We discussed this on 1st February at The Kino, Hawkhurst as we were going to see the film Never Let Me Go.
We all read the book really quickly. Good book but one for the girls again.
Never Let Me Go as a film was ok as we had read the book but we were not sure we would have understood some parts otherwise.
Reviews from Amazon
'So carefully and originally constructed that it's both hard to put down and profoundly affecting . . . Donoghue has crafted a narrative that moves as breathlessly as a thriller while convincingly portraying how a boy might believe a room is his whole world.' --Sunday Times Book of the Week
'The Man Booker shortlisted novel about an imprisoned child, with horrible intimations of the Fritzl case.' --The Times
'an extraordinarily plausible account of the deprivations of life in a domestic dungeon' --Guardian
'Beautifully written, this moving and ultimately uplifting novel is Donoghue's masterpiece.'
--Gay Community News
Product Description
Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don’t have the key.
Jack and Ma are prisoners.
‘This book will break your heart . . . It is the most vivid, radiant and beautiful expression of maternal love I have ever read’ Irish Times
‘Startlingly original and moving . . . Endearing and as utterly compelling as THE LOVELY BONES’ Scotsman
‘I’ve never read a more heart-burstingly, gut wrenchingly compassionate novel . . . As for sweet, bright, funny Jack, I wanted to scoop him up out of the novel and never let him go’ Daily Mail
‘This is a truly remarkable novel. It presents an utterly unique way to talk about love, all the while giving us a fresh, expansive eye on the world in which we live’ New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Born in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish writer who lives in Canada. Her fiction includes includes the bestselling Slammerkin.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
61 Hours - Lee Child
We discussed this on 9th December at The King William, Benenden. This was our Christmas meal but we had to take our own crackers as we did not want to set Christmas menu. Food was good but again the service poor.
Pippa's book. The boys will enjoy this one too. It is set in very heavy snow which was great to read as we were too engulfed in snow at the time. Good choice for the weather.
Amazon.co.uk Review
There was some excitement recently at the offices of Transworld, publisher of the British thriller writer Lee Child, who has so successful conquered America with his Jack Reacher adventures. Child usually produces only one novel featuring his tough ex-army action hero each year, but the latest book, 61 Hours, will be followed up with a speedily issued second new Reacher-related novel this autumn. 61 Hours -- admirers will, of course, have to have both. Sales of such Child novels as Gone Tomorrow have exceed 74,000 copies – and he continues his upwards ascent, singularly unimpeded. But the new book has Jack Reacher in the most extreme danger of his career.
South Dakota is shivering under an icy winter, and the roads are particularly treacherous. As a snow storm gathers force, the tyres of a bus skid and there is a crash, stranding the bus and its passengers. And if you think that this atmospheric set-up sounds like the perfect introduction to a Jack Reacher novel, how right you are: Lee Child's granite-tough hero has hitched a ride in the back of the bus, and finds himself (like the other passengers -- a particularly ill assorted group) facing the problems of surviving in sub-arctic weather. Needless to say, Jack is able to draw on more resources in such a situation than many of his fellow passengers. Some 20 miles away from the crash is a small town, where a key witness is being guarded against sinister individuals bent on murder. And another elements in this combustible mix includes an omniscient figure who is to have a crucial role in the dramatic events that follow -- even though this figure is many miles from the frigid landscape that Jack Reacher is marooned in.
All of this is typically suspenseful fare (in fact, the real surprise would be if it weren’t -- Child is one of the most reliable writers on the face of the planet). And there’s an ending quite unlike any other Jack Reacher novel you have read. Lee Child aficionados need not hesitate. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
The heartstopping new thriller starring today's most admired action hero, the gallant and enigmatic loner Jack Reacher, by No.1 bestselling author Lee Child.
Product Description
GET READY FOR THE MOST EXCITING COUNT-DOWN OF YOUR LIFE
HOUR SIXTY-ONE
Icy winter in South Dakota. A bus skids and crashes in a gathering storm. On the back seat: Jack Reacher, hitching a ride to nowhere. A life without baggage has many advantages. And disadvantages too, like facing the arctic cold without a coat.
HOUR THIRTY-ONE
A small town is threatened by sinister forces. One brave woman is standing up for justice.If she’s going to live to testify, she’ll need help from a man like Reacher.Because there’s a killercoming for her.
HOUR ZERO
Has Reacher finally met his match? He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn’t like people who put it to wrongs.
From the Back Cover
GET READY FOR THE MOST EXCITING COUNTDOWN OF YOUR LIFE
HOUR SIXTY-ONE
Icy winter in South Dakota.
A bus skids and crashes in a gathering storm. On the back seat: Jack Reacher, hitching a ride to nowhere.
HOUR THIRTY-ONE
One brave woman is standing up for justice.
If she’s going to live to testify, she’ll need help from a man like Reacher. Because there’s a killer coming for her.
HOUR ZERO
Has Reacher finally met his match?
He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn’t like people who put it to wrongs.
About the Author
Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. His novels consistently achieve the number one slot in hardback and paperback on bestsellers lists on both sides of the Atlantic, and are translated into over forty languages. His debut novel, Killing Floor, was written after he was made redundant from his television job in Manchester, and introduced his much-admired maverick hero, the former military cop Jack Reacher. Born in Coventry, he now lives in America.
Pippa's book. The boys will enjoy this one too. It is set in very heavy snow which was great to read as we were too engulfed in snow at the time. Good choice for the weather.
Amazon.co.uk Review
There was some excitement recently at the offices of Transworld, publisher of the British thriller writer Lee Child, who has so successful conquered America with his Jack Reacher adventures. Child usually produces only one novel featuring his tough ex-army action hero each year, but the latest book, 61 Hours, will be followed up with a speedily issued second new Reacher-related novel this autumn. 61 Hours -- admirers will, of course, have to have both. Sales of such Child novels as Gone Tomorrow have exceed 74,000 copies – and he continues his upwards ascent, singularly unimpeded. But the new book has Jack Reacher in the most extreme danger of his career.
South Dakota is shivering under an icy winter, and the roads are particularly treacherous. As a snow storm gathers force, the tyres of a bus skid and there is a crash, stranding the bus and its passengers. And if you think that this atmospheric set-up sounds like the perfect introduction to a Jack Reacher novel, how right you are: Lee Child's granite-tough hero has hitched a ride in the back of the bus, and finds himself (like the other passengers -- a particularly ill assorted group) facing the problems of surviving in sub-arctic weather. Needless to say, Jack is able to draw on more resources in such a situation than many of his fellow passengers. Some 20 miles away from the crash is a small town, where a key witness is being guarded against sinister individuals bent on murder. And another elements in this combustible mix includes an omniscient figure who is to have a crucial role in the dramatic events that follow -- even though this figure is many miles from the frigid landscape that Jack Reacher is marooned in.
