How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier - Translated by Emily Boyce - #BookReview

 

"The sound coming from somewhere in the darkness was barely audible, but it was enough to shatter his sleep. The drone of the moped grew louder until it was directly beneath his window, grating on his nerves like a dentist's drill boring into a decayed tooth. Then it faded into the distance, leaving nothing behind but a long rip through the fabric of the sleeping city. He hadn't opened his eyes or moved except to twitch his mouth in annoyance at the buzzing mechanical insect."

My past is a joke, my present's a disaster, thank goodness I have no future

Death is Simon's business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast, and he needs a driver.

Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he's never seen the sea. He can't pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may say.

As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simon's definition of vermin is broader than he'd expected...

Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty.

***

This book was a detour from my usual reading fare and I really enjoyed it. It is rather bizarre at times and the characters were eccentric but the story really drew me in from the very beginning.

It is a short novel with only just over 170 pages but it has much to commend it within it's covers. It is a gloomy and unconventional story and brings together characters who are very much at odds with one another which I think brings a unique quality to this story. Simon, Bernard and Fiona are far from characters who sit comfortably on the page with one another but it is this that gives the novel a real spark.

It is a novel which is simultaneously dark and humorous and is very cleverly written.

First published in France in 2006 and then in the UK six years later, this short novel has much to offer the reader. 

Have you read any of Garnier's books. I am very tempted to read more of this author's work in the near future.

ISBN: 978 1910477922

Publisher: Gallic Books

About the Author:

Pascal Garnier was born in Paris in 1949. The prize-winning author of over sixty books, he remains a leading figure in contemporary French literature, in the tradition of Georges Simenon. He died in 2010.

About the Translator:

Emily Boyce is an editor and in-house translator at Gallic Books. She lives in London.

Library Lowdown - 26th October 2020

 It is such a long time since I posted about my library books. This weekend saw my first visit to my library since it was closed at the beginning of lock down. Things were different in there and the staff have obviously worked incredibly hard to make it possible that we can all visit the library safely once again.

I borrowed three books which I think will be amazing and I can not wait to read them.

Renia's Diary by Renia Spiegel

Renia is a young girl who dreams of becoming a poet. But Renia is Jewish, she lives in Poland and the year is 1939. When Russia and Germany invade her country, Renia's world shatters. Separated from her mother, her life takes on a new urgency as she flees Przemysl to escape night bombing raids, observes the disappearances of other Jewish families and, finally, witnesses the creation of the ghetto.

But alongside the terror of war, there is also great beauty, as she begins to find her voice as a writer and falls in love for the first time. She and Aygmunt share their first kiss a few hours before the Nazis reach her hometown. And it is Zygmunt who writes the final, heartbreaking entry in Renia's diary.

Recently rediscovered after seventy years, Renia's Diary is already being described as a classic of Holocaust literature. Written with a clarity and skill that is reminiscent of Anne Frank, Renia's Diary also includes a prologue and epilogue by Renia's sister Elizabeth, as well as an introduction by Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denial. It is an extraordinary testament to both the horrors of war, and to the life that can exist even in the darkest times.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Meet Queenie, journalist, catastrophist, expressive, aggressive, loved, lonely. Enough?

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family. Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Elwood Curtis knows he is as good as anyone - growing up in 1960s Florida, he has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart. He is about to enrol in the local black college, determined to make something of himself. But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is all it takes to destroy his future, and so instead of college, Elwood arrives at the Nickel Academy, a segregated reform school claiming to provide an education which will equip its inmates to become 'honourable and honest men'.

In reality, the Nickel Academy is a nightmarish upside-down world, where any boy who resists the corrupt depravity of the authorities is likely to disappear 'out back'. Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, "Throw us in jail, and we will still love you." But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.

When Elwood's idealism and Turner's scepticism collide, the result has decades-long repercussions. The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven novel by a great American writer whose clear sighted and human storytelling continues to illuminate our current reality.

Reading for October 2020

 

Where is this mad and crazy year that we call 2020 disappearing to? I think it is safe to say that autumn has begun here in the UK. I rather like the autumn months; natures colours are beautiful, the intensity of summer has passed and yet temperatures are cooler and remind us that winter is not far away. 

