bwl 73 - Summer 2014
Fiction
| Maeve Binchy - A Week in Winter
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| Binchy's final novel has all her familiar trademarks including warmth and humour. It's an easy but intriguing read which tells a very interesting story of people and their lives, with first-rate descriptions of all the characters and the wild Irish countryside. It also shows the resilience of women when they are determined to succeed in a totally different working world to that from which they came. (Shirley Williams)
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| Tracy Chevalier - The Last Runaway
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| In the 1850s a young Quaker woman emigrates to America to marry an older Quaker settler. At the last minute, on impulse, her sister joins her. The one due to marry dies en route leaving the other to continue the journey. Her principles are tested to the limit when she encounters the situation regarding runaway slaves. A story of her survival. (Shirley Williams)
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| John Christopher - The Death of Grass
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| Although written in the 1950s, this novel's theme of food security is remarkably prescient. A viral pandemic is killing all grasses, thus destroying agriculture. As order breaks down in Britain, John and his family try to make it across the country to the safety of his brother's farm. Foreshadowing books such as The Road, the only wrong note is the regressive view of women - the single sign that it's not as modern as it seems.
(Kate Ellis)
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| Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Crime and Punishment
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| I admit it, I had never read this until last month; too scared. What a revelation. Slow to start and with an unlikeable main protagonist, nevertheless I was completely absorbed into the lives of Raskolnikov and his family, walking the streets of St Petersburg with them. The human dramas were gripping . This was the first occasion I discovered the translation mattered to me, preferring Constance Garnett to David MacDuff. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty
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| Given current portrayals of the Borgias, from TV series to computer games, what else can this book bring? Nothing new in terms of plot but its magic is in its depiction of this complex family as more than temptresses, venal priests and Machiavellian schemers. With an exquisite eye for detail, the author plunges you into Renaissance Italy - so much so that you might even forget you know how the story goes.
(Kate Ellis)
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| Robert Galbraith - The Silkworm
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| This is the second Cormoran Strike novel by Robert Galbraith aka J. K. Rowling. As with the first it is a very competent, thoroughly enjoyable detective novel of the traditional variety. The plot is convoluted and is set in the world of publishing, involving the death of a rather nasty author. While there is nothing particularly original, with good characters and an intriguing murder, this is one for the summer break. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Robert Harris - An Officer and a Spy
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| Harris excels in this fictionalised journal of Georges Picquard, the officer who, despite demotion, imprisonment and threats to his life uncovered the conspiracy that condemned Alfred Dreyfus as a traitor and a spy. Based on extensive research, the book shines a beacon on the attitudes and prejudices of the time which sent an innocent man to a living death on Devil's Island. A salutary lesson on corruption in high places, a commemoration of both men - it's a tour de force! (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Emma Healey - Elizabeth is Missing
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| Maud thinks her friend Elizabeth is 'missing', but her short-term memory is unreliable and her life is littered with notes written to herself. However her long-term memory is very clear and the unsolved mystery of her missing sister Sukey, seventy years ago, begins to unfold when - while looking for Elizabeth - she finds a piece of broken powder compact in the garden. Narrated by Maud, darkly humorous, clever and very enjoyable. (Mary Standing)
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| Rachel Joyce - Perfect
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| I wasn't keen on Joyce's bestseller (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry bwl 71), too derivative and predictable. This one is different with well-drawn characters and, whilst very sad in places, is told with warmth and sympathy. In 1972 two seconds are to be added to time and for two small boys this leads to events which dramatically affect their lives. Alternating between then and now, after a slow start, the book gathers pace until the two narratives collide in a completely unforeseen way. (Sue Pratt)
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| Donna Leon - By Its Cover
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| All Brunetti and especially bookish Brunetti fans will be happy to know that Leon's newest has to do with books, and antiquarian books at that. Books, libraries, restorers, ancient manuscripts, Brunetti has to delve into the murky world of borrowers and copiers, not to mention dealers and sellers. Still amazingly fresh and original, steeped in things and places Venetian, this follows the good, and himself very bookish, Commissario on his bookish rounds. A treat! (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Hilary Mantel - Fludd
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| There are some wonderful characters in this satirical book set in a northern parish in the 1950s: the priest who has lost his faith, eccentric nuns, plus supernatural happenings and awakening love amongst strange institutional rituals. The community is shaken by the arrival of a stranger - the very devil himself or an angel and saviour? Absurdly funny yet thought provoking and surprisingly short for Mantel! (Mary Standing)
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| Dacia Maraina - The Silent Duchess
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| 18th century Sicily and deaf-mute Marianna grows up to be married at thirteen to her elderly uncle. In a series of scenes from her life we feel, smell, see the Sicily of the times, its cruelty, prejudice, condemning of women to child-bearing or the cloister, interweaving of dynasties with their intractable priorities, the background poverty and struggle. But also the uncrushable human aspirations and the beauty . . . I lived inside this sensitively translated mini-masterpiece, utterly captivated. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Simon Sebag Montefiore - One Night in Winter
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| Simon Sebag Montefiore is an historian and this novel, set in Stalin's Moscow, is based on a true incident. His Stalin is a seemingly avuncular character whose unpredictability creates a truly sinister atmosphere. In this mixture of fact and fiction we feel horror and tension as we fear for the children at the centre of the plot. This is a scary crime story that actually happened in our own lifetime. (Judith Peppitt)
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| Ruth Ozeki - A Tale for the Time Being
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| It took me a little while to get into this book but it was well worth persevering. It consists of the parallel narratives of two women; Nao in Japan and her diary that is found washed up on the beach by Ruth, a writer, who lives on an island off the West Coast of Canada. It is in the main the unravelling of the mystery surrounding the diary but also about our shared humanity and history. (Christine Miller)
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| Kamila Shamsie - A God in Every Stone
