by Jo Baker
This book is by the author of Longbourn, which I have also read.
It is a story about Samuel Beckett and his life in France during WWII.
The books starts off just prior to WWII and describes the social life of Beckett as he hangs out with famous people in the artistic community in Paris including James Joyce and Duchamp.
However, as WWII starts and France is invaded the artistic community leave Paris for safer locations.
It describes how Beckett could have returned to Ireland and had a safe life, as Ireland was neutral. But instead he decides to stay in France with his lover Suzanne. Things deteriorate rapidly, food becomes scare, they have little money to live on and Beckett is struggling to write.
Then they get invovled with the resistance and eventually their group is infiltrated so they must obtain new indentity papers and escape Paris. They are often hiding in barns, fields, they are often hungry as being in hiding they cannot get ration coupons. The title refers to a night when they were waiting to be picked up and taken to a safe location. They were told to wait by a tree on a country road but were not sure if they were by the right tree.
They get involved with the resistance again in the south of France, passing information, carrying weapons to resistance fighters. Beckett's health suffers as he is on the verge of starvation. He is in pain because of his bad teeth. The book does a superb job of portraying the situation on citizens and the resistance and the hardships they endured.
Near the end of the book Beckett has returned to Ireland and is living with his mother. He is appalled and embarrassed at the ordinary life there, with cakes and cream. It seems obscene compared to the deprivation he knows people in France are still facing. He wants to go back to France but unskilled people are not really wanted. A doctor friend of his invites him to join him as Quartermaster, setting up a small hospital in rurual France. Beckett jumps at the chance and is eventually able to get back to Suzanne.
This was a fascinating book. It makes me want to read Beckett again, I think I will now have a better understanding of the reason for the angst and despair in his works.
Thursday, 18 August 2016
Saturday, 23 July 2016
A Fine Summer's Day
by Charles Todd
This book is a prequel to the Inspector Rutledge series of mysteries by a mother and son writing duo.
It is one of my favourite series.
In the first book of the series, Ian Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard returns from WWI a haunted man, haunted by the ghost of a soldier he had to have killed for insubordination.
This book takes place just prior to WWI and we meet Rutledge and his fiance as they are planning to get married. Rutledge is asked to investigate one suspicious death in rural England. He is convinced the young man arrested for the death is innocent. He then hears of other suspicious deaths, some ruled suicides, which all have a common thread of laudanum poisoining. He tries to figure out how all the various people could be connected. They come from a variety of walks of life but all spent some time in Bristol.
He later discovers that all of the men were involved in a trial at which a man was deemed guilty and hanged for his crime. Rutledge doesn't get much support from his superior at the Yard. He runs into the murderer, the son of the hanged man, on two occasions but is unable to catch him. Rutledge tries to stop future murders and is able to warn one potential victim. Then he receives a letter threatening his sister if he does not back off.
All this is happening as the circumstances that started world war I take place and the story covers the atmosphere, anxiety and patriotism of the British. Rutledge's fiance encourages him to enlist because she doesn't want him to be seen as a coward. He is reluctant to do so but finally does enlist.
As he arrives in France to take on his duties he sees a stretcher with the murderer on it. He has been wounded in the war. Then shots ring out and the murderer is dead. Rutledge notices the falsely accused man off to the side. Perhaps justice has been done, or has it?
The writers tell interesting tales but also have a talent for portraying life around the world war. This makes for books that keep you interested.
t
This book is a prequel to the Inspector Rutledge series of mysteries by a mother and son writing duo.
It is one of my favourite series.
In the first book of the series, Ian Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard returns from WWI a haunted man, haunted by the ghost of a soldier he had to have killed for insubordination.
This book takes place just prior to WWI and we meet Rutledge and his fiance as they are planning to get married. Rutledge is asked to investigate one suspicious death in rural England. He is convinced the young man arrested for the death is innocent. He then hears of other suspicious deaths, some ruled suicides, which all have a common thread of laudanum poisoining. He tries to figure out how all the various people could be connected. They come from a variety of walks of life but all spent some time in Bristol.