Having said that, as I look out of my office window this morning, the skies are grey and the rain heavy. People are in a rush as they go about their business and it is like watching a conveyor belt of rain coats and umbrellas pass before me.

By contrast, I am planning to sit in my nice dry house today and dream of all the books that I want to read this month, as well as quite a few that I will not manage to squeeze into my reading schedule. However, some gorgeous little book usually seduces me away from my planned books, whispering "read me, you know you want me," and before I know what has happened it is the end of the month again and I consider all of the books that I had planned to read but did not.

Whatever you are planning to read this month, keep safe, keep warm and enjoy.

***

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Call the Vet by Bruce Fogle

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Her Mother's Secret by Rosanna Ley

Antkind: A Novel by Charlie Kaufman

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers

A Village Vacancy by Julie Houston

The Night of the Burning by Linda Press Wulf

***

Books to Finish

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths - #BookReview #socialblast

 

"The two men have been standing there for eighteen minutes. Peggy has been timing them on her stopwatch. They parked on the seafront just in front of Benedict's cafe. A white Ford Fiesta. Annoyingly she can't see the registration but, if she uses her binoculars, she can see a dent on the nearside door. If they have hired the car, the company will have taken a note of this. Peggy makes a note too, getting out her Investigation Book which is cunningly disguised as 'A Seaside Lady's Diary', complete with saccharine watercolours of shells and fishing boats."

PS: Thanks for the murders.

The death of a ninety-year-woman with a heart condition should absolutely not be suspicious. DS Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing to concern her in carer Natalka's account of Peggy Smith's death.

But when Natalka reveals that Peggy lied about her heart condition and that she has been sure someone was following her.....

And that Peggy Smith had been a 'murder consultant' who plotted deaths for authors, and knew more about murder than anyone has a right to...

And when clearing out Peggy's flat ends in Natalka being held at gunpoint by a masked figure...

Well then DS Harbinder Kaur thinks that maybe there is no such things as an unsuspicious death after all.

From the sleepy seaside town of Shoreham, to the granite streets of Aberdeen and the shores of Lake Baikal, The Postscript Murders is a literary mystery for fans of Antony Horowitz, Agatha Christie and anyone who's ever wondered just how authors think up such realistic crimes...

***

Whenever I hear that Elly Griffiths has a new book coming I am filled with joy and my heart sings a little song. Every word she writes is wonderful and the anticipation is only excelled by the actual reading experience.

This book is the second in the Harbinder Kaur series. In fact, I have not read the first, The Stranger Diaries, (shock and horror from those of you who know my compulsion for reading a series in order!) However, this book reads perfectly well as a standalone novel but I will definitely be getting my hands on a copy of The Stranger Diaries at the first opportunity.

DS Harbinder Kaur is a character who I would really like to spend more time with and I sincerely hope that there will be more books in this series. Ms. Griffiths has a real skill in portraying her characters in a way that by the end of the book you feel as though you have made a friend.

Another thing I really like about her books is that they are never full of blood and gore but meander along at an appropriate pace which allows the reader to really get to know the endearing characters. It is coupled with a terrific plot that kept me turning those pages well past my bedtime.

I have read all but the most recent of the author's Ruth Galloway series. You can read my review of Dying Fall, The Dark Angel, The Janus Stone, The Woman in Blue and Ruth's First Christmas Tree by clicking on the title links. If you have not yet discovered this lovely series then I highly recommend them.

Happy reading.

ISBN: 978 1787477636

Publisher: Quercus

About the Author:

Bestselling crime author Elly Griffiths worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer.

Her series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk and regularly hit the Sunday Times top ten in hardback and paperback. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. There are twelve books in the series so far with number thirteen to be published in February 2021.

Her Brighton-based mystery series set in the 1950s and 1960s is inspired partly by her grandfather's life on the stage and the war magician Jasper Maskelyne, who claimed to have spent the war creating large scale illusions to misdirect the enemy. One of the two leading characters in the series, Max Mephisto, is based on Maskelyne. 

In 2017 she was Programming Chair of Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Festival in Harrogate, the oldest and best-established crime fiction festival in the UK.

In 2018 Elly wrote her first standalone novel The Stranger Diaries. The novel was a top 10 paperback bestseller, selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club and as a summer 2019 Richard and Judy book.

