Book Reviews: 4 April
OUT NOW
SONG FOR AN APPROACHING STORM by Peter Fröberg Idling (Pushkin Press, £12.99; offer price, £11.69)It’s rare to come across such a confident debut novel, structured with meticulous attention to historical detail, but allowing room to flex the creative muscle.
Set in Cambodia in 1955, there is a hive of anticipation and concern on the run-up to the country’s first democratic elections. Saloth Sar, who later becomes the notorious Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, is campaigning for the Opposition Party, while acting in a duplicitous capacity to help bring about a Communist takeover.
As the weeks unfold, an intriguing love affair will come to underpin the actions leading to Cambodia’s future.
Idling took a rumour about the motivation for Pol Pot’s radicalisation and crafted this exceptional, vibrant and tense piece of historical fiction.
Martyn Colebrook
LITTLE EGYPT by Lesley Glaister (Salt Publishing, £9.99; offer price, £9.49)Isis and Osiris, nonagenarian twins, live on non-speakers in separate parts of Little Egypt, the house where they grew up, now almost derelict and stranded between a motorway, a superstore and a roundabout.
They are the offspring of demented amateur Egyptologists, whose self-absorption once led to disaster. With absentee parents, straitened finances and a shell-shocked uncle, their childhood home was not a happy place.
Now Isis longs to escape the prison of her home, but she must care for her brother. Only cataclysmic events can save her from the past.
This tale of imprisonment and neglect explores our passion for nostalgia, with hints of Dodie Smith’s darker side. An excellent read that pulls at the heart as well as the head.
Victoria Clark
THE LIVES OF STELLA BAIN by Anita Shreve (Little Brown, £16.99; offer price, £14.99) In 1916, a young American woman wakes up to the smell of blood, lying in a hospital bed in Northern France. She cannot remember anything, but thinks her name is Stella Bain. All she knows for certain is that she must find her way to the Admiralty in London and carry out an unknown mission.
With the help of Freudian therapy and the mnemonic powers of her drawing skills, she starts to piece together her former existence – but can she carry out her mission?
The character of Stella throws up some hitherto unexplored questions about the place of women on the battlefield.
A powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit, this tale is utterly unforgettable.
Helena Gumley-Mason
THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET by Ivan Vladislavic (And Other Stories, £10; no offer price available) Johannesburg is changing, much to the annoyance of Aubrey Tearle. As he lives out his days at his beloved Cafe Europa, the retired proofreader contemplates his past, bemoans the current political situation and worries about the uncertainty of the future. Aubrey feels compelled to perform his ‘civic duty’ and inform his friends (and anyone who will listen) of his convictions, even at a cost to himself. The results are both heart-wrenching and superbly funny.
HG-M
BOOK OF THE WEEK
A journey of discovery THE LEGACY OF ELIZABETH PRINGLE by Kirsty Wark (Two Roads, £14.99; o ffer price, £11.99)
The accomplished journalist and broadcaster’s first foray into fiction is a moving and intelligent novel – its language is poetic without being overblown; its subject matter poignant but not overly sentimental.
Spanning a century, this is the story of two women whose lives dovetail, even though they never meet. Elizabeth, born in 1911, lives her whole life on the Isle of Arran. Martha, who has happy childhood memories of holidays on the island, is living in Glasgow when she discovers that Elizabeth has left the house on Arran to her mother, recently diagnosed with dementia. The novel unfolds as Martha seeks to discover the story of Elizabeth’s remarkable life and the reasons behind this astonishing legacy.
On the surface a tale of romance, loss, family and history, its emotional force comes from an exploration of that most intimate of relationships: between mothers and daughters. It is narrated in turns by Elizabeth (through her heartbreaking journal) and Martha in the present day – Wark skilfully conveys a distinct voice for each woman.
All the characters are well rounded and authentic, and the island itself emerges as one of them. Indeed, it is the depiction of Arran that lifts the book out of the ordinary: the haunting, evocative and nostalgic setting becomes the fitting backbone of this rich and captivating story.
Julie Hall
COFFEE TABLE BOOK
A DAY AT VERSAILLES by Yves Carlier and Francis Hammond (Flammarion, £22.50; offer price, £20)
The iconic chateau has been so extensively photographed and depicted in art, it has become a visual shorthand for opulence, embodying the aristocractic excesses and lavish aesthetic of the ancien régime. But this elegant book offers much more than the familiar views of its Hall Of Mirrors, dazzling facades and gold-leaf glory.
Among the illustrations are exquisite, rarely seen details from the private apartments, photographs of star-studded charity balls and fashion shoots. A suitably decadent celebration of the palace’s history and its enduring appeal.
JC
PAPERBACKS
GRACE AND MARY by Melvyn Bragg (Sceptre, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)A son retraces his elderly mother’s childhood and complex family history in an attempt to engage her mind and delay the ravages of Alzheimer’s. The distant past is the most vivid landmark in her clouded memory, so he conjures up for her the Cumbrian landscapes of her childhood, scenes from her youth, the moving story of her mother.
Son and mother meet in this reimagined world for their heightened, final moments of togetherness. Bragg’s fine-tuned, restrained prose brings into focus the protracted, double-edged agony of the disease: the loss of self, the loss of a loved one.
A tender and well crafted meditation on memory and identity.
Juanita Coulson
CARELESS PEOPLE by Sarah Churchwell (Virago, £9.99; offer price, £9.49)
Churchwell takes us on a journey through the period that formed the backdrop for F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. Expect snapshots of prohibition America, celebrity culture and a look at his relationship with Zelda. This book has as much spirit as gin fizz cocktails.
Melonie Clarke
3 GREAT BOOKS: SET IN CASTLES
- THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO by Ann Radcliffe
- I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith
- THE CASTLE by Franz Ka fka
ALSO ON THE SHELF
BITTER SWEET by Colleen McCullough (Head Of Zeus, £14.99; offer price, £13.49)From the author of The Thorn Birds comes a novel of love, betrayal and redemption set in 1920s Australia. Think of Scarlett O’Hara and multiply by four, as the Latimer sisters, famous for their beauty, wit and ambition, leave home to train as nurses.
Melonie Clarke
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