Book Reviews: 13 June
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THE SKELETON CUPBOARD: The Making Of A Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron (Macmillan, £18.99; offer price, £14.99)The much-respected therapist and author shares her experiences of training as a psychologist in this honest and insightful memoir. Recounting some harrowing case studies, she demonstrates the extreme challenges faced by trainees in her profession.
Highlighting the compassion shown by staff even in the most frightening of situations, Byron describes learning the importance of connecting with patients, which is essential for productive therapy. The life stories she encounters are often shocking and upsetting, as are some memories from her own past, about which she is unflinchingly candid – but we are comforted by the reminder that dedicated therapists can make a huge difference, even to the most vulnerable patients.
This thoroughly compelling book does much to combat the stigma that is still, sadly, attached to mental illness. A must-read for trainee therapists, it will also give the general reader a valuable insight into psychological disorders and their treatment.
Patricia Phillips
THE LITERARY CHURCHILL: Author, Reader, Actor by Jonathan Rose (Yale University Press, £25; offer price, £21.50)A sense of melodrama is essential for politicians, but their acting skills determine if they are to be the swashbuckling hero or pantomime dame. Winston Churchill could both write and declaim dramatically to great effect.
With detailed analysis, Rose traces the authors who influenced the wartime PM’s words, and the plays that shaped his political performance, as well as the great man’s legacy for future politicians. A scholarly work that captures a sense of Churchill’s own strategic narrative.
Stephen Coulson
DRAMATIC DANCE by Darren Royston (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, £14.99; offer price, £12.99)This book from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada) provides advice for actors on how to approach dance as part of their craft. Royston, a tutor at Rada, gives the reader a fascinating insight into the techniques used at this prestigious institution.
Starting from Ancient Greece and Rome, and using reconstructions by the Nonsuch Dance Company, some of which are available online, the book looks at dances from the medieval, Renaissance, Shakespearean, baroque, 19th and 20th-century periods.
A lively exploration of how historical dance forms can be brought to life on stage.
Gillian Spickernell
THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD by Michael Koryta (Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99; offer price, £14.99) For those who love both Bear Grylls and crime, this book offers the perfect combination. Set in the mountains of Montana, it opens with Ethan, a survival instructor, who is asked to take young Jace off the grid – he witnessed a brutal execution and the killers are now after him. Soon enough, his cover is blown and two ice-cold sociopaths are on his trail. Among all the knot-tying and fire-lighting there is a fairly violent plot, and as the chase intensifies, so does the excitement.
However, for the reader who prefers the delights of Poirot to the great outdoors, a great deal of this novel might prove incomprehensible, as well as a trifle dull.
Victoria Clarke
BOOK OF THE WEEK
A bond for life ALL MY PUNY SORROWS by Miriam Toews (Faber & Faber, £12.99; offer price, £11.69)
A line from a Coleridge poem portraying a loving and protective bond between siblings provides the title for this moving and beautifully crafted novel. Quotations, in fact, are used to great e ect throughout this story of two sisters – Yolandi, a disillusioned but well-meaning writer, and Elfrieda, a successful pianist who is also severely depressed.
Irrevocably committed to one another, the two women communicate passionately, humorously and ironically. Elf makes several thwarted attempts to kill herself, and the irony is at its bitterest when she compares her urgent longing for death to the feeling of begging for one’s life. She asks her sister to take her to Switzerland for an assisted suicide – and so begins the most agonising uncertainty Yoli has ever known.
Toews ventures into this divisive territory with pitch-perfect sensitivity. The situation she portrays is multi-stranded: it involves many characters, their heartfelt but hopeless e orts, insurmountable di culties, cruelties, kindnesses and great love. In the centre of it all is Elf: tormented yet completely sure of the necessary outcome for her. Yoli’s frantic hope for her sister’s survival makes for harrowing reading and the depth of her love in the face of a torturous choice will etch itself on readers’ minds.