All of this is typically suspenseful fare (in fact, the real surprise would be if it weren’t -- Child is one of the most reliable writers on the face of the planet). And there’s an ending quite unlike any other Jack Reacher novel you have read. Lee Child aficionados need not hesitate. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
The heartstopping new thriller starring today's most admired action hero, the gallant and enigmatic loner Jack Reacher, by No.1 bestselling author Lee Child.
Product Description
GET READY FOR THE MOST EXCITING COUNT-DOWN OF YOUR LIFE
HOUR SIXTY-ONE
Icy winter in South Dakota. A bus skids and crashes in a gathering storm. On the back seat: Jack Reacher, hitching a ride to nowhere. A life without baggage has many advantages. And disadvantages too, like facing the arctic cold without a coat.
HOUR THIRTY-ONE
A small town is threatened by sinister forces. One brave woman is standing up for justice.If she’s going to live to testify, she’ll need help from a man like Reacher.Because there’s a killercoming for her.
HOUR ZERO
Has Reacher finally met his match? He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn’t like people who put it to wrongs.
From the Back Cover
GET READY FOR THE MOST EXCITING COUNTDOWN OF YOUR LIFE
HOUR SIXTY-ONE
Icy winter in South Dakota.
A bus skids and crashes in a gathering storm. On the back seat: Jack Reacher, hitching a ride to nowhere.
HOUR THIRTY-ONE
One brave woman is standing up for justice.
If she’s going to live to testify, she’ll need help from a man like Reacher. Because there’s a killer coming for her.
HOUR ZERO
Has Reacher finally met his match?
He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn’t like people who put it to wrongs.
About the Author
Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. His novels consistently achieve the number one slot in hardback and paperback on bestsellers lists on both sides of the Atlantic, and are translated into over forty languages. His debut novel, Killing Floor, was written after he was made redundant from his television job in Manchester, and introduced his much-admired maverick hero, the former military cop Jack Reacher. Born in Coventry, he now lives in America.
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
This was Sarah's book. I loved it but then I like the medical bits. Am a fan of Casualty too.
Product Description from Amazon
Marion and Shiva Stone, born in a mission hospital in Ethiopia in the 1950s, are twin sons of an illicit union between an Indian nun and British doctor. Bound by birth but with widely different temperaments they grow up together, in a country on the brink of revolution, until a betrayal splits them apart. But fate has not finished with them – they will be brought together once more, in the sterile surroundings of a hospital theatre.
From the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, this is both a richly visceral epic and a riveting family story.
From the Inside Flap
Transporting the reader from the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, Cutting for Stone is a thrilling epic of conjoined twins, doctors and patients, temptation and redemption, home and exile – and a riveting family story, irresistibly charged with strange happenings, humour and pathos, that grabs you from its harrowing opening and never lets go. Marion and Shiva Stone, half-Indian and half-British, are twin sons of a secret union at ‘Missing’, a hospital run by nuns in Addis Ababa. Born in extraordinary circumstances, the brothers couldn’t be more different – Marion, introspective and eager to please, Shiva, a loner with fewer scruples and a photographic memory – but are bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared passion for medicine, and cricket. They come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. The Italians have left behind in Addis cappuccino machines and Campari umbrellas. But they've also left a nation crippled by poverty, hunger, and authoritarian rule: Ethiopia in the 1960s and 1970s is both bolstered and trapped by its emperor, Haile Selassie. Yet it will be love, not politics – their passion for the same woman – that tears the twins apart and forces Marion to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as a surgical intern at an underfunded, overcrowded hospital.When the past catches up with him, in a stunning twist, Marion must trust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world. Cutting for Stone is both an unforgettable story of lives cut in half and a gripping evocation of the power, intimacy, danger and curious beauty of the art of medicine. A masterly debut novel, it is visceral in its power, heartbreaking in its tenderness. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From the Back Cover
‘This huge, rich, ambitious tapestry of a novel makes insomnia a pleasure … tremendous’ The Times
‘Verghese’s achievement is to make the reader feel there really is something at stake – birth, love, death, war, loyalty’ Guardian:
Marion and Shiva Stone, born in a mission hospital in Ethiopia in the 1950s, are twin sons of an illicit union between an Indian nun and British doctor. Bound by birth but with widely different temperaments they grow up together, in a country on the brink of revolution, until a betrayal splits them apart. But fate has not finished with them – they will be brought together once more, in the sterile surroundings of a hospital theatre.
From the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, this is both a richly visceral epic and a riveting family story.
‘A sweeping saga of family life, love, betrayal and redemption…driven by the author’s natural storytelling ability as well as the charm and believability of his characters’ Psychologies
‘This is a big book and, along with Naipaul and Waugh and Dickens, there is also a strong flavour of William Boyd …In Verghese’s lovely book, there is a heart to be uncovered’Independent
About the Author
Born and brought up of Indian parents in Ethiopia, Abraham Verghese qualified as a doctor in Madras and is currently professor of medicine at Stanford University, California. He is the author of My Own Country, an NBCC finalist made into a film directed by Mira Nair, and The Tennis Partner, a New York Times Notable Book. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, Granta, New York Times Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
Product Description from Amazon
Marion and Shiva Stone, born in a mission hospital in Ethiopia in the 1950s, are twin sons of an illicit union between an Indian nun and British doctor. Bound by birth but with widely different temperaments they grow up together, in a country on the brink of revolution, until a betrayal splits them apart. But fate has not finished with them – they will be brought together once more, in the sterile surroundings of a hospital theatre.
From the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, this is both a richly visceral epic and a riveting family story.
From the Inside Flap
Transporting the reader from the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, Cutting for Stone is a thrilling epic of conjoined twins, doctors and patients, temptation and redemption, home and exile – and a riveting family story, irresistibly charged with strange happenings, humour and pathos, that grabs you from its harrowing opening and never lets go. Marion and Shiva Stone, half-Indian and half-British, are twin sons of a secret union at ‘Missing’, a hospital run by nuns in Addis Ababa. Born in extraordinary circumstances, the brothers couldn’t be more different – Marion, introspective and eager to please, Shiva, a loner with fewer scruples and a photographic memory – but are bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared passion for medicine, and cricket. They come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. The Italians have left behind in Addis cappuccino machines and Campari umbrellas. But they've also left a nation crippled by poverty, hunger, and authoritarian rule: Ethiopia in the 1960s and 1970s is both bolstered and trapped by its emperor, Haile Selassie. Yet it will be love, not politics – their passion for the same woman – that tears the twins apart and forces Marion to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as a surgical intern at an underfunded, overcrowded hospital.When the past catches up with him, in a stunning twist, Marion must trust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world. Cutting for Stone is both an unforgettable story of lives cut in half and a gripping evocation of the power, intimacy, danger and curious beauty of the art of medicine. A masterly debut novel, it is visceral in its power, heartbreaking in its tenderness. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From the Back Cover
‘This huge, rich, ambitious tapestry of a novel makes insomnia a pleasure … tremendous’ The Times
‘Verghese’s achievement is to make the reader feel there really is something at stake – birth, love, death, war, loyalty’ Guardian:
Marion and Shiva Stone, born in a mission hospital in Ethiopia in the 1950s, are twin sons of an illicit union between an Indian nun and British doctor. Bound by birth but with widely different temperaments they grow up together, in a country on the brink of revolution, until a betrayal splits them apart. But fate has not finished with them – they will be brought together once more, in the sterile surroundings of a hospital theatre.
