Taste - Stanley Tucci

 I love Stanley Tucci. Ever since I saw him in The Devil Wears Prada he's been one of those actors whose films I look out for. I enjoy the diversity of his roles and how he brings the required amount of warmth or chill to the parts he plays. I have a good friend who agrees with me and who I can rely on to accompany me to a viewing of his films when they are showing in the cinema. So I bought her a copy of this book when it was published in hardback for her birthday hoping that she would lend it to me when she had finished. She didn't! She went and lent it to somebody else and is still waiting for its return. So I had to buy the paperback!

But sometimes I cringe inwardly when an actor, musician or other takes to the page to regale us with the story of their life. Even if it's someone whom I admire in their chosen field I've found their attempts to match their career prowess with the written word disappointing. 

But not here. Mr. Tucci's story has depth and the inspired use of food to cement it all together is entertaining and informative in spite of the fact that it caused excessive salivation on the part of this reader. (I could murder a bowl of pasta right now. )😉 What shines through is how food can unify us and cement relationships on so many levels. The meals you eat in childhood can stay with you forever. I am vegetarian now ( I will admit some of the meat based recipes and anecdotes in the book didn't thrill me overmuch) but I can still remember my mum's steak and kidney pie, the smell and the taste of that short crust pastry soaked in the gravy. So I related to the tales of the Tucci family's mealtimes. Whilst Italy features strongly in the book cuisines from other countries are there to tantalise our taste buds too especially Iceland. 

The autobiographical narrative is interspersed with some detailed and mouth watering recipes which I tell myself I will try but I haven't so far. And as Stanley is an actor one would expect there to be some A-listers popping up from time to time. But there is never the sense that this is name dropping, it's someone telling us about his friends. The meal with Meryl Streep and the andouillette is little short of hilarious. 

I found it a very honest and real book in the sense that I could almost hear this actor speaking his words while I was reading them. His passion for food underpins the whole book and key moments of his life are interspersed, his marriages, the pandemic and his overcoming cancer. 

It has been a delightful read, warm and witty without shying away from the life's harsher realities. 

Literature and Longevity

 By the time you get to my age you’ve read a lot of books! Trust me! It turns into hundreds, thousands probably. And if you’re like me you‘ve covered many genres. You have books that you liked, books that you loved and books that maybe even changed your life and, hopefully less so, books you didn’t enjoy.

 

I know the books that mean a lot to me. But I often wonder which books will endure. Which books that we’re reading now will still be read in say fifty or even a hundred years’ time? I suppose it’s relevant to point out that I started my reading life in an age where there was no Internet, no social media. I found out about books from newspapers, magazines, word-of-mouth, displays in my library which was a bustling, heaving environment. And there were lots of independent book shops. I could easily go into a book shop with my pocket money. Now it’s a bus ride into the next town with my bus pass and my pension where there is a branch of Waterstone’s or I buy from some of the independent book shops online. And because of council cuts my local library is under threat of closure. So how I’ll end my reading life I’m not sure!

 

When you’ve been around for a bit you see fads and crazes in reading and in these days of social media it can become disproportionate particularly in the hands of the so called ‘influencers’. In fact, if I look back even just a couple of years books that were plastered all over Twitter and Instagram have all but been forgotten. No one mentions them even though folk were gushing over them at the time. I can remember a degree of FOMO on occasions, probably because I’ve never been good enough to receive oodles of book mail from publishers. But the mood online is often suggestive of ‘I’m cool because I’m reading this’ and then the sheep syndrome kicks in. But are those lauded books by every TikTokker, Bookstagrammer and Booktuber really worthy of the attention lavished upon them? Is it incumbent upon readers who wish to review and blog their thoughts to be proficient at reels and stories and videos? How many books are in the wider consciousness because of social media rather than the merits of the book itself? It’s a worrying thought because it must offer some writers a disproportionate sense of their own success and conversely damage the self-belief of those writers whose work has not been embraced by the ‘socials’. It doesn’t help determine which books might or might not endure. 

 

Remember the Dan Brown phenomenon? I think that on every bus, every train, in every café or coffee shop, on beaches, in parks you would find at least one person reading a Dan Brown book. And the Fifty Shades craze? It seemed you were considered an outcast if you hadn’t read at least one! Do you see them now? Rarely. Yet they are still considered to be among the best-selling books of all time. But are best-sellers necessarily bound for longevity? Maybe there are simply too many books being written and published in the 21^st century for any to outshine others dramatically. 

 

 I’ve reached the stage now where if I receive a review copy, I’m lucky. Ecstatic. Yet it’s tinged with a sense of failure and inadequacy that the steady flow I used to receive is no more. It suggests I am a terrible reviewer which is very dispiriting (or I am not adept or conscientious enough about social media?). But it has meant I’ve had the opportunity to attack my TBR shelves and borrow more books from the library. I’ve borrowed some of the books that have been splashed over social media as the best thing since sliced bread and I’ve also borrowed some books shortlisted for awards. (I’m thinking of writing a separate post about Awards!) And I’m still not certain if any of these books will be read by future generations. That isn’t to say I haven’t enjoyed them or that they aren’t well written. But I doubt their longevity. Are people writing classics anymore? 

