Departure(s) by Julian Barnes

 

I am so sorry I got to the end of this book. I was loving reading everything Julian Barnes had to say, whether as essayist, memoirist or novelist. I wasn’t sure into which genre the book was meant to fit. Part 1 is, basically, an essay on memory: to quote Julian Barnes “…that place where degradation and embellishment overlap”; and “What did TS Eliot say about memory? That no matter how you wrap it in camphor, the moths will get in”. Wonderful observations, I wish I’d made them myself!

Then follows the story of a relationship between two of Julian’s friends. It is a two-part story, the parts being separated by forty years. Julian was at university with Stephen and Jean (not, as he explains, their real names) when they were all in their early twenties. Forty years later they all reconnect, and the second part of the story begins. I don’t know if these were real people, or whether at this point I was reading a novel or a memoir, but I didn’t mind one way or the other, I just wanted to keep on reading, and did so until the early hours of this morning.

I bought this book on Kindle but I’m going to have to get the paperback now as there are lots of places in it I’ll be wanting to revisit.

Published by Vintage

And the Corpse wore Tartan by Stuart MCBride

The character, Detective Sergeant Roberta Steel, is usually a fun diversion in Stuart McBride’s Logan McRae books; in this one, though, cut off by bad weather from the outside world Roberta goes it alone.

 Stuart McBride says in his foreword that And the Corpse wore Tartan began as a short story and turned into a shortish book; and it would have been a terrific short story. The opening chapters were so funny I was laughing out loud, but I have to say I would have loved it if Logan McRae had made an appearance at that stage and taken over the reins. 

A wedding in a Scottish castle decorated with an over abundance of tartan and stuffed animals becomes the scene of a bizarrely staged murder. Roberta, who has arrived hoping to turn Susan’s working weekend into a romantic interlude, assumes control of the investigation by flashing her out-of-date detective sergeant’s ID. Lots of dark, gloomy, scary woods, constant rain and, to Roberta’s horror, overbearing, hyphenated Tories fill the pages.

Please hurry back, Logan McRae, you know how to deal with Roberta.

Published by Pan Macmillan 

The Sleeper Lies by Andrea Mara

 

This is another, earlier (2018) Andrea Mara novel in which she is at her scariest, most stress-inducing, most intriguing best. Although Marianne has a flat in Dublin, she has been spending time working from home in the old cottage in the Wicklow Hills she has inherited from her father.

The story slips easily from Marianne’s present to cover events in her past dating back to 1999, including her relationship with Ray, a successful author who was a complicated man, to put it mildly; and her visits to Denmark to learn more about her late mother. Although complex, the book is never confusing and there was, for me, no frantic searching through back pages to keep track of who, what or where bits of the story fitted in. 

Marianne’s cottage is in a relatively isolated spot, it is snowy weather and she is feeling particularly vulnerable when things like footprints in the snow and the strange objects start appearing. I have the feeling I always describe Andrea Mara’s books as nail biters, and I have to say this one was a nail biter par excellence ! There was no way I could guess the ending, and isn’t that just how a psychological crime novel should be?

Published by Poolbeg, Crimson Press Ltd.

One Click by Andrea Mara

This is another cautionary tale by Andrea Mara about the possible consequences of carelessly using social media. Lauren is a psychologist with two daughters; her husband has left her and moved in with a woman who lives two doors along, she has an unreasonable boss at work, and a particularly difficult client. She finds release from her stressful life in posting on social media lots of comments and pictures of her daily happenings.

While she and her daughters are holidaying in Italy, Lauren takes a photograph of a young woman sitting on a beach and posts it to Snapchat, saying: “*All* the envy on my morning run - this is #howIwishIspentmytwenties”.”. She then shares the picture to Facebook and Twitter. She ignores her 13- and 15- year old daughters’ advice that she should not take photos without the subject’s knowledge or consent, telling them this was just a ‘candid’ shot’, completely harmless to anyone. The daughters are right, of course, and the proverbial can of beans which has been opened makes for another tension filled thriller in Andrea Mara’s dark, nerve wracking and compulsively readable style.

