Night Boat to Tangier - Kevin Barry

Perhaps it was the hint of the Irish but I couldn’t help but think of Vladimir and Estragon as I read this tale of mid life musings and regrets. Two ageing gangsters aren’t waiting for Godot but they are waiting for the boat from Tangier that may or may not carry a daughter.  There is nothing particularly likeable about these hitherto violent and drug crazed individuals. But there is a paradox in the quality of the writing that describes their dissolute lives and disordered thoughts. The book reads more like a prose poem than a gangster fiction in parts. Yet it seeks to offer us the opportunity to dig deeper into the criminal mind than we might care to outside of the covers of a book.

Barry seldom allows his reader to stray far from the under current of threat that might be unleashed by Maurice and Charlie’s thug like mentalities but there is an attempt at humour and if you can allow yourself to step back emotionally and view these two caricatures, you can, almost but not quite, feel some sort of amused pity for them. 

Plenty of the tale is dialogue driven and set in a dual timescale, loosely, the past and the present. The potential consequences of felony are never far from the surface in the past sequences of the novel. The regrets and analysis of that nefarious past is mused on by the two men in the present sections while they wait. This creates another paradox because these ‘bad’ men seem to have hearts. But do they have regrets for their beleaguered pasts? 

There is an acute perception for the lives and minds of a certain section of society perhaps. It’s a world few of us will inhabit, hopefully, which allows us to be objective and I think that’s where the novel takes so much of its strength. That and the grace of the writing which somehow seemed unexpected within the context of a gangster story. The language of the two protagonists is rich and raw, (I won’t quote!) a further contrast between the more lyrical passages in the book. 

‘it is night again in Algeciras. The rain comes through the lights of the harbour but now more meekly. Charlie Redmond leans back beneath the jut of the ticket agent’s awning. He huddles into the knit of his thin shoulders. The prospect of another November is a mean taste at the back of his throat.’

And I suppose you could remove yourself from the gangster element and view this as a book about male friendship. Reminiscences of loves and lives lived and partly lost with considerations of how things might have been different.

It’s a clever book and I have to admit I found myself wanting to read it with an Irish accent. The suggestion of folklore and myth is also weaving its way through the narrative. It’s quite a unique achievement. And I can see why it was long listed for the Booker Prize.

Thanks to Canongate Books for this gifted copy. 

The Stone Girl - Dirk Wittenborn

This was one of those most glorious books that turns up unsolicited. I was expecting a completely different book from this publisher so there was the merest hint of disappointment. But of this book I had no expectations. I had no prior knowledge of the author, Dirk Wittenborn. Sometimes in these circumstances there is an incredible sense of freedom at the read you’re about to start. No blog tour dates with deadlines to chase. Just a publication date to bear in mind.

‘Deep in the Adirondack Mountains lies a speck of a town called Rangeley. There isn't much to this tiny town, but it is at the crossroads of serene fishing streams off the Mink River, pristine hunting grounds in the surrounding mountains and vast estates of the extremely rich. It is also the gateway to the Mohawk Club, which houses the Lost Boys, an exclusive group of wealthy and powerful men with global influence and a taste for depravity. Raised wild and poor in the shadows of the Mohawk Club, Evie Quimby was a teenager when she first fell victim to the Lost Boys. Seventeen years later, she is now a world-renowned art restorer famous for repairing even the most-broken statues. After spending half her life in Paris, establishing her reputation and raising her daughter Chloe, Evie has come a long way from the girl who left Rangeley behind. But when Chloe receives a visit from an elegant stranger who claims to be an old friend of her mother's, the ghosts of Evie's past return in full force, pulling her back to the North Country of her girlhood and into the tangled, intricate web of the Lost Boys. Evie bands together with her formidable mother and an embattled heiress, both victims of the Lost Boys, in pursuit of an unusual and heart-stopping vengeance.’

A formidable plot, coupled with a narrative that never loses momentum for a second, Wittenborn creates a landscape that drips with power and vengeance. A multi narrative that begins with a prologue deficient in detail so we want to know more, but with sufficient information to convince us there is something worth exploring here. The first person narrative from Evie’s daughter, Chloe, furnishes us with one perspective on all that happens. And the third person narrative, which is good all-fashioned storytelling fills us in on the rest. Balance is crucial. And it’s nigh on perfect here.

I saw the stone girl statue as metaphor on more than one level. The idea of fixing broken things in a concrete way serves as a parallel to look at how to fix things in an abstract way. Physical fixing versus emotional fixing. And the concept that something broken can be mended in a good versus evil sort of way. Much of the action takes place in the Adirondacks  area of the United States. Hunting country. I saw that as another metaphor. A gender issue if you like. The women are the prey, the men are the hunters. Can you turn it around though? I thought the book also looked at how wealth, education, class can disappear when there is a common aim. The sense of female friendship is strong in a Thelma and Louise kinda way.

