Into the Storm by Cecelia Ahern

 You know that feeling you get when just a short way into a book you realise it’s going to be unputdownable? Into the Storm is that with bells on. The story delves deep into the psyche of its protagonist, deeply troubled Dr Enya Pettigrew, and the consequences of  the choices she makes in her life.

Enya is driving through a wild, heavy rainstorm at night when she comes upon an accident. A young boy is lying on the road, the victim of a hit and run. Enya does CPR which keeps the boy alive until an ambulance arrives. That is the beginning of the story. The drama, the ups and downs and the twists and turns which follow are completely engrossing, and unpredictable. Enya has many issues she is trying to resolve by herself, and nothing comes easily for her.

The (mostly) dark, gloomy, wet Irish weather provides a terrifically atmospheric background, together with folklore in the form of old writings by Enya’s mother, and a mysterious ancient tree. There is no knowing which way the story is going to go, right up to the end of the book. I still didn’t want it to end, though. I could have gone on reading Cecelia Ahern’s fascinating words for a lot longer. 

There are some brilliant Irish women writers, and Cecelia Ahern is one of the best. Readers of beautifully written, psychological fiction are going to love this book. 

Published by Harper Collins 

The Youngest Son by John Byrnes

 1929-1943:  while Sydney struggled through the Great Depression and the Second World War the Leach siblings, John, Maureen and the youngest, Bob, each chose their own way to survive. John, quiet, studious and compassionate, completed his high school education and aspired to join the priesthood; Maureen was searching for something more glamorous and exciting than her mother’s kind of life, and young Bob realised that his ability with his fists could take him places.

John Byrnes brings Sydney to life at a critical time in its history. The Depression brought unimaginable poverty, and people living in Ultimo and surrounding suburbs were doing it tough, just trying to survive.  John, Maureen and Bob’s lives are all very different, and alternating chapters bring to life their individual journeys through these difficult years. They each elicited sympathy and understanding from me as I watched them making their inevitable mistakes and trying to reach their goals which changed as their circumstances were constantly changing.

Poverty brought corruption, violence and hopelessness, and ordinary citizens suffering from the effects of the Great Depression bore the brunt of all those things. Racketeering, illegal gambling and prostitution were all part of the world  in which John, Maureen and Bob were living. Then came the Second World War, and the story turns to Tobruk and Papua New Guinea, where the fight for survival took on a whole new dimension.

The Youngest Son will be of special interest to natives of Sydney and to all lovers of historical fiction.

Published by Pan Macmillan 

The Fog by Brooke Hardwick

 

The Fog is a psychological nail biter in the tradition of the old Hollywood film noir classics. Kate has applied to be part of a retreat on an isolated Irish island, the aim of which is to relieve authors who are experiencing writer’s block.

Kate has an unfinished novel which she hasn’t been able to get back to as she is trying to piece together the shattered fragments of her recent personal history. Even in the present she is having difficulty sorting out what is real and what she is imagining. She appears to be suffering from some kind of post traumatic shock and so is pleased to learn she has been accepted for the retreat, and hopeful it is what will help her to find a way out.

The island is straight out of Daphne du Maurier’s imagination:  dark, forbidding and bitterly cold. The story is pitched perfectly to keep the reader compulsively turning the pages, trying to keep up with Kate as her memories come back and then retreat, and as she gets to know her fellow writers, as well as Cormac who has convened the retreat and Ewan who is aiding Cormac in carrying out the program Cormac has devised.

Shocking truths emerge as Kate’s past begins to reveal itself, and there are surprise twists and turns right to the end of this highly satisfying and rather creepy (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) novel by the Australian author, Brooke Hardwick.

Best sit by a fire or curl up in a nice, warm bed to read this terrific  book. There is lots of unbearably cold weather to get through!

Published by Simon and Schuster.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

 

I had been wondering if Abraham Verghese would be able to come up with a match for the brilliance of Cutting for Stone, and that is exactly what he has done. The Covenant of Water, while being hauntingly beautiful, is educational in the tradition of the great James A Michener and others who combine historical facts with intensely personal story telling. It is a multi-generational saga ranging over three-quarters of a century.

As an introduction to the story (no spoilers): South India, 1900: Mariamma is about to become a 12 year old bride in an arranged marriage with a 40 year old widower, father of a small son. As it turns out he is shocked when he sees she is a child and he walks out of the church. He is brought back in, reluctantly, the ceremony proceeds, and for the next four years Mariamma lives in his household as a child, and as companion/carer for his little boy, Jo Jo, whom she comes to love. Mariamma’s story proceeds from there and I became so engrossed in it that I didn’t feel ready to move on to the next part of the book, which was Digby’s story; however, when it was time to leave Digby for a while that was even harder.

Digby is a young Scottish doctor and one of the loveliest literary characters to have ever come my way. That is the magic of this book: every part of it and every new character is memorable, and special. It is a very long book (over 700 pages) and covers, among many other subjects, India in the Second World War; research into and treatments devised for serious diseases, and surgical procedures for burns victims; and breaking through the caste system. Art and music are part of the story, and romantic relationships are sensitively and beautifully written about. There are a lot of characters and a lot of threads which all come together eventually, some in very surprising ways.

To become immersed in this book is a deeply moving, emotional experience. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Published by Grove Press UK