Loss (David Harsent): Again, Harsent has been part of my
daily, early morning reading routine. Of all the Harsent books I’ve read, I
found this the most difficult. It features a man sitting at a window through
the dead hours of the night… he’s afflicted by personal loss, but also
struggling with an awareness that he lives in a very troubled world. It’s
enthralling, complex, intense and haunting.
She Who Remains (Rene Karabash): Our next Storysmith bookgroup selection
(theme: books from obscure/under-represented countries – this one is from
Bulgaria) and has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026. High
in the Albabian Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun,
17-year-old Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin,
renouncing her womanhood to live as a man. Her decision sets off a brutal chain
of events, destroying her family (by tradition, it triggers a blood feud
between the families - one of Bekija’s family has to die. Bekija chooses her
brother, Sále – but he runs away and so her father is killed instead).
Crucially, it also separates her from her one true love (a woman named Dhana).
16 years later, as Bekija – now Matija – tells their story to a visiting
journalist, long-buried truths come to light, along with the realisation of all
that might have been. So much I could add (*no spoilers*)! The story is mainly told through the
voice of Bekija (who is illiterate) and the narrative mostly lacks punctuation
or conventional paragraphs. There were times when I found it quite confusing: it’s
often difficult to distinguish things when a stream of words or individual
words are simply divided by commas: Is that an observation, description or
spoken word?… and who was saying or thinking that? But it’s a very beautiful,
dark and haunting book (just 155 pages) – almost dreamlike in style.
Murder At The Beach (ed. Cecily
Gayford): Billed,
according to the book’s cover, as “Classic Mysteries for Summer”! This book
comprised 10 short stories by such distinguished authors as Margery Allingham,
Ellis Peters and Michael Innes and was very much as one might have anticipated
– except that the tales didn’t always involve murders or necessarily have any
direct connection with beaches… but hey! Enjoyable, straightforward, escapist
reading matter.
In The Blood (Andrew Motion): Another re-read – I previously read
this 15 years ago (first published 2006). I’m a great admirer of Motion’s
writing but, in re-reading this engaging memoir, found myself frequently
resenting (although not in an envious way) his middle-class upbringing and I
particularly found the hunting, horse-riding and prep/public school stuff hard
to take. Motion is 2-3 years younger than me and I couldn’t help contrasting
our respective life styles (he didn’t go on his first bus until he was 10, poor
chap!) and his detailed recollections compared with my own rather vague
memories of childhood (fortunately my lovely brother is able to fill in many of
the details!). Motion writes beautifully and, despite it being annoying at times
(to me, at least, in my anti-establishment way!), I thought it was an amusing,
honest, poignant and powerful book.
Hop, Step And Jump (Winifred Watson): Another Persephone book (first
published in 1939). On the face of it, this isn’t ‘my kind of novel’. For a
start, it’s a romance… but where this is perhaps a little different is that it’s
about a woman having a second chance, moving on and changing creatively
(apparently something of a common theme in some of Watson’s other novels). Jenny
is a working-class young woman in 1930s England who abandons her husband… (probably
best if I leave it at that: *no spoilers*!). It’s a book in which the author
explores sexual, family and class tensions in ways that might flout convention,
but which focus on a woman’s ability and determination to survive and flourish.
An enjoyable and intriguing read.
