THE MERMAID AND MRS HANCOCK by Imogen Hermes Gowar

I wanted to love this as much as two of my book club friends did. I felt bad reviewing it in their presence at a get together, but it just did not make it for me. I am never that great with stories that have too much magic and unreal stuff going on in them. In this novel there are two mermaids, so there is a bit of uh-oh before starting. The story isn't about the mermaids per se, but they are central to the plot. Secondly it is way too long - 500 pages moving at a glacial pace, lots of nothing taking place. Lastly and most disappointing was the number of characters who feature heavily in the story at various places but just seem to disappear by the finish. There is also a violent scene towards the end that for me just did not seem to fit into the overall mood/tone of the book and I don't see the relevance of this in the plot or outcome of the story. 

Despite these criticisms, the quality of the writing is outstanding. As is the research gone into creating the city of London in the late eighteenth century. The writing is gorgeous, sumptuous, decadent, oozing with sensuality, colour. I loved reading about how people dressed, how they ate, comported themselves in their daily lives. The author has a wonderful way with words creating scenes of such vividness and immersion you can feel yourself there. 

Everyone is on the up, and the only way to get ahead is to be more beautiful, cunning, charming, richer, ruthless than the person next to you. Trying to make his way is widowed and childless merchant/boat owner Jonah Hancock. He finds himself the unwitting owner of a sea creature, and after some persuasion puts the thing on show, charging people to view. It becomes the talk of the town attracting a madame who decides to hire it off Jonah so she can use it in her houses to attract her wealthy and connected clientele. Part of this charade is a successful courtesan Angelica, well used to using her womanly wiles to seduce, charm, and be provided for. Until her benefactor dies, and she is cast aside by the family. This is her current situation, so she has to use all her skill and cunning to land herself another wealthy gent to keep her in the way she has become accustomed. 

Into all of this walks the unsuspecting, unworldly Jonah. His main objective is to protect his much reduced wealth brought on by the purchase of the mermaid, and yet he is impossibly attracted to the beautiful Angelica. What is he to do to retain her, his own magical mermaid. And what about that aged old prophecy that owning or possessing a mermaid can only bring one bad luck? 

THE SWIMMING POOL SEASON by Rose Tremain

I do like Rose Tremain. Somehow she is able to unzip and gently peel back the multi layered bits of her characters' psyches, revealing the complexities and moral quandaries faced by us mere humans in our daily lives and carry ons. This is an early novel of hers, published in 1985, although she had already published 9 previous novels by then plus a bunch of other stuff. In reading a novel of hers written long before the wonderful and immersive likes of Music and Silence, The Road Home, and Merviel, you can see how her writing has become more masterful, more enigmatic, her characters richer and more complex. 

In this novel, her observations are focussed on a small group of people at that ghastly stage of being known as middle age. With its associated crises. We reach 50, we just know that half our life has been done, and we better get a wriggle on to make the next 50 as good as it can be. Miriam and Larry have moved to the small community of Pomerac in the Dordogne region of France. Larry is ashamed at how his life has turned out, from being a successful swimming pool installer in England - a somewhat dubious unreliable way to get rich I would have thought - to losing everything and moving to France to lick his wounds and think about what to do next. Miriam is an artist, sort of of forced to accompany him, look after him but neglecting herself in the process. Gervaise lives next door to Larry and Miriam, a tough resourceful, enormously kind woman who farms the land, milks the cows. Her unpleasant husband with whom she has two sons, lives with her, as does her younger adorable lover Klaus. There is also a doctor, Herve; an elderly man Marechal; and a delightful Polish woman Nadia, also middle aged, who has recently put her husband Claude into care. All this sets up most of these characters to go through some form of mid life crisis, find a form of resolution, and move on. 

Miriam has an elderly mother, Leni, who has become very unwell, requiring Miriam to travel back to Oxford to look after her, manage the affairs there. Miriam decides this is the perfect time to resurrect her artist path, and possibly dally with a local bookseller who has always been in love with Leni. Larry in turn decides to build the most amazing swimming pool he can, wanting to surprise Miriam with it on her eventual return. At the same time a potential dalliance with the young bethrothed niece of Herve is enticing.  Nadia drowns her sorrows with vodka, Gervaise continues milking cows, agonising over her directionless son, her husband takes matters into his own hands, and steady lovely Klaus refuses to leave. 

Not a lot happens really, but the writing is mesmerizing in the ordinariness of these lives, the day to day goings-on, the shall I/shan't I decisions they make. It only felt dated because there are no cell phones, no internet, no social media. None of that stuff. Just letters, the phone, telegrams. But aside from the physical differences, this tale, its characters, the conundrums they face, the unfolding of it all is as perfect for now as it was 35 years ago. Just perfect. This has to be a sign of good writing, that it continues to hold relevance. 

ADDRESSED TO GRETA by Fiona Sussman

Does anybody still write letters? A rhetorical question of sorts, which makes the title Addressed to Greta rather intriguing. Even more so with a cover covered in enticing envelopes.  And anything with travel in it, particularly at this pandemic time, is even more enticing. Armchair travel - who would have thought this is something we all do together this year. 

Greta, bless her, has never travelled, never even been in an airplane, let alone have a passport. She is 39 years old, has worked for a pool supply shop in suburban Auckland for over 20 years, a family friend  giving  her the job when she was 17. Her delightful child spirit has been crushed completely over the years following the leaving of her father when she was just six years old. Poor Greta, in her 6 year old innocence sees his disappearance as her fault, and her mother, in her despair, rage and disappointment never seems to fix this. Now Greta has a safe life, mediocre, dull, few if any friends other than her pet chicken. She sees herself as unattractive with her nearly 6 ft large frame and size 43/11 feet. And then she meets Walter. She finds a friend, becomes a friend and blossoms. Until Walter dies. The light goes out again. 

Until Greta is contacted by Walter's solicitor. Walter has left a most special and surprising gift for Greta. And before Greta knows what has hit her, she is on a plane, off to New York, with instructions left by Walter as to what to do, where to go, as well as another letter with the next destination. He gives her the gift of a life, a life she never thought she would or could ever have. During the course of the weeks away she gets to know herself finally after all these years, coming to terms with her childhood, and where things went so terribly wrong. She is challenged at every turn by people, places, events; awed by the world around her and what it offers, the kindness those she meets show her. Her return to NZ is as a totally different person, but does she have the courage to keep on reinventing her life?

This novel really is a journey, and we are in it from the beginning. Endearing, funny, smart, brave, friendly - she has it all. Even her size 11 feet prove to be a bonus. As a fellow size 11 footer, I relate a 1000 percent to this - recent years have finally seen shops for women with large feet - pretty, feminine, elegant and stylish shoes. I told the women in the shop I go to - Willow Shoes - to get hold of this book, have a read and a laugh. And I hope author Fiona Sussman follows them up on it! 

SCRUBLANDS by Chris Hammer

  

Ooohh, yet another excellent Australian thriller writer, in a very similar vein to Jane Harper with a rural community living under never-ending relentless Australian drought conditions at its centre. The country town of Riversend lies somewhere between Melbourne and Sydney, could be any small insular town anywhere in Australia, in decay and decline as the lack of rain dries the land, forces people off the land and away, businesses close, schools shrink, pub closes. The cover photo has the words 'A Dead River, A Dying Town, A Killer's Secrets'. So good! 

Into this community enters veteran journalist Martin Scarsden, former war correspondent who has seen more than his fair share of awful things around the world. Bearing his own scars and demons he is despatched to Riversend to write an article on how the community is faring a year after a shocking massacre. On a Sunday a year before, a popular and charismatic priest opened fire on his parishioners, killing five before being killed himself. What on earth went wrong to make this completely shocking tragedy happen. Martin's task is not to look at why this happened, but to write about the town and its people now. As so often happens when a stranger arrives somewhere with a fresh set of eyes, an inquiring mind used to asking questions, analysing information, with a finely honed fifth sense, Martin finds himself deeply immersed in trying to solve what really did happen a year ago.

