Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri - #BookReview

                                                                                                                                                                     

"Monday, 5.13 a.m. The sun wouldn't show up for at least another hour, but Nico got out of bed, shrugged on a T-shirt, pulled on a pair of shorts and socks, and laced up his trainers. Bed had stopped being a welcome place, both back in the Bronx brownstone he and Rita had lived in for twenty-five years, and here in this century-old, two roomed farmhouse he'd rented since May."

Mourning the loss of his late wife, Rita, former detective Nico Doyle moves to her hometown of Gravigna in the wine region of Chianti. He isn't sure if it's peace he's seeking, but that certainly isn't what he finds: early one morning he hears a gunshot near his cabin and walks outside to the sight of a flashily dressed man with his face blown off.

Salvatore Perillo, the local inspector, enlists Nico's help with the murder case. It turns out more than one person in this idyllic corner of Italy knew the victim, and with a very small pool of suspects, including his own in-laws, Nico must dig up Gravigna's every last painful secret to get to the truth.

***

So many of us have had to stay-cation this year. Not a bad thing in itself as we have some beautiful places to visit here in the UK. However, reading this book transported me to Tuscany. It is so rich in atmosphere that I could almost taste the food, sample the wines and feel the Italian sun seeping into my bones.

Additionally, there is a stray dog who attaches himself to Nico, who has this huge void in his life following the death of his wife. I think I may have fallen a little in love with Nico. The author's portrayal of him as a kind, compassionate, grieving man is extremely well executed. As he becomes involved with the local police force in solving the murder of the man whose body he discovered we see his resourcefulness and sensitivity.

The secondary characters are equally well drawn and Ms Trinchieri is able to portray the members of a close community with real skill. Evocative language and great storytelling skills made this an extremely enjoyable read for me.

It is perfect for fans of Donna Leon, Philip Gwynne Jones and Andrea Camilleri.

I am thrilled that this is set to be the first in a series and I am looking forward to the next one already. It is a wonderful combination of character, atmosphere and murder mystery and far exceeds many books of this genre that I have read. I hope that you will enjoy it too.

ISBN: 978 0749026462

Publisher: Allison & Busby

About the Author

Camilla Trinchieri worked for many years on films in Rome with directors including Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. She emigrated to the US in 1980 and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Under the pseudonym Camilla Crespi, she has published seven crime novels, including The Breakfast Club Murder.

The Tunnel by A. B. Yehoshua - #BookReview - Translated by Stuart Schoffman

"The father ladles the thick red tomato sauce with floating yellow egg yolks into two deep, white dishes, and makes room on the table, next to the cheese, for the brain scan. And as the storm rages outside, and daylight grows dim, he turns on a reading lamp so the son can study the convolutions of his father's brain like the innards of a computer."

Zvi Luria has begun to lose his memory. At the beginning he only makes small mistakes, forgetting first names and taking home the wrong child from his grandson's kindergarten, but he knows that things will only get worse. He's 73 and a retired road engineer. His neurologist hints at the path his illness might take and suggests ways of combatting it, with the help of his wife, Dina.

Dina, a respected paediatrician, is keen for him to return to meaningful activity, and suggests he volunteers to work with his old colleagues at the Israel Roads Authority.

This is how Luria finds himself at the Ramon Crater in the Negev desert planning a secret road for the army with the son of his former colleague. But there's a mystery about a certain hill on the route of this road. Who are the people living there and why are they trapped? And should the hill be flattened and the family evicted, or should a tunnel beneath it be built?

With humour and great tenderness, A. B. Yehoshua depicts the love between Luria and his wife as they confront the challenges of his illness. Just when Luria's sense of identity becomes more compromised, then does he find himself on this extraordinary adventure involving people even more vulnerable than himself, enabling a rich meditation on the entwined identities of Israeli Jews and Palestinians and on the nature of memory itself.

Yehoshua weaves a masterful story about a long and loving marriage, interlaced with biting social commentary and caustic humour.

***

I enjoyed reading this book very much indeed. It's gentility was mesmerising and the writing and translation from Hebrew by Stuart Schoffman is superb. 

Perhaps wrongly, I would not ordinarily rush to read a book about an elderly man who is grappling with the onset of dementia. My presumption would be that it would be rather depressing as, in reality, it is something that many of us may have to face one day. How wrong that assumption would be as this is a novel that is sensitive, compassionate and full of love. It is often humorous and exquisitely moving.

