bwl 77 - Summer 2015
Fiction
| Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins
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| This companion piece to Life After Life (bwl 69) follows Teddy Todd, bomber pilot in WW II. Atkinson loves playing with time, alternate lives, the what-ifs and might-have-beens. The chapters are not arranged chronologically, so we are often aware of what will happen before we discover what has gone before. Amazing writing - especially descriptions of Bomber Command's missions over Germany. A perceptive, thought-provoking novel about the fall of man and the indelible legacy of war. (Jenny Baker)
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| Melanie Benjamin - The Aviator's Wife
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| This is the story of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her marriage to the iconic Charles Lindbergh from its magical beginning, through the heartbreak of their child's kidnap and death, and the years that followed. You really see into her heart; her love of her deeply flawed hero/husband and finally her search for independence. I think that Benjamin captured Morrow's voice and the period through which she lived, taking her well out of her husband's shadow. (Christine Miller)
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| Helen Dunmore - The Greatcoat
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| 1952, Yorkshire - Isabel Carey, newly married to an overworked doctor, struggles to adapt to her life, upstairs the endless pacing of a hostile landlady, nearby a deserted WW II airfield and hidden in a cupboard an RAF greatcoat which for warmth she lays on her bed. Then one night there is a tapping on the window . . . A delicious, elegant ghost story that like all good ones continues to haunt long after you turn the last page. (Jenny Baker)
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| Lissa Evans - Their Finest Hour and a Half
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| Subtle humour supports the characterisation of four individuals recruited from London with its nightly bombing and all the deprivations of wartime in 1940 to work on a Ministry of Information film being made on the beaches of Norfolk. This unexpected turn in their lives has consequences which transform their previous mundane existence in entirely plausible ways. Despite an element of tragedy this story of liberation from the characters' pre-war past is told with gently ironic wit which does not lack compassion. (Jane Grey-Edwards)
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| Michael Faber - Under the Skin
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| A sexily dressed young woman cruises a remote part of the Highlands picking up lone male hitchhikers - provided their bodies are good enough. What happens next is part of a strange and haunting story, a unique and moving mix of horror, tension and the unexpected with a deeper subtext about the human species. (Tony Pratt)
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| Elena Ferrante - The Lost Daughter
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Leda becomes obsessed by young mother Nina and child, watched interacting on the beach. The child loses her beloved doll, Leda finds it and takes it home. Why? 'I don't know' . . . For a woman who spends most of the novel analysing herself neurotically she has no excuse not to know - rivalry, envy of the mother/daughter relationship in which she has failed? Cleverly written and highly praised but, sorry, I thoroughly disliked it.
The original title is 'La Figlia Oscura' where 'oscura' does not mean 'lost' but dark, enigmatic, unclear.
(Annabel Bedini)
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| Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze
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| A private mental asylum in Epping Forest, the director enlightened Matthew Allen, among the inmates: poet John Clare and Alfred Tennyson's brother Charles. So much is history, as is the Tennyson brothers' doomed investment in Allen's wood-carving invention. Foulds's recreation of this world is enchanting, both in his imagined characters and his descriptive language. Clare escaping to spend the night with the gypsies, Allen's daughter Hannah setting her cap at Tennyson . . . utterly captivating! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Kristin Hannah - The Nightingale
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The setting is WWII in Nazi-occupied France and tells the stories of Vianne and Isabelle, two sisters with very different personalities and how they each respond in such dreadful times. Both are brave in different ways - rebellious Isabelle impetuously joins the resistance early on and Vianne is finally driven to risk her own life and her daughter's to save others. The descriptions of the brutality of the occupation and the concentration camps are heartrending but ultimately love and friendship shine through.
I understand that Isabelle's character is based on the late Andrée de Jongh (1916-2007) who repeatedly risked her life helping British and American servicemen escape on foot from Nazi-occupied Belgium and France.