I found the titles of the nine parts of the book fascinating. Sometimes I don't even notice them. But here they seemed to impose themselves upon my consciousness. I had a sense that they were very significant to the story. And Part II "Parts But Little Known" I ended up googling and found that it relates to an exhibition of maps of the Adirondacks dating from 1550. I felt like I had Yoda looking over my shoulder and telling me that my instincts served me well! Others relate to legal terms that just hint to the reader of potential outcomes. 

Something I found very interesting about the book is that it has a very strong message for women and about women and yet it was written by a man. It was as if Wittenborn has got under the skin of a violated woman and understands what happens in that headspace, not just in an immediate sense, but over time. It’s powerful. The female characters are all finally drawn. Evie and her mother, Flo, Chloe and Lulu, the heiress, have strong voices in this book and a part to play in the unfolding narrative.

Evie is indomitable. The spirit of survival. The love of a mother for her daughter and the desire to seek some kind of retribution for wrongs perpetrated in the past, examination of the mother/daughter relationship through a couple of generations -  all are explored here with Evie as the foundation. 

It’s a full blooded book. Meaty. It’s not a mere thriller to be read to see if the good guys win in the end. Oh yes, you can read it that way if you wish. But there is subtext to demand the cerebral reader think a great deal about what they've just read. Perhaps I’m enamoured  of the book so much because I wasn’t expecting such a good read. It’s one of those books that stays with you. You find yourself thinking about it at unexpected moments. 

My thanks to W.W. Norton for an advance copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Murder on the Moorland - Helen Cox - SOCIAL MEDIA BLAST

‘Kitt Hartley wakes to the news that a murder has been committed in Irendale, a village high on the wild Yorkshire moors where her boyfriend, DI Malcolm Halloran, lived with his ex-wife until she too, was murdered. The MO of the two crimes is identical, right down to the runic symbols carved into the victims' hands.

Unable to leave it to the local police to solve, Kitt and Halloran travel to Irendale, where a literary mystery awaits. A line of Anglo-Saxon poetry found on the victim leads to a hiding place, and another cryptic clue. What is the connection to the murder of Halloran's wife all those years ago?

It will take the combined ingenuity of Kitt and Halloran, as well as Evie Bowes, Grace Edwards and, despite their best efforts, Ruby the (possible) psychic to solve this case. The moors may be beautiful, but they're not peaceful!’

There is something infinitely cosy about getting to know the characters in a series of books. So that when a new one comes along you’re already invested in them and their lives. It’s like renewing the acquaintance with a group of friends somehow. Or maybe I need to get out more! Anyway I like to think of Kitt Hartley as a ‘literary friend’. 

And because she’s my “friend” I’m rooting for everything to go well in her love life! Murder on the Moorland focuses more on the relationship between Kitt and Malc. Let me qualify that; the book focuses mostly on the crime! Of course it does, there’s a murder!  But we learn much more about Kitt and Halloran as people. My favourite Grace, and Evie and Charley and also Ruby put in an appearance but the dominant players are Kitt and Malc.

I found this third book in the series darker, less cosy. No less an enjoyable read because of it. It seemed more serious, some of the comic moments from the first two books are less evident. The plot and the solving of the crime hinge on the interpretation of some Anglo-Saxon poetry which is of course where Kitt comes in maintaining the  librarian theme of the first two books. But Malc’s detective and policing skills work in tandem with Kitt’s literary expertise. 

But it's by no means straightforward. And there are many red herrings put in our path before this jigsaw puzzle of runic jiggery-pokery is solved. There are some tense, nailbiting moments alongside the more tender moments. There are characters are plenty; eccentric, untrustworthy, sinister -everything you want from a good old crime yarn.

The writing flows with the ease you'd expect from somebody comfortable with their genre and comfortable with their characters. The plotting is intricate and therefore makes it very difficult to second-guess or reach the correct conclusion. Always good to have some twists. Keeps the reader on their toes!

Delighted to be part of the social media blast for this book my thanks to Ella Patel and Quercus Books for the opportunity. Check out what other bloggers have to say!

The Innocents - Michael Crummey

With an elegant prose style that elevates this book beyond the mere telling of a story  The Innocents will grab at your heart with its curious paradox of the visceral and the almost ethereal. This tale of an orphaned brother and sister surviving in the harsh coastal landscape of Newfoundland ploughs the very depth of what it is to be human in an environment where existence teeters on a tightrope. 

