I was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to review this novel. In these turbulent political and social times, when the country seems more divided than ever, it was a true delight to be able to read this novel, based on years of Pam Rhodes' experience travelling round churches and village halls.
This novel has a cast of truly wonderful characters: Kath, the administrator; Trevor, the caretaker; and Maggie, the cook. These three are the centre of the novel but there are many other great supporting characters as well - Shirley, the new no-nonsense cleaner; Della, a young dancer who is determined to provided classes for all ages; and the Can't Sing Singers - a new choir formed after the music director at their church unceremoniously kicked them out.
What of the plot? Mostly it's about the daily ins and outs of the village hall and its users, but they are all working towards something special - a Centenary Easter Monday Fayre which proves a harder task than any of them imagined, not to mention dealing with this as well as their personal lives as well. Trevor has a wife terminally ill with cancer and Maggie has been left by her husband for a much younger woman.
What's so heartening about this novel is that it reminds us of Britain at its best, when community spirit and solidarity is high. Pam Rhodes reminds us, the readers, of what really matters in life and how life works best in community, looking after each other, and what happens when we are divided. It's touching, funny, but heart-warming most of all, which is definitely the kind of story we need in times like this.
Springtime at Hope Hall will be available in paperback from 22nd February 2020.
Tuesday, 24 December 2019
Tuesday, 26 November 2019
New review: The Death of Mungo Blackwell, Lauren H. Brandenburg
Note: I received a free proof copy of this book in exchange for a review.
The Death Of Mungo Blackwell is the perfect read for dreary winter nights. It's a book full of warmth, wit, growth, and eccentricity from the central characters. Reading this book felt like snuggling into a warm blanket; perfect, sweet escapism into the countryside.
Charlie Price, his wife Velveteen, and their son Gideon, leave their lives in the city (never specified) and move to a small town called Coraloo. Charlie used to be extremely senior in the world of finance but a bad judgement left him fired and without income. In Coraloo, he becomes a 'picker' - he looks for items of potential value in markets and resells them online.
The market is owned by a family called the Blackwells who provide the heart and soul of this book. Most welcome him, but one of them - Shug - stands out in his hostility. The Blackwells often act out their family stories - or 'histories', as they insist - and also hold funerals of family members before those members actually die.
The point of the story is to show how Charlie, Velveteen and Gideon, a family who had everything and who quickly get reduced to nothing, start again and find themselves in the process. Their individual stories are handled with care and compassion, gently guided by various members of the Blackwell family.
This story is fun, vibrant, sweet, and quietly remarkable. It's hard to put it in a genre but I would put it on a bookshelf next to the brilliant "The End of Mr Y" by Scarlett Thomas.
The Death Of Mungo Blackwell is the perfect read for dreary winter nights. It's a book full of warmth, wit, growth, and eccentricity from the central characters. Reading this book felt like snuggling into a warm blanket; perfect, sweet escapism into the countryside.
Charlie Price, his wife Velveteen, and their son Gideon, leave their lives in the city (never specified) and move to a small town called Coraloo. Charlie used to be extremely senior in the world of finance but a bad judgement left him fired and without income. In Coraloo, he becomes a 'picker' - he looks for items of potential value in markets and resells them online.
The market is owned by a family called the Blackwells who provide the heart and soul of this book. Most welcome him, but one of them - Shug - stands out in his hostility. The Blackwells often act out their family stories - or 'histories', as they insist - and also hold funerals of family members before those members actually die.
The point of the story is to show how Charlie, Velveteen and Gideon, a family who had everything and who quickly get reduced to nothing, start again and find themselves in the process. Their individual stories are handled with care and compassion, gently guided by various members of the Blackwell family.
This story is fun, vibrant, sweet, and quietly remarkable. It's hard to put it in a genre but I would put it on a bookshelf next to the brilliant "The End of Mr Y" by Scarlett Thomas.
Thursday, 21 November 2019
New review: The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
As soon as I finished Circe I thought about how great it would be to have Penelope's side of the story during The Odyssey. Luckily, one of my greatest friends had an answer for me - one did indeed exist, written by none other than Margaret Atwood.
It's no secret that rich, noble women were used as tools in marriage contracts throughout history, but the use of Penelope in this story puts paid to the idea that Odysseus and Penelope necessarily married for love. Theirs is touted as one of the greatest loves of all time - the weary hero who spends ten years after a ten year war in Troy trying to get back to his wife, the woman who is separated from her husband for twenty years, not knowing if he is alive or dead, surviving only on rumour.
Some of this is true. But as for their love - well, Penelope (at least, in this retelling) is only fifteen when she is married off to Odysseus. In Atwood's version, Odysseus and Penelope do have great affection for each other, but not necessarily reaching the great heights as shown in The Odyssey.
But that's not the point of Atwood's story. The point is how Penelope had to defend her home for nearly two decades - including her maids, the ones who were so callously murdered by Odysseus at the end of the Odyssey. This was justified then because they were disloyal to Penelope and Odysseus and ingratiated themselves with the suitors, but Penelope spins a different yarn. She shows more of their humanity - the fact that these maids were teenagers, therefore used and abused by the suitors. She asked them to ingratiate themselves with the suitors, who were eating Penelope out of house and home, in order to find out their true minds. After all, they were spewing out declarations of love all day and every day to Penelope, when all they wanted was her property.
Penelope tells her story from Hades - she is already dead when the story begins. The maids have their moments, too, and show their side through the medium of a traditionally Ancient Greek dramatic chorus line. It's a very clever book, considerably deep in spite of its brevity. What's particularly clever is at the finale of the book when Odysseus is represented by an attorney, a whole moment that resonates in the #MeToo era, despite being written over a decade before the Weinstein story broke.
Saying Margaret Atwood has written a brilliant story is like saying the Pope is Catholic but just because something is obvious does not make it any less worth stating. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a different angle on a well-known epic story, most particularly one that humanises otherwise fairly 2d characters from the original.
It's no secret that rich, noble women were used as tools in marriage contracts throughout history, but the use of Penelope in this story puts paid to the idea that Odysseus and Penelope necessarily married for love. Theirs is touted as one of the greatest loves of all time - the weary hero who spends ten years after a ten year war in Troy trying to get back to his wife, the woman who is separated from her husband for twenty years, not knowing if he is alive or dead, surviving only on rumour.
Some of this is true. But as for their love - well, Penelope (at least, in this retelling) is only fifteen when she is married off to Odysseus. In Atwood's version, Odysseus and Penelope do have great affection for each other, but not necessarily reaching the great heights as shown in The Odyssey.
But that's not the point of Atwood's story. The point is how Penelope had to defend her home for nearly two decades - including her maids, the ones who were so callously murdered by Odysseus at the end of the Odyssey. This was justified then because they were disloyal to Penelope and Odysseus and ingratiated themselves with the suitors, but Penelope spins a different yarn. She shows more of their humanity - the fact that these maids were teenagers, therefore used and abused by the suitors. She asked them to ingratiate themselves with the suitors, who were eating Penelope out of house and home, in order to find out their true minds. After all, they were spewing out declarations of love all day and every day to Penelope, when all they wanted was her property.
Penelope tells her story from Hades - she is already dead when the story begins. The maids have their moments, too, and show their side through the medium of a traditionally Ancient Greek dramatic chorus line. It's a very clever book, considerably deep in spite of its brevity. What's particularly clever is at the finale of the book when Odysseus is represented by an attorney, a whole moment that resonates in the #MeToo era, despite being written over a decade before the Weinstein story broke.
Saying Margaret Atwood has written a brilliant story is like saying the Pope is Catholic but just because something is obvious does not make it any less worth stating. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a different angle on a well-known epic story, most particularly one that humanises otherwise fairly 2d characters from the original.
New review: Circe by Madeline Miller
The first thing I need to say about this book is that it is a must-read. It is an epic in every sense of the world.
Most of what we know about Circe comes from the story of a man - Odysseus. She is the beautiful, powerful witch who lives alone on an island and has a habit of turning men into swine (Homer clearly was having fun there). However, when Odysseus leaves Circe's island, so does all knowledge of her and what happens next.
Circe is nothing if not an origins story, but it's so much more than that. It's a Greek myth in its own right, and opens up a whole world of possibilities in retelling and recreating Greek myths about the women who feature in them - why not a story on Medea? Medusa? (Margaret Atwood wrote one about Penelope, Odysseus' wife, and the maids who were hanged - I'll review that in the future).
Circe is the daughter of a nymph and Helios, the sun-god. However, she is frequently derided by her own parents and her kin - she's not beautiful, she sounds like a mortal (shock, horror), and seems to be wholly ordinary for a divine being. However, she soon (and kind of accidentally) discovers the power of pharmaka - witchcraft. After committing acts of witchcraft on a rival for her love, who transforms into the monster Scylla, Circe is banished in perpetuity.
She doesn't stay alone for long - for a divine being, anyway. However, she gets raped by a visiting crew of men once they realise she's alone, and this episode starts to turn her into the witch she's known as, transforming men into swine when more show up and reveal their true intentions.
We know what happens when Odysseus shows up, so I'll gloss over that, but what's interesting is what comes after. Odysseus is shown to be more cruel and careless than he appears in The Odyssey. The same goes for Athene (who used to be my favourite goddess, but not so sure if she is anymore, after this novel!) All this is to say that Circe's life does not stop after Odysseus leaves - far from it. There are also many interesting crossovers with other heroes and stories - Circe's sister creates the Minotaur; Jason and Medea take refuge on her island; Hermes and Circe are lovers for a while... the list goes on.
What Madeline Miller has created here is an intensely rich tapestry of stories based around one of the most enigmatic and interesting women of antiquity. This novel is truly a triumph, both in depth and in breadth. I don't say it lightly when I say this is my favourite novel that I have read this year.
Most of what we know about Circe comes from the story of a man - Odysseus. She is the beautiful, powerful witch who lives alone on an island and has a habit of turning men into swine (Homer clearly was having fun there). However, when Odysseus leaves Circe's island, so does all knowledge of her and what happens next.
Circe is nothing if not an origins story, but it's so much more than that. It's a Greek myth in its own right, and opens up a whole world of possibilities in retelling and recreating Greek myths about the women who feature in them - why not a story on Medea? Medusa? (Margaret Atwood wrote one about Penelope, Odysseus' wife, and the maids who were hanged - I'll review that in the future).
Circe is the daughter of a nymph and Helios, the sun-god. However, she is frequently derided by her own parents and her kin - she's not beautiful, she sounds like a mortal (shock, horror), and seems to be wholly ordinary for a divine being. However, she soon (and kind of accidentally) discovers the power of pharmaka - witchcraft. After committing acts of witchcraft on a rival for her love, who transforms into the monster Scylla, Circe is banished in perpetuity.
She doesn't stay alone for long - for a divine being, anyway. However, she gets raped by a visiting crew of men once they realise she's alone, and this episode starts to turn her into the witch she's known as, transforming men into swine when more show up and reveal their true intentions.
We know what happens when Odysseus shows up, so I'll gloss over that, but what's interesting is what comes after. Odysseus is shown to be more cruel and careless than he appears in The Odyssey. The same goes for Athene (who used to be my favourite goddess, but not so sure if she is anymore, after this novel!) All this is to say that Circe's life does not stop after Odysseus leaves - far from it. There are also many interesting crossovers with other heroes and stories - Circe's sister creates the Minotaur; Jason and Medea take refuge on her island; Hermes and Circe are lovers for a while... the list goes on.
What Madeline Miller has created here is an intensely rich tapestry of stories based around one of the most enigmatic and interesting women of antiquity. This novel is truly a triumph, both in depth and in breadth. I don't say it lightly when I say this is my favourite novel that I have read this year.
Thursday, 31 October 2019
A break from usual news...
Hello, everyone.
Firstly, thank you so much to readers of this blog, I really appreciate the support!
