A Visit From Voltaire by
Dinah Lee Küng Published by Peter Halban
Publishers Ltd
Read this after enjoying "Under
Their Skin," (present from a friend) for the love triangle and
the vivid depiction of the Geneva laser clinic and the
WHO.
Especially loved her appreciation for the transformative power
of music which shows up here in the Voltaire book. (I was
intrigued by how she could weave together a tattooed Japanese
gangster and leprosy policy disputes in one go! I ended up
feeling very sorry for the wife, but I don't want to spoil that
one as it seems not too many people have read it yet.) "A Visit
From Voltaire" turned out just good, if more desultory in
structure, again interweaving theme and scene, but this was
rather different from "Under Their Skin" in tone—much more
autobiographic, lots more domestic comedy, definitely more
sentimental. And I loved meeting "Voltaire" in our times. He
has so much to teach us still.
Robin Clark
Amedeo: The True Story of an
Italian's War in Abyssinia by Sebastian O'Kelly
Published by HarperCollins
This is the biography of Amedeo
Guillet, a dashing cavalry officer and member of the Italian
Olympic riding team. Taking leave of his fiancée, he
departs for Ethiopia to join the Lybian Spahis, desert warriors
clad in the Arab burnous. Allied with Eritrean and
Tigrinian separatists, they fight against Hailie Selassie’s
Ethiopian patriots.
After a tour in the Spanish Civil War, Amedeo returns to
Ethiopia to face an incursion by British and Commonwealth
troops. Covering the Italian retreat, Amedeo leads a
gallant cavalry action with scimitars and grenades against enemy
tanks. After the Italian defeat at Keren, Amedeo and
his Eritrean comrades fight on in a guerrilla campaign against
the British. At his side, rifle in hand, is his
beautiful Muslim lover Khadija.
After many adventures, Amedeo escapes Ethiopia disguised as a
Yemeni Arab and returns to Italy to a distinguished post-war
career.
I found this a fascinating story, as exciting and romantic as
fiction. The narrative is enlivened by scores of
colourful, real life characters. I knew something of the
historical background but still found it informative in a very
readable way.
Joe's war: My father decoded by
Annette Kobak
Published by Virago Press
I’m not a great fan of wartime
biographies so I approached this with dread. What I found though
is a very human story of a woman only coming to know and
understand
her father when he is an old man. Her childhood memories of him
are told from a distance as though she were remembering the
behaviour of a frequent but odd visitor.
As an adult Annette decides to interview her father about his
war experiences – a common occurrence, but what makes this
different is that her father was born in Czechoslovakia and was
living in Poland when war broke out. What follows is a daughter
sharing her father’s harrowing experiences as he recounts and
relives them. She gradually comes to understand why her father
deliberately buried his past and that Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder is not a new phenomenon. JW
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Published by Phoenix
One of the best books I've read in a long time, 'The Shadow of the Wind' is
a rollercoaster of a read. Set in Barcelona, the main character
is taken to the 'Library of Forgotten Books' by his bookseller father, where
he has to adopt a book, and make sure that its memory is kept alive. He becomes obsessed with book and its author. Filled with
interesting characters, I felt sorry to finish the book - I wanted to know
more about them. I can't recommend it enough!
CH
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
Published by Bloomsbury
The last day of summer is the timescale for this
wonderful, yet tragic story set in a street in a northern town.
The mundane becomes lyrical as the author talks the
reader
through the isolated, yet communal lives of the residents. Our
need to know every character’s innermost thoughts is gratified in a
heart-warming, no need for names, presentation. The author has a
penchant for poetic description which awakens the reader’s own perception of
what can be lost if we don’t speak or read or
remarkable things.
ML
Alexandra, the Last Tsarina
by Carolly Erickson Published by
Constable & Robinson
My son,
who lives in St. Petersburg gave me this book about the last Empress of
Russia and the demise of the Romanovs.
From
page one I was totally engrossed in the story which moved rapidly and,
although much historical information was given, it was never a heavy read –
possibly erring on the light side. In particular, the complex character of
Alexandra, her relationship with her husband, children, members of her
staff and especially Rasputin, gave me a picture of a deeply unhappy woman
whose main aim seemed to be to hold on to her position at all costs. As an
introduction to the subject it was an excellent choice and made me want to
read other works on the family specifically and Russian history in general.
