Katherine Webb - The Misbegotten

Well what a pot boiler and I do not mean this disparagingly This book starts slowly and I have to confess that I found it at first hard to get into. Indeed I put it to one side and read another book and then came back to it. I am so glad that I did, by half way though I was hooked and unable to put it down - the pot that had been simmering came to the boil.
The fact is that like real life, I was unsure as to whether I liked any of the characters, but as I read I came to know them better and they separated into those I think I liked , those I think I didn't and those I was unsure about even at the end.

This is a book about lies and mysteries. It is set in Bath and Bathampton spanning the years from 1803 - 1822. However, drop any illusions about Regency Bath a la Jane Austen. This is the underbelly, the dark places where rot breeds, where the gentile and impoverished sink into the mud of poverty and corruption. Here we follow the fortunes of Rachel who escapes her life as a governess to marry an up and coming wine merchant. Through him she comes to know the Alleyn's and is quickly drawn into their dark secrets when she is employed as a companion for the son, invalided in the Peninsular war. We come to know Starling the foundling, whose determination and anger precipitate the events that unfold.

It is a long book at 570 pages for book groups but there is so much in it to discuss, it is worth the initial groans when they see the size of it. It will be read quickly I can assure you.

Martin Davies - The Year After

This is a real page turner from one of Richard and Judy's bestsellers.

Here we have all the ingredients of a country house drama, set in 1919, our hero has returned from the war a wiser young man than when he left. After a chance encounter he is unable to resist and invite down to the house that featured so prominently in his youth and the stellar family that lived there.
Now he sees it all with new eyes and is quickly drawn into the family lies and deceit as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the traumatic events that occurred in 1914.

I am unable to amplify too much of the plot without revealing spoilers. This book is well written and atmospheric and I guarantee you will be unable to put it down. He has captured the period perfectly. I think it would make an excellent book for a reading group as there is much to discuss, not only the plot but also the social attitudes of the day.

Charlie Lovett - The Bookman's Tale

This excellent book has recently been published and I highly recommend it.
It is an intelligent and fast paced thriller but also a timeslip novel in which we alternate between the modern day, our heroes youth and back in time as he chases the provenance of a book that might prove that Shakespeare was indeed the author of his plays.
There is even an element of the supernatural when he finds an Victorian portrait that looks just like his dead wife. The book also travels from the US to the UK and this also added interest.
I like the way the book progressed and we flipped between time periods, it kept up the suspense. I particularly found the Antiquarian side fascinating, but then I would as a librarian. I found the dip into Shakespearean history believable and interesting. All in all an excellent debut and I suspect we will see more of our intrepid antiquarian bookseller Peter Byerly - at least I hope so!

I think this would make an excellent reading group book as there is plenty to discuss. The whole Shakespeare, did he did he not write his plays issue could take up the whole of a meeting on it's own.

Lucy Clarke - The Sea Sisters

No wonder this book was picked for the Richard and Judy Summer read, it is really great. Having learnt that the author lives in Bournemouth, I took the book away with me on holiday and it was first on my list.
As the title suggests it looks at the relationship between two sisters. Katie is shocked to learn that her wild and impulsive younger sister has died in Bali, whilst on an impulsive backpacking world travel journey. The police state it was suicide and they even have witnesses that back this idea up. Unable to accept this and grieve stricken Katie comes into possession of her sisters travel journal. In a bid to understand her sister better and try and unravel what happened to her, the normally sensible Katie, decides to follow her sister. She gives up her job, abandons her fiancee and begins to backpack across the world with her sisters diary for company.
I cannot say too much about the rest of the plot without spoilers. What did impress me was the quality of the writing, the careful plotting that kept me reading on the edge of the seat and her tremendous insight into the relationship of sisters. It was spot on. 
This will make a great reading group read and there are copies available for reading groups in Bournemouth Libraries. A stunning debut and an author to watch.

Graeme Simpson

To say I hated this book is an overstatement, but I am absolutely sure that I did not like it. Perhaps I lack the requisite sense of humour.

This book left me feeling very uncomfortable as it stayed into the realms of disabilism, perhaps it is OK to mock someone with autism in  Australia but I don’t think that is OK here. This is not a gentle exploration of the condition as in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time, because our hero has no idea of his condition we are forced from the outside to look on. This then is the rub, one could see that this book was set up as a future film to appeal to the ‘jackass’ fans who don’t mind watching someone with a disability thrust into situations where they are bound to fail. It left me wondering what sort of educational system they have in Australia if our hero is meant to have reached being a professor at a university without being properly diagnosed.

 

Our hero himself is a likable character but he is certainly no Mr Darcy as I have seen touted elsewhere.

Given that I disliked the book I am sure it will be successful and will be a hit at reading group, where blows may even be exchanged. Is it ever right to laugh at someone disabled?

Alma Books Competition

Hi, I have just heard about this competition. Good luck!

Manisha Jolie Amin - Dancing to the Flute

I have recently returned from 3 weeks in southern India and what a book to take with me to accompany me on my journey. This book is superb, lyrical, evocative, magical and spiritual. Manisha beautifully captures rural India, at it's best and worst. She does not balk at describing the poverty and inequality but has the rare quality of not sinking to the maudlin. She effortlessly creates pace in the background to send us on wishing to genuinely know what will happen. Her characters are full and well drawn, by the end of the book I felt I knew them well and was invested in their futures and lives.
Then throughout the book is the music, the flute, the Ragas, the hint of Krishna himself. It is this that makes the book soar. That and the feeling of hope, friendship and love.

This will make a superb reading group selection I have already ordered our copies for Bournemouth Libraries.