bookswelike

bwl 100 - Spring 2021

Fiction

Isabel Allende - A Long Petal of the Sea

A beautifully crafted, historical novel of exiles and love. Dr. Victor Dalmau caught up in the Spanish Civil War, and Roser, who is pregnant with his missing brother's child, flee to seek refuge in Chile. Married at first for convenience, a lasting love grows. They are forced into exile again by the Pinochet regime but eventually return to Chile. By describing individuals' lives, loves and tragedies Allende takes you on a magnificent journey through historical events. (Christine Miller)

John Boyne - The Heart's Invisible Furies

Although some of the subject matter and behaviour are confronting, Boyne's writing conveys with his trademark empathy and humour, some of the pathos and gritty reality of life and love in Ireland in the first half of the 20th century. This is contrasted and balanced with possiblities allowed in a more liberal culture, not all of them desirable, which Ireland slowly embraced decades later. His characters are vivid and memorable, and while their escapades might be unique, their experiences are essentially universal, and universally moving. (Margaret Teh)

Dick Francis - Field of Thirteen

Thirteen short stories of racing and crime by the master of racing thrillers, a fast-paced collection and every tale a gem of its kind, ideal read for these Corona-restricted days. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Jane Gardam - Going into a Dark House

A collection of short stories written in the 90's with many of the themes relating to end of life. Yet they are by no means depressing, often wickedly funny and richly descriptive. Gardam is able to tell a tale in a few well chosen words that might take another writer an entire novel. My favourite stories are Blue Poppies, Telegony - in three parts - and Bevis which has a final twist that had me saying 'Oh of course, why didn't I spot that'! (Mary Standing)

Janice Hadlow - The Other Bennett Sister

Mary, the plain, insignificant middle sister here comes into her own. Initially following the original plot and characters to the point when Mr Bennet suddenly dies, Longbourn passes to the Collinses and we discover what happens next. There is a vivid sense of time and place and the author puts an alternative and interesting slant on to some of the original characters. Hopefully this should appeal to fans of Austen and Longbourn (bwl 98). Light and very enjoyable. (Sue Pratt)

Matt Haig - The Midnight Library

This is a fascinating concept: an expanded 'Sliding Doors' story really. It looks at the decisions made in a woman's life and what might have happened if she'd taken a different path. It examines depression and what makes us truly happy. We are faced with so many choices in our lives: how do we know which one is right? It's a novel about regret and second chances. Thought-provoking. (Annie Noble)

Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun

It's a masterstroke that Klara the humanoid robot, who is as much in the dark as we are as to what is going on, is the narrator. The absorbing plot prompts all sorts of reflections about what it is to be human with our imperfections and compromises and what happens to the robot throws up thought provoking parallels with human life. In the background, a future and not very sympathetic society is sketched in. A deceptively simple story, straightforwardly told, turns out to be something more. (Tony Pratt)

Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun

Klara is a robot with depth. She is an AF, an Artificial Friend, whose existence is to keep companionship to Josie, a very ill young girl. As the story unfolds we learn why AFs are necessary to be companions to the children of the world. Klara is the narrator of this story and her observations of life and what it is to be human is what makes this novel. It reminded me of his other dystopian science fiction work Never Let Me Go. (Claire Bane)

Alan Isler - The Prince of West End Avenue

A group of residents in a Jewish retirement home are putting on a production of Hamlet and there is much fun in their rivalries and absurdities. The narrator cast as the Ghost but aspiring to play Hamlet gradually revisits his own life trying to find peace and redemption as he confronts how ambition and vanity led his family to the concentration camps. Chosen for my book group and second time round for me, it proved as funny, moving and compelling as before. (Jenny Baker)

Mieko Kawakami. - Breasts and Eggs

Translated from Japanese into English, this novel is an intelligent look at the options and conundrums of modern-day womanhood. What if you want to be a mother, but not a wife? An anonymous sperm donor will suit your needs perfectly, but what of the need of a grown child to know the missing half of her own identity? This well-written novel opens the door to ever deepening questions about procreation. (Sharron Calkins)

Vaseem Khan - Midnight at Malabar House

No elephants this time. Instead meet Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay City Police - the first female police detective in India (modelled on a real heroine). It is 1949 - India newly independent - Persis has the cards stacked against her as she leads the investigation into the death of a prominent English diplomat. She steps off the page - spiky, smart and uncompromising, as different from Chopra as possible but just as engaging. (Ferelith Hordon)