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| This is an epic novel that is part love story but also includes subjects such as war, colonialism, nationalism, and archaeology. The story takes you from 1914 to 1930, from England to Turkey and then Peshawar and from the conflict of WWI to the fight for Indian Independence. The author describes places so beautifully, particularly the orchards of Peshawar, and she combines her main characters' various storylines very cleverly. An absorbing read. (Christine Miller)
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| Edward St Aubyn - Lost for Words
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| Although nothing like his more literary Patrick Melrose novels - and criticised by some as bitter - this witty satire on the world of literary awards is great fun and good light holiday reading. The characters (clichés of both literary nominees and award panel members) and naughty pastiches of literary genres are irresistible. Some sections are a bit indulgent and overdone but I think he can be forgiven for enjoying himself and trying something new. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch
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| A traumatic event catapults young Theo into a frenetic and nomadic life, often on the edge of self-destruction but motivated by the need for security and to protect the priceless painting he has acquired. A huge novel, well researched but over-long, with some very enjoyable and entertaining sections but too much waffle from the characters. The rambling ending required some skimming and by then it was hard to sympathise with Theo or his self-absorption. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Rose Tremain - Merivel
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| A delicious treat for readers of Restoration (bwl 26). If you haven't read it or forgotten the story, never mind, Tremain ingeniously fills in the gaps through the discovery of Merivel's old journal. Scene set, he now records, with Pepysian wit and gusto, a new set of escapades which take him to Versailles, outwardly golden, inwardly squalid, to his Norfolk Estates, a duel in Switzerland and finally to the Court of the ailing Charles II. (Jenny Baker)
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| A N Wilson - The Potter's Hand
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| Inspired to read this by a visit to the Wedgwood Museum, I was not as engrossed as I hoped I would be. As a novelist is allowed, the author introduced invented characters alongside those that were real but he also altered dates and rearranged historical events with which I was less comfortable. However, it provides a fascinating insight into the Wedgwood family, Josiah's interest in science, radical ideas and his search for the perfect pot. (Christine Miller)
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Non-Fiction
| Alex Bellos - Alex Through the Looking-Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life
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| This is a book aimed at people like me who can't quite get their heads around the alien world of maths and numbers. How can everything just be reduced to an equation? But perhaps reduced is the wrong word, perhaps it should be expanded? Not ideal bed-time reading, you need to concentrate and you might need a pencil and paper, so best taken in stages and gradually you will feel your understanding stretching. (Jenny Baker)
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| Roger Bootle - The Trouble with Europe
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| A clear, objective and challenging discussion of the weaknesses of the EU and why leaving it might not only be a good idea but would also, in the author's opinion, be eminently possible. Bootle is a respected economist and if you believe we should be in the EU you also need to know how you would answer his case. A relatively easy read which, whatever you think about its conclusions, is full of valuable insights. (Tony Pratt)
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| Bill Bryson - At Home: Short History of Private Life
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| This is a typically Bryson-esque book in that the author looks at a common, everyday object (in this case his own 1850s Norfolk rectory) and from it extrapolates an extraordinary set of tales, stories and histories behind each of the rooms. From Hall to Attic, each space has it's own set of customs and practices that evolved over the centuries to become our 'normal'. Social history of the finest kind. (Clive Yelf)
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| John Campbell - Roy Jenkins: A Well Rounded Life
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| The fascinating story of a politician whose gifts would have entitled him to be Prime Minister had he not lacked the common touch and had he seized his opportunities. Instead he was an outstanding Home Secretary, whose reforms still affect our lives, and a very successful Chancellor. His taste for the high life and 'interesting' private life add colour. Perhaps too detailed in parts but still a very good read. (Tony Pratt)
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| Terry Eagleton - How to Read Literature
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| Duty-reading I thought when given this book. Totally wrong! This is non-stop delight. Renowned critic Eagelton's analysis of plot, character, narrative etc. is full not only of eye-opening insights but extremely funny. On individualism: nothing and nobody has nothing in common with others: the Great Wall of China and heart-break, for example, share an inability to peel a banana. And his critical interpretation of Baa Baa Black Sheep left me helpless with laughter. A must! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Douglas Hurd and Edward Young - Disraeli: The Two Lives
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| An excellent book about an extraordinary and flawed man. He reached the top of the greasy pole and then there was only one way to go. The book is instructive amusing and entertaining. (David Graham)
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| Richard Fortey - Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum
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| A former palaeontologist himself at the museum, Fortey provides both a tour of the hidden galleries and collections of the Natural History Museum as well as a gossip-filled portrait of the many eccentrics, loners and geniuses who have worked there. Whilst acknowledging and embracing the changing role of the institution, he still makes the case for the less obviously commercial but still vital scientific endeavours driven by these misfits in their isolated, Ghormenghast-like galleries. (Clive Yelf)
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| Margaret Hefferman - A Bigger Prize: How competition isn't everything and WE do better
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| Successful international business woman turned author and broadcaster, Heffernan sets out to explode the myth of competition as the prime-mover in every - fascinatingly documented - walk of life and argues the case that far from stimulating creativity and innovation fierce competition does the opposite, emulation leading to stultifying repetition and squashing of initiative. Only collaboration and mutual trust can produce creative cross-fertilisation of ideas. Enlightening, revolutionary, convincing (and extremely readable) this book should be compulsory reading! (Annabel Bedini)
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| and Brooks, Geoffrey Hirschfield, Wolfgang - The Secret Diary of a U-Boat
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| Hirschfeld was the radio operator on U-109 during WWII and committed his notes to scraps of paper hidden within old signals logs. These provide the spine to a fascinating and totally absorbing account of life aboard a wartime German submarine. The personal tensions, condensation, depth-charges, boredom and combat are all covered in graphic detail and it shocked me to realise that the old man commander was only in his early twenties at the time.
