The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas - Review

 

I bought this recently when I was browsing in Waterstones with a voucher. The blurb appealed to me so I thought I'd give it a go. I've never heard of Scarlett Thomas and was intrigued; I love to discover new authors so it was worth a shot. 

However, I didn't like the book very much. I thought it was confusing and trying too hard to be better than it was, to have like a twist in the tale to make the reader rethink the whole book. But this didn't happen, so it didn't work. 

The book is told in a few different media, which adds to the confusion. The first, longest part, is a letter from Evelyn to her new husband, Richard. They are on their honeymoon on a Greek island and have arrived at a villa owned by Isabella. Something happened at their wedding that neither of them want to talk about. They spent the first week of their honeymoon with Richard's best friend Paul, and his latest girlfriend, Becky. The four of them had fun together in their cheap hotel, sunbathing all day and then eating at the local taverna all night. But Paul and Becky have left and Evelyn and Richard have gone to the villa. The stay was a wedding present from Richard's parents and Evelyn is not thrilled. 

Isabella is odd, and the honeymoon suite is odd too. Evelyn would like another room but is told only that one is available. One day she leaves a not for Richard which then disappears; things like this keep happening. Isabella gives her the cold shoulder while showering affection on Richard. He gets a full English breakfast and when Evelyn asks for fruit she gets just unripe melon. She's uncomfortable and wants to leave but Richard makes out like she's just overreacting. 

Then there is the story of the sleepwalkers. The year previously, at the end of the summer season, just before the annual storm rolled in, an older couple were staying in the villa. James, the husband, who was experiencing some kind of religious delusion, went for a walk and ended up in the sea, and Claire (I think that was her name) followed him, and they both ended up drowned. Evelyn is disturbed by the story. She's also obsessed with some young people who she keeps seeing around the place; she thinks they're some kind of Turkish pop band. This part of the story just seemed totally irrelevant and although it was resolved at the end I don't think it was done to justice.

The second part of the book is Richard's letter to Evelyn, which reveals what happened at the wedding, which is a massive secret; I liked this part of the book a lot. Richard is unlikeable but his part reveals that Evelyn isn't the innocent she pays herself as either. She used to be the housekeeper for his parents, which adds a different spin on their relationship.

The next bits of the book are some transcripts and some half scribbled notes. I didn't feel like this worked a lot, it just left me a bit cold. The last part is another letter, but how it ended just really annoyed me. I'm giving this two and a half out of five. 

A Spot of Folly by Ruth Rendell - Review

After I enjoyed the Ruth Rendell book Shake Hands For Ever back in October, I thought I would like to read something else by her so I reserved three books by her from the library. I then renewed those loans a bunch of times, but never mind, that's what libraries are for! I did however pick this book up eventually at the end of February. 

I really enjoyed it. It's a book of short stories and they all kept my interest and were amusing. They all seemed typical of the type of people that she would write novels about - posh middle Englanders in somewhat boring marriages in a lot of cases. A lot of the stories had a twist in the tale with unexpected endings, or endings that make the reader go Ohhhh. I love short stories like that. 

There's also a ghost story which I really liked. There's a long story about a woman who steals things from people who have annoyed her. That comes back to bite her in the bum in a really unusual way; I thought it was well done. One of the stories was written under Rendell's pen name, Barbara Vine, which was interesting to read too. 

In general this was a good read, just the kind of thing I needed. I'm giving it four out of five. 

Girls to the Front by Lucy Nichol - Review

I got this book from my Secret Santa at Christmas, but I know who that was! For the past couple of years, Lee's family has done a secret Santa where each adult just buys presents for one other adult, up to the value of £60. It makes things a lot cheaper, and it means each adult can choose things they'd really like. in 2025 Lee and I chose a new toaster and kettle that we wanted for our kitchen, but they were only £30 so we could choose other things we wanted too. I said I would  like champagne because I love champagne. My Santa was Libby, one of my sisters in law, who knows I love books. She got me the kettle, a bottle of champagne that I have not yet drunk, and this book. It's set in the north east where Lee's family is from, and where Libby lives, and I really appreciated that! 

