Gillespie and I

Author: Jane Harris

Published: May 2011 

What They Say: From the award-winning author of "The Observations" comes a beautifully conjured and wickedly sharp tale of art and deception in nineteenth-century Scotland.

As she sits in her Bloomsbury home with her two pet birds for company, elderly Harriet Baxter recounts the story of her friendship with Ned Gillespie--a talented artist whose life came to a tragic end before he ever achieved the fame and recognition that Harriet maintains he deserved.

In 1888, young Harriet arrives in Glasgow during the International Exhibition. After a chance encounter with Ned, she befriends the Gillespie family and soon becomes a fixture in their lives. But when tragedy strikes, culminating in a notorious criminal trial, the certainty of Harriet's new world rapidly spirals into suspicion and despair.

Infused with rich period detail, shot through with sly humor, and featuring a memorable cast of characters, "Gillespie and I" is an absorbing, atmospheric tale of one young woman's friendship with a volatile artist and her place in the controversy that consumes him--a tour de force from one of the emerging names of modern fiction.

What Elaine Says: Hmmm.  I’m not sure why I bought this book if I’m honest.  It’s not my normal sort of thing (whatever that is) and it’s also a very large chunky (albeit pretty) hardback edition.  Still, something obviously appealed to me so much that I not only bought it, I also picked it from the hundreds of others waiting to be read on my shelves and read it. Having done so however I’m still none the wiser as the ‘why?’. 

It’s a good book, don’t get me wrong.  It’s just not great.  It doesn’t please or stimulate thought it simply reads nicely.  In fact, if it weren’t for the monumental size of the edition I have, I’d say it was a perfect beach read. 

The story, the life of a fictional, relatively unknown, Scottish painter in the Fin De Siècle, as told by an aging (not very impartial) Harriet Baxter is interesting but the book takes some unusual turns and the main narrator is possibly one of the most irritating biographers I’ve encountered.  

Having read book and feeling as ambivalent towards it as I do it’s hard to actually rate it.  There are some very well read people I know that would love this book yet it just didn’t work for me.   The best I can do is say give it a chance yourself.  You may catch something I missed.

 Elaine's Rating: 5/10

Quotes:

"You may also wonder why I have been silent for so long, and why it has taken me all these years to put pen to paper. Perhaps I needed to gain some distance from a sequence of profoundly affecting events, not least of which was that Ned, in addition to wiping out his artistic legacy, also took his own life. By that time, I was thousands of miles away, and powerless to help him. Confident of an eventual reconciliation, I never suspected that we were moving towards such a rapid unraveling, not only of our relationship (what with all that silly white-slavery business and the trial) but also of his entire fate. However, let us not get ahead of ourselves. I will come to that in due course."

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

Author: David Mitchell

Published: 2007

What They Say: The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the Japanese Empire's single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, and costly courtesans comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancee back in Holland. But Jacob's original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured midwife to the city's powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken--the consequences of which will extend beyond Jacob's worst imaginings.

What Elaine Says: Wow.  I'm a little late to the whole David Mitchell phenomenon but hey, arriving late to the party is preferable to not even knowing it's happening.  This is a heck of undertaking by the author.  Set in 1799 Japan this book has all the markings of an epic and yet we, quite intimately, follow the lives of two people who don't quite fit into the worlds they have found themselves in.

Funny, touching and rather gruesome in parts this book is really does have it all.  It's rather wonderful in fact.

I'm not normally a huge fan of historical fiction (Mantel aside) but something about Mitchell's writing is so fresh and bold it keeps you glued.

I'll definitely be seeking out more of Mitchell's writing. 

Elaine's Rating: 8/10

Quotes:

 “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love.” 

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The Earth Hums in B Flat

Author: Mari Strachan



Published: 2010



Publisher: Canongate



What They Say: Gwenni Morgan is an incorrigible free spirit with a penchant for eavesdropping and a stubborn need to understand human behavior, which merely leads to more questions. Her struggle to define the world around her is offset by a fantastic dream world where each night she rises from the bed she shares with her sister and flies high into the sky above her small Welsh village. There, Gwenni becomes tuned into the earth's softest subtleties, and its hidden mysteries.

When a neighborhood family is rocked by the sudden, unexplainable disappearance of their patriarch, Gwenni believes that her unknown talents will allow her to discover the truth. But distinguishing fact from fiction carries more difficulties than she first predicted, and her quest for answers will soon lead her closer to home than she ever imagined.

