General Chat

nudged for Jen

The vanishing act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

I enjoyed this one. But also found it a bit horrific. That somebody should spend so long in a mental institution, put there by her family, when there was really nothing wrong with her. That her baby should be taken from her and given to her sister was enough to turn her mind. But I really would like to read it again as there was so much going on in the story, with the story of Esme and Kitty and family, then Iris and Luke and Iris and Alex, very subtle, jealousy and betrayal, a psychological thriller, compulsive reading, gripping with believable characters.

I liked the way that part of the story was told via Kitty's ramblings.

I have read a book by her before and I would certainly read others.


Ann
Glos

The Crimson Cavalier by Mary Andrea Clark.
Highway men/women, murder, passion, all here. It was good holiday reading but I found it quite light weight. It was well written though.
Not my usual type of book and I found it a bit predictable, I don't think I would read any more of the same type.
I was surprised to see that the story was set in the 18th century ans I thought it was 19th at first as the language used seemed typical of the regency period.

ann
glos

n

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Written in 2001 and now a film.

Time is pre war, a well off family with 3 children. The youngest child, Briony lives in a fantasy world longing to be a writer. She writes plays for her young cousins to act in, against their will. Robbie is a young man, whose Mother is a cleaner for the family, and who was sponsored by Briony’s father to go through university. Tragedy strikes the family and Briony’s fertile imagination creates a big problem for Robbie.
The story continues into WW11, Dunkirk, very good imagery here. Then nursing in London when the war wounded are brought home.
Very well written and a gripping story, much recommended.


Ann
Glos

Suite Francaise Irene Neminousky

I was fortunate to find this on the shelf of our holiday cottage.

This is two novels in one, the first called Storm in June

Quote “A novel should be like a street full of strangers, where no more than 2 or 3 people are known to us in depth”.
Paris in wartime and the Pericands are forced to flee to the country. Gabriel Corte, writer, rich and spoilt, The Michauds, a married couple who work in the bank all also have to move to the country. The bank also moves. It is a story of how those who left Paris when the Germans invaded coped, how the rich found that their money was worthless. How the upper middle classes felt they were treated worse than any. There were some good characterizations but on the whole the story didn’t quite grip me.

The second novel within a novel is called Dolce.
Some of the places and characters are the same as in Storm in June. This second story tells of a small rural community under occupation, it gives a good taste of how life may have been if the Nazis had occupied Britain. The description of both the countryside and the grand house is excellent as again is her characterization. The villagers who resent both the upper classes and the farmers for having more than they have. In return the farmers’ families accuse the villagers of having more money, enabling them to buy provisions.
While the first story is rather disjointed because it is about several characters, the second is more of a complete story.

Reading the appendices you realise that this is actually an unfinished work and the further chapters would have rounded it off. To me the appendices were as, if not more, interesting than the main story. Irene Neminousky was captured and died in the concentration camp. Her daughters were smuggled away by the Roman Catholics and kept hidden and looked after and they survived the war.

Although I didn’t really enjoy the first part, the second plus the appendices made excellent reading.


Ann
Glos

The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson The book follows the life of Gideon Mack, a minister of a small Scottish parish. He has never actually believed in God, let alone the Devil....until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan himself. There is no conclusion as such at the end of the book, and you are left to make up your own mind as to whether he did indeed speak to the Devil, whether he was mad.....or was it somebody else that rescued him! I really enjoyed the book and would thoroughly recommend it Jeanette x

Having finished the Daughters of Eden, not been able to get into Mansfield Park, and still waiting for the other Greaders selected book to arrive, I decided to go ahead and read one of the other books I had put forward. I was sadly disappointed. It describes the author’s quest to find his real mother, and brings to light some information he didn’t know about the family who raised him. My overwhelming impression was that how differently things were done in the 50’s, with the young Jeremy being led to believe that he was so lucky to have been adopted, and saved the ignominy of being raised in a housing estate in London. The details of his research will ring bells with those who have attempted to find their natural parents, but it is not really a book I found that interesting Mother Country – Jeremy Harding When Jeremy Harding was a child, his mother Maureen told him he’d been adopted. As he got older, he wondered about the identity of his biological parents, and eventually embarked on a quest to find them. Mother Country is a powerful true story, full of thrilling revelations, comic confusion and tender memories, about a man looking for the mother he’d never known and finding out how little he knew about the one he’d grown up with

Or this one:o)

