In the Springtime of the Year

 

I have read all of Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler detective series which I enjoyed immensely; however, In the Springtime of the Year is my first look at one of her standalone novels. It is the intensely moving story of Ruth, widowed at just twenty years of age, faced with the sudden loss of her deeply loved husband, Ben, and the happy life they had made together.

Susan Hill’s descriptions of the natural world are beautiful; Ruth’s search for a way to live without Ben is quite heartbreaking. She is comforted by Ben’s young brother, Jo, but she and the rest of Ben’s family are unable or unwilling to share their grief. Ben’s mother is almost driven to the point of madness at the loss of her son, but he was the love of Ruth’s life, and her future. Ruth has a better understanding of this than her mother-in-law. It’s a conundrum as old as time but in this case optimistic me hopes that they were able to sort it out in the future. I know it’s just a book but, really, why read a book if you can’t feel personally involved in the lives of its characters?

It’s a sad but ultimately uplifting story and I’ve read that Susan Hill who wrote it in 1974 used her own experience of grief for inspiration. 

Published by Vintage Books

Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson

 

In 1941 Harry Flynn, working as a temporary foreign correspondent for the News Chronicle, arrives in Singapore from London just in time to be captured by the Japanese army and imprisoned in Changi jail. Harry spends the rest of the Second World War working on the Burma railway, eventually arriving back in Britain at war’s end “…underweight, with the sallow complexion of a POW who had been no stranger to starvation and disease”. By 1949 back in London Harry is working in a small printing press, wording everything from bill posters to wedding invitations,  when Gerald Barry, his former editor at the News Chronicle chances upon him eating a corn beef sandwich in a park.

Thus begins Kate Atkinson's latest typically magnificent novel. Gerald Barry asks Harry to be part of bringing to life the Festival of Britain, starting with reading through countless poems and basically taking it from there. Harry is a rather adorable character (of course, I’m always up for finding Kate Atkinson’s leading males adorable so don’t be swayed too much by my judgment). Harry came back to Britain hoping for an untroubled kind of future with possibly a nice wife, family, dog and all the trimmings but he has first to settle in to a life free from the horrific memories of the Burma railway and the ghastly Changi prison.

 Through his work on the Festival of Britain lots  of different people come into Harry’s life. There are still elements of spy networks even though the War has been over for four years; many people are struggling to rebuild their lives and many are out to take what they can get to reclaim a former glory, real or imagined, or to create a glorious present. Among other things Harry is a suspect in the disappearance or possible murder of a mysterious French woman, and unexpectedly, he finds someone he cares for.

Our Noble Selves is evocative of an extraordinary time in our recent shared history with characters, good, bad and indifferent all rebounding in their individual ways from the shattering reality of World War Two.

Published by Penguin

Nine Lives by Catherine Steadman

 

Just give me a minute until my goose bumps settle down. Reading Nine Lives was an experience not to be undertaken by those particularly faint of heart. This is a brilliantly written suspense novel; and cleverly, without being cute or twee, the biggest hero, and there were several ultimately, is a cat!

Frankie has moved into her beautiful new house in an exclusive London suburb with her cat, Blue, following her divorce. I worried at first for Blue because Frankie lets him out every morning to explore the new neighbourhood, wearing a collar with a little camera attached. But Blue comes home safe every night and Frankie looks at his daily wanderings on her laptop.

That is the basis of this story in the Rear Window mould. (Rear Window was an Alfred Hitchcock movie in which James Stewart whose character was laid up with a broken leg could see through the rear window of an apartment in the block opposite his, what appeared to be a crime being committed.)  But even Alfred Hitchcock was no match for Catherine Steadman in building heart rate soaring suspense.

I read an awful lot of books but I only talk about the ones I would recommend to others, and I’ve got to say Nine Lives is nothing short of a masterpiece in the thriller genre. Looks like I’ve found myself a new binge worthy writer in Catherine Steadman!

Published by Quercus

The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves

 

The Dying Light is the latest book in Ann Cleeves’ Matthew Venn series. The story is set in the picturesque area of Barnstaple in North Devon (there is a map at the beginning of the book).

Two young women, Hannah and Lottie, are found dead at the stunning holiday home owned by Hannah’s parents. Hannah’s father, Paul, is a politician who attracts a lot of media attention and the question hangs in the air of whether Hannah was targeted by someone wanting to harm Paul. That is, of course, just one thought to keep in mind for Detective Matthew Venn and his team, as they begin their investigation into the apparent murders.