Secondly, reviews might come a bit more slowly in the next few months due to some exciting news. I am running for office in the U.K! For my U.S. readers, this is the equivalent of running as a Congresswoman.
It's an exciting time but I need your support - running as an MP requires an initial deposit of £500, and my county (district) is fielding three candidates for our Green Party - we are running on Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez style policies! Our priorities include addressing the Climate Crisis, reinvesting in our healthcare service, education, and reversing cuts to public services.
If you feel at all able to chuck in a few quid to help us get on the ballot, the link is here.
Thank you, and normal service will resume soon!
Monday, 28 October 2019
Review: The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
This is probably my favourite book I have read so far this year. Obviously it came with a bit of an advantage - a retelling of Troy for a graduate of Classical Civilisation is a no-brainer. But this book still managed to blow my expectations out of the water.
Madeline Miller reportedly spent ten years researching and writing this book, and it shows. It is a retelling of the story of Achilles but from Patroclus' perspective. In the film adaption (it still haunts me), Patroclus is portrayed as a close friend/cousin without even a hint of homosexuality.
This book goes back to the source material and it is just a little different from the film...
Patroclus is a disgraced and outcast prince, after having accidentally killed a nobleman's son. He gets sent as a foster child to King Peleus, the father of Achilles. Already, Achilles' divinity is well-known and the prophecies about him are greater still. Patroclus thinks he will get lost amongst this palace of foster boys, and isolates himself when the other boys find out about Patroclus' past. However, Patroclus manouvres himself to become protected by Achilles, and a friendship - and, when they're older, more than that - blooms.
This is the classic of all classic tales beautifully updated for the modern reader without losing any of the essence that has meant it has lasted for thousands of years. Miller is a true mistress of her prose, with luscious imagery of the islands and city-states that make up Greece, to the dry, sandy, and soon hellish (for the Greeks, at least), land of Troy. Familiar characters like Chiron, Odysseus, Menelaus, and Agammemnon are faithfully rendered in all of their heritage, and then some.
But the relationshp between Patroclus and Achilles, the heart of this story, shines throughout. Patroclus is the steadier of the two men, knowing he has to compete with Achilles' fame and changing character, particularly when they get to Troy - and the famous feud with Agammemnon.
This story is everything you would hope from a modern version of one of the most famous legends of antiquity. Miller has done an exceptional job.
Madeline Miller reportedly spent ten years researching and writing this book, and it shows. It is a retelling of the story of Achilles but from Patroclus' perspective. In the film adaption (it still haunts me), Patroclus is portrayed as a close friend/cousin without even a hint of homosexuality.
This book goes back to the source material and it is just a little different from the film...
Patroclus is a disgraced and outcast prince, after having accidentally killed a nobleman's son. He gets sent as a foster child to King Peleus, the father of Achilles. Already, Achilles' divinity is well-known and the prophecies about him are greater still. Patroclus thinks he will get lost amongst this palace of foster boys, and isolates himself when the other boys find out about Patroclus' past. However, Patroclus manouvres himself to become protected by Achilles, and a friendship - and, when they're older, more than that - blooms.
This is the classic of all classic tales beautifully updated for the modern reader without losing any of the essence that has meant it has lasted for thousands of years. Miller is a true mistress of her prose, with luscious imagery of the islands and city-states that make up Greece, to the dry, sandy, and soon hellish (for the Greeks, at least), land of Troy. Familiar characters like Chiron, Odysseus, Menelaus, and Agammemnon are faithfully rendered in all of their heritage, and then some.
But the relationshp between Patroclus and Achilles, the heart of this story, shines throughout. Patroclus is the steadier of the two men, knowing he has to compete with Achilles' fame and changing character, particularly when they get to Troy - and the famous feud with Agammemnon.
This story is everything you would hope from a modern version of one of the most famous legends of antiquity. Miller has done an exceptional job.
Thursday, 24 October 2019
Review: The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem is a woman that should need no introduction, but I'll do one just in case. She's a leading feminist icon; writer; lecturer; political activist; and feminist organiser. She has written international bestsellers, won a whole slew of awards, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2013.
This book is a collection of inspirational quotes from Gloria Steinem's career, as well as a few additions from other recognisable names, like Alice Walker and Maya Angelou. Each chapter is themed, and begun with advice and experience from Gloria herself.
What is amazing about the host of quotes in this book is that they are as straightforward as they are radical and transformative. For example:
"Women have alwyas been an equal part of the past; just not an equal part of history."
And...
"The voting booth is the one place on earth wehre the least powerful and the most powerful are equal."
So much truth in such a short phrases.
This book will inspire and move you. It will uplift and encourage you. Most of all, it encourages you to completely transform the way you think - particularly women. Many of the quotes in this book have been chosen specifically to empower - a term thrown around a lot, but if there's one thing Gloria seems to want to get across in this book, it's how much power you as an individual - and particularly as a woman, or someone from a marginalised community, or minority - can have. But there's a call to action, too - we need to take that power. It won't be given us.
So, I urge you to buy this book. Let it lift you up. Let it help you remember your own self-worth, value, and inherent power.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-truth-will-set-you-free-but-first-it-will-piss-you-off/gloria-steinem/9781911632597
This book is a collection of inspirational quotes from Gloria Steinem's career, as well as a few additions from other recognisable names, like Alice Walker and Maya Angelou. Each chapter is themed, and begun with advice and experience from Gloria herself.
What is amazing about the host of quotes in this book is that they are as straightforward as they are radical and transformative. For example:
"Women have alwyas been an equal part of the past; just not an equal part of history."
And...
"The voting booth is the one place on earth wehre the least powerful and the most powerful are equal."
So much truth in such a short phrases.
This book will inspire and move you. It will uplift and encourage you. Most of all, it encourages you to completely transform the way you think - particularly women. Many of the quotes in this book have been chosen specifically to empower - a term thrown around a lot, but if there's one thing Gloria seems to want to get across in this book, it's how much power you as an individual - and particularly as a woman, or someone from a marginalised community, or minority - can have. But there's a call to action, too - we need to take that power. It won't be given us.
So, I urge you to buy this book. Let it lift you up. Let it help you remember your own self-worth, value, and inherent power.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-truth-will-set-you-free-but-first-it-will-piss-you-off/gloria-steinem/9781911632597
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Review: Rough Waking (Julian Daizan Skinner, Laszlo Mihaly, Kazuaki Okazaki
This collection of poems, photography, and artwork was put together by Julian Daizan Skinner. He runs a Zen practice dojo and is a meditation teacher. His practice works with people who are homeless or imprisoned, and the profits of the book will contribute to that mission.
This is an exceptionally moving collection of poetry, photography, and artwork from three different men. Together, they form expressions of what it is like to be homeless or imprisoned, and the different media capture the experiences. Skinner's poetry charts his journey on the path from student to teacher of Zen meditation, and the poems (mostly short), are sparing but no less striking or visual for that.
Below are some words from Julian himself, as well as some of the poems featured in the book. You can purchase the book from Amazon, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Waking-Confined-Homeless-Including/dp/0993198155/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rough+waking&qid=1571849856&sr=8-1
This is an exceptionally moving collection of poetry, photography, and artwork from three different men. Together, they form expressions of what it is like to be homeless or imprisoned, and the different media capture the experiences. Skinner's poetry charts his journey on the path from student to teacher of Zen meditation, and the poems (mostly short), are sparing but no less striking or visual for that.
Below are some words from Julian himself, as well as some of the poems featured in the book. You can purchase the book from Amazon, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Waking-Confined-Homeless-Including/dp/0993198155/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rough+waking&qid=1571849856&sr=8-1
"For a couple of decades I lived in Buddhist monasteries in
rural England and Japan, training to become a Zen Master. “Autumn in the
Monastery and Other Poems” all came out of this experience. Looking back over
this time, the pains and joys inextricably mingle in my memory, and the poems here
are similarly mingled. It did not make sense to impose an external thematic
structure.
Life during this time was strongly externally structured.
Zen monastery life has reminded many commentators of Jeremy Bentham’s
panopticon prison theory in which the inmates are twenty-four hours a day
potentially under observation. The zendo or meditation hall, my base for the
first seven years, doubles as sleeping and even eating quarters, each inhabitant
given three feet by six feet of living space. The “total institution” functions
as an echo chamber. There is no distraction, no escape from facing yourself."
AUTUMN IN THE MONASTERY
Summer collapses into silence.
The valley bleeds –
leaves die on leaves
and light creeps low through their skeletons.
Gravity sucks the year away,
hollows the sky.
The air, suddenly old, hangs listless,
too tired for birdsong, lambs, tractors.
A distant dog’s bark is a chesty cough.
Up on the fell, life drains down
from stubble, pale as an old man’s chin.
Down in the heart, the river boils shadows.
Stacking wood with stinging fingers, the monks
get ready to enter the dark.
WAKE UP BELL
From the black
far edge of the cosmos,
it shrills through the silence –
Dreams lie on the bedclothes
neatly sliced in half.
A match, struck on the back of the
skull, flares. I bundle these arms
and legs together,
get up, shit, sit …
And the bell rests,
radiant as a golden Buddha.
RENEWAL
Day-long mist.
The valley’s a white paper,
watercolour wet,
smudgy, still.
Let’s get lost,
let our lives go blank,
soak into the white
forever.
Unless, of course, we’re called back,
wetfresh and laughing
from the great white womb,
to do our work.
Monday, 21 October 2019
Review: between shades of gray, Ruta Sepetys
Most stories that are written about the Second World War tend to focus on one of two things - the Holocaust, and the Western soldiers. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it does tend to skew our knowledge and narrow our view of what happened to millions of other people besides those two groups.
This story is one example of how to redress the balance.
Fifteeen year old Lina, her mother, and young brother, live in Lithuania. One night, almost without warning, their house is stormed by Soviet guards, and they are taken to a train bound for Sibera. Their crime? Their father is a university professor. This is the Second World War, and Stalin is invading Eastern Europe and doing away with anyone who poses a threat to his brand of communist ideology.
The family is taken thousands of miles from home, deep into Sibera, where they end up at a prison camp, again, not dissimilar to Nazi concentration camps. Not as much attention has been paid in secondary schools to Stalin's crimes against humanity, particularly when compared to the Nazis, and yet Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions more.
The hero of this story, in my opinion, is Lina's mother, Elena. Although she is not naive as to the reality of her situation, she sees her job as being optimistic and rallying for her children and the people around her. When they arrive in their first prison camp, Elena becomes almost a focal point and creates a community, even in the brutal conditions they live in. Although they are far from free, Elena encourages the people around them to make the best of their situation, always hopeful that the war will soon be over and they can be free again.
The saddest part of this story was at the end, finding out that the people of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia were essentially forbidden, even after they were freed from the camps, to speak about what really happened to them. Their history became hidden until long after the end of the Soviet Empire. This book powerfully reminds us of the job literature can do, to inform and challenge as well as entertain. Just like previous books I've review, these amazingly courageous nations deserve to have the truth of their histories told and preserved.
This story is one example of how to redress the balance.
Fifteeen year old Lina, her mother, and young brother, live in Lithuania. One night, almost without warning, their house is stormed by Soviet guards, and they are taken to a train bound for Sibera. Their crime? Their father is a university professor. This is the Second World War, and Stalin is invading Eastern Europe and doing away with anyone who poses a threat to his brand of communist ideology.
The family is taken thousands of miles from home, deep into Sibera, where they end up at a prison camp, again, not dissimilar to Nazi concentration camps. Not as much attention has been paid in secondary schools to Stalin's crimes against humanity, particularly when compared to the Nazis, and yet Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions more.
The hero of this story, in my opinion, is Lina's mother, Elena. Although she is not naive as to the reality of her situation, she sees her job as being optimistic and rallying for her children and the people around her. When they arrive in their first prison camp, Elena becomes almost a focal point and creates a community, even in the brutal conditions they live in. Although they are far from free, Elena encourages the people around them to make the best of their situation, always hopeful that the war will soon be over and they can be free again.
