2022 ended with ongoing strikes, the mourning of Pele and Vivien Westwood and Harry’s book, Spare, about to make Daily Mail readers foam at the mouth. The important news is often in short supply which probably suits the government of the day. Christmas, the World Cup and a flu epidemic have occupied us.
Now mid December 2023 and the Rwanda vote has just happened. The shit keeps piling on. Zelensky is in Washington to plead with the Yanks for more money to continue the brutal fight with the Russians. Gaza remains a desperate war zone and Annabel Croft is out of Strictly. My reading, increasingly, diverts me from the grim realities. Perhaps it always has done. Here’s my list.
1. Billy Summers. 2021. Stephen King. A Lee Child/ Jack Reacher upgrade. Billy is a damaged man who watched his sister being murdered by his mother’s lover. After a spell in the marines as a star sniper he becomes a contract killer and assuages his conscience by only killing bad people. He is uneasy about his last contract before retirement. The money is huge; all he has to do is kill a low life ( Joel Allen, also a hit man) while he is being led into a courthouse. There are complications. He has had to embed himself in a community ( as Dave Lockridge) with which he becomes attached; he provides refuge for a girl, Alice Maxwell, who has been gang raped and now needs him – and he, her. He avenges her assault but is leaving a trail that he used to be good at covering. And he fears that his contract agents need him dead to protect a very big fish whose money can buy anything. The action is fast, page turning. The weaving of Billy’s own story as he finds time to write it posits the past with the present. The main characters all have a history and the reader is drawn to each story. It just works. 7
2. Burning Bright. 2014. Tracy Chevalier. Another engaging tale in her sociohistorical mode. Along with other writers currently in vogue -Maggie O’ Farrell, Pat Barker, Hilary Mantell – TC uses known characters from history as central to a tale which reveals so much more of contemporary life. We are in London in 1792. The Kellaway family have moved from Dorset to seek a new life after the death of son Sam. Thomas and Anne, with their two children, Jen and Maisie, rent a house near Westminster and set up a chair making business. A few doors down lives William Blake and, a little further Maggie Butterfield, a wild girl who catches Jim’s eye early on. The houses around are owned by Phillip Astley, circus and entertainment impresario. His theatrical shows draw large crowds and the low ( and high) life of London is excellently laid before the reader. The backdrop is the revolution going on across the water. The philosophical hook is the free thinking of William Blake, whose etching and printing machines beguile Jem. He is a man unlike no other. As ever an informative and easy read. TC’s simple prose disguises a wealth of research, although the link between Blake’s Songs of Innocence and the journey of the young people of the novel from carefreedom to the harsh realities is both obvious and slightly clunky. 6
3. Underbelly. 2021. Anna Whitehouse. Two women meet at the school gates where they drop their kids. Both have problems. Both make money from being online presences. Eventual their fragile relationship explodes after an injudicious post. I guess it could be a story for our times but I found it indulgent, indeed dreadful. I wish that I hadn’t picked it from the library shelves. 1
4. Ruck Me. 2022. James Haskell. I like this now retired eminent rugby player. But…I didn’t find this collection of anecdotes masquerading as another section of his autobiographical ‘journey’ as ‘sidesplitting’ as some Sunday Times reviewer ( presumably on work experience) did. James has now written six books and does the after dinner circuit of course. His rugby stories raise a smile, his self deprecation has become his schtick. A satisfying read? I think not. 3
5. Oh. William! 2022. Elizabeth Strout. Once again we are in the company of Lucy Barton who reflects, diary like, on her life with her second husband William. Her third husband David, has recently died and she helps William trace a hitherto unknown sibling, a daughter whom mother Catherine had abandoned. It has a ‘ who do you think you are?’ vibe to it and Strout’s usual poignant and pinpoint observations on people’s nuances and frailties are ever evident. Not quite as engrossing as earlier novels. 6
6. The Music Shop. Rachel Joyce. As ever a rather comforting and comfortable collection of characters with the interaction of a Richard Osman bunch and the quirky Englishness of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. Set in an early 80s, all-vinyl record store run by the throwback Frank who refuses to sell CDs or cassettes, we are introduced to a bunch of characters which resemble the cast of Notting Hill. Enter an inscrutable German, Ilse, and the previously avowed bachelor Frank, falls head over heels. And yet dear Frank can’t commit…for years. The love agony is played out in a poignant and frustrating way. The denouement is predictably tear jerking. Gentle enchantment- and funny. 6
7. Mack the Life. Lee Mack. While I’m on a roll with celeb autobiographies, I thought I’d try the manic Lee. Much loved in my house for his wit on Would I LieTo You, he is less fondly followed in the sitcom Not Going Out ( too silly really). This review of his life and career is quite intriguing as it veers from obvious playing for laughs and serious self assessment. The annoying format of using the dialogue (apparently real and recorded) with a psychiatrist to preface chapters, was, just that, annoying. Otherwise there was some interest in following the stumbles of a Southport boy who struggled to know what he wanted or was good at ( tell me about it). Worth a look – it’s funny- but don’t worry if you miss it. 5
8. The Jealousy Man. Jo Nesbo. A really intriguing selection of short stories which cover quite a range of human behaviour. Here we have twin brotherly jealousy in the title tale. Over a woman or course. And murder is involved as it is in many of these pretty dark tales: contract killing; dystopian settings; genuine tenderness and filial love; brutality and apocalyptic stories. These tales capture the state of the world post pandemic and are clever, if nihilistic. He’s a clever writer. 7
9. The Water’s Lovely. Ruth Rendell. I don’t recall reading a RR Novell before and this was a good place to start. Two sisters have to live with the knowledge that one of them, probably, murdered their abusing, paedophile stepdad. One of the sisters appeared to have enjoyed his attentions. Now, years later, the suspected murderess is about to marry. Should her sister reveal what she knows of this capacity to kill? This is the guts of the story but there are intriguing alleyways to slide down- the demented mother who seems manically knowing; Aunt Pamela, frustrated with a life of looking after her sister. Then we have a jilted blackmailer, a nasty mother in law, an unpleasant and disloyal boyfriend… and murder. Quite a mix but at the heart is the love of sisters and the couple whose love for each other carries the whole thing. Odd but readable. 6
10. The Comforts of Home. Susan Hill. Another one of the Simon Serrailer series. Cat, Simon’s sister has moved on in her life an remarried. Kieron is Simon’s boss. Simon is recovering from his accident and off work ( arm amputation) but enjoying spending time on his remote Scottish Isle. Even here there is murder – plus the company of Cat’s confused son Sam who needs to find his place in society. So a number of stories run alongside each other as well as the quixotic presence of the Serrailer father returned from his French life to confuse family dynamics further. Susan Hill manages the whole ongoing Serrailer saga with great skill. 7
11. Bad Actors. 2022. Mick Herron. Back to the Slough House merry-go-round of failed spooks. I love this sleazy spy series which has become cult reading for so many, me included. The gang of misfits are here and the glorious sleaze all of a leader, Jackson Lamb is guiding them as they pursue….I’m not sure why I didn’t finish this review. A mystery. But Bad Actors is very good! 8
12. Chocky. 1968. John Wyndham. Having read and seen Day of the Triffids while at school, I had read nothing else of JW, so I delved into this new Penguin Classics edition. Chocky is 11 year old Matthew’s imaginary friend who questions and challenges the boy, who, thus influenced, challenges his teachers and unsettles his parents. Set in the mid 20 th century, it has the antique flavour of whisky and antimacassars, no sex and conversational restraint. So when a young boy appears to behave so unusually and has vigorous conversations with a ghost, his tolerant yet embarrassed parents seek help from Harley Street experts. The clear prose carries the fantasy in a compelling way. Is Chocky an alien scouting the sustainability of life on our mixed up planet? To this extent this is a modern fable. And a gently persuasive one. 7