John le Carré - Smiley's People

After watching the 1982 DVD series recently I couldn't decide who was who and what was what. So I read the book. And what a convoluted tale of legends and spies as Smiley undertakes a lonely, covert mission to uncover the secrets which will finally cause the downfall of his arch-enemy Karla. Le Carré was so much more than a spinner of yarns, his characters from the General who defected to the girl incarcerated in a Swiss asylum are breathing human beings. (Jenny Baker)

Manjeet Mann - Run, Rebel

Verse novels have become fashionable - certainly for the Young Adult audience. Not all are good - this is outstanding. Manjeet draws on personal experience to bring us teenage Amber, a talented athlete but who comes from a background where women are not supposed to shine. Coming from India, neither of her parents read or write, there is violence, her home life difficult. It is time to start a revolution, time to run. Read it. (Ferelith Hordon)

Hilary Mantel - The Wolf Hall Trilogy: Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light

The Mirror and the Light reaches the end of Mantel's trilogy describing the life of Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall covers his service to Wolsey whose decline and death results in Cromwell becoming Henry VIII's faithful right-hand man. In Bring up the Bodies we follow Anne Boylen's rise and Cromwell's part in her downfall. Throughout both books he is strangely absent from the action, moving behind the scenes fulfilling Henry's wishes no matter what they are. Henry is portrayed as a self-indulgent and spoilt despot, using and discarding people on a whim. In The Mirror and the Light Cromwell emerges from the shadows revealing the motives behind his actions: the success of Protestantism, the fall of the old Catholic families and the expansion of King and State. Beautifully written with such detail that you live, sleep and eat with Cromwell as he moves around London and S.E. England negotiating and plotting against his, the King's and the Country's enemies but eventually all to nought. His enemies win because Henry abandons him as he has abandoned Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and a host of others. I've read many books about the Tudors but none captures like Mantel the darkness and bloodshed while describing the beginnings of national identity in the context of our complex relationship with Europe. (Helen Allan)

Maaza Mengiste - The Shadow King

Set in Ethiopia the book begins and ends with a box of photographs. In 1934 there are domestic tensions between Hirut, her employer, Kidane, and his wife, Aster. The story segues into the war between colonising Italians and the Ethiopian soldiers, both men and women. Often surprisingly lyrical in parts and devastatingly cruel in others, Hirut's resilience and dignity shine through. The photographer, an Italian Jew, forms a major part of the story too. A fascinating historical read. (Christine Miller)

Holly Miller - The Sight of You

A man has a terrible (and perhaps unbelievable) power of having dreams which predict what's going to happen to the people he loves. So he therefore decides not to get close to anyone. But a relationship develops and he has a terrifying predictive dream . . . Although the concept is incredible, this is well written - and anything which makes me cry (which it did) is worth a read. (Annie Noble)

Sue Monk Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees

A strangely poetic novel. Took a little while to adjust to the American South dialect but once used to it the book was totally absorbing. Following the progression of Lily from a child to a young adult, in search of her mother, in a society of racial tension is extremely captivating . A very absorbing and moving story. (Jane Branch)

Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

If Alice in Wonderland delighted you as a child, it's time for your grown-up self to explore the surreal and addictive novels of Haruki Murakami. In Kafka on the Shore, Kafka Tamura runs away from home at the age of fifteen. He begins his journey in a plausible reality that quickly turns into a spellbinding tale of parellel worlds. The sense of disorientation created in the reader adds much to the magical and dreamlike quality of the story . . . (Sharron Calkins)

Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club

Want a bit of escapist froth? This runaway best-seller might fill the bill. Set in a retirement community next to an abandoned Convent and its tranquil cemetery, the club's members scorn bookgroups, French conversation or jigsaws but pass the time solving long-forgotten murders. Suddenly, their quietude is shattered by not one but two real murders. Undaunted, inspired they set out to discover who, why, what and when? It's silly, unpretentious fun. Book two is promised later this year. (Jenny Baker)

George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo

As the Civil War rages President Lincoln grieves for his young son, Willie, and visits the crypt. His grief and their mutual love trap Willie in the bardo* where we meet a veritable cast of 'ghosts'. I appreciated Saunders' creativity, humour and found it very moving in places. However, I did not thoroughly enjoy the book. The style felt mostly like a script and perhaps unusually an audio version would have resonated better with me.
*Bardo is a transitional realm in Tibetan culture rather like purgatory. (Christine Miller)