He later discovers that all of the men were involved in a trial at which a man was deemed guilty and hanged for his crime. Rutledge doesn't get much support from his superior at the Yard. He runs into the murderer, the son of the hanged man, on two occasions but is unable to catch him. Rutledge tries to stop future murders and is able to warn one potential victim. Then he receives a letter threatening his sister if he does not back off.
All this is happening as the circumstances that started world war I take place and the story covers the atmosphere, anxiety and patriotism of the British. Rutledge's fiance encourages him to enlist because she doesn't want him to be seen as a coward. He is reluctant to do so but finally does enlist.
As he arrives in France to take on his duties he sees a stretcher with the murderer on it. He has been wounded in the war. Then shots ring out and the murderer is dead. Rutledge notices the falsely accused man off to the side. Perhaps justice has been done, or has it?
The writers tell interesting tales but also have a talent for portraying life around the world war. This makes for books that keep you interested.
t
Thursday, 5 May 2016
The Nest
by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
This book is on a lot best seller, recommended reading lists.
It is the story about a family of siblings who had been expecting to receive a small inheritance when the youngest of them reached 40. However, most of the money has been spent by their mother to bail their brother out of an embarrassing accident. He was a successful business person, having sold a dot com company but was a philanderer. He leaves a party with a young waitress and they get in an accident and the young girl loses one of her feet. The man had forgotten to pay his car insurance. The mother has paid off the medical bills for the girl and paid her off too.
The other family members are furious and want to meet with there brother to get his agreement to pay them back. He has gone through a very costly divorce after the accident and his former wife got everything including probably some money from the "nest" also. He agrees to come back with a plan to repay them but doesn't
The other family members are not wealthy. One sister has an expensive house and wants to send her twin daughters to college. She was counting on the nest to be able to do this. Another sister had the potential to be a great author but hasn't succeeded and works at a magazine. Another brother, a homosexual, owns a not very successful antiques business and has borrowed against his and his spouses beach house to keep afloat.
At first I didn't think I was going to feel sorry or like any of the characters but over time as you get to know them and as they come to realize they will never get the money they wanted back (their brother has skipped out of the country with a nest egg of his own he had in an offshore account) you see them start to analyze and adjust their lives. The man has also left behind a baby from a relationship he rekindled after his marriage breakup. One of the sisters actually has contact with the injured girl and helps her get in touch with agencies that can help her with future prosthetics etc. as she has spent/given away most of her award to family, etc. For the most part the characters are probably happier at the end of the book than they were at the beginning. We don't know the fate of the brother who caused all the problems, he is hiding, alone, on a tropical island. I thought it was an interesting story.
This book is on a lot best seller, recommended reading lists.
It is the story about a family of siblings who had been expecting to receive a small inheritance when the youngest of them reached 40. However, most of the money has been spent by their mother to bail their brother out of an embarrassing accident. He was a successful business person, having sold a dot com company but was a philanderer. He leaves a party with a young waitress and they get in an accident and the young girl loses one of her feet. The man had forgotten to pay his car insurance. The mother has paid off the medical bills for the girl and paid her off too.
The other family members are furious and want to meet with there brother to get his agreement to pay them back. He has gone through a very costly divorce after the accident and his former wife got everything including probably some money from the "nest" also. He agrees to come back with a plan to repay them but doesn't
The other family members are not wealthy. One sister has an expensive house and wants to send her twin daughters to college. She was counting on the nest to be able to do this. Another sister had the potential to be a great author but hasn't succeeded and works at a magazine. Another brother, a homosexual, owns a not very successful antiques business and has borrowed against his and his spouses beach house to keep afloat.
At first I didn't think I was going to feel sorry or like any of the characters but over time as you get to know them and as they come to realize they will never get the money they wanted back (their brother has skipped out of the country with a nest egg of his own he had in an offshore account) you see them start to analyze and adjust their lives. The man has also left behind a baby from a relationship he rekindled after his marriage breakup. One of the sisters actually has contact with the injured girl and helps her get in touch with agencies that can help her with future prosthetics etc. as she has spent/given away most of her award to family, etc. For the most part the characters are probably happier at the end of the book than they were at the beginning. We don't know the fate of the brother who caused all the problems, he is hiding, alone, on a tropical island. I thought it was an interesting story.
