Elma Turner Library Book Chat - July
VE Schwab The invisible life of Addie La Rue
This historical and fantasy novel was a NYTimes bestseller for 37 weeks in 2021. A young French woman Adeline La Rue lives in a small village in 1714 and is promised in marriage to a widower in her village. She is 23 and loves to read and imagines a life of freedom instead. On her wedding night she makes a pact with a ‘god’ she calls the darkness, and it grants her immortality in exchange but also the inability to write things down or make a mark upon the world or indeed to be remembered by others. The story moves between different countries and times including present day century New York. This novel explores identity and is a very satisfying read/listen. I’m listening to it at present on CD, but it is also available as a printed book and on Libby and Borrow box as audio and e-books. Thoroughly charming.
A modern reimagining of the Gothic classic Jane Austen novel . 17-year-old Cat Morland has grown up in a sheltered Dorset village yearning for romance and excitement. Her wealthy neighbours the Allens invite her to go to the Edinburgh Festival where she meets Henry Tilney at a dance class and his sister Eleanor who becomes a close friend. Their family home is Northanger Abbey in the Scottish borders so when Cat is invited to stay her imagination runs wild. McDermid had fun with this novel and Austen fans will enjoy the references and writing style.
Katherine Mansfield The best short stories of Katherine Mansfield
Reading these wonderful stories, I felt like I was there! Especially The Garden Party which conjured up images of Wellington in the early 20th century.
John Parker Jack Nicholson – the biography
A solid story of Nicholson’s life, initially unpopular he went on to be an Oscar winner and is highly regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. Available on the Libby app.
The fictional story inspired by real life - Dickens and a benefactress set up ‘Urania Cottage’ a house for ‘fallen’ women. It made me grateful to be a woman now rather than grimy Victorian London when women had few choices. Solid, sturdy, easy to read novel.
F Scott Fitzgerald This side of paradise
The debut novel by F Scott Fitzgerald published in 1920 at the dawn of the jazz age. Loved the language and even the misspellings. The main character is Amory Blaine who is convinced he has a promising future.
From Augustus Caesar to Alexander Severus ( when the Empire was in decline). Beard believes that the weakness of the empire was not having a clear definition of ‘how’ to be an emperor. Scanty archaeological remains and the written records are not trustworthy. Debunks the myth of Caligula using a horse as a Consul ( possibly just an insult to the consuls said in jest). A Pungent, witty book
Story based around a guerilla gardening group who come up against billionaire American Robert Lemoine who both vie for the same lot of land. I am not enjoying this book so far. The dialogue is difficult and doesn’t work for me.
A disguised memoir about a ‘poor but honest’ family with the main protagonist an 18-year-old woman who is the brains and her brother the locksmith. Together they break into businesses. Written in Cockney Speak. The author was in prison for armed robbery for 18 years and dubbed the ‘black widow’ as all her lovers either died or ended up in prison.
Michael Blake Dances with wolves & The Holy Road
Set during the American Civil War. John Dunbar lives near Native American Indian encampments and becomes part of their tribe and learns to understand them. It was written as a screenplay first and Kevin Costner encouraged the author to write a novel version. The sequel Holy Road is set 11 years later and deals with increasing conflict between the Plains Indians and white settlers. Preferred the sequel.
Andrew Cotter Olive, Mabel, and me
Set in the mountains in north Scotland this is an easy read which I’m re-reading about his two Labradors Olive and Mabel. Non-fiction.
Vincent van Gogh met Sien when she was a prostitute and struggling to make ends meet. He paid her as a model and they lived together for many years in the early days of van Gogh’s career as an artist when he sketched, not painted. This is the story of their relationship from 1882-83 from Sien’s point of view. Eventually she left him.
Isabel Wilkerson Caste: the origins of our discontents
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson provides a profound, eye-opening portrait of how around the world our lives are defined by powerful unspoken system of divisions. This is the story of how our world was shaped by caste, and how its rigid, arbitrary hierarchies still divide us today. There are shocking figures re. black people in States to present day compared with Europeans. Book so important I will buy it.
Paul Wah A thin slice of heaven
Written by a New Zealander whose great grandfather escaped poverty in 1880s China and came with his son to Wellington where he set up as a grocer. In 1922 the grandfather took his 10-year-old grandson back to China to receive a Chinese education. There are interesting descriptions of villages in China. They were kidnapped by bandits who were soldiers of Chiang Kai-Shek along with a missionary who was killed. The British government and the governor worked to save them and while some captives were beheaded as ransom not paid, the grandfather and grandson survived.
Minette Walters The swift and the harrier
Turbulent history of England’s Civil war set in Dorset 1642. A great read but too long.
Karen Slaughter After that night: a Will Trent thriller
Sara tries to save the life of a patient who has been attacked.