From the 1940s to the present, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for the Yemen, from a tiny operating theatre in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx, this is both a richly visceral epic and a riveting family story.
‘A sweeping saga of family life, love, betrayal and redemption…driven by the author’s natural storytelling ability as well as the charm and believability of his characters’ Psychologies
‘This is a big book and, along with Naipaul and Waugh and Dickens, there is also a strong flavour of William Boyd …In Verghese’s lovely book, there is a heart to be uncovered’Independent
About the Author
Born and brought up of Indian parents in Ethiopia, Abraham Verghese qualified as a doctor in Madras and is currently professor of medicine at Stanford University, California. He is the author of My Own Country, an NBCC finalist made into a film directed by Mira Nair, and The Tennis Partner, a New York Times Notable Book. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, Granta, New York Times Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
Mudbound - Hilary Jordan
Discussed on 7th October 2010. We ate and discussed at The Swan in Wittersham. Can't remember much about the meal, maybe the others will be able to help me out here.
This was my book and recommended by a bed and breakfast guest. We liked it but did not quite believe some of it. Some rather unpleasant characters.
Reviews from Amazon
This is storytelling at the height of its powers: the ache of wrongs not yet made right, the fierce attendance of history made as real as rain, as true as this minute. Hillary Jordan writes with the force of a Delta storm --Barbara Kingsolver
Blatant injustice is heartbreakingly brought to life by Hillary Jordan in her debut novel...A tale that has echoes of the novels of John Steinbeck and Alice Walker...The varied viewpoints allow for an intimate insight into each character's thoughts and motivations that enriches the novel --Glasgow Herald
Book Description
When I think of the farm, I think of mud…There was no defeating it. The mud coated everything. I dreamed in brown.
Product Description
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry’s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud.
As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura’s plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
From the Back Cover
WINNER OF THE BELLWETHER PRIZE FOR FICTION
‘A page-turning read’ Observer
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry’s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud.
As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura’s plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
‘Jordan builds the tension slowly and meticulously, so that when the shocking denouement arrives, it is both inevitable and devastating…A compelling tale’ Glasgow Herald
About the Author
Hillary Jordan grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and received her MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Mudbound is her first novel. She lives in Tivoli, New York.
This was my book and recommended by a bed and breakfast guest. We liked it but did not quite believe some of it. Some rather unpleasant characters.
Reviews from Amazon
This is storytelling at the height of its powers: the ache of wrongs not yet made right, the fierce attendance of history made as real as rain, as true as this minute. Hillary Jordan writes with the force of a Delta storm --Barbara Kingsolver
Blatant injustice is heartbreakingly brought to life by Hillary Jordan in her debut novel...A tale that has echoes of the novels of John Steinbeck and Alice Walker...The varied viewpoints allow for an intimate insight into each character's thoughts and motivations that enriches the novel --Glasgow Herald
Book Description
When I think of the farm, I think of mud…There was no defeating it. The mud coated everything. I dreamed in brown.
Product Description
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry’s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud.
As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura’s plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
From the Back Cover
WINNER OF THE BELLWETHER PRIZE FOR FICTION
‘A page-turning read’ Observer
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry’s love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud.
As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura’s plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
‘Jordan builds the tension slowly and meticulously, so that when the shocking denouement arrives, it is both inevitable and devastating…A compelling tale’ Glasgow Herald
About the Author
Hillary Jordan grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and received her MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Mudbound is her first novel. She lives in Tivoli, New York.
The Very Thought of You - Rosie Alison
Discussed on 16th September. We went to The Raja in Biddenden. Food was good but was it just that we were four girls with no man in tow that they did not look after us very well. Good thing Kath has a loud voice.
Kath's Book. Great read but one for the girls.
Product Description
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010. A haunting coming-of-age novel with a love story at its heart, for anyone who has ever loved L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between. England, 31st August 1939: the world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unravelling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair, with unforeseen consequences. A story of longing, loss and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation, The Very Thought of You is not just a love story but a story about love.
From the Publisher
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010
Shortlisted for Amazon's Rising Stars award 2009
Longlisted for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year 2010
Longlisted for Le Prince Maurice Prize for Literary Love Stories 2010
About the Author
Born in 1964, Rosie Alison read English at Keble College, Oxford. She spent over ten years working in television, as a producer-director of arts documentaries (her director credits include The South Bank Show, Omnibus and Grand Designs). Currently Head of Development at Heyday Films in the UK the production company of the Harry Potter film series she has recently co-produced two feature films (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Is There Anybody There?).
Kath's Book. Great read but one for the girls.
Product Description
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010. A haunting coming-of-age novel with a love story at its heart, for anyone who has ever loved L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between. England, 31st August 1939: the world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unravelling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair, with unforeseen consequences. A story of longing, loss and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation, The Very Thought of You is not just a love story but a story about love.
From the Publisher
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010
Shortlisted for Amazon's Rising Stars award 2009
Longlisted for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year 2010
Longlisted for Le Prince Maurice Prize for Literary Love Stories 2010
About the Author
Born in 1964, Rosie Alison read English at Keble College, Oxford. She spent over ten years working in television, as a producer-director of arts documentaries (her director credits include The South Bank Show, Omnibus and Grand Designs). Currently Head of Development at Heyday Films in the UK the production company of the Harry Potter film series she has recently co-produced two feature films (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Is There Anybody There?).
Twisted Wing - Ruth Newman
Reviewed on 28th July 2010. We ate at The Castle, Bodiam, East Sussex. Food was reasonable but I would not go back as there was an odd atmosphere. Service not that great. What is it with service in our pubs?
Pippa'a book. A murder mystery book. A real whodunnit? Pippa always guesses correctly from the first hint.
Amazon Reviews
'I absolutely loved TWISTED WING. It was so gripping, and I was both desperate and reluctant to get to the end. I found it scary, tantalisingly unpredictable and very, very hard to put down'
-- SOPHIE HANNAH
'A gruesome series of murders at Ariel College, Cambridge, leaves everyone baffled. Psychiatrist Matthew Denison thinks the culprit's identity is known by troubled student Olivia Corscadden - but can he get her to reveal all? Horror fans will love this thriller. 4 stars' --Star Magazine
Product Description
Cambridge is home to 18,000 students, 1,500 academics - and one serial killer. The discovery of the headless, mutilated body of a female undergraduate in her bloodsoaked college room heralds the start of a series of bizarre and extremely violent murders. For the students of Ariel College, a siege mentality has developed following weeks of media interest in the 'Cambridge Butcher'. University life has become not about surviving their exams, but surviving full stop. Forensic psychiatrist Matthew Denison is sure that his traumatised patient, student Olivia Coscadden, has the killer's identity locked up in her memory. That within the little clique she belonged to lurks someone with a grudge. Someone who has yet to finish settling their score. In order to get to the truth, Denison must delve into the secrets hidden within Olivia's subconscious. Secrets that are about to lead him into a nightmare beyond imagining.
