Life on Other Planets - Matt Cook - Blog Tour

With a title such as this I guess I could’ve been forgiven for thinking this might be a sci-fi tale. But my expectations were wide open as I settled to start this novel from an author unfamiliar to me. Reader, I finished it in less than 24 hours! I was utterly captivated.

For a start it is wonderfully written. An easy, yet, evocative prose style that coaxes the narrative smoothly along. I had a sense of a natural, intuitive storyteller. The story is a bittersweet fusion of the tragic and the comic and I sensed echoes of John Irving, Salinger, even, as I read of adolescent Ben and his dysfunctional family, grappling with grief after the demise of Aunt Pearl and their obsessive search for her Last Will and Testament.  Matt Cook has struck an almost perfect balance between the poignant and the lighter hearted.

The characters are accessible and believable despite their eccentricities and the author is a perceptive observer of human behaviour. Not only that, he can use those perceptions to create people we care about no matter how questionable their behaviour is because he is able to identify what is hidden beneath peoples’ veneers and tease our hidden empathies towards those people.

It’s a coming-of-age story, it’s a dealing with grief story, it’s a family dynamic story. It covers a spectrum of emotion with sensitivity and there’s an implicit gentleness that so fuses prose and narrative seductively you want to keep reading, and you want the book to continue for ever.

And as for the title? I’m not going to tell you what that’s about. You’ll have to read the book but I will say there is a cult involved and planets are mentioned! And as for that final chapter………well?!?

And if you want more than a ‘mere’ a story there is some life philosophy woven into the text too.

“Nothing makes sense when you really look at it. There is no logic. Everyone behaves like things happen because of other things. Like dominoes. It always feels like if you could find a way to get high enough and see the whole pattern from above, it will all become clear. But it’s a lie. Things just happen. I can’t be bothered looking for reasons anymore. It’s exhausting.”

Well, sums up life today for me anyhow!

Hard to believe that this is a first novel. In many ways it reads like the work of a seasoned and experienced novelist. And if this is the first then I’m really hoping there’s going to be more? In fact I’m feeling more than hope. I’m feeling very excited.

My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon at Fly on the Wall Press for a place upon the blog tour and a gifted copy of this book which will go on my forever shelf. 

Cyprus Kiss - Murray Bailey

The name’s Carter. Ash Carter. 

Ash is back. He’s in Cyprus. 

He’s still swashing buckles with relentless energy, putting himself in peril.  

But it’s a younger Ash. 

In this book he is still a Lieutenant and honing his skills. He’s an army investigator. 

With a complex and fast moving plot Murray Bailey allows us a glimpse into the earlier career of this thoroughly, decent guy, Ash. So decent, he doesn’t always see who or what is right under his nose! But I did, Ash! I suspected right from the start. But then maybe I’m at an advantage. For I know a little about the older Ash! I know just how his skills and expertise develops. 

‘Help Me! Those were the words on the back of a woman’s photograph. And yet she vanished six months ago. It’s 1948 and military investigator Ash Carter has arrived in Cyprus. A gang has been operating for two years, leaving a mark known to police as the kiss of death. Is this something to do with them? And why ask him for help? After a murder, Carter begins to realize this is personal. In a race against time, Carter must work out the connection between the gang, the missing woman and the murder, before it’s too late.’

With the thoroughness we’ve come to expect from Murray Bailey the details of the historical, political and military situations in Cyprus and Palestine are referred to but never allowed to dominate what is an entertaining action adventure. However without them the story would lack some of the convincing authenticity to which his readers are treated to. 

If you have read any of these books before you know exactly what to expect and you won’t be disappointed. But if you’re a newcomer, sit your self down, strap yourself in and enjoy one hell of a ride. But you need to stay on your toes because everything you read will be important. Every character has a part to play. It’s a “goodies and baddies“ tale but it’s deciding who belongs to which group that will keep you glued to the narrative. 

My thanks to Librarything and the author himself for a much treasured signed, gifted copy.

Rose Nicholson - Andrew Greig

 

Historical fiction has never been quite the same since Hillary Mantel got her hands on it! The breadth of her ambition and achievement threatened to let everything else pale in comparison. Or so I thought. Then I read Andrew Greig’s Rose Nicholson. I’m sure that for during the duration of my reading I began thinking in the Scottish dialect! So palpable and authentic is his narrative that I was almost immediately enveloped in the 16th century Scotland, grappling with the Reformation and crises of faith in the same way that I lived alongside Thomas Cromwell in Mantel’s trilogy.

William Fowler is our hero and protagonist, student at Saint Andrews, learning to think in Latin and on his feet. As with all the great storytellers,  pivotal, sliding door moments perhaps, open up the novel for what follows. A chance encounter with a redheaded youth and the lending of a knife is one catalyst. Another encounter with a fisher girl and a subsequent friendship with her brother set all wheels in motion for this entertaining and immersive novel of romance and the conflicts that religion can provoke in the hearts of men. Throughout the novel Greig strikes an almost perfect balance between the two strands of the story. Fowler, no doubt based on the real William Fowler, is very real. His responses and philosophies lead the reader to ponder whether throughout time immemorial youngsters follow similar patterns of thought, action, inaction and reaction.

I loved Fowler’s observations as to the nature of History - 

‘For the most past History goes by us like the breeze, lightly brushing at our sleeve as if ‘Come along! Come along!’ We notice in the distance it is bending the corn, and observe on the high road it has shaped trees to the east. News comes to us days later of armies meeting, a royal birth, an execution, the plague in another city. We meet in the street, talk about it, and pass on to our more pressing interests of the day - our sick child, a ship arriving with new merchandise, the by-law from  the Council setting the hours for the water pumps, the cutting of silver content in our coins, that attractive smile across the street…’

It is as if nothing changes fundamentally throughout history in terms of the way people deal with their lives. It is the specifics that change dramatically. 