(Clive Yelf)
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| Nick Hunt - Walking the Woods and the Water
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| This purports to be a homage to Patrick Leigh Fermor's epic walk in 1933. It is far from reverential and less derivative than one might expect. Nick Hunt's personality shines through and his journey seems more honest (and of course more modern) than the original trilogy which now feels somewhat dated and pretentious. Although Europe has changed substantially in the intervening 80 years, encouragingly what remains is the hospitality and kindness of strangers.
(Jeremy Miller)
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| Ari Shavit - My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel
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| For anyone interested in this intractable conflict this is an essential book. By turns humane, moving and honest; it could hardly be bettered. (David Graham)
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| Sean Smith - Kate: The Biography
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| An unbiased, sympathetic, sometimes critical but non-judgmental biography of this young, future Queen, which also offers a worthwhile view of the monarchy, especially during Diana's time when the young William learnt to cope and continues to do so with Kate at his side. Recommended even if you don't normally indulge in reading about the Royals, as having definite, historical implications regarding the modernising and consolidation of the British monarchy in the future. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Feedback |
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Here is some feedback on JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy (bwl 67) read and enjoyed on a sun lounger in Spain:
I thought I was to get a tale from Midsomer but this is a bleak, sometimes comical, tale of despair and disappointment in both well-off, status-conscious Pagford and its neighbour, downtrodden Yarvil. You feel Rowling's allegiance is with the poor and damaged whose characters she crafts so well as she pokes fun at the social-climbing local "elite" . (Rebecca Howells)
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| Thanks to the review in bwl 70, I am now reading The Fatal Shore by the well-known Australian art critic, Robert Hughes. It's a beautifully written, even-handed and fascinating history of the colonising of his country. He doesn't spare the reader the details of the inhuman treatment meted out or the brutalisation of both prisoners and captors caused by near starvation and an inhospitable terrain. But he is determined to dispel the myths surrounding those early forbears of the proud and civilised nation Australia has become. (Jenny Baker)
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Thinking about my reaction to Kate Atkinson's Life After Life reviewed bwl 69:
I found myself asking a question: how does satisfying fiction work?
Of course all fiction is make-believe and it's up to collusion between author and reader to pretend it's real for the duration. In this sense Life after Life, with its multiple possible stories, seemed to me to break this pact - an intriguing brain-tease certainly, but no more than that. For example, Ursula's 'death' under the rubble was painfully convincing and to have it brushed off with the equivalent of 'only joking' seemed insulting. And by the time her brother was declared presumed dead I barely bothered to read it - 'well, he'll be back', which he duly was. If I can't 'believe' in a story line why should I care, except as a merely intellectual game?
I realise from the unanimous super-hype this book has received that this reaction is a failure on my part to understand some vital clue; or am I simply too pathetically 'literal' a reader? Please will someone enlighten me? (Annabel Bedini)
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Re review of Noah's Compass - Anne Tyler (bwl 53):
Spot on Jenny. Tyler's characters are so real and human, flaws and all, but always likeable if occasionally frustrating. As for Liam - I felt I really knew him and loved him to bits! (Sue Pratt)
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A word or two re Simon Sebag Montefiore's One Night in Winter reviewed in this issue: I have just finished it.
I hadn't read the notes at the back which explained that while the main characters were fiction, all the others were real and the events which unfolded were solidly based on a true incident. As I was reading, I kept thinking this has to be unbelievable, not even Stalin for all his notorious paranoia would play such cruel mind games on the children of his own high-up officials. How wrong I was. It's a terrific and terrifying read. (Jenny Baker)
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