About the Author
In her early thirties, Ruth Newman lives in Cambridge where she works as a Web editor for the University Business School. TWISTED WING is her first novel.
Pippa'a book. A murder mystery book. A real whodunnit? Pippa always guesses correctly from the first hint.
Amazon Reviews
'I absolutely loved TWISTED WING. It was so gripping, and I was both desperate and reluctant to get to the end. I found it scary, tantalisingly unpredictable and very, very hard to put down'
-- SOPHIE HANNAH
'A gruesome series of murders at Ariel College, Cambridge, leaves everyone baffled. Psychiatrist Matthew Denison thinks the culprit's identity is known by troubled student Olivia Corscadden - but can he get her to reveal all? Horror fans will love this thriller. 4 stars' --Star Magazine
Product Description
Cambridge is home to 18,000 students, 1,500 academics - and one serial killer. The discovery of the headless, mutilated body of a female undergraduate in her bloodsoaked college room heralds the start of a series of bizarre and extremely violent murders. For the students of Ariel College, a siege mentality has developed following weeks of media interest in the 'Cambridge Butcher'. University life has become not about surviving their exams, but surviving full stop. Forensic psychiatrist Matthew Denison is sure that his traumatised patient, student Olivia Coscadden, has the killer's identity locked up in her memory. That within the little clique she belonged to lurks someone with a grudge. Someone who has yet to finish settling their score. In order to get to the truth, Denison must delve into the secrets hidden within Olivia's subconscious. Secrets that are about to lead him into a nightmare beyond imagining.
About the Author
In her early thirties, Ruth Newman lives in Cambridge where she works as a Web editor for the University Business School. TWISTED WING is her first novel.
Come Thou Tortoise -Jessica Grant
Reviewed on 3rd June 2010. We ate at The Great House in Hawkhurst, Kent. Good meal but not a lot of it. We like our food.
Sarah's book. I love this book but it is an unusual read and a bit whacky.
We are going through an interesting selection of books at the moment. Keep it up girls.
Review from Amazon
'Extraordinary, original and simultaneously both deep and lightheartedly charming . . . Jessica Grant has an engaging, wry and forthright style, which echoes Don DeLillo, Lewis Carroll and Kurt Vonnegut Jr . . . A delight' GLOBE & MAIL-- 'Jessica Grant's debut novel is one of those rare books that manage to entwine humour in this case, even outright silliness with poignant insight and a captivating plot.' QUILL & QUIRE -- --*
Product Description
When Audrey Flowers learns that her father has been hit on the head by a Christmas tree and is in a coma, she knows what she must do: leave Winifred her tortoise behind, fly home, make a moving speech at his bedside and wait for him to wake up. However things don't quite work out that way. Instead, Audrey finds herself embarking on an extraordinary journey: one full of puzzlement and pain- but one that could also light up her life. Jesica Grant's debut novel is a warm-hearted, funny and wise book that unfolds in a world that is not quite our own; a place where you might just live forever if you can avoid the dangers (cliffs when you are lonely, staircases when you are tired), and where the truth can be hidden in the armrest of your airline seat.
Sarah's book. I love this book but it is an unusual read and a bit whacky.
We are going through an interesting selection of books at the moment. Keep it up girls.
Review from Amazon
'Extraordinary, original and simultaneously both deep and lightheartedly charming . . . Jessica Grant has an engaging, wry and forthright style, which echoes Don DeLillo, Lewis Carroll and Kurt Vonnegut Jr . . . A delight' GLOBE & MAIL-- 'Jessica Grant's debut novel is one of those rare books that manage to entwine humour in this case, even outright silliness with poignant insight and a captivating plot.' QUILL & QUIRE -- --*
Product Description
When Audrey Flowers learns that her father has been hit on the head by a Christmas tree and is in a coma, she knows what she must do: leave Winifred her tortoise behind, fly home, make a moving speech at his bedside and wait for him to wake up. However things don't quite work out that way. Instead, Audrey finds herself embarking on an extraordinary journey: one full of puzzlement and pain- but one that could also light up her life. Jesica Grant's debut novel is a warm-hearted, funny and wise book that unfolds in a world that is not quite our own; a place where you might just live forever if you can avoid the dangers (cliffs when you are lonely, staircases when you are tired), and where the truth can be hidden in the armrest of your airline seat.
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
My Book. I don't think I would have finished it if it was now for the fact that we were going to review it. But I did and it was not too bad.
Product Description by Amazon
'Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything - even die' - Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan. In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. "Three Cups of Tea" is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools - especially for girls - in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.
About the Author
Greg Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute, and he spends several months each year building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He lives in Montana with his wife and two children. David Oliver Relin is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Product Description by Amazon
'Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything - even die' - Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan. In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. "Three Cups of Tea" is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools - especially for girls - in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.
About the Author
Greg Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute, and he spends several months each year building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He lives in Montana with his wife and two children. David Oliver Relin is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
In the Place of Fallen Leaves - Tim Pears
We discussed this book on 15th February 2010
Kath's book. Another unusual story. We talked about this a lot.
Review From Amazon
'Highly atmospheric ... It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' Jeremy Paxman, Independent 'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising ... This novel is something completely new and exciting ... Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A. S. Byatt 'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' Barbara Trapido 'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
Product Description
This overwhelmingly hot summer everything seems to be slowing down in the tiny Devon village where Alison lives, as if the sun is pouring hot glue over it. 'This idn't nothin',' says Alison's grandmother, recalling a drought when the earth swallowed lambs, and the summer after the war when people got electric shocks off each other. But Alison knows her grandmother's memory is lying: this is far worse. She feels that time has stopped just as she wants to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of summer, time is creeping towards her, and closing in around the valley.
From the Publisher
reviews
WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE AND THE RUTH HADDEN AWARD
'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising…This novel is something completely new and exciting…Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A.S. BYATT, Daily Telegraph
'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' BARBARA TRAPIDO
'Reminiscent of Faulkner and Garcia Marquez, the writing retains a very English scale…A triumph…Sensitive, heart-warming and hallucinatory' MAX RODENBECK, Financial Times
'It is most beautifully written, hypnotic as Proust, very funny and full of love that doesn't cloy…It is a dreamy, easy, wonderful read - and quite remarkable for a first novel' JANE GARDAM
'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
'Highly atmospheric…It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' JEREMY PAXMAN, Independent
'By turns elegiac, moving and extremely funny, Pears is also unafraid to muscle up his formidable powers of Proustian evocation. An extraordinarily promising debut' Time Out
'Long in abeyance, the English rural novel flourishes again in Tim Pears' story of a 13-year-old Devon farmgirl's confrontation with sex, death and the weather… an unusually welll-made novel which, through being less English than one would expect, produces a very English kind of magic' GILES FODEN, Independent on Sunday
'It is tricky coming across a novel you want to praise to the skies. Cool dispassionate criticism is much safer. But Tim Pears' "In The Place of Fallen Leaves" is more perfect than any first novel deserves to be' JENNIFER SELWAY, Observer
'An engaging, well-written and original novel. Pears could write about doing the washing up and make it interesting' PHILIP HENSHER, Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is the hottest summer of the twentieth century. In a faraway Devon village hidden in a valley, the world has stopped turning and time is slipping backward. 'This idn't nothing' Alison's grandmother tells her, recalling the electric summer after the war when the earth swallowed lambs. But Alison knows her memory is lying: this is far worse. She thinks that time has stopped altogether, when all she wants is to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of that summer, time is creeping towards her, closing in around the valley. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Tim Pears is the author of Wake Up (Bloomsbury, 2002), In a Land of Plenty (adapted into a major BBC TV series in 2001) and A Revolution of the Sun. He lives in Oxford with his wife and children.
