bwl 80 - Spring 2016
Fiction
| Julian Barnes - The Noise of Time
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| Dimitri Shostakovich, the great Russian composer, spent most of his creative life under Stalin's terror with his bags packed at the ready in case of his arrest. Julian Barnes brilliantly evokes this terrible era and gives us a picture of a creative soul in torment which make his achievements all the more remarkable. (David Graham)
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| Joanna Cannon - The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
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| It's the long hot summer of 1976 and in a suburban avenue of an East Midlands town Mrs. Creasy is missing. Ten year old Grace and her friend Tilly decide to try and solve the mystery by visiting residents as 'helpful Brownies' - but first they need to find God, who knows everything, then all should fall into place. Characters emerge, secrets are disclosed, who is a sheep and who a goat? Amusing and entertaining debut novel. (Mary Standing)
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| Julian Clary - The Bolds & The Bolds to the rescue
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| If you are looking for something to share with a child or grandchild as a bedtime read look no further. Who are the Bolds? Meeting them you would take them for your average suburban family; well they are living in Teddington. You would be wrong. The Bolds are, in fact, hyenas. Funny, lively and quirky - who would have thought Julian Clary could write so well. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Tom Drury - The End of Vandalism
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| A very funny, quietly told tale of daily lives in fictional 'Goose County' in the US mid-west. There's a nostalgic, almost cosy feel to the pre-internet small town/rural-farm setting, and an intimate and chatty style, but plenty of drama and a lot of sadness too. Drury zooms in on one couple in particular, but we meet many other characters in passing and he sums them up with great understanding and just the right turn of phrase. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Essie Fox - The Somnambulist
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| Inspired by the moody interior of Wilton's Music Hall, this historical novel has a number of familiar scenarios from Victorian gothic: the sleepwalking old lady with a disturbed mind; the young lady companion swept from urban squalor to rural idylls; religion; music hall; dark secrets and forbidden love. It's less 'penny-dreadful' and more 'penny-all right really' which strangely works against it. The set pieces are fine but overall it's not the page-turner I'd hoped for. (Clive Yelf)
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| Nicci French - Saturday Requiem
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| Sixth in the series of the husband/wife team Nicci French about Frieda Klein, psychotherapist compelled to solve old crimes, this is even better than the others, very strong and gripping. Hannah, an eighteen-year-old girl, is arrested for the brutal murder of her family and is in a mental hospital; thirteen years later there is doubt and Frieda is asked to assess her. Someone is hiding the truth and someone else is stalking Frieda . . . a compelling read. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Claire Fuller - Our Endless Numbered Days
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| Intriguing story of a young girl whose life is disrupted in 1976 for nine years thanks to her obsessive 'survivalist' father, a self-absorbed pianist mother and other misguided characters. The details of her new life are fascinating, and the pages turn quickly as you wonder how it will turn out. It's almost creepy and at one point verges on horrifying, but it is refreshingly original; concisely, but sensitively written and full of surprises. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Amitav Ghosh - Flood of Fire
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The final part* of his magnificent trilogy draws all the storylines together. It is a tour de force, full of action to the end with its various characters illustrating the lack of moral justification for the Opium Wars. British characters speak an amazing mixture of Indian-English not always easy to read/understand but intended perhaps to show us how India has enriched our language and culture. The deep research does not hold back this vivid tale.