It is a most extraordinary story. We are meeting all the people who live in the community for the first time too, so are seeing everything and everyone through Martin's eyes. Nothing and no one is what they seem, and to follow Martin as he uncovers what and why is riveting. Throw in a bush fire for good measure, a love interest, bodies of missing backpackers, sad and demoralised locals, and this is a story with so much going on your head will be spinning. But somehow the author manages to balance all the different threads perfectly, keeping the tension high, the plot moving along, and the characters surprising till the end. 

This is the first in a series of what is now three novels featuring Martin Scarsden. The next two are on my reading radar, and perfect for the upcoming holiday season. 

AKIN by Emma Donoghue

It has taken me a while to get around to reading this, and I am so glad I finally did. Such a story teller this woman is, and so versatile in how she chooses her subjects, writes her stories. Who would have thought the writer of Room  would come up with this tale of an elderly man lumbered with having to take an 11 year old boy to the other side of the world with barely 24 hours notice. Noah is a feisty retired chemistry professor, making what he feels will be his last big overseas journey. He wants to go back to the city he was born in - Nice - to learn a little more about his parents, what made his father come to New York with him during the war when he was a baby, why his mother stayed, plus his famous photographer grandfather. This desire to delve into the past follows his discovery of a box of photos taken by his photographer mother during the war. On the eve of departure from New York he finds himself in the unwanted predicament of having to take his great nephew - Michael - with him in order to keep the boy out of a foster home and the bottomless vortex of social services.  

You immediately love Noah, even if he is a bit cantankerous, impatient and knows nothing about 11 year old boys. Michael is equally unhappy about having to be with Noah, a man he knows nothing about. But off the intrepid duo go, somehow knowing they are going to have to get along. Noah has a manic week long programme worked out for his stay in Nice in a bid to solve some of his family mysteries. He initially sees Michael as a hindrance but it becomes clear pretty early on that Michael is a brilliant asset with his close attachment to his phone - specifically maps and the web. A veritable feast of information at his fingertips. 

As well as being of practical help to each other, slowly and painfully, they unfold themselves to each other, begin to weave in and out of each other's emotional orbit as they find common ground, ways to join forces and be necessary, wanted to each other. It is wonderful how carefully and gently this process happens. They are both intensely likeable people - the elderly not entirely healthy old man, and the young, cocky, lonely and uncertain young lad. So much potential for a great relationship but will one of them completely stuff it up? 

As well as Noah, Michael and his phone, Nice is the other wonderful character in this novel. At a time when no one can really go anywhere, to be able to read about a place, learn something of its history, its culture, its landscape is the biggest encouragement to not give up on the dreams of being able to travel again. Plus add another place to the list of places to go before one dies. 

ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware

 

Named as the new Agatha Christie after publication of her first novel in 2015, Ruth Ware writes a fabulously suspenseful thriller novel. You will be turning those pages in a crazy frenzy to get to the end because you have no idea what is going to happen, who is going to die, who is going to save the day. And why!!! This is so good - always love a good thriller. 

Reading a bit about the author, she seems to specialise in plotting her novels in confined spaces where you can't get away - manor houses, cruise ships, locked down places. She doesn't seem to shy away at all from the Agatha Christie style, this latest closely aligned to And There Were None. The scary thing of course, is that no one knows who is going to be next to be the one. 

How claustrophobic and helpless would you feel stuck in a ski chalet having survived an avalanche, your furnicular out of action, no phone or internet coverage. And no power. Plus a killer on the loose somewhere indoors. 

Snoop is a wildly successful company that developed a unique music app - where do writers get the ideas for these things from - enabling you to listen into what any fellow user is listening to. Imagine how cool it would be to listen at the same time to whatever Lady Gaga is listening to - shared singalong! The excitement. How different and exciting your life is going to be knowing you and Lady Gaga are musical besties! Anyway, I digress. The nine current owners/employees plus ex-employee Liz have convened at the ski chalet high in the Swiss Alps for a week of skiing, bonding, apres ski, and as the plot unfolds, a whole lot more. 

Erin is the chalet housekeeper, and Danny is the cook - the hosts to the ten guests. The story is narrated in turn by Liz and Erin. It is immediately apparent that there are huge conflicts, smouldering resentments, unresolved fears, and a general feeling of impending doom. The freezing and immaculately white environment hiding its own dangers and obstacles does not help. As people die and/or disappear, the hope of rescue fading away, the pipes freezing over, who is going to make it out. Fortunately we know from page one that there are survivors as the story begins with a newspaper article. So no spoilers there. But who....

Many secrets, many resentments, many coming to terms with one's behaviour - everyone is a suspect. It's a cracker. Really look forward to the inevitable film or mini series. So much atmosphere you can create with snow and cold and evil. 

ME by Elton John

 

Fabulous, funny, fascinating. I can't think of three better words to describe this terrific page turner.  This is an absolute capture-fest of outrageous anecdotes, unexpected details and stories about all sorts of icons of the last 50 years in the music, fashion, celebrity industry. And of course of Elton himself. He did have a ghost writer assist with this book, which gets the barest acknowledgement - a little disappointing for me, as it would have taken hours and hours of work to put this exceptional life into the book it is. It must have been hilarious and overwhelming sitting with Elton as he talked about his life, told his stories, relishing every outrageous detail. Such a great job done by the writer, as it has been written almost as if Elton is in the room with the reader, jabbering away, laughing hysterically, jumping from one episode to the next. 

Elton's story has been well known for a long time, brought to life with the recent movie. But the book is so much better. So personal from his humble beginnings, his really quite dreadful parents, his love of music and exceptional talent from a very young age, his classical music training that provided the foundations to his music career, his early band days, the serendipitous set up with Bernie Taupin, the constant need to prove over and over again that he was bigger, better, more flamboyant, more crazy than anyone else. his discovery of cocaine, alcohol and the dreadful path these took him down - really he should be dead, his gradual discovery of his sexuality, his never ending search for love and approval - a hangover from his childhood,  his gradual acceptance that he really can like himself and that he is fully deserving of happiness and peace just like everyone else. Along the way of course, the craziness of the rock and roll lifestyle, the unreal world they all live in, the fame,  his famous friends and friendships, his enormous humanity. Freddie, Rod, Versace, Diana, Mick, Madonna, John and the other Beatles, and dozens of others weave in and out of this life. Not only is it a story of Elton, it is also a story of the music and musicians/bands that many of us grew up with, whose music is so familiar and memorable. 

It's a great read, a fantastic insight into the heart and mind of a hugely talented musician and composer whose songs and music will endure for a long time yet. 

THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM WOODLANDS NURSING HOME by Joanna Nell

What a delicious treat this has been to read. I would be very happy to end up in a place such as the Woodlands Nursing Home if there were such adorable characters as Harriet, Walter and Sister Bronwyn. Let's not forget Queenie the animal companion with her over active tail, or the mysterious resident or maybe staff member who puts dishwashing liquid in the outdoor fountain! This is a gentle and funny story of physically aged  people who simply do not want to become old people. The power of the human spirit is an amazing thing, and although it may make us slightly delusional - read sons and daughters thinking crazy old mum or dad - it would seem  that we really are in our best place when  we continue to deny our physical age and keep on living the best way we can. With some minor adjustments ....

89 year old Harriet has had some bad luck. Her sole survivor self sufficient way of life getting the better of her. She has found herself in Woodlands following a fall from a ladder during some of her routine home maintenance. Pretty fiesty is Harriet, terribly upset to be in this predicament, away from her home, her garden, her precious birds, her freedom. Walter, of a similar age, has found  himself in Woodlands thanks to his daughter who feels he is no longer capable of looking after himself. A professional driving instructor all his life, all he wants to do is get his hands on a motorised scooter but first he has to pass the test. 

