bwl 84 - Spring 2017
Fiction
| Lindsey Davis - The Silver Pigs
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| Rereading this the first of the Falco novels, I was not disappointed. Davis writes with humour and impressive knowledge of the Roman World - here the process of mining for silver in the British mines - and the corruption that went with it. Falco is engaging, Helena a worthy heroine, so if you haven't met them allow me to affect the introduction. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Michelle de Kretser - The Hamilton Case
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| Set in the author's native Sri Lanka in the years before its independence in 1948, the story centres around a murder. Sam Obeysekere, a Ceylonese barrister whose 'veins run with Bovril' hopes to make his name by having an Englishman convicted rather than the victim's black servants. In prose that I found exquisite, the author explores the effects of colonialism, racial inequality and ethnic tension and proves how narrative influences our perception of truth. Highly recommended. (Denise Lewis)
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| Margaret Drabble - The Dark Flood Rises
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| I have devoured Margaret Drabble's novels over the years, being almost her contemporary, as she wrote about the stage in life she was experiencing, and now is approaching the finale! The central character is Fran, in her seventies, energetic and refusing to slow down. Lots of colourful characters touch her life with humour and sadness. Although I enjoyed the story I did find it a bit disjointed and rambling (maybe deliberately?) but a must-read for Drabble fans. (Mary Standing)
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| Helen Dunmore - Birdcage Walk
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Against the ferment of the French Revolution, the novel is set in Bristol where a small group of idealistic radicals, including women, embraces the prospect of change. These are not the famous but ordinary people who leave no mark on history. Concurrent is the collapse of the building boom of Clifton's terraces because of the political uncertainty. Most important are the family relationships about which she writes so well and a mystery. Well worth reading.
Ed Note: Birdcage Walk does exist as a path leading through the overgrown graveyard of a Clifton church which was bombed in the Second World War. If you know Bristol, you will find yourself walking recognisable parts of the city with the author. (Christine Miller)
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| Shusaku Endo - Silence
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| 17th C. Japan - Rodrigues, an idealistic Jesuit priest covertly joins the outlawed Christians to discover why his former mentor has apostatised. He see himself as a Christ figure with his own Gethsemane, his own Judas - a wretch called Kichijiro. Forced to witness the sadistic torture and executions of the peasant Christians, he is haunted by the question: Lord why are you silent? - then at his darkest hour, as he tramples on what he holds most dear, there is a glimmer of light.
(Jenny Baker)
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| David Grossman - A Horse Walks into a Bar
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| When some celebrity's misdemeanours are publicly exposed you can choose whether to savour all the details or to turn away - but there's no escape for the audience in an Israeli comedy club expecting to enjoy the jokes and funny stories of a seasoned comedian. In this extraordinary novel, Grossman's comedian is falling apart, you and the audience are trapped in your seats, watching and listening as he peels away, skin by skin, all the layers of his pain. (James Baker)
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| Sunetra Gupta - Memories of Rain
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| Gupta's stream of consciousness prose is at times reminiscent of Virginia Woolf but I found Gupta more accessible. Moni is a young Indian woman who marries an Englishman but the relationship is fraught with misunderstanding. She plans to return to her family in Calcutta but she has a small daughter whose life will be impoverished in a world of hardship and the ever present threat of the monsoon. (Judith Peppitt)
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| Patrice Lawrence - Orangeboy
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| YA fiction is anything but bland. Here is another very contemporary thriller aimed at this audience. Set against a backdrop of drugs, gangs - and yes, eventually guns. Sixteen year old Marlon is a likeable young man and not a villain. But when the girl of his dreams drops dead (literally) on their date, he is drawn into this world. Fast paced, definitely one to keep a reader engrossed. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Graeme Macrae Burnet - His Bloody Project
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| Set in the Highlands in 1869, the book opens with a memoir in which the accused admits his guilt as he chronicles everything leading up to a brutal triple murder. Then comes the trial and gradually, as each witness testifies to their own version of events, all the certainties become uncertainties: what is true, what is half-true, what is a lie? Believe everything on the cover:a mesmerising, literary thriller, fiendishly readable, gripping, blackly playful and ingeniously constructed. (Jenny Baker)
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| Ian McGuire - North Water
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| Sumner, a ships' surgeon (who has reasons to keep quiet about his experiences in India) tries to make sure justice is done when abuse and murder are uncovered on an 1850s whaling ship. The Captain is deliberately aiming for the ice, and eventually the desperate crew have the weather to reckon with as well. A brutal novel - there is much swearing and violence, right from the start, but it is pacey, beautifully written and humane. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Frank Moorhouse - The Edith Trilogy: Grand Days; Dark Palace; Cold Light
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Grand Days
Historical fiction, reflecting the author's pre-occupation with peace-keeping and international relations, after WW1, in his own words, "writing about the League of Nations because it is a trunk in the attic of history which has not been properly opened. It contains haunted, bitter and embarrassing stories for the world, but also a human experiment of immense grandeur." Still contemporary, as it happens, a beautifully written, warm and funny, sexy novel, told through the adventures of Edith Campbell, a young woman from the Antipodes, intimately involved in its foundation years.
