The Report by Jessica Francis Kane

On a March night in 1943, on the steps of a London Tube station, 173 people die in a crowd seeking shelter from what seemed to be another air raid. When the devastated neighborhood demands an inquiry, the job falls to magistrate Laurence Dunne.

In this beautifully crafted novel, Jessica Francis Kane paints a vivid portrait of London at war. As Dunne investigates, he finds the truth to be precarious, even damaging. When he is forced to reflect on his report several decades later, he must consider whether the course he chose was the right one. The Report is a provocative commentary on the way all tragedies are remembered and endured.

Being a Bethnal Green girl myself I was very interested to read this book as I was completely unaware of this tragedy when I was growing up there. Maybe that was due to the egocentricity of youth but I am fairly sure that I never heard anyone speaking of it. 

Also, the government of the day wanted this huge civilian disaster kept quiet for reasons of their own and this is certainly the first fictionalised account of the catastrophic events on 3rd March 1943 that I have come across. Ms Kane has done well to highlight this event and written about it so sensitively.

Her writing style is sparse and to the point which makes this a compelling read. It is a dark tale that creates real emotion in the reader as we learn  about the experience of the survivors of this devastating accident.

What I really liked about this book is the humanity which the author portrays through the characters. Whilst the government were looking for somewhere to pin the blame for the accident the author demonstrates how multi layered and complicated the disastrous events really were.

This is well worth reading and I think anyone who enjoys historical books will enjoy this.

ISBN:  978-1846272806

Publisher: Portobello Books

About the Author

Jessica Francis Kane is the author of The Report, a finalist for the 2010 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction and a Barnes & Noble "Discover" pick. She is also the author of the story collection Bending Heaven which was published in the US and the UK. Her stories have been broadcast on BBC radio and have appeared in many publications, including Granta,Virginia Quarterly Review, McSweeney’s, The Missouri Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review.Her essays and humor pieces have appeared in Salon, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency andThe Morning News, where she is a contributing writer. She lives in New York with her husband and their two children.

Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist, spends her life looking at death. But now death has found her, with the news that her long-time friend Dan Golding has been killed.

Ruth's grief soon turns to suspicion when she receives a desperate letter from Dan, sent the day before he died. He had made a ground-breaking discovery - and was petrified of the consequences.

Ruth is compelled to travel north to investigate further, alongside DCI Harry Nelson who is also drawn into the case. But where Ruth goes, so does her daughter, Kate. This time, the risks are even higher.

This is number five in the Ruth Galloway series. I have already read the first four, The Crossing Places, The Janus Stone, The House at Sea's End and A Room Full of Bones.

The more of these books I read the more I like the character of Ruth Galloway. She is portrayed as such an ordinary person with flaws and insecurities that make her very easy to identify with.

Ms Griffiths is very skilled indeed in the way that she portrays both her main characters and the more peripheral ones. In this book in the series we get to know more about Cathbad, Ruth's colleague and friend, and I really enjoyed being able to do so.

I am very impressed that five books into the series the author is able to pull off such good fiction writing. Lets face it, we have all read series where the books get weaker as the series progresses but that is absolutely not the case with these books. The twists and turns in the plot are still as entertaining and I think it takes real skill as a writer to be able to keep up the impetus.

I already have the remainder of this series on my Kindle and I am very much looking forward to reading them very soon.

ISBN: 978085738896

Publisher:  Quercus

Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area.

She has two children and lives near Brighton.

The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood

Miss Ona Vitkus has - aside from three months in the summer of 1914 - lived unobtrusively, her secrets fiercely protected.

The boy, with his passion for world records, changes all that. He is eleven. She is one hundred and four years, one hundred and thirty three days old (they are counting). And he makes her feel like she might be really special after all. Better late than never...

Only it's been two weeks now since he last visited, and she's starting to think he's not so different from all the rest.

Then the boy's father comes, for some reason determined to finish his son's good deed. And Ona must show this new stranger that not only are there odd jobs to be done, but a life's ambition to complete . . . 

Put simply, this book is outstanding and I loved it from start to finish. In fact, even though I have read another book since (which was also very good) my mind keeps going back to this wonderfully and eloquently constructed book.

I think I would be fair in saying that this is unlike any other book I have ever read as it is constructed in three very different ways. First, the boy in the book is a list maker so we see several of the lists he makes (anyone like me who is a natural born list maker will really get this part of the book.) 

Secondly, some of the book is presented as an interview but we only see the answers and not the questions. I know that sounds a little strange but it really does work and  helps us to understand more about Ona and the boy.

Thirdly, the rest of the book is in prose form and is completely engaging.

The characters are all very well rounded, from the 104 year old Ona to the eleven year old boy. It is the story of the unlikely friendship between these two individuals and the families in which they each belong. But it is about so much more - it's about love, friendship and grief and it made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time. It is deeply moving and I think it will stay with me for a long time.

This book is due to be published on 5th April 2016 here in the UK and I encourage you to pre-order this from your favourite bookseller as it will not disappoint. It is a fantastic read from Ms Wood and whose back canon I am now determined to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys excellent writing.

ISBN:  978-1472228352

Publisher: Headline Review

About the Author

Monica Wood is the author of four works of fiction, most recently Any Bitter Thing, which spent 21 weeks on the American Booksellers Association extended bestseller list and was named a Book Sense Top Ten pick. Her other fiction includes Ernie’s Ark and My Only Story, a finalist for the Kate Chopin Award.

Happy Easter

I just wanted to wish those of you who celebrate Easter a happy and restful few days.