The consideration of a blood bond and the effect it has intrinsically is explored to its limits. Issues, too, of circumstance and the effects that may have on such a bond are eloquently and subliminally offered for the reader to ponder. The interaction of man with the natural world is a potent force within this novel also. 

The authenticity of research and an understanding of time and place transport the reader back to a past time where the detail is such that you can feel the hunger, the cold, and the effort of understanding a world beyond your four walls that holds little but mysteries. You can smell the sea ad fell the sting of ice upon your skin as Ada and Evered bring themselves, and each other, up, in the absence of their parents. 

This is not ‘uplit’ - far from it. There is a bleakness  that inveigles itself within you like the cold air of the landscape described. But it prompts various thoughts regarding the entire nature of survival and the human condition. Ada and Evered struggle to make sense of emotion and their own physical developments for they have no one to advise or offer help. At times it seems as if they cannot allow themselves the luxury of feeling, not in the sense that we expect to feel in our privileged lives. To stay fed, stay warm often  seems to be the sum total of their expectations. The reliance on each other is perhaps the one thing that offers them a window into a wider emotional understanding.

The passage of time is skilfully depicted with a slow almost languorous prose bordering on the poetic at times. Ada and Evered cannot hurry their lives for they are too busy spending time trying to live life rather than understand it. At times their existence seems joyless, bleak, unyielding and yet there is the sense that, because they know no different, their acceptance prevents them from experiencing any real depth of despair. 

Their interaction with other humans is limited. For Evered it is the necessary visit to the enigmatically named Hope ship where he encounters the Beadle. A couple of chance encounters from other seafaring expeditions offer both Ada and Everett a small glimpse into what life beyond their  ‘tilt ‘and the confines of their shoreline might offer.

Not a story to forget in a hurry. Particularly when you understand that it was inspired by a story the author found in local archives. My thanks to No Exit Press for a proof of this book.

Ashes - Christopher De Vinck

Can I get away with calling this a Holocaust story? I’m not sure. Certainly the Holocaust is featured. And I shall put this book on my Holocaust shelf. But the intent is broader.

With an urgency in the narrative the story propels itself forward and it is as if the reader is trying to escape too. But from what? And from where? Possibly from the inescapable truth that war is an abomination perpetuated by madmen. Here in gentle, neutral Belgium, a country ravaged by World War I, and the evidence of that is still potent and palpable today, De Vinck offers his readers a  glimpse into the madness that Brussels was subjected to when Hitler ignored the country’s neutrality.

But before you conclude that this might be yet another World War II story please pause. For it is much more. It’s a story of friendship. A friendship simple in its purity but complex In the bond that has been forged between two Belgian girls. Typical teenagers? Except that one is Jewish. And the other is the daughter of a Belgian national war hero. Simone Lyon and Hava Daniels, two best friends caught up in the chaos of war. 

We are treated to a full picture of their lives before the unthinkable happens. Secure within their families and secure within their friendship until the day that the Nazis split their world asunder. The two girls begin a journey; a journey for immediate, physical survival,  and the journey of their souls, their selves, those parts that make them people that they are.

The novel is prefaced with a quotation from Anne Frank “Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl? “ it’s very pertinent. Because you get the feeling that Simone and Hava were not so very different from Anne as young girls. And I think the novel strikes a balance between offering historical perspectives on aspects of WWII but never allowing humanity to disappear.

I always think the mark of good historical research in a fiction is where you completely forget that any research has been done you become so enmeshed within the story. It’s only when you finish reading, stop, and reflect back, that you appreciate how thorough the research has been. The reader is transported palpably back to 1939/1940s Brussels, and France.

I guess the title of the book, Ashes, gives a hint of the outcome. I will not be guilty of spoiling by putting it into any kind of words. But it’s moving, though not unexpected. 

Thank you Readers First for a copy of this book. 

A Little London Scandal - Miranda Emmerson

You can’t fail to be reminded, to a degree, of the Profumo scandal especially after the recent TV series but that’s not to say that this story is in any way lacking in originality. It attempts to lay bare a sixties society defended by its class gulf and the prerogative of the wealthy and influential to protect themselves and their own when they venture into a seedier side of life, no matter what it takes. 

There is some historical comment on gay culture and attitudes which are fundamental to the plot and I hope is not a spoiler. Set against a theatrical backdrop in London, Anna Treadway (is this the Miss Treadway of Ms. Emmerson’s first novel, I wonder, thus admitting to the world that I haven’t read her first novel?) is the tenacious theatre dresser who won’t see a friend wronged and goes all out to seek the truth and justice.