(*Ghosh has hinted that this may in fact not be the end of story after all.) (Christine Miller)
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| Frances Hardinge - The Lie Tree
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| It is not often that the winner of the Costa Book of the Year is a novel written for children. It has only happened twice. And this is one of those winners. Hardinge is an interesting writer who never takes the easy way. Her novels are rich in plot and characterisation and deal in complex themes. This is no exception. Not just for children, this should be read by everyone. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Sue Bonnie Hitchcock - The Smell of Other People's Houses
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| How to describe the homes of other people or places you remember? For the four teenage protagonists in this absorbing coming-of-age novel it is the smell. Set in Alaska, the author captures the small-town atmosphere of this Last Frontier in the 1970s. I was not expecting to enjoy what sounded like just another teenage novel with the usual tensions and problems. I loved it. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Walter Kempowski - All for Nothing
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| East Prussia, January 1945. An aristocratic household waits out a bitter winter under the twin shadows of a Nazi regime and impending Russian invasion. A gripped society disintegrates slowly then all at once and the people we follow suffer varying fates. This German novel is vivid, compassionate and even-handed. We come to know and understand individual lives and why people behave as they do, as well as the world they live in. Deserves to be better known. (Tony Pratt)
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| Harper Lee - Go Set a Watchman
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| The temptation to cash in by publishing this draft of To Kill a Mocking Bird (bwl 24) must have been enormous; all Lee's fans would love it. Or maybe not. It's interesting to read and compare but beware - it's the opposite of redemptive. Here Scout is a judgmental twenty-something, Atticus a bigot, the trial ends in anti-climax. Fortunately Lee's editor saw the gold amongst the dross, encouraged her to rethink, rewrite, polish and produce her masterpiece. (Jenny Baker)
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| Olivia Levez - The Island
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| "I am Medusa Girl. Cold as rock, hard as stone". This is how Fran armours herself against a world that in her eyes offers nothing but betrayal. This is a modern Robinson Crusoe with a feisty teenage girl as the castaway. She is not likeable, but the reader really wants to find out how she fares. Aimed at a young adult audience this should grab the attention. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Simon Mawer - Tightrope
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| Readers of The Girl who Fell from the Sky (bwl 67) will welcome this sequel. Marian Sutro haunted by the consequences of her undercover mission, her Nazi interrogation and months in Ravensbruck struggles to adjust to post-war Britain. Then she is contacted by her old handler and recruited to feed worthless secrets to and turn a Russian agent . . . but Marian has her own agenda, the need to serve a greater good . . . whose side is she or anyone on? (Jenny Baker)
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| David Mitchell - The Bone Clocks
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| The fantasy subplot with its good vs evil may seem like an odd choice by the author. Personally, though, I quite enjoyed its juxtaposition with the far more morally ambiguous conflicts tackled in each episode of the story. In addition, I found these episodes entertaining as individual character studies, leading to an engaging novel overall. (Theo Hobson)
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| Nuala O'Connor - Miss Emily
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| We find ourselves in the home of the poet, Emily Dickinson - kind and curious but increasingly isolating herself from her family and the Amherst social scene - she prefers the company of the new maid - tough, outspoken Ada, just-off-the-boat from Dublin, determined to control her rebellious side and to better herself. Both girls face different struggles but we can really believe they find comfort in their growing friendship. The book's lyricism and economy of style allows you to devour it in one sitting. (Rebecca Howell)
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| Favel Parrett - When the Night Comes
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| This introduced me to two completely new worlds - a young family newly settled in Tasmania and life on board an Antarctic research supply ship (based on a real ship). Descriptions of the weather in Hobart and of the Antarctic landscape are vivid, and the matter-of-fact yet poetic writing style fits well with the rugged way of life and the relationship that develops. If you liked 'The Shipping News' you should enjoy this. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Joseph Roth - The Radetzky March
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| The action takes place between 1859 and 1916, charting the demise of the Trotta family against the decline of the Hapsburg Empire. Roth's narrative, so evocative of two dynasties that have a past but no future, leaves one with a profound sense of sadness. A remarkable achievement from so young an author, Roth's prose style takes some getting used to but it is easy to see why this has become a modern classic. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Graham Swift - Mothering Sunday