These two unlikely personalities are the main characters in this very nice sounding, although perhaps overly micro managed nursing home. With a routine inspection coming up the already far-too-many rules are being rigorously enforced. So many rules, so much pettiness, it is hardly surprising that Harriet makes a bolt for it. But the escape is not just the physical escape. The residents are constantly looking for ways to play with the system they are living in, sneaking around the staff - all very boarding school -ish really, but totally charming, with the reader egging them on, wanting them to succeed! 

It's a great romp, and a reminder to us all, young and not so young, that every day is worth being alive for, every day there is at least one joyful and meaningful thing to be found and enjoyed. Being a nursing home for elderly people it is no surprise that death comes during the story, handled beautifully and lovingly by the writer. I recently read the author's earlier novel - The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village which I also loved, but this is better. More depth, a stronger story, more diverse characters with larger back stories, the same themes done extra well. Read it and enjoy it. 

A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES by Ian Rankin

 How I have got through life without reading a single Ian Rankin novel, never having the pleasure of meeting John Rebus, I just do not know. Because here is a hero I want to read more of! Detective John Rebus has been around in since 1987 for goodness sake. He has a whole Wikipedia page! And his own TV show! The man is a legend. And this is his 24th outing. Surely the man is ready to fully retire by now?

But no. The book opens with him moving from an upstairs flat to the ground floor flat, mainly due to his breathing difficulties related to his long standing lung condition. He is being helped by former colleague, now good friend DI Siobhan Clarke  - a regular character in the series.  Rebus gets a distressed phone call from his estranged daughter Samantha, also a regular character in the series. Samantha's husband and father of her child - Keith -  has gone missing, so Rebus, now determined it would seem to make up for bad fathering,  drops everything and drives up to the remote area of Scotland that Samantha lives in - remote because mobile phone coverage drops out from time to time, and as we all now know, this is an essential ingredient in any modern day thriller! 

A parallel plot is taking place back in the big smoke. A young wealthy man about town is found murdered in a back street. Things just don't seem to add up for Siobhan and her colleagues,  so an investigation gets underway. It soon becomes clear that there are strong links between this case - one of the friends of the young man is the daughter of the land owner of an estate. Keith had become obsessed with the WWII history of a portion of this land that had been an internment camp for Germans/Italians and others during the war. Are the death of young Salman bin Mahmoud and disappearance of Keith connected? 

This is very good. Nothing happens quickly, excellent detective work and evidence gathering abounds. Rebus tries very hard with his daughter, there is tension, some danger. The whole thing walks along at a steady and always riveting pace  if that is possible. The best type of thriller. So having gone from knowing nothing about this character or the other regulars, I now feel I have learnt a lot about interesting, real and much liked people. Will read more. 

ALL OUR SHIMMERING SKIES by Trent Dalton

 

Almost all reviews compare this second novel of Trent Dalton to the outstanding, charismatic, energetic and huge novel of Boy Swallows Universe. First novel - totally extraordinary story, characters, and writing, all held together by a thread, but what genius it delivers. Second novel - always a hard act to follow. How many authors do we have to wait years, decades even before they fearfully give us a second novel? Not Trent Dalton!!! Less than two years later this second glorious piece of writing from an ex journalist who will no doubt never write for a newspaper again. 

Boy is probably going to be my favourite read of 2020. So I have to say before going further that, for me, and after looking at a number of other reviews, this did not take my breath away in the same way, did not seem to have the same tightness of narration and dedicated sense of purpose, and possibly had too much going on it. But, the same sense of joy, hopefulness, adoration of young Molly as we felt for Eli, and the wonder of life and adults, both good and bad, seen through a child's eyes, their determination in the face of so many obstacles is just amazing. Exactly the sort of thing we need to be reading, enjoying and learning from in the world we are currently living in. If I had read this first, I would be 5*-ing it, but I didn't. What I do want to do though, is reread Boy just to get that magic.

Molly Hook is a girl version of Eli with just as much trauma, grief and complications to deal with as Eli did. She is 12, lives with her father and uncle - both serious wastes of space, reminding me of Eli's comment in Boy that most of the problems families have, and perpetuating them onto the next generation, is due to useless fathers. Molly's family is 100% this. She is known as the gravedigger girl, because she lives at the cemetery where, with her appalling father and uncle she digs graves. Her mother died of an illness when Molly was 6 or 7, and with no one to grieve with or parent her, she has developed her own internal coping mechanisms that can only come out of a child's brain and imagination. Life is tough for Molly. She has grown up believing her family has been cursed by an Aboriginal gold prospector, Longcoat Bob, following her grandfather supposedly stealing a lot of gold from him. Her mission in life is to find a way to lift this curse, so that her family, and herself can be happy again. Her mother always told her to keep looking up, looking to the sky, all the good things come from the sky, and so that is what Molly does - the sky is her inspiration and her saviour. 

Then WWII intervenes. Set in Darwin, I had no idea that this town as it was in 1942, was badly bombed by the Japanese, its strategic location seen as essential for the Japanese to disable. Along with dozens of others, Molly and her uncle's girlfriend Greta - also with her own tragic life story - flee Darwin into the Northern Territory bush, with nowhere to go but find Longcoat Bob. Along the way they pick up Yukio, a young Japanese pilot who deserted the cause of bombing Darwin to bits, deciding to take his chances by crash-landing his plane in the middle of nowhere. 

Naturally various adventures ensue, numerous near misses occur, there is magic and illusion, dreams, probably hallucinations due to dehydration and hunger, and as we go along a few other things. Things do fall from the sky, incongruous and odd, but nevertheless tell Molly that she is succeeding, and so she keeps going, even though it seems all the odds are stacking up against her, Greta and Yukio. By crikey that girl has some grit. 

It is magnificent, wonderful, expansive, frightening and amazing, even if it is slightly in the shadow of number 1, do not let that stop you from taking this on. 

INERTIA by Kim Cope Tait

 We still don't really like to talk about grief - our own - seeing it as a burden we put on those close to us, and often unable to explain or rationalise what is going on or how we may be feeling. Because we are uncomfortable in ourselves, we aren't that great at helping or listening to those around us with their grieving. And oh my goodness, grief is such a complicated beast, such an overwhelming and at times unbearable thing, stage of life we have to go through. As a funeral celebrant I have dealt with many situations of grief, read many books and personal accounts of what losing someone close and dear to you is like. And believe me, no one person's experience of it is like any other person's. It is quite an understatement and a cliche to say this is a personal experience, but it really is. Your grieving - the physical, emotional and mental manifestations of it is so different from anyone else's and needs to be relished, to be travelled through for it to have a meaning and a resolution of sorts. 

Which is what this novel is all about. A shocking boating accident takes the lives of three young teenage girls, the boat being driven by fellow teen Angela, and also on the boat is Jake, boyfriend of one of the girls. Young death is so much more shocking than elderly death. Those beautiful vibrant and promising lives stopped. Jake and Angela, never really friends while young, through this tragedy, forge a strange friendship, forced only because of the deaths, but also linked and united because of the deaths - they need each other. Angela has guilt on her side as the driver of boat even though she is completely blameless - a very common symptom of grief. Jake is devastated, completely bereft as he loses the only girl he knows he will ever love. Plus she will always only ever be that beautiful young thing, immortalised forever as that. And yet, through infrequent, random and awkward communications over the years, Jake and Angela  develop a very different type of closeness. 

Some years later, Jake is a teacher in a high school in Hawaii. A very good and popular teacher. In a strange turn of events Angela has managed to finally pay him a visit. And during this time, Jake realises that a second tragedy is looming, with close ties and similarities to what occurred when he was young. He does everything to avert the imminent events, and in the process comes to terms, finally, with the boating tragedy that changed his and Angela's lives so much. 

