Would you Rather by Maggie Alderson

 

REVIEW - Thank you Net Galley for my ARC.

It’s a while since I’ve read a Maggie Alderson book but I always enjoy them.

Would you rather be a grieving widow or a deserted wife? Sophie became both on the same day (no spoiler alert needed, this is how the book starts). Thereupon follows a story peopled with Maggie Alderson’s usual beautiful people, dealing with whatever life chooses to throw at them.  

Without warning, Sophie is faced with the prospect of re-building her life by herself when she thought she and Matt were going to be starting something new together. In one day Sophie’s emotions are tossed about in a whirlwind: starting out with love and hope, then suddenly moving to rejection and hurt; to anger; then massive shock and grief; then back-tracking to anger, hurt, rejection, love, but bewilderment in place of hope.

Sophie’s good fortune is in her loving family and her many kind, caring, creative and artistic friends.  Moral dilemmas are sensitively thought through; Sophie isn’t the only one left with conflicting emotions and dealing with the same question of whether it is better to stay silent or share what they know. 

Would you Rather is filled with Maggie Alderson’s signature wit and style and her readers are going to love it.

Published by Harper Collins

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

 Vera Stanhope is investigating a murder and a disappearance. The body of a young man named Josh has been discovered outside the care home where  he worked; and Chloe, a fourteen-year old resident of the home, is missing. The Dark Wives are three ancient standing stones in a field in the countryside of Northumbria; legend has it at they once were three witches, and the annual “find the witch” ritual is held there every year. Vera, Joe and new team member, Rosie, have to find connections to all of these facts, as well as a further crime which is about to be committed.

In this book Ann Cleeves highlights the problems faced by children growing up in foster care and how they have to find a sense of belonging, and ‘fitting’ in. Care workers, no matter how dedicated, caring and understanding they might be, have time- and cost restraints to work to and these things are, of course, universal.

Vera is back on home ground with this case, and memories of her life with her criminally-inclined birdman father are with her as she revisits familiar places. Vera is a unique character; in no way resembling any other fictional detectives; she is neither male nor divorced/unhappily married; she is not a borderline alcoholic (well, I don’t think she is) and she is not scruffily attractive, although she is scruffy. Joe, and now Rosie, work hard to keep up with her and, occasionally, to interpret her  commands and it would be nice of her to let them know occasionally what she is thinking.

The Dark Wives is an intriguing story and like all good detective stories, it keeps you guessing. I love being surprised when the culprit is unmasked, and this denouement didn’t disappoint in that respect.

Ann Cleeves has done it again with bells on!

Published by Pan Macmillan

Shadows of Winter Robins by Louise Wolhuter

 

As is to be expected of Louise Wolhuter, this is a dark and complicated tale. The wonderful title (in the tradition of ‘Good Will Hunting’) refers to the name of the main character, Winter Robins, a girl who was born in England and is taken to Western Australia as a child. By the time Win arrives in Western Australia, accompanied by her twin brother, Four, she has suffered the multiple traumas of her mother’s death, her father’s withdrawal from her in his grief, and the separation from her grandmother. Much more is yet to come.

Pretty much nothing is as it seems in this story and it is terribly important for the reader to read the date line at the beginning of each section. After reading An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb I knew there would be previously unimagined twists and turns, right to the end, and I was right. This is perfect story-telling, character driven and heavily atmospheric. 

I was pleased I had bought a physical copy because there was much re-reading involved. I’ve previously referred to Louise as Tim Winton with punctuation and now I’m calling her a modern Daphne du Maurier, but more spine tingling. The book is written in the first person, so all characters and events are seen from Winter’s perspective, which left it up to me to work out what was real, who was who they were supposed to be and, basically, whodunnit? Such a delicious dilemma! 

As an afterthought, I’m reminded of an artists’ colony I once visited in an idyllically beautiful place which, instead of leaving me feeling inspired, creeped me out. But I digress.

Louise Wolhuter’s books are going to become Australian classics. Lovers of literary fiction would be wise to start their collections now.

Published by Ultimo Press 

The Protector by Tony Park

 

REVIEW - Tony Park’s books are thrillers set in Africa, with a romantic element, and always featuring a strong message about conservation of endangered animals and the fight against poaching. 

In The Protector, Tony focuses on the plight of pangolins, a species of beautiful anteaters which are unique to Africa. Pangolin scales, while having no possible application in medicine or any other benefit to humans, are highly prized in some countries. It would seem that their rarity gives them value as a status symbol, much like rhino horn, and there are always unscrupulous people looking to make a buck (make that lots of bucks), no matter how evil the proposition.

This is where the thrilling part of The Protector comes in. Professor Denise (Doc) Rado is a researcher into pangolins who has been involved in many dangerous ‘sting’ operations, trapping criminals engaged in the insidious pangolin trade, until one shocking day when a sting goes horribly wrong and Doc’s life is shattered. She goes back to teaching graduate students specialising in the care and preservation of pangolins, leading field trips through sections of the African bush where pangolins are harboured.

Enter Ian Laidlaw, an Australian businessman who has bid at auction and won a trip to Southern Africa, trailing Doc and her students in their research. Ian is struck by the beauty of the African bush and the stunning, previously unimagined wonder of the animal life. Ian gets more than he bargained for as the story hurtles towards a heart stopping conclusion.

There is action aplenty, fabulous scene setting and, as always, lots of interesting, varied characters to keep the story going at Tony’s usual pace. If you have been to Africa this book will evoke your memories in glorious technicolor, and if you haven’t, and you’ve got a pulse, it will have you wondering what you’ve missed.

Published by Pan Macmillan

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.