I love Jody Picoult. Tens of thousands of others do, too, so I'm in a big Club.
'The Storyteller' tells to tale of Sage Singer, a secular Jewish young woman who works in a cafe bakery at night and sleeps during the day. Her face has been scarred in a car crash (we learn later how and why) and this makes her shun company; a night job suits her fine. Her grandmother was born in Germany and a parallel story reveals what happened to her, and her family, during the 1930s and 40s.
Josef Webber, an elderly retired teacher and mentor of young people, is also from Germany. When he befriends Sage at the bakery, she is warmed by his interest and the friendship he offers until he tells her that he has chosen her, deliberately, because she is the only Jewish person he can find in their small town. He tells Sage that he was a concentration camp guard and that, now he is old and riven with guilt, he wants her to help him die. He explains that only by asking a Jew can he come some way of atoning for what he did in Germany.
Sage is appalled and, in the turmoil of trying to decide what to do, she tells her story to a professional Nazi hunter. In the days that follow she learns how hard it is to convict a war criminal and her mind won't let go of Joseph's plea that she helps him to die. Learning her grandmother's secret history puts her in a turmoil.
How does Sage decide, and what does she decide? I won't spoil the story by giving away the ending but you will wonder about yourself, when you read what she decides, how you would act in her situation.
This is Jody Picoult's skill. She writes a rattling good story but there is always a morale dilemma at the heart of every single one of her books. Recommended.
'The Storyteller' is published by Hodder and Stoughton, ISBN - Hardback 978-1-444-76663-9. Trade paperback 978-1-444-76664-6. Ebook 978-1-444-76665-3.
Thursday, 29 May 2014
All Fall Down by Louise Voss and Mark Edwards
These 2 authors have collaborated previously on 2 books, although this is the first that I've read. 'All Fall Down' reads as though it's been written as a film script. Clever female scientist, with a troubled past, has only a few days to save the world and does it with only hours to spare and with the help of her slightly less clever, but equally committed, partner. You know the style.
Kate Maddox is trying to lead a normal, quiet, life after being involved in something nefarious (in the previous book). However, a deadly virus is spreading rapidly through California and someone is determined to prevent the world's top virologists from finding a way to stop it. A bomb rips through the hotel where they're all assembled for a conference, killing them all.
Shuttled across the world, Kate and her partner, Paul, are separated but pursue a resolution to the crisis in their different ways. Kate's young son is also in danger but he, too, becomes an unwitting part of the eventual saving of civilisation.
Did I enjoy this book? In a way, yes, I suppose I did. It's a combination of detective story, thriller, drama and the love that drives people to try that bit harder. However, I'm a bit cynical about 'saving the world in a few days' stories - they always seem so unlikely. Or is this just because we, as the general public, are never told how close we come to disaster? Mm.
"All Fall Down' is published by Harper, ISBN978-0-00-7466072-4
Kate Maddox is trying to lead a normal, quiet, life after being involved in something nefarious (in the previous book). However, a deadly virus is spreading rapidly through California and someone is determined to prevent the world's top virologists from finding a way to stop it. A bomb rips through the hotel where they're all assembled for a conference, killing them all.
Shuttled across the world, Kate and her partner, Paul, are separated but pursue a resolution to the crisis in their different ways. Kate's young son is also in danger but he, too, becomes an unwitting part of the eventual saving of civilisation.
Did I enjoy this book? In a way, yes, I suppose I did. It's a combination of detective story, thriller, drama and the love that drives people to try that bit harder. However, I'm a bit cynical about 'saving the world in a few days' stories - they always seem so unlikely. Or is this just because we, as the general public, are never told how close we come to disaster? Mm.
"All Fall Down' is published by Harper, ISBN978-0-00-7466072-4
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnival
In the England of 1912, some parts of society are experimenting with the 'science' of eugenics. There are several theories about how to 'improve' genetic characteristics in humans and many believe it to be an acceptable method of breeding out all kinds of diseases and disabling conditions.
Against this background, the 8 year old Jessie Kenton has lost her brother. Georgie disappears in the night and, in his place, there is Timothy. Against all the odds, and her despair at the loss of a much lived younger brother, Jessie comes to love Timothy, too. 20 years later, when he, too, disappears, after attending a seance, she determines to find him, no matter what.
Timothy and Jessie bonded over their love of Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' stories and Jessie quickly realises that Tim has left her a string of clues, based on this shared passion. Following the clues, she re-visits the scene of the seance and finds that the owner of the ramshackle country seat, Sir Montague Chamford, wants to help her with her search.