The saddest part of this story was at the end, finding out that the people of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia were essentially forbidden, even after they were freed from the camps, to speak about what really happened to them. Their history became hidden until long after the end of the Soviet Empire. This book powerfully reminds us of the job literature can do, to inform and challenge as well as entertain. Just like previous books I've review, these amazingly courageous nations deserve to have the truth of their histories told and preserved.
Review: A Dream of Lights, Kerry Drewery
North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world. We sort of know some things about it - the fact that it is a communist state run on the cult of personality and the immediate squashing of any dissent. We also know that most of its population is imprisoned. We don't know, however, just how brutal the conditions really are for the people who live there, whether they are free or not.
This novel, though fiction, is based on extensive research from survivors and advocacy groups. I think it is essential reading but not one that you would pick up again and again.
Yoora is a teenager who lives in a small village in North Korea. Technically, her family is free but they may as well not be from the conditions they live in. However, she starts to dream of strange things - bright lights and music in a faraway city. When she tells her family, they immediately become fearful and make her promise to never tell anyone of her dream.
However, she soon means a boy called Sook, whose mother is essentially an informer for the government - this is known. She meets him secretly every night and falls in love with him.
Until he betrays her.
She and her grandparents are banished to a prison camp. Her father is executed, her mother is sent to the city of her birth. To give you an idea of how bad these prison camps are, just remember what you learned about concentration camps during the Holocaust, and you'll start to get an idea.
Yoora never gives up hope, though. She is rewarded eventually for her hope, though I won't say how.
This book is a kind of adrenaline rush from beginning to end, but not in the same way as an action novel. It's emotionally exhausting, which is testament to how well-written the story is. Everything that happens in this book is based on a combination of real-life stories. It's just unimaginable in our comfortable, Western existence to think how people the same age as us, on the other side of the world, spend their lives in fear and terror, knowing one misstep, one misspoken words, can mean they spend the rest of their lives in prison.
This book is essential reading, not because it is pleasant, but because the reality of the lives of millions of North Koreans deserves to be known.
This novel, though fiction, is based on extensive research from survivors and advocacy groups. I think it is essential reading but not one that you would pick up again and again.
Yoora is a teenager who lives in a small village in North Korea. Technically, her family is free but they may as well not be from the conditions they live in. However, she starts to dream of strange things - bright lights and music in a faraway city. When she tells her family, they immediately become fearful and make her promise to never tell anyone of her dream.
However, she soon means a boy called Sook, whose mother is essentially an informer for the government - this is known. She meets him secretly every night and falls in love with him.
Until he betrays her.
She and her grandparents are banished to a prison camp. Her father is executed, her mother is sent to the city of her birth. To give you an idea of how bad these prison camps are, just remember what you learned about concentration camps during the Holocaust, and you'll start to get an idea.
Yoora never gives up hope, though. She is rewarded eventually for her hope, though I won't say how.
This book is a kind of adrenaline rush from beginning to end, but not in the same way as an action novel. It's emotionally exhausting, which is testament to how well-written the story is. Everything that happens in this book is based on a combination of real-life stories. It's just unimaginable in our comfortable, Western existence to think how people the same age as us, on the other side of the world, spend their lives in fear and terror, knowing one misstep, one misspoken words, can mean they spend the rest of their lives in prison.
This book is essential reading, not because it is pleasant, but because the reality of the lives of millions of North Koreans deserves to be known.
Review: The Missing Girl, Jenny Quintana
Anna Flores was barely a teenager when her beloved sister, Gabriella, disappeared. Though she's never stopped missing her sister, she dealt with the pain by fleeing abroad the first chance she got. Upon her mother's death, thirty years later, Anna has to return to the village of her childhood and confront her pain once again.
Despite extensive investigations, no one ever found out what really happened to Gabriella, whether she was murdered or ran away from home. The book alternates between Anna's present situation, dealing with her mother's death and everything that goes with it, to her childhood and the months leading up to her disappearance.
This is a very well-written thriller/mystery, set in a close-knit village which makes the mystery even harder to break. Almost anyone in the village could be a suspect, and Anna leaves no stone left unturned, until she has to.
In case you're wondering, yes, Anna does eventually find out what happened to her sister, but she also finds out more than she bargained for along the way - painful family secrets that, had she known when she was younger, she would not have felt as much of an outsider from her own loved ones.
If you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries, then this is simply a must-read for you.
Despite extensive investigations, no one ever found out what really happened to Gabriella, whether she was murdered or ran away from home. The book alternates between Anna's present situation, dealing with her mother's death and everything that goes with it, to her childhood and the months leading up to her disappearance.
This is a very well-written thriller/mystery, set in a close-knit village which makes the mystery even harder to break. Almost anyone in the village could be a suspect, and Anna leaves no stone left unturned, until she has to.
In case you're wondering, yes, Anna does eventually find out what happened to her sister, but she also finds out more than she bargained for along the way - painful family secrets that, had she known when she was younger, she would not have felt as much of an outsider from her own loved ones.
If you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries, then this is simply a must-read for you.
Review: An Unsuitable Woman, Kat Gordon
Theo and Maud Miller, the children of wealthy and influential Scottish parents, are transported as teenagers from Great Britain to the sweltering and up-and-coming British colony of Kenya. While Great Britain is enduring a time of major social change post World War One, Kenya is home to the British aristocracy who are not ready to give up the old ways.
Theo, the protagonist of this story. is ready to come of age. When he meets Sylvie and Freddie, glamourous expatriates, he is keen to seem older than his fourteen years. He gets in with Sylvie and Freddie (and their respective spouses, although Sylvie and Freddie are not so secretly having an affair), much to the chagrin of his parents.
Social and political tensions are the backbone of this story. While Theo is more than ready to embrace the aristocratic, white privileged lifestyle of his peers, and chase the enigma that is Sylvie, Maud soon takes a different route. She readily acquires a social justice mindset but finds herself lonely in this endeavour.
The older Theo gets, the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets that binds his social group together. He never stops pursuing Sylvie, despite knowing the danger that she presents, not least because of other men who chase her. Meanwhile, in Britain, the fascists are on the rise and their politics reach Kenya, and soon thereafter adopted by this "Happy Valley" set. Despite being thousands of miles away, Britain's tensions are keenly felt in Kenya, where the elite are all too desperate to preserve the old ways.
The books builds slowly to an explosive crescendo at the end, one I didn't see coming, but after finishing the novel I appreciated much more how the author had written the story almost like a pressure cooker. Even in the colonial outpost of Kenya, which represents the heyday of the British Empire, they were not immune to the global political tensions, which affects both the national stage and the personal relationships.
I don't know what genre I would put this in, but it probably fits best into a period drama. I had no idea what to expect of it, but it was an expertly written story with plenty of questions and drama running throughout.
Theo, the protagonist of this story. is ready to come of age. When he meets Sylvie and Freddie, glamourous expatriates, he is keen to seem older than his fourteen years. He gets in with Sylvie and Freddie (and their respective spouses, although Sylvie and Freddie are not so secretly having an affair), much to the chagrin of his parents.
Social and political tensions are the backbone of this story. While Theo is more than ready to embrace the aristocratic, white privileged lifestyle of his peers, and chase the enigma that is Sylvie, Maud soon takes a different route. She readily acquires a social justice mindset but finds herself lonely in this endeavour.
The older Theo gets, the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets that binds his social group together. He never stops pursuing Sylvie, despite knowing the danger that she presents, not least because of other men who chase her. Meanwhile, in Britain, the fascists are on the rise and their politics reach Kenya, and soon thereafter adopted by this "Happy Valley" set. Despite being thousands of miles away, Britain's tensions are keenly felt in Kenya, where the elite are all too desperate to preserve the old ways.
The books builds slowly to an explosive crescendo at the end, one I didn't see coming, but after finishing the novel I appreciated much more how the author had written the story almost like a pressure cooker. Even in the colonial outpost of Kenya, which represents the heyday of the British Empire, they were not immune to the global political tensions, which affects both the national stage and the personal relationships.
I don't know what genre I would put this in, but it probably fits best into a period drama. I had no idea what to expect of it, but it was an expertly written story with plenty of questions and drama running throughout.
Sunday, 29 September 2019
Review: The Postcard, Zoe Folbigg
This novel is a delightful romantic comedy from Zoe Folbigg. Maya and her boyfriend, James, are off on a year-long travelling adventure, starting off in India and making their way through Asia. After an opulent start, they endure discomforts of comically epic proportions while trying to find their stride, from sleeping in a luggage-esque compartment of a bus, to a spa selling self-applied colonics in an attempt to spice up Maya's travel column.
Maya's best friend, Nena, meanwhile, is back at home with her newborn, Ava, and Arlo, her stepson, trying desperately to navigate her way through the special yet incredibly exhausting and lonely time that is the first stage of motherhood.
Maya's and James' travelling, however, is married by a sub story of a woman called Manon, who has disappeared. The reader meets Manon from time to time, and must be suffering from some kind of hallucinations as she is regularly tormented by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Postcard is a wonderfully enjoyable read, full of humour, warmth, and sparkle. It's very much along the lines of Jojo Moyes and Marian Keyes, and I would add that it's every bit as well written as a Moyes or Keyes story.
The Postcard is available now.
Saturday, 21 September 2019
Review: A Map Of The Sky, Claire Wong
NB: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Plot: Just before the end of the his school's summer term, Kit is pulled out of school by his mum, who takes Kit and his sister up north to a remote coastal village, near Scarborough. They stay for a little while at a guesthouse until their new home is ready. They meet an assortment of guests there, but Kit is most drawn to Beth, one of the owners, who suffers from an illness he doesn't understand. He decides to try and help her, like a knight going on a quest in one of his favourite stories, but soon realises that as much as he tries to know and sort out the problems around him, the real problems are right under his nose.
Claire Wong has crafted an intimate, innocent, and discerning novel that takes a look at an issue that is not often talked about, and less understood - the nature of chronic illness and the effect it has on those whom it afflicts. Through Kit's eyes, we learn about it in an open and curious manner. Claire's bitterness at her suffering comes through softly, but not too much that it's dismissed. While Kit focusses on helping Claire, though, he's missing out on rescuing someone who actually wants to be rescued - in his own family, no less.
The landscapes in the novel enhance the story at its core, and almost tell their own story. There's a moment where Kit stands alone on a clifftop, viewing the magnificent north sea before him, and Claire's words transport you there so well you can almost feel the salty air. It's quietly dramatic, and although there's not a lot of action, per se, it's not necessary. Claire makes you invest in her characters, and you want to know the intimate details of their life, and what has brought them together.
Altogether, it's a gorgeous and quietly dramatic book that explores the nature of, and coping with, misunderstood illness, but more than that, the need to simply see the humanity in one another and act with kindness accordingly.
Plot: Just before the end of the his school's summer term, Kit is pulled out of school by his mum, who takes Kit and his sister up north to a remote coastal village, near Scarborough. They stay for a little while at a guesthouse until their new home is ready. They meet an assortment of guests there, but Kit is most drawn to Beth, one of the owners, who suffers from an illness he doesn't understand. He decides to try and help her, like a knight going on a quest in one of his favourite stories, but soon realises that as much as he tries to know and sort out the problems around him, the real problems are right under his nose.
Claire Wong has crafted an intimate, innocent, and discerning novel that takes a look at an issue that is not often talked about, and less understood - the nature of chronic illness and the effect it has on those whom it afflicts. Through Kit's eyes, we learn about it in an open and curious manner. Claire's bitterness at her suffering comes through softly, but not too much that it's dismissed. While Kit focusses on helping Claire, though, he's missing out on rescuing someone who actually wants to be rescued - in his own family, no less.