 

If you consider the books that are called classics, they were written and published during times when the field was not as competitive as it is now. Many manuscripts were handwritten and then the typewriter came along. But now it’s all on computer. People have laptops with word processing programs on as a matter of routine.  I think there are authors out there who prefer to write longhand but is any agent or publisher going to look at them twice? More and more people are writing today. There are numerous writer groups, creative writing courses, writing competitions, writing magazines none of which existed even a few decades ago. It reminds me, too, of the music industry. There are fewer virtuoso musicians in the field of popular music because it can all be done on computers. Anyone can try and they do. The stereotypical, historical concept of a creative person starving in a garret, baring his or her soul to the world is passe. 

 

I witnessed an interesting exchange on social media recently where someone asked whether they should read War and Peace. There were a variety of responses, mine was ‘Only If you want to’. But the fact that the question was posed suggests the existing classics provoke a kind of need in people to read them regardless of there is any intrinsic desire to. I find this a little strange. Do you read a book because you think you should? Because of its reputation and, here, I guess, its longevity?

 

Writing has never been a rich person’s profession unless you strike lucky. How much does luck have to do with it today? Luck and skilful marketing maybe? But surely if the writing is supreme none of that should matter, should it? The quality should shine through, one might hope. 

 

Reading has always been subjective.  So maybe for a book to stand the test of time I guess we need a kind of mutual mass subjectivity?  Shakespeare had his critics. It doesn’t seem to have hurt him in the long term, though. Will people still read and revere Shakespeare a hundred years from now? Is it a given? The world is a volatile place and the obsessive need for change could well see a shift in the dynamic of literature. Take Jane Austen, for example, the poor woman would be as rich as JK Rowling if she were alive today but she sure as hell wasn’t a success in her own lifetime. Is that what will happen today? Are there writers out there not being splashed over social media but have work that might set the world alight in years to come? I have no answers just an insatiable curiosity.

 

As society changes and attitudes evolve that must be reflected in the literature written. But is it only literature that endures? And what is literature? I wrote a piece about that several years ago. Here’s the link - https://bookphace.blogspot.com/2019/04/what-is-literature.html

 

I’m curious as to what kind of books will last. I think there is danger today that the adage ‘quality not quantity’ has become reversed. The numbers seem to be more important. Again, one only has to look at social media where the focus is on numbers of followers rather than quality of posts. It’s very much a today attitude.  Appearance, too, can sometimes seem to be more dominant, the veneer captures the attention rather than what’s beneath it. People gush over some covers, the end papers, the speckled pages. An online book community I belong to are frequently throwing out surveys about which cover looks the best, which you like the best and why. I struggle with this because I don’t read the covers, I read the books. 

 

Maybe books simply won’t last. Maybe there will only be books of the moment, books of the now. In fashion one moment, dismissed the next to make way for the latest in thing. Pop-up books were a thing of my childhood! But maybe in this digital and transitory age books will be pop ups for other reasons. In vogue for a brief while and then consigned to obscurity to make way for the next wunderkind of words. 

 

I also wonder whether e-reading has an impact on the longevity of books. I’ve never made any secret of my antipathy towards kindles and the like. And in today’s world I know that is impractical in so many ways. Electronic books take up little space and are not dependent on the felling of tress. They must be cheaper to produce than physical books, they are instantly available. Yet I cannot read comfortably without the security of a physical book in my hands. If in the future there are no paper books can an electronic book become a classic?

 

I hope that reincarnation is a thing. Because I so badly want to return and see what books are about in 2123! I want to be thrilled that a book I love is still being read. I want to be surprised that an author I had dismissed is considered a classic writer. I want to be amazed that a book I didn't think had it is there amongst the modern classics that tomorrow's generations are reading.

Went to London, Took the Dog - Nina Stibbe

Oh my, what a delight this book has been for me. Living in a perpetual haze of down-spiritedness and winter doldrums every time I picked this up and read just a page or two I found myself chuckling, agreeing vehemently or even laughing out loud. I thought I'd forgotten how to laugh. I borrowed this from the library. Although it wasn't due back I returned it this morning as it has been reserved by several people and I know what it's like when you really want to read a book. While I was there I searched the biography/memoir section and found 'Love Nina'. and I can't wait to read it. 

Why did I enjoy this book so much? It's witty. It's clever. It's warm. It's perceptive. It's real. It's honest. There are some sad bits. But it's full of love. 

The premise is that Stibbe and her dog, Peggy, takes a year sabbatical from Cornwall and a stuttering marriage to lodge with Deborah Moggach in London. Her children and several friends are in London too and the book, or diary, chronicles that year with such well paced and salient detail. Nina is in her sixties and undergoing the trials of an ageing body, women of a certain age will relate to so much of this. It's all so piercingly true. 

