Micro Review 14 (2024)

 

Edith Holler by Edward Carey (Gallic Books)

I couldn't resist this book when Gallic Books were offering advance copies to reviewers, after all a book about theatre set in Norwich ticks so many of my personal preferences and to cap it all it also focuses on many of the tales/legends about Norwich that I know so well.

Norwich, 1901. Edith Holler spends her days among the eccentric denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave.

Fascinated by tales of the city she knows only from afar, young Edith decides to write a play of her own about Mawther Meg, a monstrous figure said to have used the blood of countless children to make the local delicacy, Beetle Spread. But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar woman named Margaret Unthank, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play – the one thing that’s truly hers – from the newcomer’s sinister designs.

Teeming with unforgettable characters and illuminated by Carey’s trademark illustrations, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control and craft her own creative destiny.

I was a little surprised by the horror inflections in this book - it was a little creepier and more bloody than I usually like but as I did pick this up to read whilst poorly with Covid it might just be my fever talking!

The book is wonderfully visual, not just because of Carey's sketches which definitely add to the experience, I really did find myself wandering around Edith's Norwich. I think that there is scope to base a walking tour of the city on the book - just as they have done for Shardlake's Norwich!

I loved all of the local history - it will be interesting to hear from other readers as to what they think are true events, what are local legends and what come from Carey's incredible imagination! 

Like the previous book by Carey that I've read (Little) this book won't be for everyone, he has a style all of his own but however much they drag me out of my comfort zone I will keep reading him!

Many thanks to Claire at Gallic Books for the advance copy of this book which is published on Oct 3rd.

Micro Review 13 (2024)

 

Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins)

I think that it was Kentishbookboy who introduced me to Hannah Gold's work (or possibly his mum) but since reading Last Bear I've made a point of looking out for new books from Gold as a matter of urgency.

Turtle Moon is due out in a few days and I was lucky enough to be approved on NetGalley for an advance copy of this - and I think it might be her best yet.

The publisher blurb reads:

Journey to the heart of the adventure!

Silver Trevelon’s parents aren’t happy. They haven’t been happy since the nursery they decorated started gathering cobwebs, waiting for the baby brother or sister that never came. So when Silver’s dad is invited to paint at a turtle rescue centre in Costa Rica, she hopes it’ll be just the  adventure the family needs.

Under the hot tropical sun, Silver settles into life at the animal centre. She even witnesses a rare  sighting of a leatherback turtle nesting on the beach. But when the turtle’s eggs are stolen, events take a dark and dangerous turn. Can Silver and her new friends track them down before it's too late? It’ll mean journeying into the heart of the jungle and uncovering long-buried secrets.

And this both tells you everything, and nothing about the book! While Gold's last books have featured the plight of far more photogenic species (polar bears and whales) the extinction risk faced by turtles is no less acute even if they are harder to see and less easy to anthropomorphize. 

While it is often necessary to remove adults from a children's book to allow the adventure to happen this book also centres the story on the adults which gives it quite a different feel to many books - and one that I liked a lot. The climactic adventure itself was also (just) within the bounds of reality which was also a delight. Levi Pinfold's illustrations capture the spirit of the book, and the locations perfectly and the book wouldn't be the same without them.

I'm not sure if I am so enamoured with this book because I have been lucy enough to see turtles in the wild or because we got to visit a turtle hospital ourselves earlier this year but I really did think the book was fantastic.

I was also impressed with Gold' bravery in her afterword, and while this may go over the heads of many young readers it certainly gives food for thought and support the adults reading the book too - either as parents or just as fans.

 

Busy doing nothing

 

A week away

After the dodgy summer that we've had Mr Norfolkbookworm and I decided that we needed a week away doing nothing except eating, drinking, reading, and relaxing - our only restriction was that we wanted to fly from Norwich.

We're just back from our first visit to Menorca and I don't think that it will be our last.

Menorca also had the advantage that it is the setting for some of the books Mr Norfolkbookworm really enjoys - the Master and Commander books by Patrick O'Brian  - and we made a point of visiting Mao/Mahon one day just to see these settings, it was nice to do a literary pilgrimage for him as he is so patient when I do these!  I've read the first book and it was really good to see the locations and to work out just how small the ships of that time really were!