13. The Man Who Saw Everything. 2019. Deborah Levy. I haven’t read any DL before but this much shortlisted-for-Booker novelist is quite a find. Saul Adler, a bisexual academic, travels to East Berlin (with the Stasi and surveillance still rife), in 1988. The photo of him crossing Abbey Road at the Beatles’ zebra crossing is a reminder to him both of his lover Jennifer (the photographer) and the strange motorist Wolfgang whose glancing blow inflicts a niggling and permanent injury. Both photo and injury he takes with him on his research trip to record the history of a troubled and torn country. His affair with the enigmatic and powerful Walter is both dangerous and fantastic. The narrative is at turns surreal and thrilling. Things are not what they seem. Who is spying on whom.Then we are shot forward nearly thirty years and the past catches up with the present. Intriguing, much praised but some of it was just inscrutably silly.6
14. Once Upon a Time in the East. 2022. Xiaolu Guo. Xiaolu is a lecturer in film making at UCL. As a child in remote northern China her parents give her away to a childless peasant couple who, in turn, pass her on to her illiterate grandparents. She meets her parents, for the first time when she is seven. This is the story of her extraordinary physical, moral and emotional journey. Her mother had been a Red Guard under Mao’s revisionist and barbaric regime; her father imprisoned in a labour camp. When their daughter joined them she led a life of privation and sexual abuse. Her intelligence and the loving support of her father rescued her – she gained a prized place to study film in Beijing. It is a remarkable story of poverty, abuse, ancient and modern cultures, extremes of political dictatorship and the power of a moral intelligence which rises amazingly from the ashes of indoctrination. 8
15. The Magician. 2022.Colm Toibin. A neat, if not wholly satisfying piece of faction by this accomplished writer. This is the story of the Nobel Prize winning author Thomas Mann. Set in Austria, Germany and the US, the plot takes us from his beginnings in Lubeck in 1875 and through the turmoil of both wars. He fled Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s and Toibin gives us plenty of detail on his siblings, his children and his wife, Katya who is about the only character in the novel that I took a liking to. Manna’s bisexuality is writ pretty large and his selfishness in doing precisely what he wanted without risking too much, is clearly flagged. I learned a fair amount – historically but not much about his writing ( Death in Venice etc) . By the end I didn’t much care. 6
16. Babel. R.F. Kuang. A novel of great scope. Set in the early part of the 19th century we are first introduced to Robin Swift, a Cantonese, rescued from disease and poverty by Professor Lovell, the eminent linguist from the Institute of Translation in Oxford. Robin travels to England to be trained in languages and, eventually, to enter the great University and study at Babel, the Institute. The novel continues as a mix of fantasy and historical fact – and speculation. The key to industrial advancement in the world is the fashioning of silver bars by way of unlocking their potential through the skilled use of language. Only very few have the skill and knowledge to fashion these artefacts so that buildings will stand without collapse, ships can sail, wars an be waged . And Britain’s empire depends on the skills of translators.
Sounds weird? It is. But through the fantastical story Kuang weaves a powerful narrative about empire, prejudice, friendship, scholarship, love, power, self interest and the choices we have about living a true life. The main characters are misfits in English society – Ramy, an Indian, Victoire, a Creole and Robin, a Chinese. The issues of the time include the abolition of slavery, female emancipation ( a long way off), the pursuit of wealth through empire; the retention and improvement of the status quo. The Opium Wars feature strongly as Lovell and his political mates seek to ensure that the government and businesses make vast amounts through peddling drugs to the poor of the East. Sometimes there is a slight feeling of ‘5 go on an adventure’ as Robin and his buddies seek to right the wrongs of the privileged. Mostly the ingenuity and the research astounds. It’s long, at nearly 600 pages, but worth the effort. 8
17. The People Next Door. 2022. Tony Parsons. Improbable psycho drama. Roman and wife Lana move out of town to a semi rural idyll after a vicious assault has left them wary of town life. Why does their new plush street need a security guard? Why weren’t they told that the previous occupiers of their lovely home perished in a family suicide/ murder? Lana needs drugs to calm her down but she is sure that all is not what it seems despite the weird locals welcoming them with open arms. Roman has to nail down his new GP practice and feeds his wife with drugs to lessen her paranoia. When a local youth is deliberately run over by Gorman, the street heavy, events escalate. It’s a clever, if unconvincing plot. Tony P has done better. 5
18. The Golfer’s Carol. 2020. Robert Bailey. A slight novel, but if you’re into golf then worth a glance, I guess. A sentimental tale of Randy Clark, an insurance lawyer who is heavily in debt for hospital fees. His son has died, his marriage is stale and his dream of being a great golfer has withered on the vine. If he ends it all his wife and daughter can live happily ever after with plenty of cash. His best friend dies leaving him the fantasy gift of a round of golf with the four greats of his life: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and his dad. It’s A Wonderful Life meets Field of Dreams. Sentimental twaddle but, as I say, if you like your golf then it’s worth a squint. 5
19. The Marriage Portrait. 2022. Maggie O’Farrell. As is her wont MOF has reimagined the 17th century tale of the Duke of Ferrari’s marriage to his Last Duchess in her usual compelling and insightful way. After the inspiring Hamnet, this has a greater psychological thrill to it as the newly wed Duke seems to have the murder of his young bride on his mind – and she senses it. The narrative, compelling enough with a great sense of contemporary Florence and Ferrara, is made the more page turning by MOF’s great ability to get under the skin of her characters, in their heads, behind their eyes and reveal the tensions of the lives of extraordinary people. Brilliant but niche. 9
20. Maisie Dobbs 2004. Jaqueline Winspear. Recommended by the lovely Lesley our local village librarian, this is a proper old fashioned comfortable fireside read. Maisie, daughter of Frankie, a costermonger in Edwardian London, lost her mum as a child and was sent below stairs to serve Lord and Lady Compton. Maisie is clever and bookish. Enter Maurice Blanche, renaissance man and friend of the Comptons. Henry Higgins like, he takes on the chambermaid and tutors her out of her working class roots and into Oxford. And so this series begins. We go back in time to the 1st World War and the horrors which Maisie encounters as a young nurse at the Somme. Then forward to 1929. Maisie is now a private investigator seeking answers to the secret visits a woman makes to the grave of a young soldier. This leads to the dark dealings at The Retreat, a home for war-blasted individuals whose faces and identities have been shattered by appalling injuries. But the place is run by a madman… The plot is coincidental, the dialogue clunky but there is a well-researched charm about the book – and some suspense. Downtown Abbey meets Pygmalion with a gritty dash of Wilfred Owen. I may read the next in series…I may not. 4
21. 7 1/2. 2021. Christos Tsiolkas. He of The Slap which made his name. An intriguing homoerotic novel, semi autobiographical, I guess, which examines the process of creating a novel through the eyes and experience of Christo, novelist. He is locked away in his Sydney coastal writing retreat while his partner Simon works in the city. Christo wants to write about beauty but as he conjures up his story – that of an ex porn star Paul, offered a $200,000 for three nights sex with an old Queen in LA – he catches inspiration from his surroundings and the memories of significant characters from his past. These inform his narrative and he dashes back to his writing lair each day to flesh out the strange tale of Paul, who is bisexual and has a wife Jenna and son at home in Oz. Jenna urges Paul to take on the Dantean commission.