But a writer hangs out with other writers so the cast list is impressive! I mean, can you imagine going to a pub quiz night with Nick Hornby?! When I first started the book and read the 'Cast, in order of appearance' I was puzzled but I ended up being very grateful for it and I referred back to it several times to confirm who is, indeed who. It's very much a writer's diary too with details of literary festivals and book related events that you get to see not from the punter's perspective but an author's. It's fascinating. 

I am a diarist and reading this has totally transformed the way I write mine. It's given me a good shake up and whilst I will never live as interesting a life as Nina Stibbe nor will I ever be as funny her book has made me write a more dynamic narrative in my daily scribblings. 

 

The Island Child - Molly Aitken

 It's taken me a while to cement my thoughts about this book. It gave me such a lot to think about. The story was Canongate Book's November read-along. Usually when I take part in a read-along I get frustrated by having to stop reading but I found here that I didn't mind nearly so much as there was a deal to consider after I finished each section. 

Firstly I found it hard to believe that this is a debut novel. It felt like the work of a seasoned novelist. Also I thought it joins the impressive oeuvre of exciting fictions to come from Irish writers in recent years. Irish fiction could almost be a genre of its own. 

The prose is exquisite with a dual narrative, the story of Oona and an accompanying lyrical tale, part folk lore, part fairy tale, that mirrors the main narrative in intent. Thematically the novel examines identity, motherhood, growing up, perhaps nature and nurture too, none of which are original themes, indeed they've been covered probably throughout the enduring history of the novel! But it's how they are dealt with that makes the impact. 

Here we are treated to Oona, the girl and Oona, the woman, wife and mother. Born on the island of Inis, Oona the girl dreams of escaping the island which Oona, the woman, does  - or does she? I saw this as a metaphor, wondering if it was herself that Oona was trying to escape from. 

The story is complex emotionally and intellectually and so haunting. The characters are three dimensional and this author somehow manages to convey the essence of these people with economic perfection. No laboured or long winded descriptions - but an instinct for the right words for the right person. 

Oona is so real, so flawed as we all are. You want to hug her, slap her, shake her, soothe her, shout at her but in her flaws you can see some of your own. A victim of emotional neglect in childhood to a degree she does enjoy a solid relationship with her brother, Enda, another flawed character but I loved him. None of her relationships seem straightforward. 

Island life is claustrophobic and there is a sense of darkness and 'not quite rightness' about the place so the reader, too, along with Oona would like to escape. But the sense of relief when she appears to is short lived and it seems she exchanges one restrictive environment for another. 

Motherhood is key and the notion that such a state doesn't come with a book of instructions lays bare the mistakes that are made. It's actually quite heartbreaking. It made me think of my own mother who, in her later years, was so critical of her parenting and all but asked me for my forgiveness. 

So, it is isn't a feel-good read by any stretch but it is haunting and pervades your consciousness for a good while after you've finished it. 

Restless Dolly Maunder - Kate Grenville

 As I began this novel it seemed like a competent piece of historical fiction set in Australia shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. And as I read I marvelled at the research, how thorough and detailed it all was and how much depth it gave to Dolly's story and how it highlighted the lack of equality between men and women at that time in history. As I continued with my reading I was impressed by how Dolly made the best of her situation and tried to overcome gender restraints as far as was possible without distorting society's rules too dramatically.  On one level I admired her but it did seem to come at a price and I was often left feeling that her children were victims of a degree of neglect emotionally. But you also feel that there's an element of history repeating itself as Dolly's relationship with her parents was not warm to say the least.  It wasn't until I reached the end and read the author's additional notes that I realised this was a fiction that had been constructed around some basic family facts in particular a single incident that happened to the author when she was a child. It's powerful. Dolly Maunder was a real person and she did all of the things described in the book. Somehow that revelation added another dimension to the story. 

Ms. Grenville has a proven track record - Commonwealth Writers' Prize, shortlisted for the Man Booker and Miles Franklin Literary Award snd winner of the Orange Prize. The writing is assured and the prose steps just beyond that of linear story telling. But above all Kate Grenville gives a voice to one, ordinary woman unwilling to be defined by the expectations of the age.

My thanks to Canongate Book for a gifted copy.On oneOneOn oneOn one

Crow Dark Dawn - David Greygoose

If you were worrying that we have no legacy of fairy stories to pass on to future generations, then fret not, for David Greygoose seems to have it covered. Although this collection of stories has several recurring characters there is such a sense of the traditional fairy tale about them that it is hard not to conjure Rumpelstiltskin and The Pied Piper. I was also reminded of Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales in some instances.

There's a whole other worldly feel to this mesmerising collection; tales that aren't quite gothic, not quite magical realism but more rooted in the manner of folk and fairytale. One story kind of meanders into another with similar descriptions of the streets and environments, the rats and the birds. I had to keep reminding myself of the different characters as they wove their way in and out of the various stories, disappearing for a few tales and then popping up again. 