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| Once upon a time, before the boys were killed . . . . so begins this short, beautifully written narrative. It is 1924, Jane, a maid with no mother to go to, is lying naked in bed with her lover Paul, the only surviving son of a wealthy family. Her story ebbs and flows between the events of this momentous day, the terrible losses of the Great War and the long, remarkable life ahead of her. Short it may be but not a single word is wasted. (Jenny Baker)
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| William Trevor - The Hill Bachelors
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| The pervading atmosphere of these short stories is melancholy of maybe a typically Irish kind, full of yearnings, disappointments, private secrets colouring a life-time. Each one is a gem and if I've made them sound depressing, in the end they are not (or not very!). Behind the melancholy is a deep understanding of small lives and what they are worth, written with loving insight in uncluttered, evocative prose. To be relished - they haunted me. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life
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| Mixed feelings about this overlong, repetitive and at times unrealistic view of ongoing child abuse and its repercussions, the coping mechanism of self harm and the endurance of male friendship. I certainly can't rave like the critics, but Yanagihara's main character is (with reservations) masterfully and memorably drawn and her writing so compelling that the pages flew by and I will definitely read her next book. (Denise Lewis)
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Non-Fiction
| Peter Ackroyd - Charlie Chaplin
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| From the shadow of the workhouse to the first man in history known by sight the world over, Ackroyd illuminates how Chaplin's genius for comedy and its choreography, first deployed on English stages, found its home in the new medium of cinema. Early deprivation was reflected in an isolated adult with a difficult and destructive personality which marred his relationships. But he often gave the best of himself uncompromisingly when it came to his art. An extraordinary story rivetingly told. (Tony Pratt)
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| Sarah Bakewell - At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails
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| This successful blend of biography, memoir and history traces the roots of French existentialism in German phenomenology, gives fascinating insights into the lives of Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger et al and assesses the relevance of existentialism to the world today. An excellent introduction and explanation of a philosophy which is notoriously difficult to define. Heavy going at times, however Bakewell's erudite but anecdotal style is a pleasure to read. Just as good as her wonderful book about Montaigne. (How to Live a Life - bwl 61) (Denise Lewis)
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| Simon Bradley - The Railways: Nation, Network and the People
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| Bradley explores the social, linguistic and cultural impact of train travel from its earliest days. We read that the system of classes of travel used by the railways helped to establish the concept of class in the broader social sense. The converging experience of train travel became one of the greatest instances of social levelling in our history whereas reading a novel or paper helped to pass the time and avoid interaction with fellow passengers. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Bill Bryson - The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island
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| Of course this is a funny book and of course it's full of fascinating facts, people and places, but underlying his farcical encounters with dim shop-assistants and such is his consternation at increasing ignorance, stupidity and falling-off of values compared with the England of his 1995 Notes (bwl 28). He's funny and interesting, lyrical about the countryside, appreciates many endeavours and retains his deep affection for his adopted country, but his alarm rings true. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Jacky Fleming - The Trouble with Women
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| As a mere male, it's impossible to be neutral about this slim volume of clearly biased opinion by this confused female. Her illustrations and comments simply reinforce her misguided reaction to History's overwhelming evidence of the natural superiority and genius of the stronger sex. Acknowledging this would lead to a happier, more contented existence on this Earth. I found it so witty and funny that I can only conclude it must have been written by a man. (James Baker)
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| Brigitte Hamann - The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
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| This is about a part of History which I did not know, a time of great change in Europe, but also a tale of an extraordinary woman, an idol of her age, beautiful and mysterious. She became a legend but a very sad lady with a modern personality and a refusal to conform, who escaped to a life of her own but died tragically. (Shirley Williams)
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| Daisy Hay - Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance
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| A beguiling account of a very unusual marriage: he a debt-ridden novelist dandy, she a moneyed widow twelve years older, an unlikely match which turned out to be a national model of married love and loyalty. Drawing on the couple's extensive love letters and the formidable archives they left, Hay places their romance in its historical and political context with such a light hand that it reminds one in places of a Jane Austen novel. Delicious! (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Michael Holroyd - Bernard Shaw
