bwl 93 - Summer 2019
Fiction
| Elizabeth Acevedo - Poet X
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| Xiaomara feels trapped, a teenager growing up in Harlem whose mother wants her to follow the strict conduct rules laid down by the church. But Xiamara wants to be free and she finds her escape in words capturing her passions, her feelings, her frustrations on the page - but she wants to shout out loud. But is she brave enough? A powerful and completely immersive verse novel to be read by young adults and old. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Kate Atkinson - Transcription
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| In WWII Juliet Armstrong transcribed secret tapes and was recruited by MI5, now she lies on the pavement, the victim of an accident - or was it? As her life drains away the events of her past ebb and flow through her mind taking the reader through those murky days when she never quite knew who or what she was and what was real or subterfuge. It's pacy, often funny, full of twists and turns. Pure Atkinson in fact. (Jenny Baker)
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| William Boyd - The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth
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| Seven short and two longer stories. While not usually a fan of short stories they certainly have their place in the scheme of things. Very varied in content, they showcase Boyd's fertile imagination from suspense to comedy. As a self confessed devotee of the author's longer novels I found these a fun, quick read and imagine they would appeal to others who enjoy him. (Sue Pratt)
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| Chris Cleave - The Other Hand
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| A story very relevant to our times, shocking, exciting and deeply affecting. One fateful day, two women meet under terrible circumstance and two years later meet again also under terrible circumstances. Unfolding slowly, frequently referring back to that first meeting, the story of what happened is gradually revealed. At first you want to romp through it, that would be a mistake.You cannot help but become immersed in their situation. It is both funny and sad. (Shirley Williams)
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| Isobel Gower - The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock
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| When Mr Hancock learns one of his captains has traded his ship and cargo for a mermaid, he thinks he has been ruined. But it is just the first step on a journey that will take him up the social scale and the fascinating Angelica to respectability. Gower brings the bustling eighteenth century to life in its sleazy glory. The result a very enjoyable read. Is there a mermaid? Well there might in fact be two - but the reader must decide. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Francis Hardinge - A Skinful of Shadows
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| Twelve-year old Makepeace living in a world of Civil War when the spirits of the dead can inhabit the living, finds herself host to a truly wild spirit - Bear. No one can do imaginative scenarios better than Frances Hardinge and here is one of her most imaginative. Yet against this background where history and fantasy meet is a powerful story about a girl and a boy fighting to grow up and survive. Fantastic. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Antonio Iturbe - The Librarian of Auschwitz
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| An incredible book written about an incredible woman's experiences during WWII. Her positivity is inspiring - although obviously based on a horrific part of history, it's amazing to read about the strength of the human spirit and the meaning even a few books can bring to people in the worst of situations. Surprisingly the writing was more captivating than many English novels and, if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have guessed this was a translation from Spanish. Definitely one of my favourite novels. (Eloise May)
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| Hiromi Kawakami - The Nakano Thrift Shop
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| This Japanese novel reminds us that joy can be found in even the most ordinary of lives. With gentle humour the story draws us into the lives of four very different main characters who devote themselves to the daily running of the Nakano Thrift Shop. You will enjoy the characters in this wise and subtle tale of loneliness and the search for self-identity. It is a little gem. (Sharron Calkins)
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| Harriet Lane - Alys, Always
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| Frances, a lowly literary journalist, comes across a dying woman after a car crash. This incident gives her a foot into the household of a major novelist. Sensing opportunities to advance her career and the possibility of important relationships, she subtly insinuates herself into his family. Her behaviour is manipulative but the admixture of genuine feeling make her a convincing human being. I found the resolution unexpected and satisfyingly credible and the writing and psychology struck me as excellent. (Tony Pratt)
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| James Lasdun - Victory
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Two novellas by this extremely intelligent writer. The unifying thread is men trying to get away with it.
In Feathered Glory, 'good' school master Richard succumbs to the temptation of trying to re-activate a past fling, then hoping to return to uxoriousness while lying to his sweetly passive wife. In the meantime, see what happens when she takes in a wounded wild swan..... a thoroughly satisfying glimpse of comeuppance in the making.