Dark Palace
Continues the saga of idealism first explored in Grand Days, cleverly mixing real life characters with imaginary ones, sees cracks appear in the League, and the decline of international appetite for pacifism and disarmament. The horrors of WW II, eventual dismantlement of the League, and foundation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1946 are explored through the ongoing personal relationships, bewildered disillusionment but enduring commitment of the protagonists.
Cold Light
Return to Australia of Edith Campbell and her involvement in the evolution of post-war Australia. This is a richly complex observation of a society in transition and is engaging story-telling, with a satisfying mix of the personal and political. (Margaret Teh)
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| Susin Nielsen - Optimists Die First
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| Of course they do; they take no precautions always believing things will be OK. Pessimists, however, plan for every dreadful possibility. Petula is a pessimist; she guards against everything. When optimist Jacob turns up, both have to confront their own demons. Lively, fun, quirky, Nielsen is one of the most enjoyable of authors writing for younger teens - or anyone. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Hannah Rothschild - The Improbability of Love
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| This proved to be an improbable novel. On the surface (title and cover design) a rather frothy romance - and it was certainly a romantic comedy - it became a fascinating, if on occasion biting portrait of the world of high art and the wheelers and dealers inhabiting it. It is possible to identify some of the players! Then there is the painting - what a character. Good fun. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Richard Russo - Nobody's Fool
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| Set in Russo's territory of small town America, the story features an entertaining group of the nation's losers, an endearing, if often feckless, bunch. None more so than the main character, Sully, his own worst enemy but a fertile source of very funny dialogue. Other characters - a retired schoolteacher; her irritating friend and unscrupulous son; the town Don Juan; ineffectual husbands and disgruntled wives - add to the fun. Drawn with compassion and a clear sense of America as a two speed society. (Tony Pratt)
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| Domenico Starnone - Ties
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| The story of a marriage that has lasted - just - which nearly destroyed Vanda when Aldo betrayed her, yet here they are in old age off on holiday leaving their adult children to feed the cat. When they return their apartment is ransacked, the cat missing and Aldo is forced to confront his failure as husband and father . . . . and what of the children, permanently damaged by the lies and cover-ups. A devastating short book with a savage twist at the end. (Jenny Baker)
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| David Szalay - London and the South East
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| Paul Rainey commutes from Hove to his increasingly meaningless job in telesales, where he and his colleagues drink their way through the week and dream of success. A chance offer seems to be the answer to all his problems but in the end he is forced to confront himself. The almost farcical romp to the end of the book is exhilarating and entertaining as he tries to save his marriage and his dignity. Excellent. (Victoria Grey-Edwards)
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| Rose Tremain - The Gustav Sonata
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| I was captivated by Tremain's Restoration (bwl 16) but have found many of her other books hard-going. This one is a a delight, you have to keep going to see 'what happened next'! WW II is over, Gustav's mother seems strangely cold, his father has mysteriously died, his childhood is a lonely one. Life is transformed when he meets Anton and the ensuing years see his struggle with the hopes, fears and feelings which we all experience. An easy rewarding read. (Aletha Anne Bloor)
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| Salley Vickers - Cousins
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| The story revolves around three generations of the Tye family. A terrible accident to student Will at the beginning brings everyone together to deal with the aftermath, then family secrets emerge as the story unfolds. Narrated by Will's sister Letta, their grandmother Betsy and aunt Bell, the book deals with some very difficult moral questions and decisions, and several times left me pondering - what would I do in that situation? (Mary Standing)
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| Elizabeth Wein - The Pearl Thief
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| It is June 1938. Julie Beaufort-Stuart is returning for the last time to her grandfather's Scottish estate. It is being sold, and a way of life will vanish. Instead of an idyllic stay, Julie finds herself embroiled in a mystery. Strong characters, a brilliant sense of time and place this is a YA novel that can be read by a much wider audience. Recommended. (Ferelith Hordon)
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Non-Fiction
| Rick Atkinson - The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-44
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| Sicily and Italy 1943-44: despite the shambolic lack of cooperation between American and British higher levels of command and huge losses in battles at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, the Allied forces drove the Germans up the Italian peninsula and with the liberation of Rome came glimpses of ultimate victory. Atkinson never loses his grip on the whole but gives a running analysis on strategy and tactics and constant thumbnail sketches of commanders and the ordinary soldier. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Helena Attlee - The Land Where Lemons Grow
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| Oh no, another whimsical book about Brits in Italy, I thought when lent this. Wrong! It is pure delight, an erudite voyage through the history and geography of citrus fruits in Italy, and absolutely fascinating. Good bergamots only on one coastal strip, perfect citrons needed for a Jewish ritual, lemon houses on Lake Garda . . Attlee writes beautifully, with infectious love for her subject as well as knowledge abounding. And the title? A quote from Goethe! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Emmanuel Carrere - The Kingdom
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| Described as a novel, but more autobiography and history, this French best seller turns out to be an utterly gripping investigation of early Christianity. Concentrating on Paul and Luke, it paints a vivid picture of the times and of the two individuals - plus much else besides. In a breathtaking section, the distinctive voice of Christ himself emerges. All this, plus much about himself, from an ex-Christian with a super sized ego. Unique. (Tony Pratt)
