The Sitter by Caroline McGhie - #bookreview

Steam tumbled skywards as the train beat onwards to Swanton Stoke, scurrying through black turned fields towards the end of the line. It was late in the afternoon on the last day of October and only one passenger remained on board...

The Blurb

Adolescent baker’s boy Jack catches sight of a beautiful woman alighting from a train at dusk. His remote Norfolk village is built around a railway maintenance hub known as The Works which is ruled by ritual, hierarchy and God.

Newcomer Rosie is escaping a secret past involving a well-known London cartoonist who is a proponent of early photographic pornography.

A beguiling tale of love and learning unfolds against the backdrop of the hardships faced by the railwaymen and fishermen of the time.

Poignant and moving, this literary novel weaves the key themes of women’s rights, childhood memories, sexual freedom, religion, art and pornography around its compelling cast of characters. Based on extensive research in and around Melton Constable and Cromer, The Sitter exudes the charms of Victorian Norfolk and a nostalgia for the steam railways.

An historical novel of richness and depth, The Sitter is a remarkable, engaging and deeply atmospheric debut.

My Review

I enjoyed reading this book and it has much to commend it.

It follows the story of two people: Rosie, who is the titular sitter and who has escaped to Norfolk after realising that being the subject of a photographer's obsession wasn't as innocent as she had thought. Also, we have Jack, a young boy who, seeing her alight from the train, is struck by her beauty. 

Alongside the characters, we read of the arrival of steam trains. Many of the local upper and middle class have invested, and as readers, we can observe the hype surrounding this and the impact the trains will have on the area.

The writing in this novel is beautiful. It is a slow-paced, literary luxury of a book. I found its gentle pace almost a meditative experience to read. The author has used and placed every word of text with care, and the result is this gorgeous reading experience.

Ms McGhie is clearly an intelligent writer who has researched both the time and place thoroughly. Additionally, she inhabits her characters and permits the reader to accompany her as we observe Jack turn from a boy to a man within its pages, and Rosie's discovery that we cannot always leave our past behind.

This is a compelling story, and the author has captured the spirit of the age, place and her characters perfectly. Whilst Ms. McGhie is an established journalist and writer of non-fiction, this is her first foray into fiction. This debut novel feels accomplished, and I hope we will see more fiction from this author in the future.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1739603410

Publisher:  Waterland Books

Formats:  e-book and paperback 

No. of Pages:  230 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Waterland Books

Waterstones

Amazon UK

About the Author

Caroline McGhie is a multi-award-winning journalist who has written for The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, and was part of the launch team for The Independent on Sunday. She has written columns for The Financial Times, The Standard and Country Living. She has lived in North Norfolk for over thirty years.

You can also find Caroline at:

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of Hannah Hargrave)

(all opinions are my own)

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure - #bookreview

 

A man called Lu Fang stole Alva's mother in Grand Ballroom B of Shanghai's Imperial Hotel. The 88,888-yuan luncheon wedding came with five cold appetizers, two soups, four meat dishes, three seafood dishes, plus Western-style black pepper steak, sugar-cream cake, and artificial flower bouquets. So expensive, yet so tasteless, Alva thought as she took in the windowless function room, the musty red-and-gold carpeting, the fabric petals scattered over each banquet table. Nothing like the white and pastel wedding of American movies, the candles and gazebos, the bridesmaids in their flowing gowns. Then again, her mother wasn't that kind of bride...

***

Shanghai, 2007: feeling betrayed by her American mother’s engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, fourteen-year-old Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School – a potential ticket out – is not what she imagined.

Qingdao, 1985: newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a woman who makes him question what he should settle for...

A mesmerising reversal of the east–west immigrant narrative set against China’s economic boom, River East, River West is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity and family, of capitalism’s false promise and private dreams. 

***

This fabulous book is being published today, and when I was offered an advanced readers copy I jumped at the chance to read it. I enjoy reading books which are set in China. I have a daughter-in-law who is Chinese and I always embrace the opportunity to learn more about her country and culture.

Written with a dual narrative and timeline, Lu Fang, who is Alva's Chinese stepfather, tells his part of the story beginning in 1985 when he first meets Alva's American mother, Sloan. The narrative of Alva who is of mixed American/Chinese heritage picks up in 2007 and the author weaves these two narratives together seamlessly.

