Frazier is a master of atmosphere and delicate balance. Recommended.
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
Paul Torday was born in 1946 and published this book in 2007 as his debut novel. So there's hope for all of us unpublished aspiring writers!Anyway, this is such an intriguing title for a novel that I couldn't resist.
Dr Alfred Jones has quite an important job in the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence; at least if you're into fishing and all things fisheries. His wife is something important in economics but not really into marriage with Fred.
Fred is coerced into a project to introduce salmon fishing into the Yemen by a charismatic Sheik and his London based estate management company, something he believes is foolish in the extreme but isn't allowed to refuse. However, as he becomes more involved in the project, he begins to believe that there might be some hope of it's success after all. As the project begins to capture his imagination, Fred's private life goes into free fall, politics, terrorism and commerce threaten to derail everything and Fred's emotions cause him considerable turmoil. Life will never be the same again.
I loved this story. Recommended by Richard and Judy's Book Club as a summer read, there is comedy, a thread of romance, the mystery of faith, the shallow spin of politics and a good twist in the tale at the end. Recommended.
Dr Alfred Jones has quite an important job in the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence; at least if you're into fishing and all things fisheries. His wife is something important in economics but not really into marriage with Fred.
Fred is coerced into a project to introduce salmon fishing into the Yemen by a charismatic Sheik and his London based estate management company, something he believes is foolish in the extreme but isn't allowed to refuse. However, as he becomes more involved in the project, he begins to believe that there might be some hope of it's success after all. As the project begins to capture his imagination, Fred's private life goes into free fall, politics, terrorism and commerce threaten to derail everything and Fred's emotions cause him considerable turmoil. Life will never be the same again.
I loved this story. Recommended by Richard and Judy's Book Club as a summer read, there is comedy, a thread of romance, the mystery of faith, the shallow spin of politics and a good twist in the tale at the end. Recommended.
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
Few People are brave enough to feature a girl with learning difficulties, and the 'school' in which she lives, as the focus of a novel, but Rachel Simon writes with sensitivity and care.
Lynnie and Homan run away from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, looking for something they can't articulate but know instinctively when they find it. Martha is a retired teacher; childless and widowed, living alone and never one to take risks. She decides, impulsively, to help them and finds herself taking on the role of fugitive, surrogate, grandmother to Lynnie's child.
Taken back to the school, bound and frightened, Lynnie and Homan are separated, neither knowing what has become of the other, nor what has happened to the child. Years pass, and apparently insurmountable obstacles divide them, but fate decides that constancy in love will be rewarded.
This should be a mawkish tale, but it isn't. Rachel Simon has researched the history of institutions where people with disabilities of all kinds were sent to be forgotten in the mid-20th century and has written a true to life story without over sentimentality. Informative read. Not bad.
Lynnie and Homan run away from the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, looking for something they can't articulate but know instinctively when they find it. Martha is a retired teacher; childless and widowed, living alone and never one to take risks. She decides, impulsively, to help them and finds herself taking on the role of fugitive, surrogate, grandmother to Lynnie's child.
Taken back to the school, bound and frightened, Lynnie and Homan are separated, neither knowing what has become of the other, nor what has happened to the child. Years pass, and apparently insurmountable obstacles divide them, but fate decides that constancy in love will be rewarded.
This should be a mawkish tale, but it isn't. Rachel Simon has researched the history of institutions where people with disabilities of all kinds were sent to be forgotten in the mid-20th century and has written a true to life story without over sentimentality. Informative read. Not bad.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
One Summer by David Baldacci
Jack Armstrong is terminally ill, although we aren't told what he's suffering from. He's a former US marine, he's married and has 3 children. He's done his best to prepare his children for his death but is aware that, although he's been a good provider, he hasn't been the best husband or Dad in the world.
Jack expects to die within hours, certainly no more than a day or so, when tragedy strikes on Christmas Eve. His wife is killed in a car crash. But, sometimes, in the wake of tragedy, miracles happen and Jack finds himself being pulled back from the brink of death. Again, we aren't given any explanation as to why or how.
After months of recovering his strength, Jack is reunited with his children, scattered to the care of relatives as he lay at death's door. Over summer months on the coast of South Carolina, Jack and his children learn to live and love again as a family and Jack learns to be the father he always wanted to be, but never knew how to be.