It’s an intelligent story, substantial, written with a thorough plot, a literate narrative and some accessible characters who engage the sympathies of the reader from the off. I guess you could place it in the historical fiction genre as it’s set in the sixties but that's hard for me because I was alive then, although still a child, and I remember the whole Christine Keeler thing. But what that does also mean is that I can fully appreciate the depth of research and the attention to detail, spot on. 

The chapter headings intrigued me as chapter headings do. I alway enjoy it when an author takes the time to offer something beyond  the basic Chapter One, Chapter Two thing. At first I thought they were all going to be song titles, not necessarily relevant to the sixties but to the content of the chapters, but it's more subtle, more cryptic than that and some are simply lines from that chapter. 

The characters are diverse, and the links connecting them all is subtle and adds to the compelling thrust of the story as it evenly and solidly snowballs to its conclusion. Perhaps one might discern a social comment within its pages, Nik, the Smalltown Boy propelled into a world that was never of his choosing, Merrian the ‘understanding’ wife, torn and required to decide what doing the right thing really means. And Anna the synthesis of it all and you get the sense that were she not there everything would irrevocably fall apart. 

My thanks to Matt Clacher at 4th Estate Books for a copy of this highly enjoyable story. 

Three - D.A. MIshani translated by Jessica Cohen

Elegant isn’t the word usually associated with a psychological thriller. But if pushed I’m not sure that I would place this book firmly in that one genre. It’s elegant and compelling. It’s darkness is subtle, it’s nuanced to the extent that you almost don’t suspect anything untoward in the early stages of the book. You think you’re reading some scene setting, some character development. No evidence of the ubiquitous prologue that prefaces so many books of this type. There was no flawed narrator but a rich, character driven, narrative that demand the reader explore the emotion and minds of the three women of the title as well as the perp. Unusual, too, was the book blurb which I initially thought was giving too much away. The plot is benign, repetitive, almost, as the M.O. of our villain taunts the reader into relaxing as the story slowly unfolds. 

The relationship between story and reader becomes almost like a clandestine assignation. The reader is privy to what is happening but powerless, impotent, to stop these women from falling into the trap. You occasionally look over your shoulder because you don’t want Gil to know you’re on to him! But there’s nothing you can do as the story marches relentlessly on. And you, the reader, cannot put this book down.

It’s intelligent writing. And it’s intelligent plotting. I think because the book is slow and gradual it becomes all the more chilling. It’s almost prosaic, mundane even in terms of action and events but it’s the underlying, mental gymnastics that invade your consciousness and leave you feeling so twitchy and unnerved. So much seems so every day normal that the impact of what happens seems all the more devastating.

Sometimes with psychological thrillers I find it very hard to engage with the characters in any positive way. Very often they are difficult to like. That isn’t the case here, with the three women certainly. It is easy for the the reader to not only engage but relate in some way to where they’re at. And that pulls a punch too because you can end up thinking, there but for the grace of God……… 

I must admit I was left wondering what Gil’s ultimate issues were and why he behaved the way he did. The three women’s motivations were all very clear. His never seemed to be. Other than a power/ control obsession. And of course there is much that isn’t contained within the book. It made you wonder what had gone before in terms of Gil.

It's very accessible prose. The translator Jessica Cohen has done a marvellous job because it doesn't lose any of its cultural flavour in the translation.

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin at riverrun books for a gifted copy of Three.

The Eliza Doll - Tracey Scott-Townsend - BLOG TOUR

'Ellie lives in a campervan with her dog, Jack, selling her handmade dolls at craft fairs. There is one doll that she can't bear to finish until she comes to terms with the truth of what has happened.

The Eliza Doll is an uncompromising family drama about upheaval, off-grid living and living on the dole in 1980s England.

Set in East Yorkshire and Iceland from the eighties to the present.’

The blurb barely skims the surface of this deceptive novel. It Is one of those unique pieces of work where you read the crafted story and it's only when you stop and reflect that you realise how much depth is contained within its compact pages.

It's a layered story, set in different times and different places with Ellie the constant throughout. And it's very much her story. Her sliding door moment where one thing sets a whole lifetime chain of events in motion. Lives are never straightforward. Real lives aren't. Sometimes in stories they are contrived to be because that's what we want -sometimes. But at other times we need to have affirmed how fragmented and contrary life is. It throws stuff at us that we don't know if we're going to be able to cope with. Reading a book where someone does cope even if it takes them a long time to do so is comforting. I don't want to give away too much of what happens in this novel, the blurb doesn't so why should I? There are parts that are emotionally draining and extremely moving.