Does Monty have his own agenda? Perhaps he knows more about Tim's disappearance than he tells Jessie. Things begin to point towards Tim being involved in illegal activities concerning Egyptian antiques. As they travel to Egypt, where Tim has worked on digs before, Monty and Jessie become ever closer. When Jessie, too, disappears, Monty is frantic for her safety.
What Jessie finds in the desert brings her to the knowledge that her family is completely different from her understanding but, nevertheless, family can be more that blood and breeding.
This book was billed as '……a rollicking good read….' and '……a fast moving plot…….' by the Daily Telegraph. I don't entirely agree. There are plenty of good bits in the novel, and the plot twists in a very satisfactory way, with a few surprises, but there were places where I wished for tighter writing and more pace. Still, the background of eugenics experiments in the early 20th century is a neat basis for the story and I enjoyed reading this book.
Shadows of the Nile by Kate Furnival is published by Little Brown, ISBN 978-0-7515-4337-7
Against this background, the 8 year old Jessie Kenton has lost her brother. Georgie disappears in the night and, in his place, there is Timothy. Against all the odds, and her despair at the loss of a much lived younger brother, Jessie comes to love Timothy, too. 20 years later, when he, too, disappears, after attending a seance, she determines to find him, no matter what.
Timothy and Jessie bonded over their love of Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' stories and Jessie quickly realises that Tim has left her a string of clues, based on this shared passion. Following the clues, she re-visits the scene of the seance and finds that the owner of the ramshackle country seat, Sir Montague Chamford, wants to help her with her search.
Does Monty have his own agenda? Perhaps he knows more about Tim's disappearance than he tells Jessie. Things begin to point towards Tim being involved in illegal activities concerning Egyptian antiques. As they travel to Egypt, where Tim has worked on digs before, Monty and Jessie become ever closer. When Jessie, too, disappears, Monty is frantic for her safety.
What Jessie finds in the desert brings her to the knowledge that her family is completely different from her understanding but, nevertheless, family can be more that blood and breeding.
This book was billed as '……a rollicking good read….' and '……a fast moving plot…….' by the Daily Telegraph. I don't entirely agree. There are plenty of good bits in the novel, and the plot twists in a very satisfactory way, with a few surprises, but there were places where I wished for tighter writing and more pace. Still, the background of eugenics experiments in the early 20th century is a neat basis for the story and I enjoyed reading this book.
Shadows of the Nile by Kate Furnival is published by Little Brown, ISBN 978-0-7515-4337-7
Friday, 16 May 2014
The Great Lie by M Stanford-Smith
I've read a fictionalised version of Shakespeare's life before, and blogged about it here, but this one is different in that the story is told from the viewpoint of Nicholas Talbot, a budding and ambitious young actor. He escapes an intolerable home life by joining a company of players, which is based in London but which travels the Shires when the London theatres are closed.
His story pulls together some of the major characters of the time - Christopher Marlow, (Shakespeare's volatile playwright contemporary), Robert Cecil (the Queen's spymaster) and Shakespeare himself.
Nicholas becomes a spy, travelling Europe, but is also being pulled back home to his sweetheart and the estate he has inherited. His life is full of adventure and risk, during which he becomes a close friend of Christopher Marlow and they hatch a plot to save Marlow's life and talent. Did they succeed? Was Marlow killed in an ale house brawl, as history records? Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? Was it the man himself - who was born in rural Warwickshire and never left these shores, or someone else who had travelled extensively and understood the social and political situations in Europe that were so obvious in these famous plays?
This book postulates yet another theory. Whether you believe it, or not, you'll find yourself questioning much of what you think is true.
Recommended.
'The Great Lie' is published by Honno Books, ISBN 978-1-906784-16-4
His story pulls together some of the major characters of the time - Christopher Marlow, (Shakespeare's volatile playwright contemporary), Robert Cecil (the Queen's spymaster) and Shakespeare himself.
Nicholas becomes a spy, travelling Europe, but is also being pulled back home to his sweetheart and the estate he has inherited. His life is full of adventure and risk, during which he becomes a close friend of Christopher Marlow and they hatch a plot to save Marlow's life and talent. Did they succeed? Was Marlow killed in an ale house brawl, as history records? Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? Was it the man himself - who was born in rural Warwickshire and never left these shores, or someone else who had travelled extensively and understood the social and political situations in Europe that were so obvious in these famous plays?
This book postulates yet another theory. Whether you believe it, or not, you'll find yourself questioning much of what you think is true.
Recommended.
'The Great Lie' is published by Honno Books, ISBN 978-1-906784-16-4
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