Ann Cleeves with her brilliant storytelling had me right there  along with Matthew, Jen and Ross as they interviewed suspects and built up a picture of the teenagers’ last day, while also following Matthew’s story of his home life with Jonathan. Meanwhile, Jonathan has made an important discovery of his own and he is anxious for Matthew to take the time to share it with him.

As usual Ann Cleeves has come up with an immersive story. I like the way she describes her characters with just enough detail for me to build up my own pictures of them. This is Ann’s fortieth year as a published author, and what a brilliant career it has been so far!

Published by Pan MacMillan 

Eyes on You by Adele Parks

 

I had pre-ordered Eyes on You, and it was definitely worth the wait before it landed on my Kindle. I’ve always enjoyed Adele Parks’ books, but this one is her absolute best!

Eyes on You is a deep, dark, psychological thriller. Since she was fifteen Amy has had to live with the horror of being the daughter of a murderer. This is the story of how she navigates her way through the murky waters of the life she feels she has been thrown into.

This book is a page turner extraordinaire, shifting in time between seventeen years ago to a week ago, to yesterday to today, which, rather than making the story seem disjointed, keeps building the suspense because it is following a circle back to the opening chapters.

It is impossible to comment further on the story without ruining the absolutely brilliant effect of becoming absorbed into Amy’s relentless attempts to right the wrongs of the past. I wish I could have taken longer to read it but that would have been like trying to find the brake on a roller coaster! 

Published by HQ for Harper Collins

Shooting Reality by Rozzi Bazzani

 

Shooting Reality is the third book in the DS Bec Harpin series.  Bec is hoping to rid herself of the word ‘acting’ before her position’s title as she takes on the investigation of the murder of Shelley Goodwin, a high-profile producer of a popular reality television cooking show.

While Bec and her team are hard at work looking into all of Shelley’s known associates, including her husband, Chad Goodwin, pressure is coming from not only Chad Goodwin’s influential friend, the Arts Minister, for Bec to keep away from Goodwin, but also from Bec’s own superiors to prove she is capable of not allowing demands on her personal life to encroach on her work. That last bit is never easy for Bec because it seems there is always a friend asking her, just this once, for help away from her job.

There is nothing simple about this case, even though what appears to be incriminating evidence is found quickly. Shelley’s friends all have stories to tell, and a podcaster is sure she is going to be able to solve the murder with her own investigation. Meanwhile Bec is finding time away from work, whenever she can, with Josh between their mountain home and Josh’s restaurant.

Another death, more suspects, and a nicely complex story emerges, and I think this is Rozzi Bazzani’s best Bec Halpin book so far. 

Published by S & B

Before She Met Me by Julian Barnes

 

Before She Met Me was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape but I’ve only just found it.  My problem with Julian Barnes is that I can’t pace myself through his books. He is so clever, so witty, so badly behaved, sometimes, that I plough through them and get to the end long before I meant to. This one was a perfect example of that.

Graham is plodding away as a college lecturer, married not particularly unhappily, with one daughter, when he meets, and falls in love with, Ann. When he eventually leaves his marriage, his embittered wife, Barbara, comes up with a rather ingenious way to scupper Grahame’s happy-ever-after. There follows the story of a man who finds that bits of his brain of which he was previously unaware until he was advised about them by his friend, Jack, have taken over his thinking, and therefore his life.

Brilliant characters, superb writing, and that’s all you need to know. I loved discovering this ‘old’ book although to me 1982 was last week.

Published by Penguin Books Australia 

Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan

 

Dervla McTiernan’s Three Reasons for Revenge is a master class in crime fiction writing. It’s an intriguing story with a main character who is definitely not your average, run-of-the-mill police detective. Judith Lee prefers black jeans and tee shirts, rides a motor bike and is totally committed to her job. When Alexis Turner comes into the police station and asks to see Judith to report a sexual assault, Judith agrees to investigate although she works homicides these days, having left sex crimes eight years ago.

I loved not being able to see the twist in the story until only a few pages before it was revealed. I also love a book which has me yelling (inside my head) for a character to go back and take another look at this or that detail and stop mucking around. This is a good, complicated plot where it’s up to Judith, when she finds she is investigating a murder after all, to stay clear-eyed and objective while at the same time coping with a major, unrelated development in her working life.

