Living With the Truth – Jim Murdoch

This seemed in some ways like a terrific modern day take on A Christmas Carol. This time we meet Jonathan, a bookshop owner who is nearing the end of his life. He meets Truth who moves in with him and shows him what he has achieved with his life and what might have been. He gets to see what would have happened if only he had spoken his mind, made different choices and shared his thoughts and feelings with others. He learns how our world is governed by Truth, Death, Reality, Peace and Destiny. Some of what he learns is uncomfortable to hear, but then Truth can’t help speaking honestly, it’s what he is. Jonathan learns that Truth really is hard to live with and that Honesty is the best policy, but is it all too late? Read this fantastic, quirky book to find out. You won’t be sorry, especially if you enjoy Pratchett/Gaimen style humour. I read there is to be a sequel. I can’t wait to buy a copy.

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer

Told in epistolary form this book is comparable to 84 Charing Cross Road but also has a charm all of its own. Set in 1946, we meet Juliet, a writer who is searching for inspiration to begin a new book. By a string of coincidences she learns about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and becomes intrigued by them. They all begin writing to each other and sharing snippets of their lives. Some of their wartime tales are of heroics; some of love, some are humorous and some are heartbreaking. Through everything that they endured they became united by a shared passion for books. Although, in fact, the book group was originally just a subterfuge to outwit the German soldiers, but became a reality as a love for books was discovered between them all. The surprise at the end is wonderfully warming and such a delight.

 

Mary Anne Shaffer has told a story of wartime horrors and hardships, yet kept the tone gentle and just bearable to read, without taking away the awfulness of the Nazi occupation in Guernsey. This book had me entranced from the very beginning and will stay with me for some time to come.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

The ‘Blurb’
Spring 1666: when the Great Plague reaches the quiet Derbyshire village of Eyam, the villagers make an extraordinary decision. They elect to isolate themselves in a fateful quarantine. So begins the Year of Wonders, seen through eighteen-year-old Anna Frith’s eyes as she confronts the loss of her family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. Based on a true story, this novel explores love and learning, fear and fanaticism, and the struggles of seventeenth-century science and religion to interpret the world at the cusp of the modern era.

I read a review about this a few years ago and loved the sound of it. I’d forgotten all about it though until I found it in a charity shop recently. What a fabulous book!

Based on a true story, it tells how the plague is brought to the small village of Eyam in some flea ridden cloth sent from London to a journeyman tailor lodging with Anna. The villagers take the decision to quarantine themselves, leaving money and requests for goods on the village boundary stone and in return, people from the next village leave the items for them to collect, ensuring that they are able to survive without contact with the outside world. I say survive, but in reality about 75% of the village inhabitants were victims of this horrific, painful death.

The book is so well written that it’s easy to lose yourself in it. I would love to visit Eyam, which I know has a good museum dedicated to this remarkable incident.

10/10

Ink Exchange – Melissa Marr

 

Amazon Synopsis

Mortal affections and faery rivalries continue to collide in the town of Huntsdale, as New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr takes urban fantasy to new heights. After suffering a terrible trauma at the hands of her brother’s dealer friends, Leslie becomes obsessed with the idea of getting a tattoo — it’s the one thing that will allow her to reclaim her body, renew her self-confidence. And when Rabbit, her local tattoo artist, shows her a secret book of his own designs, she finds one of them irresistible. Soon, her back is adorned with a pair of mysterious eyes, framed by black wings. Leslie feels good — more than good. Nothing bad can touch her. But what she doesn’t know is that her new tattoo binds her tightly to the faery whose symbol she chose: Irial, the exquisitely dangerous king of the Dark Court

 

My Thoughts

This is the sequel to Wicked Lovely. It’s a dark faery tale; with the main character Leslie having been the victim of abuse that was instigated by her own brother. In an effort to hide her pain she decides to express herself by having a tattoo. She unwittingly chooses a design that incorporates the eyes of the Faery King of the Dark Court. What follows is a tale that is darker than any other faery tale I’ve read. At times Marr seems to ramble and her writing is confusing, but this is a story that is well worth sticking with, as the suspense just builds and builds. I can’t wait to see what Marr has in store for her readers next.

In Search of Adam – Caroline Smailes

Amazon Synopsis

Motherless, rootless and unprotected, Jude Williams’ childhood is fractured by the horror and experience of sexual abuse, forcing her to exist somewhere and nowhere in-between childhood and adulthood. Caught within the limitations of her own language and trapped within a family secret, Jude becomes the consequence of her mother’s tragedy. As she moves through the 1980s, Jude’s life is buffeted by choice and destiny and she collects experiences that layer her personal tragedy and plunge her into the darkest of worlds. The reader will be unable to put this book down as it careers towards its shocking yet inevitable conclusion

 

My Thoughts

This is a harrowing read about child abuse and neglect, made all the more shocking because it’s written from a 7 year olds point of view. However, even given the subject matter, this is a strongly compelling book and I read it in one evening. Smailes wrote so exquisitely that I found myself in the world of the child and desperately wanted to reach into the pages and pull her out to give her a hug and keep her safe. The story is intense, and unremitting, but pulled me in and didn’t let go until the powerful ending.

 

I also loved the way that Smailes played with her grammar. It was inventive and unique, and I felt it added to the story.

The Scrivener Bees – J T Petty

This is the third in Petty’s terrific series about Clemency Pogue, and once again, she’s off to the rescue. This time she has to save the future of Make-Believe from the clutches of the evil Inky Mess. He’s a changeling who is scheming to get hold of the all-powerful Forgetting Book, which controls Make-Believe due to it containing the names of every hobgoblin and fairy in the realm. In order to succeed in her mission, Clemency has to forge an alliance with the scrivener bees, a nocturnal swarm that tattoo messages on their victims bodies. Her father accidentally falls foul of the bees and hinders her in this mission. Luckily for Clemency she has her sidekick Chaphe to help her in her task.

Petty has created a wonderful fantasy world with this series that gets better with each book. His imagination is boundless and full of dark surprises that will delight both young and old fans of magical tales. The books are beautifully illustrated by David Michael Friend, whose artwork makes these books even more captivating.

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Like Roald Dahl, these are books which are not just for children. The Chronicles of Narnia are beautifully written with the Christian message throughout.

The Magician’s Nephew is the first in the trilogy and is the creation of Narnia. Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

Polly’s hand went out to touch one of the rings. Immediately, without a flash or a noise, she vanished. When horrible Uncle Andrew starts experimenting with magic, Digory and Polly find themselves in another world, and at the beginning of an incredible adventure, as the doorway to the magical land of Narnia opens…This is the first adventure in the exciting Chronicles of Narnia.

It took about half the book to get to Narnia, but honestly, that was not a problem. This gives time for character development, the meeting of the witch and the exploration of other worlds, which I would not have none existed had I not read this one.

My favourite character, like most others, is Aslan the lion. He seems to intimidating but has such a soft heart, what an amazing creature. The description of him is stunning.

As mentioned, the Chronicles of Narnia are based around the Christian story – but do not be put off by this. The Magician’s Nephew replays the Creation Story with Aslan creating Narnia and breathing life into the characters and the Tree of Life and how Diggory was not to eat from it or steal from it.

There is a stark warning at the end to not let our world fall into evil and decline.

I enjoyed this book, and would recommend you read it even if you are an adult. Lewis writes in a fluent and entertaining way, it is easy to follow and very enjoyable.

8/10