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| Following his masterly biography of Lytton Strachey, Holroyd has given us a definitive work on the great GBS which I cannot see bettered. Dramatist polymath he strode the world of letters like a whirlwind and became one of the world's most famous men. His dream of the socialist society under which his lifestyle would have been curtailed proved a chimera. (David Graham)
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| Boris Johnson - The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History
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| History - always the inevitable outcome of impersonal and imponderable forces or can a single man affect its course? In this particular case, the author argues, most decidedly the latter. Covering all aspects of Churchill's life and career, it's a lively and informative read with Johnson's enthusiasm and admiration for his subject's capacity for work, journalistic background, outsider status and self-determination shining through. Might we see Boris sporting a bow-tie and chomping on cigars soon? (Clive Yelf)
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| Oliver Kamm - Accidence (Shall) Will Happen: the non-pedantic guide to English Usage
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| Is it Mothers' Day or Mother's Day? Does it matter if I sometimes split an infinitive? Is a man hung or hanged? Should I never use a preposition to end a sentence with? This is a book for those who love the strength of the English language, it's ability to change and grow and can recognise that some so-called rules are just conventions. The author, a self-confessed former stickler, is a Times columnist and leader writer. (Jenny Baker)
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| Kate Pickett & Richard Wilkinson - The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone
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| Here, a compelling and optimistic argument is presented - that equality, not wealth, is the key determinant of quality of life in a society. If you don't quite need a deluge of data to convince you of this, you could skip to the absorbing latter half, where the possible mechanisms behind this phenomenon are tackled. (Theo Hobson)
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| Claudia Renton - Those Wild Wyndhams: Three Sisters at the Heart of Power
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| Lord Leconfield's three beautiful, intelligent and volatile granddaughters grew up with every opportunity to spread their wings which they most certainly did. As leading members of The Souls, pre-occupied with philosophy and ideas, they mixed in society with the leading political figures of late Victorian and early Edwardian England. Much more than a biography - this is a beautifully researched and fascinating account of a remarkable family in the era eventually devastated by the First World War. (Jane Grey-Edwards)
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| Mary Taylor Simeti - Travels with a Medieval Queen: The Journey of a Sicilian Princess
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| This pleasingly honest travel-writer combines erudition with imaginative licence which she admits is sometimes too subjective. Although very 'American', she has an extraordinary affinity with Sicily and its early history. Frequently confessing to be an amateur, she has many scholarly qualities and has done much patient research in ancient manuscripts. Constance, mother of Frederik II, 'stupor mundi', and her itinerary come to life in this unusual book and makes one want to see it all for oneself.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Diana Souhami - Mrs Keppel and her Daughter
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| The author of this sophisticated book about different kinds of love and marriage in Edwardian royal and aristocratic circles is well aware of the pitfalls of bad taste and sensationalism. She examines with delicacy, fairness and fastidiousness the frivolous, the passionate, sexual deviance and other excesses sympathetically without bias, producing a valuable broad panorama of aspects of (high) society from Edwardian times to our own day. The thumbnail biographies of the secondary characters are sharp and add great depth. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Andrea Wulf - The Invention of Nature: The adventures of Alexander von Humboldt
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| Enthralling biography of the great, yet under appreciated, naturalist and explorer whose travels in the Americas and Europe added thousands to the total of known species and yielded insights too numerous to list. We are still taking on board his key insight: that nature is a single dynamic interrelated system. In a long life he influenced and inspired people as diverse as Jefferson, Darwin (both of whom he knew ) and Thoreau. (Tony Pratt)
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| Philip Zeigler - The Duchess of Dino: Chatelaine of Europe
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| A comprehensive, very readable life of Talleyrand's niece by marriage who became his constant and beloved support. Intelligent, beautiful, proud and passionately loyal, born to be a political hostess, her ambition was to govern a man of great distinction and power. Talleyrand - the most powerful statesmen in Europe for half a century - provided all she needed and for 25 years, until his death, she smoothed his path becoming one of the most influential women of her time. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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