A couple of books I read on holiday. Rosie Thomas Sun at Midnight. Alice Peel's Mother was part of an original team that went to Antartica and now there is a new expedition and she is too old to go and not well, she encourages her daughter to go in her place. The book gives a good insight into the deprivations these expeditions suffer with a good feel for Antartica, the cold, loneliness, danger etc. With some romance thrown in I enjoyed the book and found it a very good read. Sarah Waters Fingersmith This has, of course been reviewed on our other threads. I found a copy in a charity shop and decided to give it a go, even though it didn't appeal to me. It was not what I expected from the title and was an excellent read. Two children switched at birth, one ends up as companion to the other (but should it be the other way round?) Sting and double sting. An excellent book. Jodie Piccoult Plain Truth A baby is born and dies in the Amish community. - the story centres on the court case which follows - who killed him and why? An excellent book giving an insight into the life in an Amish community. The court case is veryw ell written, I think maz in particular would enjoy this one. Ann Glos

Dee, have made a note of a couple and will add to list of books to read x Jill

The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy This book explores the tragic fate of a family which ‘tampered with the laws that lay down who should be lived, and how’ They are an eclectic mix: grandmother Mammachi; her spoilt Anglophile son, Chacko; her daughter Ammu; Ammu’s inseparable twins Estha and Rahel; and Baby Kochamma, grand-aunt, determined to spread the bitter seeds of her early disappointment in love. From its mesmerising opening sequence, it is clear that we are in the grip of a delicious new voice.. a voice of breathtaking beauty. That is the review by Christina Patterson of the Observer, and really I can’t add much to it It is a book I have wanted to read for a long time, and it in fact won the 1997 Booker Prize, so it has been round a while If you haven’t already read it I would recommend it Dee x

Until I Find You – John Irving According to the Independent this book is ‘Wonderfully sustained and very funny voice…. With vivid, eccentric, memorable characters….. in the manner of Dickens’ It is the story of the actor Jack Burns, the bastard son of Alice, a tattoo-artist. Alice and Jack travel through the Baltic’s port cities in search of William Burns, Jack’s absconding father and ‘ink addict’. But William, a church organist and profligate womaniser, is always one step ahead – always departing in a wave of scandal, with a new tattoo somewhere on his body from a local ‘scratcher’ William can’t be found and Jack must grow up without a father, his childhood and education shaped by sexual experiences with older women. Later as a young man with a beautiful face, Jack moves to Hollywood where international fame and stardom await. But with the shadow of his absent father always looming, Jack sets of again in search of the truth An absorbing and moving book about obsessions and loss, truth and storytelling, the signs we carry on us and inside us. I had great hopes for this book when I read the blurb on the cover. I plodded through nearly 900 pages of it, and found it far from absorbing and moving. As for the allusions to it being in the manner of Dickens, one wonders if the critic has ever read any Dickens. If you really want to read about a child who was sexually abused by older women, which it is implied led him to become an actor known for cross dressing, then this is the book for you. Personally though I wouldn’t recommend it. I guess the most interesting lines in it are when his shrink asks him ’is it because of your mother’s lies to you, or your missing father, that you are an unanchored ship – in danger of drifting wherever the wind or the currents, or the next sexual encounter, will take you’

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Fifteen-year-old Kambili lives in fear of her father, a charismatic yet violent Catholic patriarch who, although generous and well respected in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home. Escape and discovery of a new, liberated way of life come when Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, forcing Kambili and her brother to live at their Aunt’s home, a noisy place full of laughter. The visit will lift the silence from her world and, in time, unlock a terrible, bruising secret at the heart of the family An excellent book, it really gives an insight into life in a totally different culture, well worth reading --------------------------------------------------------------- The Light in The Window – June Goulding A moving and inspirational memoir written from inside the walls of a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Ireland. A good description of the cruelty to, and harsh treatment of, unmarried mothers in Ireland

The Justification of Johann Gutenberg – Blake Morrison Around 1400, in the city of Mainz, a man was born whose heretical invention was to change history. Sixty-odd years later he died – robbed of his business, his printing presses and, so he thought, his immortality Reading between the lines of history, Blake Morrison has woven a stunning novel around the few facts known about the life and work of Johann Gensfleisch, aka Gutenberg, master printer, charmer, conman and visionary – the man who invented ‘artificial writing’ In a first novel that is both dazzling in its artistry and pure enchantment for the reader, Morrison gives us Gutenberg’s testament – his justification and apologia dictated, ironically enough, to the kind of young scribe whom his invention of movable type made redundant. Through the eyes of the ageing narrator, the Middle Ages are seen in a strange and vivid new light. The Plague, craft guilds, religious wars, chivalric love, sexual politics, scientific invention, the rise of capitalism – all are here, but the human dramas they give rise to seem anything but ‘historical’ or remote. What Morrison captures is a moment of cultural transition as dramatic and immediate as the communications revolution of today. But, above all, there is the exasperating, endearing and finally haunting figure of Gutenberg himself: a man who gambled everything – money, honour, friendship and a woman’s love – on the greatest invention of the last millennium The above is taken from the cover of a book which a friend gave me, and that I have just found time to read. A book about history, and the invention of books; what better book to give to a Bibliomaniac that loves history. It was a fascinating book, and a reasonably easy read, although from the write up you might expect it to be heavy going. If you can get hold of a copy you will not be disappointed. Dee x