This is exquisitely written - the writer is also a poet. and she gives Jake the job of being an English teacher, allowing him to share with his students his own love of language and literature. I expect she too has gone through some serious grieving, so in tune with the depths of how grief and loss can affect oneself. There is a deep spiritual presence through out the story, but not a religious doctrine nature - more the spirituality we find within ourselves as we try to make sense of what has happened. Jake's move to Hawaii, for example, is part of this, his connection with the landscape, the environment aiding his healing. Other reviews of this book talk of angels, but I didn't really feel this, and to be honest did find the pivotal events in the last quarter of the story a little too fanciful for my own ever rational and pragmatic brain. However they do make sense, are not out of place in the context of the story or the character of Jake, and I concede it does work.  Best of all Jake's inertia is lifted, and he manages to find a way forward, life is for living, and part of that living is that we take our grief with us, it becomes a part of who we are and how we are. 

STORIES OF HOPE: FINDING INSPIRATION IN EVERDAY LIVES by Heather Morris

 The Tattooist of Auschswitz and Cilka's Journey have had  powerful impacts on everyone I know who has read them and all the millions of others out there around the world. The Tattooist in particular has run riot through shop tills, book clubs, families and friends, long library waiting lists. It has resonated so strongly because it is true, told straight from the horse's mouth, hours of interviews, talking, meeting, carefully peeling back the layers of Lale and Gita's lives. And with a love story at the centre of it, the book was guaranteed to be a winner. Cilka followed much the same formula but for me it did lack that authenticity and edge of the Tattooist, I suspect because there was no real personal contact with Cilka, much of the story based on research and anecdotal evidence. Despite this, what has been so compelling about these two books is that they are essentially true, and for many many people given them an outstanding insight into the appalling things that humans do to others, and yet somehow the will to survive, to do good to others, to hope, to just get through all this horror is what is so inspiring.  

So Heather Morris writing a book about hope, how we can find inspiration in the lives of those around us, about how she came to meet Lale - on the surface an ordinary elderly man recently widowed,  how she gradually eked out his story, her research into Lale and Gita's lives, the concentration camps and the lives of those in them, and yet still seem to have the power to forgive was definitely a book I was interested in reading. 

But... oh dear. It wasn't really about all that at all. Sure, there was quite a bit about Lale, Gita, Cilka, and three Jewish sisters who also survived the camps and who are the subject of her next book. But much of this information, aside from the three sisters, is actually at the back of each of the Tattooist and  Cilka. There is some new information, but not enough to justify a whole new book. What's more, much of all this is repeated several times in this book of 178 pages, almost as if she wrote one chapter without referring at all to the other chapters. Where was the editing? But it was written during covid lockdown, so maybe there was no one around to edit?

More frustrating and irrelevant were chapters on how to talk to and with elderly people, how to listen rather than hear, and how to communicate with children so that they feel valued and heard. It seems to me that those who have read one or both of the Tattooist or  Cilka are well on the way to being emotionally intelligent without the patronising tones of someone who has successfully managed to publish her ability to tell a story. Thirdly this book becomes, with its regular repetition of the three sisters who survive the camps, a relentless publicity drive for that next book. 

I found this such a disappointing book to read. There were some sections which were very very good, insightful, and interesting. But the overall tone was one of spin, regurgitating already published material and considerable self promotion. She is much better at telling other people's stories rather than her own. 

STATE HIGHWAY ONE by Sam Coley

 

A road trip! Who in New Zealand does not love that idea, especially now when we can't go anywhere else. Explore your own landscape, and with state highway running from the tip of the North Island at Cape Reinga to the bottom of the South Island at Bluff, and then taking in Stewart Island, why would you not?

Unless you are in a deep state of grief, trauma and despair. Which Alex and his twin sister Amy are, having lost their parents in a terrible road accident. The twins are young, about twenty, but already have complicated lives. Alex has lived in Dubai for the past two or three years, having fled NZ after a personal crisis which is carefully disclosed as the novel goes on. He works in a very high pressure role for an advertising/media sort of business. Lucky he is young in body and soul to cope with the stress and lifestyle. Amy meanwhile has been pretty directionless in her life, going to university, drifting. They grew up with what we would call an entitled existence - their parents very successful film producers, so away from home a lot, leaving the twins - what we call benign neglect parenting. Hardly surprising that Amy and Alex have a difficult relationship.

As expected the mode of travel is a pretty clapped out car that struggles with the distances and the roadways that the two of them take. Plus no money. Amy is the navigator, Alex the driver, the ultimate goal being the far side of Stewart Island, and only 3 weeks to do it in, as Alex has to be back in Dubai.  So much happens on this trip, so many sibling dramas  and wounds opened up. There is a near death crash, drugs, a typically ghastly Cook Strait ferry crossing, grim accommodations, but they make it. And Dubai? Well, that would be telling if Alex makes it back there. 

This is such a surprising novel, perhaps a little long, but there is lot of ground to cover. Like  most fiction set in New Zealand, the landscape, the sea, the mountains and hills are all heavily featured, characters in themselves, contributing to the mood of the twins, reflecting their inner turmoils and special sibling relationship. Revealing, intimate, insightful moving towards an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. More from this writer please. 

THE SINGLE LADIES OF THE JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE by Joanna Nell

Who wouldn't want to channel Helen Mirren at any age, let alone at 79 years old. Poor old  Peggy Smart is a million miles away from channeling anyone as half as amazing as Dame Helen, living in the Jacaranda Retirement Village, widowed, increasingly isolated from her grandchildren thanks to her ungrateful daughter in law. She has a massive crush on hottie Brian, somewhere in his eighties. And so do a number of other residents - competition.  But overall life in the village is pretty dull, every day the same as the other, her fellow residents equally uninspiring and dull, petty, and probably just as fed up with their lives as Peggy is.  Is this all there is?

And then one day a new arrival! Peggy's old school friend, her closest friend all those years ago, the glamorous, beautiful, stylish, fun-loving adventurous Angelina moves in. And Peggy is in her sights to give a new lease of life to. Peggy has mixed reactions to the Cinderella-fairy godmother scenario unfolding in front of her, but is very quickly under the spell of her exciting and lively friend, taking her back to a happier time. Oh the fun they have! It wouldn't be a good story if a few problems and conflicts didn't crop up along the way, bringing up old conflicts and pettiness from their younger days. 

This is funny, engaging, and a joy to read, making you feel good inside. No murders, no violence, no nastiness, blood, law breaking. It's a great story, with adorable characters, trying to live the best lives they can in their twilight years. Something we can all aim for, and perfect reading for these times when we really need to be connecting with others as much as we can. 

THE TALLY STICK by Carl Nixon

 It is 1978. A family - Mum, Dad, four children ranging in age from 13 to just a few months old - recently migrated to New Zealand from the UK, on a road trip prior to taking up a new job opportunity in Christchurch. Only problem is they never arrive in Christchurch to their new home, to the new job. Instead, like many visitors and new arrivals to NZ, the parents - more specifically the dad - has little appreciation for the tricky NZ climate or the even trickier NZ roads. There is an accident, because no one knows where they were, no one knows to look for them. Only a few family back in the UK to mourn. But four years later the body of one of the children is found, somewhere on the west coast of NZ, with his father's watch and a wooden stick with grooves notched in it - a tally stick.   So where was the boy all this time, and did any of the other family members survive? 

Back in England, the family left behind endeavour to pick up the pieces. An aunt makes regular trips to over the decades to New Zealand doing her own detective work. She almost gets there, almost, but for a fraction of a moment in time, she turns away never learning the complete truth. 