I felt the collection had a curious dreamlike quality to it that was unnerving in some ways. The sense of being pushed a little off balance. The writing is confident and assertive with a sense of the poetic and  lyrical cadences that seem intrinsic to the fairy and folk tale style of writing.

It's unusual fiction which seems consistent with Hawkwood Books mission. I can see it being a Marmite book requiring an expansive imagination with which to plunder its depths. Fortunately I adore Marmite. 

I won a copy in Librarything's Early Reviewers Draw.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

Not a lot of people know this about me but I love playing video games! I probably play every day even if  it's a just one level of Candy Crush! I can't explain it because in many ways it seems out of character but as long as they've been around I've played them. There, now I've said it and it's out there and my intellectual credibility is probably compromised! 😱 

I'd seen Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow splayed across social media and wondered if it was another of those books that was all over the place one minute and gone the next. I had a vague idea it was about gamers and gaming but that was all. But I found a copy in my local library and settled down to read. Wow!

The sense of nostalgia was immense. I recognised the names of the older games (I still retain such affection for Mario) and I found the references to The Oregon Trail so funny because......... it's a game I'm currently playing! How weird is that? But as I read my way through the levels of the book it became so much more than a book about gaming. It's deceptively multi layered and erudite with references to Shakespeare, Homer and Emily Dickinson for starters. Life as a game is a much used, and some might say abused metaphor, but when it's used in the right hands it works. It does here. So it broadens the novel beyond a story about gamers and gaming. 

Sam and Sadie's friendship begins in more unusual circumstances than many friendships and it's an association that endures throughout the book and throughout their lives. It's not always harmonious and there were times when I could have slapped the pair of them but it's real. It's not really romance but it is love. Thus it becomes very moving.

The book implicitly acknowledges the reason so many of us play games - to escape the real world for a place of infinite possibilities. Where you can have infinite lives and start over when everything goes tits up. But here Sam and Sadie create games commercially. Best selling games at that. That part of the book I felt like I'd read before in similar stories but it didn't jar for long because there's so much more. They also create games to help them understand their lives and their relationships with others.Some things were unexpected and I didn't expect to be heartbroken which I was at one point in the story.

My favourite character was Marx because he's the kind of person I would love to have in my life, the kind of friend I'd love to have. Sam and Sadie are flawed but real but I was rooting for them even though I got annoyed with them sometimes. 

I think the book also gave a palpable depiction of two different US coasts. I am British but I have travelled to both sides of the US in particular Boston and New York so I did enjoy that aspect of the book too. I haven't been to California but just above it if that counts!

Yep, it was an enjoyable read. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to the Oregon Trail - before anyone dies of dysentery

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My Father's House - Joseph O'Connor

 

I read this book because Sinead O'Connor died. I loved Sinead O'Connor. I loved her music. I loved her openness and honesty. I loved how articulate and intelligent she was. I was heartbroken when I learned of her death. I watched her funeral on my tablet. Later when reading accounts of the occasion I came across a poem her brother had written for her funeral - Blackbird in Dun Laoghaire. He didn't mention her by name I guess he didn't need to. It is a beautiful poem and I had never realised that  her brother was a novelist. And then I saw someone on social media who had read a novel by Jospeh O'Connor and spoke highly of it. I respect this person's opinion so I reserved a copy of the story at my local library. 

It's an historical novel, a war story, about the German occupation of Rome. It's about an Irish priest in Rome who helps numerous people escape the clutches of the Nazi's. It's based on facts and a real life person but it is a fictional imagining of the events. 

It's very much a thriller with plenty of action but it is a poetic and literary thriller. The language is very much in the Irish tradition. I found myself reading it with an Irish accent if that makes any sense. There was a sense of flowing cadences and a rhythm to the narrative. Some of it is very quotable even, which isn't something you expect from a WW2 thriller usually!

'A book rather gets its hands around your throat and shakes you until your fillings fall out. Some writers are skilled with words, but all of us are skilled with procrastination.'

The characterisations are adept. Hugh O' Flaherty leaps off the page at you with his strength, wisdom, humour and compassion. But the other characters are all complete people too and the dynamic between them is to be savoured.

Structurally the story offers a third person narrative interspersed with first person transcripts of written or recorded interviews so you are given a balanced view of the events from all those involved. As with any good thriller the novel is not without its twists.  But I'm not going to reveal them here!

I really enjoyed this book and I wasn't sure if I would because my reasons for reading it may not have been the purest in a literary sense. But I was mightily impressed and hope to seek out some more of Mr. O'Connor's work.

The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou

 Featuring on BBC 2’s Between the Covers,  (if you watched this weeks episode, you would have  seen a copy on the shelf behind Sarah Cox! )The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou is an historical crime novel based on a true crime from the 1950s. It’s dark reading.

