It seems to have taken me four decades of reading, to come on a startling realisation midway through this novel, exactly why I so value the imaginative, innovative, skillfully crafted writing styles when reading novels, above the pedestrian and prosaic...
The carer is 50 year old Mandy, from Solihull, with a Brummie accent, thick body, plain face, and no dress sense. She is working-class; which as Moggach would have it, watches daytime TV and goes to Nandos. She is hired...
I don’t read many Young Adult (YA) novels, but if they are this good, I need to read more! Am glad my book club chose this book because otherwise, I may not have read it, particularly given its subject matter...
Brower has collected stories from the staff who serve within the White House for this book, spanning 5 decades, 10 administrations, and from all ranks, from butlers, maids, chefs, florists, doormen – and also from former first ladies, and first...
~ Autumn, by Ali Smith ~ This is not going to be a plot-informed review, because this novel is not really about the plotline. Yes, I can tell you the protagonist is Elisabeth Demand, an art history lecturer, who lives...
~ The High Mountains of Portugal, by Yann Martel ~ Right from the outset, it is clear this is going to be a book with many hidden gems, and massive charm. It starts with Tomas decides to walk. p3 This...
So slim that this volume is more novella than novel, this read is deceptively simple and yet packs in a wealth of social commentary about South Korean gender issues. This is a translated book, but happily the writing still does...
~ A Woman is no Man, by Etaf Rum ~ The title sounded promising, and so did the blurb of the storyline – about how Palestinians who had lost their homes or been driven out, and migrated to New York,...
Having enjoyed some of O’Farrell’s books, particularly Instructions for a Heatwave, I was pleased to come across another of her novels, her second novel published in 2002, called My Lover’s Lover. The blurb talked of “the drug-like strength of O’Farrell’s...
Having enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, it is unsurprising I found another Haddon novel a pleasant read. When the novel begins, it seems it is about a dysfunctional family – the Halls in Peterborough; dysfunctional...
From the acknowledgements page, I felt confident I was in the hands of an original and capable writer: here is what Jones wrote: For my parents Barbara and Mack Jones, who, to the best of my knowledge, are married only...
~ Emily Alone, by Stewart O’Nan ~ 80 years old, and widowed, Emily had “never wanted to be eighty. Practically, she’d never wanted to outlive Henry”. Living in affluence in a large house in Pittsburgh, Emily has Arlene, her (even...
~ The Knife, by Jo Nesbo ~ I waited quite a long time to read this book, delayed somewhat by the lockdown, but it was well worth the wait. Having already read the previous eleven Harry Hole books by Nesbo...
~ Fortune Rocks, by Anita Shreve ~ This is one of Shreve’s older novels and I confess I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It is also about double the length of most of her...
~ The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country. By Helen Russell ~ This is one of those rather unsatisfying books where your interest in the topic or content keeps you reading, but where the...
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