Having read this terrific book into the small hours I hope my brain has woken up enough to do it justice. I’ve always liked Dervla McTiernan’s books but I think this one is her best. I would urge lovers of good crime fiction to get hold of it, find a secluded space and settle in for a treat!

Published by Harper Collins

Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason

 

I read first Meg Mason’s You be Mother, a deep, beautiful story about vulnerability, and optimism against the odds, after which I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Sorrow and Bliss, and then when I did I  thought I had found perfection in a book; but now I’ve found it again in Sophie Standing There!

Sophie is one of the most loveable protagonists I’ve found, ever. Meg Mason takes us, in stages, into Sophie’s background. Sophie’s life  has been shaped by her unusual childhood, her  close relationship with her brother, and her compassionate response to her brother-in-law, in relation to which her ex-husband’s behaviour is almost excusable, in light of their shared experiences, is my reluctant guess.

Sophie pours her love, in her mind, into Lilac, a movie star/turned author. This is a fascinating part of the story and, ultimately, although she doesn’t realise it, Sophie’s survival mechanism. Lilac actually sums Sophie up perfectly with her inscription:

I’ve never met anyone who tried so hard to be happy by being kind.

When I got to the end of  Sophie, Standing There, I felt overwhelmed by my emotions, in exactly the same way as I had been by Sorrow and Bliss. The word that keeps popping into my mind about all three of Meg Mason’s books that I’ve read is: exquisite.

Published by Harper Collins.

Opening Night by Sara Baume

 

When the writer and sculptor, Sara Baume, first met her, the artist Mollie Douthit was living alone in a cabin in the west of Cork and preparing a series of paintings from her life for an exhibition in Dublin. Sarah had undertaken to write a book about Molly’s life, and she spent the following two years in Molly’s company, recording in minute detail Molly’s way of life.

Opening Night is filled with descriptions of Molly’s paintings as well as reproducing many of them on its pages. I read the book online as an ARC, thanks to NetGalley, but I think a paper copy would be something to treasure, for the paintings.

Sara and Mollie had a lot in common; Sara also lived a rather pared down existence in the west of Cork, although with her partner, Mark, and her beloved dogs; and Molly’s circumstances did change somewhat over time. 

Sara records meticulously not only Molly’s paintings, but the clothes she wears and the food she cooks, and to complete the picture Sara describes her own clothes and meals. The two women had much in common, but, Sara wondered: ‘I was her friend of course, but she was also my material. I was beginning to find it difficult to discern whether my attachment to Mollie came from sincere affection and concern, or from the crazed desire to make good art.’

Opening Night is an intense read, with biographer and subject each equally devoted to her own art. 

Published by Farrar, Straus and Girraux

The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall

 

Tessa and Theo are twins living a happy, privileged life with their French mother and English father in England at the start of World War Two, and sharing a strong, loving bond. While Theo becomes a RAF pilot, Tessa, his equally strong spirited and brave sister, is dismayed at the prospect of the typing pool, or the FANYS (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry). When Tessa is recruited to spy with the French resistance she joins up gladly.

I didn’t know until I read The Shock of the Light that English women who were captured in France while spying did not have the protection of being treated as prisoners of war because they did not wear uniforms. Lori Inglis Hall has brought a staggering reality to the fear of not knowing who to trust while at the same time being under the same suspicion. It’s hard to imagine someone growing up in a safe home suddenly facing a brutal, non-discriminating enemy, and the prospect of capture, physical cruelty and even death every day.

I remember reading Martha Hall Kelly’s The Lilac Girls and finding out for the first time about Ravensbrook, the unbelievably sadistic women’s concentration camp. I do hope schools these days are teaching children how they came to inherit the freedoms of the world they are living in, and how precious those freedoms are.

Theo has his own story line and he is a memorable, beautiful character. Reading this book is an intense, emotional experience. It covers the full spectrum of happiness and heartbreak; strengths and weaknesses; love and betrayal; and I am very happy to add this bit: the calming, healing influence of cats on human’s lives.

Published by The Borough Press

A World of Silence by Jo Skinner

 In her novel, A World of Silence, Jo Skinner has written about partner abuse, following the thread from traumatic childhood to dysfunctional adulthood. Jo has also raised the part animals play in providing comfort in times of despair, and the horrifically cruel way in which an animal is sometimes treated by a perpetrator as an ultimate act of control. In the area where I live a man who has confessed to the murder of his former partner is in jail awaiting sentencing; one of the charges against him was animal cruelty.