Kath's book. Another unusual story. We talked about this a lot.
Review From Amazon
'Highly atmospheric ... It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' Jeremy Paxman, Independent 'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising ... This novel is something completely new and exciting ... Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A. S. Byatt 'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' Barbara Trapido 'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
Product Description
This overwhelmingly hot summer everything seems to be slowing down in the tiny Devon village where Alison lives, as if the sun is pouring hot glue over it. 'This idn't nothin',' says Alison's grandmother, recalling a drought when the earth swallowed lambs, and the summer after the war when people got electric shocks off each other. But Alison knows her grandmother's memory is lying: this is far worse. She feels that time has stopped just as she wants to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of summer, time is creeping towards her, and closing in around the valley.
From the Publisher
reviews
WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE AND THE RUTH HADDEN AWARD
'Constantly delightful and constantly surprising…This novel is something completely new and exciting…Comic and wry and elegiac and shrewd and thoughtful all at once. Please read it' A.S. BYATT, Daily Telegraph
'The writing is so genuine. Nothing is posturing or romanticised. The characters really touched me. There's so much talent here' BARBARA TRAPIDO
'Reminiscent of Faulkner and Garcia Marquez, the writing retains a very English scale…A triumph…Sensitive, heart-warming and hallucinatory' MAX RODENBECK, Financial Times
'It is most beautifully written, hypnotic as Proust, very funny and full of love that doesn't cloy…It is a dreamy, easy, wonderful read - and quite remarkable for a first novel' JANE GARDAM
'A remarkable first novel, which renders domestic detail fascinating and makes it quite possible to believe in magic' Sunday Times
'Highly atmospheric…It had an intoxicating, magical quality which completely beguiled me' JEREMY PAXMAN, Independent
'By turns elegiac, moving and extremely funny, Pears is also unafraid to muscle up his formidable powers of Proustian evocation. An extraordinarily promising debut' Time Out
'Long in abeyance, the English rural novel flourishes again in Tim Pears' story of a 13-year-old Devon farmgirl's confrontation with sex, death and the weather… an unusually welll-made novel which, through being less English than one would expect, produces a very English kind of magic' GILES FODEN, Independent on Sunday
'It is tricky coming across a novel you want to praise to the skies. Cool dispassionate criticism is much safer. But Tim Pears' "In The Place of Fallen Leaves" is more perfect than any first novel deserves to be' JENNIFER SELWAY, Observer
'An engaging, well-written and original novel. Pears could write about doing the washing up and make it interesting' PHILIP HENSHER, Guardian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is the hottest summer of the twentieth century. In a faraway Devon village hidden in a valley, the world has stopped turning and time is slipping backward. 'This idn't nothing' Alison's grandmother tells her, recalling the electric summer after the war when the earth swallowed lambs. But Alison knows her memory is lying: this is far worse. She thinks that time has stopped altogether, when all she wants is to enter the real world of adulthood. In fact, in the cruel heat of that summer, time is creeping towards her, closing in around the valley. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Tim Pears is the author of Wake Up (Bloomsbury, 2002), In a Land of Plenty (adapted into a major BBC TV series in 2001) and A Revolution of the Sun. He lives in Oxford with his wife and children.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Heretic's Daugher - Kathleen Kent
Pippa's Book. Good choice. We liked this one and it was very different to all the others we have read.
Product Description from Amazon.co.uk
Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution.
Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and wilful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. In this startling novel, she narrates the story of her early life in Andover, near Salem. Her father is a farmer, English in origin, quietly stoical but with a secret history. Her mother is a herbalist, tough but loving, and above all a good mother. Often at odds with each other, Sarah and her mother have a close but also cold relationship, yet it is clear that Martha understands her daughter like no other. When Martha is accused of witchcraft, and the whisperings in the community escalate, she makes her daughter promise not to stand up for her if the case is taken to court. As Sarah and her brothers are hauled into the prison themselves, the vicious cruelty of the trials is apparent, as the Carrier family, along with other innocents, are starved and deprived of any decency, battling their way through the hysteria with the sheer willpower their mother has taught them.
About the Author
Kathleen Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, and THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is based on true family history. Kathleen has worked in commodity trading and for the US Department of Defence in Russia. She now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. THE HERETIC’S DAUGHTER is her first novel.
Product Description from Amazon.co.uk
Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution.
Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and wilful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. In this startling novel, she narrates the story of her early life in Andover, near Salem. Her father is a farmer, English in origin, quietly stoical but with a secret history. Her mother is a herbalist, tough but loving, and above all a good mother. Often at odds with each other, Sarah and her mother have a close but also cold relationship, yet it is clear that Martha understands her daughter like no other. When Martha is accused of witchcraft, and the whisperings in the community escalate, she makes her daughter promise not to stand up for her if the case is taken to court. As Sarah and her brothers are hauled into the prison themselves, the vicious cruelty of the trials is apparent, as the Carrier family, along with other innocents, are starved and deprived of any decency, battling their way through the hysteria with the sheer willpower their mother has taught them.
About the Author
Kathleen Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, and THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is based on true family history. Kathleen has worked in commodity trading and for the US Department of Defence in Russia. She now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. THE HERETIC’S DAUGHTER is her first novel.
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Sarah's book. Another one we enjoyed but not a quick read. Good one. Will make you think.
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, in an unidentified Indian city, Mrs Dina Dalal, a financially pressed Parsi widow in her early 40s sets up a sweatshop of sorts in her ramshackle apartment. Determined to remain financially independent and to avoid a second marriage, she takes in a boarder and two Hindu tailors to sew dresses for an export company. As the four share their stories, then meals, then living space, human kinship prevails and the four become a kind of family, despite the lines of caste, class and religion. When tragedy strikes, their cherished, newfound stability is threatened, and each character must face a difficult choice in trying to salvage their relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'One of India's finest living novelists.' Observer"
Product Description
Set in mid-1970s India, A Fine Balance is a subtle and compelling narrative about four unlikely characters who come together in circumstances no one could have foreseen soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. It is a breathtaking achievement: panoramic yet humane, intensely political yet rich with local delight; and, above all, compulsively readable.