Ruta Sepetys - The Fountains of Silence

There is a great silence over the Franco years in Spain. Here Sepetys, who as a writer is interested in untold histories, lifts the curtain to shine some light on the darker corners. Her narrative which is informed by interviews with those who lived during that time is no dry history. It is a novel - and it is completely immersive. This is not just for a young adult audience - recommended. (Ferelith Hordon)

Nina Siegal - The Anatomy Lesson

1632, a freezing day in Amsterdam and the occasion of the annual Surgeons' Guild lecture. The subject is the medical dissection of a body fresh from the gallows - that of Aris the Thief, whose story is also movingly told. The lecture will be attended by the Burgomeisters and Grandees of Amsterdam, and young Rembrandt van Reen has been invited to paint the occasion. We see him in his studio making sketches and planning his painting. A grim, but fascinating story, beautifully written. (Jenny Freeman)

Francis Spufford - Light Perpetual

Five south London children are killed in a V2 attack. This is the story of the lives they might have lived, dropping in on them at intervals through to the present century. Scenes as diverse as a Margate Bank Holiday, the classroom, a family get together, fascist street violence, and a London bus, feature. Mental illness, marriage, and love of music are central experiences. London - whether shabby and suburban, gentrifying or absorbing immigrants - is a constantly evolving sixth character. Add in fine writing and you have a very good read. (Tony Pratt)

Anthony Trollope - Orley Farm

No better time to start rereading Trollope, and this fictional account of a case of forgery with its insightful combination of realism and emotion, was felt by the author to be the best he had ever done and comes to the reader as fresh as when it was published. A discussion of morality and practice in an English court of law, where the sympathetic central character, although guilty, is acquitted, it offers deep insights into marriage and relationships in general. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Andrew Wilson - A Talent for Murder

Agatha Christie is usually the author, here she is the protagonist. Taking the real events of Agatha's life, Andrew Wilson creates a crime novel that does justice to the lady herself - for she is the detective. It is a time of crisis, Agatha has learnt of Archie's infidelity so engineering her own disappearance she flees to Harrowgate. But her success with The Murder of Roger Acroyd has inspired a real murderer . . . (Ferelith Hordon)

Non-Fiction

Simon Akam - The Changing of the Guard: The British Army since 9/11

It was said that the Ministry of Defence tried to prevent this book's publication, exposing as it does the debacles that were the British campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pre-publication hype however is not justified. Based on many hundreds of interviews within the military at all levels and politics, what transpires is perhaps no more that a series of anecdotes and stories with very little overall analysis and a rather clumsily chronology. Altogether somewhat underwhelming. (Jeremy Miller)

Alkala - Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire

Akala - British rapper, journalist, author, activist and poet - takes his experiences growing up in London in a single parent household to investigate the reality of race and class in the UK. Exploring Black identity, both male and female, interweaving political history and autobiography - mixed race heritage, education, incidents with the police as a teenager and later as a young black man - he persuasively demonstrates that perceptions and attitudes are indelibly intertwined and shaped by the acquisition, expansion and finally the loss of the British Empire. (Helen Allan)

Dave Barry - Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys: A Fairly Short Book

This book takes the premise that regular blokes behave in silly, irresponsible and hilarious ways. A gang of guys leaving a bar to take a canoe down the ski jump at Lake Placid? A "guy" thing. Some bones broke. The book is filled with real examples. Women sometimes act that way, right? No, not in a million years. My wife spent two days cackling over it. Yes, it went beyond laughter to cackling. (Herb Roselle)

Amber Jane Butchart - Nautical Chic

From Gaultier to smocks, sou'westers to blazers this work explores just how pervasive nautical themes and tropes have been in the world of fashion. The author examines a number of broad key styles (Officer, Sailor, Fisherman, Sportsman and Pirate) and the themes they've inspired. Copiously and beautifully illustrated from historic and contemporary sources throughout it's one of those superior forms of coffee table books that's both an interesting read and a delight to the eyes! (Clive Yelf)

Robin Diangelo - White Fragility: why it's so hard for White people to talk about racism

Diangelo, an American academic, lectures about racism and white privilege. Her argument is that racism is not restricted to 'bad people'. White people are unconsciously racist because they are white in a society built on white privilege. She exposes racism in thought and action and calls for humility and vigilance. Humility to recognise our white racialised identities and its effects on our lives and behaviours and vigilance to prevent us from behaving as racists in our daily lives. (Helen Allan)