The wider backdrop is the state of society – the fires which engulfed coastal Australia before the pandemic, the neo-liberalism of the current lust fir victimhood, the difference between local and everyday experience and the rhetoric of those higher up the food chain. There is plenty of beauty which Tsiolkas is at pains to lay before us- a continuing pathetic fallacy which doesn’t stall the story, it’s all part of the fabric of this pretty compelling novel/ memoir. Two stories in one and for those who enjoy the frisson of the homoerotic, this is an edgy, clever and honest read. 7
22. Between the Stops. 2021. Sandi Toksvig. An engaging idea. ST eschews the notion of a conventional autobiography but weaves stories about her life and the social history of her surroundings as she takes the bush’s which transport her from her home in Dulwich to the BBC TV centre. She gets off regularly to take coffee and research local buildings and history. These stories become part of the narrative of her life. The reader learns quite a lot. There’s showbiz anecdotes plus plenty of upbringing tales from Denmark, New York and boarding school unpleasantnesses. Her wit and turn of phrase delight but she is also very heavily insistent that there is a rich vein of feminism running through. That’s fine too but by the end I thought it was her main reason for writing the book. Perhaps it was. 5
23. All Human Wisdom. 2021. Pierre Lemaitre. I loved this revenge tragi-comedy of a novel. It is the second of Lemaitre’s Les Enfants duDésatre trilogy – all excellently translated by Frank Wynette. I haven’t read the first – The Great Swindle – but I will. Here we are in 1930s Paris. Hitler is revving up his Nazi ethnic cleansing while in the home of widowed Madeleine Pericourt life has been turned upside down by her son Paul’s fall from an upper story window, leaving him severely disabled, couple with the loss of her fortune, engineered by the unscrupulous Joubert. He was her husband’s trusted business partner whose rejection by Madeleine prompted a vicious response. As the plot unfolds, sometimes meanderingly, we meet a grand array of characters: Paul, from his wheelchair becomes obsessed with an Italian opera singer; Leonce, once Madeleine’s beautiful maid, becomes the awful Joubert’s wife; Charles, Madeleine’s lazy and money-grabbing uncle rises to political heights; Joubert himself becomes a millionaire and invests huge sums in the development of the jet engine; Andre, the one time tutor to Paul, rises to eminence as a social/ political journalist. And most of these characters have a come-uppance coming. Madeleine in her impecunious state is plotting revenge and she engages some deliciously intriguing characters to help her. And all the time we have the backdrop of depression and the rise of Hitler. The women, being the playthings of men who are busy with their greed and megalomania, are the heroes of the novel, the survivors , indeed the winners. Lemaitre manages the trick of black humour with a convincing story of betrayal and revenge. It’s fun and, despite its length very readable. 7
24. The Accidental Footballer. 2022. Pat Nevin. PN has always been an intriguing oddity in the world of scrambled grammar that is the stock in trade of many footballers. This memoir charts his rise from Celtic juniors and a working class upbringing in Glasgow to starring for Chelsea and Everton. As a devotee of indie music, a sometime writer for NME and general oddball, Nevin cut an unusual figure in the early 1980s. Becom8ng great mates with John Peel, he often sat in on radio shows and, once, had it written in to his contract that he could take time off to go to gigs. This is a fluent report of his journey but a little too full of virtue signalling (I hate injustice of any king; I was a pioneer of BLM; I call out wrongdoing where’ve I see it…etc). Entertaining enough and one of the more unusual sporting memoirs. 6
25. Britt-Marie was Here. Fredrik Backman. He of Beartown and A Man Called Ove. Backman is in similar territory here as we follow the story of autistic 60 year old Britt-Marie whose snotty husband Kent has discarded. She pesters the local job centre and eventually gets a dead end job as the caretaker of a leisure centre in a run down suburb. Only petty criminals, drunks and weirdos seem to live in …….but the youngsters need a registered coach for their football team and the strange newcomer is weird enough to take them on. It’s a fond story of a misfit fitting in with other misfits and finding that they are all rather more normal than they thought. The usual autism comedy fun (OCD, misconstrued conversations, wonderful bluntness, not taking no for an answer, sense of humour failures) combines with the usual poignancy and truths about the lives of others. It must have been a prototype novel for Beartown, which was more mainstream but this has the charm of Britt-Marie who is an engaging tragic-comic heroine. 6
26. The Unheard. 2021. Nicki French. A psychological thriller. Tess’s six year old daughter Poppy starts painting disturbed images in art lessons. Tess tries to alert police, ex husband Jason, new man Aiden – indeed anyone who will listen. They think she is stressed.. A woman falls from a building and Tess is convinced that her death is linked. And so it goes on. At some length. I know that NF has her followers but I won’t be joining the club. 3
27. The Appeal. John Grisham. Usual stuff from JG- here small town lawyers get involved in multi million dollar litigation against a giant chemical company. A once thriving town has become a ghost of a place after cancer deaths and long term illnesses have sucked the life out of it. A small law firm seem to have won a their case for victim compensation but those with power and limitless resources, see it differently. It’s a modern morality tale that we all recognise and Grisham is brilliant at the detail of political and corporate manoeuvring which affects us all – often for the worse. There’s a twist too. It’s excellent. 8
28. French Braid. 2022. Ann Tyler. Such a fine writer in the Elizabeth Strout mould, making the ordinary lives of people extraordinary. Robin and Mercy have a long marriage with children and grandchildren. Mercy now would rather stay in her art studio up the road. She wants solitude. The family seem to ignore this shift. Tyler tells the story of the generations. What is said and unsaid. Those who leave for Philadelphia and those who stay in Baltimore. It’s a gentle story of life’s loves, jealousies, disappointments and small tragedies. A sharp and intelligent charm. 7
29. The Match. 2022. Harlem Coben. Not read too many of HC but this is a page turner.. Playing on the recent upsurge of interest in DNA and genealogy, Coben presents us with Wilde, a 40 something man who was discovered living wild, Tarzan like, when he was 6. He had one friend, David. He had lived on scavenging and his wits. After being fostered he made a life for himself, one way or another. Then he searched the DNA database. This is a brilliantly plotted search for who he is- but the demons of the past are ever present. His great allies are David’s family: David’s widow, Naila, his mother Hester, his son – and David’s godson- Matthew- and his foster sister, Nora. Wilde trusts no one else in the world and lives in an undetectable bunker in the hills outside New York. As the search unfolds Wilde needs to be more careful than he ever imagined. It’s an improbable journey as Wilde seems to have friends who can open doors and databases at the drop of a hat. There’s plenty of the Jack Reache about him -and the the tale drifts a little as Coben manages a major sub plot about a reality TV show ( think Love Island) and a DNA match with a contestant that has gone missing, having been accused of rape. And so on. Very readable. 7
