Book Reviews: 6 December
OUT NOW
LOVE, NINA by Nina Stibbe (Viking, £12.99; offer price, £10.99)One of the perils of the festive season is the round robin – a tedious account of family goings-on. This book is the perfect antidote: Stibbe’s domestic despatches couldn’t be more delicious. What’s more, they also feature regular cameos from Alan Bennett (who, we learn, is ‘a bit of a know-it-all cookingwise’, if surprisingly mechanically adept).
Stibbe’s letters date from 1982 when, aged 20, she moved to London to work as a nanny for Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the London Review Of Books. Claire Tomalin lived across the road, as did ‘AB’, but chat at the dinner table was anything but highfalutin: ‘Zanussi is just Electrolux in disguise’, Stibbe recalls Bennett opining. A joyous riot of a book.
Stephanie Cross
THE NOMAD’S PATH: TRAVELS IN THE SAHEL by Alistair Carr (IB Tauris, £18.99; offer price, £16.99)When Alistair Carr returns to Niger hoping to revisit an area of anthropological interest in the country’s northern mountains, political unrest forces him to change tack. He travels instead to the southeastern Manga region, home to the Tubu tribe – a camelback odyssey through some of the world’s most unforgiving wilderness.
Like all great explorers, Carr shows empathy and a sense of adventure throughout his journey with the Tubu people, embracing their culture and traditions, and learning how this troubled part of the world has been affected by colonial politics, rebellion and the forces of nature.
Excellent photographs and maps bring to life Carr’s companions, the harsh climate and the setting of his travels.
Alastair Brent
PETER WIMSEY INVESTIGATES: THE LATE SCHOLAR by Jill Paton Walsh (Hodder & Stoughton, £19.99; offer price, £15.99) Based on Dorothy L Sayers’ iconic bon vivant detective of the title. Lord Peter Wimsey, now Duke of Denver, returns with his duchess to Oxford, the scene of their gilded youth.
Peter discovers that, along with his title, he has inherited the post of Visitor at St Severin’s College, where he has to arbitrate disputes.
The fellowship has split into two factions as fi nancial hardship looms, and war is about to break out over whether the college should sell a precious manuscript and invest the money in land for development. As if this were not shocking enough for the gentle dons, murder and mayhem ensue.
Paton Walsh has Sayers’ voice down to a tee and the novel is full of vintage charm – but an underlying sharpness and modernity keep the contemporary reader hooked.
Victoria Clark
THE DOGS OF LITTLEFIELD by Suzanne Berne (Fig Tree, £14.99; offer price, £12.99) Berne takes readers to Littlefield in Massachusetts, recently named one of the ‘Twenty Best Places to Live in America’, where dubious dog poisonings threaten to unravel the town’s carefully constructed American Dream façade.
Behind dog walking, book clubs and parties, lurks a selfish community striving for perfection. When the poisonings begin, the community is forced to acknowledge some uncomfortable home truths: adolescent rebellion, adultery, divorce and even death. A page-turning portrayal of the fragility of modern suburban America.
Lulu Trask
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Breaking the mould HER BRILLIANT CAREER: TEN EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN OF THE FIFTIES by Rachel Cooke (Virago, £18.99; offer price, £15.99)
Often referred to as a bleak period for women’s rights and career development, the 1950s was not all doom and gloom for the sisterhood. Although gender stereotypes and the sanctity of marriage were still being reinforced in the popular media, certain women bravely broke the mould, as documented in Rachel Cooke’s accomplished debut.
Examining 10 extraordinary women and their career paths, Cooke sheds light on how they achieved success, describing her subjects as ‘role models and inspirational figures who make you want to cheer’.
The book charts each woman’s journey, noting how most of them were often juggling complicated personal lives. It starts with cookery writer Patience Gray, whose book Plats Du Jour caused a sensation in 1957, selling 50,000 copies in 10 months, and who also edited the first women’s page at The Observer. There is Dame Rose Heilbron QC, the UK’s first female judge who spent 14 years on the High Court Bench, and Sheila van Damm, a daredevil rally-car driver.
What emerges is a picture of courage and determination in what was still predominantly a man’s world, where these pioneering ladies paved the way for future generations of career women.