The Hero's Walk
by Anita Rau Badami
This was one of the books that were part of Canada Reads 2016.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the book. It was read as part of the theme of change on CR and I expected some heroic behaviour but didn't see much of either in the book.
The story is about an Indian family whose life is disrupted when they are notified that their daughter and her husband, from whom they were estranged, were killed in a car accident leaving behind a young daughter. Their daughter had asked them to be the child's guardian and they had reluctantly agreed to do so. Now they have to go and retrieve the little girl.
The family consists of the father who disowned his daughter when she decided to marry a man in Canada, where she was studying, rather than her Indian fiancee, chosen by the family. The father feels she has dishonoured them and refuses to hold the wedding in India or have anything to do with her. His wife is sad about the situation but doesn't stand up to her husband about this. She treasures the letters her daughter has sent her. The family has a son living at home who isn't working and seems to be devoting his energy to activism. The father is frustrated by his "laziness" as the family could really use the additional money if the son was working. The house has fallen into disrepair and the father is contemplating selling it to settle debts. The household also includes the man's mother and his sister. The mother is a selfish woman, totally focussed on her needs and entirely disregards any one else's needs or wishes. She wants her daughter to stay with her and look after her, she keeps turning down every potential suitor who comes along.
The little girl is overwhelmed when she arrives in India, the different culture, living with people she doesn't know, the nagging great grandmother, food she isn't used to. She is so shocked by all the change that she does not speak. The girl's grandmother tries to be friendly to her as does the son but she keeps to herself. The great grandmother, the mean person that she is, steals a jacket (the mother's jacket) that the little girl has been treasuring as a memory of her mother.
The father gets ill and eventually takes early retirement from his job, his sister has a crush on a man next door (from a family her family considers criminal and beneath them).
Things finally come to a head when the little girl disappears. She is lured away by a crazy woman who lost her daughter years ago. When the little girl is found she finally starts to speak, the son announces that he has a job in a nonprofit in another city, the sister accepts a marriage proposal from the neighbour and the great grandmother dies. It seems like things did fall into place and a somewhat happy resolution but not through any intentional heroic effort on anyone's part. I suspect the father and mother did change and regret their past behaviour but killing off the great grandmother was a convenient way to dispose of her.
I can't say that I cared for any of the characters in this book, except perhaps for the poor sister.
This was one of the books that were part of Canada Reads 2016.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the book. It was read as part of the theme of change on CR and I expected some heroic behaviour but didn't see much of either in the book.
The story is about an Indian family whose life is disrupted when they are notified that their daughter and her husband, from whom they were estranged, were killed in a car accident leaving behind a young daughter. Their daughter had asked them to be the child's guardian and they had reluctantly agreed to do so. Now they have to go and retrieve the little girl.
The family consists of the father who disowned his daughter when she decided to marry a man in Canada, where she was studying, rather than her Indian fiancee, chosen by the family. The father feels she has dishonoured them and refuses to hold the wedding in India or have anything to do with her. His wife is sad about the situation but doesn't stand up to her husband about this. She treasures the letters her daughter has sent her. The family has a son living at home who isn't working and seems to be devoting his energy to activism. The father is frustrated by his "laziness" as the family could really use the additional money if the son was working. The house has fallen into disrepair and the father is contemplating selling it to settle debts. The household also includes the man's mother and his sister. The mother is a selfish woman, totally focussed on her needs and entirely disregards any one else's needs or wishes. She wants her daughter to stay with her and look after her, she keeps turning down every potential suitor who comes along.
The little girl is overwhelmed when she arrives in India, the different culture, living with people she doesn't know, the nagging great grandmother, food she isn't used to. She is so shocked by all the change that she does not speak. The girl's grandmother tries to be friendly to her as does the son but she keeps to herself. The great grandmother, the mean person that she is, steals a jacket (the mother's jacket) that the little girl has been treasuring as a memory of her mother.