It is one thing to tell a story, but to tell it with such exacting and flowing prose adds a sustaining satisfaction to the book. One of those novels where there is a sense, need even, to read sections aloud and let the words tumble off your tongue for the sheer exhilaration of someone who has assembled all the right words in all the right places at all the right times. The research is thorough, convincing and, for me, the real measure of its worth is whether it has me hungry for more. So I went a googling, for William Fowler and James VI. But not all the characters are googleable. The titular Rose is of the imagination but her power to convey the restrictions ‘enjoyed’ by sixteenth century women will cause many a reader to ponder the relative freedoms women have acquired over the centuries.

I was most grateful for the glossary of Scottish words. At times I felt I was learning a new language, very willingly so, for to describe myself as ‘doolie’ or ‘glaikit’ seems so much more interesting than merely melancholy or foolish. 

It’s a book for the historically curious, and it’s a book for the word lover and a book for those who simply revel in good writing. It’s rich in historic detail and allows us a window into a time when life was precarious and looking over your shoulder was as part of life the  as wearing a face mask has become now. 

To my shame this is the first Andrew Greig book I have read. Yet I see he has a significant back catalogue of fiction, non fiction and poetry. Part of me shudders; but another part of me is very excited to have so much work to add to my TBR lists.

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin and Elizabeth Masters at riverrun for a gifted copy. 

Books, Reading and Synchronicity

 

Is it in any way possible that these three books can have anything in common? Two historical fictions and a French translation? All gifted copies from different sources. Seems unlikely doesn’t it? However……..

I read these books in the order photographed. I had no prior knowledge of the authors and I guess I had no expectations of any of the books. The first is a stunning historical fiction set in 1574 in Edinburgh detailing a period of Scotland’s history. It was the first time I had come across the name ‘Buccleuch’ pertaining to the Duke of Buccleuch in Scotland and the Scott family. I did not expect to come across the term again in the next book I read! But I did! The Fair Botanists is another historical fiction, this time set in 1822 and in Edinburgh. I promise you I did not plan this! The Scott family and  Buccleuch feature in the story. But primarily the book is about two women with an interest in botany. So I finish that book and I pick up the next book. Set in Japan there is nothing that even remotely refers to Edinburgh or Scotland! But the main character is……….  a botanist! 

It’s like 6° of separation but with books, not people. I’ve come across this before, the reading of one book seems to lead on to the reading of another with some seemingly spurious connection. It’s as if some deeper force is at work guiding my literary journey. I love it! I find it exciting……or maybe I need to get out more!? 

The Secret Bridesmaid - Katy Birchall

 

Okay, now, so I don’t usually ‘do’ chick lits and rom coms, not really my bag ,but when you get sent a delicious, uncorrected proof from a generous publisher it’s rude not to read it, right? So I did. And overall I enjoyed it. It’s fluffy entertainment. and I did laugh out loud at some bits. I found the writer’s wit infectious.

The narrative hurries along at a cracking pace so it’s a light and easy read with some well defined characters and a plot line that is predictable to a degree but that’s part of the fun. The main character, Sophie, is a professional bridesmaid, supporting the bride and organising much of the wedding/hen night which is where a lot of the humour derives particularly from some of the message/email exchanges. The main thrust of the story revolves around a potentially lucrative, but difficult, bridesmaiding assignment. Difficult because the bride is less than cooperative, and  - has an attractive older brother. She also puts the ‘P’ in posh. But the story throws up some considerations of weddings in general and friendship between women. And as it is chick lit the ‘love’ word is never far from our consciousness.

It’s a feel good book ultimately and in these current times we’re living through it’s as good a shot in the arm as the corona virus vaccine itself.

Three Weddings and a Proposal - Sheila O’Flanagan

 

This author is new to me despite an impressive  body of work so I came to the story with no preconceptions. I found it an interesting novel as it kept making me think it was going down a certain path but it didn’t! From the title I wondered if it was a romance/chick lit story and there are fairly dominant elements of that. But there was a point where I thought it might be going down the legal novel route and it didn’t, then I thought it might be heading down the mystery route, but, again, it didn’t!  I even thought we might be heading for a thriller but we weren’t. So all in all the book kept me on my toes! Ultimately I found it went beyond mere romance to look at the place of women within our contemporary society; their motivations and aspirations and it examines families, friendships and loyalties between men and women.

Clearly the work of an experienced novelist the narrative progresses, evenly balanced with sufficient detail to create a palpable picture of one woman striving to make sense of her world and how she fits into it without compromising her true self. It’s an enjoyable read with some strong characterisations, very much a book for today’s women.

The Orange Grove - Rosanna Ley

 For those disappointed that Spain failed to be included on the initial UK Green list of ‘safe’ places to travel as the lockdown safety curtain slowly rises. Fear not. For you can vicariously enjoy a trip to Seville courtesy of Rosanna Ley who has created a multi sensory experience with her words.

Thrill to the passion of the flamenco. Salivate to the mouth watering tapas. Breath in the sights and the sounds of the Triana area of Seville, the orange blossom and the local crafts. Admire the customs and rituals of a proud and vibrant people.

But this is not a travelogue. This is a novel of pasts and secrets, parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and lovers, families. A multitude of dynamics are explored. Ella and Holly relive the past and contemplate the future in a dual time narrative that swings us between 1988 and 2018 with a synchronicity between the lives of mother and daughter. They’re both pretty trough, strong women capable of making life changing decisions. Secrets unravel, and as the story unfolds the astute reader will realise the biggest secret of all.

This is one great, big, slice of summer captured forever in a jar of marmalade. This is a glorious evocation of the escapist novel where the only demands upon the reader is to relax, sit back and enjoy.