THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY by Natalie Jenner

Purist Jane Austen fans may well hate this, seeing it as trivialising her works and her life. For the rest of us, now awash in movies and TV series of her seven novels - yes only seven -  this novel is a lovely and easy read, with more than enough Austen stuff to satisfy and encourage a return to her memorable and timeless books. The author of this novel is either a Jane Austen obsessive, with intimate knowledge of every one of these seven books, or she devoured numerous study guides. I would like to think the former is the case, as she clearly loves Jane Austen, her writings, and above all the complex and human characters Jane created. Pride and Prejudice and Emma feature more heavily than the others, but they all come in handy in the plot of this story, the characters of course being the main feature. 

The story takes place just after WWII ends, in the English village of Chawton, where Jane lived for a period of time. Her brother  owned Chawton House, with Jane living in a cottage on the estate for the last 8 years of her life. It was here that she wrote four of her seven novels.  Descendants of Edward Austen still live in the house, although the current owner is very elderly, with not too long on this earth left. Word slips out that the entire estate may well be sold off after his death, taking away with it any ongoing association, remembrance or acknowledgement of Jane. Understandably the locals get a little towy about this unexpected turn of events, banding together to find a way to turn the cottage into some sort of museum in Jane's honour - the Jane Austen Society. There is an element of truth to all this, as Chawton Cottage did in fact become a museum in 1947, with Chawton House becoming a writing centre too. 

The story in this novel is of course complete fiction, but wouldn't it be great if it was true. The characters who band together to form the society are still reeling from the last few years of war, with so much loss, sadness, unfulfilled dreams and hopes. The society gives them all a purpose, an opportunity for new friendships and relationships. It is a delight to see that these characters share many of the same foibles and dilemmas as Jane Austen's characters, with many references to Emma, Mr Knightely, Lizzie, Mr Darcy, Mr and Mrs Bennett, Anne Elliot, Elinor and Marianne and many others. It doesn't take much to feel enormous affection for the Austen characters, and likewise with the characters that Jenner creates. Naturally there is a happy ending. 

LAST DAYS IN OLD EUROPE by Richard Bassett

Another century, another time. Only 30-something years ago and look how the world has changed since. As there was no internet, no email, no social media, no immediate need to be in contact and communication with every single person you know, life worked differently. For The Times on the ground-in the thick of it reporter,  communication to and from London was either by phone - landline or telex. A slower time meant it took longer for news to get out, and filing a report either by phone or telex meant one had to be succinct, accurate, illustrative - no photos. And in daily dealings one had to be resourceful, charming, intuitive and courageous. And when all this is happening behind the Iron Curtain, the Cold War at its peak during the late 1980s, then the story telling is even more intriguing, remote and marvellous. 

So it was for Richard Bassett, when he took himself off to Trieste in the late 1970s, fresh out of Cambridge, and off to see the world. Fortuitously, he also took his french horn, of which he appears to have been quite accomplished. As a young man about town, with a curious mind, good manners, and a most pleasant demeanour, he has no trouble getting to know people, making friends, meeting interesting and extraordinary characters with stories and anecdotes of life perched on the border of Yugoslavia and Italy. There was still much dislike of Italy in this area, Yugoslavia had started its path to early 1990s imploding following the death of Tito. Bassett lives there for 3 years or so, landing himself a position as the lead french horn in a local orchestra with a punishing schedule of rehearsals and performances. Now we can see why Eastern Europe produces amazing orchestras and musicians. 

Following a return to London, where he approaches The Times to be become an on-the-ground reporter in Vienna - such a recruitment process wouldn't even get a look in today- he makes his way to Vienna which was the centre of the Austro-Hungarian empire till WWI came along, with the dissolution of the monarchy and rearrangement of borders, banishment of the royal family, the horrors of WWII and invasion by the Nazis, a brief rule by Russia after the war. Again he slips sublimely into the circles that matter most, meeting people such as the former Empress of the empire, at this time fabulous in her 90s. He captures the essence of this ancient and historical city, at the cross roads of East and West, works his contacts and acquaintances. An intriguing city and society to be living in. 

Next stop is Prague at the time of the Velvet Revolution, when the Communists were thrown out for good. The tidal wave of change throughout eastern Europe takes him to Warsaw and we read about how terribly the Poles have been treated by Germany, Russia, and others in between over the centuries. There is an element of danger and tension throughout this chapter, Bassett being under constant surveillance as he treads carefully through Romania and Bucharest; never too sure if he is in the right place while in Berlin. 