Zina, a  Greek Cypriot, has very limited English, so when she is accused of murder she requires an interpreter and translator in the form of Eva Georgiou who works for the Met police. Eva’s job really was to merely interpret and translate, but she becomes deeply involved with the case and forms an attachment with Zina. This offers a compelling story that covers prejudice, immigration, the media, the place of women in different cultures and questions of morality.

 What I found particularly fascinating was the nature of Eva’s attachment with Zina. Knowing that it was almost certain that the older woman had committed murder Eva still felt concern and compassion for her fellow country woman and in the novel we see her becoming increasingly obsessed. To her credit she wants to see Zina get a fair hearing even if she is guilty, and she works tirelessly to try and make sure that no stone is unturned. But it takes its toll on her and her marriage to the ever patient Jimmy, who is one of the most endearing characters in the book. The characterizations are strong, and we get a very clear picture of Zina and Eva. We also get a very clear idea of the legal system and the prison system in the 1950s. I found the courtroom sequences utterly gripping. And I also think it highlights the fact that nothing is ever completely clear cut. On the one hand you can argue that Zina murdered so she must be punished, but the novel seeks to look at the mitigating factors that might have led to Zina’s unspeakable acts and whether, some leniency might be appropriate. And so doing the book also offers the reader much food for thought. I’ve often wondered what it is that drives people to commit acts of unspeakable violence. Up to a point I can see where crimes of passion could occur, but to take the life of another in a premeditated way is beyond my comprehension.

Historically it creates a very palpable picture of 1950s London, both socially and the penal and legal system of the time. Some thorough and excellent research has been undertaken. There are moments of tension within the well paced narrative and cleanly structured story. We care about the characters including Zina

It’s not a feel good read by any means, but it is an extremely absorbing one. My thanks to Tandem Collective for a copy of this book.

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Western Lane - Chetna Maroo

 Shortlisted for this year‘s book a prize, Chetna Maroo’s debut novel, uses the sport of squash as an enduring metaphor for life. Gopi and her sisters lose their mother and the novel  looks at how a family deals with grief alongside trying to live an everyday life. It’s a delicate balance seen through the eyes of the 11 year old Gopi. 

Gopi is a delightful character and displays an intuitive sensitivity to those around her as she tries to make sense of life seeing the squash court as her panacea for her grief. There is innocence and there’s subtle humor. The other characters are also well drawn, and it’s easy to relate to them. The relationship between Gopi and her two sisters is beautifully explored and we feel so much for her father losing his wife and knowing he has to be both mother and father to his girls. Family interventions also provide some interestng characterizations as well for some interesting considerations.

The book is a fine example of how an author can take aspects of an everyday life without anything sensational happening and renders it into a meaningful and delicate exploration of growing up and grieving. It’s an even, accessible narrative. The writing is deceptive. Sometimes it’s only when you go back and reread and think again about what you’ve just read that you realize the depth of perception this author possesses.

As someone who has experienced grief all too often these days I found this sentiment expressed, regarding competitive squash, so metaphorically pertinent to grief.

‘You are supposed to find your own way out… No one can help you.’

I also thought it was one of those novels, like Elizabeth Lowry’s The Chosen, where the silences in between words, express as much as the words themselves.

Sometimes described as a family drama it’s more a slowly executed unraveling of layers like the skins of an onion, peeled away.

Religion makes its mark in the book too, where Gopi’s family are Jain and there comes across a degree of ethnic and social division but it all seems that this is part of Gopi’s growing up, her developing as we see how she deals with everything.

The. Carhullan Army - Sarah Hall

 The Carhullan Army won the 2007 John Llewellyn-Rhys Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the 2008 Arthur C Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction. Described as dystopian which I would agree with more than science fiction, (although utopian and dystopian fiction are seen to be sub genres of science fiction) and compared with Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale which I feel is a tenuous comparison, Atwood preferred the term speculative fiction for her 1985 novel, I think The Carhullan Army fits this genre best of all.

Much dystopian fiction creates a stylised and futuristic landscape which seems far removed, though not impossible, from current regimes but there are those which present as just one step removed from the climate we are navigating currently. These are by far the most chilling because such a reality seems possible. Such is the case with Sarah Hall’s novel. 

What also seems to set Hall apart from other dystopian writers is her penchant for the literary. The prose is sublime. The atmosphere is sustained throughout and the bleak, harsh Cumbrian landscape can be felt and smelt almost, the writing is so tight. You sense that the evocative descriptions of the landscape serve as  metaphor for the regime being lived in.

Unashamedly feminist in its intent the story is offered in the form of a report and statement from an unnamed female prisoner ‘ Detained under Section 4 (b) of the Insurgency Prevention (Unrestricted Powers) Act’ from the English Authority Penal System archive. The sections of the book are described as Files that are partially or wholly recovered. 

The prisoner in question is never known by any name other than Sister. She leaves a dominating regime which includes the most horrifying, compulsory contraception and a crushing marriage to seek out a secluded  assembly of women in a distant farm in Cumbria which she learned of some years previously. She  seems to have put the leader of the group, Jackie Nixon, on an indestructible pedestal.