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| Laura Cumming - The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez
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| This book is about the great painter Velazquez. Also about the obsession of John Snare who acquires what he thinks is a masterpiece by the great man and ruins himself in the process. It is a beautifully written detective story and makes one want to discover this genius once again. (David Graham)
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| Adam Hochschild - Spain in our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War
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| In these turbulent political times, Hochschild is right to remind us and touch our souls with this state of the art account of the Spanish Civil War, which as he demonstrates was the real beginning of WW II. A requiem for the past and a warning for the future, this relatively short book evokes a feeling of deep sadness and even a feeling of shame and guilt, as one considers the callousness, complacency and greed contributed by other democracies to the fate of Spain. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Peter Hudson - Under an African Sky: A Journey to the Frontline of Climate Change
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| The antidote to the exploitation involved in International Aid: small scale projects set up and run by local people. A friendship formed on a visit to Mauritania led to the establishment of an irrigation project after 3 years of almost no rain. This is not sanitised Tourist Africa but real life led on the edge of survival as Hudson and the people learn from each other. A challenge to us all as we continue to negatively affect the climate. (Lynda Johnson)
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| Suki Kim - Without You There Is No Us: My secret life teaching the sons of North Korea's elite
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| A journalist, born and raised in South Korea and living in New York, passes herself off as a teacher and missionary - a dangerous undertaking - and spends 6 months living in North Korea under the repressive regime of Kim Jong-il. It's a fascinating insight into a whole civilization of people whose knowledge of the outside world is constantly controlled by their "Great Leader". It is no wonder that she lives in fear of her true identity being discovered. (Polly Sams Plant)
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| Hisham Matar - The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between
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| This memoir deals with a search for the author's Father a leader of the opposition to the Gaddafi regime who was handed over to them by Egypt and then disappeared. It is beautifully told and is a labour of anguished love. The author is also a fine novelist and will point readers to his other work. Libya is now free but broken. (David Graham)
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| Adam Nicolson - The Hated Wife: Carrie Kipling 1862-1939
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| Carrie Kipling was the most hated woman of her generation . . . what a heading! A small book for bedtime - fascinating, intriguing - a complicated and sad woman so long despised but Adam Nicolson gives her back her humanity with clarity and grace. She was the backbone that Rudyard lacked and the public did not see. (Shirley Williams)
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| Helen Rappaport - Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, 1917
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| Told through the experiences of foreigners, a vivid account of the disintegration of the cultural world of Tsarist Russia as the February revolution gathered pace towards the Bolshevik victory in October. Journalists and enthusiasts for social change hastened to St. Petersburg when deprivation, exacerbated by war with Germany, triggered the end of Romanov rule. The workers' response to a freedom never experienced or imagined led to strikes, mob violence and the oppression of anyone remotely bourgeois! Brilliantly researched - hard to put down! (Jane Grey-Edwards)
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| Paul Richey - Fighter Pilot
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| Published anonymously in 1941 this is a personal journal of the air-war over France in a period known as the 'Phoney War'. There was little 'phoney' about it for the aircrew on both sides though as they endured the gradual escalation of tensions, contacts and combats until the eventual invasion of France. However it's the personal aspects of everyday life that make it so engrossing and one of the most absorbing military memoirs I've read. (Clive Yelf)
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| Ian Senior - Invasion: The Schlieffen Plan to the Battle of the Marne
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| For all enthusiasts of field tactics - the author obviously walked every inch of these WW I battlefields. The sense of immediacy is palpable as is his knowledge and research - battalion by battalion, regiment by regiment. The accent is not on the British but on the French and Germans, who each fielded 60 divisions to the British four. Publication coincided with the Centenary of the outbreak of war and shows how the Germans almost won before the end of 1914. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Mike Thomson (edited by) - The Raqqa Diaries - by Samer: Escape from 'Islamic State'
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| After reading the Sunday Times review, I felt compelled to read and now spread this unique account of life (and death) by a very brave man, Samer - not his real name. These diaries describe existence under Daesh (Islamic State) who liberated Raqqa, replacing Government troops with an ultra-extremist version of Islam with its own punishment of death by beheading - in front of a coerced crowd of local onlookers - on a daily basis . . . Samer has escaped and is now in a refugee camp. (James Baker)
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| Benjamin Woolley - The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason and Byron's Daughter
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| In her short life Byron's daughter, Ada Lovelace, combined the mathematical interests and imaginative power, which had differentiated her parents, to produce the first ever computer programme. Her interests and aristocratic status brought her into contact with scientific and literary giants of the age but her passionate nature and stormy family background denied her lasting happiness. Rediscovered by Turing, her reputation stands high and she is well served by this grippingly readable biography. (Tony Pratt)
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