In the second, Afternoon of a Faun, Marco is belatedly accused of rape by an ex-colleague and we watch as he wriggles in and out of denial, outrage, vendetta, terror, while his bewildered friend, the narrator, is torn between loyalty and increasing doubt, in a prophetic pre-MeToo scenario.
The 'Victory' of the title has a hollow ring. Lasdun is uncommonly perceptive and writes very well indeed. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Sarah Moss - Ghost Wall
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| A family dominated by a father fanatical in his pursuit of authenticity and a dilettante professor of Archaeology and his students spend a summer in Northumberland trying to experience the life of Iron Age Britons. Tensions building within and between both groups come to a head when the father and professor form an uneasy alliance to embrace imagined Iron Age rituals. Told by the family's daughter, this is a brief and gripping story which builds to a dramatic conclusion. Stays in the mind. (Tony Pratt)
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| Tim Pears - The Wanderers
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| This is the second novel in the West Country trilogy by Tim Pears. It is a vivid description of rural life in Devon and Cornwall just before WWI. Some things were familiar to me as my Cornish mother was born in 1908. What gives this novel authenticity is that despite the beauty of the language Pears does not spare his readers any of the harsh details of life at that time particularly when dealing with animal husbandry. (Judith Peppitt)
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| Diane Setterfield - Once Upon a River
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| By the Thames in midwinter a pub is filled with storytellers. A drenched, wounded man, holding an apparently dead child arrives. This provides them with their next story and ours. The child, not dead after all but not speaking, is claimed by different people whose stories we hear. The story flows fast and slow, twisting like the river itself. I was captivated by the writing and the atmosphere Setterfield created. (Christine Miller)
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| Nevil Shute - A Town Like Alice
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| A retro choice for our book club which met with mixed reactions. It's the tale of a love story begun in wartime Malaya and moving to post war Queensland, a reunion and new lives. While the style is of its time I didn't find it dated and the narrative and descriptive passages still entertained. Certainly feel likely to re-read more novels by Neville Shute after a gap of many years. (Sue Pratt)
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| Magda Szabo - Katalin Street
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| 1944, Budapest, the lives of three neighbouring families are shattered by the German occupation. What happens to little Henrietta will haunt and determine the lives of her childhood friends, a boy and two sisters as they struggle to survive the social and political upheavals of 20th century Hungary. It's a book I needed to read more than once; I confess I skimmed it the first time round then started again and this time savoured every chapter. (Jenny Baker)
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| Andrew Taylor - The King
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| If you have run out of Shardlakes, Andrew Taylor's Marwood story is a good alternative. Strong on period detail, this time of Restoration London, it centres on murder and Court intrigue with Charles II, the Dukes of York, Clarendon and Buckingham heavily involved. There is plenty of action and menace leavened with love and lust - an entertaining mixture which keeps you reading. (Tony Pratt)
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| Stuart Turton - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
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| Not a natural reader of crime novels I was intrigued by this book but found it pretty baffling until near the end. Set in a remote, large but decrepit country house, the main character wakes up in the body of a different party guest each day as he tries to prevent a murder that has happened many times before. Turton has a vivid imagination and loves Agatha Christie. I could admire the writing of this complicated plot but it wasn't really for me. (Christine Miller)
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Non-Fiction
| Marie Colvin - On the Front Line
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| A journalist who cared deeply about the innocent people living through and suffering the effects of war - this collection covers conflicts in many countries over a 25 year period. Colvin risked her life constantly, was smuggled into countries, frequently travelling and living in basic conditions with rebel groups. A book to read in small doses, country by country; there is so much to absorb and so much we need to understand if the world is to change. (Lynda Johnson)
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| Quentin Crisp - Manners from Heaven
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| By 1985 Quentin Crisp had outgrown his outrageously flamboyant youth, and was ready to write a witty, humorous, and socially perceptive book on manners. The book is full of anecdotal observations that now - in 2019 - often feel like a walk down memory lane. The book was fun to read and offered sound advice for remaining kind and tactful in a mad, mad world. (Sharron Calkins)
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| Viktor Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning
