Autumn Warmers

It’s windy, it’s rainy and the clocks have gone back. What does that make you want to do? Yes, READ… So here are some good books you may want to curl up with in front of the fire. 

The Fallen Girls by Kathryn Casey.

Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah – with good reason. But when she hears that her younger sister Delilah has disappeared, she knows that she must go back and help find her. When she arrives there however, she faces suspicion and denial and her family refuse to even talk to her. How can Clara break through and discover the dark secrets that lie within this apparently peaceful community?

This polygamous community is an unusual one and some of their traditions are hard to understand. But this adds to the complexity and interest of the story for me. The narrative is told from the points of view of Clara and Delilah, with a sensitive layering of emotions, toughness and vulnerability.

The plot thickens when a body is discovered and at last the community realises that it needs help to prevent further disappearances and further deaths.

The story is fast-paced and original. I really enjoyed it.

 

Where We Belong by Anstey Harris

Ah… Anstey Harris has followed the wonderful ‘Trials and Triumphs of Grace Atherton’ with an equally brilliant second novel. Written from the viewpoint of narrator Cate Morris, we discover and explore the losses she has recently suffered – of her job, of her house, of her beloved husband Richard.

Richard was the victim of severe depression and Cate, alongside Richard’s best friend Simon, has lived with this for years. But when Richard finally dies under tragic circumstances, Cate finds herself and their son Leo alone, broke and forced to return to Richard’s family home, the mansion and fascinating museum of Hatters. There, she encounters the force field that is Araminta, loyal family friend, and the warmth that is Patch, amenable artist and tutor. She forges relationships with them both, but finds that like her, they are both holding closely-guarded secrets.

Cate finds herself compelled to help save the family home that she thought Richard had turned his back on. And slowly, accompanied by plenty of drama and tension, all those intriguing secrets come to light. Exquisite writing and a rich tapestry of ideas and language hold this novel together beautifully and keep you enthralled until the very last page. Very highly recommended.

 

The Other Son by Nick Alexander

This is the first book by this author I have read. It’s written in three viewpoint sections: The Wife (that’s Alice), The Son (Tim) and The Other Son (Matt). I liked this structure – we get a good insight into each perspective, and it’s a fascinating portrayal of how we come across to others, as compared with what we are feeling inside. Everyone’s truth is a different one.

Alice is married to Ken, a violent and unlikeable man and while the reader may (given what she tells us) wonder why on earth why she still is, Alexander does to some degree explain. Alice however is at the point of doubting whether this state of affairs should continue, and when her friend Dot leaves her husband, the matter is brought to the forefront even more. Meanwhile, the first son, Tim, is married to the volatile Natalya, and again, it is interesting to see how Alice’s view of her daughter-in-law differs from Natalya’s portrayal of their relationship. We also get an insight into Tim and Natalya’s marriage and see how Tim feels about his parents too. All interesting stuff…

We then move on to the ‘other son’ Matt who has been referred to throughout as a bit of a wastrel, off wandering the world somewhere and escaping his responsibilities. Again, things are different when we find out his truth.

I did have some questions at the end though. While I don’t need everything tied with a neat bow, the structure of the novel meant that we knew nothing about Tim, Natalya, and Ken’s reactions to how the situation has (rather surprisingly) developed. Why is Ken suddenly being so generous? How have Tim and Natalya resolved their differences? And so on. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the novel and would recommend.

 

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

A great title for a novel, this certainly grabs the attention and structurally, the book is refreshing too. It’s written from the nicely conversational point of view of Korede in short bite-sized chapters titled with subjects such as: bleach, knife, words; each one a small anecdote in itself, which also serves to progress the story. It’s compact in style too.

The story is of Korede’s relationship with her sister Ayoola, who has taken to killing the men she gets romantically involved with (a seductive concept in itself 😉). But why does she do this, what can Korede do about it and what happens when Ayoola’s potentially destructive attentions fall on Tade, the subject of Korede’s own romantic fantasy?

In some ways this is a classic story of two siblings, one beautiful, one ugly, one responsible and sensible, one not; the one looking out for the other. But in other ways it’s so much more. Braithwaite touches on thought-provoking subjects here – abuse, how people respond to beauty, the complexity of sibling relationships. The pace is lightning fast, the dialogue sparky and the humour and wit dry and relentless.

The author states in her acknowledgements that she wrote this book quickly and had fun doing it and this shows (in a good way). It’s simple and like many simple things it has a light touch which is effective. A bit ‘Killing Eve’ in style but still very original. Highly recommended.

 

The Life we Almost Had by Amelia Henley

If you like an emotional and romantic read, this is definitely one for you. The book starts when Adam and Anna’s relationship is strained to breaking point. Will their love survive? This question is what will make you want to read on.