About the Author
Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975 he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's third novel, Family Matters, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction and the Canadian Authors' Association Award. In translation, his work has been published in twenty-nine languages. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1975, in an unidentified Indian city, Mrs Dina Dalal, a financially pressed Parsi widow in her early 40s sets up a sweatshop of sorts in her ramshackle apartment. Determined to remain financially independent and to avoid a second marriage, she takes in a boarder and two Hindu tailors to sew dresses for an export company. As the four share their stories, then meals, then living space, human kinship prevails and the four become a kind of family, despite the lines of caste, class and religion. When tragedy strikes, their cherished, newfound stability is threatened, and each character must face a difficult choice in trying to salvage their relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'One of India's finest living novelists.' Observer"
Product Description
Set in mid-1970s India, A Fine Balance is a subtle and compelling narrative about four unlikely characters who come together in circumstances no one could have foreseen soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. It is a breathtaking achievement: panoramic yet humane, intensely political yet rich with local delight; and, above all, compulsively readable.
About the Author
Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975 he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and one collection of short stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991), won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's third novel, Family Matters, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction and the Canadian Authors' Association Award. In translation, his work has been published in twenty-nine languages. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
This was Kate's choice. Difficult to understand in places but a good read with a twist.
Book Description by Amazon
Stunning new repackages to celebrate Ishiguro's popular baclikst titles.
Product Description
In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
About the Author
Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of six novels, A Pale View of Hills (1982, Winifred Holtby Prize), An Artist of the Floating World (1986, Whitbread Book of the Year Award, Primio Scanno, shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Remains of the Day (1989, winner of the Booker Prize), The Unconsoled (1995, winner of the Cheltenham Prize), When We Were Orphans (2000, shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go (2005, shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize). He received an OBE for Services to Literature in 1995, and the French decoration of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998.
Book Description by Amazon
Stunning new repackages to celebrate Ishiguro's popular baclikst titles.
Product Description
In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
About the Author
Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of six novels, A Pale View of Hills (1982, Winifred Holtby Prize), An Artist of the Floating World (1986, Whitbread Book of the Year Award, Primio Scanno, shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Remains of the Day (1989, winner of the Booker Prize), The Unconsoled (1995, winner of the Cheltenham Prize), When We Were Orphans (2000, shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go (2005, shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize). He received an OBE for Services to Literature in 1995, and the French decoration of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998.
The Return - Victoria Hislop
Kath chose this. Better than The Island I thought but I find her an irritating writer. The others liked it more.
Product Description by Amazon
Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada’s cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city’s shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain’s devastating civil war.
Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country’s fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.
About the Author
Victoria Hislop is a writer and journalist. She writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday and Woman & Home. Victoria lives in Kent with her husband, Ian Hislop, and their two children.
Product Description by Amazon
Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada’s cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city’s shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain’s devastating civil war.
Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country’s fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.
About the Author
Victoria Hislop is a writer and journalist. She writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday and Woman & Home. Victoria lives in Kent with her husband, Ian Hislop, and their two children.
The knitting Circle - Ann Hood
Pippa's book. Quite a fantasy book but we all enjoyed reading it.
Product Description from Amazon
Review
Praise for The Knitting Circle 'Just like a woolly jumper, this book is cosy and perfect for long winter nights! ... truly heartwarming.' Closer Magazine Praise for Ann Hood: 'A heartbreaker' Vanity Fair 'An engrossing storyteller ! [This book] works its magic.' Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees 'What a gift for Ann Hood, who suffered a loss nearly identical to Mary Baxter's, to have made of her grief.' Newsday 'Memorably stirring and authentic.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Ann Hood writes with the ease of a born storyteller.' Chicago Tribune
Product Description
Come on in and join the knitting circle -- it might just save your life! Spinning yarns, weaving tales, mending lives! Every Wednesday a group of women gathers at Alice's Sit and Knit. Little do they know that they will learn so much more than patterns! Grieving Mary needs to fill the empty days after the death of her only child. Glamorous Scarlet is the life and soul of any party. But beneath her trademark red hair and beaming smile lurks heartache. Sculptor Lulu seems too cool to live in the suburbs. Why has she fled New York's bright lights? Model housewife Beth never has a hair out of place. But her perfect world is about to fall apart!. Irish-born Ellen wears the weight of the world on her shoulders but not her heart on her sleeve. What is she hiding? As the weeks go by, under mysterious Alice's watchful eye, an unlikely friendship forms. Secrets are revealed and pacts made. Then tragedy strikes, and each woman must learn to face her own past in order to move on!
From the Publisher
A beautifully-written, warm and poignant novel, perfect for fans of Cathy
Kelly, Maeve Binchy and Elizabeth Noble.
Product Description from Amazon
Review
Praise for The Knitting Circle 'Just like a woolly jumper, this book is cosy and perfect for long winter nights! ... truly heartwarming.' Closer Magazine Praise for Ann Hood: 'A heartbreaker' Vanity Fair 'An engrossing storyteller ! [This book] works its magic.' Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees 'What a gift for Ann Hood, who suffered a loss nearly identical to Mary Baxter's, to have made of her grief.' Newsday 'Memorably stirring and authentic.' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Ann Hood writes with the ease of a born storyteller.' Chicago Tribune
Product Description
Come on in and join the knitting circle -- it might just save your life! Spinning yarns, weaving tales, mending lives! Every Wednesday a group of women gathers at Alice's Sit and Knit. Little do they know that they will learn so much more than patterns! Grieving Mary needs to fill the empty days after the death of her only child. Glamorous Scarlet is the life and soul of any party. But beneath her trademark red hair and beaming smile lurks heartache. Sculptor Lulu seems too cool to live in the suburbs. Why has she fled New York's bright lights? Model housewife Beth never has a hair out of place. But her perfect world is about to fall apart!. Irish-born Ellen wears the weight of the world on her shoulders but not her heart on her sleeve. What is she hiding? As the weeks go by, under mysterious Alice's watchful eye, an unlikely friendship forms. Secrets are revealed and pacts made. Then tragedy strikes, and each woman must learn to face her own past in order to move on!
From the Publisher
A beautifully-written, warm and poignant novel, perfect for fans of Cathy
Kelly, Maeve Binchy and Elizabeth Noble.
Call me Elizabeth - Dawn Annandale
Sarah - why did we get this one to read?
Not one of the best but highly amusing in an unbelievable way.
Product Description From Amazon
Dawn Annandale is bright, witty and well educated. But when her marriage began to fall apart, she had to face a seemingly insurmountable pile of debts on her own. Determined that her children would not suffer because of their parents' mistakes, and with no family to turn to for help, she searched desperately for a way to make some money, and fast. And made the decision to become an escort. CALL ME ELIZABETH offers an insight into the sex industry in the UK today, as well as the shocking truth that increasing numbers of women in a similar situation to Dawn are turning to prostitution to make ends meet. It is by turns sad, funny, frightening and empowering, but it is above all honest and compelling. From Emanuelle to Pretty Woman, the life of an escort remains deeply fascinating. There will be those who will judge the author, but there will be many more who will recognise her dilemma and understand how she reached her decision. This is her story - decide for yourself.