Phillipa Williams
COFFEE TABLE BOOK
OF GREEN LEAF, BIRD, AND FLOWER: Artists’ Books And The Natural World by Elisabeth Fairman (Yale University Press, £40; offer price, £30)
The curator of rare books and manuscripts at the Yale Center for British Art takes us on a fascinating field trip through artists’ depictions of the natural world in book form, from the 16th century to the present day.
The stunning illustrations capture our nation’s enduring interest in natural history, from illuminated manuscripts and traditional botanical drawings to artists’ books as installations. Lovers of nature and beautiful books will love the enchanting details: a pocket for pressed flowers and multiple ribbon markers. An exquisite tribute to the British countryside.
JC
PAPERBACKS
COMPARTMENT No.6 by Rosa Liksom, translated by Lola Rogers (Serpent’s Tail, £8.99; offer price, £8.54)Aboard the iconic Trans-Siberian Express, a young Finnish woman on the run from a failed relationship meets uncouth Russian soldier Vadim, when they are forced to share train compartment No.6. A formulaic ‘odd couple’ tale on the surface, Liksom’s rhythmic prose and Vadim’s wild stories elevate it to the level of serious travelogue, with cleverly veiled layers of commentary on the crumbling Soviet Union.
Alastair Brent
THE VACATIONERS by Emma Straub (Picador, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
Franny and her family make the journey from New York to Majorca in the hope that the sea air will provide just the tonic that they all need. Of course, as Franny is about to find out, no family holiday ever goes to plan. Despite some questionable turns of phrase, this is a fun read – a delightful story with an even more delightful end.
Helena Gumley- Mason
ALSO ON THE SHELF
DREAMING MY ANIMAL SELVES by Hélène Cardona (Salmon Poetry, £10; offer price, £9.50)A collection of accessible and atmospheric poems, written in English and translated into French by the author. Although a somewhat archaic diction hampers some of the pieces, mostly they are teeming with magic and vivid animal imagery. Dreamy, mystical and enjoyable.
Juanita Coulson
3 BEST BOOKS: ABOUT TRAVEL
- ITALIAN JOURNEY by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- THE ODYSSEY by Homer
- AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS by Jules Verne
AUDIO BOOK OF THE WEEK
A BARGAIN STRUCK by Liz Harris (Whole Story Audiobooks, £25.52; no offer price)When a widower advertises for a wife to care for his daughter and bear him a son, Ellen O’Sullivan takes a leap of faith. A gripping exploration of intimacy and trust, evocatively set in 1880s Midwestern America.
JC
PAGETURNERS FOR MEN
Three new memoirs celebrate different experiences of contemporary fatherhood. By Juanita Coulson
In Last Days Of The Bus Club (Sort Of Books, £8.99; offer price, £8.54) Chris Stewart, bestselling author of Driving Over Lemons, returns to his domestic life on a hill farm in Andalusia. But this time, as his daughter Chloe is about to leave home for university and the school run of the title nears its end, the relationship between them becomes the centrepiece. It is explored with humour and honesty: from the embarrassing speech he gives at her school (it doesn’t quite clear the language barrier) to his gourmet packed lunches that, once sneered at, acquire a Proustian nostalgic status. Food, family life and farming come together in this warm and entertaining memoir.
A father’s love can also flourish in far less idyllic settings, as explored in Benjamin Brooks-Dutton’s It’s Not Raining, Daddy, It’s Happy (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99; offer price, £15.29). Recalling with searing honesty the aftermath of his young wife’s sudden death, Brooks- Dutton tells how caring for his toddler son was pivotal in his survival, as man and boy deal with life-changing loss together. A frank but life-affirming exploration of male grieving and the challenges of sole parenting.
Any new dads in your life will appreciate Sam Jackson’s candid Diary Of A Desperate Dad (Elliott & Thompson, £9.99; offer price, £9.49), navigating the first five years of fatherhood. Suddenly plunged into a world of nappies and late-night feeds, he offers hilarious anecdotes and plenty of sensible advice. He rejects the notion of ‘parenting experts’, though, celebrating his own moments of (loving) ineptitude.
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