Category Archives: Fiction

June 27, 2023 · 5:07 pm

The Curfew – T M Logan

The Curfew T M Logan

I heard about this on Jen Campbell’s booktube – in particular the audio version read by Richard Armitage. Surprisingly, it was available on Borrowbox.

Here’s the blurb …

Your son said he was home. WHY DID HE LIE?

It’s time to preorder the brand new up-all-night thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Richard and Judy pick The Holiday, now a major TV Drama.

I should have known something was wrong. I should have sensed it. Felt it in the air, like the build-up of pressure before a thunderstorm, that heavy, loaded calm.

The curfew
Andy and Laura are good parents. They tell their son Connor that he can go out with friends to celebrate completing his exams, but he must be home by midnight.

The lie
When Connor misses his curfew, it sets off a series of events that will change the lives of five families forever.

The truth?
Because five teenagers went into the woods that night, but only four came out. And telling the truth might mean losing everything…

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

First, T M Logan writes excellently about teenagers and being a parent of teenagers and how things change over time. Secondly, Richard Armitage is a fabulous narrator.

The plot is a little bit predictable, but how it all gets discovered is not. It’s quite the page turner – some of Andy’s actions (he’s the dad) annoyed me (quite a few of the things he did just made things worse).

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June 9, 2023 · 3:24 pm

Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano

Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano

This one was recommended by a friend whose taste is impeccable. I put myself in the queue at the library and it arrived surprisingly fast.

Here’s the blurb …

An emotionally layered and engrossing story of a family that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Vibrating with tenderness, Hello Beautiful is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

I thought this novel was beautifully written, warm and generous, but I think it could be edited – there were times where I felt like I was (essentially) reading the same thing.

A review

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June 8, 2023 · 2:41 pm

Still Life – A S Byatt

Still Life – A S Byatt

After listening to The Virgin in the Garden I was keen to continue this series and downloaded this one from Borrowbox.

Here’s the blurb …

From the author of The New York Times best seller Possession , comes a highly acclaimed novel which captures in brilliant detail the life of one extended English family-and illuminates the choices they must make between domesticity and ambition, life and art.

Stephanie Potter gives up a promising academic career to marry Daniel Orton, while her sister, Frederica, enters Cambridge, and her brother, Marcus, begins recovering from a nervous breakdown

This one is a bit sadder than the first – Byatt does write grief well, but it still has all the lovely art and literature references. And I love how we get snippets from several characters’s view points – Alexander, Stephanie, Marcus and, of course, Frederica.

I am looking forward to the next one Babel Tower, which is also on Borrowbox.

A review

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May 28, 2023 · 5:37 pm

The Virgin in the Garden – AS Byatt

The Virgin in the Garden – AS Byatt

I read this years ago, in the 90s after reading Possession. I loved this series, I can remember waiting for the final one to be released. And I keep hoping she might bring out one more novel (she was born in 1936, so that might be a bit hopeful on my part).

This novel popped up as an audio book on Borrowbox, so I have been listening to it for the past few weeks (it’s 23 ish hours long).

I loved it again this time around, and I have since downloaded the second one Still Life.

Here’s the Goodreads blurb (which really doesn’t do this novel justice)

A new play, the highlight of a magnificent local festival celebrating the coronation of Elizabeth II, brings together the young playwright and a brilliant but eccentric family whose personal dramas soon eclipse the entire production.

Here’s a summary at enotes.

This novel is fabulous, the characters, the setting, all the literary and art talk.

A review

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May 25, 2023 · 2:40 pm

The Sentence – Louise Erdrich

The Sentence – Louise Erdrich

My local library recommended this and I had read La Rose, so I thought I would give it a go.

Here’s the blurb …

The Sentence asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book.

A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls’ Day, but she simply won’t leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading with murderous attention, must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.

The Sentence begins on All Souls’ Day 2019 and ends on All Souls’ Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.

This book slowed me down (as you can see by the length between posts). It is set during 2020 and I enjoyed the Covid and BLM (Black Lives Matter) references. Ghost stories are not my thing (even if you can read them metaphorically). I loved all the book talk and the list of novels at the end. It is about story in all its different forms (and family).

A review

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May 8, 2023 · 9:10 pm

Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld

Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld

This came highly recommended by a friend and as I had just read and enjoyed You think it, I Will say It, I was keen to read this one.

Here’s the blurb …

A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Romantic Comedy is a hilarious, observant and deeply tender novel from New York Times–bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld.

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for “The Night Owls,” the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the “Danny Horst Rule,” poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder whether there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy; it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her…right?

With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.

This novel was great; it’s a well-written, witty, sophisticated romantic comedy.

A review

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May 4, 2023 · 6:24 pm

Return to Valetto – Dominc Smith

Return to Valetto – Dominc Smith

As I loved The Last Painting of Sara De Vos, I was very keen to read this one.

Here’s the blurb …

A captivating and moving new novel from the international bestselling author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos.

A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II.

On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village-and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II-centuries of earthquakes, landslides and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino – three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother – who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns.

But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harboured, gave the cottage to them in gratitude. Like so many threads of history, this revelation unravels a secret – a betrayal, a disappearance and an unspeakable act of violence – that has impacted Valetto across generations. Who will answer for the crimes of the past?

I enjoyed it, but not as much as The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos. It is very evocative of place, I could almost taste the food they were eating. Beautifully written, I really wanted everything to work out for Hugh, Elisa and Elisa’s mother.

A review

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May 1, 2023 · 6:21 pm

Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan

Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan

I had been tempted to read this book for a while and then it popped up on Borrowbox as an audio book. It’s very short – about two hours.

I loved it, I think it’s my favourite read (so far) for the year.

Here’s the blurb …

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.

This is a beautifully written story. It’s about family, community and kindness, but it is also about cruelty and judgement and meanness

A review

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April 24, 2023 · 6:04 pm

Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne

Around the world in Eighty Days – Jules Verne

I listened to a dramatised (the one with Toby Jones) version of this on a road trip. We selected it because it was the right length for both parts of the journey (there and back again).

Here’s the blurb

One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—whether train or elephant—overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. Phileas Fogg is a true gentleman (and possibly on the autism spectrum).

I did watch the TV series last year (the one with David Tennant), which I also really enjoyed.

A review

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April 23, 2023 · 8:02 am

The Romantic – William Boyd

The Romantic – William Boyd

I have read Sweet Caress, and Any Human Heart, so I think I can say I am a bit of a William Boyd fan. I was keen to get hold of this one when I saw it at Dymocks. It was even on the long list for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (and I do like historical fiction)

Here’s the blurb …

Set in the 19th century, The Romantic is the story of life itself. Following the roller-coaster fortunes of a man as he tries to negotiate the random stages, adventures and vicissitudes of his existence, from being a soldier to a pawnbroker, from being a jailbird to a gigolo to a diplomat – this is an intimate yet sweeping epic.

We follow the life of Cashel Greville Rosse, from his Irish early childhood, to suburban Oxford, the army (and of course Waterloo), India, Europe (where he meets Shelley and Byron), Africa (to find the source of the Nile), America (where he farms and starts a brewing company)A and back to Europe. It’s quite the ride.

I did enjoy this novel, but it’s not my favourite Boyd novel – that would be Any Human Heart. I felt this one was a bit long and could have done with some editing. It is, however, beautifully written and well-researched (without the research being obvious). Cashel was a sympathetic character and I wanted everything to work out for him.

A review.

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