AFRICA JUNCTION by Ginny Baily

Ginny Baily is very familiar with Africa. You get a sense of this when you meet her: she can name all the countries of this vast continent – in alphabetical order – and can tell you who served as Finance Minister in a particular state back in the 1970s without looking it up. Reading Africa Junction, you realise that Ginny knows, feels and breathes Africa. Her descriptions of the crowds, the smells, the back-street hotels are so realistic, they took me straight back to my own visits. A child stroking an arm, exploring white skin for the first time; mosquito nets that trap the enemy inside with you, rather than outside; the crush of people used to living close together with no understanding of the concept of personal space.

The structure of Africa Junction is complex.  Ginny describes it as a string of beads, with Adele Healey as the string that holds them together. The story covers a period of nearly thirty years, although not in chronological order.  The story starts and finishes in Exeter, with an occasional excusion to Cardiff as well. However, it is set primarily in Liberia, Senegal and Mali – countries that are little more than names on a map to many people. Ginny brings them alive and sets her characters against the turbulent background of their political histories. Yet, she does this with such a light touch that you hardly realise you are getting a history lesson at the same time. This is a gentle, humorous book in the main, which makes the occasional violent episodes all the more powerful.

Adele’s quest to find her childhood friend Ellena is the main theme; the stories of Ellena, her family and other people whose lives are touched by Adele are woven into it. Together they make a wonderful patchwork. This is Ginny’s first novel – I loved it and am looking forward to reading the next one.

Published by Harvil Secker. ISBN 978-1-846-55460-5

COLD REVENGE by E M Sinclair

I really must stop taking review books away on holiday with me!  Once again, I’ve spent every travelling and resting moment ignoring my poor husband, with my nose in a book – this book. I started it as we pulled out of the station on the way to an anniversary weekend in London – and finished it just before the train arrived back in the station two days later. It’s fair to say that I couldn’t put it down.

Governess Grace Harper finds her family of young charges frustrating and quite a handful. Yet she clearly loves all of them and wants to keep them safe. When the family of orphans moves from Hampshire to London and meets up for the first time with their guardian, Lord David Shalham, they find themselves in an unexpected and dangerous situation. Despite Grace’s attempts to protect them, supported by a growing number of friends, including Shalham’s grandmother, things spiral out of control and the consequences are extremely serious for at least one member of the family.

The book is set in 1816, and has a certain Austenesque feel to it.  The languge used by the characters is authentic for the early nineteenth century and this spills over into the narrative as well. Grace is described as being ‘one and twenty’ when she applied to Mrs Clovis’s Select Agency for a position as a governess. Yet despite the historic setting of the story there is a relevance to it that makes it very readable. The ‘dark secret’ from Lord Shalham’s past, which unfolds slowly and fluidly throughout the book, would fit just as easily into a modern-day story.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to others.  Just don’t take it with you on a special occasion.

Published by Murrell Press; ISBN 978-09554135-6-8

(Review first published in The Women Writer by Society of Women Writers and Journalists)

THE TERRIBLE PRIVACY OF MAXWELL SIM by Jonathon Cole

(Guest Reviewer Michael McCormick)

Maxwell Sim may elicit sympathy, irritation or recognition; or maybe all three.  As a person he is a “failure”.  Currently out of work due to illness; virtually friendless, with a failed marriage and distant father.  He is a man seeking human warmth and intimacy.  The story opens with Maxwell in Australia visiting his father.  Sitting in a restaurant he sees a mother and her daughter playing and laughing.  He thinks that if only he could speak with them he might start to get the intimacy he craves.

The story shows the hopes and decline of a man who does not “fit”.  At one point he achieves a certain connection by building up a relationship with his sat nav – a relationship doomed to failure. 

Maxwell Sim’s journey is full of hope and despair, but ultimately self understanding.  It is,as the cover hints, a story for our time.  It will keep you interested until the final denouement.   It is not however the “wildly funny” novel it is described as.  The final plot shift is very original but I found it unnecessary. Having said that, this book is well worth reading.

(The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim was provided by Totnes Bookshop)

LAWS ARE SILENT by Elaine Hankin

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy ‘Laws are Silent’. According to the jacket notes, it is set in a country about which I know very little – Italy – and deals with a topic about which I rarely read – war.  However, after just a few chapters, I was hooked into the story and raced through all 384 pages in just a couple of days.