This riveting book tells the story of people who are, on the surface, educated, attractive, successful, and even famous; but domestic violence and partner abuse don’t discriminate, do they? It’s all too real, and all too sad.

Published by Hawkeye Publishing

King of Beasts by Tony Park

 

Disclaimer: Tony Park is my son; that being said, however, Tony has come up with an absolute belter in King of Beasts.

As in some of Tony’s previous books the prologue is from the point of view of an animal, in this case Nhena, a rare white lion. Nhena is coming to the end of his days, he is old and battle-scarred, and eligible to be hunted legally if he strays on to a Reserve whose owners have offered a licence to kill to prospective trophy hunters. Sonja Kurtz is back, this time trying, with limited success, to curb her wilder instincts while assisting her partner, Hudson Brand, in the running of the adjoining Reserve;  Sonja’s daughters, Emma And Fiona, are in trouble in Ukraine; Mike Williams is in South Africa attempting to rebuild his business after the Covid devastation, and Sarah Thatcher is working for the BBC out of England. 

Vasilly Orlov, another character from the past, has been released from prison in South Africa and has various scores to settle.

The story centres on drones, their amazing capabilities and deadly as well as benevolent uses; that is, on top of questions into the moral and ethical justifications behind trophy hunting; industrial espionage; a kidnap; a vendetta, and a rekindled romance or two. The South African bush, as ever in Tony’s books, is so real you could touch it, smell it, breathe it in and lose yourself in it (if you are that way inclined). The final chapters hurtle along in a heart-stopping race towards the finish. Well done, Tony!

Published by Pan Macmillan

Kill the Thing You Love by M R Collings

 Kill the Thing You Love is a dark, mysterious, psychological drama. 

Finn is a psychiatrist who lives with his closest friend and confidante, Sigmund, a Flemish Giant rabbit. Finn’s main interest is in patients who present with wanting to get rid of a tormenter who may or may not still be in their lives. Finn has many dark secrets and problems of his own.

Ethan lost Fawn, the love of his life, who died when they were both eighteen. Now, eighteen years later, she seems to have reappeared.

Gillian is Ethan’s wife, the one who saved him by helping him overcome the heartbreak and trauma of Fawn’s death.

Faith is ??

I found this book fascinating, gripping and hard to put down because I needed to keep up with all the twists and turns along the way. It deals with two time lines, Then and Now, which fit into the story very neatly. And it has a  punch-packing ending, keeping the darkness and mystery alive right up to the finish.

Now I want a Flemish Giant rabbit.

Published by Thomas and Mercer.

 I love memoirs, I love Africa, and I love true heroes. School for Life by Annabelle Chauncey is all three rolled into one. At twenty one Annabelle, together with her friend, Jessie, left Sydney for Kenya as part of a volunteer programme, intending to teach English to African school students. Finding they had arrived in time for the annual two months school holiday shut down, Annabelle and Jessie decided to leave Kenya after four weeks to travel to Uganda with Dave Everett, a fellow Australian volunteer, and his mate, Luke.

So began Annabelle Chauncey’s remarkable career. She had been shocked by the poverty and degradation of the land of Uganda and its people and what she saw as a hopeless future for its children; but I’m sure I’m not the only one who has read Annabelle’s story and remembered Bobby Kennedy’s quote: “There are those that look at things the way they are and ask why: I dream of things that never were and ask why not?”.

 It is truly inspirational to follow Annabelle’s story, starting with her stated aim of teaching English as a second language to children; to building schools; bringing water and electricity to villages, and to improving the lives of children and their families as well. There are some beautiful photographs in the book which illustrate how much Annabelle and the people around her have achieved in an amazingly short time. 

Annabelle’s parents must be bursting with pride for their beautiful daughter. I am, and I have never met her! Annabelle’s has been a life well lived so far, and with many, many years ahead of her.

Published by Pan Macmillan 

Storm in a B-Cup by Lindy Dale

 

Storm in a B-Cup is a novel, but obviously based on the author’s true life experiences, which was confirmed in Lindy Dale’s acknowledgments at the end of the book. 

Sophie, the narrator, tells her story from discovering she had breast cancer, through to the various successful and failed treatments; the ways in which her son, Rory, and her partner, Brendan were affected, and the reactions of her family and friends. Finding out who loves her    and who doesn’t makes her stronger in surprising ways. She has to jump over some pretty high hurdles!

