bookswelike

bwl 78 - Autumn 2015

Fiction

Jessie Burton - The Miniaturist

Seventeenth-century Amsterdam: Nella, married-off to a rich and powerful merchant, is effectively abandoned by him to his austere sister and two faithful servants. His wedding gift of a cabinet-house and the deliveries of curious and prophetic miniatures have a sinister edge. Tantalising, but I felt much was lunexplained and perhaps was just inexplicable. Despite the strong depiction of a heroine who shows herself a match to adversity and lots of promising chapters, I was unsure. (Rebecca Howell)

Peter Carey - Jack Maggs

Peter Carey won the Booker Prize twice. Why? The Observer found Maggs 'Bold, gripping and wonderful.' I found it none of these things. The Guardian states that it is not a pastiche. I would argue that it is. When you can read Dickens why read Carey? Carey's aim seems to be to examine events from a post-colonial perspective. This is not achieved by adding 'f***' or 'mate' to nineteenth century dialogue. (Judith Peppitt)

Bill Clegg - Did You Ever have a Family

A tragic fire has killed a family on the eve of the daughter's wedding and everyone in the small American town is affected and somehow involved. As more and more characters are introduced (frustrating, but worth it) their past lives and - gradually - the cause of the fire is revealed. The writing is restrained and thoughtful and the sense of grief and confusion is vivid and believable - an impressive debut by this US literary agent.
Ed. note: Surprisingly there is no question mark in the novel's title (Victoria Grey-Edwards)

Sarah Crossan - One

This teenage novel does not sound promising - its subject conjoined twins; style, blank verse. However it is an absorbing, lively and sympathetic read that draws the reader in. Grace, the narrator, comes over as a very real teenager, and her sister, Tippi, so different in character is just as alive. But they live permanently attached to each other. By using verse, - spare, concise, - as the medium, Crossan avoids sentimentality. Highly recommended. (Ferelith Hordon)

Anthony Doerr - All the Light We Cannot See

In spite of the current spate of fiction and non-fiction centring on stories from both world wars, this one manages to engage and beguile. The overlapping stories of two young people are deftly conveyed: one a blind French girl who flees the German occupation of Paris on an extraordinary mission with her father, and the other an exceptional young German boy, orphaned and in the grip of the Hitler war machine. Much more than a war story!
Ed. note: Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Margaret Teh)

Patricia Duncker - Sophie and the Sibyl (A Victorian Romance)

The Sibyl ( George Eliot), Max Duncker* (German publishing house), and the beautiful 18 year old Sophie von Hahn. The latter suspects that, despite the narrator's emphasis on the Sybil's age and ugliness, Max has completely fallen under her spell. Max is trying to secure German rights to Middlemarch (another three-way relationship). Duncker deliberately interrupts the story with her narrator's asides but these distracted me from the characters and storyline, despite being entertaining and informative.
Ed. note: The German publishing house, Duncker, did publish some of Eliot's work but Patricia Duncker is not related. The surname simply inspired the novel. (Christine Miller)

Anne Enright - The Forgotten Waltz

The story could hardly be more banal: Gina and Sean fall in love (well, lust), leave their spouses and end up in the same boring domesticity they'd escaped from. Add the context of Dublin towards the end of the boom years - property a constant counterpoint - and Sean's problematic daughter and the plot does become thicker, while Enright's quirky insights are always a pleasure. But what is she trying to say? Compared with her wonderful The Gathering (bwl 44), disappointing. (Annabel Bedini)

Elena Ferrante - Days of Abandonment

Not part of the Neapolitan quartet. Without warning Olga's husband, Mario, abandons her and their two young children for a younger woman. Her loss, grief and madness as her world falls apart are so excruciatingly well drawn that you feel it could be somewhat autobiographical. This is definitely not for the faint-hearted but the skilful writing drives you on as you share Olga's suffering on this painful roller coaster of a ride. (Christine Miller)

