Book Reviews: 2 May
OUT NOW
FAMILY LIFE by Akhil Sharma (Faber & Faber, £14.99; offer price, £12.49)Sharma’s largely autobiographical novel explores childhood experiences of emigration from India to America in the 1970s.
Young Ajay Mishra, his parents and brother, struggle to understand a new culture. Following a tragedy, Ajay must fight for progression and perspective, for himself and his family, under bewildering circumstances.
This is depicted with a child’s pragmatic, almost cold, logic. No words are wasted and the scene-setting can feel fragmentary, but this sense of remoteness is counterbalanced by detail. Some of the most remarkable passages see Ajay learning to cope with the challenges of immigrant life and early adolescence through his discovery of American literature – he begins to see his family life as a story, and himself a character. Sharma’s beautiful prose makes for a delightful read.
Philippa Williams
A SEASIDE AFFAIR by Fern Britton (HarperCollins, £12.99; offer price, £11.69)Actors, a good cause and Cornwall: elements that are guaranteed to produce a delightful plot, which Britton delivers with panache.
In helping to save a much-loved theatre, those involved explore new horizons and learn a great deal about themselves, too. Thespians and civilians alike will enjoy the experiences portrayed, with mischievous appearances by real-life personalities.
Britton is a fluent and witty storyteller. Some self-explanatory scenes are overdescribed, but it does not harm the story. With a varied cast of characters, it’s big fun.
Catch Fern Britton at The Lady Literary Lunch on 13 May.
PW
BONITA AVENUE by Peter Buwalda, translated by Jonathan Reeder (Pushkin Press, £12.99; off er price, £11.69)The Dutch writer’s award-winning debut novel is dumbfounding and bound to garner mixed reactions.
Lethal and all-consuming emotions torment academic Siem Sigerius in his relations with his family, including his stepdaughter and his son, recently released from jail.
The multi-stranded narrative is brutally frank and comes across as an autonomous creature, encompassing several powerful voices. We are hardly aware of the author’s presence – like a skilled puppeteer, he remains unseen but in control.
It is a brilliantly constructed story, with complex characters tested to the limit as events advance to a shattering climax. A brave debut, though not an easy read.
PW
SICILY: A LITERARY GUIDE FOR TRAVELLERS by Andrew and Suzanne Edwards (IB Tauris, £16.99; off er price, £15.29)This guide explores the enchanting, historic island in depth and with great passion. Its links with the Greeks and Romans, as well as its natural elements (Mount Etna, for example) have held artists, writers and poets spellbound for millennia. The Edwards leave no stone unturned as they showcase their love for this pearl of the Mediterranean, bringing together diary excerpts of notable visitors, first-hand accounts of their favourite nooks and stanzas of Sicilyinspired poetry. My one reservation is the lack of colour photography.
Alastair Brent
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Precarious lives NAGASAKI by Eric Faye, translated by Emily Boyce (Gallic Books, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
Before you even open it, there is already something disquieting about a book named after the site of a nuclear attack. Although it is set decades later and has nothing to do with the bomb, a sense of unease pervades the pages of Faye’s concise and brilliantly unsettling novel.
Shimura-san is a 50-something salaryman who lives alone, has few friends and works as a meteorologist. His ordinary and orderly life is disturbed when things begin to go missing from his fridge. Faye’s sparse and precise prose charts Shimura’s mounting obsession – the ruler dipped in the juice carton, the measuring of distances and, finally, the webcam.
But he is not going mad, it is even worse: a homeless woman has been living alongside him in his house, undetected, for months. Based on a true news story, this elegantly constructed novel dissects the vulnerability and alienation of contemporary urban life – the fallout of the financial crisis and the chance intersection of precarious lives.
There are also moments of intense lyrical beauty and unexpected shifts in mood, as the narrative focus changes from Shimura to the intruder and, briefly, to an omniscient narrator. As neat as a bento box, nothing in this book is superfluous. It can be read in one sitting, but will haunt you for a long time.
Juanita Coulson
PAPERBACKS
THE PEOPLE’S SONGS: THE STORY OF MODERN BRITAIN IN RECORDS by Stuart Maconie (Ebury Press, £9.99; offer price, £9.49)This book charts (no pun intended) musical fashions, from wartime sentimentality to the modern madness of Dizzee Rascal.
Written with panache, it tells how pop music has changed with the years and burrowed deep into our consciousness. It’s an enjoyable and instructive read, and you can hear Stuart talk about the book on his UK tour until 5 July.
Gillian Spickernell
EVERY WOMAN FOR HERSELF by Trisha Ashley (Avon, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
Charlotte’s husband wants a divorce, but she doesn’t. Following a distressing episode with a frying pan, she retreats to her childhood home in Yorkshire to rebuild her life and rekindle her love of painting. Staying with her eccentric father and complex siblings is just the tonic. But just as it seems to be going smoothly, Charlotte encounters the brooding actor Mace North –and realises that, when it comes to love, it’s every woman for herself. The perfect guilty treat for romantics.
Helena Gumley- Mason
ALSO ON THE SHELF
WOMEN IN ANCIENT ROME By Paul Chrystal (Amberley Publishing, £20; offer price, £18)Ancient Rome was one of the most dynamic civilisations in history, a crucible of diversity where women’s roles were constantly evolving. This book paints a clear picture of Roman women’s lives within the family, in the public arena, education and religion. An exhilarating read.
Elizabeth Fitzherbert
3 GREAT BOOKS: SET IN CORNWALL
- THE LIGHTHOUSE by PD James
- THE CAMOMILE LAWN by Mary Wesley
- JAMAICA INN by Daphne du Maurier
AUDIO BOOK OF THE WEEK
A FAR CRY FROM KENSINGTON by Muriel Spark, read by Juliet Stevenson (Whole Story Audiobooks, £18.37; offer price, not available)Austerity London in the 1950s was short on food, fuel and fun. Mrs Hawkins looks back on post-war life in Kensington, where the only surplus was intrigue. Brilliantly evocative.
SC
HANDMAIDENS OF CRIME
Have the novels of two lesser-known crime writers of the 1930s stood the test of time? Victoria Clark investigates
Although Hay only wrote three novels, they are classic examples of their genre. In Murder Underground (British Library Classics, £8.99), Miss Pongleton, a disagreeable old woman, is found strangled with her dog’s leash on the steps of Belsize Park station.
The lodgers in the Frampton boarding house must use their ingenuity to solve the murder, as suspicions centre around them.
In Death On The Cherwell (British Library Classics, £8.99) the much-loathed bursar of the all-female Persephone College in Oxford is found done to death and floating in her canoe.
Once again, it is a small group who investigates: this time, the students of the college.
The style of both these novels is deliciously dry and dated, but that brings with it a certain charm. There is certainly no gore, but there is plenty of vintage good stuff to enjoy.
With her inclusion of magic and superstition, eccentric characters and perspicacious psychologists, Gladys Mitchell seems to have been influenced by Margery Allingham.
Unfortunately, The Devil At Saxon Wall (Vintage, £7.99) does not work as well as an Allingham, and it lacks allure. In fact, its rather clunky and confusing plot becomes tiresome.
This one is possibly best left in the archives.
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