The landscapes in the novel enhance the story at its core, and almost tell their own story. There's a moment where Kit stands alone on a clifftop, viewing the magnificent north sea before him, and Claire's words transport you there so well you can almost feel the salty air. It's quietly dramatic, and although there's not a lot of action, per se, it's not necessary. Claire makes you invest in her characters, and you want to know the intimate details of their life, and what has brought them together.
Altogether, it's a gorgeous and quietly dramatic book that explores the nature of, and coping with, misunderstood illness, but more than that, the need to simply see the humanity in one another and act with kindness accordingly.
Sunday, 15 September 2019
Review: Over A Thousand Hills I Walk With You, Hanna Jansen
This haunting and harrowing novel about the Rwandan genocide comes from a writer called Hanna Jansen, the adoptive mother of a young girl called Jeanne. Folks who have watched the film 'Hotel Rwanda' will already have an inkling of what is to come in the story. It's a terribly important read, not just as a witness to those who were massacred, but for the western world to take responsibility for turning a blind eye to the atrocity.
The story begins with Jeanne and her siblings at her grandmother's farm, at which they spend every summer holiday. The family is large, close, and thriving. They are also Tutsi, a simple label which means only one thing in the months to come.
Jeanne's family is fairly well-to-do. Her father is a professor; her mother is a teacher; they live in a large house in the centre of a busy town and they are able to afford servants. Jeanne describes life much as any child would - the games and rivalry with her siblings, her complaints of school and just wanting to play - but all of that changes very quickly.
The Tutsis and the Hutus are the two main tribes in Rwanda. The Belgians, who had colonised it, declared the Tutsis to be the upper class and the Hutus to be the lower class. However, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hutus carried out uprisings forcing Tutsis to flee. When Rwanda became independent, the Hutus formed the government. This didn't stop the Tutsis, though, who tried to invade multiple times.
This story begins in 1994, shortly before the President's plane is shot down. This comes at the worst possible time, in the middle of peace talks between the Hutus and the Tutsis. As a result, trouble brews and whispers among the Tutsis begin of Hutu violence.
It doesn't take long for this violence to come. Jeanne's father takes their whole family to a nearby commune, under the protection of the Mayor, but they are later betrayed. The Interahamwe carry out a massacre of the Tutsis under the now-ceased protection of the Mayor, and Jeanne watches her own mother being hacked to death. Jeanne escapes with her brother and father, but events later conspire which result in her father disappearing and her brother murdered in front of her.
Then, a stroke of luck. A Hutu woman, who had been married to a Tutsis (now killed), demands passes through the country to return home. She takes Jeanne and a few other children besides her own, claiming them to be relatives. An arduous journey leads them home but the men of the house make their displeasure clear. Soon, this inevitably ends in more bloodshed.
There isn't a happy ending to this story, per se. How can there be, when a young girl survives a genocide but has witnessed her family being brutally murdered and escapes by the skin of her teeth? Knowing that one million of her fellow citizens have been cut down by their former friends and neighbours? Jeanne escapes to her aunt in Germany and eventually gets adopted. This story was written as a witness to her life and her family's, and the pain of these events bleeds through every word. Hanna, the author, begins each chapter with an observation on Jeanne, how she's reacting, what this process is doing to her. It needs to be done but what is uncovered cannot ever be forgotten. Jeanne's pain becomes her own.
It's also a cry of shame for the world who turned its back on it. After the Holocaust, the world swore 'never again.' And yet genocides have occurred the world over - not to the same scale or industrial undertaking, but genocides still the same. Reading these stories is a responsibility that we shouldn't ignore.
The story begins with Jeanne and her siblings at her grandmother's farm, at which they spend every summer holiday. The family is large, close, and thriving. They are also Tutsi, a simple label which means only one thing in the months to come.
Jeanne's family is fairly well-to-do. Her father is a professor; her mother is a teacher; they live in a large house in the centre of a busy town and they are able to afford servants. Jeanne describes life much as any child would - the games and rivalry with her siblings, her complaints of school and just wanting to play - but all of that changes very quickly.
The Tutsis and the Hutus are the two main tribes in Rwanda. The Belgians, who had colonised it, declared the Tutsis to be the upper class and the Hutus to be the lower class. However, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hutus carried out uprisings forcing Tutsis to flee. When Rwanda became independent, the Hutus formed the government. This didn't stop the Tutsis, though, who tried to invade multiple times.
This story begins in 1994, shortly before the President's plane is shot down. This comes at the worst possible time, in the middle of peace talks between the Hutus and the Tutsis. As a result, trouble brews and whispers among the Tutsis begin of Hutu violence.
It doesn't take long for this violence to come. Jeanne's father takes their whole family to a nearby commune, under the protection of the Mayor, but they are later betrayed. The Interahamwe carry out a massacre of the Tutsis under the now-ceased protection of the Mayor, and Jeanne watches her own mother being hacked to death. Jeanne escapes with her brother and father, but events later conspire which result in her father disappearing and her brother murdered in front of her.
Then, a stroke of luck. A Hutu woman, who had been married to a Tutsis (now killed), demands passes through the country to return home. She takes Jeanne and a few other children besides her own, claiming them to be relatives. An arduous journey leads them home but the men of the house make their displeasure clear. Soon, this inevitably ends in more bloodshed.
There isn't a happy ending to this story, per se. How can there be, when a young girl survives a genocide but has witnessed her family being brutally murdered and escapes by the skin of her teeth? Knowing that one million of her fellow citizens have been cut down by their former friends and neighbours? Jeanne escapes to her aunt in Germany and eventually gets adopted. This story was written as a witness to her life and her family's, and the pain of these events bleeds through every word. Hanna, the author, begins each chapter with an observation on Jeanne, how she's reacting, what this process is doing to her. It needs to be done but what is uncovered cannot ever be forgotten. Jeanne's pain becomes her own.
It's also a cry of shame for the world who turned its back on it. After the Holocaust, the world swore 'never again.' And yet genocides have occurred the world over - not to the same scale or industrial undertaking, but genocides still the same. Reading these stories is a responsibility that we shouldn't ignore.
Friday, 30 August 2019
New Review: Butterfly in Frost, Sylvia Day
Sylvia Day is a multi-million bestselling author primarily known for her romance novels. Her bestselling Crossfire series has sold over 13 million copies. Her new book, Butterfly In Frost, introduces readers to a host of new characters, the protagonists being Teagan and Garrett.
Teagan is a successful reality-TV surgeon who moved from NYC to the state of Washington after a lot of personal trauma, including a divorce from a famous actor. She isn't quite agoraphobic but she has to work quite hard to take small steps, including going outside. However, her quiet world is turned upside down when Garrett Frost, a photographer and artist, moves next door. They literally collide into each other on their first meeting and, despite his simmering anger, sexual tension immediately simmers between them. It's not long before Garrett barges into her life and sweeps her off her feet. Teagan is not the only one who is hurting, though, and she fears opening herself up to Garrett when he is clearly battling demons as well.
The romance between them builds up slowly but intensely. The description of their relationship will surely be a delight for any romance fiction fan, but there are deeper layers to the story as well, as they reveal more about their pasts and entrust their secrets to each other.
There is an unexpected ending, however, and I did not see this twist coming at all. In fact, afterwards I did a quick scan of the whole book again to see how I could have missed the clues.
If you are a fan of steamy romance fiction with a good story and happy ending then this book will definitely be for you.
Teagan is a successful reality-TV surgeon who moved from NYC to the state of Washington after a lot of personal trauma, including a divorce from a famous actor. She isn't quite agoraphobic but she has to work quite hard to take small steps, including going outside. However, her quiet world is turned upside down when Garrett Frost, a photographer and artist, moves next door. They literally collide into each other on their first meeting and, despite his simmering anger, sexual tension immediately simmers between them. It's not long before Garrett barges into her life and sweeps her off her feet. Teagan is not the only one who is hurting, though, and she fears opening herself up to Garrett when he is clearly battling demons as well.
The romance between them builds up slowly but intensely. The description of their relationship will surely be a delight for any romance fiction fan, but there are deeper layers to the story as well, as they reveal more about their pasts and entrust their secrets to each other.
There is an unexpected ending, however, and I did not see this twist coming at all. In fact, afterwards I did a quick scan of the whole book again to see how I could have missed the clues.
If you are a fan of steamy romance fiction with a good story and happy ending then this book will definitely be for you.
Monday, 26 August 2019
Upcoming Review: Butterfly in Frost by Sylvia Day
I'm taking part in the blog tour for this upcoming release! Come back on Friday for my review.
Review: We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Shirley Jackson
This was one of the books suggested to me by the librarian of the school I work at as a History teacher. I'd never read any of Jackson's work before, although I had heard of "The Haunting of Hill House", thanks to the Netflix adaptation.
For those whom have not read this book either, We Have Always Lived In The Castle centres around the remaining three members of Blackwood family. I say remaining, because the rest were murdered six years before the beginning of this book. The beginning of it perhaps inspired the start of another book, I Capture The Castle, as the two seemed very similar in tone, although the protagonists artre very different.
Mary Katherine, called 'Merricat' by her sister, Constance, is the only one of the Blackwood family to leave the house since the murder. She meticulously documents the family's weekly routine. Tuesdays and Fridays are the worst days, she explains, as she has to go to the village for groceries and books. Most of the villagers believe that Constance, accused but acquitted of the murders, is responsible, and as such they treat Merricat with the same contempt. She treats her walks to the village like a game, and she wins if she makes the round trip without anyone tormenting her. If they do, she imagines the harm she would do to them with alarming detail.
Uncle Julian is the last of the three of the surviving Blackwoods. He seems to be senile, whether that's from old age or the lingering effects of the arsenic (the murder was committed through someone putting arsenic in the sugar bowl) but is determined to document the whole event and write it in a book.
Their comfortable existence is soon disrupted by an apparent cousin called Charles. Merricat dislikes him straight away, calling him a ghost and a demon. He has more luck charming Constance, but is no match for Merricat and Uncle Julian, although he does slyly threaten to turn Merricat out of the house. It seems his only motive to be there is not to reacquaint with the family but to try and get his hands on the Blackwood fortune.
For a short book, (only 146 pages), it packs a hell of a punch. The small world consisting, (apart from the walk through the village at the start), solely of the house is built up room by room and the grounds around. There is even a jaunt to the ruined summerhouse in which Merricat enacts in her mind a dinner, of sorts, with her deceased ancestors, in which they treat her as she imagines they should have done.
The twist at the end is not altogether shocking - the book builds it up piece by piece throughout - but the rest of the story, particularly Merricat's inner mind, makes more sense once that piece of knowledge is secure.
It's a commanding, strange, and (at times) whimsical piece of fiction, with enduring and endearing (in Uncle Julian) characters. It's hard to guess at an ending for this kind of story but it is done remarkably well - I'll leave it for you to find out.
For those whom have not read this book either, We Have Always Lived In The Castle centres around the remaining three members of Blackwood family. I say remaining, because the rest were murdered six years before the beginning of this book. The beginning of it perhaps inspired the start of another book, I Capture The Castle, as the two seemed very similar in tone, although the protagonists artre very different.
Mary Katherine, called 'Merricat' by her sister, Constance, is the only one of the Blackwood family to leave the house since the murder. She meticulously documents the family's weekly routine. Tuesdays and Fridays are the worst days, she explains, as she has to go to the village for groceries and books. Most of the villagers believe that Constance, accused but acquitted of the murders, is responsible, and as such they treat Merricat with the same contempt. She treats her walks to the village like a game, and she wins if she makes the round trip without anyone tormenting her. If they do, she imagines the harm she would do to them with alarming detail.
Uncle Julian is the last of the three of the surviving Blackwoods. He seems to be senile, whether that's from old age or the lingering effects of the arsenic (the murder was committed through someone putting arsenic in the sugar bowl) but is determined to document the whole event and write it in a book.