Anyhow apart from the day we spent sightseeing the rest of the time we did fulfil out goals of doing very little (although as the pool and sea were both very inviting we did add swimming to our to do list) and I read 9 books while we were away - catching up on my NetGalley back log.

All were good but nothing really stood out for me - they were perfect holiday reads! The exception is Le Fay - I loved My Name is Morgan last summer and was worried that the 2nd book wouldn't be as good but if anything it was better!

• Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
• The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
• The Days I Loved You Most by Amy Neff
• The Boy I Love by William Hussey
• Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter
• Le Fay by Sophie Keetch
• Moon Road by Sarah Leipciger

Twenty books in twenty days (part two)

 

Books that have stayed with me.

As previously mentioned on Social Media I took part in a challenge to list a book that had stayed with me or influenced me each day for twenty days - it has been just the sort of icebreaker I can get behind.

However the challenge was just to post the book jacket with no reasons why you picked it and after picking my books I though I actually want a record of why it is these 20 books that feature.

Like online there's no order to these books, and while are some firm favourites and have been for decades some of the books that came to my mind really surprised me.

Invisible Women - while I knew that things weren't really equal for men and women despite laws and loud claims by men, this book really opened my eyes as to just how much of the world is set up for the default male and not most of the population.

Carrying the Fire - I don't think that this was the first biography/autobiography from the early era astronauts that I read but it certainly the best. A great mix of personal story and science and entirely readable, it is one of my great regrets that I never got to meet Collins as he comes across everywhere as such a nice person.

Black Beauty - I think my original copy of this one was once my dad's and despite being not a huge horsey person (and mildly allergic to them or their hay) I loved this book - even though it is quite bleak in places!

Diary of Anne Frank - I think that this was the first book about the Holocaust that I read, and it is one that I return to on an infrequent basis, along with other works - scholarly and biographical - related to Frank. 

Birds Without Wings - while Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the more famous book it was the epic sweep of this one that really blew me away, and I loved the way that de Bernieres mimics Homer in his turn of phrase.

Alanna: The First Adventure - I could have picked any of Pierce's books set in Tortall but this one was the first I read after (somewhat surprisingly) finding it on the shelf in my school library. I still buy Peirce's books as soon as I can and just hope that the one she's been talking about for a few years does see the light of day.

The Shell Seekers - this was another of the first 'grown up' books that I read in my teens, again I think it was a recommendation from my mum. It is a sweeping, multi generational family story with a strong WW2 setting and as well as this I think it also helped develop my appreciation of the Impressionist school of painting.

Rewild Yourself - after my brain haemorrhage we started spending a lot more time out in nature, and then with the pandemic limiting where we could go this book was ideal for focussing the mind on how just some small actions can keep you grounded while still expanding your connections with the natural world. While a lot of books in the nature writing genre are fascinating only this and Lev Pariakian's Light Rain Sometimes Falls have reinforced that you don't need to do big things/ take big trips to make the most of the world around you.

The Flowers of the Field - another sweeping, multi generational family story that I read and reread as a teen/ young adult, this time with a WW1 focus. The sequel, A Flower That's Free, is also good but if I shut my eyes I can still 'see' scenes from this one, and the main character (Thea) is one of my favourites in all the books I've read.

The Cut Out Girl - as I think can be seen from this list I do like to read books about the period in history from about 1900-1950, and when I  look through my full reading diaries for the past 20 years this becomes clearer. This book has stuck with me so much because thanks to The Diary of Anne Frank and other similar accounts from Holland during the Nazi occupation I had formed a fixed idea of this period of time and here Van Es presents a new point of view. I've since found other books and documentaries that add to this  and so it deserves its place on this list because it is always good to learn new things and have your opinions challenged and to remember that the victors/survivors write history.

Twenty books in twenty days (part one)

 

Books that have stayed with me.

As previously mentioned on Social Media I took part in a challenge to list a book that had stayed with me or influenced me each day for twenty days - it has been just the sort of icebreaker I can get behind.

However the challenge was just to post the book jacket with no reasons why you picked it and after picking my books I though I actually want a record of why it is these 20 books that feature.