Both of the main characters made this book relatable and Ms. Lescure clearly understands her characters and completely inhabits them. Both Alva and Lu Fang were interesting in very different ways. However, what binds them together is Alva's mother, and that they both share the American dream. Alva longs to leave her Chinese school and to enrol in the International School in order to mix with the American expat community. Lu Fang wants nothing more than for his son to go to America to make a name for himself and his family. Both envisage a status that they do not feel is possible to achieve in China.

By contrast, Alva's mother Sloan, does not want to return to America. For her, China allows her to be someone of significance, to stand out in a crown and to attract the attention that she craves. This made for an interesting reversal of the East/West immigrant story through China's modern history.

However, it was familiar in it's description of the teenage experience. There were many occasions when I could forsee the danger that Alva was getting herself into. As a reader, I wanted to shout at her in order to stop her progressing any further down such a dangerous path. I was completely invested in her story. Equally, there were times when Lu Fang's narrative moved me to tears.

The writing in this book is beautiful and there were times it took my breath away. I can hardly believe that Aube Rey Lescue is a debut writer and she is definitely one to watch. It is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 0715655399

Publisher:  Duckworth Books

Formats:  e-book and hardback

No. of Pages:  352 (hardback)

About the Author:

Aube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer who grew up between Shanghai, northern China and the south of France. After receiving her BA fro Yale University, she worked in foreign policy and has coauthored and translated two books on Chinese politics and economics. She was an Ivan Gold Fellow, a Pauline Scheer Fellow, and an artist-in-residence at the Studios of Key West and Willapa Bay AiR. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Guernica, The Best American Essay 2022, The Florida Review online, and more. She is the deputy edotor of Off Assignment.

(ARC courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)

Jewish Women by Max Brod - #BookReview

 

Overcome with a feeling of melancholy, Hugo wandered down the woodland path. As he rounded a bend an unexpected sight brought his footsteps to a halt.

A woman dressed in white lay flat upon the ground. She was face down with her head on her outstretched arms. Another woman dressed in dark clothes, and a man were apparently attending to her.

***

This novel is set in the spa town of Teplitz (Teplice) and is a cameo of the lives of prosperous Jewish families before the First World War.

 It draws a compelling and poignant picture of the normal everyday lives of its characters, so touchingly unaware of the traumas to come in the following decades when their communities would be shattered beyond repair.

***

Jewish Women is a very understated story. It meanders along quite slowly, and as a reader, I thought I knew where this story was heading right from the beginning. Was my assumption correct? Well, maybe!

It is the coming of age story of Hugo, a young man who is taking a break from his studies, but who learns so much more about life and love during this time. Alongside, the reader also gets a brief look into the lives of European Jewish life at the beginning of the twentieth century.

I found the writing beautiful and it is worth reading this novel purely to enjoy the prose which has been expertly translated from German by Julia Rivers. 

The story focuses on Hugo's infatuation with Irene, who he first meets when she is face down on the floor in some distress. The offering of his aid begins his acquaintance with her. This event happens right at the very beginning of the book. My initial response was that she was not all she seemed and I immediately felt suspicious of her. Something about her did not seem trustworthy. I will say no more as to whether this first impression was correct as I would encourage you to read this for yourself, and form your own opinion. As you know, there are never any spoilers in my reviews.

However, it is not a spoiler if I tell you that in the final paragraph of this book, the author addresses Hugo directly. It forms an effective ending and enables the reader to picture Hugo's future beyond the final page.

Indeed, it occured to me that Hugo's future would likely to have been very different to that which the author himself imagined. Published in 1911, Mr Brod could not have anticipated that a mere three years later, Germany would be at war.

As a young Jewish German man, Hugo's life would probably have been short lived as he would almost certainly have been deported to the death camps if he had not previously managed to escape the country. Thus, the reader is perhaps better positioned to anticipate the future than the author was.

Having said all of that, this is a positive novel and I enjoyed accompanying Hugo on his journey. He had much to learn of life and love. I hope you enjoy reading this novel as much as I did.

ISBN: 978 0995716773

Publisher: Aspal Vintage

No. of pages: 256 (paperback)

About the Author: 

Max Brod (1884 - 1968) is best known as the friend and mentor of Franz Kafka, his contemporary in Prague in the early years of the twentieth century. They first met as law students at the German speaking branch of Charles University and soon became leading members of Prague's German-Jewish intellectual and literary circle of the time.

Although now overshadowed by Kafka's success, Brod was an accomplished and prolific author in his own right. Jewish Women was first published in Berlin in 1911 and was an immediate success.