This sounds a pretty gruesome plot line, set against the wild and treacherous west coast region of NZ. And just like many NZ novels it is replete with violence, dark sinister overtones of the isolated rural life, maltreatment of children. But I have every faith in Carl Nixon as an author, having adored The Virgin and the Whale and read good reviews of some of his other books. And yes it is very very good. Excellent story line, great level of tension held throughout, very real characters, who evolve and change through time. Unexpected outcomes. Read it and support NZ writers.

HOME STRETCH by Graham Norton

 This man just keeps getting better in his story telling. Not only a wonderful interviewer and TV entertainer, but a terrific story teller. His careful drawing of his characters, his sympathy and love for their complexities and weaknesses set against the small town Irishness of it all. Such a wonderful treat to read and enjoy. Like his two previous novels, the plot moves between the past and present as the tragedies of life unfold, the mistakes and secrets of the past continuing to impact the lives of the present. 

This story begins in 1987 on the eve of the wedding of a young local couple. The whole town is excited about the wedding, new clothes bought, nails done, everything in readiness. Until a terrible car accident takes the lives of three young people, leaves a fourth in a wheelchair for life, and the lives of two others, Martin and Connor,  changed forever. The grief is palpable, the author having such a delicate touch as the tragedy of the accident flows through the community. 

As the driver of the car, Connor cannot live with the guilt and the finger pointing, so one day he simply disappears, putting his pub owning parents and sister Ellen through a different type of grief. Martin, the doctor's son, marries Ellen, sweeping her off her feet, and then it is as if his guilt becomes too much for him to deal with as the years of their marriage unfold. 

Meantime Connor makes his own life, but always carrying the burden of that terrible day. Until one day, some twenty years later, the past jumps out in front of him, forcing him to face up to what really went on that summer's day in 1987. 

Many cans of worms are opened, family secrets spilt out, people having to build some bridges and burn a few so as to rearrange the universe and allow forgiveness of the self and of each other. You can tell the author loves people, loves their differences, their faults, their quirks - the whole human being-ness of who we are. Placing his stories in small, almost insular communities allows all those human failings and foibles  to show, be magnified. But it is not too much that we can't see ourselves in these small town prejudices, ways of doing things, controls and unspoken rules. We have all been subject to these at some stage in our lives, and the freedom that comes from letting those rules be softened, bent or broken makes for a much better community and world for us to be in. 

HERMIT by S.R. White

How does one live as a hermit in an urbanised world,  CCTV cameras everywhere, social media connectedness? In this novel, another excellent Australian whodunnit, Nathan Whittler is the hermit. He has lived off grid, in a secretive location somewhere in the wild bushlands of Australia for fifteen years, disappearing from his family home. What is the story behind Nathan's unusual life,  and how is that he is found by the police leaning over the stabbed body of a grocery store owner? And how did he manage to live off grid all those years? 

Dana Russo is the lead detective in the case, and she also has her own demons that she is dealing with. We never learn the true nature of her trauma, although towards the end there are some revelations, setting the author up to write a second novel featuring this astute, sensitive and highly intelligent woman. 

Once Nathan is arrested, Dana has only 24 hours in which to get a confession out of him. She is not convinced that he is the murderer, and neither is the reader really, but it is her job to get Nathan on her side so as to peel back the story of what happened in the grocery store that night. The psychological interplay between Dana and Nathan, as she sits in the interview  room with him, acutely aware that she cannot push him too hard, is so well done, so carefully and strategically played out that the tension oozes out of the page. 

The supporting characters - the other detectives, the widow, the lawyer are also outstanding, with such diverse personalities, secrets to hide, secrets that are uncovered. It is a slow moving whodunnit, which takes a bit of getting used to in this fast paced novel world we live in. But it is never boring, and I found it very rewarding. I like the idea of there possibly being another Dana Russo novel sometime soon. 

REDHEAD BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD by Anne Tyler

I am not a prolific reader of Anne Tyler, but she always makes her way into the book club I belong to, so I feel bound to read when they turn up, just so I know what others like about her books. Without a doubt they are charming, joyful, meaningful small novels about very ordinary people in ordinary lives going through a crisis of sorts. Nothing monumental - tragic accidents, major illnesses, life crises. Just the types of situations that create bits of upset, make things a little off-kilter, then come out for the better. Her characters would never be in the cool kids group at school, never be social media influencers, never be the leaders or bosses in our world, They are quirky, often alone or lonely, vulnerable, then find out new things about themselves as a result of the challenges they are facing. 

In this latest Anne Tyler offering, which has now become one of my favourites, we meet Micah Mortimer, a man in his mid forties. He lives alone in a small flat in the basement of an apartment building, operating as a mobile tech repairer calling himself Tech Hermit. Despite his high geekness-factor, he is actually very sociable, likeable, personable. He has got used to living on his own, become somewhat OCD in the process with his tidiness/cleanliness habits, his pride in his excellent driving practices, his pleasure in his relationship with school teacher Cassie. And he has a supportive family - four sisters who lovingly tease him, but who also give him family to belong to. Everything is just peachy.

Until... Cassie has a housing crisis that Micah seems to be deaf to resulting in her breaking up with him and thus throwing his life into some disarray. Around the same time, a young man turns up on his doorstep claiming to be his son from a college fling some 18 years earlier. Two spanners thrown into the the tidy tool box of Micah's life. Being forced to rethink your life in your mid forties is just the tiniest bit challenging. 

It's not hard to be on team Micah. Despite his quirks, his minor eccentricities, he is very likeable, quite engaging, and just a nice decent normal sort of bloke. All the other characters are just as pleasant, ordinary too, dealing with various levels of conflict clashes with each other. I loved this, it's an adorable story, with satisfying outcomes. Micah finds hidden depths within himself, leading to vast improvements in his relationships, his living environment, even his driving is affected. It just shows that we all have it within us to be open to changes that could lead to improvements within ourselves. 

MISS BENSON'S BEETLE by Rachael Joyce

 

Pure reading pleasure. What a delightful and surprising story that left me with a satisfying internal glow and feeling... happy. So happy, it was a magic read. And that cover - so lifelike with its shiny and glossy golden beetles. 

You may recall that Rachael Joyce wrote The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, an outstanding story of an elderly man walking from the south of England to the north to visit his friend Queenie. Such a journey of perseverance, determination and steady as she goes. This novel is in exactly the same vein - an unlikely heroine, Margery Benson,  undertaking the most extraordinary journey from England to New Caledonia of all places in the years after WWII. And why? Looking for a golden beetle that Margery first learnt about from her father when she was a little girl. This novel is every bit as good as, if not better than Harold - I loved Margery, her pluck, her single-mindedness, her self belief. 

When the story begins, Margery is a spinster school teacher, stuck at a girl's school, down trodden, teased mercilessly by those awful girls. Life has not been good to Margery, losing her father and brothers in the wars. One day at school, things go terribly awry and she quite literally, runs away.  But what to do now? That golden beetle of her childhood looms enticingly, and in a fateful decision her life takes a dramatic turn. Nothing is going to get in her way, but she can't do it all on her own! In a hilarious situations vacant process she ends up with Miss Enid Pretty as her assistant. Enid is the complete opposite of Margery, a most unlikely companion for such an intrepid journey, plus she has her own secretive past which adds juicily to the plot. Their journey to New Caledonia is fantastic, as is their journey into the highlands of the island to hunt out the elusive beetle. 

Along the way a number of other characters and situations threaten to upset everything, but Margery marches doggedly on, nothing getting in her way. She and Enid are outstanding characters - as the reader you are constantly encouraging them, egging them on - you go girls. They are both shining examples of what can be done when you put your mind onto something, and especially at a time when women had set roles in society. It is just a fabulous book, such a great story, I loved it. One of my favourites of 2020. 