The father gets ill and eventually takes early retirement from his job, his sister has a crush on a man next door (from a family her family considers criminal and beneath them).
Things finally come to a head when the little girl disappears. She is lured away by a crazy woman who lost her daughter years ago. When the little girl is found she finally starts to speak, the son announces that he has a job in a nonprofit in another city, the sister accepts a marriage proposal from the neighbour and the great grandmother dies. It seems like things did fall into place and a somewhat happy resolution but not through any intentional heroic effort on anyone's part. I suspect the father and mother did change and regret their past behaviour but killing off the great grandmother was a convenient way to dispose of her.
I can't say that I cared for any of the characters in this book, except perhaps for the poor sister.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Medicine Walk
by Richard Wagamese
Wow! What an incredible book. This was one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time.
The author is from Kamloops.
The story is about a young native man who doesn't do well in school. He is teased for being a native and a loner. He is living on a farm with an older man. He really likes the hard work of the farm life and enjoys going out into nature to wander or to hunt. He has learned how to read the signs of nature and survive in the wild.
Occasionally his father shows up on the farm, or asks the boy to come to visit him in the town in which he is living. These are always traumatic events for the boy as his father is most often drunk. One time the boy goes to visit his father and he is drunk and has a woman in his room. They are so drunk they don't even remember the boy is in the room and have sex in front of him. He is disappointed and disgusted by his father's behaviour. He does of course wonder why his father abandoned him.
Then one day his father tells him that he is dying and he wants the boy to take him out into the woods to die. The boy reluctantly agrees. He doesn't like his father or feel he owes him anything but he agrees to do it.
As they travel in the woods his father finally tells the boy his life story. How he lived with his mother but had to leave her when he and a friend attacked her boyfriend who was beating her. Then the father and his best friend signed up to fight in the Korean war. His friend gets wounded and the boy's father kills him to put him out of his misery. The father is devastated by what he did and takes to drinking. He wanders around doing work when he can find it just to feed his alcohol habit.
Then one day he meets a beautiful indian woman. Later he is called to the farm where she is living with a man and asked to install a section of fence. He and the woman fall in love. The man she is living with is furious at the betrayal and they are chased off. The father then stays sober for a while but when the woman gets pregnant he starts drinking again and he isn't there when she goes into labour. He does get her to hospital but she dies in childbirth. The father knows he cannot look after the boy and takes him to the farmer the woman was living with. That man agrees to raise the child.
The boy has thus learned why is father is so haunted and he learns who his mother was and why he is being raised by the farmer.
When the father dies the boy buries him in the hills and hopes his father is at peace. He returns to the farm a more knowledgeable and probably less angry young man.
This was a sad story but a very powerful and beautifully written story. The author has a subtle, gentle, very vivid way of telling the story. It was an incredible tale, well told. The father had a lot of hurt in his life and chose to drown himself/kill himself with booze. The boy was obviously very hurt at being abandoned by his father and with no knowledge of his mother. However, he chose a way of peace and caring and this probably brought him the peace he sought.
I had had the book for a while and had planned to read it several times. I am so glad I finally got to do it.
Wow! What an incredible book. This was one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time.
The author is from Kamloops.
The story is about a young native man who doesn't do well in school. He is teased for being a native and a loner. He is living on a farm with an older man. He really likes the hard work of the farm life and enjoys going out into nature to wander or to hunt. He has learned how to read the signs of nature and survive in the wild.
Occasionally his father shows up on the farm, or asks the boy to come to visit him in the town in which he is living. These are always traumatic events for the boy as his father is most often drunk. One time the boy goes to visit his father and he is drunk and has a woman in his room. They are so drunk they don't even remember the boy is in the room and have sex in front of him. He is disappointed and disgusted by his father's behaviour. He does of course wonder why his father abandoned him.
Then one day his father tells him that he is dying and he wants the boy to take him out into the woods to die. The boy reluctantly agrees. He doesn't like his father or feel he owes him anything but he agrees to do it.