The Traveller – John Twelve Hawks Living ‘off the grid’, what a wonderful concept. The book certainly made me stop and think. ‘Big brother’ is out there keeping an eye on us all, and it is quite frightening really The latter part of the book was a bit far fetched, in my opinion, but the concepts explored in the first part were brilliant It is so true that ‘most people go through life never knowing the truth about the major events of their times’. As the author points out they are ‘watching a farce performed at the edge of the stage while the real drama is going on behind the curtain’ The ‘Virtual Panopticon’ taking control of the workplace. A computer counting the key strokes of an employee to ensure they are reaching targets. Surveillance cameras monitoring our every move. Micro chips recording which books we read, what we eat and buy, how often we go to the cinema, the list is endless The idea of the four realms that people can ‘travel’ to is something that crops up from time to time. Meditation, religion, mind-altering drugs, can all help us to escape from reality. I was particularly interested in the second realm, where people are ‘constantly searching for something to fill their painful emptiness’. I can equate to that feeling.

A few more books I would recommend from my holiday reading: Elizabeth Chadwick The Falcons of Montalard. set in the Middle East in the 12th century a story of the crusades and the Holy Land and the King of Jerusalem. Penny Vincenzi Something Dangerous the sequel to No Angel all about the Lytton family who own a publishing company. Victoria Holt The secret woman two half brothers, one illigitimate, brought up together as brothers, one the heir to the family business, the other a sea Captain. Anna Brett brought up by an aunt after her parents die goes into the antique business, then becomes a governess in the big house. Lots of intrigue with a good twist at the end. Ann Glos

The other book I offered for last times book club read. The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier Set in france and switching between present day and 16th century. The Tournier family are Calvinists (and Hugenots) who join with other villagers to destroy the Catholic trappings in the church and smash the statue of the Virgin Mary which is a particular shade of blue. The family are forced to flee from the catholics who burn their house down in the 16th century, Ella Turner goes with her husbandfrom America to France with his work. they decide to live in a small village but she has trouble being accepted. Ella reverts to her family name of Tournier and proceed to research her family who originated from France. Ella ad her husband try for a baby and Ella starts to dream predominantly of the colour blue. There is a lot about her search for documents, birth dates etc. An excellent book for those of us interested in FH. A quote I liked 'You Americans who come over here looking for your roots, think you will find it all out in one day. Then you go to the place and take a photograph and you feel good, you feel French for one day, and the next day you go looking for ancestors in another country'. Could apply to any of us really claiming our roots! There is romance in the story of course, Ellas enlists the help of the local librarian with her research. an interesting quote regarding her marriage was ' Like we are a jigsaw puzzle with every piece in place but the puzzle frames the wrong picture'. Another book that I think book club members would enjoy. Ann Glos

One of the books I suggested for the book club last month Keeping Faith by Jodi PIccoult Mariah and Faith, Mother and Daughter, walk in on husband/father in a compromising position with another woman. The parents divorce. Faith starts to talk to an imaginary friend who appears to be God, who she sees as a she because of his/her clothes. Faith then appears to start performing miracles and healing people. Her Father then goes for custody as he blames Mariah for making Faith a spectacle. The ensuing media attention and court case is very well written as usual. But at the end I was left unsure as to whether it was all in Faith's imagination or not. I really enjoyed it and felt it was well worth reading. Ann Glos

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch Just read this - didn't realise we had already 'done' it last August! I've been back and read everyone's reviews with interest. I think I'm the only one who actually loved it! The sea fascinates me and I'm so jealous of Miles (and the author) living in such an interesting place teeming with all sorts of spectacular marine life. I would just love to get out there and explore those mud flats! I'd like to see it made into a film - I think it could work really well. And then I'd get to see what all those creatures really look like! I think the characters would come across really well too. On the review thread last August I notice that Dee picked out a quote that really struck me as well ... Florence says 'Life is something you do alone ... You can only help and be helped but so much'. It's very true and I think growing up (throughout your life) is about accepting that, for yourself and others. Maz. XX