In 2019 Elly published her first children's book in spring 2019 to great reviews with a second following in 2020.

Elly Griffiths lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist, and their two grown children.

September 2020 Roundup

 

As September draws to a close here in the UK, we have many counties in local lock-down once again. When we celebrated the New Year in January, we could never in our wildest imaginations predicted what this year would have in store for us all across the globe.

In the South East of England, where I am fortunate enough to live, we have no further restrictions at present. With the 'rule of six' that was recently introduced it meant that six members of my book group could meet in person. We met up in a local park and it was so wonderful to see everyone again and to discuss our monthly book. Alas, I am pretty certain that will be our final outdoor meeting this year as the weather already has an autumnal feel.

I have enjoyed all the books that I have read this month and hope that you have enjoyed your reading too.

Books I have read this month

This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You by Jon McGregor - I love Jon McGregor's books and this volume of short stories was no exception. I was fortunate enough to meet him years ago at a readers and writers conference and he was such a nice man...... sigh.... bit of a fan girl moment for me.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - this is the book that I read along with my book group. This was it's second outing for me and I enjoyed it just as much.

Spirited by Julie Cohen - this was a very enjoyable read and I will be posting my review of this very soon.

A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear - this is number 11 in the Maisie Dobs series. I have read all of the previous 10 and you can find my review of the third in the series, Pardonable Lies, by clicking on the title.

The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores - this adorable children's book has lovely illustrations by Ana Beatriz Marques and would be lovely to share with children. You can read my review here.

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner - I really enjoyed this book and my review will be up very soon.

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths - my review of this book can be found here.

Books I Did Not Finish

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes - I will return to this book at some point.

Books I Am Part Way Through

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser - I am really not sure why it is taking me so long to get through this book as it is highly interesting and accessible to read. 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri - I only started this one on Tuesday and am enjoying what I have read so far.

The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores - #BookReview #BookTour

 

"In the light-flooded forest where the birds sang, the brook rippled, and the wind swept through the trees, there lived a beautiful matryoshka called Babushka."

The Babushka doll, also known as a "Matryoshka" or "Russian Nesting Doll," is a traditional Russian toy first made over 100 years ago. The doll has come to symbolize Russian folk culture, as well as the complex and beautiful layers of women.

Babushka dolls are made of wood and painted in bright colours and patterns. Each Babushka is made in a set of many round dolls, each a little smaller than the last. They separate at the middle so that each doll can be placed inside the one before it. There are some Babushka dolls with as many as fifty dolls nexted inside her.

This is the story of one very special doll, with five bodies that together make the Babushka.

***

This is such a lovely book for children and I cannot wait to share it with my grandchildren.

Before I even began reading I was impressed by the beautifully stylised illustrations by Ana Beatriz Marques. In that aspect, even a pre-reader will enjoy poring over this book and it would be a lovely book to read to children too. It is also ideal for slightly older children to read for themselves.

Each one of the dolls represents a different personality feature and has an individual name. The outermost body, called Antonia, represents beauty, the second body, Loretta, wealth, the third body, Paula, represents talent, the fourth, Viola, wisdom and the innermost body, Mary, represents compassion and understanding.

As each individual body goes out into the world  to seek the meaning of life they learn that there are no easy answers. Acutely observed, Ms Flores has depicted an age old desire whereby, at some point in our lives, we ask ourselves who we really are and seek to find an answer to that question? 

The moral of this story is that, actually, we were there all the time and that we have to look into ourselves for an answer to that question.

This is a lovely book which I highly recommend.

ISBN: 978 1527260290

Publisher: ACL Creative Studio

About the Author:

Catherine Flores is a children's author and graphic designer. As she wrote about Babushka's journey, she was embarking on her own, which delayed the completion of this book for some time.

In October 2017, she emigrated with her partner Aaron to Portugal. In March 2018 their son Kiasmos was born. And after three years, Babushka is finished in early 2020 allowing Catherine to begin planning her next adventure.

 

Book Tour Tomorrow - The Story of Babushka by Catherine Flores

I am delighted to be part of the Book Tour for this lovely book. Please do drop by the blog tomorrow to read my review.