Lots of classic thriller style twists and turns, and an impossible (for me) to guess outcome!

Published by Crimson of Poolbeg Press Ltd

The Other Side of the Wall by Andrea Mara

 Reading-wise, 2026 has been a mixed bag so far. My first book of the year was the brilliant The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell, then came two eminently forgettable books, and now here is Andrea Mara’s first novel, The Other Side of the Wall. Since I only post reviews of books I have enjoyed and would recommend, this one gets a guernsey, absolutely! I thought I had read all of Andrea Mara’s books, so coming upon this one, published in 2017, came as a hugely welcome surprise,

This is a fabulously creepy psychological thriller. Sylvia looks out her window one night and sees a child’s body floating in the pool in her new neighbour’s back yard. Or does she? Sylvia is exhausted from going back to work after the birth of her baby, on top of which the man who replaced her during her maternity leave is trying to sabotage her; she must have imagined what she saw. Sam and Kate are the people who have bought the next door house, and there is trouble brewing in their relationship as Kate is becoming ever more suspicious of Sam’s  behaviour.

This is the ultimate nail biter, page turner, unputdownabler. Andrea Mara obviously began the novel-writing part of her career in the  manner in which she intended to continue. In this one the suspense begins to build from page l and gathers momentum right up to the last line, leaving this reader needing a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down!

Published by Crimson

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

 

The Marriage Portrait is historical fiction based on the true story of Lucrezia Di Cosimo de’ Medici who in 1560 left Florence as a fifteen year old to live with her new husband, Alfonso Il d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. As a duchess, Lucrezia was dressed in the finest clothes and lived in luxurious surroundings; however, be they aristocrat or peasant, women  in Lucrezia’s world were all subservient to men; chattels whose very existence depended on the whims of their masters. Of course, men of low standing were inferior beings as well.

People are people, though, and in the 1500s the human spirit wasn’t any easier doused than it is today. Only one thing was expected of poor little Lucrezia, and that was to bear a child, hopefully a son, before one of Alfonso’s sisters did. Her feelings for Alfonso were of absolutely no consideration, but she got her emotional support from her maidservant, Emilia, and her self confidence from her art as she honed her skills as a painter. She loved nature and admired and respected animals, and although she is just a fictional character, wouldn’t it be good if the real Lucrezia felt that way as well, centuries before animal rights were to be recognised out here in the real world?

I fully expected to love this book after reading Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s other brilliant historical novel, and I did. It has drama, beauty and ugliness, happiness and sadness, and love and hope. It was published in 2023 and I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner than I did at the lovely Collins bookstore in Orange.

Published by Tinder Press.

Our Beautiful Mess by Adele Parks

 

I didn’t get up until 11 o’clock this morning. My dogs were waiting  patiently under my bed for me to make a move; however, I was enthralled by this book and had to stay put until I got to the end. When the first chapter is titled ‘The End’, you know you’re going to be in for a tantalising journey to find out how ‘the end’ came about.

Connie and her husband, Luke, are happy to have their three girls home for the holidays but when their eldest daughter, Fran, introduces her boyfriend, Zac, Connie is stunned at Zac’s resemblance to someone from a time in her life which she has tried to put behind her. It was at this point that I thought I had an idea how the story was going to go but as matters became more and more complicated, none of my guesses were proved to be right. 

Connie is not the only one keeping a secret. Someone else is in the most awful trouble, facing dangerous, even deadly consequences. There are twists and turns galore in this nail biter, and as the story came to its conclusion, I had a feeling of dread about which way it would go, always keeping the first chapter in mind.

I’m a big fan of the way Adele Parks casts a cynical eye over her stories. Her characters are always only too human: I’m thinking here of the book in which two couples shared a lottery ticket. That one had a twist in the tail too!

Highly recommended.

Published by Harper Collin’s