30. The Salt Path. 2018. Raynor Winn. The remarkable story of the 630mile wild camping walk which Ray and her beloved and terminally ill husband Moth, took as they were left homeless by an investment deal which went terribly wrong. She has written more stirring tales of their adventures since, but this, the first, is a very readable and inspiring travelogue about love, physical hardships, the kindness of strangers and the beauty and harshness of the West Country. A top read. 7
31. The Night Gate. 2021. Peter May. The most recent of the Enzo Macleod series. Enzo, the Scottish Francophile, forensic investigator, is now five years retired but lured back to investigate the murder of a celebrated art collector – a murder that seems to have its roots in the Nazi art raids during WW2. The action flits back and forth- back to Georgette the bilingual Parisienne recruited by De Gaulle and the British Secret Service to secure the most famous French art prize of all – the Mona Lisa. Forward to the murder of a celebrated art critic/ collector searching for any link to a ‘lost’ Mona Lisa. It’s desirable to know Enzo’s back story from previous novels. This latest is a good one but as far as crime series go, the main attraction is the French setting and the excellent historical research, rather than convincing narrative. 6
32. Your Neighbour’s Wife. 2021. Tony Parsons. Another of TP’s crime/ thriller books- and a pretty good one. Tara makes the mistake of a one night stand while on a business trip to Tokyo. A big mistake. James Caine becomes her stalker and his insistence that their relationship continues threatens everything that Tara holds dear- husband, son, wider family, friendships and her business. The plot thickens and as the dark web engulfs friends and family, issues of online dating, coercive control, stalking and more, drive the story. The first person narrator switches between husband Christian and Tara. It’s fast, clever, melodramatic. Poolside. 6
33. I am Sovereign. 2019. Nicola Barker. Despite Ali Smith claiming this ‘a masterpiece,’ I still picked it up. It’s a fast read,I’ll give it that, but there’s much about it that I don’t like. It’s a Joycian stream of thought/speech about a 20 minute house viewing. Charles is a 40 year old teddy bear maker selling his dead mother’s house. Wang Shu wants to buy it. Avigail is the estate agent. Everything else is a thought fantasy. The reviews were great. I occasionally smiled. Occasionally. 4
34. Lily. 2022. Rose Tremain. On much better ground with the brilliant RT. Here she is in gothic Victorian mode. We follow the life of Lily abandoned at birth and fostered in idyllic Sussex by Nellie until such time as she had to return, at 7, to Coram, the harsh workhouse in London where the cruel perversions of Nurse Maud awaited. Lily is a Jane Eyre with revenge on her mind. She learns a trade, tries to track down her mother, befriends the policeman who rescued her as a foundling, secures friendships and employments…but the privations and cruelties of her childhood lead her to violence. As ever with RT it is a tale excellently told in the melodramatic style. 8
35. Never Anyone but You. 2018. Rupert Thomson. A great find. Suzanne Malherbe and Lucie Schwob meet as teenagers at the turn of the 20th century in western France. They become lovers ( and call themselves Marcel and Claude) and join the avant garde set of Paris, mixing with the movers and shakers of the art and literary world. Fact and fiction blend well. As time goes on and one world war succeeds another they come across Dali, Picasso, Hemingway and the rest. Marcel is an artist/ illustrator; Claude a writer/ photographer. All very bohemian and the reader is drawn in to a world of indulgence, rule breaking and social flux. The women become leading figures in the surrealist movement and celebrated ‘salon’ and the cafe society of Paris. The action switches from Nantes to Paris then on to Jersey where the women buy a house and subvert the business of the occupying German forces – with anti Nazi propaganda. The prose is rich, the characters sometimes too many to keep up with but the story of the oddball but convincing women is very readable. Thomson’s research took in many places -and his evocation of wartime Jersey is precise and informed. It’s worth googling these women and discovering more about their lives. Failing that Thomson’s love story is probably better for the soul. A great love story and a thoughtful remembrance of a terrifying time. 8
36. Sparring Partners. 2023. John’s Grisham’s latest. It’s three novellas: Homecoming; Strawberry Moon and Sparring Partners. In Homecoming, Mack Stafford wants to reclaim his old life – and establish a relationship with his estranged daughters. Only problem is that he stole a lot of money and the powers that be have long memories. Strawberry Moon takes the reader to Death Row where Cody Wallace faces execution within a few hours. Sparring Partners concerns the money- grabbing affairs of the Malloy family. Father Bolton is in jail for murdering his wife but on release will enjoy the fruits of various offshore bank accounts. His sons who are running Malloy and Malloy, a large law firm with money troubles, in the absence of their Dad. They want him to stay in prison but dad is pulling strings via burner phones to get a pardon. If bribing the next governor, he might take back control. Pretty good stuff but, for the time being, I’m all Grishamed out. 6
37. Maigret. 1934. George’s Simenon. I remember watching the TV series in my youth – and Rowan Atkinson’s updated version more recently. I think that this is my first read of the legendary French copper. Maigret has retired but his nephew is in some bother. He might be on a murder charge having made a huge mess off of a crime scene which he was supposed to be investigating as a rookie detective. He needs his uncle to bail him out. Such an easy read with great old world charm. 7
38. These Days. 2022. Lucy Caldwell. Belfast Blitz, 1941. A family with Philip, a doctor, at its head. Florence, mother; Audrey and Emma, revenue clerk and trainee nurse, and young teenager Paul. A few days of the Blitz changes their outlook on life. It’s a brilliant and sensitive evocation of the time, the place, the language, the coming-of-age and the time of decisions. The focus is on Audrey and Emma, mostly, the elder being cajoled into a dull engagement with Richard – another doctor- and Emma, finding the love of her life in Sylvia. A time to face taboos and break with traditions? Or not. The atmosphere of a city being bombed is tactile, intense. We’re there. The condensing of experience into a few days of narrative, masterly. Would, I guess, be considered a woman’s read – but no, for us all, I think. 8