Robert Harris - An Officer and a Spy

The Dreyfus Affair, the setting for this atmospheric and compelling thriller. The historical accuracy of the infamous miscarriage of justice only adds to the excellence of the story-telling. Our hero is an up and coming army officer, intelligent and patriotic. A man of principle and dedication who himself becomes the victim of the corruption and anti-Semitism of the powerful army elite as he fights to expose the web of deceit within the French Establishment and the cruel injustice of Dreyfus's imprisonment on Devil's Island. (Rebecca Howell)

Kent Haruf - Plainsong

Set in a small town on the edge of the Colorado Plains this simple, heartbreaking but hopeful story is beautifully told in bare, unsentimental prose reflecting the unadorned melody of the title. As well as a coming of age story, it's about the austerity of life, loneliness, the search for love and the changing nature of families. The characters are so well drawn that they live on well after you've finished the book. A wonderful read! (Denise Lewis)

Mark Henshaw - The Snow Kimono

A complex recounting of the lives of a retired French inspector, a Japanese professor of law and his friend, a brilliant, immoral novelist. All have experienced tragedy and loss, and each chapter adds more details to their individual stories, more pieces of an intellectual puzzle. With the masterful denouement comes the realisation that it's really about the nature of storytelling, the sifting of details changed by memory to find truths, and how telling and living with lies changes lives. (Denise Lewis)

Mary Lawson - The Other Side of the Bridge

Set like Crow Lake (bwl 24) in remote Northern Ontario: young Ian - the doctor's son, struggling to find his path in life - becomes involved with two brothers - one dutiful and kindly, the other duplicitous and charismatic. All three in thrall to one woman. The characters, the remoteness and beauty of the landscape cast their spell immersing us in a complex tale of loyalties and family divisions. And what about the Bridge? . . . . read it to find out more. (Jenny Baker)

Dennis Lehane - World Gone By

Pacy and chilling, this powerful saga of gangster life and corruption in wartime America from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone has more twists than the Cresta run. Aficionados of the genre may be familiar with the argot and the violence. As a neophyte, I was alternately shocked and thrilled. It is not for the faint-hearted. Lehane's ending defies expectation and perhaps understanding. Never mind, it was a great read getting there. (Jeremy Miller)

Ted Lewis - Get Carter

There's a real American feel to this gritty tale of a remorseless hit-man tracking down the murderer of his brother. The first person narrative invites you into the mind of violence in a casual but direct manner and you find yourself on 'his side' - even if that side has little to commend it over the 'other side'! As far removed from Agatha Christie as you can get but it's a compelling read for all that. (Clive Yelf)

Tessa McWatt - Higher Ed

Must mention this book; I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is by an author who teaches creative writing at a London university, and it's very much about modern London life complete with public transport, text messages and slang. Short snappy chapters feature a selection of interlinked characters, all faced with changes, both at the university and beyond. An interesting perspective on the daily life of both Londoners and newcomers - very sympathetic and uplifting. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)

David Mitchell - The Bone Clocks

I have a terrible admission. I found this book impossible to read. I should have been warned, metaphysical thrillers are not my thing but I loved Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (bwl 57) and enjoyed Black Swan Green (bwl 41), however I struggled with the first section of this new novel, began to feel it might be working and then was completely thrown by the second section. All I wanted was a handy window. Has anyone else read it? (Jenny Baker)

Ali Smith - How to be Both

How to be both - that is indeed the question, or maybe the answer. Whether it is being a modern teenager or a Renaissance girl, an artist or craftsman, alive or dead - the dualities abound in this novel. Or should it be two novellas? Does the order of reading matter? It does indeed and the effect of two shorts as opposed to one long is disconcerting. Scintillating, intriguing but ultimately not wholly satisfying. (Ferelith Hordon)