Like online there's no order to these books, and while are some firm favourites and have been for decades some of the books that came to my mind really surprised me.

Vintage 1954 - It was hard to pick a single Antoine Laurain book as I've loved them all and eagerly await the translation of his new books. I surprised myself by picking this one and not An Astronomer in Love (which I liked so much a colleagues and I nominated it for the Dublin Literary Award), however when I shut my eyes it was this one that popped into mind and so on the list it went!

Testament of Youth - this book was so important to me as a late teenager and in to my early 20s and I think that it is the book that really started my love of autobiographies and also my interest into WW1 in a wider context. This was a case of not returning to a favourite however as when I reread it a few years ago it wasn't quite the profound book I remembered.

The Red Tent - I think that this was the first (feminist) retelling of a classic/Biblical tale that I read and again it is one that sparked my later interest in the genre.

The Song of Achilles - I felt bad picking this over the sublime books by Natalie Haynes but again this was the first book of its genre and the one that rekindled my love of Ancient Greek myths and legends.

To Serve The All My Days - I loved (and if I'm honest do still love) classic school stories and I think that this was the first 'grown up' book I came across that had this setting. It also has a strong WW1 and WW2 theme so event more boxes ticked! I'm not sure how I discovered this one - I know my parents introduced me to Delderfield's Diana & The Avenue books so it may be thanks to them...

Project Hail Mary - I really liked Weir's The Martian and didn't think that his Artemis was quite as bad as some say but this one was just on a different level - apparently it is about to be made into a film but I can't see how that would work as the pictures in my mind are so strong.

Shakespeare On Toast - after a visit as a tourist to Shakespeare's Globe I became more interested in the plays and Shakespeare himself and this book taught me so much - not least how to actually read the plays. It sparked such an interest that I ended up doing an MA in Shakespeare Studies!

Mossflower - it was a toss up between this one and Jacques' Redwall for this but I remember reading this one multiple times and loving the feel of it. Unusually this was a series that my sister also enjoyed and we used to swap books while we were on holiday. I have to confess that as a quick and constant reader I was probably initially drawn to these books because of their length - pre eReaders and with room in the family suitcase these books were ideal!

Little Women - and being in the UK this does mean only Little Women and not Good Wives too! I think the copy of this I had was my mum's and I know that even now it is a comfort read that I must have finished more than 30 times. I also know that some of my friends don't like it and find it out dated and sexist where as I read it as a fable and also as being quite empowering...

The Island - this book has a Greek setting and is historical so already pretty much had my name all over it, but when I did read it I discovered that it was set in a place we'd visited (and on our very first holiday together) it made the book event more appealing. I've enjoyed most of Hislop's books since this one but because it was about somewhere we'd been before it got 'famous' this one tips the scales as my favourite.

Not being entirely honest with myself

 

Twenty Books, Twenty Days

On social media I've recently been taking part in a challenge about books. The idea is that you pick 20 books that have stayed with you, or influenced you, in some way - you post one a day in no particular order and with no reviews or explanations.

I've enjoyed this a lot and it has made me think about books that mean a lot to me and I do want to write (briefly) here about why I picked each one and those posts will be coming very soon.

However I have a big confession - the book that has probably stayed with me the most since I read it doesn't feature on this list. Mainly because it remains the scariest book I've ever read and there's no way on this planet that I will voluntarily read it again.

That book is Neville Shute's On the Beach. 

I am a child of the 1980s and I remember the disaster at Chernobyl very clearly (and a radio play about it not long after), and books like Brother In the Land, Z for Zachariah and Children of the Dust featured on my reading lists as a young teen quite prominently - I guess that rather than the post-apocalyptic books that are popular now it was all about the nuclear apocalypse for me.

However while I remember the books aimed at teenagers pretty well and reread them more than once it is On the Beach that terrified me so badly that I've never read it again, and have knowingly steered clear of books about nuclear holocausts ever since!

I don't know if I read it slightly too young or if it just felt more real than the YA books but something about it got totally under my skin and event now I shudder thinking about it. 

I do feel bad about not putting it on my list of 20 books as it is probably the book that has lingered the most but I decided that I wanted to be a marker of books I want to remember (and maybe return to) rather than a nightmare inducer!