Their comfortable existence is soon disrupted by an apparent cousin called Charles. Merricat dislikes him straight away, calling him a ghost and a demon. He has more luck charming Constance, but is no match for Merricat and Uncle Julian, although he does slyly threaten to turn Merricat out of the house. It seems his only motive to be there is not to reacquaint with the family but to try and get his hands on the Blackwood fortune.
For a short book, (only 146 pages), it packs a hell of a punch. The small world consisting, (apart from the walk through the village at the start), solely of the house is built up room by room and the grounds around. There is even a jaunt to the ruined summerhouse in which Merricat enacts in her mind a dinner, of sorts, with her deceased ancestors, in which they treat her as she imagines they should have done.
The twist at the end is not altogether shocking - the book builds it up piece by piece throughout - but the rest of the story, particularly Merricat's inner mind, makes more sense once that piece of knowledge is secure.
It's a commanding, strange, and (at times) whimsical piece of fiction, with enduring and endearing (in Uncle Julian) characters. It's hard to guess at an ending for this kind of story but it is done remarkably well - I'll leave it for you to find out.
Friday, 19 July 2019
New Review: The Thunder Girls, Melanie Blake
Melanie Blake is an author, playwright, TV critic, and former music manager - one of the best in the industry. Hers is a true rags to riches story, and she uses the richness of material from her career to write a thoroughy enjoyable, nostalgia-inducing, and shocking story about a girl band called The Thunder Girls. She writes in her book that none of the characters are based on real life people, but everything that happens in the book - good, bad, and ugly - has happened in the music industry, and then some.
It starts with betrayal. Chrissie, Roxanne, Carly and Anita are at the top of their game, until Chrissie sells out the rest of the girls. She signs a contract as a solo artist and the Thunder Girls are no more.
Thirty years later. Chrissie arrives home from her honeymoon to find out that her new husband has taken her for a ride - persuading her to open joint accounts, he has quite literally drained all of her wealth and done a runner. Chrissie is at risk of destitution, until her manager, Jack, offers her a way out.
The idea is to reunite the Thunder Girls for a huge eighties gig at Wembley. It comes with the promise of renewed fame and fortune, but at a cost. Chrissie will have to get down on her knees and grovel - hard. Meanwhile, Jack's sudden interest in their renewal isn't at wholesome as it seems.
I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. There was never a dull moment. Melanie Blake's experience of the industry pours out from every page and, even though this is technically a work of fiction, the fact that she said the music industry is all of this and more makes you think about how much more rough of a business it is than what we see. All we get, as consumers, is the end product. We don't see the behind the scenes battles between artists, producers, managers, and execs. We don't see the power plays, unless it comes out on social media. The recent exposure by Taylor Swift of how hard it is for writers and artists to own their work, even if they have the money to pay for it, is just one small example.
Melanie writes with flair, aplomb, and compassion as well. As a manager, she will no doubt had to support people in the valleys as well as on the mountains, and it shows. Despite the flaws of these characters, you can't help but feel sympathy for them - even Chrissie, begrudgingly at times - and you root for them, knowing that as teenagers they were pawns in a much bigger game but, with the benefit of experience, they have learned to fight for themselves.
And that's what Chrissie, Anita, Carly, and Roxanne do. They come out fighting. I really loved this book, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it, particularly as it's coming up to the summer holidays. It's a perfect summer read.
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
New Review: Concerto, Hannah Fielding
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.
"Concerto follows Catriona, a young music therapist, who must honour an opera diva’s dying request to help her son, Umberto Rolando Monteverdi, recover his musical gift after a car accident robbed him of his sight. Ten years previously, Catriona shared a night of passion with the handsome musician that led to unexpected circumstances. Arriving at Umberto’s mansion in Lake Como, she finds him resistant to her every effort. Catriona discovers her feelings toward the blind musician are as strong as ever while battling her own secrets and the dark forces that threaten Umberto’s life – for the second time."
This gorgeous romance novel is a sumptuous read - there's really not another word for it. It's set against the backdrops of Nice and Italy, with classical music serving as the main vehicle for the plot.
Catriona, aged eighteen, has the world at her feet. She's on course to win a competition that will give her a place at the most prestigious of music conservatoires, when she meets a composer and pianist whose fame is quickly rising. She meets him and they spend a single, passionate night together before he unexpectedly leaves for a tour in America. He leaves her with something else unexpected, too - a pregnancy with which she follows through. Ten years later, Umberto's mother begs Catriona to help her son after he loses his sight.
It takes some persuasion, but Catriona finally agrees. When she reaches Umberto in Lake Como, however, she has to decide whether or not she will reveal the truth about herself and her son - Umberto's son. He is not the only factor at play, though. Umberto's cousin and a childhood friend/ex-lover, makes things even more tense and awkward.
Umberto finally figures out who Catriona is, though, and they pick up exactly where they left off ten years previously. Catriona, however, still cannot figure out a way to reveal the truth about the son. Meanwhile, the stakes are only getting higher and higher.
This book was a passionate, sweeping love story from start to finish, full of hedonism, romance, and gorgeous descriptions of some of the world's most luxurious and beautiful places. If you enjoy romance novels, then this book will appeal and then some. It's a long read, but it doesn't feel that way. Every chapter, the author introduces some new intrigue or plot twist that makes the larger story even more of a mystery with satisfying payoffs.
An exceptionally beautiful and heart-touching read which will stay with you long after you finish.
"Concerto follows Catriona, a young music therapist, who must honour an opera diva’s dying request to help her son, Umberto Rolando Monteverdi, recover his musical gift after a car accident robbed him of his sight. Ten years previously, Catriona shared a night of passion with the handsome musician that led to unexpected circumstances. Arriving at Umberto’s mansion in Lake Como, she finds him resistant to her every effort. Catriona discovers her feelings toward the blind musician are as strong as ever while battling her own secrets and the dark forces that threaten Umberto’s life – for the second time."
This gorgeous romance novel is a sumptuous read - there's really not another word for it. It's set against the backdrops of Nice and Italy, with classical music serving as the main vehicle for the plot.
Catriona, aged eighteen, has the world at her feet. She's on course to win a competition that will give her a place at the most prestigious of music conservatoires, when she meets a composer and pianist whose fame is quickly rising. She meets him and they spend a single, passionate night together before he unexpectedly leaves for a tour in America. He leaves her with something else unexpected, too - a pregnancy with which she follows through. Ten years later, Umberto's mother begs Catriona to help her son after he loses his sight.
It takes some persuasion, but Catriona finally agrees. When she reaches Umberto in Lake Como, however, she has to decide whether or not she will reveal the truth about herself and her son - Umberto's son. He is not the only factor at play, though. Umberto's cousin and a childhood friend/ex-lover, makes things even more tense and awkward.
Umberto finally figures out who Catriona is, though, and they pick up exactly where they left off ten years previously. Catriona, however, still cannot figure out a way to reveal the truth about the son. Meanwhile, the stakes are only getting higher and higher.
This book was a passionate, sweeping love story from start to finish, full of hedonism, romance, and gorgeous descriptions of some of the world's most luxurious and beautiful places. If you enjoy romance novels, then this book will appeal and then some. It's a long read, but it doesn't feel that way. Every chapter, the author introduces some new intrigue or plot twist that makes the larger story even more of a mystery with satisfying payoffs.
An exceptionally beautiful and heart-touching read which will stay with you long after you finish.
Thursday, 23 May 2019
New review: Kingsbane, Claire Legrand
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Kingsbane is the sequel to Legrand's New York Times bestseller, Furyborn. Although I hadn't read Furyborn before starting Kingsbane, a quick read through of some other reviews gave me a general gist - but I do recommend reading the books in order and I intend to go back and read Furyborn so questions I have about its sequel make more sense. I wasn't sure what to expect as reviews of Furyborn were very polarising, but I'm happy to say that I've been thrilled as a reader with this novel.
Anyway. Kingsbane starts with one of its two protagonists, Rielle, having been proclaimed the Sun Queen. She is an elemental - meaning she can manipulate the elements. Only she is unusual - and special - because she can manipulate all four as opposed to one, which is most common among elementals. She is making a tour of the kingdoms, but not all is well. Controversies seemed to have reigned through her journey to becoming the Sun Queen (reading Furyborn will make more sense of that, it seems) and she is battling with her seemingly would-be lover and arch enemy, an angel called Corien. Rielle becomes aware that the Gate that separates the human world from the world of the Deep, a void to which the angels got banished during a war between angels and humans, is fracturing. It can only be repaired if she finds the original castings with which the Gate was made, although the effort and power involved could kill her.
The second protagonist, Eliana, is Rielle's daughter - except that they are separated by a thousand years. She was brought up in an adopted family and is a trained assassin. She finds it hard to accept any of her new powers and what is expected of her - namely, that she will save the world. She struggles with her mother's legacy - her mother became known as the Blood Queen (lots of murder implied with that title, though I'm not sure if that context has been provided in Furyborn or will be in Kingsbane).
This is pure high fantasy, and I am devouring it. Rielle and Eliana are incredibly complex and richly drawn characters, although Eliana falls into the YA female lead tropes at times. There is also some LGBT+ representation in the book, which - while refreshing - is also not forced in as points for diversity and inclusion.
There is a huge supporting cast of characters and plots as well. I would very much be interested to see the spreadsheets or mind maps Legrand used to keep track of them all! She holds all the threads of the story together, so even though the plot may seem sprawling at times - on several occasions I had to flick back to previous chapters to pick up the thread of a plot point I'd missed - as a writer she seems in control of it all.
Kingsbane has all the markings of a great fantasy - magic, monsters, implicit history, excellent worldbuilding - while also making it all seem new. It has reinvented the wheel, as most fantasies do, in a compelling and page-turning way. Already I'm impatient to read the conclusion to this rich tapestry of a story.
Thursday, 16 May 2019
Upcoming review - Kingsbane Blog Tour
I'm excited to be a part of the upcoming Kingsbane Blog Tour!
Kinsgbane follows two fiercely independent queens, Rielle Dardenne and Eliana Ferracora, who, although separated by a thousand years, are connected by secrets and lies. Both Rielle and Eliana must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals, which will test their strength, their hearts, and their power, as they are faced with the choice of saving the world…or dooming it.
Although Claire Legrand, the author, was inspired by the world building in the classic fantasy novels of Philip Pullman and J.R Tolkein, she recognised their books often followed heteronormative and Eurocentric narratives. Claire wanted to create a landscape in which the characters reflected the world she saw, leading to the birth of fiercely feminist epic Empiruim series, where complex bi-sexual heroines, female sexuality and minority and LGBTQ characters are celebrated through their inmate and intricate depictions, within an epic new fantasy world.
Look out for my review on the 23rd May!
Review: Ink, Alice Broadway
INK is a YA fantasy story set in the town of Saintstone. It is a town in which everyone is marked with tattoos that display the stories and events of their life. Their belief is if tattoos tell your stories and secrets, your soul will not be burdened and when you die, you can enter the afterlife.
The story's protagonist is a young woman called Leora, on the verge of finishing her schooling career, when she loses her father. After a person in Saintstone dies, their skin is removed and made into a life story book, which then gets judged. If one passes, your stories will be remember forever. If not, your story gets thrown into the fire and you will be 'forgotten' - the worst sentence that can be bestowed.
Leora's ambition is to become an Inker (a tattooist). During her training, however, she begins to find out that things are going wrong in Saintstone. Her father's last words to her were, "Don't forget the blanks", meaning the unmarked, who have been banished. However, the new Mayor wants to be stricter than ever, to root out Blank sympathisers and mark them as forgotten, with a crow.
The writing and plot itself follows the standard YA model, but the setting is different and original enough to keep it interesting. I wasn't a particular fan of Leora - she seemed to be the same unassuming, quiet, self-deprecating, emo type that one sees in a lot of YA fiction - but enough of her surrounding characters were interesting and had enough depth to make me care about what happened to them.