As they travel in the woods his father finally tells the boy his life story. How he lived with his mother but had to leave her when he and a friend attacked her boyfriend who was beating her. Then the father and his best friend signed up to fight in the Korean war. His friend gets wounded and the boy's father kills him to put him out of his misery. The father is devastated by what he did and takes to drinking. He wanders around doing work when he can find it just to feed his alcohol habit.
Then one day he meets a beautiful indian woman. Later he is called to the farm where she is living with a man and asked to install a section of fence. He and the woman fall in love. The man she is living with is furious at the betrayal and they are chased off. The father then stays sober for a while but when the woman gets pregnant he starts drinking again and he isn't there when she goes into labour. He does get her to hospital but she dies in childbirth. The father knows he cannot look after the boy and takes him to the farmer the woman was living with. That man agrees to raise the child.
The boy has thus learned why is father is so haunted and he learns who his mother was and why he is being raised by the farmer.
When the father dies the boy buries him in the hills and hopes his father is at peace. He returns to the farm a more knowledgeable and probably less angry young man.
This was a sad story but a very powerful and beautifully written story. The author has a subtle, gentle, very vivid way of telling the story. It was an incredible tale, well told. The father had a lot of hurt in his life and chose to drown himself/kill himself with booze. The boy was obviously very hurt at being abandoned by his father and with no knowledge of his mother. However, he chose a way of peace and caring and this probably brought him the peace he sought.
I had had the book for a while and had planned to read it several times. I am so glad I finally got to do it.
Saturday, 19 December 2015
Even Dogs in the Wild
by Ian Rankin
This is the latest Rankin book.
It sees Rebus return to work in a temporary capacity. He has been brought in because a gangster Rebus had tried to jail previously now seems to have had his life threatened (a shot was aimed at him in his house). He has received a threatening letter also. Interestingly a London lawyer has been murdered and has received the same letter. How could the two be connected.
While Rebus, Clark and Malcolm Fox are trying to work on these crimes (who would have thought Fox would willingly be working with Rebus??) there is a team from Headquarters working on tracking the activities of a major crime boss who seems to be seeking an associate who ran off with some of their drugs. The two investigations seem to be tripping over each other.
Rebus uses his skills/history to be able to talk to the threatened gangster and another young man who longs to take over the territory. They seem to be united in trying to keep the third criminal out of their territory, or are they making overtures to work with the third guy to push one of the others out.
Then the son of the third gangster is killed and it is feared an all out turf war will occur.
Rebus, Clark and Fox solve the crimes much to the chagrin of the HQ team. It turns out there might be a cop imbedded in the criminal gang. They are not sure who he is, and also wonder if they might be dealing with a cop who has turned to the dark side.
This was a good book. It provides great character development. It was interesting, perhaps puzzling to find that from going to investigate and try to take Rebus down Fox now willingly works with Rebus and vice versa. I am not sure either of them would so readily adapt to this new relationship.
This is the latest Rankin book.
It sees Rebus return to work in a temporary capacity. He has been brought in because a gangster Rebus had tried to jail previously now seems to have had his life threatened (a shot was aimed at him in his house). He has received a threatening letter also. Interestingly a London lawyer has been murdered and has received the same letter. How could the two be connected.
While Rebus, Clark and Malcolm Fox are trying to work on these crimes (who would have thought Fox would willingly be working with Rebus??) there is a team from Headquarters working on tracking the activities of a major crime boss who seems to be seeking an associate who ran off with some of their drugs. The two investigations seem to be tripping over each other.
Rebus uses his skills/history to be able to talk to the threatened gangster and another young man who longs to take over the territory. They seem to be united in trying to keep the third criminal out of their territory, or are they making overtures to work with the third guy to push one of the others out.
Then the son of the third gangster is killed and it is feared an all out turf war will occur.
Rebus, Clark and Fox solve the crimes much to the chagrin of the HQ team. It turns out there might be a cop imbedded in the criminal gang. They are not sure who he is, and also wonder if they might be dealing with a cop who has turned to the dark side.