Elizabeth Fitzherbert
COFFEE TABLE BOOK
CASHMERE: A FRENCH PASSION by Monique Lévi-Strauss (Thames & Hudson, £60; offer price, £50)
A sumptuous book on a luxurious subject, which is the culmination of 30 years of investigation into the making and wearing of cashmere shawls in 19th-century France, where a single shawl could cost more than £15,000 in today’s money. Along with jewels, it was a typical wedding present from a groom to his bride, but it was considered unsuitable for young, unmarried girls.
Cashmere tells the story of how this desirable garment was first imported from India, and later manufactured in France. A feast of illustrations shows a mouthwatering range of paisley pattern shawls, whose motifs look just as fashionable today as ever.
Hugh St Clair
FESTIVE READS
CHRISTMAS AT CLARIDGE’S by Karen Swan (Pan Books, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
It-girl Clem often turns up to work wearing yesterday’s make-up after a night of partying. But when her carefree attitude puts her loved ones in danger, she is forced to take a trip down memory lane. Full of unexpected turns and once you get past the slow start, you will struggle to put this novel down.
Melonie Clarke
A LITERARY CHRISTMAS: AN ANTHOLOGY (British Library Publishing, £12.99; offer price, £11.69)
Enjoy seasonal poetry and prose from some of the greatest writers in the English language. It features the works of John Donne, Jane Austen, Dickens (inevitably), as well as a wry PG Wodehouse short story. Snuggle up and enjoy with a hot mince pie.
MC
A CHRISTMAS HOPE by Anne Perry (Headline, £16.99; offer price, £13.99)
In her loveless marriage, Claudine’s only enjoyment is her work, helping women in need. When she meets poet Dai Tregarron at a party, her spirits are lifted – until one of her charges is killed and Dai is the main suspect. A gripping tale of good and evil that shines a light on the hypocrisy of society in Victorian London.
MC
ALSO ON THE SHELF
THE DEATHS by Mark Lawson (Picador, £14.99; offer price, £13.49) A slick crime novel portraying the lives of four families, mortgaged to the hilt in Middle England. The dialogue resonates with contemporary middle-class anxieties, and Lawson brings his story to the boil with a darkly stylish and devastating conclusion.
Martyn Colbrook
3 GREAT BOOKS: ABOUT CHRISTMAS
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens
- SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT Anonymous
- THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING by ETA Hoffmann
AUDIO BOOK OF THE WEEK
THE EMBASSY OF CAMBODIA by Zadie Smith (Penguin Books, £3.95 via iTunes; offer price not available)Smith returns to her familiar territory of northwest London with this cleverly structured tale of immigration, inequality and loneliness. Read by the author in her velvety voice, with credible accents, too.
JC
NORTH OF THE BORDER
Three new books explore Scotland’s cultural heritage, from the Renaissance to the present day. By Anna Savva
GLORY AND HONOUR: The Renaissance In Scotland by Andrea Thomas (Birlinn, £25; offer price, £22.50)
One may not associate Scotland with the most celebrated cultural movements in European history, but Thomas shows that the country’s artistic accomplishments are among the finest in the world. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs, this historical examination brings to life artefacts of the era, while painting a picture of an innovative and outward-looking society that has always been open to broader cultural influences.
A NEW RACE OF MEN: SCOTLAND 1815-1914 by Michael Fry (Birlinn, £25; offer price, £22.50)
A great introduction to the pioneering legacy of the Scottish Victorian era, this encyclopaedic volume on 19th-century Scotland aims to move away from socioeconomic analysis. Fry puts the high culture of this era back on the map with an insight into marginalised topics such as race, sex and religion, while bringing the theatre of Scottish history to life with an incredible eye for detail.
THE GREAT TAPESTRY OF SCOTLAND by Alistair Moffat (Birlinn, £30; offer price, £27)
With more than 160 panels, The Great Tapestry Of Scotland is one of the most impressive pieces of folk art to emerge from contemporary Scotland. Made by stitchers from all over the country, it traces thousands of years of Scottish history and achievement – from the end of the last Ice Age to the cloning of Dolly the sheep. This beautiful book follows the journey taken during the creation of this fascinating project.
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