KF
Wild Swans by Jung Chang Published by Flamingo
This was
for me a totally absorbing read depicting the horrors of torture and
brainwashing in China over the past 80 years or so, including the “Cultural
Revolution”,
as
lived through by three women – a grandmother, daughter and grand daughter.
I
wouldn’t call it an easy read – the book itself is quite thick – and I
skipped more quickly over some of the sections concerning the country’s
politics. Apart from a graphic picture of what China was like for women
during these years, what will remain in my mind is the triumph of these
women’s spirit despite the tortures, deprivations and degradations that they
suffered.
Nor will
I ever again take for granted the advantages of living in a democracy!
I have found a book which really makes you think
about why the Human Species regards itself as far superior to other animals
I thought Under the Skin was a fascinating read as it truly
causes you to reconsider your entire view on life. The book is about social
injustice
as well as intensive farming. Allegorical, the book has many
levels to it and needs to be read over and over again to try and grasp just
what they are all
about.
Isserley, the main character, picks up hitch-hikers in the Scottish
Highlands, but only prime male specimens. She throws herself into her work,
partly through devotion to her employer and partly to help forget the
devastating events in her past. She is good at her job, yet threatened with
redundancy and finds it difficult to come to terms with injustices she has
suffered. She is a loner.
How Isserley justifies her behaviour echoes not only our own justifications
for the treatment of animals, but treatment of others whom we perceive to be
different from ourselves. Remember Animal Farm?
I find it very difficult to think badly of Isserley's behaviour, because to
do so would be hypocritical. Many of us will recognise the ways in which she
acts and reasons and feel very uncomfortable with our own behaviour.
Faber has the ability to take one under the skin and especially the ability
to take us into Isserley's contorted body - that makes the novel
fascinating.
BH
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt Published by Sceptre
This book completely captured me with its
intense and intelligent depiction of deep and passionate love, loss and
betrayal, and how an artist interprets these things and
puts them into his work. The story concerns the friendship of two men and
their families – the charismatic artist Bill and art historian Leo – and is
told through the memories of Leo as an old man.
Although the first part of the book may seem a bit overly-intellectual and
wordy, it is worth reading on, as the book really takes off, with a
heart-rending insight into losing a loved one progressing seamlessly to a
disturbing thriller.
So beautifully crafted and thought-provoking, moments from this book will
keep coming back to you long after you have finished.
I found this a difficult book to read, not just
because the story covers tragic events and family secrets, but because I
struggled to make sense of what was going on in the mind of the main
character. When I realised this was exactly the struggle she herself was
going through as she tries to come to terms with her miscarriage and
subsequent hysterectomy, I began to understand and to feel the undoubted
power of this novel. What can happen when childhood needs for love and
family are not satisfied is the underlying theme of this thought-provoking
book.
CM
The Siege by
Helen Dunmore Published by Penguin
I really enjoyed this
book. Helen Dunmore got right inside the mind of the central character,
Anna, and her descriptions of the struggle to stay alive in Leningrad during
the siege were very vivid. Maybe it is because she is also a poet that her
writing flows so well. The ending was inconclusive, knowing as we do that
worse was to come: the Stalin years etc. Made me want to read more of her
books
WW
I finished reading The
Siege a couple of weeks ago and I’m still having flashbacks! From page one
the characters came alive, and you really felt you were living in Leningrad
during the Second World War, suffering the terrible hardships they were
suffering. The pain, the fortitude and the will to survive permeate every
page of the book, culminating with just a glimmer of hope as spring arrives
and food starts to get through. The means Anna has to resort to in trying
to keep her family alive will make you want to weep. As I turned each page
I really wanted to read that the Germans had gone and everyone was going to
live happily ever after, but the story ended at this point, and I was left
wondering what happened to the family and the other inhabitants of
Leningrad. This is an exceptional book, I thoroughly recommend you to read
it, and you will look at every plateful of food you ever eat again in a
totally different light.
CW
The other Boleyn girl by Philippa
Gregory Published by Harper Collins
My memories of history lessons at school were not very inspiring, so it was
with some trepidation that I embarked on this substantial novel with very
small print! Therefore it was with some delight that I encountered a
riveting and entertaining novel. Most historical novels tend to centre
around influential and well-documented characters, so it was refreshing to
find King Henry VIII’s court seen through the eyes and experiences of a
relatively unknown person, and a young girl at that! I highly recommend this
book as it brings the Tudor period, with all its opulence, self-preservation
and survival, so vividly to life. I found my dormant knowledge of history
reawakened, invoking both anger and fascination as to what depths people of
the time were willing to go to, to achieve prominence. I look forward to
reading other novels by this talented author.