Lindy Dale’s gentle touches of humour in some of Sophie’s most difficult moments are almost unbearably poignant. It’s a good story which balances the bad moments with the good, and with some lovely and loveable characters along the way.

Lindy Dale is a survivor, fortunately one of many, and I’m sure Storm in a B-Cup has been inspirational to a lot of people.

Robert B Parker’s Buried Secrets by Christopher Farnsworth

  

I used to love Robert B Parker’s Jesse Stone novels, as well as watching the movie series with Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone. Buried Secrets is the first Jesse Stone I’ve tried by a substitute author since Robert B Parker’s death, and I have to say I liked it very much.

A man is found dead inside his house in Paradise, surrounded by stacks of old newspapers and a heap of photographs, all of dead people, most with bullet wounds in their heads. So begins a new case for Jesse, Suit, Molly and Gabe.

This was a read-in-one-day book, in true Robert B Parker tradition. There is nothing like a good cops-and-robbers story on a cold winter’s day to get you going.

Published by Bedford Square Publishers UK.

Red Lake by Jason Summers

 

Just a moment please, while I recover from the powerful, dramatic and ultimately heart wrenching conclusion to Red Lake, a brilliant new Australian crime novel by Jason Summers. 

The town of Koorinda in the Riverina district of New South Wales skirts Lake Koorinda, or Red Lake as it is known because the red brown earth and red clay loam of the area make the water in the lake look red. The town’s big attraction is a water park, with dips and slides and especially one huge slide which tests the bravery of the local children. It is there, one day in 1989, that Harper goes with her little brother, Nick, to the top of the tower while their parents wait below for them to emerge from the slide. 

So begins a story which has consequences that are still being felt thirty seven years later, by which time Harper and her husband, Darren, are the parents of an eighteen-year-old son, Will. Harper had been a well respected detective in Sydney before she decided to come back to Koorinda with Darren and Will. She is happy with her job as a sergeant with the local police, Darren is doing well as a builder and Will is in his last year at high school. Will has a 19-year-old girlfriend, Camilla, who is a junior reporter at the local newspaper. When a murder is discovered at Red Lake Harper is considered too close to the case and is asked to step back and make way for detectives from Sydney.

I love murder mysteries and Red Lake is a stunning addition to the genre. Momentum builds slowly and by the end of the book I was emotionally engaged, to say the least. But wait: that wasn’t quite the end of the book, and by the real end my emotions (tears) came spilling out and, as I said at the start of this review, I had to take some time out to recover.

 It really is that good.

Published by Pan Macmillan 

Whistler by Ann Patchett

 

The themes of Ann Patchett’s books over the years have been many and varied. I started with Bel Canto, which I loved, and I think I’ve read most of them since then, favouring, naturally, some more than others. Whistler goes in the highly favoured column.

Daphne and her husband, Jonathan, are walking through the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York when Jonathan notices an older man who appears to be following them. This is the beginning of the story of Daphne’s reunion with Eddie, her beloved former stepfather.

Through Ann Patchett’s magic all the characters in Whistler in no time became heartbreakingly real to me. It’s just a lovely book!

Published by Bloomsbury.

The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese

 

In his second memoir Abraham Verghese writes about living in El Paso; the deterioration of his marriage; his work as an internal medicine specialist and mentor of medical students at Texas Tech School of Medicine, and, central to all of this, his friendship with David Smith, his tennis partner.

David was an Australian who went to America straight from high school on a university tennis scholarship, later joining the junior pro tennis circuit.  By the time Abraham met him David had left the pro circuit and was an ‘extern’, which was the term  for fourth-year medical students who were given almost as much responsibility as interns. Tennis had been a passion of Abraham’s since childhood and he was thrilled when David agreed to playing a few games after work.

Abraham Verghese’s memoirs are as beautifully literary and soulful as his novels. He was a kind, compassionate, loving friend to David and he writes about him with his usual clear-eyed, non-judgmental intensity. While Abraham’s main concern was keeping his two little sons happy when he and his wife separated, he could only stand by, watch and hope as David tried to work through his own life’s struggles.

The Tennis Partner is a deeply moving, sensitive memoir from a uniquely gifted writer.  No pressure, Dr Verghese, but is there another masterpiece in the works, after Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water?

Published by Vintage