(Christine Miller)
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| Stephen King - Mr Mercedes
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| This is the next to most recent of the series of thrillers showing the 'down to earth' side of King. The retired cop and the perpetrator of an unsolved crime has frequently been done, but again King manages to find a completely original angle. A favourite theme, the vintage car and a host of unlikely, but certainly believable characters, plus a breath-takingly fast pace and a chilling cat-and-mouse suspense make this a super read for travel, holiday or just relaxation. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Stephen King - Finders Keepers
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| This most recent King thriller featuring the odd trio of retired detective with two unusual helpers, returns to a favourite theme: the serial-fiction writer and an unstable fan's obsession with the main character's fate. Now with great originality and insight, the author portrays a reader so involved with what is unquestionably real to him that it must lead to disaster. Even better than the first and hopefully not the last in this series. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| David Nicholls - Us
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| In a desperate attempt to save his marriage, research scientist Douglas organises a 'Grand European Tour' for his family - Connie, his artist wife and their 17year old son Albie. Predictably it doesn't go quite according to plan . . . The story unfolds in short chapters, flitting between present and past (confusingly) and I would have liked more of Connie's take on things, but it's engaging, very funny and yet so sad - I really cared about all the characters. (Mary Standing)
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| Jenny Offill - Dept. of Speculation
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| Un-named characters in a sad but ultimately hopeful narrative presented in fragments so you have to work at it - some bits make more sense than others but it's full of wise and useful quotes and observations about how couples work. It's poetic, down to earth, sensitive, honest and well structured. Although we only see snippets of the family's life, we get a clear overview of their history. Short, but memorable, I was left wanting more. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| S J Paris - Heresy
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This is one for the fans of Shardlake and C J Sansom's Tudor mysteries (see previous bwl's). The background is almost the same - just a bit later, for Elizabeth is on the throne. But religious fear and suspicion is everywhere, and nowhere more sharply than among the scholars of Oxford. And it is to Oxford that our hero, ex-monk and scholar, Giordano Bruno, travels to find himself embroiled in murder and intrigue. Good holiday reading.
PS Giordano Bruno was a real person (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Edith Pearlman - Binocular Vision
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| American Pearlman seems to have burst onto the British literary scene and taken all the cognoscenti totally by surprise. Her short stories, which span 40 years of writing, take us around the world from tsarist Russia, to London during the blitz, from Central America to Maine, from Jerusalem to Massachusetts. They are sad, funny, perceptive and always thought provoking, each one engaging the mind long afterwards. A collection to savour and eke out carefully, one by one. (Jenny Baker)
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| Ivy Pochoda - Visitation Street
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| A gritty, urban novel set in New York's Red Hook (old dock area of Brooklyn) full of slang, attitude and degenerate characters but also integrity and courage, family bonds, a beautiful sense of atmosphere and best of all an intriguing mystery that draws local characters and local issues together. Language is sparse and natural and nothing over-explained. There is a rather superfluous supernatural element, but minor and not intrusive. Satisfying and compulsive reading. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Tanya Sandman - Buffalo Soldier
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| Tanya Landeman's novel, Buffalo Soldier, is this year's Carnegie winner. Though written for a teenage audience, it is well worth discovering for adults. Charley is a young slave girl. The freedom promised by emancipation proves an illusion. Disillusioned and desperate, Charley disguises herself as a boy and joins the army; she becomes a Buffalo Soldier sent to fight the Indian tribes. Action packed, great characters - and plenty to think about. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| William Makepiece Thackeray - Vanity Fair
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| I have to confess I have been putting off reading this. The thought of Becky Sharp has always made me reluctant. What a mistake. Sprawling, vivid, full of characters this is a brilliant book to read. This is not least because of Thackeray's own voice, because he is there all the time, commenting on his characters and on the human condition with humour and wit. And Becky . . . well she seduces everyone. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Miriam Toews - All my Puny Sorrows
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| A talented, funny, wealthy, successful concert pianist, with a husband who adores her, wants to die. Her younger sister, twice divorced with two kids, sleeping with the wrong men, is torn between trying to keep her beloved sister alive, and helping her to die. Poignancy, interspersed with humour, and beautifully drawn characters, it's a story of two very different sisters, closely bound, who forever keep each other's secrets. (Polly Sams Plant)
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| Anthony Trollope - Framley Parsonage & The Last Chronicle of Barset
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| I fell on these two ancient paper-backs as antidotes to a direly banal Nick Hornby novel I'd just read, and was hooked. I had completely forgotten what fun Trollope is. Each book has a central, cliff-hanging story which is spun out throughout the book while his large cast of Barsetshire figures rotate round it, creating their own sub-plots, each character a masterpiece of psychological veracity. Outrageous Mrs Proudie the Bishop's wife, self-satisfied Archdeacon Grantly with his wise wife, grande dame Lady Lufton . . . Unlike his contemporary Dickens' caricature figures, Trollope's are real people. I never (well, rarely!) had to suspend my disbelief because the whole Barsetshire world is utterly believable. Wonderful stuff! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Jenny Valentine - Fire Colour One
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| Jenny Valentine is one of our most interesting writers for teenagers. From her first book "Finding Violet Park" she has never disappointed. This, her latest is brilliant. Iris, resentful, troubled, has been brought to meet her wealthy absentee father by her monstrous mother. He is dying. Sounds dire - no, it has humour, character - and a fantastic twist - and a terrific voice. This is one to recommend. (Ferelith Hordon)