HUMAN KIND: A HOPEFUL HISTORY by Rutger Bregman

 

What a time in our history to be reading a book like this - an optimistic, positive and almost joyful look at how us, homo sapiens, are actually a pretty decent bunch of animals after all. In an airplane disaster we are much more likely to help those around us get out regardless of our own personal risk, rather than clamber out, trampling the elderly and small children in our haste to get to safety. Or how about a complete reality check on that book we all did at school, Lord of the Flies, our impressionable young minds tortured with how we are essentially brutal savages when left lawless. In this book, we read the true story of a small group of young Tongan school boys who took an afternoon off school to go fishing, ended up on a desert island, lost to the world for some years. An incredible story of survival, cooperation, and growing successfully from boys to young men. 

It is pretty clear that the author is a glass half full person, which makes this book such a treat to read. His research is extensive - some 50 pages of  notes, 8 pages of index. He analyses, dissects, discusses and provides a different viewpoint on a number of famous experiments. He takes umbrage with the flaws that were carefully hidden so as not to break the illusion perpetrated for centuries that us humans are barbaric, cruel, selfish, etc etc. He also looks at the surprising reports and anecdotal evidence that has emerged from WWI/WWII battlefields and destruction about how difficult it is for one human to actually bayonet or shoot another human to death because their bosses say so. Or how much civilian bombings by the Germans and the British actually increased levels of cooperation and solidarity amongst people. He tells a great story about twin brothers in South Africa who overcame their differences to ensure that Nelson Mandela did become president of South Africa, thus averting a civil war. 

What is also clear from this book, is how we are manipulated by publicity machines, propaganda experts, researchers who have to justify their experiments and funding by only telling part of the truth, glossing over important details.  It is an extremely revelatory book, written with enthusiasm and energy, and you can't help but get caught up in his positivity. What a way to be! It may all be idealistic, and he does address the issue more than once that there really are some very bad people out there, but their effect would be greatly reduced or nullified if we did have the courage to stand up and embrace our innate goodness - the more we cooperate, the better our society operates. Very worthwhile reading with chapters short enough that you cn read one a day, ponder on it, read another the next day. 

THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper

 

Oooh Jane Harper, another brilliant and tricky whodunnit from this prolific Australian writer. She proved with her previous novel The Lost Man that she doesn't need the likes of someone like Federal police agent Aaron Falk to be the primary crime solver. But like her previous novels the nature and the unrelenting strength of the Australian landscape, plus the small and closed community setting are dominant and to the fore in this novel too. We have had the farming community in the middle of a drought, the team of work colleagues lost in the bush, the cattle ranch in outback Queensland. She likes to move us around - now we are in a beach community on Tasmania, the wild coast close by, with the Survivors - a group of dramatic rock formations - standing guard over the beach and caves nearby. 

Kieran Elliott has returned to the community he grew up in with his wife Mia, also a local, and their baby Audrey. Kieran's parents still live here, his father increasingly demented, putting huge strain on his mother. He has returned to help his mother at this difficult time. The return dredges up a terrible time some 15 years prior when Kieran was in his late teens, Mia mid teens. Kieran makes a dreadful mistake that results in the death of two men  - his older brother Finn, and the father of his best friend, the Survivors being the only witnesses to what really happened. He has never got over the guilt of this tragedy, feeling 100% responsible for the deaths. Also going missing at the same time was a teenage girl,  Gabby, who was Mia's best friend.  The couple's return, predictably, causes waves in the town, many still holding Kieran responsible for the deaths, and with the disappearance of Gabby never being fully explained, feelings are running a little hot. 

Then the body of another young woman, Bronte, who lives in the town, washes up on the beach. It's a small community, someone must know something, and everyone is either under suspicion or is equally suspicious of everyone else. It doesn't help that Bronte was sharing a house with the girlfriend of Kieran's best friend, his father was seen talking to Bronte, his mother seems to be hiding something, Gabby's still grieving mother behaving most peculiarly, and so on.  Naturally what happened years before is dredged up, the local and out of town police involved. It is the caves and the Survivors that are central to the story. Their dangerous and ominous present never far away. Even the walk down a perilous set of steps to the beach conjures fear and danger, this combined with the dangers of an incoming tide to cave explorers never far from the reader's mind. 

It is a great read, never a dull moment. As in her other books, Jane Harper knows how to turn the tension handle, the secrets as they are exposed surprising, alarming, and as we know, with tragic outcomes. Kieran, as the prodigal guilt ridden son, is very credible, as are his parents, his old school friends Ash and Sean who never left the town. The 'living in a goldfish bowl' mentality of small town life is so well drawn, everyone knowing the other's business, the reader feels the claustrophobia, how hard it would be to escape all of this. I still think The Dry is the best of her  novels, but this one is certainly up there with a great story line, tension, and characters. 

THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR by Rose Carlyle

 So scary reading stories about sisters. Such an emotionally drenched relationship on a standard day, let alone when things go spectacularly off the footpath. I thought The Good Sister was spine tingling and mind blowing, but this one blew all that away with the intense co-dependent and intimate relationship between identical twin sisters at its center.  It's a complete cracker of a novel with every page having you almost breathless as the story unfolds, the twists, shifts, deceptions and lengths people go to. So good.

At it's heart is the impossible for us non-twin folks to understand bond between twins. Identical twins is the apex of the intimacy of sibling relationships - the secret language, means of communicating, swapping roles, It is almost freaky and of course lends itself perfectly for sinister doings. In this story the twins are Summer and Iris. They are very rare identical twins in that they are mirror images of each other. Summer has her organs on the usual side of the body - heart on the left, liver on the right, kidneys on the left and so on. Iris has hers the other way round. This would seem to be the only way of identifying one from the other. Even their mother and brother cannot tell them apart. 

The narration is from Iris' point of view. She has a serious inferiority complex over her relationship with her sister, although to the reader Iris appears to be ever bit as beautiful, smart and likeable as her sister.  She loves her sister dearly, but does not feel that she can ever be as fabulous and adored as Summer. Unlike Summer however, she has a deep love for the sea, and is also an extremely good sailor, a talent and passion that she inherited from her father. 

There are however some weird family issues going on. Their father left the family some years ago, remarried and had a second family. By chance Iris found out after the father's death that his $100 million fortune would only go to the first of his children to have a child. So the race is on, and with the oldest child in the second family now in her mid teens, pressure is mounting on Iris and Summer to marry and breed. Not so easy for Iris whose own marriage has recently ended -naturally she sees this failure as her own fault - so she is doing all she can to help Summer. 

But nothing is easy or straightforward in this murky world of blended families and twin hood. I can't say anymore or too much will be revealed! This novel is so tightly woven, with very well drawn and developed characters, red herrings and clues so discreetly planted that you wonder how on earth did you miss that. And I bet you look sidewise at every set of twins you meet from now on. 

MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY by Antonia Fraser

Poor young Marie Antoinette. She never stood a chance really. Life was never going to be easy for her. The daughter of the Austrian emperor with her mother Empress Theresa helming the ship, just like all daughters of any type of royalty anywhere, she was simply a pawn, a piece of property to be traded and used to bolster the fortunes and alliances of the Austro-Hungarian empire. At the age of 14 she was betrothed to the 15 year old dauphin of France - son of Louis V. There wasn't much hope for poor young Louis either, grossly ill-equipped to be king of France, lacking the qualities that made his father and grandfather successful monarchs. The marriage of the two, and symbolically the union of France and Austria, was never wanted or popular with the French, so Marie Antoinette was on the back foot from the start. 

This biography has been lauded as the definitive biography of Marie Antoinette, and by association the years leading up to the French Revolution, during and immediately after - a potted history of France at this time. And the life of the French court at Versailles - incredible really. What a terrible horrible ghastly environment to throw a 15 year old girl - pretty, bright and lively but with no outstanding talents or intellect. Her one job was to produce a male heir and if she was lucky a spare. There is quite a story behind that crucial mission, which did nothing to enhance her standing at court or in France. Not her fault at all. As for the phrase 'let them eat cake', she never said that. The campaign of hate started before she left Austria, and continued even after her death, and that of Louis. 