This is a great memoir of a time and way of doing things that no longer exists. We are reading so many books about Europe during WWII, stories of concentration camp survival. of the lives of ordinary people through out Europe during this time. But very little of life behind the Iron Curtain told by those who were there. I loved this, exactly the type of memoir I adore. My only criticism - more photos would have helped all the imaginations in my mind. 

HOW TO HEAR CLASSICAL MUSIC by Davinia Caddy

Adorable, divine, life enhancing, moving and timeless - classical music - hmm hmm. Love it. And here is a little book, beautifully designed and packaged that will expand your understanding and appreciation of classical music, whether you are a newbie to it, or a dedicated devotee. 

The author is an academic, and sometimes it gets a little pointy-headed, but generally what she has to say is very accessible and easily understood. She begins by asking if classical music is elitist, just for show, beyond the understanding and appreciation of people. Is sitting in an auditorium with hundreds of others in complete silence the best way to enjoy, appreciate classical music. You don't necessarily have to understand what you are hearing, you just have to be moved by it. She looks at different ways music is performed and staged, takes on the phenomenon of the 1980s music train Hooked on Classics, how the music of a classical concert is chosen to give a complete listening experience to the audience, the hideousness of elevator music and some perfect alternatives, the magic of opera, how technology can be harnessed to dazzle people with what classical music can do. 

So much in this little book to savour, enjoy and to get you thinking as well as hearing. 

BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE by Trent Dalton

Incredible piece of writing, I devoured this. Life through the eyes of Eli, a 13 year old boy, in a family about as dysfunctional and tortured as you could expect. The one abiding thing though that holds him together, that stops him taking the same dangerous, hopeless and failing path as the adults  around him is knowing that he is loved - by his drug addict mother, his heart broken and absent father, his adored step father, his ex-con babysitter, and his mute brother August. He makes an interesting observation that people end up on this hopeless downward spiral because they have terrible fathers - men who abuse them as children, violent to their mums, abandon their families, are drunks, addicts, generally hopeless, passing the burden to mothers, who often themselves have had bad fathers. It is a generalisation, yes, but in the eyes of a 13 year old boy, pretty insightful. 

Apparently the characters of Eli and August are based on the author and his brothers, and his own difficult childhood in Brisbane during the 1980s. Are we living inside Trent Daltons's head while reading this? Who cares, it's amazing regardless how much of it is real. 

Eli is a wonderful character - really just a little boy, trying to do the best he can in his troubled world. As the story unfolds the extent of the traumas that August and Eli have been through is told, we ooze sympathy for these two kids. Eli, it would seem, has mostly moved on, note the word mostly, not feeling sorry for himself and not giving up, to the next stage of making things better. His adult goal is to be a journalist, so he knows the importance of observation - watching and listening, and it is these great qualities that enable him to navigate all the drama around him. And there is plenty of it, revolving around local drug king Tytus Broz - cross him at your peril. 

At times horribly violent and brutal, but still magnificent and terrific. 

RECIPE FOR LIFE by Nicky Pellegrino

This is an early Nicky Pellegrino novel, 2010, and it is such a lovely piece of escapism, especially with the possibility of going to Italy so far off the programme for the foreseeable. Never mind! You can jump into this, starting off in the gloom and pressure cooker environment of London and ending up in the deliciousness of the south of Italy, with a bit of movement between the two as the story unfolds. It wouldn't be a Nicky-novel if food and the cooking of it wasn't a lead character, a bit of romance thrown in the pot, and some life lessons and wisdom added to the mix. 

Her formula works a treat, so why mess with it. Here we have Alice, early 20s, newly flatting with her oldest friend the beautiful exotic contrary Leila. Alice has a boyfriend, Charlie, but this is a bit rocky, and things get worse when Alice is raped in her bed, prompting the move to London and Leila's flat. Then she needs to find a job. A waitressing job in a local cafe turns into a move to an Italian restaurant owned by Tonino, a gifted chef and restaurateur who sees talent and potential in young Alice. He sends her to his home town in Italy for the summer to immerse herself in food - the growing and harvesting of, the cooking of and eating of. In one of those amazing coincidences that only happens in a novel such as this, Leila's mother has just bought a beautiful old home in the area, long neglected and abandoned save for the elderly Babetta and her husband Nunzio. 

Plenty of ups and downs happen over the course of the next few years in the lives of all the characters - Alice, Babetta, Nunzio, Tonino, his parents Rafaella and Ciro, brother Lucio, Leila and even Charlie. Food is at the centre of it all as is connections with one another,  as well as the growing and nurturing of new life, new loves, new enterprises - the recipe for life. All the characters could be real people, people you know or meet in your life,  likeable and relatable, dealing with problems and issues that the reader can easily relate to. And of course happy happy ending. 