39. The Lock-Up. 2022. John Banville. After winning the Booker Prize, JB has written several fine novels but the lure of a crime series – and its financial spin offs – proved too much. This is a Stratford and Quirke mystery. Stratford is the cop, Quirke the forensic pathologist. The first in the series covered the murder of Quirke’s wife in Spain, witnessed by Stratford. So the building of their tense back story is now in full swing.Set in Dublin in the late 1950s, the atmosphere is old school: policing, alcohol, power of the church, sexual power games and war hangovers. Stratford lives on and off with his daughter Phoebe while Quirke seeks solace in the arms of Molly, sister to Rosa who has been murdered in a lock-up. Made to lock like suicide. The plot thickens when connections are made between a German family who sell arms to Israelis and both the police and the church. Throw in a professor at Trinity who liked regular sex games with his young student Rosa and Rosa’s connection with investigative journalists in Tel Aviv, then we have the ingredients of a pan European political scandal. Rosa needs to be silenced. It’s an easy and intriguing read. A cut above the usual crime pot boilers. I might read the next in the series. 7
40. The Poet. 2022. Michael Connolly. Jack’s identical twin Sean has committed suicide by blowing his brains out in a local park. Sean had been seeking therapy. His job as a murder detective had taken its toll. Apparently. Jack, an investigative journalist, isn’t so sure. Something doesn’t add up. He scours every bit of evidence that old colleagues of Sean will allow him access to. Gradually I was lured into this novel. Worth a read. 7
41. 2018. Still Whispering. Bob Harris. Charming, informative and so evocative of the musical atmosphere of the last six or seven decades. Bob’s charm and authenticity come through clearly in this smoothly written memoir. He moves from being a rather self indulgent groupie who lets his wife and child down – to a the more wholesome character we know and love. His name dropping is prodigious but the music is always at the heart of this. What a life. 7
42. 1989. 2021. Val McDermid. I am a fan of VM but this second in the Allie Burns, investigative journalist, series is a tad disappointing. It’s a neatly researched tale of the time. The AIDS epidemic, the last days of the wall, the increasing stranglehold of press barons, Thatcher etc – fused into a tale about Allie and her partner Rona, the stifling of life saving research on AIDS in East Germany and the dark secret of one press baron which goes back to the murder of Jews in Poland during the 2nd WW. Allie, brave as ever, goes in search of the truth of it all and finds herself helping a young couple escape the Stasi while both she and Rona are hanging on to their journo jobs working for the press baron and his feisty daughter. It’s a twisting tale that has the sense of the soapbox about it. Not her best. 5
43. The Bean Trees. Barbara Kingsolver. Taylor is a young woman who has to to break away from her beloved Mama or settle for a life of mundanity, pregnancy and a wasted brain. She hits the road and heads for Tucson. On the way she is given a native Indian abused child. She presumes someone recognises that the little thing needs to be taken away, urgently from her abusers. Why a young woman would accept this responsibility is thus partly explained and Taylor ( a name she invents to distance herself from the girl she was – Missy) names the child Turtle. In Tucson she meets Mattie, a woman who runs a tyre business while giving sanctuary to immigrants from Central America. She lodges with Lou Ann whose little son Dwayne becomes a companion for the with the catatonic Turtle. Two of the harboured immigrants, Estevan and Esperanza becomes close friends and the tale of these disparate individuals who have come together to make the best of a difficult life is funny, sassy and uplifting. It’s a story of the underprivileged, the disenfranchised, those who are dismissed by those in higher places. Taylor’s strength and intelligence belies her start in life. Her inner resources are prodigious. A novel that operates on several levels. A treat. 8
44. Deeds of Autumn. 2017. Andre’s de la Motte. A Scandi-noir novel. Anna and her recalcitrant teen daughter Agnes, leave Stockholm and the sadness of Hakan’s (husband/father) death behind them to start a new life in the wilds of southern Sweden where Anna is the new Chief of Police. They are immediately embroiled in the tensions of a ‘townie’ taking over combined with the rumblings of a tragic death of Simon Vidje some 27 years earlier an accident which his mother Elizabeth refuses to accept as such. The youngsters involved, now middle aged, are still about and they each have powerful allies. When an apparent stranger is murdered and links are discovered to the fateful night of Simon’s death, Anna reopens the investigation. It’s a story well told but I’ve read plenty similar. As ever, I was impressed with the translation and the evocation of wild Sweden. Holiday stuff. 6
45. April in Spain. 2021. John Banville. The start of the Stratford-Quirke crime series (see review 39 of The Lock Up.) This is the first in the series. Quirke, an Irish pathologist is on a Spanish holiday when he sees a woman who is on the run. He makes a call and Inspector St John Stratford is sent to investigate. At the same time a ruthless hit man is searching for the same woman. It doesn’t end well. A touch better than the follow up. 7
46. Endurance. Shackleton’s gruelling and magnificent tale of survival in the south Atlantic. An extraordinary tale written in a novelistic style. After the sinking of the Endurance, the monumental journey of Shackleton and his men across ice floes and giant seas to eventual rescue is more than boys own stuff; miraculous.8
48. Spies in Canaan. 2022. David Park. This is a fine novel of just under 200 pages. The reader is thrown into the maelstrom that was Saigon as the Americans were desperately evacuating having made a catastrophic mess in Vietnam. Michael is a low level intelligence officer recruited by the inscrutable and probably untrustworthy Donovan for more hands on espionage. Donovan has seen it all and is cynical, tired and had his morals scrambled. Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse now stuff. Evacuation from the hell holes is about who you know. The action trips forward a lifetime. Michael is retired, his wife dead. A call from the past sets him on a dangerous road trip, across a Trump America in existential crisis. Saigon revisited. It’s a brilliant short novel about the dispossessed, illegal immigrantion, fake news, truth, love and trust, white supremacy, God… you name it. Excellent. 9
49. The Eco Chamber. 2022. John Boyne. Hilarious and savage novel about the state of Britain today. Boyle is a cocktail of Evelyn Waugh and Tom Sharpe and his lampooning of society today will strike an uncomfortable chord with us all. Famed for The Boy in the Strped Pyjamas, this is a riotous departure. The Cleverly family are at the centre of this. Dad along time TV legend ( think Terry Wogan), mum Beverly a Mills and Boon style novelist who is having an affair with her Ukrainian partner in Strictly. Daughter Elizabeth is an influencer, son Nelson a socially dysfunctional teacher and closet gay. The youngest, Achilles is a 17 year old truant who extorts money from wealthy men by pretending to be a rent boy. The dialogue is hilarious as each family member gets ‘ cancelled’ for one reason or another. Father George has a tweet misconstrued and has the weight of of twitter condemnation tear his career apart. Brutally funny…a not a little unsettling. 8
50. George V. 2023. Diane Ridley. Not much is known or has been written about George V. Uncharacteristically I picked this up to learn more. .I’m still half way through at the end of the year. I’ll try again in 2024. 5?