Anne Tyler - A Spool of Blue Thread

For Anne Tyler's apparently final novel she has created the wonderful Whitshank family from Baltimore. Just an ordinary family saga? Maybe, but in Tyler's hands they seem 'extraordinary'. The family house takes centre stage, with all the comings and goings over three generations, subtle and not so subtle interplays between grandparents, parents and children. It doesn't need dramatic plot, reading her is pure therapy. Highly recommended. (Mary Standing)

Non-Fiction

Clare Campbell - Bonzo's War: Animals Under Fire 1939-1945

A fascinating look at a forgotten area of WW II, namely what happened to all the pets? Sadly many of them were put down in the initial days of the Phoney War with crematoria pushed beyond their limits. Then came tensions with rationing and the consumption of crucial supplies, tales of heroism and miraculous survival and finally conscription into the armed forces. A real eye-opener and an engrossing read, although with its share of sadness. (Clive Yelf)

Matthew Engel - Engel's England: Thirty Nine Counties, One Capital, One Man

The journalist Matthew Engel takes an entertaining series of journeys around an England disfigured but not defeated by the misconceived 1974 reorganisation of the counties. Engel makes an engaging companion; funny, unexpected, occasionally angry, and with his sympathies firmly on the side of the quirky and independent and against the idiocies of money and power. He made me want to go to all sorts of places, I'd never thought of - a good test. (Tony Pratt)

Frederick Forsyth - The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue

As a dedicated fan, I now know why Forsythe's books seem so genuine, they ARE genuine. This autobiography is better than any of his novels as it makes clear that they are all based on his own experiences. Written with great and touching respect for the less fortunate, he is fair, wryly modest, not afraid to be outspoken or 'politically incorrect' and utterly charming, His latest - hopefully not his last - is his best to date. Go for it! (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Antonia Fraser - Love and Louis XIV:The Women in the Life of the Sun King

While purporting to be a study of his women, this is also a revealing study of the Sun King himself. Impressively researched, it is less dynamic and brilliant than some of Fraser's other books, as if the struggle to cope with such a plethora of information shows beneath the scholarship. However, cope she does and it gains brilliance and momentum towards the end, portraying the deaths of many of the protagonists in a deeply felt and affecting way. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Thomas Grant - Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories

One of the great Advocates - defender of Blake, Vassal, Lady Chatterley, Christine Keeler, Duncan Campbell, Tom Keating and others - his cases were landmarks for a society changing from secrecy, deference and prudishness to something better. His sympathy for those up against the big battalions makes him something of a hero. All that, plus an interesting war and marriage to Peggy Ashcroft, means an entertaining and instructive read. Undiminished at 100, Hutchinson adds a postscript tearing Chris Grayling's changes apart. (Tony Pratt)

Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

I can't recommend this book too highly. Harari traces the development of humankind from its earliest beginnings to its possible (scary) future with practically every page giving me 'well I never!' moments. The evolutionary value of gossip, money as a unifying fiction, the admission of ignorance sparking the scientific revolution - a constant stream of fascinating research and original thinking. And on top of everything else, he's also extremely witty. A truly wonderful book! (Annabel Bedini)

Tom Holland - Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar

In his latest book, Holland - whose scholarship cannot be denied - has rather overdone his 'popularisation' mode. A conscious, needlessly baroque prose - interspersed with trendy expressions - is not conducive to greater understanding or by his highlighting of the more sensational aspects. Undeniably valuable in its overview, this could have been done better in less space. More Hollywood than Academe, shall we say, which was probably the object. Still, as entertainment, a good read. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Tristam Hunt - Ten Cities that made an Empire

Hunt's fresh approach to Britain's imperial history* explores the urban form through its architecture and civil institutions, street names and fortifications, news pages, plays and ritual. From Boston in the 1770's, his portrayal of the great colonial and imperial cities of Bridgetown, Dublin, Cape Town, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bombay, Melbourne and New Delhi ends in C20th Liverpool. He delivers a new understanding of the British Empire's influence upon the world and the world's influence upon it.
Ed. note: similar ground but in a different manner is covered by Maya Jasanoff in Liberty's Exiles (bwl 63) (Jeremy Miller)