Tracey Scott-Townsend's characters are accessible, immediate. They are depicted in such a way that you can recognise, maybe yourself, people you know even, fleetingly in the characterisations. Ellie stands out. And we see her grow from teen to mature woman, mother, wife, sister, daughter. And the women readers among us can identify with some of those roles. Jonah, the dominant male character, in the story is portrayed as a man of contradictions. And I felt he was a composite of people I've known at some point in my life. But the characters all come across as very real. They're not afraid to show their flaws.

I thought the structure of the book in some way mirrored the structure of Ellie's mind. How she sometimes flitted from past to present as if she was thinking about all the things that had happened and that brought her to the pivotal point in the novel. I found myself referring back from time to time to check on the various timescales to make sure that I'd missed nothing crucial.

It's geographically rich and the contrast in the various locations add to the richness of the narrative. But it's a deeply, thoughtful book. The narrative is unhurried, particularly in the earlier sequences. There are themes explored that give the book an edgy feel but it's all done so seamlessly. There is no attempt on the part of the author to offer any kind of shock tactic. Such issues seem to develop organically within the narrative as a whole.

I hadn't read any of Tracey Scott-Townsend's books before. But having read The Eliza Doll I certainly want to. Here's a little information about the author.

Tracey-Scott-Townsend is the author of six novels — the most recent The Vagabond Mother (January 2020) and Sea Babies (May 2019) — all published by Wild Pressed Books and Inspired Quill Publishing. Reviews often describe her novels as poetic or painterly.

She is also a poet and a visual artist. She has a Fine Art MA and a BA (Hons) Visual Studies. She has exhibited paintings throughout the UK (as Tracey Scott). She has a long career as a workshop facilitator with community groups and in schools.

Tracey is co-director of an up-and-coming small independent publisher, Wild Pressed Books, which has a growing roster of authors and poets.

Mother of four grown-up children, Tracey spends as much time as possible travelling the UK and Europe in a camper van with her husband and two dogs, writing and editing while on the road.

Buy Link 

http://www.wildpressedbooks.com/the-eliza-doll.html

My thanks to Kelly at LoveBooksTours  for an opportunity to be a part of this tour and for a copy of this wonderful book. There’s always more than one way to respond to a book. Do check out what other bloggers have to say.

The Revolt - Clara Dupont-Monod translated by Ruth Diver

As a reader who enjoys historical fiction immensely, particularly the Plantagenets, the Tudors and especially where strong women are involved, reading this made me realise with a jolt that I’ve only read supposed English history from the English perspective. Not surprising in the least but it wasn't anything I’d considered before. Given the arranged marriages, the politically motivated marriages to acquire lands and kingdoms as well as the wars that sought these ends it becomes quite obvious that many periods of our own history are fiercely and inextricably intertwined with the history of other nations.

Blurb.

‘Richard Lionheart tells the story of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1173, she and three of her sons instigate a rebellion to overthrow the English king, her husband Henry Plantagenet. What prompts this revolt? How does a great queen persuade her children to rise up against their father? And how does a son cope with this crushing conflict of loyalties?

Replete with poetry and cruelty, this story takes us to the heart of the relationship between a mother and her favourite son – two individuals sustained by literature, unspoken love, honour and terrible violence.’

The Revolt is a powerful account of Eleanor of Aquitaine told for the most part from the POV of her third son Richard, Coeur de Lion, (since this is a French novel!), sometimes Eleanor, with brief input from her second husband Henry II. Remembering, and the writer does remind us herself in the author’s note, that this is not a history book, it is a novel yet the research would seem to be extensive and, as memory serves me, accurate! That relates only to the factual information and how it is used in the text. What stands out though, is the author’s ability to get under the skin of Richard and as you read you feel it IS Richard speaking. His thoughts, his wishes, his doubts, his emotion, his conflicts and the love he has for his mother. We see Eleanor through his eyes. He’s her son, so his view is subjective surely? But he suggests a bond between them that is not necessarily enjoyed by his siblings. Powerful, too, is the loathing they both have for husband and father, Henry II. As you read you try to ascertain whether Eleanor herself has moulded Richard’s view of his father or is it Henry’s distance and favouritism for younger son, John, that snubs out any chance of a filial bond? It makes for a fascinating read. 

A slender volume at less than two hundred pages yet the narrative is substantial, poetic and philosophic. It is an historian’s job to present us with the facts. It is the novelist’s job to bring, not just those facts, but the persons throughout history to life. Clara Dupont-Monod has done that ably with a crisp translation by Ruth Diver. You come away from the book feeling that you understand a little more than you did of the motivations of both Eleanor and Richard. You also are privy to a slice of French history from a French perspective which allows you to see a broader view than maybe you did before. And if you have no particular interest in history there is much in the story to entertain and occupy a reader from a literary point of view. 