The book begins with Luria, along with his wife, receiving his dementia diagnosis from the neurologist who advises this elderly retired man to return to work and to be passionate with his wife. Volunteering to assist in designing a road with the company that he used to work for brings the titular tunnel into focus. Not only does the book deal with the designing of a tunnel, which at no point becomes dull, but it is also a metaphor for what Luria feels is happening with his deteriorating brain as he realises that whole sections of his memory are disappearing.

As his condition deteriorates throughout the book we see him become increasingly disorientated. Witnessing his attempts to come to terms with what is happening to him was extremely poignant.

I loved the characters in this book. Luria could be anyone's grandfather. There were several times in this book that I would have happily hugged him.

It is intelligently written and thought provoking. It does not shy away from the Israeli and Palestinian conflict but considers it with awareness and sensitivity. 

An excellent novel that I highly recommend.

ISBN: 978 1912600038

Publisher: Halban

About the Author:

Born in Jerusalem in 1936, A. B. Yehoshua is the author of twelve novels, a collection of short stories and several plays and volumes of essays. He has won prizes worldwide and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages and adapted for film and opera. An outspoken critic of both Israeli and Palestinian policies, he continues to speak about and search for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.







About the Translator:

Stuart Schoffman, a journalist and screenwriter, moved to Jerusalem in 1988. His latest translations of Israeli fiction are To the Edge of Sorrow (Schocken) by Aharon Appelfeld and The Tunnel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by A.B. Yehoshua.

(bio information courtesy of Jewish Review of Books)

Holiday Reading

I've recently been away for a couple of weeks. The best bit about holidays is that there is time and opportunity to immerse myself in reading. I read some good books across a range of genres. Have you read any of these? I would love to hear what you thought of them.

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

Ria and Marilyn have never met - they live thousands of miles apart, separated by the Atlantic Ocean: one in a big, warm, Victorian house in Tara Road, Dublin, the other in a modern, open-plan house in New England. her family and friends, while Marilyn's reserve is born of grief. But when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems the ideal solution. speculation as Ria and Marilyn swap lives for the summer ...



Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon

There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend.
The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better.
And the third thing… might take a little bit more explaining.
84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly like a man who died sixty years ago?

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

In this prequel to Practical Magic we meet sisters Frances and Jet and Vincent, their brother. From the beginning their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny with her skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, who could commune with birds; Jet as shy as she is beautiful, who knows what others are thinking, and Vincent so charismatic that he was built for trouble. Susanna needed to set some rules of magic: no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles and certainly, absolutely, no books about magic. . . But the Owens siblings are desperate to uncover who they really are. Each heads down a life-altering course, filled with secrets and truths, devastation and joy, and magic and love. Despite the warning handed down through the family for centuries - Know that for our family, love is a curse - they will all strive to break the rules and find true love. 

I See You by Clare Mackintosh

When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that.

Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make...

The Librarian by Salley Vickers

In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell, fresh from one of the new post-war Library Schools, takes up a job as children's librarian in a run down library in the market town of East Mole.

Her mission is to fire the enthusiasm of the children of East Mole for reading. But her love affair with the local married GP, and her befriending of his precious daughter, her neighbour's son and her landlady's neglected grandchild, ignite the prejudices of the town, threatening her job and the very existence of the library with dramatic consequences for them all.

The Librarian is a moving testament to the joy of reading and the power of books to change and inspire us all.

Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs by Monty Don

When Monty Don's golden retriever Nigel became the surprise star of BBC Gardeners' World inspiring huge interest, fan mail and his own social media accounts, Monty Don wanted to explore what makes us connect with animals quite so deeply.

In many respects Nigel is a very ordinary dog; charming, handsome and obedient, as so many are. He is a much loved family pet. He is also a star.

By telling Nigel's story, Monty relates his relationships with the other special dogs in his life in a memoir of his dogs past and very much present.

Witty, touching and life-affirming, Nigel: My family and other dogs is wonderfully heart-warming. Monty Don is a great writer coming out of the garden and into the hearts and homes of every dog lover in the UK.

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

When Adela Quested and her elderly companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced 'Anglo-Indian' community. Determined to escape the parochial English enclave and explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim. But a mysterious incident occurs while they are exploring the Marabar caves with Aziz, and the well-respected doctor soon finds himself at the centre of a scandal that rouses violent passions among both the British and their Indian subjects. A masterful portrait of a society in the grip of imperialism, A Passage to India compellingly depicts the fate of individuals caught between the great political and cultural conflicts of the modern world.