But her arrival at the encampment could be seen as less than welcoming! In an incredible paradox of her initial incarceration which is harrowing to read, she’s released into a kind of  Arcadia comparatively. It is these paradoxes that also render the novel so compelling;  paradoxes of nature, character, preference. 

There’s also much physical suffering throughout the book frequently described in painful detail. Emotional suffering, too, is never far from the surface. But the story is one of a journey for Sister. As she changes physically - the shaven head, the muscular body - you sense she’s changing cerebrally and emotionally too. Throughout, she never seems to lose her admiration and desire to impress Jackie Nixon. Nixon is a wonderful creation, so focused, so strong, but also so remorseless.

It’s not a feel good read by any means and that’s putting it mildly. And there’s a kind of hopelessness that pervades the latter stages of the book. Because you sense that what the Carhullan Army is up against is impenetrable. And yet the very fact that there are people, women, who are prepared to put up the fight, to say no we’re not putting up with this has a curious kind of hope all of its own. 

What is also impressive is that although published  in 2007 it presents as very current, very immediate,  very fresh. it’s a book that will stay with you long after you finish it. There’s plenty to think about and plenty to admire regarding its concept and execution.

The Old Woman with the Knife - Gu Byeong-Mo translated by Chi-Young-Kim

Don’t you just love it when the main protagonist of the novel you’re reading is a 65 year old, female assassin contemplating retirement? Admittedly, this is the first novel I’ve ever read where the key player has such attributes but, hey, I’m all for senior power!

Strangest of all though, is how you’re rooting for Hornclaw [that’s her name] even though she’s responsible for brutal and savage murders. Thou shalt not kill? But here I am chuckling away at the arthritic antics of this gruesome granny. What is going on?!

Gu Byeong-Mo is what’s going on!  A Korean novelist with a dark and delicious sense of humour. This is the first of her novels to be translated into English and translated very well. I might add. But I’m hoping it won’t be the last.

With an energetic and lively narrative, the story drives itself along with a diverse cast of characters, many of them who work for a ‘vermin control company’ the employees of which go by codenames to evade identity. Others not involved in the nefarious task of eliminating others, allow us a glimpse of life in the city of Seoul. 

Hornclaw is a wonderful character and ably demonstrates what it is to age, and to find the activities you used to do with ease becoming harder and harder. Despite her dubious profession, she’s not without heart but it’s nuanced - I mean who would call their dog Deadweight?! There are some dreadful things that happen in the story but they are described in such a way that they’re not as horrific as they might be. The descriptions of the violence are stylized, not overly graphic. 

But ultimately, it’s a tale of revenge and I’m not going to spoil it by giving any more details but it’s a good plot and a very entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

My thanks to Canongate books for a copy and a place in the readalong..

Word Petals - Carla L. Ibanzo

 

Many people perceive poetry as slightly inaccessible due to difficulty in grasping the concept of metre, metaphor, hyperbole, assonance and so on. Not to mention the complexities of the language. And so perhaps they shy away. As a poetry lover even I continue to grapple sometimes with embracing the full intent of someone like Sylvia Plath’s poetry.

But from the very title of this collection “Word Petals“ we have some poetry for the people. It’s direct, relatable and in readily accessible language, embracing ideas of simplicity and complexity alike. The backbone throughout the entire collection is the poet’s deep and defining faith in God.

As in most poetry collections, any reader will have their favourite poems, their favourite lines. I particularly enjoyed Sunlight Sunset, a simple, three stanza poem celebrating the natural progress through the day – morning, evening, and night. I also very much enjoyed Unsung urging us not to be “un“ but to – “BE “!

There are also some empowering epigrams to urge us forward in this game of life.

“…… Pull up your bootstraps

And press on, press on, you’re well on the way.

Keep the goal in sight

Fight for freedom, keep going to the end……“

So, if poetry isn’t usually your bag, give this collection a try and I’m sure you’ll find something to relate to.

My thanks to Library thing and the author for sending me a copy.

Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson

As I was reading this I experienced a kind of Atkinson fusion of past books, crime and historical fiction but I think the Guardian summed it up perfectly by calling the novel, ‘a witty ensemble tale’.

Habitual readers of Ms. Atkinson will easily identify themes and styles that reoccur from previous stories. It’s a between the wars tale of a seedy Soho nightlife. The writer cites in her Author’s Notes that Kate Meyrick and her daughters were the inspiration for the story of the indomitable Nellie Coker freshly released from prison at the book’s start. A perfect foil to her character is the policeman, Frobisher. Seemingly trapped in a static marriage he devotes his energies to trying to bring down the Coker empire. Nellie and her children run a series of nightclubs facing opposition and desires of takeovers. Another twist in the tale is Gwendoline Telling’s search for two missing girls. Not a native Londoner Gwendoline is feisty and fearless. Concerned by a friend’s news that her young sister is missing in London. Gwendoline decides to travel to London to find Freda and her friend. The two girls have their story to tell too.  With all the skill of the consummate story teller that Kate Atkinson is these characters’ paths cross and weave as the novel unfolds. Although the action and the themes that develop in the book are not always pleasant there is something more light hearted in the execution than say ‘Life After Life’, it’s less serious. The times and locations are palpably depicted, convincing and evocative. It’s an entertaining read and if I have any criticism at all, it’s that the ending seemed to come very suddenly and left me a little wanting.