The beginning of the book sees a woman called Roma in police custody. She is lying about what happened with the body she has been found with, but is obviously covering for someone. We then go back to a few weeks ago in Roma's story. She works at a place called Electric Dreams which sells old video games and DVDs and stuff. Roma had some kind of breakdown previously and had to leave her graduate job, so she works there instead of something more stressful. She enjoys the work and her colleagues though. She lives with her two best friends, Jonny and Leila, and they definitely care for each other and all of that. 

At work they often get given boxes of house clearance stuff. In one such box, Roma discovers a home video accompanied by a menacing note. She is intrigued and goes to some trouble to watch the video (which is like thirty years old by the time she finds it). On it, there is a video of a young woman passed out on a sofa in a hotel room, and some men talking about how they're going to assault her. The accompanying note identifies these men as members of the band The Razor Heads, who often played in a local venue. Roma is disturbed by what she has seen and is determined to take the video to the police. She begins to get a bit obsessed with discovering what happened to the woman on the video, and her flatmates are concerned about her. 

In a parallel narrative, Kat is a mature student in 1995. She is friends with a younger student called Alison. They go to see the Razor Heads and while there, Alison decides to crowd surf. As she is doing it, she is assaulted by random hands in the crowd, including sexually assaulted. She is obviously upset and shaken up. Kat realises that there is a problem with the band and with the venue. She starts to investigate, as she's a writer on the student newspaper, and discovers loads of girls with similar complaints. She is a bit of a loner and is a bit witchy and fierce too. 

I liked both narratives and loved how they came together. This book is described as feminist and thrilling with a 90s nostalgia thing, and it definitely did all that for me. I liked it a lot and am giving it four out of five. 

Bog Queen by Anna North - Review

I can't remember where I heard of this book but I think someone I follow on Instagram was reading it. I asked Lee for it for Christmas, and picked it up in February. It's a really lovely novel, it felt like good literature and really interesting to read. 

There are two strands to the narrative. Firstly, in 2018, there is a post graduate student called Agnes who is called to help identify a body that has been found in a peat bog in Ludlow. She is American, and she's kind of a loner, and a bit strange? I liked her a lot, but she is odd. She has left behind her dad and her (ex?) fiance in America; her dad really wants her to go home but she's enjoying her life in Britain, even if she finds the English a bit baffling. She's very clever. 

The body is supposedly that of a woman who was murdered by her husband in the 1960s. He has confessed to the murder and says he buried her in the bog. Her relative (niece I think?) travels from Spain for her, etc. Only when Agnes starts her examination, she realised the body is much older than the 1960s. She is a perfectly preserved bog woman. Agnes realises that she has several injuries to her body, but that she survived most of them - she died from just one of them. Someone cared for her while she was ill.

Some environmentalists are interested in the bog and want to stop the police and archaeologists from digging there, because of the moss (which is kind of a strand in the book too, but I found that bit quite weird so didn't altogether read those little excerpts). Agnes tries to get them on side while also trying to work out who the bog woman is, and what her story is. 

The second narrative strand is of course of the bog woman herself, who remains unnamed which I liked, because she is unnamed in 2018 too. She is an Iron Age woman who is only around seventeen or eighteen. She is the local druid in her village and has been for a couple of years since she took over from her mother. She has a fight going on with her brother and his clan. At the very beginning of the book she leaves her village to travel to one of the Roman settlements in the south east of Britain - I think it's supposed to be Chelmsford - with her brother and a friend, Aesu and Crab. They run into trouble and I really liked their story. 

I loved the book and am giving it five out of five. It was just a really good read. I would definitely read something else by Anna North! 