The title comes from a quote by Cicero: Laws are silent in times of war. In fact, this book is about much more than Mussolini’s Italy. Starting in Tuscany in 1939, it covers a period of 26 years, taking in Fascists and Resistance Fighters in Italy; the early stirrings of Communism in Western Europe; the trials of being a teenager in a strange land; love in the Blitz; post-war Britain and academia in the USA; before returning full-circle to its origins. It is the story of Vincenzo Di Tomasi, his wife Alice and their son Beppe – who becomes Joe.  It is also the story of Livia Carduccio and her young child Isabelle. A constant theme throughout the book is another Di Tomasi son, Enzo. His death is announced in the opening paragraphs, but his presence and influence on the lives of the other characters lingers delicately in the background.

This was an excellent holiday read. Reading this book was like having a really good magazine serial – without have to wait each week for the next instalment. The ending, while perhaps inevitable, is well written and very satisfying.

Published by YouWriteOn.com; ISBN 978-1-84923-801-4

(Review first published in The Women Writer by Society of Women Writers and Journalists)

CHAVOS – THE KIDS OF DISTRITO FEDERAL by Anna Mckann

This book touches on many lives in the poorer side of Mexico City.  We learn about the homeless kids of the title, old beyond their years and living by the Street Kid Code.  We meet Alejandro and Daveed from the Crisis Centre who do what they can to help the kids.  There are not too many adults in the book and those that are there are usually incidental to the main action.

Primarily this is the story of Dolita, eight years old, who has spent most of her life on the streets.  We hear how her mother came to the city to make her fortune but ended up deserted and homeless with a baby she was unable to bring up.  Leaving Dolita with beggar-woman Ma Kensie, she disappears – just one of the adults appearing fleetingly in the story and then departing, never to be seen again.

 We follow Dolita through a year of adventures, with her faithful dog Raggy Man.  With the other kids, they break into an empty house looking for treasures.  She is injured when she falls on the rubbish tip rescuing an abandoned baby.  She succumbs to an infection which leads to a hospital stay; is offered a place in a children’s home; but finds her way back to her friends and life on the streets.  She makes an unlikely friend in a tough member of a rival gang – only to lose him the same day through a tragic accident.

 I found it hard to decide for whom this book was written.  I searched the covers for an indication this was a book for children or young adults.  I wondered if it was a book for adults, written through the eyes of a child.  Yet, the story is narrated by Charlotte, a woman from the UK who appears to be modelled on Mckann herself.  She has recently come to Mexico and appears in the story every so often, visiting hospitals, crisis centres, meeting the kids and observing their lives.  Despite the transient bond she forms with Dolita at one point, I felt this character added little to the story and found the way in which she occasionally addressed the reader directly to be frankly irritating. 

 There are some sad moments in this book and a true air of realism about the lives of these kids.  However, there is also a feeling of hope and optimism.  One final adult appears out of nowhere at the end of the book, leaving the reader with the suggestion that maybe the future is going to be brighter for Dolita after all.

ISBN 978-0-9554438-1-7 Published by Sharon House Publishing Ltd

(Review first published in The Women Writer by Society of Women Writers and Journalists)

OUR TRAGIC UNIVERSE by Scarlett Thomas

(Guest Reviewer Michael McCormick)

This is an enjoyable book that can be read on several different levels.  The main theme is the story of Meg.  It describes her web of relationships, particularly those around Dartmouth.  Meg lives with Christopher, but is unsure whether this is a good thing or not.  She earns a living from a series of science fiction stories she has written as well as being part of a group of writers who publish under the name of Zeb Ross.  These all form distractions from her completing or even progressing with her novel.

Meg and her friends often muse on the nature of the story, from the very formal structures of Plato to the idea of a Zen story that has no beginning, middle or end and in fact no story.

Her life is also tied up with the mystical and mysterious.  These are embodied by the author Kelsey Newman, who suggests that we will all become eternal after the end of time, and the Beast of Dartmoor; real of metaphorical?

The novel is structured in two parts, each with sections of dialogue or Meg’s musings.  There is a conclusion of sorts.  As to whether she resolves her misgivings about Christopher; read the novel and see.

(Our Tragic Universe was provided by Totnes Bookshop)

THE CONCERT TICKET by Olga Grushin

Like a composer turning a single tune into a complex orchestral piece, Grushin takes a simple incident and presents it from many different facets.  A rumour that an exiled composer will return for a single concert; a kiosk where tickets might be sold; and a line of people waiting, just in case – day after week after month.  The story centres on one family: Anna and Sergei plus their son Sasha, who each have their own reason for wanting to buy a ticket.  We see their lives, hear their hopes and watch their dreams – of what was and what might be.  Other characters appear randomly, with no apparent relevance, but gradually connections become clear.