LD
All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve Published by Little, Brown
Having read, and enjoyed, several of her books, this one came as a surprise.
At first I found the language rather strange and stilted, especially as her
books
are set in America, albeit New England. I then realised it is
set in 1900, with the narrator looking back from thirty years later.
I think she is very good at writing in the first person. Her characters are
usually complicated, never easy to like. This is a tale of a
man's obsessive love for a woman who has no love for him. At all
times the language is restrained, and a lot is hinted at rather than
explained fully, which is a feature of her writing.
It develops into a bit of a melodrama towards the end, with various shocking
events, all written in the same slightly detached style, while communicating
beautifully the man's passion and the woman's coldness.
While I don't think it is her best book, I would recommend it as a very good
read.
LG
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson Published by Vintage
The inexplicable world of the climber is beyond the ken of most people.
Be you young, old or indolent, Joe’s narration of the terrors which beset
him and his friend in the hostile mountains of Peru will keep you in a
frisson of fear and awe. Enter his world and be thrilled.
MH
I'm not at all sporty or adventurous, and I like stories about people and
not places. However, I found this book compelling. I
couldn't put it down, and when I did, it stayed in my head, and I found
myself rooting for Joe, in his desperate struggle against all odds.
This book is beautifully written, Joe's personal account heartfelt, and the
mountain is described in all its varying moods. The technical
details about mountaineering went completely over my head, but would add
interest for anyone in the know. Above all, I became completely
involved in Joe's struggle, almost to the point of exhaustion, but because
he carried on, so did I. Looking back with a little more
detachment, I am left with a feeling of awe and wonder, at the tenacity of
the human spirit, and the resilience of true friendship.
WD
The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman
Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Szpilman's story allows a real and horrifying insight into the cruel and
tragic events of the Warsaw Ghetto. A concert pianist and a Jew, he loses
his entire family
and many of his friends to the gas chambers, starvation in the ghetto or to
the sheer brutality of the Nazi occupiers.
Despite several occasions when he is confronted with almost certain death,
miraculous strokes of good fortune intervene and allow him to survive.
I was both moved by Szpilman's account, which is written without a trace of
self-pity and appalled by this horrifying example of man's inhumanity to his
fellow man.
WHO.
Especially loved her appreciation for the transformative power
of music which shows up here in the Voltaire book. (I was
intrigued by how she could weave together a tattooed Japanese
gangster and leprosy policy disputes in one go! I ended up
feeling very sorry for the wife, but I don't want to spoil that
one as it seems not too many people have read it yet.) "A Visit
From Voltaire" turned out just good, if more desultory in
structure, again interweaving theme and scene, but this was
rather different from "Under Their Skin" in tone—much more
autobiographic, lots more domestic comedy, definitely more
sentimental. And I loved meeting "Voltaire" in our times. He
has so much to teach us still. 
Ethiopian patriots.
understand
her father when he is an old man. Her childhood memories of him
are told from a distance as though she were remembering the
behaviour of a frequent but odd visitor.
as
lived through by three women – a grandmother, daughter and grand daughter.
puts them into his work. The story concerns the friendship of two men and
their families – the charismatic artist Bill and art historian Leo – and is
told through the memories of Leo as an old man.
with very
small print! Therefore it was with some delight that I encountered a
riveting and entertaining novel. Most historical novels tend to centre
around influential and well-documented characters, so it was refreshing to
find King Henry VIII’s court seen through the eyes and experiences of a
relatively unknown person, and a young girl at that! I highly recommend this
book as it brings the Tudor period, with all its opulence, self-preservation
and survival, so vividly to life. I found my dormant knowledge of history
reawakened, invoking both anger and fascination as to what depths people of
the time were willing to go to, to achieve prominence. I look forward to
reading other novels by this talented author.
Szpilman's story allows a real and horrifying insight into the cruel and
tragic events of the Warsaw Ghetto. A concert pianist and a Jew, he loses
his entire family
and many of his friends to the gas chambers, starvation in the ghetto or to
the sheer brutality of the Nazi occupiers.