From the Author
Thank you to everyone who has read my book and to all those who have left comments here. Your interest is greatly appreciated. Life is not always black and white !!If you would like further information about this book and other related material have a look at my website dawnannandale.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Dawn Annandale lives in the UK. This is her first book.
Not one of the best but highly amusing in an unbelievable way.
Product Description From Amazon
Dawn Annandale is bright, witty and well educated. But when her marriage began to fall apart, she had to face a seemingly insurmountable pile of debts on her own. Determined that her children would not suffer because of their parents' mistakes, and with no family to turn to for help, she searched desperately for a way to make some money, and fast. And made the decision to become an escort. CALL ME ELIZABETH offers an insight into the sex industry in the UK today, as well as the shocking truth that increasing numbers of women in a similar situation to Dawn are turning to prostitution to make ends meet. It is by turns sad, funny, frightening and empowering, but it is above all honest and compelling. From Emanuelle to Pretty Woman, the life of an escort remains deeply fascinating. There will be those who will judge the author, but there will be many more who will recognise her dilemma and understand how she reached her decision. This is her story - decide for yourself.
From the Author
Thank you to everyone who has read my book and to all those who have left comments here. Your interest is greatly appreciated. Life is not always black and white !!If you would like further information about this book and other related material have a look at my website dawnannandale.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Dawn Annandale lives in the UK. This is her first book.
The Fifth Child - Doris Lessing
Kate chose this one. There is a sequel called Ben in the World but no one wanted to read it. A bit disturbing but good if you know what I mean.
Product Description from Amazon
Review
'"The Fifth Child" has the intensity of a nightmare, a horror story poised somewhere between a naturalistic account of family life and an allegory that draws on science fiction. Read it and tremble.' Clare Tomalin, Independent '"The Fifth Child" is a book to send shivers down your spine, but one which it is impossible to put down until it is finished. Doris Lessing's power to captivate and convince is evident from the first, and the effect of the odd, alien child on the family is conveyed with quiet understatement which adds to the mounting sense of horror.' Sunday Times 'A disturbing vision, "The Fifth Child" offers a faithful if chilling reflection of the world we live in.' Sunday Telegraph
Product Description
A classic tale from Doris Lessing, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007, of a family torn apart by the arrival of Ben, their feral fifth child. 'Listening to the laughter, the sounds of children playing, Harriet and David would reach for each other's hand, and smile, and breathe happiness.' Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt's life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, 'full of cold dislike', tears at Harriet's breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world!
Product Description from Amazon
Review
'"The Fifth Child" has the intensity of a nightmare, a horror story poised somewhere between a naturalistic account of family life and an allegory that draws on science fiction. Read it and tremble.' Clare Tomalin, Independent '"The Fifth Child" is a book to send shivers down your spine, but one which it is impossible to put down until it is finished. Doris Lessing's power to captivate and convince is evident from the first, and the effect of the odd, alien child on the family is conveyed with quiet understatement which adds to the mounting sense of horror.' Sunday Times 'A disturbing vision, "The Fifth Child" offers a faithful if chilling reflection of the world we live in.' Sunday Telegraph
Product Description
A classic tale from Doris Lessing, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007, of a family torn apart by the arrival of Ben, their feral fifth child. 'Listening to the laughter, the sounds of children playing, Harriet and David would reach for each other's hand, and smile, and breathe happiness.' Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt's life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, 'full of cold dislike', tears at Harriet's breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world!
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
This was chosen by Kath. Typical Kath to get us reading one that exercises the brain.
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case.
As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams", where "there were no teachers... We never had to go inside except for art class... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue".
The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow".
Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons, Amazon.com --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case.
As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams", where "there were no teachers... We never had to go inside except for art class... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue".
The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow".
Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons, Amazon.com --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
A good choice by Pippa. This one got us talking.
Product Description from Amazon
It is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a suspect.
With Case Histories, Kate Atkinson showed how brilliantly she could explore the crime genre and make it her own. In One Good Turn she takes her masterful plotting one step further. Like a set of Russian dolls each thread of the narrative reveals itself to be related to the last. Her Dickensian cast of characters are all looking for love or money and find it in surprising places. As ever with Atkinson what each one actually discovers is their true self.
Unputdownable and triumphant, One Good Turn is a sharply intelligent read that is also percipient, funny, and totally satisfying.
From the Inside Flap
It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a suspect.
With Case Histories, Kate Atkinson showed how brilliantly she could explore the crime genre and make it her own. In One Good Turn she takes her masterful plotting one step further. Like a set of Russian dolls each thread of the narrative reveals itself to be related to the last. Her Dickensian cast of characters are all looking for love or money and find it in surprising places. As ever with Atkinson what each one actually discovers is their true self.
Unputdownable and triumphant, One Good Turn is a sharply intelligent read that is also percipient, funny, and totally satisfying. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident – a near-homicidal attack which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander – until he becomes a murder suspect.
As the body count mounts, each member of the teeming Dickensian cast's story contains a kernel of the next, like a set of nesting Russian dolls. They are all looking for love or money or redemption or escape: but what each actually discovers is their own true self.
About the Author
Kate Atkinson’s When Will There Be Good News? was voted winner of the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year. After Case Histories and One Good Turn, it was her third novel to feature the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who also makes a welcome return in Started Early, Took My Dog. She won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.
Product Description from Amazon
It is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a suspect.
With Case Histories, Kate Atkinson showed how brilliantly she could explore the crime genre and make it her own. In One Good Turn she takes her masterful plotting one step further. Like a set of Russian dolls each thread of the narrative reveals itself to be related to the last. Her Dickensian cast of characters are all looking for love or money and find it in surprising places. As ever with Atkinson what each one actually discovers is their true self.
Unputdownable and triumphant, One Good Turn is a sharply intelligent read that is also percipient, funny, and totally satisfying.
From the Inside Flap
It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a suspect.
With Case Histories, Kate Atkinson showed how brilliantly she could explore the crime genre and make it her own. In One Good Turn she takes her masterful plotting one step further. Like a set of Russian dolls each thread of the narrative reveals itself to be related to the last. Her Dickensian cast of characters are all looking for love or money and find it in surprising places. As ever with Atkinson what each one actually discovers is their true self.
Unputdownable and triumphant, One Good Turn is a sharply intelligent read that is also percipient, funny, and totally satisfying. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
It is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident – a near-homicidal attack which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander – until he becomes a murder suspect.
As the body count mounts, each member of the teeming Dickensian cast's story contains a kernel of the next, like a set of nesting Russian dolls. They are all looking for love or money or redemption or escape: but what each actually discovers is their own true self.
About the Author
Kate Atkinson’s When Will There Be Good News? was voted winner of the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year. After Case Histories and One Good Turn, it was her third novel to feature the former private detective Jackson Brodie, who also makes a welcome return in Started Early, Took My Dog. She won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and has been a critically acclaimed international bestselling author ever since.
