may-june 2018 books...

Visiting The Minotaur (Claire Williamson): Claire is a friend of our daughter Ruth and this book of poetry is the second book of hers that I’ve read (the previous one was ‘Soulwater Pool’). I really like her writing style and found myself reading every single poem out loud (to myself!). These poems explore emotionally raw subjects such as the suicide of a mother and brother; the nature of grief; issues from her own childhood… but also about raising her own children, about culture and about friendships. I’d have loved to have had some of the background to a few of the poems but, nevertheless, her words are powerful and engaging enough to speak for themselves… with the bull as a recurring motif. A beautiful, lyrical book.
Bring Up The Bodies (Hilary Mantel): To be truthful, I’m not normally a great lover of historical fiction, but I was rather blown away by this book. As you are probably already aware, it tells the story of Henry VIII’s “darkly glittering court” (to quote the book’s cover) from the perceived viewpoint of chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, at the time when rumours abounded of Anne Boleyn’s faithlessness and when the king had become captivated by Jane Seymour. Mantel’s ability to combine her eye for detail with well-researched historical context is remarkable… but she also has the incredible talent of being a brilliant story-teller and to make the reader feel we are part of each the lives of the book’s characters. Mantel is an extraordinary writer. I’ll now definitely have to read Wolf Hall (belatedly)!
La’s Orchestra Saves The World (Alexander McCall Smith): I do like McCall Smith as an author… he seems to be able to write in an almost effortless way. This novel, set on the eve of WW2, tells of a lonely, young widow who decides to bring villagers and men from the local Suffolk airbase together by forming an amateur orchestra (there’s also a love link to a Polish refugee). It’s a very easy read (I finished it in a day), but I found it all just a little too sugar-coated and altogether rather too quintessentially English for my liking (perseverance, patriotism, pots of tea and the power of music will show the way!).
Look To The Lady (Margery Allingham): First published in 1931 (our edition in 1960). More light summer reading (only my second ‘classic crime’ novel by Margery Allingham… and my second featuring ‘detective’ Albert Campion). I have to say I wasn’t very impressed. The first half of the book was intriguing (a well-to-do Suffolk family had guarded an irreplaceable chalice for hundreds of years on behalf of the crown; a band of devious criminals were attempting to steal it; Campion rescues the son of the well-to-do family from the streets of London…), but then, for me, it just descended into a rather silly and ridiculous farce (involving a crazy witch amongst other things). Despite some occasional clever and genuinely amusing passages, I thought the story petered out extremely disappointingly.
The Blackhouse (Peter May): I’d previously read (and very much enjoyed) two Peter May books and had subsequently received encouragement from various friends that I should definitely read his Lewis Trilogy of novels… this is book one. Lewis-born detective inspector is sent from Edinburgh to investigate a murder… old skeletons begin to surface. There’s something about crime mysteries and Scottish islands that appeals to me (eg. ‘Shetland’ tv series based on Anne Cleeves’ books)… baffling misdeeds in hauntingly beautiful, isolated places? Whatever it is, this book certainly delivered… something of a crime ‘thriller’, fascinating characters and a clever, intriguing storyline (with 100 pages to go, I couldn’t imagine how all – well, most – of the loose ends could be tied up). Can’t wait to read the second book.