The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - Review
Friday, October 29, 2021
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss - Review
Monday, October 25, 2021
Ghost Wall was my choice for our book club for this year. When I was trying to choose a book I asked my friend Laura for recommendations and she said this as I wanted something a bit gothic. I hadn't realised until my copy arrived that this is a novella, it's really short. That's good for book club as it means more people manage to finish it! I only bought Summerwater by Sarah Moss because I knew I would be reading this soon, and now I've read two of hers I can say that I really like her style. It's concise and to the point, which I appreciate!
So in this book, seven people are in Northumberland reenacting the Iron Age lives of people who lived nearby. Sylvie is there with her parents; she's around fifteen and named after an ancient goddess, Sulevia. Her dad is a bus driver and her mum is a cashier in a supermarket. Her dad is abusive; there are bruises on Mum, and he beats Sylvie pretty severely with a leather belt after finding her bathing naked in the stream. This is not a one off occurrence and she is really quite frightened of him, trying her best to not set him off and wishing everyone else wouldn't make him angry.
The others on camp are a professor, Jim, and three of his students; Dan, Pete, and Molly. They are archaeology students or similar, and are doing the reenactment in their summer holidays. It's not explained how Jim and Sylvie's dad know each other or exactly why Sylvie and her family are there, except that her dad is an enthusiast about the time period. He insists the fire isn't allowed to go out, and while the professor and the students sleep in modern tents, Sylvie and her parents sleep in an authentic hut on uncomfortable beds. Everyone also has to wear linen tunics and moccasins.
The girls are mostly sent off foraging for food. One day all the young people go to the sea and swim, and Sylvie finds herself watching Molly swim naked. This is partly why she strips off to bathe later in the sream. The men set traps for rabbits and later have to skin them for a stew. Food is scarce, though.
Sylvie knows a lot about the countryside because she often goes hiking with her dad and has picked things up from him. She also knows how obsessed he is with the bogs and bog people - people who were sacrificed to the bogs by their communities. Their relationship deteriorates, and Sylvie finds herself fighting for her life.
I liked the book a lot - it's set in a heatwave and I liked how gothic the searing sunshine was and how it added to the stress of the book. I liked Sylvie and wanted her to succeed. I'm giving this five out of five and definitely definitely will read something else by Sarah Moss!
Rust Belt Femme by Raechel Anne Jolie - Review
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Cuckoo by Sophie Draper - Review
Monday, October 18, 2021
I can't remember why I got this book, although maybe someone recommended it to me or maybe it was cheap on Amazon - I'm not sure. It's been on my Kindle for ages so when I was heading away on holiday I started it. This turned out to be a bad idea because the book is set in a creepy manor house and I was staying in what turned out to be a creepy manor house! I ended up finishing the book when I came home instead!
So, Caro is in her late twenties and is estranged from her sister Steph, who is her only living relative. Their stepmother Elizabeth has just died in an accident in the house that belonged to the girls' dad, and it turns out the house will go to them. Steph has been living and working in New York for a long time, and she says she doesn't want any of the money from the house or the estate. She comes over for Elizabeth's funeral, and encourages Caro to go to the house in Derbyshire and live there while everything is sorted out. Caro is subletting her friend's flat after a bad break up, so she's keen to move. Caro is an illustrator of children's books and she has a new commission to work on, so she packs up and heads to Derbyshire.
She had a traumatic upbringing with Elizabeth, who always seemed to hate her. The girls' dad died when Caro was small, and Elizabeth was abusive towards both girls but especially Caro. Steph left the home at sixteen when Caro was just nine, and never returned. Caro, in her turn, left for university and never returned. She goes to the village for provisions and gets an unwelcome welcome from shopkeepers there. She overhears someone describe her as 'the nutcase' and isn't sure why exactly.
The house is really creepy. Things go bang in the night and there's the bloodstain on the hallway floor from where Elizabeth fell. Then there's the pear drum. It's a musical instrument, a bit like a hurdy gurdy, and Elizabeth used to torment Caro with it, telling her a folk tale about it and asking if she had been 'bad enough yet'. The thing used to be kept in a crate in the study, but now it's packed away in the attic... until it appears next to Caro one morning.
Then there's the neighbour, Craig. He's adopted Elzabeth's dog, and when a man starts shouting at Caro in Ashbourne, Craig is there to rescue her. But is he a little TOO nice? Caro is wary of men after her relationship with Paul, but she wants to trust Craig.
All this is basically the premise of the book, which did intrigue me. But the actual writing didn't quite get there for me. It is confused and confusing in parts, and I'm sure Steph says they have stepsisters who then never materialise. Plus I really hate books that use amnesia as a plot device, it's lazy. This reminded me of Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, and if you know the twist in that book you'll understand why I disliked this... I'm giving it three out of five.
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, Angie Thomas, and Nicola Yoon - Review
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Summerwater by Sarah Moss - Review
Sunday, October 10, 2021
The Murder at Redmire Hall by J R Ellis - Review
Thursday, October 7, 2021
I got round to reading the third in the DCI Oldroyd series at the beginning of September, I have previously read the first two and another one in the series and enjoyed them, and I really liked the premise of this book. It's a typical 'locked room' mystery and I thought it sounded really interesting. However, it didn't live up to my expectations. Not a lot happens, which I found annoying. There's a lot of annoying conversations between suspects which don't really further the story and which just lead to all the suspects suspecting each other. And it's overwritten - there's quite a lot of pompous language that I haven't noticed in the other books. So, maybe it's a blip. But those are my thoughts, so I'll write them down. But they do explain why I haven't given this as high a rating as the other books in the series.
So, at the beginning, Oldroyd is invited to Redmire Hall to see the current Lord Redmire, Freddy, perform a magic trick that was previously performed by his father, Vivian, to great acclaim, in 1980 I think. Oldroyd asks Stephanie along. When they get there, there's a live TV crew there and many other people, including all of Freddy's family and close friends, including an ex business partner and an ex mistress. The trick involves a locked room - everyone is invited to examine it to make sure there's no way out of it, and then Freddy is locked in. The curtain is drawn back - and Freddy has disappeared! The idea then is that Freddy will reappear after the curtain is closed and opened again, but when he does, he is dead. He has been stabbed in the back.
Shortly after, an ex employee of the estate, Harry Robinson, is murdered in his cottage. Oldroyd and Stephanie immediately jump into action, forbidding the family and friends from leaving and starting their investigation. They can't work out the locked room trick, although they try hard to. All the family seem to have a motive for killing Freddy. He inherited the estate but has gambling debts and had been planning to sell off part of the estate. His son Alistair will inherit and become the new Lord. Freddy's daughter Poppy has had a lot of money out of her dad, and her boyfriend Tristram has gambling debts too - but would they have killed him? His brother Dominic has always been jealous that Freddy inherited the estate from their father, and his own business is not doing too well. Freddy was unfaithful to his wife Antonia, including with Alex, who is also present. Are either of them angry enough to kill Freddy? Alex's partner James was ripped off by Freddy in their business, so has he finally got his revenge? And what about all the estate staff? What did Harry Robinson know about the trick that led to his murder?
I really liked the mystery but my criticisms are as above - there just wasn't enough depth in it for me. No mind, I will read the other and see what I think about them. But I'm giving this three out of five.