I have been a little quiet on the blog recently. I have been on a lovely holiday with family to Somerset. What a beautiful part of the country it is. We were surrounded by farmland and woke in the mornings to the gentle sounds of sheep bleating and cows mooing. It was wonderful and an opportunity to catch up with family members who have been overseas for a while.

I managed to get in some decent reading times and I will be back with reviews on The Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths and the soon to be published The One in  a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Both excellent books that I am looking forward to sharing with you.

In the meantime, I send you all good wishes for the Easter holiday.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

London, 1931. When controversial artist, Nick Bassington-Hope, is found dead the police believe it is an open and shut case and his death from a fall is recorded as 'accidental'. But his sister is not convinced, so she turns to Maisie Dobbs for help, drawn by the investigator's growing reputation for her unique methods of solving crimes.

Moving from the desolate beaches of the English coast to the dark underbelly of post war London, and full of intriguing characters, Maisie's new investigation entertains and enthralls at every turn.

I am enjoying reading the Maisie Dobbs series. I have previously read the first in the series, Maisie Dobbs, followed by Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies and now the fourth in the series, Messenger of Truth.

They have each brought a different story to the table and an opportunity to spend time with Maisie and the ever loyal, Billy Beale, is not one to be passed up. As ever, the characters are well portrayed and 1930's London well brought to life.

However, plotwise, I found this the least engaging of the four books as the story just didn't seem to have the air of mystery that the previous books have had.

Despite the fact that this was the weaker of the four novels I will be going on to read the next in the series and hope that it is a little more exciting than this one was.

ISBN:  978-0719568640

Publisher: John Murray

About the author:

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women's magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She currently divides her time between Ojai and the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Jacqueline is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, and other nationally bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex,and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel and was a New York TimesNotable Book.

The Story of Danny Dunn by Bryce Courtenay

In the aftermath of the Great Depression few opportunities existed for working class boys but at eighteen, Danny Dunn has everything going for him: brain, looks, sporting ability- and an easy charm. His parents run The Hero, a neighbourhood pub and Danny is a local hero.

Luck changes for Danny when he signs up to go to war. He returns home a physically broken man, to a life that will be changed forever. Together with Helen, the woman who becomes his wife, he sets about rebuilding his life.

Bryce Courtney is an author I have been meaning to try for ages and have finally got to it with The Story of Danny Dunn.

I have very mixed feelings about this book as there were some parts I loved and, quite frankly, other sections of the book I found as dull as ditch water although I still persevered to the end.

The book opens with this attention grabbing sentence:

"Danny Dunn returned to Balmain from the war understanding that he was no longer indestructible. When he'd joined up to fight at twenty he'd been bulletproof."

Indeed, the narrative of his war years was fascinating and I could hardly put the book down. The book then progresses through to his university education, marriage to Helen, the birth of his children, his career and so on and herein lay the problem for me with this book in that it just seemed to go on for too long.

I am the sort of reader who likes all the loose ends in a book to tie up neatly but this seemed to go on interminably as, in a book of this length, there were alot of things to tie up before the conclusion.

Add to that the fact that I found all of the characters a bit larger that life. Everyone was so successful in whatever they turned their hand to. Now, I think I speak for many of us when I say that the average reader has probably known some failure along the way in life - I know I have and so I found the characters rather difficult to relate to.

One thing is for sure is that Mr. Courtenay is a very successful author. So now I am left with a slight dilemma that I think you may be able to help me with. Should I try another of his books? You all know my reading tastes fairly well by now so is there another of his books that you think I might enjoy more or is this one very typical of his work? I would really appreciate your thoughts on this and you can let me know in the comments section below, on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or to my email address.

ISBN: 978 0143203513

Publisher: Penguin

About the Author:

Bryce Courtenay was born illegitimately in 1933 in South Africa and spent his early childhood years in a small town deep in the heart of the Lebombo mountains.

He moved to Australia because he was banned from returning to his own country due to the fact that he had started a weekend school for Africans in the school hall of the prestigious boy's school he attended. One day the school hall was raided by the police who then branded him a Communist as they considered educating Africans a subversive act.

He met and married an Australian girl and they had three sons whilst living in Sydney ( a place he considered the nicest place on earth.) He became a very successful writer having published dozens of award winning books prior to his death in 2012.

The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne

After one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to a remote Scottish island, hoping to mend their shattered lives. But when their surviving child, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity - that she, in fact, is Lydia - their world comes crashing back down.

They know one of their daughters died. But can they be sure which one?

When I began reading this I was not at all sure that this book was for me. Perhaps because the subject matter is so devastating; after all the death of a child makes for difficult reading. But then something strange happened. Suddenly, like a fish in a stream, I was completely hooked and I couldn't put it down.

This is one of the most eerie novels I have read and this is because the author has so excellently captured the atmosphere of the remote Scottish island that the family move to in order to begin afresh. I think it is this setting that lured me in every bit as much as the story itself.

Throughout the book the tension never lets up and I found myself really puzzled by what was going on. There are plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the final page and even now I still keep thinking about it and considering what I thought might be behind it all.

The characters in this book are brilliantly drawn and my sympathies were with each of the main characters in turn. The parents relationship is fragile and I felt heart broken at the loneliness of the surviving twin.

This is not a book that I will forget quickly. It is haunting and creepy and demonstrates extremely skilled penmanship from Mr Tremayne. I highly recommend this superb book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

ISBN: 9780007563036

Publisher:  Harper

About the Author:

S. K. Tremayne is a bestselling novelist and award winner travel writer, and a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines around the world. He also writes under the pseudonym, Tom Knox.

Born in Devon,the author now lives in London. He has two daughters.