I think there was a lot of potential to this book that didn't get realised. For me, it simply seemed to be following the standard beats and plot points of a story without fleshing them out as fully as it could have been. I didn't get enough of the sense of the history of the place, or why I should care about this war between the Marked and the Blanks. I'm sure that the writer has a lot of this going on in her mind, and maybe that's just the nature of YA writing.
It's a very promising story and I probably will read the sequels, but overall I was left hoping for more than what it was.
The story's protagonist is a young woman called Leora, on the verge of finishing her schooling career, when she loses her father. After a person in Saintstone dies, their skin is removed and made into a life story book, which then gets judged. If one passes, your stories will be remember forever. If not, your story gets thrown into the fire and you will be 'forgotten' - the worst sentence that can be bestowed.
Leora's ambition is to become an Inker (a tattooist). During her training, however, she begins to find out that things are going wrong in Saintstone. Her father's last words to her were, "Don't forget the blanks", meaning the unmarked, who have been banished. However, the new Mayor wants to be stricter than ever, to root out Blank sympathisers and mark them as forgotten, with a crow.
The writing and plot itself follows the standard YA model, but the setting is different and original enough to keep it interesting. I wasn't a particular fan of Leora - she seemed to be the same unassuming, quiet, self-deprecating, emo type that one sees in a lot of YA fiction - but enough of her surrounding characters were interesting and had enough depth to make me care about what happened to them.
I think there was a lot of potential to this book that didn't get realised. For me, it simply seemed to be following the standard beats and plot points of a story without fleshing them out as fully as it could have been. I didn't get enough of the sense of the history of the place, or why I should care about this war between the Marked and the Blanks. I'm sure that the writer has a lot of this going on in her mind, and maybe that's just the nature of YA writing.
It's a very promising story and I probably will read the sequels, but overall I was left hoping for more than what it was.
Friday, 10 May 2019
Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris
This book is based on the extraordinary and gut-wrenching story of Lali Sokolov, (formerly Eisenberg), and his survival through three years of being at Auschwitz, and his torturous journey home to Slovakia in order to find his family and reunite with the love of his life, (Gita), whom he met in the camp.
The book has been disparaged by some who claim it is not an authentic or factually accurate enough story of the Holocaust, despite being based on the true story of Lali. Despite the author working with historians, other experts of the Holocaust claim there is too much dramatic license used.
Despite this, the story is powerful and moving - anyone with a layman's understanding of the Holocaust will be able to recognise symbols and landmarks used, from the slave labour to the gas chambers. Lali (spelled Lale in the book) is a clever man with a survival for instinct. He never makes friends with any of the guards - that would be impossible - but he knows what to do in order to collect favours and keep himself and his friends alive.
The love story between Lali and Gita is desperate, slow-moving, and high stakes. There is no way of telling in the novel whether they end up together or not, which adds to the already compelling nature of the story.
As a whole, I found the writing a bit rushed at times - this may be due to the nature of it having been written as a screenplay first - but the characters and relationships between them were absorbing enough to gloss over that at times.
This story isn't - and was never intended to be - a truly deep insight into the Holocaust itself. No single book could ever do that. But it is a powerful story of love, survival, and humanity against all odds.
The book has been disparaged by some who claim it is not an authentic or factually accurate enough story of the Holocaust, despite being based on the true story of Lali. Despite the author working with historians, other experts of the Holocaust claim there is too much dramatic license used.
Despite this, the story is powerful and moving - anyone with a layman's understanding of the Holocaust will be able to recognise symbols and landmarks used, from the slave labour to the gas chambers. Lali (spelled Lale in the book) is a clever man with a survival for instinct. He never makes friends with any of the guards - that would be impossible - but he knows what to do in order to collect favours and keep himself and his friends alive.
The love story between Lali and Gita is desperate, slow-moving, and high stakes. There is no way of telling in the novel whether they end up together or not, which adds to the already compelling nature of the story.
As a whole, I found the writing a bit rushed at times - this may be due to the nature of it having been written as a screenplay first - but the characters and relationships between them were absorbing enough to gloss over that at times.
This story isn't - and was never intended to be - a truly deep insight into the Holocaust itself. No single book could ever do that. But it is a powerful story of love, survival, and humanity against all odds.
Monday, 29 April 2019
Review: The Effortless Mind: Meditation for the Modern World, Will Williams
Note: I received a proof copy of the book in exchange for a review.
"The Effortless Mind is renowned meditation teacher Will Williams' must have guide for modern-day meditators. Suffering from chronic stress and insomnia, Will undertook years of research and training with leading experts from around the world, which led him to find the cure he was looking for in Beeja meditation."
This book is such a powerful, fulfilling, and important read. It's not just about meditation, but about the science and psychology of it as well. Will starts with an engaging and clear breakdown about our evolutionary brain - most notably, the role of the fight or flight response. It is this understanding of our brain which underpins the whole book and why meditation is so important and useful. In a world in which our fight or flight response is triggered most of the time, when it is biologically meant to be in case of emergencies only, we need to find ways to put our minds at rest and recalibrate.
Will doesn't just explain the theory, though. He includes extensive personal stories in the book - not only of his own journey but those of his clients as well. All of it comes back to a particular form of meditation known as Beeja Meditation, the purpose of which is to calm one's brain down by playing a personalized sound in your mind for twenty minutes, twice a day.
As stress affects so many parts of the human biology and psychology, it follows that resting affects them positively. Beeja Meditation, as attested by the many stories in this book, is one provable form of effective self-care. Clients' stories in this book range from the open-minded to the highlight skeptical, but they all end with one conclusion - Beeja Meditation has helped them for the better.
Will doesn't just talk about Beeja Meditation, however. Throughout the book are different meditation exercises that are clearly explained for the reader to try. I did try some of them myself, and it is quite radical how much of a difference they make. There are some other practical, simple tips as well, designed purely to help us cope in a highly digital society, such as making your bedroom a digital free haven.
Overall, this is one of the most fascinating, fulfilling, and insightful books I have ever read. As Will says in the book, we simply are not built to be on high alert 24/7, with handfuls of days or weeks littered throughout the year to relax. Busyness should not be a sign of success - it's a toxic way of thinking that needs to stop. Good physical and mental health is the most basic and crucial of things to get right - and that should be our goal.
"The Effortless Mind is renowned meditation teacher Will Williams' must have guide for modern-day meditators. Suffering from chronic stress and insomnia, Will undertook years of research and training with leading experts from around the world, which led him to find the cure he was looking for in Beeja meditation."
This book is such a powerful, fulfilling, and important read. It's not just about meditation, but about the science and psychology of it as well. Will starts with an engaging and clear breakdown about our evolutionary brain - most notably, the role of the fight or flight response. It is this understanding of our brain which underpins the whole book and why meditation is so important and useful. In a world in which our fight or flight response is triggered most of the time, when it is biologically meant to be in case of emergencies only, we need to find ways to put our minds at rest and recalibrate.
Will doesn't just explain the theory, though. He includes extensive personal stories in the book - not only of his own journey but those of his clients as well. All of it comes back to a particular form of meditation known as Beeja Meditation, the purpose of which is to calm one's brain down by playing a personalized sound in your mind for twenty minutes, twice a day.
As stress affects so many parts of the human biology and psychology, it follows that resting affects them positively. Beeja Meditation, as attested by the many stories in this book, is one provable form of effective self-care. Clients' stories in this book range from the open-minded to the highlight skeptical, but they all end with one conclusion - Beeja Meditation has helped them for the better.
Will doesn't just talk about Beeja Meditation, however. Throughout the book are different meditation exercises that are clearly explained for the reader to try. I did try some of them myself, and it is quite radical how much of a difference they make. There are some other practical, simple tips as well, designed purely to help us cope in a highly digital society, such as making your bedroom a digital free haven.
Overall, this is one of the most fascinating, fulfilling, and insightful books I have ever read. As Will says in the book, we simply are not built to be on high alert 24/7, with handfuls of days or weeks littered throughout the year to relax. Busyness should not be a sign of success - it's a toxic way of thinking that needs to stop. Good physical and mental health is the most basic and crucial of things to get right - and that should be our goal.
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
New Review: The Strawberry Thief, Joanne Harris.
I was lucky enough to listen to, and meet, Joanne Harris in person when she visited Kenilworth as part of her book tour. Fans of Joanne Harris, most particularly her "Chocolat" series, will be delighted with 'The Strawberry Thief'. I was confident that I was going to love it, but even so, it's been a while since novel had me quite so spellbound as this did.
This can be read as a standalone novel, but I would recommend reading, at the very least, 'Chocolat' before this so you can have the better understanding of the characters and circumstances that led up to this point. Names like Armande, Narcisse (on whom much of the story hangs), and Zozie deserve to be known - honestly, you're doing yourself a favour if you read the three books that come before this one.
But anyway, back to the subject at hand. Vianne is feeling as settled as she can be in Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes, despite the call of the wind enticing her to move on. She has put down roots; the chocolaterie is well established and frequented, even during Lent; she has even almost made a friend in the Priest, Reynaud. She longs as only a mother does for her firstborn, Anouk, who is making a life for herself in Paris. Her second child, Rosette, is unlike any other child - but in a way that Vianne is sure will enable her to keep Rosette with her forever. Rosette is really the star of this book, but Vianne and Reynaud have important journeys to go on, as well.
The inciting event, as it were, is the death of Narcisse and the subject of his will. His daughter and son-in-law, absent for many years, have made many appearances for the past two years, which is of course nothing to do with the fact that Narcisse is nearing the end of his life and therefore set to leave a substantial inheritance. In a splendid trick that infuriates his daughter, he leaves her and her husband all of his land except for the most valuable part - a special wood which contains a strawberry field. This, he leaves to Rosette. He also makes Reynaud, whom he never particularly liked, the executor of his will, as well as leaving a long document for only Reynaud to read - a confession of sorts.
Vianne, though happier in a general sense, seems to suffer a consistent undercurrent of anxiety. Firstly over her children (as any parent can understand), but it becomes more acute when Narcisse's flower shop is let out. I won't write about who rents it and for what purpose, but what I will say is that it forces Vianne to confront things about herself that she thought she had quashed - for her own sake as well as her children. It's never really clear whether the proprietor of this shop is someone we are supposed to be wary of or empathise with - it depends whether you are reading from Vianne's or Rosette's POV, and more particularly if the name 'Zozie' means anything to you. However, what I will say - and this probably isn't too spoilery - is that this person seems, in some ways, to be a mirror image of Vianne, or the parts of Vianne that she feels she needs to put away.
Rosette is easily my favourite character in this book. She's talented, imaginative, open-hearted and guileless (for the most part). She's powerful, too, and what the rest of the town sees as 'wrong' with her (i.e. she doesn't necessarily present as neurotypical), is what makes her extraordinary. As the story goes on, we find out more about why she is the way she is. She is pulling the strings of a lot of different parts of the story, although she may not be aware of it.
I am so, so glad that Joanne Harris invited her readers back into this world with her. It has the right combination of freshness and familiarity, a good dose of mythology and magic, (I was most intrigued to find out that the word 'hurricane' is named after Hurakan, the Mayan god of the wind), and, of course, the sensual feast that compelled readers to love 'Chocolat' in the first place.
'The Strawberry Thief' is available in all the usual places, but if you get it from the link below, you get a beautiful signed edition that comes with a bonus short story:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-strawberry-thief/joanne-harris/9781409192169
This can be read as a standalone novel, but I would recommend reading, at the very least, 'Chocolat' before this so you can have the better understanding of the characters and circumstances that led up to this point. Names like Armande, Narcisse (on whom much of the story hangs), and Zozie deserve to be known - honestly, you're doing yourself a favour if you read the three books that come before this one.