Ghada Karma - In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story

This is a beautifully written memoir of exile and loss. It covers the history of Palestine fromThe Mandate era to the present day and combines the personal with the political. I doubt if a better book has been written about the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian tragedy. (David Graham)

Simon Kuper - The Football Men: Up Close With The Giants Of The Game

Those involved in football are used to mouthing platitudes rather than engaging in discussion, but when you can slip under that shield, even for a brief interview, the results can be illuminating. Being multilingual gave the author the edge when tracking down both players and managers and the short profiles all seek to throw a light on what it is that makes these individuals tick. Lively and very engaging even, I suspect, for non-football lovers! (Clive Yelf)

Nancy Mitford - Voltaire in Love

This serious study of a side of Voltaire, rarely considered by historians, is very well-researched and Mitford's experienced novelist's eye, and nose, make for a refreshingly light touch. Her sophisticated world view makes this account of the love match between Voltaire - famous French writer-philosopher - and the Marquise du Châtelet - the most important physicist and scientist in France at the time and a woman at that - an exquisite and delightful read. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Jan Morris - Pax Britannica

The second book in Morris's trilogy of the British Empire is set at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, when the confidence of the British people in their country and the Empire reached its zenith. The depth of knowledge on which Morris draws is astounding and is imparted in a beautifully balanced mixture of wide ranging situations and individual experiences, creating a gripping portrait of the Empire that once covered 25% of the world's land. (Jane Grey-Edwards)

John Otway - Cor Baby That's Really Me!

He's a great act to see live but sadly there's no way John Otway would ever be a rock superstar. However he does know how to get things going with slightly off the wall projects, mainly aimed at self promotion. Of which this autobiography is one. But it's still good fun and shows a sense of self-awareness which he exploits by the slightly annoying use of a third person narrative. Detached irony overload maybe? (Clive Yelf)

Bryan Perrett - Last Stand! Famous Battles Against The Odds

In this small paperback, the thirteen chapters of various 'last stands' - from Waterloo on around the world - are a mine of very readable, succinct but dense information, as well as offering profound military insight with excellent analytical conclusion. An unusual compendium of things military for all enthusiasts, combining due admiration and respect for the ultimate sacrifice and gallantry with the necessary critical factor which hindsight and knowledge promotes. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)

Marina Vaizey - Peter Blake

Being a bit late to the creative world I was slightly perturbed to discover my use of found objects - circus sideshows, sign-writing, decrepit window frames and Mexican wrestling - was old hat and that Peter Blake had been there, done that and moved on over half a century back. Very much an introduction to his work, for me this beginners' guide is a fascinating but slightly deflating introduction to the wonderful world of Peter Blake. (Clive Yelf)

Poetry

Carol Ann Duffy (edited by) - Answering Back: Living poets reply to the poetry of the past

Duffy launched the idea of asking living poets to 'answer' poetry from the past and of the 50 responses she has chosen these 46. From old favourites to new (for me) discoveries, responses range from the oblique to the critical to the loving to the tongue-in-cheek (e.g. Duffy's own answer to 'If'). It's fascinating to see how poetry can communicate over the years - I galloped gleefully through them, but will go back to savour them properly. (Annabel Bedini)

David Jones - In Parenthesis

Don't read this long prose-poem too carefully - let the words wash over you for a filthy, lice-ridden and sodden immersion in the WW I trenches of northern France - raw, lyrical, crude, delicate and assaulting. Poet/artist David Jones transmutes his own experiences into something extraordinary using allusions to myth, the Bible, Shakespeare and Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It's not easy reading, but for a real sense of the terror, and indeed the poetry, of war, you can't do much better. (Kate Hobson)