This was a good book. It provides great character development. It was interesting, perhaps puzzling to find that from going to investigate and try to take Rebus down Fox now willingly works with Rebus and vice versa. I am not sure either of them would so readily adapt to this new relationship.
An Unmarked Grave
by Charles Todd
This is the fourth Bess Crawford Mystery about a young woman who is working as a nurse during WWI.
Bess is at a field station near the front in France. Many wounded are being treated but also the infamous flu is also decimating the soldiers and the staff. Bess is summoned to a storage area where the dead are being held until they can be transported for burial. The young man who supervises this area points out that one of the bodies has not died of wounds nor of the flu but appears to have a broken neck.
Bess recognizes him as a young man, an officer, she knew and sets off to tell the Matron about this suspicious death. However, before she can do so she falls seriously ill to the flu and ends up being returned to England to recuperate. She thinks she might have dreamed of the death but then hears that the young man who summoned her was found hanged. It is assumed he committed suicide.
Bess confides in her father and the family friend Simon and they try to investigate from their end (as intelligence officers). She returns to France to try to find out more but before she can do so she is attacked. The camp thinks all women are in danger. Her father arranges to have a young American who had joined the Canadian army come to her location and be an unofficial guard for her. Suddenly she receives orders to go to a new medical location. She travels to another city awaiting the transfer vehicle but it never arrives. When she reports to a nursing station the head nurse accuses her of partying on the town and missing her transport. She prepares paperwork to return her to England in disgrace.
Bess meets the families of the two dead men and it confirms her feeling that the one man did not commit suicide. She also meets the family of the other man but cannot figure out who would want to murder him. Could it be because he refused to share anything from the family estate because she tran away with an actor? Bess learns that a letter was sent to the Officer's wife by an Official, who does not appear to exist. Bess is shocked to learn that the nurse who so unceremoniously returned her to England has also died/been murdered in mysterious circumstances.
Bess returns to England and is attacked on the ship by a man in a British uniform.
It turns out that the murderer is really out to get revenge on Bess and her family because her father did not promote him.
This was by far the best of the books. The others have been okay. This was kept my interest more, perhaps because the crime actually involved the main character.
Bess
This is the fourth Bess Crawford Mystery about a young woman who is working as a nurse during WWI.
Bess is at a field station near the front in France. Many wounded are being treated but also the infamous flu is also decimating the soldiers and the staff. Bess is summoned to a storage area where the dead are being held until they can be transported for burial. The young man who supervises this area points out that one of the bodies has not died of wounds nor of the flu but appears to have a broken neck.
Bess recognizes him as a young man, an officer, she knew and sets off to tell the Matron about this suspicious death. However, before she can do so she falls seriously ill to the flu and ends up being returned to England to recuperate. She thinks she might have dreamed of the death but then hears that the young man who summoned her was found hanged. It is assumed he committed suicide.
Bess confides in her father and the family friend Simon and they try to investigate from their end (as intelligence officers). She returns to France to try to find out more but before she can do so she is attacked. The camp thinks all women are in danger. Her father arranges to have a young American who had joined the Canadian army come to her location and be an unofficial guard for her. Suddenly she receives orders to go to a new medical location. She travels to another city awaiting the transfer vehicle but it never arrives. When she reports to a nursing station the head nurse accuses her of partying on the town and missing her transport. She prepares paperwork to return her to England in disgrace.
Bess meets the families of the two dead men and it confirms her feeling that the one man did not commit suicide. She also meets the family of the other man but cannot figure out who would want to murder him. Could it be because he refused to share anything from the family estate because she tran away with an actor? Bess learns that a letter was sent to the Officer's wife by an Official, who does not appear to exist. Bess is shocked to learn that the nurse who so unceremoniously returned her to England has also died/been murdered in mysterious circumstances.
Bess returns to England and is attacked on the ship by a man in a British uniform.
It turns out that the murderer is really out to get revenge on Bess and her family because her father did not promote him.
This was by far the best of the books. The others have been okay. This was kept my interest more, perhaps because the crime actually involved the main character.
Bess
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