My thanks to Corinne Zifko at Quercus Books for a copy of this book and a place upon the social media tour. My fellow bloggers have some fascinating insights also.

Dancers on the Shore - William Melvin Kelley

What is it about some writers that give you that indefinable sense of something so special, so unique, you struggle to actually put it into words?  It’s more a feeling, that sixth sense that readers have, that instinct which tells you you’re in the presence of greatness.  There are many good books out there. There are many good writers out there. But there’s not always writers that give you that 'hairs on the back of the neck' feeling, that tummy wobble when you get some work of theirs that you’ve not previously read. It’s joyous. William Melvin Kelley is one of those writers.

When I read A Different Drummer I was stunned. In part because this work was heralded as “lost” and I couldn’t fathom why. There is a timelessness about Kelley’s work. Not in the sense of the location or the sociocultural references but in his intrinsic intent. I found Kelly’s preface to this volume of short stories gut wrenchingly prophetic. He could’ve penned it in the wake of #BlackLivesMatter . He identified and put into words that dilemma of being an American writer and an American Negro. He acknowledges that people will be looking for solutions and answers within his work. “His readers begin to search fervently”. And then he humbly avers that he is not a sociologist or a politician or a spokesman. He hopes he is a writer. Oh Mr Kelley you are a writer, Sir, you are a great writer and I find myself much changed by the power and strength of your words.

I sometimes find the short story an underrated genre. It often reminds me of tennis! Some of the "big" players won't play in the doubles draws because they want to put all their energies and attention into the singles. And it's as if a lot of writers want to put all their energies and attention into their novels not into the short story. But so many writers of stature embrace the genre. If you start to think about those who have composed short stories it becomes astounding, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling, D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, Franz Kafka, Oscar Wilde, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro....... I could go on. I suppose that what I'm saying is the great writers can write novels and they can write short stories too. Damn good ones at that.

This collection is joyous and diverse. And what is so lovely is that characters from one turn up in another. Maybe they're not the main character in that story. Maybe they turn up as the main character in another story but such a device offers the reader a cohesion within the stories of the collection That does not detract from each story on its individual merits. There is even a character, Wallace Bedlow,, from A Different Drummer who turns up in the final story of this collection having referenced a character who appears in some of the stories. So you know Kelley cares about his characters, sees them as people, sees them grow from children to adolescents to adults raising families. 

Kelley's writing has a flow to it, a rhythmic syncopation that presents as both improvised yet structured, which sounds like a paradox but when you read the stories it isn't at all. His ability with language reminds me of jazz. And that reminds me of his other novel A Drop of Patience. 

Each story in Dancers on the Shore has a message to offer, a point to be reached and it does so seemingly effortlessly. But viewing the collection as a whole is a little like assembling a literary jigsaw puzzle. Looking at recurring characters and their relationships and making sense of how one story might relate to another. On the whole the stories don't pull the same punch as A Different Drummer – but how could they? The premise of that book was unique. There's a subtlety here, an almost gentler approach without losing substance, they're understated, no sense of preaching or trying to ram ideas down a reader's throat. It's the offering of some points of view, some sociological, some anthropological! You'll have your favourites, I'm sure. 

Mine? Since you ask! Not Exactly Lena Horne -  story about mutual realisation and understanding between two older guys who make it clear that you're never too old to learn. What shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor? -a  beautifully constructed story about first impressions and changes of intent. But........ as I'm doing this I'm realising that they're all my favourites! I don't wanna leave any of them out! They all work. 

The New Yorker called Kelley "The lost giant of American literature" I don't believe he's lost any more. I don't believe he'll ever be lost again and if you haven't found him yet I urge you to try. If you love exceptional writing and if you love literature William Melvin Kelley is waiting for you. But what do you do when you've come to the end of  a collection as satisfying as this one? You pick up your copy of A Different Drummer and start to read that again.

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin at riverrun for a copy of this book. 

The Light at the End of the Day - Eleanor Wasserberg

A letter addressed to the reader accompanied this proof copy of Eleanor Wasserberg’s second novel. In it she advises that if we were to have dinner with her family they would all talk about the Holocaust. Suits me. Send me the invite. I like to talk about the Holocaust. ‘Like’ is not the right word but you know what I mean. It’s because I believe it is vitally important to talk about the Holocaust and to continue talking about the Holocaust. And if you’re unable to do that the next best thing is to read about the Holocaust. Whether it be non-fiction or some of the many novels about the subject that are around today. Why? So that we never forget. So that we might in some small way prevent such a thing ever happening again. So that we might never forget those poor souls who perished,and keep their memories alive.