It is a huge book, chock full of information, facts, stories, history, all sorts of people, intrigue, drama  - far too much to read in large doses. But a slow read means better retention of the content. Watching the Sofia Coppola movie Marie Antoinette which was heavily based on this book is a wonderful visualisation of a life and time in history that was never going to end well.  

NECESSARY SECRETS by Greg McGee

It is really quite intriguing that the same two parents can produce children, bring them up the same way, and yet, they are so incredibly different and diverse from each other. Their lives take different paths, some good, some not so good. They get on with each other, they don't. It is completely and totally fascinating how families operate. Greg McGee has written a masterwork in this novel of three very different adult siblings over the course of a year, a different season for each.

Their father Den, who lives in the old family home in the gold mine of Herne Bay, is turning 70. Suffering from dementia he is still lucid enough to know that things are all down hill, and with his trusty gun at his side is considering ending it all. Oldest child Will, who now owns and works in the advertising agency started by his father, is not a nice person, immersing himself in drugs and seedy sex, recently separated from his wife. Ellie is the middle child, the only daughter, compassionate, kind, taking a break from her social work career to look after Den. In reality she has burnt out, her work with domestic violence victims taking its toll. Youngest child Stan left Auckland some years ago and is now living the pared back life on a commune-style farm in the Nelson area. There is also a foster boy, Jackson, and his sister Lila, taken under the wing of Ellie and living with her and Den.

What to do with Dad becoming increasingly disoriented and confused, what is Will to do with the business on the rocks, what is Ellie to do now that Den is going into care, what is Stan to do as he sees his idyllic life is not as satisfying as it once was. The characters are so real, so well developed, every few pages revealing a different facet of each, their relationships with each other, the dilemmas they try to navigate. And there is also a very good story, with many issues that most of us have had to face at some stage in our lives, especially regarding sibling stuff. 

I loved this - so insightful, it's not all fluff and roses, there is a murder - quite bloody as it happens, and the whole thing has the feel of complete real-ness. A modern retelling of how families can fall apart, and how there is still hope for improvement when everyone starts talking and communicating again. 

MELLONS BAY by Suzanne Singleton

 

Mellons Bay is a real suburb in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is named after an early settler to the area - William Mellon, an Irish migrant who came to New Zealand in 1849 as part of the Royal NZ Fencible Corps. He was a surveyor by profession, his skills and experience well sought after. He was eventually able to purchase a large piece of coastal land that came to be known as Mellons Bay.  The author is the great great grand daughter of William Mellon and his wife Harriet, so is very well placed to write this story of how her family came to New Zealand. 

It is a work of fiction rather than a family biography, and reads like a novel as a result. There are a number of histories about the Fencible settlement scheme, as well as journals and family anecdotes. The author has much more scope using all this information to create a work of fiction, and who knows how much of the finer detail is true. It doesn't matter really, as the author has written a very engaging, interesting and tension filled novel. It is William's story, and also the story of Harriet, the stunning redhead with a beautiful and haunting singing voice. From different sides of the tracks, William went out on a limb marrying Harriet, and in a time when contraception was non existent, Harriet had pregnancy after pregnancy. There are plenty of stresses and strains on the marriage, and set in the desperate economic times of mid-century Ireland, life is not at all easy. The decision to come to NZ is a good one, with many consequences for both Harriet and William. 

The author admits there is very little known about Harriet's life and she has used her imagination to build her character and life. What amazing women these early migrants to NZ were - so many children, husbands frequently absent, very basic houses.... the list goes on. The author brings all this to life so vividly, giving the reader a wonderful insight into daily life both in NZ and in Ireland. There are thousands and thousands of NZers who are descended from these early Irish/English/Scottish settlers, and we have a lot to be thankful for that they came here with their strength, determination, resilience, and hope for a better life. I really enjoyed this, and can see why it has sold very well not just in the local area, but also through out NZ, so many of us having grown up with stories of how we are only a few generations removed from being one of those migrants.   

CLOTHES AND OTHER THINGS THAT MATTER by Alexandra Shulman

 Not only has Alexandra Shulman been the longest serving editor of British Vogue,  (1992 to 2017), she is also an engaging writer, very relatable, and best of all surprisingly down-to-earth for someone having spent nearly half of her life in the lofty exclusive towers of Vogue. Refreshingly, she is no Anna Wintour - I can't imagine her wearing her sunglasses for any purpose other than sun protection. How normal! 

So it follows that I loved this memoir that Alexandra has written. She tells her stories around the clothes she wears and loves, how they are important or have significance in her life, in the various roles she plays as a daughter, a mother, a wife, a lover. How clothes shape the person she has become, how clothes define perceptions of power and leadership. The black dress, the bikini, the trench coat, the floral dress, the white shirt - all items that most women have in some form or other in their wardrobes. Best of all her body has never been what we perceive a perfect fashion model body to be - her's is a real woman's body, which connects 99% of the female population to her! And so making this such an accessible book to read - don't we all like to wear clothes that make us feel good, even if we have curves and bits and pieces in places we don't want.  Sure, she has had access to clothing and their designers that very very few of us could ever hope to even look at, let alone wear. And yet we can all find  a smart white shirt from the chain stores, or a pretty floral dress for summer. Her chapter on her bikini experience touches heavily on body image, how women are expected to look at all stages of life, how a random photo she took of herself in a bikini as a mature woman went unintentionally bonkers in the media. 

But this is not just all about her! Full of anecdotes about the fashion industry, behind the scenes at Vogue, how the magazine takes shape, the politics of fashion, feminism, the trends and issues the industry has faced over the 25 years she was at the helm. Fashion purists might find it all a bit trite, gossipy and dull, but for the average fashion punter this is a real gem. 

LADY IN WAITING by Anne Glenconnor

 

Reading this reminded me of that great movie of a few years ago about the backing singers to some of rock's biggest bands and stars. Lady Anne Glenconnor is a bit like those backing singers - always there, always reliable, essential for the show to go on, never in the limelight, loyal to a fault. What a woman and what a life. And she can tell a great story, bringing the royal family to life, normalising them as much as they can normalised. 

Her own life too is extraordinary. First born child and one of three daughters to the 5th Earl of Leicester, she is right up there in the English aristocracy system. Well educated, growing up in the loftiest of circles - her father was equerry to King George, her mother a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth, she grew up with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, always a part of each other's lives. She had her own life and freedom before marrying Colin Tennant, aka Lord Glenconnor. I don't know much about bi polar or manic behaviour, but I would say he definitely had some sort of mental health issue, yet she is the absolute soul of discretion and never makes such a bold suggestion. She is amazing for finding ways to live with this crazy man. She and Colin have five children together, with more tragedy than any parent should have to deal with. I was almost crying at parts in this book. 

Enough to say about that. Her life with Colin is a crazy rollercoaster, living between England and the beautiful island of Mustique in the Caribbean that he bought on a whim  and became the playground for the rich and famous. It is also where Princess Margaret met Roddy Llwellynn  when her own marriage was in trouble. 

She becomes lady in waiting to Princess Margaret, her faithful and loving companion to the end. We have heard lots of ghastly things about Princess Margaret since The Crown series began. They may all be true but Lady Glenconnor humanises her, makes us see some of the reasons why all these awful stories have become legendary. 

What makes this book such a joy to read is that Lady Glenconnor comes across as a very ordinary person born into into an exceptional and unusual environment. Her parents are very down to earth, sensible and human, passing all those qualities onto their daughter. She is however a woman of her time, not able to inherit the title, and so disposable to the most marriageable man, with all the rigours and rules that go with that.  I am not sure if many young women now would be the submissive, compliant lady expected of the time - witness Princess Diana who chose to step outside the magic circle and be her own person. She also questions the way parenting is done at these high echelons of society and the detrimental effect it can have on the children - parenting done by everyone other than the parents. 