I quite liked the description of their first meeting – it was very romantic and after what Anna had been through (being jilted at the altar) it was lovely to see her meeting ‘Mr Right’. But sadly as the years together continued, the story takes a darker turn and it seems that their love isn’t strong enough for it to survive. Or is it? Personally, I appreciated the exploration of the ‘darker issues’ (I won’t say what they were, in case I spoil things for readers) but I was irritated by the very obvious way in which the author flagged everything that was coming and also by the plot which bordered and definitely tripped right into the very unrealistic… Sadly, I wasn’t drawn to either of the two main characters either.

However, the romance content was high and the book has lots of wonderful reviews, so I’m left reminding myself how subjective all this is. If romance is your bag and you don’t mind some darker stuff being thrown in to the mix, then this book could blow you away. And good luck to it.

 

Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

I thoroughly enjoyed Lucy Atkins’ previous novel ‘The Night Visitor’ and I was expecting more of the same. I wasn’t disappointed. Dee, a nanny in Oxford, is being interviewed by the police about the disappearance of a young girl Felicity who was in her care. During the interview, Dee’s viewpoint flashes back over time to tell us the whole story, in pieces, intersected with the continuation of the interview. So, we learn how Dee met Nick Law, Felicity’s father and how she came to be hired as the nanny. We learn about her growing relationship with Felicity who is ‘selectively mute’ due to a trauma following the death of her mother and we learn a lot about ‘secret Oxford’ – the stories and the architecture, the people who have lived and died there and the graveyards. But how did Felicity disappear and what happened to her? We don’t find this out until the very end, even though perhaps we can guess.

I enjoyed the way the book is structured which enables a gradual and fascinating reveal of Dee’s past – among other things – and I loved the telling of the relationships: Nick’s with his Danish wife Mariah, Dee with Linklater the ‘house historian’ and all the rest. Dee is quiet and intense but her internal life is rich and nuanced.

The ending was a bit of a disappointment for me and I missed some of the twistiness of Atkins’ previous novel but nevertheless the story is detailed and gripping and extremely well-written. She is an author expert at drawing the reader into another world and I love that.

Research in the Walled Gardens

This summer and autumn I’ve been exploring some walled gardens in Dorset, Somerset and Devon on my next research trail…

As usual, the book that I’m currently planning will be set in West Dorset and somewhere abroad, because I love to write about the West Country of the UK and I also love to travel and explore other cultures too. For the ‘abroad’ bit I’ve chosen Italy once again – yes, I know – but this time I plan to visit Puglia in the south, somewhere I’ve never been. Hopefully I’ll be going there next May and if I do, pandemic permitting, I’ll post some research pics on this blog soon after.

The West Dorset element of the next book is going to feature a walled garden – not just any old garden but an Arts & Crafts Walled garden as in the style of Gertrude Jekyll who pioneered the movement.

It was a reaction against Victorian neatness and order and so it features cascades of flowers planted in deep unruly beds, which is much more my sort of garden.

Rather than rows of bright annuals, the Arts & Crafts Garden tends to prefer the romantic cottage garden plants, wild flowers and perennials, such as lavender, hollyhocks, catmint and lupins, with lots of scented roses and herbs.

Structurally, the gardens are interesting because they often feature ‘rooms’ of planting, with one room leading into another by way of an archway cut into a yew hedge for example, or a wooden gate. There might be a ‘thinking garden’ for example – a place for reflection and writing – or a ‘hot garden’ with lots of flame coloured plants. Nice…

Ideally, the garden should harmonise and echo the house itself. William Morris’s famous ‘The Red House’ is an example of this.

It turns out that there are quite a few interesting walled gardens near where I live, mostly looked after by the inspirational National Trust, and it’s been fascinating to wander around them, take lots of photos and think about the garden I’m going to create in the book.

Gardening is both creative and healing.

The Arts & Crafts gardens were often walled and this was my starting point for the book. There’s something about a walled garden – it can be a place of secrecy, of entrapment, and of escape perhaps… Lots of ideas and time to get planning!

 

Late Summer Reading…

It’s time for some book reviews. These are some of the books I’ve been curling up with this summer…

Hello, Again by Isabelle Broom

Isabelle Broom specialises in taking her characters to wonderful locations and this novel is no exception. Pepper is an artist with little faith in herself; she is also dealing with a tragic loss. When she meets the hilarious Josephine, she gets the chance to travel for the first time in her life to Lisbon and then Barcelona on a trip designed to bring back memories of an old but never forgotten love affair of Josephine’s.

However, the trip throws up more than memories. Pepper herself finds someone unexpected, but like all of life’s journeys, things are never quite what they seem and are usually much more complicated… This novel is all about the journey and Pepper’s journey involves not only being able to deal with the loss her family has suffered and her difficult relationship with her mother, but also involves the need for her to stop blaming herself and to see herself as the talented artist she really is. It’s about dreams and adventures – and this book has lots of both.

The descriptions of Lisbon and Barcelona (and then Hamburg) as well as the home location of Aldeburgh, Suffolk are evocative and the characters are warm and easy to empathise with, especially Pepper and Josephine. In the book something beautiful comes from something broken – what’s not to love?

