Elma Turner book chat - June
Set in the 1840s during the Scottish clearances. John an impoverished Presbyterian minister takes on the task of evicting the sole occupant of a remote northern Scottish island as the land is to be used for grazing sheep. , however when he does get to the island he has an accident and Ivar the sole occupant takes care of him unaware of the purpose of his presence on the island. 4.5
Louis de Bernieres Labels and other stories
Short stories with one a sequel to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. 4.5
Lin Anderson None but the dead
A whodunnit set in the Orkney Isles (Sanday)Fog and wind limit access. A shallow grave requires excavation, so a forensic expert arrives from the mainland and DS Michael McNab struggles with no internet, CCTV or police station. The locals are uncooperative and daylight is short. ‘Magic’ adds to the mystery. 4.5
Trent Dalton Lola in the mirror
Searing originality and characterisation. Themes of identity. The setting is Brisbane with many of the homeless characters caught up in the world of drugs. Love his writing. 5+
Barbra Streisand My name is Barbra
Streisand’s story from rising up through NY nightclubs to hitting the bigtime in Funny girlLots of movie trivia and big names. Very long but a good read. 4.5
Adore this book. A funny acerbic retelling of Nancy Mitford’s Pursuit of love, set in the 21st century with the father a former rock star, who has bought the huge estate in Norfolk and brought up the children without internet much to their frustratin, but plenty of books and creativity. There are lots of wonderful moments with the eccentric Radletts especially the descriptions of the interiors, the people Uncle Matthew detests and why, modern society in London and in particular, Linda’s life after she leaves home and becomes a model then marries disastrously twice but comes back to the family each time. 5
Focuses on the Tichborne Trial where a butcher from Australia claims he’s the rightful heir to a sizeable estate and title. Told from several perspectives, mainly the radical left including a servant who attends the trial. A story about radical politics vs the aristocracy 5
Elly Griffith The great deceiver
Magician Max Mephisto helps to investigate the death of a magician who was part of a team during WW2 whose role was to deceive the enemy in the UK….4.5
Alice Munro The view from Castle Rock
This biographical novel looks at her Scottish ancestry. Munro imagines life on the boat coming to Canada. Well researched with good characterisation. 3.5
Louise Penny The world of curiosities
Old cases. A revenge plot against C I Gamache. Penny uses all the techniques with short sentences to build tension, fake clues but found the plot preposterous. Gamache as the all-seeing, all-knowing Inspector became irritating. 3.5
Parini Schroff The bandit queens
Geeta is a pariah in the village as they suspect her of killing her vanished husband. She doen’t dispute it as keeps her safe as a single woman. The another woman asks Geeta for help in killing her husband. A novel about domestic violence and abusive husbands but the women don’t come off too well either. A bad ending as if the writer ran out of ideas 4
Jacqueline Winspear Birds of a feather
Another Maisie Dobbs novel. Didn’t enjoy 3
Louise Penny/Hillary Clinton State of terror
Secretry of State Ellen Adams is the Secretary of State in a new administration. A bit disturbing if Clinton based on her own experience 4
Stephen Davies Operation Trojan Horse
This is the story of the British Airways flight that landed in Kuwait just as Iraqi troops massed at the border and eventually took the passengers hostage. Why did the plane reroute to refuel and was there an intelligence operation going on to smuggle some intelligence officers into Kuwait. 4.5
Loved this novel especially the openness of expression and the translation helps it to feel like 19th century Russia. 5
Kati Marton The chancellor: the remarkable odyssey of Angela Merkel
Merkel was Chancellor of Germany for 16 years, as long as Helmut Kohl and Bismarck. Originally from Brandenburg is East Germany she became a chemist/research scientist. When the Berlin wall came down she decided to become a politician. Dense reading with a lot of detail. 4.5
Gruesome. Killer targets pregnant women Set in Dunedin. Not one of her better novels. 3