What Sheli Says: I was really looking forward to reading this book as both a young adult book and being one of the few modern stories set in North Wales.

I really enjoyed reading the story and found the main character, Gwenni, endearing and innocent. I also liked that we learnt a lot about the wider community without it being too wordy. It was also very distinctly Welsh and I could very clearly picture a North Walean community and all of the gossiping that goes on there!

I wasn't really that keen on the more fantastical elements of the book and am unsure that they added a great deal to the story overall. I also found the timing of the book a little confusing as I couldn't place the era. I suppose that this gave it a timeless feel, but as there were some references to what I think was the 1950s, I would have liked a little more clarity for me to know if I was on the right track.

An enjoyable read.

Sheli's Rating: 7/10

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The Night Watch

Author: Sarah Waters


Published: 2006



Publisher: Virago



What They Say: Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tells the story of four Londoners - three women and a young man with a past - whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in tragedy, stunning surprise and exquisite turns, only to change irreversibly in the shadow of a grand historical event.

What Sheli Says: Sarah Waters is one of my favourite writers and The Night Watch was a re-read for me as part of a book group that my friend Sian has set up.

I really enjoyed this book first time round and enjoyed rediscovering it this time just as much. The book is set during and just after the War and we follow a number of characters and gradually find out all of their secrets and how their lives intertwine with each other.

The book is written in a really interesting way as it starts at the end and works its way back in time. I really liked this style as it meant we made assumptions about the characters and learnt the truth about them the further into the book we got.

As always, the descriptions were great and were really evocative of the era. I also enjoyed reading about the geographical setting of the story as I have spent a lot of time in some of the locations included so felt more of a connection with it this time around.

Not my favourite Sarah Waters book, but still very enjoyable and a great piece of writing.

Sheli's Rating: 7/10

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Tigers in Red Weather

Author: Liza Klaussman 

Published: August 2012

Publisher: Picador

What They Say: The epitome of East Coast glamour, Tiger House is where the beautiful and the damned have always come to play in summer, scene of martinis and moonlit conspiracies, and newly inherited by the sleek, beguiling Nick. The Second World War is just ending, Nick’s cousin Helena has left her in search of married bliss in Hollywood, and Nick’s husband is coming home. Everything is about to change. Their children will surprise them. A decade later, on the cusp of adolescence, Nick’s daughter and Helena’s son make a sinister discovery that plunges the island’s bright heat into private shadow. Summer seemed to arrive at that moment, with its mysterious mixture of salt, cold flesh and fuel. Magnificently told by each of the five characters in turn, Tigers in Red Weather is a simmering novel of passion, betrayal and secret violence beneath a polished and fragile facade.

What Sheli Says:

Tigers in Red Weather is a well written story that is reminiscent of The Great Gatsby.

It has parties and glamour, love and betrayal and a murder thrown into the mix too. The story is told over about 20 years and is told from a number of characters’ points of view. I like this style of writing, but found some parts of the book a little repetitive as a result.

I enjoyed reading the book although I felt it could have been a little shorter. There are some great twists throughout the story that depicts both America and London during and after the war in a very vivid way. The writing is really great and really brings the story into full colour for the reader.

A good book, that like Gatsby, didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but none the less has a good story and fantastic writing.

I received this book as a review copy from Lovereading.

Sheli's Rating: 6/10 

Quote:

“No, everything was new now, just waiting to be discovered. And she would ... She was hungry for it, she would stuff the whole world into her mouth and bite down.”  

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A Murder At Rosamund's Gate

Author: Susanna Calkins

Published: April 2023

What They Say:  In Susanna Calkins's atmospheric debut novel, a chambermaid must uncover a murderer in seventeenth-century plague-ridden London.

For Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid serving in the household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and Lucy’s brother is wrongly arrested for the crime. In a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven innocent, lawyers aren’t permitted to defend their clients, and—if the plague doesn't kill them first—public executions draw a large crowd of spectators, Lucy knows she may never see her brother alive again. Unless, that is, she can identify the true murderer.

Determined to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and into raucous printers’ shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her straight into the arms of the killer.

In her debut novel, Susanna Calkins seamlessly blends historical detail, romance, and mystery into a moving and highly entertaining tale.