Study for Obedience - Sarah Bernstein

 Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023 Study for Obedience is a startling work. It presents almost as a stream of consciousness, more structured  perhaps than say, Kerouac,  there is an underlying precision cementing the narrative, but it is as if you can barely take a breath as you read.

A strangely offkilter tale that reminded me of a modern day parable with no small debt to Kafka. Set in a nameless land, in an almost nameless country but it could be Scotland? No, it could be anywhere. Anywhere you don’t belong. The narrator and all the characters remain nameless. And the narrator seems to remain disconnected from what’s going on no matter how much she strives to be a part of it. There’s an attempt at some backstory. The narrator has become a housekeeper to her brother, whose wife has left him. He seems to have some issues, but we only have the narrator’s word for that. The childhood of the siblings seems troubled or at least that’s what’s hinted at. Some strange events occur that seem to be attributed in some way to the narrator’s presence in the area and gives rise to quite considerable hostility towards her.

Thematically the novella explores xenophobia and disconnection, but also endurance - cerebral and emotional as well as physical with a smattering of guilt. It’s a perturbing tale and made me feel uncomfortable, yet not much really happens! It is not a story of action, but rather benign inaction on some levels. And yet I felt there was a degree of doubt regarding the reliability of our narrator. Everything is told through her eyes.

Much is hinted at implied, encouraging the reader to make up their own mind and draw their own conclusions and inferences. But there’s something quite mesmerizing and beautiful about this prose.  I borrowed this book from my local library.

The Pit - Peter Papathanasiou

 I’ve read all of Peter Papathanasiou’s George Manolis books and I love the fact that  the characters are constant yet the location and stories are so diverse. There’s never any sense of the formulaic about his work. In his latest story, The Pit, DS George Manolis doesn’t make an appearance. When I realised he wasn’t around, I felt a surge of disappointment initially, but once I got into the story and reacquainted myself with Andrew Sparrow, well, I’m sorry to say, I forgot all about George!

The Pit sees a return to the Australian outback palpably described in all its unforgiving, desert ways. It becomes almost another character that is being battled against. The human characters in this story might surprise you. Bob is in the 60s and in a nursing home in Western Australia, but his past story unfolds throughout the course of the novel. He’s joined by Luke who is in his 30s and is wheelchair-bound because of a motorcycle accident. Bob admits to a murder he committed 30 years ago and he offers to tell Sparrow where the body is but Sparrow has to travel north with Bob and pretend to be a carer.

What follows is more than a crime story,  it’s a wonderful road trip story and it wouldn’t be Papathanasiou if there wasn’t some kind of political or social comment. The brutality of life in the mining industry, the gay community in Australia, racism and the treatment of the country’s indigenous people are all issues contained within the story.

It’s a tight plot with Bob’s backstory interspersed within the narrative. We learn a great deal about him more than we do about the other characters. Luke is permanently foulmouthed and angry and causes problems from time to time and his lack of perception and compassion brings about the ultimate twist at the end of the book. And there were times when I found both Bob and Luke irritating. But that kinda made them all the more real because people can be irritating, can’t they?! Andrew is challenged in his role as a police officer and his desire to prove himself in that role that causes him, perhaps, to take actions that may or may not be altogether legal. Situations and characters that we meet along the way are vibrant, and there is an element of humour at times, although overall the story is no laughing matter.

It’s a compelling story that you can’t necessarily second-guess, or I couldn’t anyway. I never had any sense of the predictable which made it such an enjoyable read. And I will continue to read the work of this exciting Australian writer.

My thanks to Corinna Zifko at MacLehose Press for a gifted copy of the book.

The Naming of Moths - Tracy Fells

 I often feel that the short story is an underrated genre. But for me it’s a very satisfying one. The comparative brevity of a story gives you an assurance that you will finish it sooner rather than later whereas with a novel you know that you’ve several hours, at the very least, before you reach a conclusion. I also enjoy the fact that even the most complex of ideas can be concentrated into a story that can sometimes offer a more intense experience than if it was spread out over an entire novel.

Which brings me to this intriguing collection of short stories by Tracy Fells. There’s an almost ethereal quality running through these tales which seem to be part myth, part fairytale, part magic but I guess a unifying theme is that of transformation in the broadest of senses. Some stories had  a contemporary setting and others were set in an alternative reality like  a fairytale and I chuckled at one of the stories called Gretel and the Chocolate Wolf. 