51. Falling. 1999. Elizabeth Jane Howard.Belinda recommended. Not sure whey as it involves a sociopath, Henry Kent, who woos ageing novelist/ screenwriter, Daisy Langrish, posing as a gardener and caring do gooder at her newly purchased rural retreat. Daisy has baggage. Two failed marriages and a tricky relationship with her daughter. Her agent Anna looks out for her but Henry is devilishly clever. Holiday read. 6
52. The Heart’s Invisible Furies. 2017. John Boyne. Fast becoming my favourite author find of the year, JB’s novel is set in a post war Ireland in thrall to the power of the Catholic church and the stultifying attitudes of politicians and the unforgiving small mindedness of people. A 16year old girl is banished from her rural community near Cork by priest and family near for falling pregnant. Her son, Cyril, given up for adoption to a hunchback nun, finds himself in a grand house being cared for by a fraudulent banker and his renowned novelist wife. Neither seem to care for young Cyril who struggles through his boarding school life increasingly aware that he is gay in a country of aggressive intolerance. The novel is his story. It is a story of love and redemption, a bildungsroman of a tale like a Great Expectations or an Any Human Heart. It spans the last 70 years and is both Cyril’s journey and Ireland’s- indeed it has global resonance. In particular the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is tackled full-on and the response of people and politicians is found wanting. For all this, there is humour, satire and a heartwarming ending after some considerable sadnesses. 9
53. Excellent Intentions. 1938, (new edition 2018) Richard Hull. Republished by British Library Crime Classics, this is a courtroom tale of murder by poisoning. The action flits from Rumpole style court exchanges to flashbacks of the day of the murder at a rural railway station. Agatha Christie meets Midsomer Murders. It’s delightfully plotted and written but rather overlong for my taste. 5
54. Carry on Jeeves. 1925. PG.G. Wodehouse. I have had an uneasy relationship with the great men- Jeeves, Wooster and Wodehouse- but have been repeatedly told that I should man up and get my head round the ingenuity and humour of the series. This is the first of the Jeeves collection of stories and I got through it by having the voices of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in my head. It worked to a considerable degree. Bertie has moved to New York for a season and employed the genius Jeeves as his butler. The novel or rather a series of self contained vignettes about scrapes which Jeeves manages to extricate Wooster, is, of course, clever, funny and scathingly satirical of both American and British society and those toffs who inhabit the upper echelons. The quips, the quick fire analogies, the put downs, the lampooning of types- is there ion every page. And the masterful Jeeves watches over all and pulls the strings. 7
55. Die Alone. 2020. Simon Kernick. I read Kernick’s breakthrough novel Relentless, many years ago and hadn’t felt the need to revisit- Lee Child does the job better. However, friends told me that the Bone Field series was good and so I went to the last in the series to see how it all unfolded. Awaiting trial for murder, disgraced copper Simon Mason is broken out of jail with the offer to kill a leading politician and then lead a new life abroad under an assumed name. It’s a brutal Jack Reacher like plot of killings and chases. Alister Sheridan, the politician is a cross between Boris Johnson and Saddam Hussein. Fast and furious. Poolside adventure. 5
56. Tear it Down. 2019. Nick Petrie… and talking of Jack Reacher, I was persuaded to take this from the library by the enthusiastic librarian, Lesley and the accolade from Lee Child himself, that the main Rambo type hero is as close to Jack Reacher as anyone has got. Not saying much, I know, but I went for it. Peter Ash returns from service in Afghanistan and Iraq damaged and wired. Of course. His journalist partner June sends him to help Wanda in Memphis who is a black, war and warts-and-all photographer whose house has been under siege by white supremacists. Peter rubs his hands and gets to work. Drug barons, pimps, a vast array of weaponry, car chases, brutal murder and maiming…there are some tender moments but mostly this is Reacher on steroids. Poolside stuff again. A fast read for strong stomachs. 6
57. Ladder to the Sky. 2018. John Boyne. Ok, I’m a bit obsessed by this guy. This is a dark tale of ruthless, psychopathic ambition. Maurice Swift wants to be a famous writer but lacks …something. While working in a Berlin hotel he comes across the celebrated novelist Erich Ackerman, a 65 year old gay man, desperate to make friends with the gorgeous waiter. And Erich has a grisly story to tell of his time in the Hitler Youth. Maurice is all ears. The two become travelling companions. Maurice steals the old man’s story and his life of plagiarism and deceit is set. Indeed murder. Capturing the great moments of the times ( fall of the Berlin Wall)we follow Maurice’s career with growing horror as we recognise his deranged menace is completely indiscriminate. Only Gore Vidal seems to see through the psychopath. It’s riveting and a little ridiculous but I’m a fan. 8
58.Harper and Collins. B A Paris. A family psychodrama, played out over 24 hours. The alternate narrators, Adam and Livia are preparing for Liv’s much longed for 40 th birthday bash in the garden. Josh, their son, has completed his degree and Marnie their daughter is on her way back from Hong Kong to surprise mum. What could go wrong? Win 24 hours their worlds- and those of their friends and families- utterly change. It’s a far fetched, dark family mess of a book. Eastenders meets Richard and Judy. Well plotted. Read in a day. 5
59. Loved and Missed. 2023. Susie Boyt. Lucien Freud’s daughter, I read. Ruth has taken on her daughter Eleanor’s child, Lily. Eleanor is a junkie, squatting with partner Ben. No life, no future. Ruth, with her tight friendship group is determined to give Lily the life that her daughter squandered- at least from the age of 13 when she turned from charming girl into a she-devil. The prose is intense but rich. I thought that SB was Irish, so beguilingly she writes. Lily’s story plays out through the novel in stark contrast to that of her mother and grandmother. Clever, sad, funny and affecting. Not really my sort of book but I much enjoyed it. 7
60. A Winter Grave. 2023. Peter May. Thankfully one of May’s stand alone novels rather than part of a series. A raw, noir gritty Scottish tale of veteran Glasgow detective, Cameron Brodie, being sent to the remote highlands to investigate the mysterious death of investigative reporter, Charles Younger. As with so many of our literary hero cops, Cameron has baggage. His wife committed suicide and their estranged daughter, Addie, blames her dad. Coincidentally she happens to be the one who found the journalist’s body. Cameron has a cancer diagnosis to boot. As I say baggage. There is a dark piquancy to the whole thing, set, as it is, in 2051. Climate change has galloped, the technology of ‘deep fake’ is established and drones fly people unmanned all over the place. Corruption at the centre of governments has covered up radiation spills – our dead journo was on the case. A fast read. Pretty good. 7