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| Having read The Choice (bwl 91 & 92) I wanted to read this book by Edith Eger's mentor. If you're looking for complex answers to complex questions like what is the meaning of life?, why are we here? or does God exist? you won't find them in this book. What you will find is the simplest of answers that the meaning lies within ourselves and our own ability to give life meaning. Or perhaps not so simple. (Jenny Baker)
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| Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Infidel
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| Born in Somalia and raised as a Muslim, Ayaan Hirsi Ali endured FGM, escaped an arranged marriage and fled to Holland where she became an MP. Intelligent and open minded, she questioned her religion and culture, finally denouncing Islam after 9/11. As an outspoken activist, she collaborated with Theo van Gogh and made a film about the oppression of Muslim women for which he was assassinated in 2004. This is a remarkable book, by a remarkable woman. Watch her on YouTube and be amazed! (Denise Lewis)
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| Sara Maitland - A Book of Silence
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| The author is a mature and devout woman who feels herself drawn to a personal exploration of silence. To this end she heads off to live in a series of isolated locations. In this book, she shares her own experiences, plus those of other lone adventurers who willingly - or unwillingly - spent long periods with silence. It makes for intense reading. (Sharron Calkins)
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| Andrew Meldrum - Where we have Hope
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| A memoir by a journalist, who moved to Zimbabwe during the first days of Independence - a time of great hope - and who, 20 years later in 2003, was deported illegally by President Mugabe. Robert Mugabe was a dictator who created a police state and was responsible for human rights abuses, torture and killing on an industrial scale. His policies totally ruined the economy. Meldrum's and the people's love and hope for Zimbabwe shine through the horror. (Lynda Johnson)
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| Trevor Noah - Born a Crime
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| The crime? Having a black mother and white father in apartheid South Africa. Noah's stories from his childhood don't just reveal the absurdities of the apartheid system, they illuminate the courage and persistence of those who wouldn't succumb to it, above all Noah's gallant mother. Noah is very funny indeed - as you would expect from a professional comedian - but beneath the humour is an amazingly tough determination to survive, indeed thrive. Wonderful! (Annabel Bedini)
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| David Nott - War Doctor
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| Surgery on the front line: Nott - a consultant general and vascular surgeon - decided, after qualifying, to volunteer to work in disaster and war zones, taking unpaid leave from the NHS, as and when needed. It is very technical and graphic in its detail of the circumstances and dangerous situations in which he must operate. A driven man, often neglecting his private family, who considers his fellow workers as family. I have mixed feelings on his reasons for writing it. (Shirley Williams)
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| Alexandra Popoff - Vasily Grossman
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| A wonderful biography of the great author of Life and Fate which deals with Stalin's dreadful crimes in which countless people, including the cream of Russia's intelligentsia, died. Grossman's book took decades to see the light of day in Russia. He compares Stalin with Hitler the difference being that Stalin murdered millions of his own people. The lessons of history have not been learnt in that country and the infamous Stalin is now enjoying a revival. Read this book and count your blessings. (David Graham)
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| Various - National Georgraphic Magazine - August 2019
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| Beg or borrow a copy of this edition which focuses on migration/refugees from the beginnings of human kind to the present day. The opening article points out that humans are a migratory species; we are all migrants from the present moment/from the lives we have lived so far and for many from places. He proposes that rather than seeing ourselves as Natives [versus Migrants] 'the central challenge and opportunity every migrant offers us: to see in him, in her, the reality of ourselves.' (Lynda Johnson)
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Poetry
| Helen Dunmore - Inside the Wave |
Dunmore was known as a novelist and poet but this, her final collection of poems, was the first I had read. It was by my bedside for many months. She faced death from cancer and explored the path towards it, caught inside the wave of living and dying. I was moved by her words and the simple beauty of her language. In the final poem, death gathers her up like a mother would a small child. I hope it was like that.
(Helen Dunmore died in June 2017.) (Christine Miller) |
| Feedback |
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| I'd like to endorse wholeheartedly the review of Edith Eger's The Choice in bwl 91. That a human being can survive Auschwitz psychologically intact is already miraculous. That you can go on to heal others and come up with positive philosophy for life - the 'Choice' of the title - seems to me beyond praiseworthy. I agree with the reviewer, a truly extraordinary and inspiring story. (Annabel Bedini) |
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