Book Reviews: 14 February
OUT NOW
THE LIBRARY OF UNREQUITED LOVE by Sophie Divry, translated by Siân Reynolds (MacLehose Press, £6.99; offer price, £6.64) A buttoned-up French librarian turns up to work one morning to find a reader asleep in the basement, having been accidentally locked in overnight. She breaks into a soliloquy that turns into a rant – shifting from hilarious to searingly sad, from wistful to quirky.
The lefty spinster lets rip on the parlous state of local municipal aff airs, the vagaries of library classifi cation systems, the pecking order in her workplace that would make the ancien régime blush, and her one-sided passion for a young researcher. Divry has created a memorable character with a fl inty voice. A wry meditation on middle age, loneliness and a love of books.
Juanita Coulson
WOMEN TRAVELERS IN EGYPT by Deborah Manley (IB Tauris, £12.99; offer price, £11.69)Egypt has lured travellers for centuries with its historic sites and rich culture. Manley explores the country through women’s diaries and writings from the 18th century to the present day. We learn of Florence Nightingale’s love of Cairo; Victorian countesses clambering up the Great Pyramids, and Amelia Edwards, creator of the Egyptian Exploration Society, who saved so many treasures. A must for anyone who loves the land of the Pharaohs.
Alastair Brent
THE LAST ASYLUM by Barbara Taylor (Hamish Hamilton, £18.99; offer price, £14.99)In 1988, Taylor was admitted to Friern Hospital, England’s largest psychiatric institution, after a breakdown. In this thought-provoking memoir, she refl ects on being an in-patient, her years of psychoanalysis and her recovery, describing how her friendships with other patients made her life worth living.
The hospital closed in 1993 – the mentalhealth system changed to a more independent style of treatment that left many patients isolated. Two decades on, Taylor challenges this in a powerful book that could make a difference to mentalhealth care today.
Patricia Phillips
OF LOVE AND OTHER WARS by Sophie Hardach (Simon & Schuster, £7.99; offer price, £7.59) As brothers Paul and Charlie Lamb are growing up, their moral education becomes bound up in the pacifist movement – but with the outbreak of the Second World War, Paul finds himself facing prison while Charlie faces the battlefield.
Exploring the lives and loves of the pacifist Quaker community in London, Hardach offers an original take on the wartime genre, going beyond the familiar sentimental portrayals of the Blitz Spirit.
In a book full of characters with richly drawn interior lives, the war serves as a conduit for examining the ideological tensions that arise when they are forced to compromise their principles.
Anna Savva
THE UNDESIRABLES by Dave Boling (Picador, £14.99; offer price, £13.49) This enthralling novel takes us straight to the nub of the second Boer War.
Written from the perspective of a Boer adolescent, it captures with raw vividness the emotions stirred by war and loss.
The narrator’s persona is sensitively crafted as a voice of defiance in the face of imprisonment, while struggling to comprehend the cultural clashes and contradictory personalities.
Philippa Williams
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Remembering Mother WHERE MEMORIES GO by Sally Magnusson (Two Roads, £16.99; offer price, £13.99)
When Magnusson started documenting her mother’s long and painful battle with Alzheimer’s, she admits she thought twice before exposing such a personal journey. Luckily for us, she casts aside any doubt, producing a deeply moving, yet ultimately triumphant story of a family coping with the loss of a loved one to this desperate condition.
‘Our story matters. Not because it is ours, but because it could be anybody’s,’ she explains.
Written with extraordinary empathy and tenderness, the book chronicles the medical and emotional aspects of the illness over 13 years. ‘A subtle withdrawing of interest’ is the first sign, followed by years of agonising deterioration. The symptoms, not easily identifiable initially, range from delicate changes in daily habits and temperament to random outbursts of irritability and anguish.
We read of fruitless encounters with doctors, Alzheimer’s specialists and visits to care homes. The background and origin of the disease are also explored.
However, what stands out most amid the chaos and heartache are not sadness and gloom, but rather the strength of human love and the versatility of the human spirit, as we witness the family bravely coming to terms with their bereavement. A shining example of courage in adversity.
Elizabeth Fitzherbert
COFFEE TABLE BOOK
SIXTIES FASHION: FROM ‘LESS IS MORE’ TO YOUTHQUAKE by Jonathan Walford (Thames & Hudson, £24.95; offer price, £22.45)
Fashion from this decade still inspires us today. From mods to miniskirts and Afghan coats to A-line shifts, this book takes us on a tour of the decade, covering the looks that reflected the changing social landscape.
With exquisite photography, advertisements, magazine covers and cuttings, social history buffs will enjoy Walford’s commentary on the interaction between fashion and cultural change: music, youth culture, rebellion and the hippie movement. And fashion mavens will swoon over the cocoon cocktail coats and Pucci prints.
JC
PAPERBACKS
THE OLDIE BOOK OF CARTOONS chosen by Richard Ingrams (Oldie Publications, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)Fans of cartoons are in for a treat with this bumper book, featuring 500 gems selected by Ingrams, editor of The Oldie magazine. A lover of cartoons ever since he co-founded Private Eye in 1962, his concern is that cartoonists’ achievements are seldom given due recognition. In the tradition of Punch, these beautifully drawn and witty cartoons poke fun at pomposity, snobbery and pretentiousness, reflecting the editor’s approach to life.
They will have you in stitches.
Rebecca Wallersteiner
ALEXANDRIA: THE LAST NIGHTS OF CLEOPATRA by Peter Stothard (Granta, £9.99; offer price, £9.49)
In this outstanding travelogue-cummemoir, Stothard, a classicist and editor, depicts his winter quest, on the threshold of the Arab Spring, to complete a longplanned book on Cleopatra. Woven through with reflections on his early entrance into the classical world, the influence of two exceptional friendships and a historian’s interpretation of his surroundings, this is expertly crafted writing of the highest calibre.
PW
3 GREAT BOOKS: SET IN ICELAND
- NJAL’S SAGA Anonymous
- LETTERS FROM ICELAND by WH Auden
- NAMES FOR THE SEA by Sarah Moss
ALSO ON THE SHELF
A FINE BROTHER: THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN FLORA SANDES by Louise Miller (Alma Books, £9.99; offer price, £9.49) British-born Sandes was the only Western woman to enlist as a soldier in the Great War, with a distinguished career in the Serbian army.
A well researched and engaging biography with a cinematic feel.
JC
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