61. Demon Copperhead. 2022. Barbara Kingsolver. Been meaning to get on to this prizewinner for ages. It’s a brilliant retelling of David Copperfield, transported forwards to the modern day trailer park of Lee County, Virginia. Damon Fields (Demon) lives in the grime and disorder of a druggy mother and and abusive boyfriend. His journey through life being exploited by money grabbing foster parents and inadequate social services mirrors that of Dickens’ hero. The social realism and anger of the author similarly. It’s a compelling recreation with Peggoty, Agnes, Steerforth, Uriah Heap et all all reinvented in the morality tale. Excellent. 9
62. Lessons in Chemistry. 2022. Bonnie Garmus. This is a funny, heartwarming and sharp feminist satire on the misogyny of 1950s America – and anywhere else for that matter. Elizabeth Zott is a focused, clever scientist in a society which only wants to to cook, produce children and keep house. She suffers abuse, ostracism and discrimination of all kinds: sexual, financial, societal, professional. Then she meets Calvin, the love of her life. He too is a brilliant scientist. Both as somewhere along the spectrum. Both have childhood deprivation to deal with. Long story short, Elizabeth becomes a TV star, adored by millions of women for her scientific, pro female approach to cooking. ‘Supper at Six’ becomes a TV institution but the re quality for women remains distant. There is tragedy to deal with, the past rears its ugly head and her daughter Madeleine is caught in the crossfire. The humour and glorious irony of so much of the novel lies, in part, in the oddness of the central characters. Rather like Backman’s Ove novels or Haddon’s Curious Incident.. we see humour and truth through the eyes of those who see the world in a simple and pure and moral way. Another great read. 9
63. The Cameraman. 2023. Matthew Neale. It’s 1934 and as Hitler is taking a grip of Germany, Oswald Mosley’s British fascists are trying to leverage power here. Julius Sewell, a talented cinematographer has been incarcerated in a Welsh mental institution by his mother and boorish fascist stepfather. We never quite discover what has tipped the balance of Jukius’s mind but he is ‘released’ to go with his parents and nauseating siblings, Frank and Maude on a road trip to Rome for the wedding of his young sister Louise. It’s a road trip of exploration and dark discovery. Julius comes to realise the evil forces that lurk in Germany, Austria and Italy. He is given a note by an inmate at Dachau which belies the propagandised good intentions of the Reich. As stepfather Claude seeks to meet his heroes – Hitler and Mussolini, Julie’s comes to realise the germ that is eating away at European society. It’s an excellent read with Julius’s thoughts italicised as a commentary and counterpoint to what is actually being said. Imaginative and provoking. Kneeled has been Booker shortlisted before. I shall read more of him. 7/8
64. The Blue Afternoon. 1997. William Boyd. Having read this over 20 years ago, I had completely forgotten the story. As a Boyd- lover, I enjoyed the re-read hugely. Kay Fischer is an LA architect in her mid thirties,in mid- thirties America. A failed marriage, a dead baby son and ongoing litigation with her devious ex-business partner has left her rebuilding. She has just sold a minimalist Bauhaus-inspired home and her finances are on the up when an old man, Salvador Carriscant, walks into her life claiming that he is her father. Kay’s apparent real father had died in a fire in New Guinea at the turn of the 20th century. Further, Carriscant’s journey in life from being an eminent surgeon in Manila to being exiled. This seems highly improbable but she, nevertheless, senses a connection. She commits to being his travel companion in his bizarre search for his own past and a woman he once loved. As with most of Boyd’s novels this is a great picaresque tale which spans time and continents with love, murder, disappearances, enmities and coincidences. I loved it- again. 9
65. Mr. Mercedes. Stephen King. 99p on Kindle. Couldn’t resist. It’s the first of a trilogy on the recently retired cop, Bill Hodges. Just before Bill retires after an impressive career he fails to nail the deranged murdered who has mown down a dozen amen, women and children who are standing in a job queue. The pink stolen Mercedes death wagon is traced to a poor widow who appears to have committed suicide being guilt ridden that her car has been used to kill people. Bill , who is restless and getting fat in retirement wants to get the killer. The killer knows Bill and is hiding in plain sight. Bill enlists the help of a clever black kid and a clever middle aged woman who has mental health problems. An unlikely trio but all clever. And they have to find Mr Mercedes before his intentions to mass murder are realised. It’s a page turner of course but there’s only so many damaged cop capers that I can read in a year. In the character of Holly, the genius with mental health problems we have the now common tool of using oddness in a character provide both humour and insight. 7
66. Who She Was. 2023. Tony Parsons. A mysterious and beautiful redhead arrives in a sleepy Cornish village to beguile the men and irritate some of the women. She is escaping an abusive marriage. Lobster restaurant owner Tom falls for her. He has as complicated a past as she does. And their joint pasts will catch up with them. It’s a nicely located thriller with neatly researched aspects of the sea-salt life of the fishing community and the local.history. The plot is melodramatic and clunky. A couple of neat twists at the end but not much to write home about. TP is always an easy read however. 5/6
67. Human Croquet. 1997. Kate Atkinson. One I had missed and, actually, one that I wished I hadn’t found. I have enjoyed her Jackson Brodie PI series and most of her others but not this. Isobel Fairfax is a girl growing up in 1960s Britain. She has a mystical link to her ancestors which facilitates though-time-travel. Past and present collide in her journey discovering the family curse of theFairfaxes, once great landowners in the time of Henry VIII. I suppose it is both thriller, historical novel, fantasy and coming of age. I found the constant use of the present tense irritating and it was overlong. A struggle. 4
68. Take Nothing With You. 2018.Patrick Gale. I haven’t read enough of Patrick Gale.What an accomplished writer he is. There seems to be an autobiographical strain in the novels I have read and he freely admits it here. Eustace is an only child growing up in an old people’s home run by his ambitionless father in Weston-Super-Mare. He seems a cheery failure while Eustace’s mother is given to headaches. When Eustace discovers the cello and the wonderful teacher, Carla Gold, his horizons begin to rise above the commonness of his drab seaside home – and his mother finds a new energy. Carla is the catalyst for the huge changes in family dynamics. We follow Eustace’s young life, described with humour, compassion and a good deal of sexual tension. The story of his family plays out sadly and poignantly but the journey is uplifting. Wonderful. 8
69. A Haunting in the Arctic. 2023. C.J. Cooke. She came highly recommended. A gothic writer, I was told. I’m not a fan of contrived fantasy thrillers but, given that I used to enjoy Carl Ruiz Zafron, I thought I’d take another plunge. This macabre tale is set in and around the Arctic Circle. Three time periods- 1900, 1973 and 2023. The story of a young woman snatched off the streets of Dundee in 1901 to be the sexual plaything of a whaling ship crew on their journey to the Artic Circle. The repeated raping of Nicky and her stoicism in the face of the appalling abuse is supposed to be the springboard for the frightening legacy of the ship, the crew and subsequent generations being doomed by the ghost of what had occurred. Researchers who later try to find out the truth of the ill fated whaler find that their own lives are in threatened by a ghostly legacy. But they have been there before. The past is embedded in the future.. Readable but silly but I guess that if you like gothic fantasy this could be for you. The reliance on the appalling abuse of the central character was uncomfortable but there is a feminist thing going on here which I didn’t really get. 5