What Elaine Says: The first in a series of historical murder mysteries, Murder at Rosamund's Gate just didn't work for me.  Unengaging and rather (I'm afraid to say) hackneyed, the plot seemed flimsy and while I've read worse, I can't really think of any off hand! 

Calkin is a history scholar and there are some interesting historical tidbits in here but unfortunately her characters and writing style are not remotely accurate historically.  In fact there are moments of modernism that actually made me balk.  Calkin does try to negate this in an authors note which states: ""At times, I took minor liberties for the purposes of creativity and readability, using far more modern phrasing and spelling than people would have used in seventeenth-century England". Unfortunately this approach has resulted in completely inconsistent characters and narrative as well as a continuous questioning of any historical facts presented.

One positive is that while I didn't necessarily enjoy the novel, I did finish it.  This makes me think that possibly there is a market for the novel (and subsequent series) in the 'young adult' genre. 

In short, Calkin has tried to be both historian and author.  At one she succeeds (in part) but at the other I'm far from convinced. 

Elaine's Rating: 2/10

Quotes:

"No one gave Lucy and Adam any mind as they made their way through the streets, but Lucy looked about, always eager to connect with the life that teemed about her.  Servants from large houses and the wives of merchants scurried about with baskets, bargaining for fresh vegetables, meats, breads, and other goods.  All about, traders sang their wares."

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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Author: John Boyne

Published: 2006

What They Say: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

What Elaine Says: The likelihood is you've heard of, if not read this book already.  I'm a little late to the party on this one. While I'd heard numerous good things about it, I felt it may be a little too emotive for me.  A children's book about the Holocaust told from the point of view of a 9 year old has the potential to be so!  However having recently read Viktor E. Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" (reviewed here) it seemed an appropriate time to give it a go.

Being a children's book, a lot is (naturally) left unsaid. Nine year old Bruno is uprooted from Berlin when his father, a Commandant in Hitler's army, is moved to a position running a place Bruno knows only as "Out-With". While what happens is not surprising, it makes it none the less deeply moving. 

Hailed as a must-read, Boyne's book is definitely going to make you think.  However, I do have one quite big issue with it.  I didn't actually find it believable. If Bruno is remotely as intelligent as he seems to be then surely he would have sensed something was going on.  Ultimately though, Bruno's convenient naivety doesn't really impact the narrative.  The ending of this little book was always going to be same. There would be no point to it otherwise.

One thing I do agree with the rest of the world on is this, for the sake of a few hours out of your life, this book is definitely worth a read.

Elaine's Rating: 7/10

Quotes:

“It reminds me of how grandmother always had the right costume for me to wear. You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be.” 

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The Last Runaway

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: January 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

What They Say: The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring.

When modest Quaker Honor Bright sails from Bristol with her sister, she is fleeing heartache for a new life in America, far from home. But tragedy leaves her alone and vulnerable, torn between two worlds and dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Life in 1850s Ohio is precarious and unsentimental. The sun is too hot, the thunderstorms too violent, the snow too deep. The roads are spattered with mud and spit. The woods are home to skunks and porcupines and raccoons. They also shelter slaves escaping north to freedom.

Should Honor hide runaways from the ruthless men who hunt them down? The Quaker community she has joined may oppose slavery in principle, but does it have the courage to help her defy the law? As she struggles to find her place and her voice, Honor must decide what she is willing to risk for her beliefs.

Set in the tangled forests and sunlit cornfields of Ohio, Tracy Chevalier’s vivid novel is the story of bad men and spirited women, surprising marriages and unlikely friendships, and the remarkable power of defiance

What Sheli Says: This is my third Tracy Chevalier book of the year and it's another cracker! Chevalier's latest release is another historical fiction offering featuring quilts, quakers and a British girl called Honor who emigrates with her sister to America to start a new life.

The writing is once again wonderful in this book and the imagery very vivid. We meet lots of different characters in this book, and Honor faces tragedy and meets some new friends on her journey. The central story to this book is about slavery and the things that people did to help black people pass through Ohio and onto a better life whilst most people just looked the other way. To me, the relationships that were formed in the story were just as important, both good and bad, and also the realisation from Honor that life isn't all black and white.

Another great book and I look forward to discovering more of Chevalier's work. 

Sheli's Rating: 8/10

Quotes:

“Perhaps thee will best understand what Abigail is like if I tell thee that when she quilts she prefers to stitch in the ditch, hiding her poor stitches in the seams between the blocks.”