But anyway, back to the subject at hand. Vianne is feeling as settled as she can be in Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes, despite the call of the wind enticing her to move on. She has put down roots; the chocolaterie is well established and frequented, even during Lent; she has even almost made a friend in the Priest, Reynaud. She longs as only a mother does for her firstborn, Anouk, who is making a life for herself in Paris. Her second child, Rosette, is unlike any other child - but in a way that Vianne is sure will enable her to keep Rosette with her forever. Rosette is really the star of this book, but Vianne and Reynaud have important journeys to go on, as well.
The inciting event, as it were, is the death of Narcisse and the subject of his will. His daughter and son-in-law, absent for many years, have made many appearances for the past two years, which is of course nothing to do with the fact that Narcisse is nearing the end of his life and therefore set to leave a substantial inheritance. In a splendid trick that infuriates his daughter, he leaves her and her husband all of his land except for the most valuable part - a special wood which contains a strawberry field. This, he leaves to Rosette. He also makes Reynaud, whom he never particularly liked, the executor of his will, as well as leaving a long document for only Reynaud to read - a confession of sorts.
Vianne, though happier in a general sense, seems to suffer a consistent undercurrent of anxiety. Firstly over her children (as any parent can understand), but it becomes more acute when Narcisse's flower shop is let out. I won't write about who rents it and for what purpose, but what I will say is that it forces Vianne to confront things about herself that she thought she had quashed - for her own sake as well as her children. It's never really clear whether the proprietor of this shop is someone we are supposed to be wary of or empathise with - it depends whether you are reading from Vianne's or Rosette's POV, and more particularly if the name 'Zozie' means anything to you. However, what I will say - and this probably isn't too spoilery - is that this person seems, in some ways, to be a mirror image of Vianne, or the parts of Vianne that she feels she needs to put away.
Rosette is easily my favourite character in this book. She's talented, imaginative, open-hearted and guileless (for the most part). She's powerful, too, and what the rest of the town sees as 'wrong' with her (i.e. she doesn't necessarily present as neurotypical), is what makes her extraordinary. As the story goes on, we find out more about why she is the way she is. She is pulling the strings of a lot of different parts of the story, although she may not be aware of it.
I am so, so glad that Joanne Harris invited her readers back into this world with her. It has the right combination of freshness and familiarity, a good dose of mythology and magic, (I was most intrigued to find out that the word 'hurricane' is named after Hurakan, the Mayan god of the wind), and, of course, the sensual feast that compelled readers to love 'Chocolat' in the first place.
'The Strawberry Thief' is available in all the usual places, but if you get it from the link below, you get a beautiful signed edition that comes with a bonus short story:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-strawberry-thief/joanne-harris/9781409192169
Friday, 12 April 2019
Review: The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, Deborah Rodriguez
In the middle of the Afghanistan conflict, a little coffee shop in Kabul stands as a testament to the determination to continue life as normal. Five women, wholly different and unconnected, come together and create ripples in the city.
Sunny, the cafe owner, is an American working in Kabul while her boyfriend is away. Yazmina is a young widow who got taken to the city to pay off a debt, and whom Sunny takes into her protection. Candace is a wealthy American woman who comes to Afghanistan to help her younger lover. Isabel is a British journalist searching for the story of her life. Halajan owns the building where the cafe is situated, and she is carrying a years-long secret of her own.
Religious and secular values collide in this story - the cafe serves as a microcosm for the many clashes of values facing Afghanistan during the conflict.
The author's rich experiences of living in Kabul shine through the story. Images of the city pour through every sentence, and despite the encroaching conflict it seems like a dynamic place to live. The heroism and courage of not only the primary characters but the host of unnamed secondary characters who carry on life as normal serves as a dramatic undercurrent - although the people are just trying to live their lives, it's always with the knowledge that a bomb could explode at any moment.
The strong bonds that these women form was one of my favourite parts of the novel. The way they look after each other, keep each other's secrets and support each other's projects and journeys show the importance of deep and meaningful relationships, particularly in such a fractious atmosphere where life can be counted in seconds and minutes.
It's definitely a book to set aside a good few hours to read in good chunks at a time, and I'll definitely be following up with the sequels soon.
Sunny, the cafe owner, is an American working in Kabul while her boyfriend is away. Yazmina is a young widow who got taken to the city to pay off a debt, and whom Sunny takes into her protection. Candace is a wealthy American woman who comes to Afghanistan to help her younger lover. Isabel is a British journalist searching for the story of her life. Halajan owns the building where the cafe is situated, and she is carrying a years-long secret of her own.
Religious and secular values collide in this story - the cafe serves as a microcosm for the many clashes of values facing Afghanistan during the conflict.
The author's rich experiences of living in Kabul shine through the story. Images of the city pour through every sentence, and despite the encroaching conflict it seems like a dynamic place to live. The heroism and courage of not only the primary characters but the host of unnamed secondary characters who carry on life as normal serves as a dramatic undercurrent - although the people are just trying to live their lives, it's always with the knowledge that a bomb could explode at any moment.
The strong bonds that these women form was one of my favourite parts of the novel. The way they look after each other, keep each other's secrets and support each other's projects and journeys show the importance of deep and meaningful relationships, particularly in such a fractious atmosphere where life can be counted in seconds and minutes.
It's definitely a book to set aside a good few hours to read in good chunks at a time, and I'll definitely be following up with the sequels soon.
Thursday, 11 April 2019
Review: The Long Forgotten, David Whitehouse
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review:
"When the black box flight recorder of a plane that went missing 30 years ago is found at the bottom of the sea, a young man named Dove begins to remember a past that isn't his. The memories belong to a rare flower hunter in 1980s New York, whose search led him around the world and ended in tragedy. Restless and lonely in present-day London, Dove is quickly consumed by the memories, which might just hold the key to the mystery of his own identity and what happened to the passengers on that doomed flight, The Long Forgotten."
"The Long Forgotten" takes us through the narratives of three individuals: Professor Cole, who finds a black box recorder in the belly of a whale; Peter Manyweathers, a lonely cleaner in New York who spends most of his days cleaning out the apartments of residents who died alone without being discovered for weeks, months, or even years; and Dove, a former foster child living in London who suffers from strange and acute headaches.
Dove, a complex young man with a troubled history and no idea of who his real parents are, starts remembering things that don't belong to him. However, he soon succumbs and becomes, if not addicted then intensely compelled by the memories. They belong to Peter Manyweathers, who finds a letter in a library reference book about flowers. The letter details some of the world's rarest flowers which Peter resolves to find. He teams up with a man called Hens, who troubles Peter on an instinctual level, but he's so desperate for friendship that he ignores these misgivings.
From cliff diving in Gibraltar to the depths of the jungle in Sumatra, the author paints a vivid world that non-botanist enthusiasts would otherwise be unaware of. The flowers that Peter and Hens hunt down are some of the world's rarest, strangest, and spectacular. David Whitehouse's writing throughout is vivid, engrossing, and heartbreaking. It's a page-turner that didn't necessarily appear so at first sight, but I was quickly absorbed and took the book with me everywhere just in the hopes of being able to snatch a few more pages. It has a bit of everything; romance; heart-wrenching moments; family drama; thrills; and a way of connecting characters that at first glance appear to be wholly unconnected. A brilliant read.
"When the black box flight recorder of a plane that went missing 30 years ago is found at the bottom of the sea, a young man named Dove begins to remember a past that isn't his. The memories belong to a rare flower hunter in 1980s New York, whose search led him around the world and ended in tragedy. Restless and lonely in present-day London, Dove is quickly consumed by the memories, which might just hold the key to the mystery of his own identity and what happened to the passengers on that doomed flight, The Long Forgotten."
"The Long Forgotten" takes us through the narratives of three individuals: Professor Cole, who finds a black box recorder in the belly of a whale; Peter Manyweathers, a lonely cleaner in New York who spends most of his days cleaning out the apartments of residents who died alone without being discovered for weeks, months, or even years; and Dove, a former foster child living in London who suffers from strange and acute headaches.
Dove, a complex young man with a troubled history and no idea of who his real parents are, starts remembering things that don't belong to him. However, he soon succumbs and becomes, if not addicted then intensely compelled by the memories. They belong to Peter Manyweathers, who finds a letter in a library reference book about flowers. The letter details some of the world's rarest flowers which Peter resolves to find. He teams up with a man called Hens, who troubles Peter on an instinctual level, but he's so desperate for friendship that he ignores these misgivings.
From cliff diving in Gibraltar to the depths of the jungle in Sumatra, the author paints a vivid world that non-botanist enthusiasts would otherwise be unaware of. The flowers that Peter and Hens hunt down are some of the world's rarest, strangest, and spectacular. David Whitehouse's writing throughout is vivid, engrossing, and heartbreaking. It's a page-turner that didn't necessarily appear so at first sight, but I was quickly absorbed and took the book with me everywhere just in the hopes of being able to snatch a few more pages. It has a bit of everything; romance; heart-wrenching moments; family drama; thrills; and a way of connecting characters that at first glance appear to be wholly unconnected. A brilliant read.
Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Review: The End of Mr Y, by Scarlett Thomas
This has been on my bookshelf for years and for some reason, I kept putting it aside, or picking it up and beginning it before misplacing it for ages.
Last week, I finally picked it up again and determined to finish it.
Ariel, the main character, is a recently-started PhD student with a focus on literature and 'thought experiments'. However, her supervisor mysteriously disappears, and, on the day the book begins, a building close to Ariel's university building collapses.
On her way home, she stops in a second hand bookshop and cannot believe her eyes when she finds a rare copy of "The End of Mr Y", a book that is said to be cursed. She reads it, and it's about a scientist who meets a travelling magician, who shows him that it is possible to enter a dimension called the Troposphere and inhabit other people's minds.
Ariel, curious about the fiction/reality of the story, finds the recipe for the mixture used to enter this world, but then the trouble begins. Two men, decommissioned from the CIA, find her, desperate to find the recipe so they can sell it on the black market.
In between the high stakes of Ariel's escape from the clutches of these men are discussions of philosophy, exploration into love (which Ariel has never experienced), the freedoms and pitfalls of casual sex, and the ethics of changing History when given the opportunity. As far as entering the Troposphere goes, think "Inception" with the ability to inhabit other minds thrown in.
It's a story full of originality, thought-provoking discussions, humour and heartbreak.
Last week, I finally picked it up again and determined to finish it.
Ariel, the main character, is a recently-started PhD student with a focus on literature and 'thought experiments'. However, her supervisor mysteriously disappears, and, on the day the book begins, a building close to Ariel's university building collapses.
On her way home, she stops in a second hand bookshop and cannot believe her eyes when she finds a rare copy of "The End of Mr Y", a book that is said to be cursed. She reads it, and it's about a scientist who meets a travelling magician, who shows him that it is possible to enter a dimension called the Troposphere and inhabit other people's minds.
Ariel, curious about the fiction/reality of the story, finds the recipe for the mixture used to enter this world, but then the trouble begins. Two men, decommissioned from the CIA, find her, desperate to find the recipe so they can sell it on the black market.
In between the high stakes of Ariel's escape from the clutches of these men are discussions of philosophy, exploration into love (which Ariel has never experienced), the freedoms and pitfalls of casual sex, and the ethics of changing History when given the opportunity. As far as entering the Troposphere goes, think "Inception" with the ability to inhabit other minds thrown in.
It's a story full of originality, thought-provoking discussions, humour and heartbreak.
Wednesday, 6 March 2019
Review: The Point of Poetry, Joe Nutt
Note: I exchanged a free copy of this book in exchange for review.
I learned a new word as a result of this book - metrophobia, or the fear of poetry. As Joe Nutt hypothesises, most fear of poetry comes from a simple lack of understanding of poetry itself, or the point of it. The current way of teaching about it in secondary schools can also be a contributing factor - my own memory of learning about poetry at secondary school, (although it vastly improved at A Level as a result of my fantastic teacher), is simply analysing line by line, looking for poetic techniques to PEE (point, evidence, explain) to death, rather than looking at it holistically and most importantly, placing it in context.