70. Mother’s Boy.2022. Patrick Gale. His latest and after Take Nothing With You, I wanted another Gale-fix quickly. This is the fictional imagining of the young life of Charles Causley, the poet and writer (think Timothy Winters..) who grows up in straitened times after the 1st World War, in Launceston, Devon. His father, disabled by war injuries – not least gassing – dies when Charles is seven. His mother works tirelessly washing and cooking for others, to make ends meet. Life is hard in the between war years and Charles is an unsporty boy trying to make sense of his place in the world. His recruitment as a decoder on a battleship in WW2 brings the raw realities of life even more into focus. It’s a novel to draw you in and inform. 6/7
71. Everything I Never Told You. 2014. Celeste Ng. A darkly shocking novel, strikingly written. Marilyn shocks her mother by marrying James Lee a clever Chinese boy she meets at Harvard. There goes her medical career..but she’s in love. This is the story of their marriage and how overt and covert racism, sexism and the attitudes of the times ( 50s/60s on) plays on the protagonists. James doesn’t get a job at Harvard but has to settle for tenure at a lesser college; Marilyn tries to break away from the kitchen sink to study medicine in her late 20s but an unwanted pregnancy brings her back. Meanwhile the growing kids, Nathan, Lydia and Hannah navigate the ostracisms of school life – they are the only half breeds in school. Marilyn transfers all her personal ambitions to Lydia with tragic consequences. The destructive psychological creep of the novel makes it a riveting read. She’s a fine writer. In the mould of Ann Tyler and Elizabeth Strout. 7+
72. Essex Dogs. 2021. Dan Jones. This is the historian’s foray into historical fiction, the first of a trilogy. It is 1346. Edward III takes a large army of knights and mercenaries its various talents across the Channel to unseat the French King Phillipe and take France. The Essex dogs are a rag back of a platoon, led by Loveday Fitztalbot, eager to fight for 40 days and return with pay and their spoils. The narrative takes us on a meandering journey to Crecy, outside Paris. At each stage from the coast, via Caen, St Lo and Beauvais there are savage battles, appalling deaths, rape, pillage and injury. It gets a little monotonous. But the reader does become used also to the characters – the feckless prince, the ageing war-weary Loveday, the savage Scotsman, the gentle archer, Romford. The knights who control the Essex dogs know their value as battlers with nine lives. And so they arrive at Crecy. Readable – and if you are interested in the Hundred Years War, informative – but didn’t quite do it for me. 6
73. Second Place. 2021. Rachel Cusk. A Booker longlist that didn’t deserve shortlisting. A damaged woman (unexplained) is rescued by a the love of sensitive and simple ( but intelligent) farmer. She yearns to find herself through inviting a famous but leech-like artist to become her inspiration-in-residence. She has seen his work in a former life and thinks that he can reveal her true self. Told in the first person, she is telling her story to a chap called Jeffers ( again unexplained). I got tired of the psychobabble but I stuck with it. I shouldn’t have done. 3
74. Win. (If you lose you die). 2021. Harlan Coben. This was more like it! Windsor Lockwood III is a multimillionaire whose hidden life is that of a 21st century Batman. Indeed Lockwood Manor is a facsimile of Wayne Manor. Win seeks justice for his murdered uncle and abused cousin Patricia and long lost stolen art treasures. When a suspect in another 20 year old murder case is murdered and one of the paintings and Patricia’s suitcase are in the dead man’s flat, Win makes it his business to track down the truth. It’s a fast moving caper made more sexy by the fact that Win is a Jack Reacher type of guy with unlimited resources ( fire up the Jet Kabir), a predilection for anonymous sexual encounters and a liking for violence. There’s a moral streak in there wi the narcissism. Coben’s style is Laconia, tongue in cheek, brutal, Chandlereque. After the navel gazing of Cusk, preferable. 7
75. Good Pop, Ba Pop. 2022. Jarvis Cocker. A cheapie on Kindle but I loved it! Given that Common People is easily the best hit of the Cool Britannia, Brit- Pop era, I have long thought that Jarvis Cocker is a man of interest. And so it proves. In this quirky autobiography Cocker takes us through his ‘journey’ via the detritus of his attic. From ticket stubs to chocolate bar wrappers, out of focus photos to school reports, he weaves his story beguilingly. Clever, funny and a pick up and put down book. Recommended. 7
76. A Terrible Kindness. 2022. Jo Browning Wroe. This was recommended but I wouldn’t. JBW lectures in creative writing and published this, her first novel, quite late in life. It’s the story of a young boy, William, whose father,Paul, dies when he is seven. His dad’s identical twin brother, Robert is gay and partnered with Howard. It’s the late 1950s. Paul’s widow Evelyn hates living with the gay couple and is unnerved by seeing Robert, the image of her dead husband every day. William is sent to boarding school on a choral scholarship. A Cambridge choir school. He’s very good. His father’s and uncle’s business is undertaking and embalming. Mother Evelyn wants no truck with that. Lots happens – described by going back and forth in time. Then the tragedy of Aberfan and William, having forsaken a musical career, heads off to help embalm the poor children. Cue a lifelong certainty that he won’t have children. His new wife Gloria is patient. I won’t go on more than to say that I found the narrative clunky and, at times, almost juvenile. The obvious research on Cambridge choristers and boarding schools, embalming and, macabrely, Aberfan, are awkward vehicles for a silly tale. And the gay thing is very old hat. 4
77. The Last Dance. 2023. Mark Billingham. Best known for his Tom Thorne crime series, MB has a new hero, Detecticve Sergeant Dec Miller. Too oddball to gain promotions, Dec is a lover of ballroom, bereaved as his wife Alex has been murdered and humorously dismissive of those of higher rank. His new partner Saran Xiu is on the spectrum somewhere and loves casual sex and heavy metal. This combo set out to uncover the truth behind a double murder while Dec’s secret ambition is to nail his wife’s killer. It’s a darkly comic, sometime bizarre tale. Dec Miller is a Jackson Lamb lookalike and MB’s change of style seems designed to catch the zeitgeist. Whatever, I’ll read the next one. 7
…and, with that my mince pies and goblet of red call. Ellie Leach won Strictly a week ago, the reinvented David Cameron has called for a Gaza ceasefire and Erik Ten Haag is still in a job. The Sunday Times’ pictorial review of the great lives lost in 2023 included Glenda Jackson, Barry Humphries, Burt Bacharach, Michael Parkinson, Tina Turner, Martin Amis and that very fine man and brilliant footballer Bobby Charlton. He and many others whom we have lost, lit up my world.
simplysorro 