There is a darkness riddling through the stories with subtle implications that give the reader plenty to think about. But there’s also beauty and a degree of humour. I think this author is a practised observer of human behaviour, interaction and reaction.

As with all story collections, there are favourites, I particularly enjoyed the opening story, Ten Good Reasons, which gives a whole new dimension to the ubiquitous bucket list! Another favourite was Ancient Wing a transformation tale with an exquisite conclusion. Coping Mechanism was like one of those psychological thrillers all condensed into one compact tale! 

I enjoyed the writing style, very much in the tradition of story telling with flowing narratives that lead the reader willingly to the stories’ conclusions. There was an otherworldly feel to many of the stories, no matter if the setting was contemporary there was often a sense of being off kilter. 

As a collection I found the stories immersive and captivating. Threads ran though the stories and some even had the same characters which gave a cohesive feel to the book as a whole. And that doesn’t always happen in a short story collection.

My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon at Fly on the Wall Press for a gifted copy.

The Swallowed Man - Edward Carey

 This book has been on my TBR shelf for months. It was one of those books that I felt I needed the time to be right before I read it. That time is now! I can identify with the sensation of being swallowed up by the madness in the world today.

The Swallowed Man is ostensibly a retelling of the Carlo Collodi fairytale, Pinocchio. Dear to my heart, as it was one of the earliest childhood books I read which was followed by a trip to the cinema to see the Disney interpretation of the book. Pinocchio has remained one of my favourite characters. I remember shaking hands with him at Disneyland, Paris was a great thrill! 🤣

Specifically this fiction looks at the time when Geppetto was swallowed by a sea creature, it seems to be a shark here rather than the Disney whale. Incarcerated within the belly of this creature, Geppetto, as he utilizes whatever he can find from the ship Maria that he finds swallowed up as well, reflects on his life and his losses, his “son“ Pinocchio , his lovers and his desire to recount his life, “I’m writing this account in another man’s book……” 

The author has somehow captured the essence of Collodi’s original tale yet imbued it with his own unique style and nuances. It’s enthralling prose and together with the contemplative and deep musings on what it is to be a father, how the creative spirit drives throughout the most dire of circumstances and what effect protracted isolation can have on the mind and spirit the novel impresses as a work of substance in quality rather than quantity since it weighs in at under 200 pages. 

Whilst it may seem as if it is a dark and unrelenting tale, there is something quite moving and beautiful about the story. I found it almost mesmerizing and it’s one of those books where I feel a strong desire to simply return to the beginning and read it all over again because I sense something profound within its pages. 

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho - Paterson Joseph

 

I get a curious kind of knee-jerk reaction when I come across a work of fiction by someone who possesses a degree of celebrity status through another discipline. And that reaction is a disbelief that the work could be any good because the author is a - comedian, actor, musician, sportsperson etc. It’s irrational, I realize. And it does hint of negativity. But when I read the story I am sometimes disproportionately pleased to find out how good it is!! 

However, there was no disproportionate pleasure from reading The Secret Diary of Charles Ignatius Sancho, by the actor Patterson Joseph. Long listed for the Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize, and for the Historical Writers Association Award for best debut novel it was a delight to read.

Ambitious perhaps in intent with a meandering narrative, that uses Sancho’s dialogue with his son, his prolific diary and the exchange of correspondence between Sancho and his future wife to tell the tale. Charles Ignatius Sancho was born on a slave ship in the 18th century, and brought to Britain which is where Joseph’s fiction really begins. The 46 year old Sancho addresses his son and offer to tell the story his life through his abundant journals.

And what a life that is! Doubtless this book plays an important part in Black history. And since October is Black History Month it feels very fitting that I should read and review this book now.

I think the story also has a lot to say about freedom, about persistence and determination and it  is a tale of compassion too.

Sancho leaps off the page at you much as Mr. Joseph does when he is acting! And the reader is rooting for him right from the start. The life of the black man in Georgian England was fraught with peril. A one-way ticket on a slave ship seemed to be lurking around every corner in the shape of one of the book’s villains, Jonathan Sill. You wouldn’t want to meet him in broad daylight, let alone on a dark night. But part of what makes Sancho so endearing is his agility in evading capture, resolving his many dilemmas and overcoming obstacles that must have seemed insurmountable at times. It’s uplifting; although as a reader, you do go through the mill with Sancho to emerge at the other end, not unscathed exactly for there are some challenging and heartbreaking moments.

This is as accomplished a debut as you are likely to find. The writing is substantial, vibrant yet very authentic to the historical period it recreates. In turn, the historical detail is extensive and the research is impressive.

But also what Paterson Joseph has achieved is a balance between the harsh aspects of Sancho‘s life and the uplifting moments as he rub shoulders with luminaries, such as David Garrick, Gainsborough, Dr. Johnson, even King George to name a few.

It’s a thoroughly entertaining story that will educate subliminally and prompt the reader to think and question some of the values in our society.

My fingers are crossed for the HWA Prize. I won my copy in a giveaway run by the Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize.