by Judith Rock
This mystery is set in the 1600's in France. The story is about a Jesuit Monk, Charles du Luc who is from Southern France. At this time there is a campaign on to convert the French Hugenot's to Catholicism. Charles has some Hugenot relatives who do not wish to convert but would rather escape to Switzerland. He aids them in leaving the country, or so he thinks.
His supervisors are aware of his sympathies to the Hugenot's and send him to Paris to be a Rhetoric Teacher at a Jesuit school.
The first day that Charles is in Paris he is helping students practice a play/ballet and the star dancer runs from the room. Charles is instructed to follow him but he loses the boy in the crowded streets of Paris.
Soon after the younger brother of the escapee is knocked down in the street by an unknown horseman. Charles is advised that it was an accident but he has his suspicions and starts to investigate even though advised by the head of the school to leave matters to the police.
He doesn't follow orders and discovers there is are discrepancies between what the young boy and witnesses have said and what a priest at the school, a relative of the boys, say.
While he is trying to get more information he finds that another witness has been murdered. Then the tutor of the young boy eats chocolates sent to the boy and dies of poisoning. The Leader of the school now instructs Charles to pursue the cases to try to get the truth.
It eventually is revealed that the boy's new young stepmother wants them out of the picture and that the child she is carrying is not her husband's.
The story was well written, there was a lot of detail about Paris at the time. I enjoyed it.
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Friday, 22 September 2017
The Women in the Castle
by Jessica Shattuck
This story takes place during WWII in Germany. It tells the story of a woman whose husband and friends were part of a group that opposed Hitler and attempted to assassinate him. The men were caught and murdered.
The book describes the hardships people in Germany suffered during the war. For safety and to live off the land the woman takes her children to an old family castle in the countryside. This is a location many parties were held in the past. She had made a promise to a boyhood friend, a man she loved, that she would look after his wife. She goes looking for the wife and her son. She finds the wife has basically become a sex slave for a German SS officer. By force of will she is able to extracate the woman from that situation. She finds the woman's son in an "orphanage". She also befriends the wife of a Polish man who came to their house and confirmed attrocities that were being committed. This man too had been killed. She finds the man's wife and her two sons in a DP camp.
While they are on the farm the Americans invade Germany and take German soldiers as POW's. They offer her a German officer as a worker to help around the farm. She is happy to have his help until she learns of attrocities that were committed by his unit. She tells the Americans she does not want him to come back. What she doesn't know is that the wife of her friend has fallen in love with the German soldier and they eventually plan to marry. The woman is horrified she feels the young woman is betraying her husband by wanting to marry the German soldier so she intervenes by talking to the German soldier and he decides to call off the wedding.
The young woman is so distraught by the interference, she feels she is intitled to love and that the German people should have the right to start over. She leaves her friend, goes to live with family and commits suicide.
The other woman becomes a housekeeper for a local famer and eventually they marry. She is shocked when her first husband shows up and wants back in her life. We learn that she is not who she says she was. She had stollen a dead woman's identity papers. She and her first husband were acturally Nazi supporters running camps to train boys in Nazi theory.
The woman, Marianne, is shocked that the woman has lied and cuts off contact with her. Marianne is a strong woman but a bit too sure of herself and how only she knows what is right. In the end of her life she has come to regret that she interfered between the young couple and that maybe she shouldn't have been so harsh on the other woman. The story explores what we might do if threatened and what people might do reluctantly just to survive. For eg. the soldier knew what his troop was going to do and got and admin job so he didn't actually do the killing, but does that make him any less guilty?
It was interesting to read a story about what was going on in Germany during the war. It was a very well written, engaging story.
This story takes place during WWII in Germany. It tells the story of a woman whose husband and friends were part of a group that opposed Hitler and attempted to assassinate him. The men were caught and murdered.
The book describes the hardships people in Germany suffered during the war. For safety and to live off the land the woman takes her children to an old family castle in the countryside. This is a location many parties were held in the past. She had made a promise to a boyhood friend, a man she loved, that she would look after his wife. She goes looking for the wife and her son. She finds the wife has basically become a sex slave for a German SS officer. By force of will she is able to extracate the woman from that situation. She finds the woman's son in an "orphanage". She also befriends the wife of a Polish man who came to their house and confirmed attrocities that were being committed. This man too had been killed. She finds the man's wife and her two sons in a DP camp.
While they are on the farm the Americans invade Germany and take German soldiers as POW's. They offer her a German officer as a worker to help around the farm. She is happy to have his help until she learns of attrocities that were committed by his unit. She tells the Americans she does not want him to come back. What she doesn't know is that the wife of her friend has fallen in love with the German soldier and they eventually plan to marry. The woman is horrified she feels the young woman is betraying her husband by wanting to marry the German soldier so she intervenes by talking to the German soldier and he decides to call off the wedding.
The young woman is so distraught by the interference, she feels she is intitled to love and that the German people should have the right to start over. She leaves her friend, goes to live with family and commits suicide.
The other woman becomes a housekeeper for a local famer and eventually they marry. She is shocked when her first husband shows up and wants back in her life. We learn that she is not who she says she was. She had stollen a dead woman's identity papers. She and her first husband were acturally Nazi supporters running camps to train boys in Nazi theory.
The woman, Marianne, is shocked that the woman has lied and cuts off contact with her. Marianne is a strong woman but a bit too sure of herself and how only she knows what is right. In the end of her life she has come to regret that she interfered between the young couple and that maybe she shouldn't have been so harsh on the other woman. The story explores what we might do if threatened and what people might do reluctantly just to survive. For eg. the soldier knew what his troop was going to do and got and admin job so he didn't actually do the killing, but does that make him any less guilty?
It was interesting to read a story about what was going on in Germany during the war. It was a very well written, engaging story.
Saturday, 2 September 2017
Glass Houses
by Louise Penny
Penny has done it again, another interesting story about Inspector Gamache and the quirky citizens of Three Pines. In this story a strange character, in a black cape with a bird nose mask (like from Venice) stands in the town square silent but staring. They find out the character is like a Spanish character called a Cobrador del Frac, a conscience or "debt collector" who followed guilty people around to frame them.
Gamache approaches the character but the character won't speak. Everyone if the village fears it might be there to shame them.
There are two couples visiting the town at this time. They come to the town annually but a little later this time. There are also two new employees, a baker's assistant and a dishwasher, aspiring chef.
A few days later the black figure is gone but shortly after Gamache's wife discovers one of the woman visitor's dead in the church basement dressed in the costume.
As the story is told Gamache is on the witness stand and there appears to be friction between him and the Crown Counsel. The Judge can sense it be can't figure out why. She is unaware that Gamache has made the decision to commit perjury on the witness stand.
We learn that while the trial is underway Gamach, who is now Chief of the Surete, and his team are working to catch a major drug ring operating in the province.
In the end they find out who killed the woman (the sister of a man the woman rejected years before who killed himself) and they do catch the drug lords but not without violating some police policies so that both Gamache and the Crown Counsel find themselves removed from their jobs and under investigation.
As always a great story including the antics of the locals.
Penny has done it again, another interesting story about Inspector Gamache and the quirky citizens of Three Pines. In this story a strange character, in a black cape with a bird nose mask (like from Venice) stands in the town square silent but staring. They find out the character is like a Spanish character called a Cobrador del Frac, a conscience or "debt collector" who followed guilty people around to frame them.
Gamache approaches the character but the character won't speak. Everyone if the village fears it might be there to shame them.
There are two couples visiting the town at this time. They come to the town annually but a little later this time. There are also two new employees, a baker's assistant and a dishwasher, aspiring chef.
A few days later the black figure is gone but shortly after Gamache's wife discovers one of the woman visitor's dead in the church basement dressed in the costume.
As the story is told Gamache is on the witness stand and there appears to be friction between him and the Crown Counsel. The Judge can sense it be can't figure out why. She is unaware that Gamache has made the decision to commit perjury on the witness stand.
We learn that while the trial is underway Gamach, who is now Chief of the Surete, and his team are working to catch a major drug ring operating in the province.
In the end they find out who killed the woman (the sister of a man the woman rejected years before who killed himself) and they do catch the drug lords but not without violating some police policies so that both Gamache and the Crown Counsel find themselves removed from their jobs and under investigation.
As always a great story including the antics of the locals.
A Deadly Affection
by Cuyler Overholt
This story takes place in New York in the early 1900's. The main character Dr. Genevieve Summerland, is a recently graduated Dr. who hopes to specialize in Psychiatry, against her father's better judgement.
She meets with some women in a group setting in a Church basement and delivers her "lecture". The attendees don't seem to impressed. One of the patients tells her that she had a child out of wedlock and a doctor took the baby away from her. Genevieve assures her that she has a right to know what happened to the child and that she was wronged by the doctor. She encourages the woman to contact the doctor.
The next morning she is walking down the street and comes upon a murder scene. She finds that the patient who had had her baby taken away from her has been arrested for the murder of a doctor. Genevieve is convinced that despite the evidence her patient did not do it. She is frustrated that the police are so convinced they have found the right person. Genevieve enlists the help of a man who used to work for her family and who seems to have contacts in the legal and not so legal world. As part of the story we find that the Doctor who was murdered has implied that the woman had Huntington's. Genevieve finds the woman she thinks is the daughter of her patient and who was adopted into a wealthy family. She sees evidence of the disease in the "daughter" but none in her patient.
They discover that the patient has multiple personalities and was raped and impregnated by her father and that it was her mother who murdered the Doctor and his daughter.
This was an okay mystery, a bit to wordy and times and not much character development.
This story takes place in New York in the early 1900's. The main character Dr. Genevieve Summerland, is a recently graduated Dr. who hopes to specialize in Psychiatry, against her father's better judgement.
She meets with some women in a group setting in a Church basement and delivers her "lecture". The attendees don't seem to impressed. One of the patients tells her that she had a child out of wedlock and a doctor took the baby away from her. Genevieve assures her that she has a right to know what happened to the child and that she was wronged by the doctor. She encourages the woman to contact the doctor.
The next morning she is walking down the street and comes upon a murder scene. She finds that the patient who had had her baby taken away from her has been arrested for the murder of a doctor. Genevieve is convinced that despite the evidence her patient did not do it. She is frustrated that the police are so convinced they have found the right person. Genevieve enlists the help of a man who used to work for her family and who seems to have contacts in the legal and not so legal world. As part of the story we find that the Doctor who was murdered has implied that the woman had Huntington's. Genevieve finds the woman she thinks is the daughter of her patient and who was adopted into a wealthy family. She sees evidence of the disease in the "daughter" but none in her patient.
They discover that the patient has multiple personalities and was raped and impregnated by her father and that it was her mother who murdered the Doctor and his daughter.
This was an okay mystery, a bit to wordy and times and not much character development.
Sunday, 27 August 2017
The Bat
by Jo Nesbo
This is the first mystery book in the Harry Hole series.
Hole is a Norwegian police officer who has been sent to Australia to help/observe the investigation the rape/death of a Norwegian girl.
Hole has a troubled past, he had a girlfriend as a youth who dumped him for another guy. As a police officer he was driving a police car while drunk and crashed. His partner died in the crash and the police department official report says his partner was the one who was drunk and was the driver. Hole is haunted by the death he caused and also the distorting of the truth. He was in hospital for a long time and has now given up drinking.
When he arrives in Australia he is welcomed by an aboriginal police officer, Andrew. Harry and Andrew help with the investigation including conducting additional interviews with people who knew the victim, etc. In the story Harry is introduced or meets a variety of characters, Otto, a homosexual clown, a boxer friend of Andrew's, also an aboriginal; a drunk who hangs out in a downtown park, a flasher and Brigette, a barmaid from Sweden who Harry falls for and numerous low lifes. They come up with a number of theories about the murder but aren't getting anywhere. Then the find Otto has been murdered and Andrew is found hanged in Otto's place. It appears he committed suicide but anyone who knows Andrew doubts that is the truth. Harry and another police officer are able to prove that it was murder. We find out that Andrew was a heroine addict but managed to hold down a job. Harry believes that Andrew was trying to give him some hints as to the murderer prior to his death.
Harry is really devastated by Andrew's death and really falls off the wagon.
They suspect the murderer might be a drug dealer and try to trick him into admitting it by having Brigitte meet with him to see if he will confess. However Brigitte never makes the meeting with the drug dealer, she has disappeared. Harry now realizes that the drug dealer was not the murderer, it was Andrew's boxer friend. He tells Harry he has Brigitte and will release her if Harry plants evidence to frame the drug dealer. The police try to find the Boxer but they find Brigitte dead first,
Harry is totally gutted as it was his suggestion that she be the one to meet with the drug dealer.
Harry eventually tracks the murderer down in the Sydney acquarium where the murderer is killed by a great white shark.
The book was an interesting read, there is a bit of violence. Harry is a complicated character who is not afraid to break the rules as a police officer. I can understand the appeal of the series.
This is the first mystery book in the Harry Hole series.
Hole is a Norwegian police officer who has been sent to Australia to help/observe the investigation the rape/death of a Norwegian girl.
Hole has a troubled past, he had a girlfriend as a youth who dumped him for another guy. As a police officer he was driving a police car while drunk and crashed. His partner died in the crash and the police department official report says his partner was the one who was drunk and was the driver. Hole is haunted by the death he caused and also the distorting of the truth. He was in hospital for a long time and has now given up drinking.
When he arrives in Australia he is welcomed by an aboriginal police officer, Andrew. Harry and Andrew help with the investigation including conducting additional interviews with people who knew the victim, etc. In the story Harry is introduced or meets a variety of characters, Otto, a homosexual clown, a boxer friend of Andrew's, also an aboriginal; a drunk who hangs out in a downtown park, a flasher and Brigette, a barmaid from Sweden who Harry falls for and numerous low lifes. They come up with a number of theories about the murder but aren't getting anywhere. Then the find Otto has been murdered and Andrew is found hanged in Otto's place. It appears he committed suicide but anyone who knows Andrew doubts that is the truth. Harry and another police officer are able to prove that it was murder. We find out that Andrew was a heroine addict but managed to hold down a job. Harry believes that Andrew was trying to give him some hints as to the murderer prior to his death.
Harry is really devastated by Andrew's death and really falls off the wagon.
They suspect the murderer might be a drug dealer and try to trick him into admitting it by having Brigitte meet with him to see if he will confess. However Brigitte never makes the meeting with the drug dealer, she has disappeared. Harry now realizes that the drug dealer was not the murderer, it was Andrew's boxer friend. He tells Harry he has Brigitte and will release her if Harry plants evidence to frame the drug dealer. The police try to find the Boxer but they find Brigitte dead first,
Harry is totally gutted as it was his suggestion that she be the one to meet with the drug dealer.
Harry eventually tracks the murderer down in the Sydney acquarium where the murderer is killed by a great white shark.
The book was an interesting read, there is a bit of violence. Harry is a complicated character who is not afraid to break the rules as a police officer. I can understand the appeal of the series.
Monday, 21 August 2017
Sea of Poppies
by Amitav Ghosh
This book is the first of a trilogy. In the story several individuals, living in India, find themselves on a ship, the Ibis. The opium trade in India and China is an integral part of the story. There is a large cast of characters:
Deeti and Kalua -- Deeti's husband dies and she realizes their poppy farm is deeply indebted and she will not be able to support her daughter, she is afraid of her brother-in-law who will inherit the farm (and her?). She decides to die with her husband on the funeral pyre but she is rescued by Kalua, a local man who drives a delivery cart to make a living. Deeti knows she has embarrassed her family and they decide to try to make a start in a new place.
Zachary - started on the ship as a lowly worker in Baltimore but by the time the ship arrives in India he is in a senior position on the ship. He is part black but doesn't look it so he is assumed to be white and given deference because of this. He is reluctant to assume authority but is encouraged to do so by the people below him.
Paulette and Jodu - Paulette's father was a botanist, when her father dies she is graciously "adopted" by the family of the owner of the Ibis. She is not happy there and decides to run away when they plan to marry her to a much older man. She and Jodu grew up together, Paulette was delivered by Jodu's mother. They are close friends. Jodu has been taken on as a lowly worker on the ship. Paulette dresses in a Sari and sneaks on board the ship.
Neel is a Raj, of a formerly wealthy family. His father was highly respected but after the father dies Neel discovers the family fortune has evaporated. He is struggling to keep his estate but the ship owner accuses him of forgery and Neel ends up sentenced to 7 years service on the island where the Ibis is destined. He befriends a fellow convict, a chinese opium addict.
People who have sold themselves to go to work on plantations complete the passengers on the ship.
The senior crew are very cruel to the crew and passengers. There is a major incident and the book ends with a few of the men (Kahlua, Deeti's rescuer and 2nd husband, the two convicts, Jodu and other) escaping in one of the small boats from the ship.
You are left to wonder if the men will survive, what will happen to those still on the ship.
This was a very interesting book with great historical details.
This book is the first of a trilogy. In the story several individuals, living in India, find themselves on a ship, the Ibis. The opium trade in India and China is an integral part of the story. There is a large cast of characters:
Deeti and Kalua -- Deeti's husband dies and she realizes their poppy farm is deeply indebted and she will not be able to support her daughter, she is afraid of her brother-in-law who will inherit the farm (and her?). She decides to die with her husband on the funeral pyre but she is rescued by Kalua, a local man who drives a delivery cart to make a living. Deeti knows she has embarrassed her family and they decide to try to make a start in a new place.
Zachary - started on the ship as a lowly worker in Baltimore but by the time the ship arrives in India he is in a senior position on the ship. He is part black but doesn't look it so he is assumed to be white and given deference because of this. He is reluctant to assume authority but is encouraged to do so by the people below him.
Paulette and Jodu - Paulette's father was a botanist, when her father dies she is graciously "adopted" by the family of the owner of the Ibis. She is not happy there and decides to run away when they plan to marry her to a much older man. She and Jodu grew up together, Paulette was delivered by Jodu's mother. They are close friends. Jodu has been taken on as a lowly worker on the ship. Paulette dresses in a Sari and sneaks on board the ship.
Neel is a Raj, of a formerly wealthy family. His father was highly respected but after the father dies Neel discovers the family fortune has evaporated. He is struggling to keep his estate but the ship owner accuses him of forgery and Neel ends up sentenced to 7 years service on the island where the Ibis is destined. He befriends a fellow convict, a chinese opium addict.
People who have sold themselves to go to work on plantations complete the passengers on the ship.
The senior crew are very cruel to the crew and passengers. There is a major incident and the book ends with a few of the men (Kahlua, Deeti's rescuer and 2nd husband, the two convicts, Jodu and other) escaping in one of the small boats from the ship.
You are left to wonder if the men will survive, what will happen to those still on the ship.
This was a very interesting book with great historical details.
Sunday, 23 July 2017
Judas
by Amos Oz
This book is also written by an Israeli. This author was recommended to me by Eli, the Israeli we met in Monterrosso. I am not sure what to make of the book.
The story is about a young Israeli student who has a breakdown because: his parents can no longer afford to fund his education, his girlfriend dumps him to marry a former boyfriend his socialist network has collapsed in disarray and his studies into Jewish attitudes to Jesus seem to stalled. He quits school against his profs advice and much to the dismay of his family.
He sees a notice on a bulletin board looking for someone to be a companion to a senior, invalid for a few hours each evening in exhange for room and board and a small salary. He goes to the house and is offered the job on condition that he will not disclose anything about the house and its inhabitants to anyone.
The house is inhabited by a young woman (owner of the house) and her father-in-law. The young man's job is to sit with the old man in the evening and listen to him talk, or talk to othes on the phone, reheat is supper and make him tea. The young man learns that the old man's son was a brilliant mathematician with a great future who got carried away with the war fever in Israel and ended up getting tortured and killed. The woman's father was a government official who resigned/was rejected from the cabinet of Ben Gurion because he believed in the one state solution, not two state.
The book spends a lot of time discussing the role of Judas as a traitor, was he a a traitor ot the Jews? As one character comments, if there had been no Judas there would be no Christianity. The young man continues to read scholars and their opinions about Judas. He also researches the newspaper archives for information about the woman's father. He learns that many people feel her father was a traitor because he associated with Arabs in his attet
The young man finds the woman fascinating and despite the warnings of the old man not to, he falls in love with her. She disregards him at times and toys with him at others. He learns that the woman seems to hate all men because of what men did to her husband. The old man does not agree entirely with the ideas of the woman's father but he is angry that men fight and that his son died as a result.
The young man falls in the house, banging his head and breaking his ankle. The woman nurses him back to health but then tells him it is time to leave, he cannot hide there forever, he must find a girl, get a life. He doesn't want to do this but does leave. Rather than going home he boards a bus and heads to one of the new settlements thinking he may get a job as a security guard or something else.
The book ends with him standing in a village near the settlement "And he stood there, wondering".
I am not sure what to make of it, there was lots to think about in terms of what did Judas really do and expect, what was his responsibility for what happened to Jesus and the consequences for the Jews. There is the parallel between Judas being considered a traitor (and all Jews being hated by Christians as a result) and the woman's father also being considered a traitor for not pushing for Israeli rights and control. The young man has tried to hide from the world, has seen the pain and disfunction which the war has caused the woman and the old man. Is it possible he will learn from them and try to change? affect change? I would hope so but he didn't seem to demonstrate any effort to want to change.
This book is also written by an Israeli. This author was recommended to me by Eli, the Israeli we met in Monterrosso. I am not sure what to make of the book.
The story is about a young Israeli student who has a breakdown because: his parents can no longer afford to fund his education, his girlfriend dumps him to marry a former boyfriend his socialist network has collapsed in disarray and his studies into Jewish attitudes to Jesus seem to stalled. He quits school against his profs advice and much to the dismay of his family.
He sees a notice on a bulletin board looking for someone to be a companion to a senior, invalid for a few hours each evening in exhange for room and board and a small salary. He goes to the house and is offered the job on condition that he will not disclose anything about the house and its inhabitants to anyone.
The house is inhabited by a young woman (owner of the house) and her father-in-law. The young man's job is to sit with the old man in the evening and listen to him talk, or talk to othes on the phone, reheat is supper and make him tea. The young man learns that the old man's son was a brilliant mathematician with a great future who got carried away with the war fever in Israel and ended up getting tortured and killed. The woman's father was a government official who resigned/was rejected from the cabinet of Ben Gurion because he believed in the one state solution, not two state.
The book spends a lot of time discussing the role of Judas as a traitor, was he a a traitor ot the Jews? As one character comments, if there had been no Judas there would be no Christianity. The young man continues to read scholars and their opinions about Judas. He also researches the newspaper archives for information about the woman's father. He learns that many people feel her father was a traitor because he associated with Arabs in his attet
The young man finds the woman fascinating and despite the warnings of the old man not to, he falls in love with her. She disregards him at times and toys with him at others. He learns that the woman seems to hate all men because of what men did to her husband. The old man does not agree entirely with the ideas of the woman's father but he is angry that men fight and that his son died as a result.
The young man falls in the house, banging his head and breaking his ankle. The woman nurses him back to health but then tells him it is time to leave, he cannot hide there forever, he must find a girl, get a life. He doesn't want to do this but does leave. Rather than going home he boards a bus and heads to one of the new settlements thinking he may get a job as a security guard or something else.
The book ends with him standing in a village near the settlement "And he stood there, wondering".
I am not sure what to make of it, there was lots to think about in terms of what did Judas really do and expect, what was his responsibility for what happened to Jesus and the consequences for the Jews. There is the parallel between Judas being considered a traitor (and all Jews being hated by Christians as a result) and the woman's father also being considered a traitor for not pushing for Israeli rights and control. The young man has tried to hide from the world, has seen the pain and disfunction which the war has caused the woman and the old man. Is it possible he will learn from them and try to change? affect change? I would hope so but he didn't seem to demonstrate any effort to want to change.
Falling Out of Time
By David Grossman
The author is an Israeli who just won the Man Booker Internationa Prize for his latest book. This is a very interesting book. It is written part in poem and partly in prose. The narrator is a local official who has been tasked with documenting the activities in the village.
The book starts with an elderly man who has lost a son several years before in a street battle. Suddenly one day he decides to leave his wife and start walking around the village looking for his son. He starts to circle the town. His action also seem to inspire some changes in the behaviour of other citizens, a Cyclops who is attached to his desk, who has lost his child, a woman who is a netminder who has lost he daughter, a school teacher who also lost a chld and the village official who also lost his daughter and the Duke, the boss of the official. With the exception fo the cyclops the people start circling the city in larger circles until they encounter a wall. They hesitate at first and then start to dig in the soil until they have dug graves for themselves. They climb into these graves. But in a while they climb out. It seems that they have accepted the deaths of their loved ones.
A sad story but with beautiful language.
The author is an Israeli who just won the Man Booker Internationa Prize for his latest book. This is a very interesting book. It is written part in poem and partly in prose. The narrator is a local official who has been tasked with documenting the activities in the village.
The book starts with an elderly man who has lost a son several years before in a street battle. Suddenly one day he decides to leave his wife and start walking around the village looking for his son. He starts to circle the town. His action also seem to inspire some changes in the behaviour of other citizens, a Cyclops who is attached to his desk, who has lost his child, a woman who is a netminder who has lost he daughter, a school teacher who also lost a chld and the village official who also lost his daughter and the Duke, the boss of the official. With the exception fo the cyclops the people start circling the city in larger circles until they encounter a wall. They hesitate at first and then start to dig in the soil until they have dug graves for themselves. They climb into these graves. But in a while they climb out. It seems that they have accepted the deaths of their loved ones.
A sad story but with beautiful language.
Tuesday, 2 May 2017
I Found You
by Lisa Jewell
This story has three apparently separate stories.
1) A man is found sitting on a beach in England and he has no idea who he is. He is taken in by a local woman who is struggling raising three children but who has a kind heart and the tendency to rescue strays.
2) A family in the 1990's that is vacationing in the same town. There is a mother, father, brother and sister. A local, apparently wealthyboy, takes an interest in the girl but her brother is suspicious of him and protective of him. The girl is not to sure how she feels about him.
3) A young Ukrainian woman who has only been married for a few weeks is upset when her husband does not return home from work one day.
We are told about a news story about two people drowning and the father of one of the victim's having a heart attack and dying while trying to rescue them.
As the story progresses we find out the local boy had attacked the girl and her brother after the girl seemed to reject him. We think the man with amnesia might be him.
The newlywed goes to police who tell her that her husband's passport is a fake. She doesn't know what to do. As she searches through her husbands possession's she finds a set of wedding rings nicer that the ones he gave her. She also finds some keys and the name of a town. The same town that the drowning, the family and the amnesiac are in.
We then learn that the amnesiac is actually the girl`s brother. The shock of seeing her attacker alive after 20+ years has brought back amnesia. It was assumed that the boyfriend and the girl had drowned. We learn that he is the newlywed's husband. He is eventually located and charged with several sexual assault charges and murder of the girl.
It was an interesting story. The characters were engaging and the plot twist was interesting.
This story has three apparently separate stories.
1) A man is found sitting on a beach in England and he has no idea who he is. He is taken in by a local woman who is struggling raising three children but who has a kind heart and the tendency to rescue strays.
2) A family in the 1990's that is vacationing in the same town. There is a mother, father, brother and sister. A local, apparently wealthyboy, takes an interest in the girl but her brother is suspicious of him and protective of him. The girl is not to sure how she feels about him.
3) A young Ukrainian woman who has only been married for a few weeks is upset when her husband does not return home from work one day.
We are told about a news story about two people drowning and the father of one of the victim's having a heart attack and dying while trying to rescue them.
As the story progresses we find out the local boy had attacked the girl and her brother after the girl seemed to reject him. We think the man with amnesia might be him.
The newlywed goes to police who tell her that her husband's passport is a fake. She doesn't know what to do. As she searches through her husbands possession's she finds a set of wedding rings nicer that the ones he gave her. She also finds some keys and the name of a town. The same town that the drowning, the family and the amnesiac are in.
We then learn that the amnesiac is actually the girl`s brother. The shock of seeing her attacker alive after 20+ years has brought back amnesia. It was assumed that the boyfriend and the girl had drowned. We learn that he is the newlywed's husband. He is eventually located and charged with several sexual assault charges and murder of the girl.
It was an interesting story. The characters were engaging and the plot twist was interesting.
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Swing Time
by Zadie Smith
I hated this book!!! It isn't very often that I have such a negative reaction to a book. I didn't enjoy it while reading it but forced myself to finish it as I hoped there would be some redeeming aspect to it. But there wasn't. Some of the review of the book are very positive but I couldn't stand it.
The book is about two girls of mixed race marriages growing up in London. One of the girls Tracey has a "bad girl" lack of respect for authority. She befriends the main character and they stay best friends for years, subject to Tracey's moods. Both girls take dancing lessons. It turns out that Tracey is a real star dancer, the main character, while she loves dance and loves to watch old movies and study all the dance moves, has flat feet and therefore cannot do ballet.
Tracey is a dreamer/liar. She claims her father is a dancer with Michael Jackson. In reality he is a criminal frequently in jail.
The main character has a mother who ignores/resents her family as she studies to better herself. Her husband is a postal worker. Eventually the family disintegrates.
At one point in time the two girls are asked to help at a dance recital. The money from the tickets goes missing and everyone blames Tracey.
Over tiime the girl occasionally runs into Tracey who despite her talent doesn't seem to be succeeding. She is on drugs, has several children and only ever makes it into the chorus.
The main character goes off to study media studies at a school outside London. She comes back to live with her father for a time until she manages to get a job with the new entity YTV. It is an exciting life with little work and lots of perks. She then gets selected to be the personal assistant for a perfomer Aimee. Her life becomes totally consumed by looking after Aimee, 24/7 and no holidays. She is an assistant and a confidante.
Aimee decides that she wants to build a girl's school in Africa so the main character makes several trips to Africa where she comes to realize that the best intentions of foreigners may not entirely work out. She meets two African men, one who professes his love for her (she rejects him) and a man Aimee wants (she starts having an affair with him). The main character doesn't react to any of the ridiculous things Aimee does until she adopts an African baby. The parents surrender her to Aimee for money. This really shocks and upsets the girll.
In the meantime her monther has gotten her PhD and become an MP. The mother and daughter don't have much contact. The girl is shocked to learn from her mothers former lover that she is dying of cancer.
When Aimee finds out that the main character is having an affair with her desired lover she fires her. In retaliation the girl posts details about the baby adoption. This of course infuriates Aimee.
When the girl returns to London she pays money for the "Lover" to come to England. His visa had been arranged by Aimee. She knows she doesn't love him . He has the good sense to leave and go out on his own to get an education.
The girl was told by her mother that Tracey has been harassing her to do something for her and her children, sending increasingly agressive emails. When she returns to England Tracey posts juvenile, provocative videos of the two of them dancing as children. This gets lot of press.
Just before she dies the girls mother suggests that she, the daughter, should do something for Tracey, i.e. take cae of her children and as the book ends she is going to see Tracey.
I couldn't relate to any of the characters, the main character was totally clueless, going along with whatever happened throughout her life. She really didn't care about anyone. Aimee was totally self centered. Tracey was self-centered and self-destructive. The girl's mother was a horrible neglectful mother. While her desire to improve herself was understandable she had no commitment to her family. She seemed more interested in helping strangers that caring for her own family. I don't buy her suggestion at the end of the book. It was totally unrealistic. Why should the girl do this? After the way Tracey treated her and her mother why would she want to? How would she support herself and the children?
While I think the author raised some important issues, lower class people surviving in England, the desire to better yourself, misguided celebrities and their charitable causes, I did not care about the characters or the story.
I hated this book!!! It isn't very often that I have such a negative reaction to a book. I didn't enjoy it while reading it but forced myself to finish it as I hoped there would be some redeeming aspect to it. But there wasn't. Some of the review of the book are very positive but I couldn't stand it.
The book is about two girls of mixed race marriages growing up in London. One of the girls Tracey has a "bad girl" lack of respect for authority. She befriends the main character and they stay best friends for years, subject to Tracey's moods. Both girls take dancing lessons. It turns out that Tracey is a real star dancer, the main character, while she loves dance and loves to watch old movies and study all the dance moves, has flat feet and therefore cannot do ballet.
Tracey is a dreamer/liar. She claims her father is a dancer with Michael Jackson. In reality he is a criminal frequently in jail.
The main character has a mother who ignores/resents her family as she studies to better herself. Her husband is a postal worker. Eventually the family disintegrates.
At one point in time the two girls are asked to help at a dance recital. The money from the tickets goes missing and everyone blames Tracey.
Over tiime the girl occasionally runs into Tracey who despite her talent doesn't seem to be succeeding. She is on drugs, has several children and only ever makes it into the chorus.
The main character goes off to study media studies at a school outside London. She comes back to live with her father for a time until she manages to get a job with the new entity YTV. It is an exciting life with little work and lots of perks. She then gets selected to be the personal assistant for a perfomer Aimee. Her life becomes totally consumed by looking after Aimee, 24/7 and no holidays. She is an assistant and a confidante.
Aimee decides that she wants to build a girl's school in Africa so the main character makes several trips to Africa where she comes to realize that the best intentions of foreigners may not entirely work out. She meets two African men, one who professes his love for her (she rejects him) and a man Aimee wants (she starts having an affair with him). The main character doesn't react to any of the ridiculous things Aimee does until she adopts an African baby. The parents surrender her to Aimee for money. This really shocks and upsets the girll.
In the meantime her monther has gotten her PhD and become an MP. The mother and daughter don't have much contact. The girl is shocked to learn from her mothers former lover that she is dying of cancer.
When Aimee finds out that the main character is having an affair with her desired lover she fires her. In retaliation the girl posts details about the baby adoption. This of course infuriates Aimee.
When the girl returns to London she pays money for the "Lover" to come to England. His visa had been arranged by Aimee. She knows she doesn't love him . He has the good sense to leave and go out on his own to get an education.
The girl was told by her mother that Tracey has been harassing her to do something for her and her children, sending increasingly agressive emails. When she returns to England Tracey posts juvenile, provocative videos of the two of them dancing as children. This gets lot of press.
Just before she dies the girls mother suggests that she, the daughter, should do something for Tracey, i.e. take cae of her children and as the book ends she is going to see Tracey.
I couldn't relate to any of the characters, the main character was totally clueless, going along with whatever happened throughout her life. She really didn't care about anyone. Aimee was totally self centered. Tracey was self-centered and self-destructive. The girl's mother was a horrible neglectful mother. While her desire to improve herself was understandable she had no commitment to her family. She seemed more interested in helping strangers that caring for her own family. I don't buy her suggestion at the end of the book. It was totally unrealistic. Why should the girl do this? After the way Tracey treated her and her mother why would she want to? How would she support herself and the children?
While I think the author raised some important issues, lower class people surviving in England, the desire to better yourself, misguided celebrities and their charitable causes, I did not care about the characters or the story.
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