This story occasionally descends into mawkishness, which I found too cloying. It often relies on asking the reader to suspend a natural questioning attitude, such as "What is Jack's illness" and "How come he can go into remission so suddenly when he's so close to death? and more" There are too many convenient devices in the writing, such as Jack's friend Sammy, and it's so predictable it's almost laughable.
I picked up this book because it was marked "the Number One International Best Seller" and is published by panmacmillan. I'm afraid I found it more suited to Mills and Boon. I think I'll give David Baldacci a miss. Not my thing.
Jack expects to die within hours, certainly no more than a day or so, when tragedy strikes on Christmas Eve. His wife is killed in a car crash. But, sometimes, in the wake of tragedy, miracles happen and Jack finds himself being pulled back from the brink of death. Again, we aren't given any explanation as to why or how.
After months of recovering his strength, Jack is reunited with his children, scattered to the care of relatives as he lay at death's door. Over summer months on the coast of South Carolina, Jack and his children learn to live and love again as a family and Jack learns to be the father he always wanted to be, but never knew how to be.
This story occasionally descends into mawkishness, which I found too cloying. It often relies on asking the reader to suspend a natural questioning attitude, such as "What is Jack's illness" and "How come he can go into remission so suddenly when he's so close to death? and more" There are too many convenient devices in the writing, such as Jack's friend Sammy, and it's so predictable it's almost laughable.
I picked up this book because it was marked "the Number One International Best Seller" and is published by panmacmillan. I'm afraid I found it more suited to Mills and Boon. I think I'll give David Baldacci a miss. Not my thing.
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Timothy Wilde is a barman in a New York oyster bar, in 1845. He's good at his job and his tips have allowed him to save almost enough to buy a piece of land outside the city and, perhaps, marry the girl of his dreams. That was before the fire.
With his savings gone up in smoke, his face scarred and his job gone, Tim has only his brother and a job in the newly formed New York police force, the 'copper stars' to fall back on. Neither pleases him. Tim finds, however, that he has a natural gift and soon finds that the reality of being that new thing, a policeman, helps him lay to rest the ghosts of his past, even whilst it also robs him of the dreams he has for his future. A new future beckons and he recognises that it could fit him better than the one he believed, for so long, that he wanted. Angels become villains and villains remain villains in this tale of layer upon layer of the unexpected. This is a clever crime story peopled with vivid characters.
New York was, at this time, inundated with immigrants from all over Europe, Russia and the Baltic countries but none more so than 10s of thousands fleeing the potato famine in Ireland. New York was rife with tension between Protestant and Catholic religions, fuelled by the poverty and crime rates that exploded with this starving tide.
Lyndsay Faye's research and scholarship into the history of mid-19th C New York is meticulous and her writing is vivid and glorious. She empathises with the maelstrom of this period of New York's history perfectly; her language crackles with vigour and leaps with the slang of the period.
Highly recommended, for lovers of both gritty crime and historical novels.
With his savings gone up in smoke, his face scarred and his job gone, Tim has only his brother and a job in the newly formed New York police force, the 'copper stars' to fall back on. Neither pleases him. Tim finds, however, that he has a natural gift and soon finds that the reality of being that new thing, a policeman, helps him lay to rest the ghosts of his past, even whilst it also robs him of the dreams he has for his future. A new future beckons and he recognises that it could fit him better than the one he believed, for so long, that he wanted. Angels become villains and villains remain villains in this tale of layer upon layer of the unexpected. This is a clever crime story peopled with vivid characters.
New York was, at this time, inundated with immigrants from all over Europe, Russia and the Baltic countries but none more so than 10s of thousands fleeing the potato famine in Ireland. New York was rife with tension between Protestant and Catholic religions, fuelled by the poverty and crime rates that exploded with this starving tide.
Lyndsay Faye's research and scholarship into the history of mid-19th C New York is meticulous and her writing is vivid and glorious. She empathises with the maelstrom of this period of New York's history perfectly; her language crackles with vigour and leaps with the slang of the period.
Highly recommended, for lovers of both gritty crime and historical novels.
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