 

The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop

This dual narrative dual timeline story is set in 1970s London and Switzerland in 2014. London in the 1970s is a place where it was still hard for a woman to succeed in a man’s world, and this is indeed the case for feminist Sylvia, a journalist who is determined to create a successful career. But when she falls pregnant and has to marry Jim much earlier than planned, it becomes harder for her to have it all. Writing about women’s rights in Switzerland is how she gets her first big break as a writer – but what else happens to her in Switzerland? Her daughter Jess becomes determined to find out.

In Switzerland in 2014, Jess is battling with her own demons and trying to discover the truth. What she finds out is shocking, but it helps her to come to terms with her own life and her own frailties.

The book is packed full with interesting information about Switzerland and women’s rights and yet the author still maintains a fast pace and holds the reader’s interest well over both narratives, which are well-balanced although my primary empathy was with Sylvia and her fight with chauvinism. A good read which I found pleasingly different in its choice of both subject and setting.

 

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan

This novel is about the different experiences of motherhood as viewed primarily by Liz, a doctor, and Jess, a stay at home mother. It brilliantly captures the anxieties, the sense of guilt, and the emotional complexities of motherhood. But when Jess takes baby Betsey into hospital and Liz sees that the child has suffered a fractured skull which may or may not indicate suspicious circumstances, the story gets much darker as those suspicions threaten to break already fragile relationships.

Being a Sarah Vaughan novel, the story is not straightforward, and although one or two of the twists are guessable, there is much more that is not. And really, whether you guess what’s coming or not, it doesn’t matter, because that isn’t the main point of the book. This novel will reassure struggling mothers everywhere that being a mother is never easy and never simple whether you are alone or married, whether you have been a mother before or not, whether you have the support of friends, whether your life seems perfect, whether you choose to work or stay at home. Whatever. There are no easy answers, but ultimately, the author suggests that friendship, support and non-judgemental understanding will pull you through and that motherhood may be difficult, but it’s also intensely rewarding. It is a thought-provoking read and many of us have been there! Fast-paced, with warm and interesting characters, this psychological and intense emotional drama will have you fully absorbed from the off. Highly recommended.

 

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

I wasn’t sure if this would be my thing. I love comedy – but only when it’s mixed up with other stuff. Let me tell you – this is mixed up with other stuff and it’s also brilliantly funny. First – I loved the premis. Tiffy is broke, has just split up with her boyfriend and is looking for a cheap flat. Leon, a nurse in palliative care working night shifts is trying to finance his brother’s appeal and is looking for a way to make money from his one-bedroomed flat. He decided to offer up a flatshare – the only problem being that they would have to share a bed (at different times, naturally).

Leon has a girlfriend, Kay, who isn’t keen on the idea for obvious reasons, but she offers to show Tiffy the flat, see if she’s ‘suitable’ and well, Leon can stay at Kay’s at weekends, so there’s no reason for them ever to meet – is there? Leon and Tiffy agree to these terms, Tiffy moves in and their relationship (confined to post-it notes for a long time) begins.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say it’s a bit like one of those lovely old-fashioned love grows through letters stories – but with a contemporary twist. And there’s other stuff. The second thing I liked was the gorgeous, warm, funny, independent, and slightly goofy characters. They are so different, and yet… The third thing is the sub-plot of Leon’s brother’s appeal and oh yes, the other sub-plot of Tiffy’s relationship with her controlling and coercive ex-boyfriend – who refuses to let go of his undeniable hold on her.

Put all these things together in a book which is well-written, sparky and funny, with sharp dialogue and bucketloads of emotion and how can you go wrong? Beth O’Leary doesn’t. Very highly recommended.

 

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

Gayle is adept at combining humour and the poignant with a topical and thought-provoking subject and he does it again in this novel. Hubert Bird (what a fabulous name) is one of the Windrush generation who travelled to the UK on the promise of a better and richer life. As I’m sure was the case with many of his generation, he may have got the chance of a job (not easy) and made a meagre living, but those living conditions were poor, his prospects were bleak and some of the surprises in store were not pleasant ones. The cold and rainy British climate and the frequent racism he encounters being just two of them.

However, Hubert has a refreshing and positive view on life and when he meets Joyce, his life certainly improves. However, that was then (1950) and this is now (2019) and things have changed for the worse.

The story is written entirely in Hubert’s viewpoint and in dual narrative time from those two periods in Hubert’s life. We soon learn that although his relationship with Joyce brought Hubert happiness, he is now ‘one of the lonely people’ and it takes the intervention of his neighbour Ashleigh, with whom he forms an unlikely but rewarding friendship, for that to change.

This is a book about loneliness, but it’s also about friendship and the importance of community. It is about racism yes, but it is also about love. It’s sad but uplifting. A strong read that is highly recommended.