This is Grushin’s second novel and it is full of atmosphere and description.  It captures perfectly the mind-set and behaviour of twentieth-century Russians; beaten down by oppression, wary of authority but supported by great national and cultural pride.  It presents the same scenes from different perspectives, reminding us that our view of ourselves is not always the one others see.  This is a book about how people think and what makes them act as they do. 

This is not a fast-paced or action-packed book.  It is a gentle, thought-provoking read with moments of disappointment, moments of tragedy and moments of hope.  An enjoyable read, all the more so considering it is based on a real incident.

(The Concert Ticket was provided by Totnes Bookshop)

THE CHARLEMAGNE PURSUIT by Steve Berry

The prologue of this book is set in 1971 under the ice in Antarctica.  A mysterious submarine is in difficulties and her crew know there is no hope.  The rest of the book explores the who and the why of this incident.  Most of the action is set in the present day, both in various locations within the US and in France and Germany.  It also touches on events in Europe a thousand years ago.  The story swings back and forth between three sets of characters whose lives and intrigues mix and eventually merge into one solution.  There are all the usual suspects: politicans and government officials (both crooked and straight), mavericks and beautiful, but deadly women.

This is the first time I’ve come across Steve Berry.  The Charlemagne Pursuit is the seventh (and latest) in his series of Cotton Malone mysteries.  The depth of research he carries out is impressive.  The story is well-paced and holds the reader’s interest.  Unlike many of the genre, where the theme is always Messianic and the endings are often a little feeble, this is sufficiently different to stand out.  I guess I need to go out and look for books 1 – 6 in the series.

DOG BOY by Eva Hornung

This is the story of Romochka, a young boy adopted by dogs when his family abandons him. We live with the dogs for three or four years; through beautiful summers and terrible, harsh winters. We never hear what happened to his first family. Somehow, it doesn’t matter. Through the eyes of the boy we share life with the dogs, experiencing the joy of new puppies, the gut-wrenching hunger of mid-winter and the terror of being stalked by hungry wolves or vicious policemen.

To anyone who has never visited Russia, this book might appear to be set in a fictional future. Tiny references, like the bars on the windows and the ‘subtle din of birdsong, electric-cable buzz and distant highway’ give it authenticity. Eva Hornung expertly captures the atmosphere of a disintegrating society and presents it dispassionately through the eyes of a child whose main frame of reference is the family of stray dogs with whom he is living and growing. The child doesn’t question what he sees and hears, he just adapts to it and uses it to his advantage.

The details of the dogs’ life are all the more shocking for the simple, child-like way in which they are presented. This is not a comfortable read, but I found it a compulsive one. It is based on a familiar theme, but without the usual sentimentality. The ending is sudden, unexpected and, with hind-sight, completely inevitable.

(Dog Boy was provided by Totnes Bookshop)

THIS CHARMING MAN by Marian Keyes

We all have one of those days occasionally – all we want to do is kick back and switch off.  Maybe we’ve had a hard week at work.  Or we are stuck at an airport, with nothing but ‘Delayed’ showing on the departure board.  Maybe we’ve finally reached the holiday season and are sunning ourselves before a long, indulgent lunch.  At times like that, many of us reach for a good thick page-turner.

This Charming Man certainly fits the bill.  At 885 pages, it’s not a quick read, but it’s certainly a page-turner.  In the cover notes, Marian Keyes is described as a comic writer and the book described as hilarious – but don’t be fooled.  Below the comic surface, there are some very serious themes dealt with, including alcoholism, corrupt politicians and battered wives.  It says a lot for Marian’s skill that she manages to maintain the humour without in any way debasing the message.

The book tells the stories of four very different women, all connected by their relationships with an Irish politician Paddy de Courcy – the Charming Man of the title.  The four stories are skilfully interwoven.  Each woman has a distinct voice, underlined by a different font, and different reactions to the man.  One woman’s story made me smile from beginning to end.  Another’s was heart-rending right to her final appearance.  All were recognisable and understandable, even when flawed.

I bought this book on Saturday morning.  I finished it on Monday evening.  I read it in the sunshine during the day, in bed late at night, in bed early in the morning, during lunch breaks, even during advertising breaks while watching TV.  This book ate my weekend – and very glad I am that it did!