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Non-Fiction
| Chris Barker and Bessie Moore - My Dear Bessie: A Love Story in Letters
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edited by Simon Garfield
In 2004 a father entrusted a small, blue box to his son asking him not to open it until after he and his wife were dead; four years later he opened it and discovered over 500 letters written during WW !! beginning in Libya in 1943 through to May 1946. During this time Chris and Bessie met only twice but what began as a friendship very soon became a romance. These letters are unique, unpretentious and deeply moving. (James Baker)
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| Penelope Fitzgerald - The Knox Brothers
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| More Penelope Fitzgerald - a biography of her four brilliantly clever uncles who lived during the Victorian and Edwardian eras and both world wars. It is a lovely exploration of four very different, eccentric and funny as well as very clever men who loved words and games, and had careers in the church (fascinating insights into the various Anglican factions and changes), journalism and military intelligence. Interesting on the schools and universities of the times too. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Antonia Fraser - The Six Wives of Henry VIII
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| A learned, perceptive survey and analysis of Henry's marital problems and the prevailing religious and European political issues which made providing a proper and lawful succession of such paramount importance, both for Kings and aristocrats. Although written from the woman's perspective - and Fraser details the status and everyday lives of women in general as well as the royal wives - she is unbiased ("a miracle of impartiality" - A L Rowse). A wonderfully entertaining and instructive read. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Peter Green - The Greco-Persian Wars
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| Beyond praise, this scholarly book completely free of pedantry and stiltedness, is enthralling, densely informative and moving. The author shows his independence, even defiance, to the dictates of general scholarship, in making frequent modern comparisons to facilitate readers not versed in the classics. His love for Greece shines through, as does his knowledge of the terrain, he brings fifth-century Greece alive, no mean feat! and the pace is as fast as, if not more, than any thriller. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| William Grill - Shackleton's Journey
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| The received wisdom is that reluctant boy readers can be attracted by factual books. But the generality of information books available always seem to me somewhat sterile - glossy photographs, uninspired captions. This is something different. Here is the little known story - and it is a story - of Shackleton's journey across Antarctica told economically to the accompaniment of stunning original illustrations. This is the way to excite readers. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Rachel Holmes - Eleanor Marx: A Life
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| This is a superb biography of a remarkable woman. She was Karl's favourite daughter. Multilingual self educated, writer, translator, radical organiser and possessed of heroic qualities. She sadly had a lifelong devotion to a worthless individual who exploited and then betrayed her. Her life ended in tragedy. She left a rich legacy. (David Graham)
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| Ian Mortimer - The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England:A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
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| As the title suggests this is a history book, written as a guidebook to a foreign country, which is actually 14th century England. It describes in great detail every aspect of daily life as experienced by society from the king to the peasant. Often surprising, always entertaining, it prepares the reader for what they would discover and how they would navigate and understand the land and its people. (Sue Pratt)
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| James Rebanks - The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District
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| James Rebanks was born into a family of shepherds whose roots go back 600 years. He hated school, leaving at barely 16, but later took A-levels and studied history at Oxford, gaining a first. He found fame on Twitter, recording his daily routine and notching up 40,000 followers. This memoir followed. It is lucid, unsentimental, quietly passionate about the beauty and complexity of sheep farming, his love of the land, his way of life. It's a delight. (Jenny Baker)
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| James Rhodes - Instrumental
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| Each chapter is structured around a piece of classical music - pivotal in his life and provided online - giving relief from his raw, visceral story of child rape, self harm, mental breakdown and the ongoing reverberations of trauma. His dedication to becoming a concert pianist against all odds and bringing classical music to a wider, younger audience is remarkable. I laughed and cried, often at the same time. A wonderful victory for free speech and a very brave man. (Denise Lewis)
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| Dorothy Rowe - My Dearest Enemy, My Dangerous Friend: Making and Breaking Sibling Bonds
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| Rowe is a psychologist/author with great understanding and her interpretation is more anecdotal and qualitative than clinical - she admits that it's difficult to draw conclusions as sibling relationships are 'as various as snowflakes'. This book is fascinating and absorbing; full of examples from friends, patients, literature and even her own experience. It necessarily explores related areas of psychology and the chapter 'Loyalty and Brotherhood', particularly on the Middle East and Northern Ireland, is excellent. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| I'd also recommend The Kindly Ones (bwl 76). A compelling read which gives an unusual perspective on German campaigns on the Eastern Front during WW II and explores the moral complexities of war and genocide for an SS officer in a sophisticated and challenging way. Gripping if overlong. (Tony Pratt)
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| Any Human Heart by William Boyd (bwl 59 & 63) is a lengthy read but one you don't want to end. The long life of Mountstuart has many twists and turns but his humanity never wavers. Fact and fiction merge seamlessly as he becomes involved with events and characters of the 20th century. An engrossing narrative told in the form of a journal by an unforgettable character - my book of the year so far. |
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