We Fell Apart by E Lockhart - Review

We're back in the same universe as Family of Liars and We Were Liars! I didn't even know this was a thing! Then I spotted this book in The Works in Ripon just before Christmas, and got Lee to buy me it as a Christmas gift. I picked it up in mid February, still on my mission to read all my Christmas gifts before too long! I loved this, it was so nice to be back in that universe. As a reminder, in We Were Liars we meet the Sinclair family, who are super rich and own an island - of course! - and there has been a devastating fire. I won't spoil We Were Liars but read it, oh my god. I wanted to throw my tablet out of the window when I read it. I can remember so specifically where I was, too, away for the weekend in North Yorkshire and I was lying in bed one morning reading the end of the book. I love it when books stay with you so much. 

This book starts just a week after the fire on Beechwood Island. Matilda is eighteen years old and about to go to college. She is living in LA with her kind of stepdad, Saar, who is an actor. Her mother, Isabela, is living in Mexico with her new boyfriend, having basically abandoned Matilda. Matilda has never known who her father is, but then she gets an email from him. 

He is Kingsley Cello, the reclusive artist. His paintings sell for millions, and in her research Matilda learns very little about him. He changes his back story a lot and is never truthful, so Matilda is just basically confused. Still, he sends her the money for a plane ticket, so Matilda heads out to Massachussetts (I'm not sure I've spelt that right, hey ho). In the airport she meets Holland and Winnie, who come back into the story later, which I won't spoil. She meets a rude taxi driver and follows confusing instructions, but eventually she's at Kingsley's property in Hidden Beach. 

He had built a castle, with four turrets and everything. There's a map in the book which I love, I always love to see things in pictures! There's a pool house and steps down to the beach, and the whole place is basically falling apart. At the house Matilda finds Meer, her half brother, and his mother, June, who is Kingsley's partner. She is thrilled to have a brother, but still wants to meet her dad, of course. June doesn't want her there and makes this very clear.

Also living in the castle is Brock. He is a former child star who went off the rails and who came to Hidden Beach to sober up, to recuperate and relax. He is barely older than Matilda and Meer, who are only a month apart. Then there is Tatum - who is the taxi driver from earlier! He wants rid of Matilda immediately, but as the weeks pass romance builds between them. I loved the romance actually and thought it was very sweetly done. 

Meer is nice to Matilda and wants them to bond, but everyone else wants rid of her and won't answer her questions about Kingsley. They keep fobibng her off and saying he's in Italy and that he'll be back any time, but as time goes on it's obvious that there are so many things going on that Matilda has no idea about. She doesn't know who she can trust or how to make things right in Hidden Beach.

I love the atmosphere of the book, it's hazy and dreamy and very reminiscent of We Were Liars. It feels like the heat of the summer is setting in and everyone is going a bit crazy in the place. I'm giving this five out of five, it's E Lockhart at her absolute best! 

Stockport Noir Crime Festival

On the 31st of January I headed over to Stockport to go to a crime fiction festival. I saw it advertised absolutely forever ago and bought myself a ticket. I would have been better if Lee had been there with me to carry books and so on, but I didn't want to spend the money on two tickets, so I sucked it up and went by myself. I took my things in a backpack, which did help. I took my lunch and drinks and snacks etc with me too so that I didn't have to leave the venue. I set off really early which meant I did get a space in the car park. Such is life with a disability! 

Even though I was there early I still had to queue a bit to get in. It was fun though, everyone was just really excited to be there. Once I got in I picked up a lanyard and a goodie bag. Inside was a proof copy of a book that I haven't even heard of, so I'll look forward to reading that! 

There was tea and coffee and then everyone went in to the main hall for the first panel. The first panel was debut authors and I think they all did brilliantly. Immediately after each panel were signing lines. I have to say that these could have been better organised. Plus when I've been to other lit festivals, I - as someone who uses a walking stick - have been pressed to go to the front of the lines so that I didn't have to queue. That didn't happen here so I ended up in some pain, which was a shame. After the second panel I even asked one of the organisers if I could go to the front of the queue, and while he did help me he did it with some bad grace which made me feel even worse. If I could give feedback on this to the authors I absolutely would, but I haven't seen how to do that (yet?). It left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. 