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The Report

Author: Jessica Francis Kane

Published: January 2012

What They Say: A stunning first novel that is an evocative reimagining of a World War II civilian disaster.

On a March night in 1943, on the steps of a London Tube station, 173 people die in a crowd seeking shelter from what seemed to be another air raid. When the devastated neighborhood demands an inquiry, the job falls to magistrate Laurence Dunne.

In this beautifully crafted novel, Jessica Francis Kane paints a vivid portrait of London at war. As Dunne investigates, he finds the truth to be precarious, even damaging. When he is forced to reflect on his report several decades later, he must consider whether the course he chose was the right one. "The Report "is a provocative commentary on the way all tragedies are remembered and endured.

What Sheli Says: I'm going to come right out and say it, I was a bit disappointed by this book. I downloaded this a while ago and was really looking forward to reading it. The beginning of the book really sucked me in, but I found the rest of the book a little bit lacking.

The story is a fictional account of what happened on the night of the crush in Bethnal Green after the air raid siren went off in March 1943. We get to experience the accident, see the after effect on some of the families involved and get involved in the mechanics of the report being written. This is interspersed with a second storyline about the author of the report being tracked down by someone from Bethnal Green wanting to make a retrospective of the disaster on the 30th anniversary. I found this second storyline a little unnecessary and don't really feel that it added anything to the story.

Overall I did enjoy the story in principle and really felt that it was evocative of wartime London, I just found that it didn't really grab me in the way I would have hoped it would and in some places found it very slow.

Sheli's Rating: 5/10

Quotes:

“Forgiveness without understanding is like faith without proof.”

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Falling Angels

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: October 2001

What They Say: Will friendship overcome the social boundaries of Edwardian London in this bestselling historical tale perfect for fans of Audrey Niffenegger and Sarah Waters.

January 1901, the day after Queen Victoria’s death: two families visit neighbouring graves in a fashionable London cemetery. One is decorated with a sentimental angel, the other an elaborate urn. The Waterhouses revere the late Queen and cling to Victorian traditions; the Colemans look forward to a more modern society. To their mutual distaste, the families are inextricably linked when their daughters become friends behind the tombstones. And worse, befriend the gravedigger’s son.
As the girls grow up and the new century finds its feet, as cars replace horses and electricity outshines gas lighting, Britain emerges from the shadows of oppressive Victorian values to a golden Edwardian summer. It is then that the beautiful, frustrated Mrs Coleman makes a bid for greater personal freedom, with disastrous consequences, and the lives of the Colemans and the Waterhouses are changed forever.

A poignant and historical tale of two families brought reluctantly together, Falling Angels is an intimate story of childhood friendships, sexual awakening and human frailty. Its epic sweep takes in the changing of a nation, the fight for women’s suffrage and the questioning of steadfast beliefs.

What Sheli Says: This was my second foray into reading Chevalier's work and it was just as good as the first!

This book is set just post-Victorian era following the death of Queen Victoria and we follow it right through to the rallies held in London by the Suffragettes. The story is told from a number of characters' points of views and we meet a number of people along the way.

The detail of this book is brilliant, and I liked the fact that it was based around the subject of death, something that the Victorians treated very differently to how we do today. However, it is not morbid or dark in any way. It just shows a different view of life and how people dealt with it back then.

The descriptions were really evocative without being overly wordy and the characters were all really well developed, even if some were a little infuriating!

Chevalier is fast becoming one of my favourite authors and I would definitely recommend her to fans of Sarah Waters.

Sheli's Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

“Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me.”

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Girl with a Pearl Earring

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Published: January 1999

What They Say: Winner of the 2000 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award! Alex Award winner! Tracy Chevalier transports readers to a bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius...even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.

What Sheli Says: I downloaded this book to my Kindle after seeing it in one of the winter sales. I was a little bit apprehensive about whether I would get on with this book as I can struggle with historical fiction set in this period. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the book as it was a fantastic read!

It is set in 17th Century Holland, but it does not feel overly old fashioned in the way it is written and really drags you into the life of the main character, Griet. The author has based this story on a real painting by Johannes Vermeer and has built up an amazing fictional account of how the painting came to be created.

The language in the story is fantastic. It is not overly wordy, yet paints a vivid picture in the readers mind, bringing to life the painters art through the art of writing. I would definitely recommend this book and will go back to read it again at some point.