What Joe Nutt is basically present what poetry teaching at school should look like, right down to not even putting the poem of each chapter at the beginning - they are, very deliberately, placed at the end. What this allows the reader to do is understand the context of the poem, a bit about the poet's life, and links to aspects of other poets and the culture of the time. Thus, by the time you get to the poem itself, you're more armed, so to speak, to fully enjoy the poem and also be able to technically read it better (e.g. The Prelude by Wordsworth).
Nutt's love and passion for poetry bleeds from the pages. I'd never disliked poetry as such, but I wouldn't really picture myself sitting down and reading and thinking about a book of poems, rather than a novel. This book has changed that for me. For example, I picked up a copy of Paradise Lost from my bookshelf, took a quick scan, and thought that I would never be able to make it through. The last chapter of Nutt's book has shown me that I can, although it would be wiser to take it in small chunks.
There were some things that Nutt said that I found myself disagreeing on, (see the part about 'safe spaces' at universities, as I think the whole concept has been unhelpfully trivialised), but for the most part, I connected to what he was saying, not just about the poems but the politics and culture that go along with it.
If you never got along with poetry at school, this is definitely a book to get you back into it. And for those who love poetry, anyway, this book will just be like a good conversation with an old friend.
I learned a new word as a result of this book - metrophobia, or the fear of poetry. As Joe Nutt hypothesises, most fear of poetry comes from a simple lack of understanding of poetry itself, or the point of it. The current way of teaching about it in secondary schools can also be a contributing factor - my own memory of learning about poetry at secondary school, (although it vastly improved at A Level as a result of my fantastic teacher), is simply analysing line by line, looking for poetic techniques to PEE (point, evidence, explain) to death, rather than looking at it holistically and most importantly, placing it in context.
What Joe Nutt is basically present what poetry teaching at school should look like, right down to not even putting the poem of each chapter at the beginning - they are, very deliberately, placed at the end. What this allows the reader to do is understand the context of the poem, a bit about the poet's life, and links to aspects of other poets and the culture of the time. Thus, by the time you get to the poem itself, you're more armed, so to speak, to fully enjoy the poem and also be able to technically read it better (e.g. The Prelude by Wordsworth).
Nutt's love and passion for poetry bleeds from the pages. I'd never disliked poetry as such, but I wouldn't really picture myself sitting down and reading and thinking about a book of poems, rather than a novel. This book has changed that for me. For example, I picked up a copy of Paradise Lost from my bookshelf, took a quick scan, and thought that I would never be able to make it through. The last chapter of Nutt's book has shown me that I can, although it would be wiser to take it in small chunks.
There were some things that Nutt said that I found myself disagreeing on, (see the part about 'safe spaces' at universities, as I think the whole concept has been unhelpfully trivialised), but for the most part, I connected to what he was saying, not just about the poems but the politics and culture that go along with it.
If you never got along with poetry at school, this is definitely a book to get you back into it. And for those who love poetry, anyway, this book will just be like a good conversation with an old friend.
Monday, 25 February 2019
Review: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
Robert Langdon, (a character made increasingly more likeable by being portrayed by Tom Hanks), is back for another explosive historical adventure, this time at the heart of America - Washington D.C. His old mentor, Peter Solomon, asks a favour of him - to put on a last minute lecture at the Capitol - but when Robert arrives, circumstances change to chaos and confusion very quickly.
The involvement of the CIA; a quest through the most important historical buildings of the US capital; revelations that many prominent Americans were actually Masons; serve as the basis of the plot of the novel. The adversary, a man called Mal'akh, is on a quest for the ultimate knowledge that will, as he believes, give him ultimate power.
Langdon teams up with Peter's sister, Katherine, who has been conducting experiments based in Noetics, the idea that the mind is much more powerful than thought - that it's even able to transform physical matter. They race against time in a bid to save Peter, with both finding out much more than they bargained for along the way.
Overall, it's a good, fast-paced and enjoyable read. For me, there seemed to be a lot of exposition dumps and padding - I think the book could have been a hundred pages shorter and still been as enjoyable. But if you're a fan of Langdon, history (with some poetic license), and Masonic conspiracy theories, this book is definitely worth reading.
The involvement of the CIA; a quest through the most important historical buildings of the US capital; revelations that many prominent Americans were actually Masons; serve as the basis of the plot of the novel. The adversary, a man called Mal'akh, is on a quest for the ultimate knowledge that will, as he believes, give him ultimate power.
Langdon teams up with Peter's sister, Katherine, who has been conducting experiments based in Noetics, the idea that the mind is much more powerful than thought - that it's even able to transform physical matter. They race against time in a bid to save Peter, with both finding out much more than they bargained for along the way.
Overall, it's a good, fast-paced and enjoyable read. For me, there seemed to be a lot of exposition dumps and padding - I think the book could have been a hundred pages shorter and still been as enjoyable. But if you're a fan of Langdon, history (with some poetic license), and Masonic conspiracy theories, this book is definitely worth reading.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Review: Becoming, Michelle Obama
This memoir, released in the tail-end of 2018, was the much needed tonic, in my opinion, to the end of a particularly tumultuous year.
It's a memoir spanning the rich detail of Michelle's life, from her humble upbringing on the South Side of the Chicago, witnessing the slow decline, yet just blocks away were the sky-rises and high-flying city dwellers that made for a jarring juxtaposition.
Michelle's family was the quintessential, nuclear family - Dad at work, Mom at home raising the kids, the older brother and the younger sister. Michelle writes about her family with honesty of the good and bad times, and love pours from every paragraph. Even though she was witness to the racial prejudices in the African American community, her parents were determined that their children would not be held back by this.
Michelle's education, work ethic, and sheer drive saw her step into the hallowed halls of Princeton and Harvard Law School, into spaces that she, as a black woman, would traditionally be excluded from. She doesn't shy away from talking about this - in fact, she is very frank about her experiences of being the only woman, let alone the only black woman, in the room.
Part 2 - Becoming Us - sees Michelle in a high-flying job as a corporate lawyer in Chicago, on a clear track to make partner. That is, until a certain man comes along and throws a spanner in the works.
Her story of her relationship with Barack, particularly the early days, is a deep and dazzling romance, made all the better for it being real and not an unrealistic story playing out on the big screen.
Politics comes along early into their relationship and it takes a lot of work and compromise to stay strong. This is only made more difficult when their two girls come along. At no point does Michelle gloss over the lows of their marriage and family life - it's an emotional rollercoaster of a journey.
And then comes the long road to the White House. It's a fascinating and dizzying insight into the exhausting world of politics, not least the campaigning, and everything they have to content with as a black family - the phrase "you have to work twice as hard to get half as much done" comes up time and time again.
We, the world, got to see Michelle in so many different areas and arenas, but seeing her take on everything she went through and how hard she had to work to protect her marriage and family life ... it's not something to be envied. Not that I didn't believe her when she said she wasn't going to run for President, but if you're not convinced after reading this book, nothing will convince you of that.
My favourite moments, by far, were not those in America but in England. Her stories of meeting Queen Elizabeth, and developing a genuine friendship with her, were simply lovely - there are no other words for it. Politics and royalty are such dominant forces in our life yet rarely do we get a glimpse behind the red curtain.
The memoir does not end happily - that's definitely the wrong word for it, given everything that ends afterwards - but it does end with a call to resist, be resilient, and hope, above all. It's a powerful portrait of one of the most powerful and pioneering families in the world. Though we may miss them at the forefront of politics, this book is, above all, a promise that they won't disappear into the shadows. They'll continue to spread light, leadership, and love wherever they go.
It's a memoir spanning the rich detail of Michelle's life, from her humble upbringing on the South Side of the Chicago, witnessing the slow decline, yet just blocks away were the sky-rises and high-flying city dwellers that made for a jarring juxtaposition.
Michelle's family was the quintessential, nuclear family - Dad at work, Mom at home raising the kids, the older brother and the younger sister. Michelle writes about her family with honesty of the good and bad times, and love pours from every paragraph. Even though she was witness to the racial prejudices in the African American community, her parents were determined that their children would not be held back by this.
Michelle's education, work ethic, and sheer drive saw her step into the hallowed halls of Princeton and Harvard Law School, into spaces that she, as a black woman, would traditionally be excluded from. She doesn't shy away from talking about this - in fact, she is very frank about her experiences of being the only woman, let alone the only black woman, in the room.
Part 2 - Becoming Us - sees Michelle in a high-flying job as a corporate lawyer in Chicago, on a clear track to make partner. That is, until a certain man comes along and throws a spanner in the works.
Her story of her relationship with Barack, particularly the early days, is a deep and dazzling romance, made all the better for it being real and not an unrealistic story playing out on the big screen.
Politics comes along early into their relationship and it takes a lot of work and compromise to stay strong. This is only made more difficult when their two girls come along. At no point does Michelle gloss over the lows of their marriage and family life - it's an emotional rollercoaster of a journey.
And then comes the long road to the White House. It's a fascinating and dizzying insight into the exhausting world of politics, not least the campaigning, and everything they have to content with as a black family - the phrase "you have to work twice as hard to get half as much done" comes up time and time again.
We, the world, got to see Michelle in so many different areas and arenas, but seeing her take on everything she went through and how hard she had to work to protect her marriage and family life ... it's not something to be envied. Not that I didn't believe her when she said she wasn't going to run for President, but if you're not convinced after reading this book, nothing will convince you of that.
My favourite moments, by far, were not those in America but in England. Her stories of meeting Queen Elizabeth, and developing a genuine friendship with her, were simply lovely - there are no other words for it. Politics and royalty are such dominant forces in our life yet rarely do we get a glimpse behind the red curtain.
The memoir does not end happily - that's definitely the wrong word for it, given everything that ends afterwards - but it does end with a call to resist, be resilient, and hope, above all. It's a powerful portrait of one of the most powerful and pioneering families in the world. Though we may miss them at the forefront of politics, this book is, above all, a promise that they won't disappear into the shadows. They'll continue to spread light, leadership, and love wherever they go.
Saturday, 2 February 2019
Review: The Radleys, Matt Haig
Matt Haig is more currently well-known (and deservedly so),
for Notes On A Nervous Planet, Reasons To Stay Alive, The Truth Pixie, and his
excellent campaigning about mental health. But I’m reaching further back into
his body of work.
Meet the Radleys. They are a completely ordinary suburban
family. A husband, wife, and two kids, living on a quiet street in the quiet village
of Bishopthorpe.
They also happen to be abstaining vampires.
Oh, but the kids don’t know that. The abstaining or the
vampire bit.
So, you can imagine how helpless and confused they must feel
when they have to stick to the shade; when they feel ill all the time; when
animals are too frightened to go near them.
But, inevitably, they do find out, and it’s the worst
possible way.
And Peter, the father, recruits his notoriously thirsty
practicing-vampire brother, Will, to come and help sort out the mess.
I’m sure you can imagine how well that goes.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Excellent family drama, a
good hit of the supernatural, the struggle with identity and morality. (Yes,
the morality bit is a bit obvious considering they are *vampires* but there is
also more nuance than that). For example, I found it rather sweet that Clara
wants to be vegan because she thinks it will make the animals (currently
deathly afraid of her) more open to her, but it just ends up making her more sick.
Peter and Helen are a married couple who have their struggles like most – it’s
simply that their struggles tend to run to the more…extreme. A flirtation with
the neighbour involves more than a simple sexual fantasy. And Rowan – well, I
think he’s the best character in terms of personality and depth.
If you want a book about vampires that doesn’t involve
Cullens or werewolves, or if you just fancy a really good story, then I would
wholeheartedly recommend.
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