A Quiet Belief in Angels - R J Ellory
This made us think. A good Book chosen by Sarah
Product Description From Amazon
Joseph Vaughan's life has been dogged by tragedy. Growing up in the 1950s, he was at the centre of series of killings of young girls in his small rural community. The girls were taken, assaulted and left horribly mutilated. Barely a teenager himself, Joseph becomes determined to try to protect his community and classmates from the predations of the killer. Despite banding together with his friends as ' The Guardians', he was powerless to prevent more murders - and no one was ever caught. Only after a full ten years did the nightmare end when the one of his neighbours is found hanging from a rope, with articles from the dead girls around him. Thankfully, the killings finally ceased. But the past won't stay buried - for it seems that the real murderer still lives and is killing again. And the secret of his identity lies in Joseph's own history...
From the Author
I would like to take this opportunity to communicate my thanks to all those who have read my book, and those who have taken the time and trouble to post a comment or review on Amazon. It is rare indeed, as an author, to actually receive any feedback, as writing a book is a somewhat individual and insular activity! To hear word back that a book has been enjoyed, or perhaps not enjoyed, means the world to me, and I am very grateful.
It is not my intention to confound or disappoint anyone with the books that I write. In the main, and evidenced by the very kind responses that have been posted, my work has been well-received. I am grateful indeed for the acknowledgement. But more important than anything, I wished always for my work to evoke and precipitate a response, to be something that people could either love or hate, embrace or discard as they decided. If it has accomplished any part of this, then I am happy.
I thank you for your time and attention, for the hours that you have devoted to reading what I have written, and I hope that we will continue from this point forward with a long and rewarding relationship as writer and reader.
My very best wishes,
R J Ellory.
About the Author
R.J. Ellory is the author of seven novels including the bestselling A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, which was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection in 2008 and was shortlisted for the American BARRY AWARD for BEST BRITISH CRIME FICTION, the QUEBEC BOKSELLERS' PRIZE, The NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR CRIME FICTION PRIZE and the 7th PRIX DU POLAR AWARD in the same year. His other novels have been translated into nineteen additional languages and have been shorlisted for numerous awards. R.J. Ellory currently lives in England. www.rjellory.com
Product Description From Amazon
Joseph Vaughan's life has been dogged by tragedy. Growing up in the 1950s, he was at the centre of series of killings of young girls in his small rural community. The girls were taken, assaulted and left horribly mutilated. Barely a teenager himself, Joseph becomes determined to try to protect his community and classmates from the predations of the killer. Despite banding together with his friends as ' The Guardians', he was powerless to prevent more murders - and no one was ever caught. Only after a full ten years did the nightmare end when the one of his neighbours is found hanging from a rope, with articles from the dead girls around him. Thankfully, the killings finally ceased. But the past won't stay buried - for it seems that the real murderer still lives and is killing again. And the secret of his identity lies in Joseph's own history...
From the Author
I would like to take this opportunity to communicate my thanks to all those who have read my book, and those who have taken the time and trouble to post a comment or review on Amazon. It is rare indeed, as an author, to actually receive any feedback, as writing a book is a somewhat individual and insular activity! To hear word back that a book has been enjoyed, or perhaps not enjoyed, means the world to me, and I am very grateful.
It is not my intention to confound or disappoint anyone with the books that I write. In the main, and evidenced by the very kind responses that have been posted, my work has been well-received. I am grateful indeed for the acknowledgement. But more important than anything, I wished always for my work to evoke and precipitate a response, to be something that people could either love or hate, embrace or discard as they decided. If it has accomplished any part of this, then I am happy.
I thank you for your time and attention, for the hours that you have devoted to reading what I have written, and I hope that we will continue from this point forward with a long and rewarding relationship as writer and reader.
My very best wishes,
R J Ellory.
About the Author
R.J. Ellory is the author of seven novels including the bestselling A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, which was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection in 2008 and was shortlisted for the American BARRY AWARD for BEST BRITISH CRIME FICTION, the QUEBEC BOKSELLERS' PRIZE, The NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR CRIME FICTION PRIZE and the 7th PRIX DU POLAR AWARD in the same year. His other novels have been translated into nineteen additional languages and have been shorlisted for numerous awards. R.J. Ellory currently lives in England. www.rjellory.com
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Kate chose this one. We liked this one. Still not seen the film.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Originally published in 1961 to great critical acclaim, Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road subsequently fell into obscurity in the UK, only to be rediscovered in a new edition published in 2001. Its rejuvenation is due in large part to its continuing emotional and moral resonance for an early 21st-century readership. April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled or happy in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paid but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. However, as their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfilment are thrown into jeopardy. Yates's incisive, moving and often very funny prose weaves a tale that is at once a fascinating period piece and a prescient anticipation of the way we live now. Many of the cultural motifs now seem quaintly dated--the early evening cocktails, Frank's illicit lunch breaks with his secretary, the way Frank isn't averse to knocking April around when she speaks out of turn all seem to belong to a different world--and yet the quiet desperation at thwarted dreams reverberates as much now as it did 40 years ago. Like F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, this novel conveys, with brilliant erudition, the poverty at the soul of many wealthy Americans and the exacting cost of chasing the American Dream. --Jane Morris --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
`Extraordinarily well written, grimly comical, and with some of the most eerily accurate depiction of marital rows in literature' --Evening Standard
"... [the characters reveal themselves] with an intensity that excited the reader's compassion as well as his interest."
--The Times
"A cracking read, and much funnier than the film." --Red
'Yates' masterpiece... Superbly crafted prose, complex characters and a gripping plot... An all-round winner' --Independent on Sunday
Amazon.co.uk Review
Originally published in 1961 to great critical acclaim, Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road subsequently fell into obscurity in the UK, only to be rediscovered in a new edition published in 2001. Its rejuvenation is due in large part to its continuing emotional and moral resonance for an early 21st-century readership. April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled or happy in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paid but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. However, as their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfilment are thrown into jeopardy. Yates's incisive, moving and often very funny prose weaves a tale that is at once a fascinating period piece and a prescient anticipation of the way we live now. Many of the cultural motifs now seem quaintly dated--the early evening cocktails, Frank's illicit lunch breaks with his secretary, the way Frank isn't averse to knocking April around when she speaks out of turn all seem to belong to a different world--and yet the quiet desperation at thwarted dreams reverberates as much now as it did 40 years ago. Like F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, this novel conveys, with brilliant erudition, the poverty at the soul of many wealthy Americans and the exacting cost of chasing the American Dream. --Jane Morris --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
`Extraordinarily well written, grimly comical, and with some of the most eerily accurate depiction of marital rows in literature' --Evening Standard
"... [the characters reveal themselves] with an intensity that excited the reader's compassion as well as his interest."
--The Times
"A cracking read, and much funnier than the film." --Red
'Yates' masterpiece... Superbly crafted prose, complex characters and a gripping plot... An all-round winner' --Independent on Sunday
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