I loved this. She has had a fabulous life, telling her story with ease, grace, style, and lots of surprises. 

CILKA'S JOURNEY by Heather Morris

 

A story of survival and what one does to keep on living. There is no choice really, other than to say yes and do as your are told. At times it must be so bad that you wish you were actually dead. But that deep seated fight to live just won't let you give up. So many harrowing stories, all based on some sort of fact, about the concentration camps of WWII set up and brutally, inhumanely, sadisitically managed by the Nazis. And Josef Stalin, that crazy Georgian whacko with his paranoia resulting in the infamous gulags of Siberia. We can't even begin to imagine the horror, relying on the imagination of writers and their sometimes good  luck to either be a survivor or be close to a survivor. 

Cilka is a survivor, and hopefully you read The Tattooist of Auschwitz by the same author before reading this. Cilka is in Auschwitz with the tattooist and others in that story. She features in the story, but is not a lead character. The author has now made this book all about her. The Tattooist is sold as fiction based on a true story, and for me, there was a real feel that it was biographical in the way it was written. The author had numerous meetings with the subject, and it felt real, authentic when I was reading it. She admits that for Cilka, very little was known about her life after the war - the one known fact being that she was sent to Siberia for so-called collaboration during her time in Auschwitz. The author has made Cilka's  story up based on the real stories of many, many other men and women also sent to Siberia like her. This, for me, made the book feel like a work of fiction, which made it difficult for me to relate to Cilka as a real person. 

What the book did have though was 26 pages at the back of commentary from the author sharing the information she did have about Cilka and her family, plus what happened when she was finally released from the gulag. There is also a history of the gulag programme and what it would have been like to live there from Owen Matthews, an expert in this area. These sections made the book more alive for me, and I read these before starting the novel. 

Despite me not engaging with it as much as I wanted to, this is an amazing story. Sentenced to Siberia for 15 years? No thank you very much, not then, not now. What a horrific existence. And yet the men and women sentenced somehow manage to survive and make a life. Terrible things happen, life is brutal, basic, mean, either freezing cold, or crazy hot. They are always hungry, tired, often ill. Cilka has a few strokes of luck which make her years in the gulag bearable. And it is a great story, uplifting, hopeful, interesting and challenged characters. I really did like it, but following on from The Tattooist, it just wasn't of quite the same calibre. 

CITY OF SPIES by Mara Timon

 

Best character in this WWII spy thriller amongst an overwhelming list of characters is the city of Lisbon. Rich with history, old buildings, tiny cafes and atmospheric restaurants, hills, steep streets, beautiful views and outlooks, poky alleyways, people of all nationalities herded together in what was, at the time, known as the City of Spies. Lisbon was the last city of any size at the westernmost point of Europe on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal was supposedly neutral during the war, although its president had definite Nazi leanings. It follows that the city was a melting pot of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, German, everything in between and many pretending to be what they weren't. A city of intrigue, depiction, danger. 

Into this comes a young English woman, employed by the SOE. She has been an operative in Paris, but with her cover blown, has had to flee Paris, making her way with a RAF airman she meets along the way, out of France. That is a great journey in itself, well worth its own novel. 

Once she gets to Lisbon, she runs into her godfather, and trusting him, takes on the identity of a young French widow - Solange - her job being to infiltrate local high society and see what she can find out. A most intrepid and courageous young woman, our hero does all of that and more. Plenty of traces of Nancy Wake and many other brave and fearless young women who belonged to the SOE, putting their lives at risk on a daily basis. 

It's a good read, but is probably a tad too long, with as I said, way too many characters. I was sort of expecting something along the lines of John Le Carre - there is a comment on the back cover that says 'Casablanca meets le Carre...', but it lacks the careful plotting, the subterfuge, understated action and complex characters of le Carre. Everything is too obvious in this, lots of action - there is never a spot of down time or waiting time - a hall mark of a suspense novel. And having been to Portugal I am staggered at the geographical range of territory Solange covers in her exploits. Fast paced, and delivers well on the pressure cooker atmosphere that a place like Lisbon would have been at this time - never knowing the true self of those around you. 

THE GOOD SISTER by Sally Hepworth

 

Fabulous gripping psychological thriller entwined around the unbreakable hold that twins have on each other. Fern and Rose - one tall, blond, beautiful, ethereal looking, with a sensory processing disorder and the other shorter, rounder, brunette, gifted with the smarts, who has taken on the role of looking out for her more fragile twin. Their childhood was difficult, with a volatile and unstable mother who moved them frequently  to avoid unpaid rents, accumulating bills. Never a father mentioned or seemingly even desired by the two girls... 

The story is told in alternate chapters by Fern and Rose, with much reflecting on their childhoods, their relationship with each other and their mercurial mother in the middle of it all. This will resonate with all readers who have siblings close in age. We all know how the same family event/discussion/activity/crisis is viewed and reported on completely differently by each person there. As if everyone is wearing a different pair of glasses. We are all biased towards one parent or the other, or one sibling more than the other, which also colours how the story is told. Rose is the twin who has the difficult and fraught relationship with her mother, endeavouring to protect Fern from their mother's moods. Fern is often bewildered, but is also easy going and trust worthy. So trustworthy that she is responsible for a terrible accident when the girls are about 12, that only Rose knows about. Like many siblings there are secrets, spoken and unspoken between the two girls. 

Now that they are in their late 20s, Fern is a librarian. Her world is small and safe, she likes order, routine, the not-too-noisy or visually unstimulating environment of the library. She takes everything and everyone at face value, talking to her colleagues and library users with that frankness and unselfconsciousness of small children who see and verbalise the world ever so slightly off kilter from the way adults do. She has a new friend in the library - Wally - who takes on greater significance in Fern's life when she realises that Rose, who is married to Owen is unable to have children. What is the greatest gift Fern can give to her sister who has always loved and looked after her? A baby!!!!!  What a good sister. Or is she... and how will Rose react to all this - a baby and the possibility that Fern will switch her allegiance and loyalties away from her to Wally.

Such a great story, with a plot going you-don't-know-where. How tentative the relationship with our brothers and sisters is, how twisted it can become. This is completely engrossing - perfect for filling in all that down time we are having foisted upon us. What a movie or series this would make. 

THE DRY by Jane Harper

 

What a cracker of a whodunnit this is, well, it is actually two whodunnits. Hundreds of reviews on line for this, so I won't get too carried away in plot description. This the author's first novel and first outing with Aaron Falk, your sort of everyman police/detective person, currently working in the fraud//forensic side of things. He has returned to his childhood home town of Kiewarra, a rural farming community suffering terribly from the drought that just will not go away. He left the town as a boy with his dad, under a cloud, and has now reluctantly returned for the funeral of his child hood friend Luke, wife Karen and son Billy. Ghastly. Naturally nothing is as it seems, and always looming over Aaron is the death of another school friend, Ellie, when they were teenagers, which the community largely blamed Aaron for, hence the leaving of town some years previously. 

Fantastic writing, just enough tension to keep you on edge, but never terrified, plenty of red herrings - it would seem there are any number of people who could have been responsible for the deaths of Luke and Ellie, including Luke and Ellie themselves. It is time for deeply buried secrets to come out, alibis to be tested, childhood haunts and friendships for Aaron to familiarise himself with. This will keep you reading much longer than you intend - with short chapters it is very easy to say to yourself just one more chapter, just one more. Better than binge watching Netflix - although would not be surprised at all to see this turned into a series. Well deserving of the many awards it has received. The author has now written three novels, apparently this is the best of the three.