Seb Falk - The Light Ages: A Medieval Journey of Discovery

The time after Rome and before the Renaissance is often called The Dark Ages. The title of this book plays with that. It focuses on the life and mathematical achievements of a particular monk, John of Westwyk. But despite this being a brilliant book and one I highly recommend reading, I still feel that all other periods of humanity (including our own age) seem far more fitting to be called The Light Ages. (Mark Baker)

Hadley Freeman - House of Glass: The story and secrets of a twentieth-century Jewish family

This magnificent book relates the story of a Jewish family in 20th Century France and its attendant story of tragedy and loss. I had to pause on occasion as it moved me so. France so rich in art and culture has, as its history shows, an ambivalent attitude to its Jewish citizens many of whom perished during The Holocaust dating back to the Dreyfus case which tore the country apart. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. (David Graham)

Marc Goodman - Future Crimes

We are all now connected by the Internet in some way or other and this brilliant book by a 'real' policeman takes us to the dark side of the technology awaiting our world, a call to action for better security measures, offering practical solutions but reads like science fiction, for everyone who has a computer, a thrilling, if rather chilling, ride. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Christina Lamb - Our Bodies Their Battlefield: What War does to Women

A powerful book regarding the use of mass rape as a weapon of War and of Ethnic Cleansing. Christina Lamb has covered many wars and interviewed women, children and some men - all victims. It is clear that the perpetrators are encouraged by those in power. Despite Legislation making rape a War Crime the International Criminal Court has failed to make even one conviction. I would urge people to read and share this book and to write to their MPs and anyone else of influence. (Lynda Johnson)

Wendy Lower - The Ravine: A family, a photograph, a Holocaust massacre revealed

An important book detailing terrible events in Poland and the Ukraine in 1941. Humanity has achieved great things in the arts and music but also has a darker side when an evil regime takes over a nation and carries out acts of the utmost depravity leaving an everlasting stain on a generation. This book is a stark warning on the fragility of society and the need to be constantly on our guard and to keep decency and reverence for life and treasure it. (David Graham)

Helen Macdonald - Vesper Flights, New and Collected Essays

For me the word Essay is too formal for what is a series of deeply personal snapshots of the author's thoughts and experiences triggered by her deep love of nature, her powers of observation and her ability to make us feel that we are part of the natural world she so tellingly depicts. We are introduced to places she loves and to the people associated with those places. This book is a delight, as much about people as about nature, and it is both informative and often very moving. (Jeremy Freeman)

Marie Mutsuki Mockett - Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye

Following the death of her Japanese grandfather in 2011, Mockett returned to Japan for the traditional burial of her grandfather's bones. Japan, too, was in mourning. The recent earthquake and tsunami had taken many lives, and the nuclear disaster at Fukushima was casting a shadow over the land. Mockett's account of her spiritual pilgrimage in Japan as she grieved the loss of her grand-father is beautiful and compelling. One of the best stories touching on Fukushima that I have read. (Sharron Calkins)

Barack Obama - A Promised Land

Obama's rise to the presidency and first term up to the assassination of bin Laden. Woven into the narrative - battles for the economy, health care etc. - is his profound commitment to making America a saner and fairer society. He comes across as deeply thinking, deeply caring (for his family too!) dogged in the face of, even ironic about, implacable political opposition and prejudice. And of course he writes like an angel . . . A remarkable book by a remarkable man. (Annabel Bedini)

Richard Ovenden - Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack

Kafka's executor refused to destroy his notebooks: his literary masterpieces were saved for posterity. Virgil asked for his unpublished epic, the Aeneid, to be burnt on his death. These and other examples of the written word under attack are brought together by the Bodley's Librarian in a fascinating tour d'horizon of the actions of librarians and archivists to collect, organise and preserve knowledge in libraries and archives as essential reference for ideas, facts and truths. (Jeremy Miller)

Sonia Purnell - A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy

This is the riveting story of a heroine of the second World War and a truly remarkable woman. Crippled in an accident and left with one usable leg this American lady risked her life spying for the allies in the war with her deeds of derring-do behind enemy lines. After her return to America and marriage she continued serving her country in the service of the CIA. As a story of valour this requires some beating. I salute her. (David Graham)

Poetry

Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris - The Lost Spells

This follows the enormous success of The Lost Words and is its 'little sister'. With extremely beautiful illustrations this is a book to be dipped into and read aloud to others or quietly to yourself. Morris's illustrations and Macfarlane's verses complement each other perfectly. I cannot wait to share it with our grandchildren or anyone else who cares to leaf through it when we are allowed visitors again. (Christine Miller)