This book is interesting because firstly, like Kim Sherwood’s Testament it’s based on first-hand testimony. And secondly, possibly more unusually it relates to what I will call ‘pre-Holocaust’. It looks at those days as the awful reality started to dawn upon the Jewish families in Krakow and life as they knew it changed forever. It looks at what one family did to try and deal with the situation. And it shows what happened to them. 

I have visited Krakow. It’s a beautiful city. So as I read I recognised some of the places, the Cloth Hall for example and Wawel Castle. Somehow a book endears itself to you all the more for containing the familiar. I remember walking from my hotel, not far from the railway station, right down to the river. Past the sewing machines that immediately made me think of those who might once have worked them. Later in my trip I wanted to go and see Oscar Schindler’s factory which is over the river in what I guess must be the old town mentioned by Janina in the book. On the way there just before you cross the river there is a square. In the square are wooden chairs placed poignantly. They’re empty. It’s called the Jewish Heroes Square and it is a very moving space. The chairs symbolise the tragedy of the Polish Jews, specifically those imprisoned in the ghetto.  

However the family in the story don’t feature in the ghetto. Their journey is a different one. I’m not going to divulge details and  intricacies of the plot because that would spoil the story for you. But I’ll include the blurb -

‘When Jozef is commissioned to paint a portrait of the younger daughter of Kraków’s grand Oderfeldt family, it is only his desperate need for money that drives him to accept. He has no wish to indulge a pampered child-princess or her haughty, condescending parents – and almost doesn’t notice Alicia’s bookish older sister, Karolina.  

But when he is ushered by a servant into their house on Kraków’s fashionable Bernadyńska street in the winter of 1937, he has no inkling of the way his life will become entangled with the Oderfeldts'. Or of the impact that the German invasion will have upon them all.

As Poland is engulfed by war, and Jozef’s painting is caught up in the tides of history, Alicia, Karolina and their parents are forced to flee – their Jewish identity transformed into something dangerous, and their comfortable lives overturned …

Spanning countries and decades The Light at the End of the Day is a heart-breaking novel of exile, survival and how we remember what is lost.’

 Actually that sums it up very well. I won’t spoil it by telling you more. What I will tell you is the book is extremely well written.  The novel strikes a satisfying balance between presenting us with objective reality yet allowing us to indulge in subjective mood. And this story has its roots in real life. I did some googling and found the painting.

The historical detail seems accurate. More than that it becomes palpable, particularly the journey of Anna, Alicia and Janina in the cattle truck. It’s heartbreaking. It’s evocative. 

I remember attending a talk by a holocaust survivor, Eva Schloss. She is the stepsister of Anne Frank and she survived Auschwitz. She talked about refugees and emphasised how very very difficult it is for people to decide to leave their homes, their cultures, the place maybe where they were born, where they felt safe, to escape some thing evil in pursuit of them. How you have to be desperate to make that decision to leave. I think that comes across here. That and the will to survive. 

I read Foxlowe and was both disturbed and mesmerised by that novel. It was a debut novel. And I can remember wondering what this talented writer would do next. Now I know! It couldn’t be more different from Foxlowe. Which tells me that this is a writer of quality and diversity. Now I await her third novel!

My grateful thanks to Matt Clacher of 4th Estate books for an advance proof. 

The Sleeping Car Murders - Sebastien Japrisot translated by Francis Price

If you’ve a few hours to spare and a penchant for a french noir murder mystery look no further. A perfect lockdown read to absorb you and get you thinking. A ‘whodunit’ to be sure but also a ‘howdunnit’ and ‘whydunit’ to boot! 

Japrisot has an easy, flowing style, fusing plot and narrative together, serving us red herrings Parisian style and leading us up and down a few garden paths. He introduces us to various characters who we relate to with varying degrees of affection. But beware before you get too attached. Not all of them survive! It’s a relatively short book too but as much happens in it as you’d find in a book twice its length. You need to pay attention, the complexities of the plot are therefore concentrated and create a mood of suspense and tension. 

'A beautiful young woman lies sprawled on her berth in the sleeping car of the night train from Marseilles to Paris. She is not in the embrace of sleep, or even in the arms of one of her many lovers. She is dead. And the unpleasant task of finding her killer is handed to an overworked, crime-weary police detective named Pierre Emile Grazziano, nicknamed Grazzi, who would rather play hide-and-seek with his little son than cat and mouse with a diabolically cunning, savage murderer.'