APEIROGON by Colum McCann

I found this a completely immersive experience to read. It would not be everyone's cup of tea in its meandering, short chapter, snippet style of writing, with random and connected facts slipped in all over the place. But I found it beautiful to read, never really giving you time to dwell too much on one aspect before you are gently prised away to be challenged by another tiny facet or snippet, delicately and sometimes not so delicately, related to the whole. Being able to say at the end of a chapter I will get on and do whatever it is that needs doing takes on a whole new meaning with 1000 'chapters' ranging in size from 1 line to a few pages. 

An apeirogon is a geometry term for an infinitely sided and faceted polygon shape, and so the structure of the novel is a fine illustration of this concept. It also, to me, illustrates the appalling catastrophe of the Palestine-Israel conflict that has been going on for decades and decades now, with no end in sight. But as with everything in life, there is hope, and this is the key theme of the novel - we have it within ourselves as human beings to try to find a way out of this terrible mess that affects the whole world. 

The author has taken the real close friendship between a Palestian man whose 10 year old daughter was shot in the street by an Israeli soldier, and an Israeli man whose 14 year old daughter was killed in a suicide bomb. Just two of many hundreds of such tragedies that have occurred in this horribly conflicted land. The commonality of such 'incidents' never negates or dulls the terrible traumas these are to the families of those who are killed. And that is what this book is about - taking these two deaths as the central core of the relationship between the two men and the shape their lives take. 

At the same time, the reader learns about this Middle East conflict, going back to the time of Jesus' crucifixion, the Crusades, the Holocaust, the establishment of a Jewish homeland after WWII, the daily lives of both Israelis and Palestinians, the security processes and challenges, the humiliations. I am not sure if the author is trying to be fair and reasonable to both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, but I felt a strong bias in favour of the Palestinians. Not that this is a bad thing - I think it is pretty clear as we learn more that the Palestinians have been treated very badly by the creation of the state of Israel. But this is not the place to get into politics, and the author doesn't do this either, the book full of facts. 

I have read three other novels by this author and there are threads from these novels in this one, which just made me enjoy this one more. I loved the others, but this is in a different league from his other novels. Outstanding really. 

SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid

Poor Emira. All around her people are telling her what to do, expecting things of her, managing her life for her. This would appear to be nothing new to Emira, now 25, and very undecided about what she really does want to do. University has not really done it for her, unlike her peers who all seem to be well on the way to career success, financial stability. She is very luke warm about her transcribing job which brings in much needed cash, and which she is incidentally very good at. She lives in a flat with one of her best friends, social life is average, and things just seem a bit blah. The best thing going on in Emira's life is her 3 afternoon a week baby sitting job with the most adorable child, and for me the best character in the book, Briar Chamberlain. Emira is an amazing carer, her employer - Briar's mom Alix knows this. Which is why she calls Emira one night at about 11pm to take Briar out of the house for a short while, away from a bit of domestic drama. Emira, bless her, in her best going out gear from celebrating a girlfriend's birthday, goes to the house, collects Briar and they walk to the local grocery store. There Emira has a confrontation with a security guard who accuses her of kidnapping Briar. Oh, did I mention Emira is black? Now we have a story. The confrontation, which Emira handles extraordinarily well, ends but has been filmed by a young man. Who miraculously or otherwise, turns up on Emira's train not long after. And bizarrely has connections to Alix. All this is revealed as the story rolls along, all these people inlcuding her own girlfriends all seeming to be the experts in how Emira should manage her life. Alix is particularly annoying, and for me not a likeable character. She is an influencer, having figured out when she was in college she could live extremely well by scoring free stuff off absolutely anyone as long as she promoted it in some way, this taking off big time once social media exploded - Instagram and the likes. Since a move to Pittsburgh, her on line profile has taken a bit of a hit, and she is struggling to get herself out there again. Her employment of Emira is supposed to free up her time to get her 'career' back on the road. She ends up instead, plonking on the 'white saviour' hat, with her well intentioned but wretched nterference in Emira's life. Naturally it all comes unstuck, Emira's life ends up taking quite a different turn, better yes, but she may well have got there herself. The point is that there was never too much wrong with Emira's life. Sure, she needed some more money, and her 26th birthday is approaching when her free health insurance runs out, but these are not insurmountable obstacles; she is smart enough to get there. I found how everyone wanted a piece of this lovely, smart, kind young woman unnerving, annoying, definitley stalkerish, and way too interefering. Despite my misgivings about the story itself, this is really quite good. Easy to read, characters full of personality, very relevant to our times, leaving you with a lot to think about.