Sheli's Rating: 10/10

Quotes: “He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face.”

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The Plum Tree

Author: Ellen Marie Wiseman

Published: February 2013

What They Say: A deeply moving and masterfully written story of human resilience and enduring love, The Plum Tree follows a young German woman through the chaos of World War II and its aftermath.

“Bloom where you’re planted,” is the advice Christine Bolz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It’s a world she’s begun to glimpse through music, books—and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.

Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler’s regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job—and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo’s wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive—and finally, to speak out.

Set against the backdrop of the German home front, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake.

What Elaine Says: I'm going to sound incredibly harsh when I say that as a debut novel, The Plum Tree, unfortunately, smacks off effort.

This story is clearly very personal to the author but it just felt hugely overworked.  This is a story that can't help but touch your heart (a young German girl ripped from her family and sent to Dachau for loving a Jewish boy) but unfortunately it's riddled with cliches and overwrought prose that actually end up doing the opposite of their intention and detract the reader from the story.

Wiseman has a great story to tell here and it always interesting to take something so familiar and show us another angle.  I feel it is brave and honest debut for which Wiseman should be given credit but unfortunately this really just wasn't for me.

Please note this was an advanced review copy

Elaine's Rating: 3/10

Quotes:

“I want you to understand something. War makes perpetrators of some, criminals of others, and victims of everyone. Just because a soldier is in the battle, doesn't mean that he believes in the war.”

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Stalin's Barber

Author: Paul M Levitt

Published: Dec 2012

What They Say:  Avraham Bahar leaves debt-ridden and depressed Albania to seek a better life in, ironically, Stalinist Russia. A professional barber, he curries favor with the Communist regime, ultimately being invited to become Stalin’s personal barber at the Kremlin, where he is entitled to live in a government house with other Soviet dignitaries. In the intrigue that follows, Avraham, now known as Razan, is not only barber to Stalin but also to the many Stalin look-alikes that the paranoid dictator circulates to thwart possible assassination attempts—including one from Razan himself.

What Elaine Says:  A fascinating and riveting look at Stalinist Russia.  Levitt’s writing takes us deep into the heart of the Kremlin and manages to convey all the duplicity, hypocrisy and horrors within. 

For a book of reasonable length (320 pages) this felt fairly epic.  It moves along quite slowly at first but the pace is just enough to keep you reading.  Wonderful characters and plenty of black humour kept me interested throughout.

Levitt’s writing is both beautiful and frank.  There’s not much held back and it is, at times, quite (understandably) grisly. 

All in all this is a smart, funny, detailed piece of historical fiction.  I for one will be looking forward to Levitt’s next offering.  

Please note this was an advanced review copy

Elaine's Rating: 8/10 

Quotes: 

 "Razan knew that you could die for writing a single unorthodox line or a politically incorrect metaphor.  It was best to write nature poetry and not have to worry about a taboo subject destined to be airbrushed out of history.  Boris Pasternak had learned that lesson."

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Bring Up The Bodies

Author: Hilary Mantel


Published: 2012

What They Say: Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012

With this historic win for BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author and the first woman to be awarded two Man Booker Prizes, as well as being the first to win with two consecutive novels. Continuing what began in the Man Booker Prize-winning WOLF HALL, we return to the court of Henry VIII, to witness the irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell as he contrives the destruction of Anne Boleyn.

By 1535 Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But the split from the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated, and Anne has failed to give the king an heir. Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Negotiating the politics of the court, Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days.

An astounding literary accomplishment, BRING UP THE BODIES is the story of this most terrifying moment of history, by one of our greatest living novelists.

What Elaine Says:  It gives me great pleasure to tell you that this book more than lives up to the hype.

Wolf Hall, was a phenomonal literary achievement and this, the sequal, not only manages to maintain that level but surpass it.  It's a gifted writer that take a story so familiar to an audience and make it fresh.  Mantel not only gives us a new insight into the court of Henry VIII but somehow manages to surprise us.

I'm not generally a fan of historical fiction but this series of novels (there will be 1, if not 2 more) feel fresh and more importantly relevant. 

Everybody deserves a chance to experience this book for the first time.  Make sure you do.

Elaine's Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

"You can be merry with the king, you can share a joke with him.  But as Thomas More used to say, it's like sporting with a tamed lion.  You tousle its mane and pull it's ears, but all the time you're thinking, those claws, those claws, those claws."

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