The panels were all great though. The moderators asked some really amazing questions and everything was funny and insightful. I really liked the sound of a LOT of the books, so I bought four from the bookstall that was in the venue. I do think their prices were very high, but I had some Christmas money to use so that's okay. 

I ate my lunch in the break out room, which was also where the signings were, so it made space a bit squeezed. I would prefer if they could do that differently next year too! I got talking to a woman I was sitting next to in the main hall, so that was nice. 

The final panel of the afternoon had Elly Griffiths on it. I have read most of her books and have met her twice before, but I hadn't bought any of her new series which features time travel, mostly because it sounds a bit weird. But it sounded interesting so I did buy it so that I could get her to sign it. I wore my Bruce Sprinsteen t shirt especially for her as she's a big fan (which is why Ruth Galloway is also a fan!) so we talked about him and how much we love him, haha. 

I didn't stick around too long after the last panel, and managed to get home in good time so that I could rest for a bit. I had ended up carrying a lot of books and other stuff, by myself, which I'm proud of, but I was tired! 

My freebie tote bag

All the panels, these are backwards in time but not to worry! 

Proof I was with Elly! 

And here's what I came home with! Bad Deeds was the book I got for free. The top right is a chapter sampler but Rebecca was really interesting and her book sounds really good so I got her to sign this sampler for me and will probably buy it when it's out. Everything else just sounded really interesting so I bought them and got them signed!

What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama - Review

This was one of the books that I got in the swap I did at Christmas, where the person I was swapping with was actually my friend Sarah Beth, which was really nice because it meant we knew each other and it was nice to choose books for Sarah Beth and really lovely to receive books that they really rate. I wasn't sure about this one at all, but was obviously willing to give it a go. My friend Stacey had also read this one and said I should get to it, so I did. As a reminder, I was trying to read all the books I got as gifts for Xmas in February, and I managed it! I'm thrilled that I did this, but it's not even the end of February and I have finished all five books! 

Anyway, this book. It is a book in translation which I always really like to read, although I don't get to many. This one is translated really beautifully which I think added to my enjoyment of the book. 

The book has five different protagonists, all of whom are struggling with something in their lives. They each end up in this one community library, either accidentally or because they're encouraged to go. There, this mysterious librarian called Ms Komachi, who sits needle felting in a little cubby by herself, will find for them several books. Among them will be a curve ball, something they weren't expecting, but which gives them exactly what they need in life. 

The first person is a young woman who works as a sales assistant who needs a push to educate herself a little better. She also makes some kind of rice ball things and maybe ends up starting a relationship with someone she works with. The second person is an accountant - a boring, safe life, but he really wishes to open an antiques store. He has his reasons for that, from his past. Some of his story ends up being reflected in someone else's story further on, too. I liked how all five people's lives were interwoven in this way for the reader to know even if the protagonists themselves don't realise it. 

The third person in the book had my favourite story. She used to be a magazine editor but then got pregnant, and was replaced while she was on maternity leave. She is struggling with life now - it's busy, she has to think about her daughter and deal with all the admin, etc. Her husband is trying, but she feels very alone. She's forty, and I just really liked her story arc. I like how her little section ended up, too. It felt very real for a lot of forty year olds. 

The fourth person is a manga artist, a young man who needs the library to help him learn new things. He's not in education or employment and he's flailing a bit. I liked him, and the fifth person, who is newly retired and isn't sure what to do with himself. 

As I say, all the stories do interweave a bit, in a really clever way. I did mostly like this book, but found it drifted a little bit. I'm giving it three and a half out of five - it didn't quite get to four stars but it was close.