Detective Grazziano - ‘Grazzi’ ’s journey to the truth is almost a metaphor for the train journey described in this novel. He stops at several stations and examines many tickets before he finally reaches Destination Truth. I don’t think even the most astute of readers will arrive there ahead of him. Okay, well, maybe one or two! I had my suspicions but no certainty.   

If you’re looking for a contemporary, high tech, forensic friendly tale you won’t get it but you will get a sixties style crime tale that embraces many of the qualities found in Golden Age of Crime works. The locations may be French and the names may be French but the tale itself nestles comfortably within a universal crime genre. 

Having previously read ‘the Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun it was interesting to read another work by Japrisot. And my conclusion is that he is/was a skilled and diverse weaver of words! My thanks to Gallic Books for a copy  of this most entertaining thriller.

True Story - Kate Reed Petty

This was my tweet after finishing this book...........

'This book....I mean.....It's just.....I can't even....You won't believe.....There's so much...... Who would think...... Can you imagine.... It's so......'

It was one of the books that left you lost for words because in one sense it's not like anything you've ever read before but it's actually quite hard to pin down exactly why. It's extraordinary. So........I'll try and tell you why! 😜

 The last time I encountered lacrosse was Enid Blyton and Mallory Towers. I was only a child! So this contemporary reference to what I thought was a minority and perhaps elitist sport piqued my interest immediately. True Story begins innocently enough. Some guys on a lacrosse team being ……. assholes, actually, was what I thought. And I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about over this book. I mean it seemed like an ordinary enough book. Not a bad book but I was expecting a ‘booksplosion’.

But I read on. And, you know what? Oh, I got a booksplosion! In fact I got a multiple booksplosion!!! This book defies convention. But not in a smartarse ‘look at me, aren’t I clever’ kind of way but in a subtle ‘I’m gonna get you, reader, kinda way.’ 

Structurally diverse using straightforward narrative, drafts of application letters, film and play scripts amongst others, the variety is not merely decorative, it links salient points of the story and character descriptions quite subtly for the reader to interpret. Using multi narrations, ignoring any kind of genre identity, multi genre, I guess,  it’s story telling for the millennial age.  Where #MeToo dominates so much thinking recently, the relevance of feminism, and freer thinking about mental health issues, how an individual deals with trauma, the book is contemporary thematically. Yet enduring notions about memory, truth and abuse nestle uncomfortably alongside.  Particularly relevant in our media driven times is the considerations of truth and how perception fuels the telling of a story, regardless of the veracity of that perception.

However when a book defies convention it also defies any kind of straightforward commenting. The author has two main characters one male, one female and gets into the head of both exposing their frailties and you get a sense of them both being victims of the media exposed age we live in. Its them you root for. There are other bit players who have crucial roles to play but I engaged with Nick and Alice. I’m trying hard NOT to give anything away but I guess the thrust of the story centres around an alleged sexual assault. That’s a potent enough theme but not really anything that hasn’t been dealt with before many times in a literary medium. So why is it any different in this book? Aha, that would be telling wouldn’t it?! And I do not do spoilers. It’s in the writing and it’s in the plotting and it’s in the overall defiance!

It’s cleverly written and the reader is almost fooled into believing it’s a fairly standard plot then every so often something is thrown in that diverges so skilfully as to make you feel edgy and uneasy.The final denouement is unexpected and is one of those moments that just has you sitting back almost open mouthed in admiration for the writer has ‘won’.  For the reader, this reader anyway, who is used to employing, shall we say, some kind of experiential clairvoyance when reading, is thrown off course and I do not see how anyone could anticipate the conclusion. Which makes it all the more tantalising. 

The writing flows easily and accessibly and the momentum builds as you read, it's what I like to call a snowball book. A Prologue that gives little away in terms of plot,a story is mentioned so it's intriguing because at this early point you don't know who, why, where or when! Then you're launched straight into a film script entitled Satan's Brides which starts to perplex you because at this stage you can't understand its relationship with the prologue. Then we're ready to hit Part One and the 'asshole' guys. The rest is..........history? T'is for me!! But you guys? You need to read this. Best you make a note of this one for your TBR's. Think it might be a biggie.

I received a proof of this book from riverrun at a book event hosted by Quercus. There were four different covers to choose from. You had to complete a multi choice quiz and see whether the majority of your answers were a’s,b’s,c’s or d’s. That determined your cover. I got b’s! The blue spined cover, bottom right in the picture. A fun activity that was totally consistent with the ethos of the book.