At first I thought that I might not manage to read this book; the prologue describes the death of a new born baby and the first chapter concludes with a ten year old child "slipping into the water". Having respect for the Orange Prize I persevered. This novel dissects the lives of one family in a year that sees the death of two babies. It explores individual feelings and responses and also familial approaches to difficulties. The narrative begins in the present and looks back one year and then also flips back to eight years ago when things were good. The family members, adults and children, have credible voices and reasonable reactions and are described sympathetically.
This novel shows that although we have the ability, through ignorance, despair or fear, to mess up our lives, we also have the power to restore balance and create a better future.
A book that is character driven and appeals to me for its roundedness. The title refers to Quinn who has made his home on a motorway roundabout. Who is he and why is he there? Clare Morrall's fifth fascinating novel, The Roundabout man, criss-crosses time and space to describe a childhood of privilege and neglect and to suggest an adulthood of lost opportunities. The characters, mostly family members, are well drawn with their own back stories and serve to underline the special nature of Quinn's position. Amanda, the manager of the motorway service station is similarly a complex character; remote at first and then influential. The development of the novel is slow but steady and definitely satisfying.
A perfect book club read; there is so much to discuss. Start with the front cover!
Unlikely may be the key word in the title of Rachel Joyce's first book but the events, problems and feelings that unfold are highly probable. The Unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry follows the steps of recently retired Harold as he walks the length of Britain and reveals his hidden character. His wife Maureen is similarly revealed from her reflective spectator's position at home. Harold, without any necessities or comforts, walks from Devon to Cornwall; 627 miles in 87 days. Why? Well, that's the whole story. Along the way he meets a multitude of needy people but eventually continues his self-assessing journey on his own. This is a gentle, heart-warming read with substance and surprises - you really want to follow the journey to the end.
This debut novel by Madeline Tobert is about a remote island surrounded by sea and its inhabitants. The sea is so important to the story that the rythm of the writing has a rise and fall like the flow of the tide and the breaking of the waves.The Sea on our skin is about contrasts: sunshine and rain, traditional island life and the modern world, sadness and happiness, violence and gentleness, the ordinary and the unnnatural, suffering and joy and lots of pain and love. Following three generations of the Matete family, this is haunting storytelling that left me thinking about the people involved long after I had turned the last page.
Penelope Lively's new novelHow it all began starts with an event that alters the lives of several characters just as the beating of a butterfly's wings eventually results in a hurricane (James Gleick, Chaos 1998). This is a novel of manners, an exploration of relationships and circumstances with a set of character studies that fit my requirements for a good read.
Penelope Lively was made a Dame in the British New Year's Hounours list; her contribution to modern literature is impressive. As a new children's librarian in the 70's I read, purchased and promoted her wonderful stories; 1972 The Driftway, 1973 The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, 1974 The house in Norham Gardens, that combined history, fantasy and reality with such readability.
Her first adult novel,The Road to Lichfield, was published in 1977. I devoured it and have read every one of her books since then.
All the novels trace relationships amongst an assortment of characters. They also comment on memory, history and circumstance. But all are contextual and different. How it all beganreferences several current events: street crime, financial recession, migrants and also comments on personal preoccupations: aging, loss, memory. The random incident at the beginning of the novel obliquely affects seven lives and the narrative charts the consequences and choices made by the characters as they go about their normal day to day lives. Charlotte, the main character is sensitive, sympathetic, humourous and wise and her tone is gentle satire. I especially enjoyed Charlotte's comments on reading, story, worrying and endings that were part of her musings or conversations - all seamlessly included in the development of the novel. The review from the NY Times says this is "an elegant, witty work of fiction, deceptively simple, emotionally and intellectually penetrating, the kind of novel that brings a plot to satisfying closure but whose questions linger long afterward in the reader’s mind." Exactly!
I can recommend all the novels but my own favourite isThe Photograph. The children's books may seem a little old-fashioned now but I would still recommend them for fluent readers. They also make good read-alouds. Her best read aloud title, because it is amusing for parent readers, has to beThe voyage of QV66 about a boatload of animals in flooded Britain. Gentle satire again.
Click on the video clip to hear Carole Beu from the Women's Bookshop talk about How it all began.
Fiona Farrell's The Broken book defies classification; it is about walking but is not a travel book, it includes memories but it is not a biography, there are poems but it is not a poetry book. It is in fact all of these things and more.
The book consists of a Preamble, four essays on life and walking and an Epilogue but is interspered with 20 earthquake poems. The poems arrive at random times and interrupt the flow of the essays. This book shows how an earthquake can change everything in a moment. The poems comment on that immediacy while the essays are thoughtful, often meandering like walking but always connected and enjoyable.
I read 57 books in 2011, mostly fiction, but surprisingly I increased my non-fiction reading to 6 titles. I also read a lot of poetry but since I dipped into many books to find just the right poems I did not record the titles. I'm sure that the poems I read would add up to 2 books full so that I can claim consistency with my 2010 reading total of 59 books.
An assessment of various reading blogs shows that most include a list of titles read even though titles reviewed are fewer - look out for a new addition to this blog page this year.
Some of the poems I have really appreciated recently come from the following books:
The book that lead me into more poetry reading this past year is by Paula Green and Harry Ricketts and is well worth dipping into; I haven't yet managed all the suggested 99 ways into New Zealand poetry
