Book Review: Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

 Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke has just been awarded the Women's Prize for fiction, 2021. This was my primary motivation for deciding to read it, having been somewhat put off by seeing that it had been described as a fantasy or science fiction novel. Indeed, when the copy I had reserved arrived from my local library it had a large 'science fiction' sticker on the spine. Wikipedia defines science fiction as a genre of speculative fiction that typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.

Piranesi definitely fits this definition as it takes place in a parallel universe but it certainly shows that sci fi writing can also be literary fiction. 

The book follows Piranesi, who lives alone in an endless series of halls full of statues, visited twice a week by a mysterious figure he refers to as 'The Other', convinced that they are the only two living humans in the world. Piranesi spends his time mapping the halls, cataloguing the statues and writing in his journal, subsisting by fishing from the flooded halls below. Gradually Piranesi begins to notice signs of another human presence - wafts of perfume and written messages left behind - and the novel develops into an intriguing mystery. Who are these people? (Even Piranesi is not sure who he is: Piranesi. It is what he calls me. Which is strange because as far as I remember it is not my name.) What is their relationship to each other?  What are The Halls? 

This genre-defying book is so different to what I normally read but I loved it. It is a fascinating study in solitude, a page turning mystery and a truly immersive experience. The strange characters and setting which begin as something so alien to the reader quickly become somewhere for the reader to retreat to from the outside world thanks to Clarke's superbly evocative writing. Highly recommended. 

Recommendations for International Women's Day

International Women's Day is on 8th March so I thought this would be a good opportunity to recommend some of the fantastic fiction I have read over the past 12 months about women and their stories.  A common theme here is oppression of and discrimination against women (both contemporary and historical) and the characters in these novels are all likeable, feisty women determined to break free from the roles society has cast them in. They provide food for thought and a chance to reflect on these issues whilst also being hugely enjoyable reads.

The Girl With The Louding Voice, by Abi Dare

This highly readable, page turner of a novel which I devoured in just a couple of sittings tells the story of Adunni,  a 14 year old girl from a rural Nigerian village who longs for an education. The story begins by describing the poverty of her family and then she is sold: first as a bride to become the third wife of a middle aged man; and then into slavery as a domestic servant, so it is not always a comfortable read as it brings home the many ways that women are oppressed in Nigerian society. However there are also tender and joyful moments in what is ultimately an uplifting story of a girl who refuses to let herself be silenced and oppressed. Some readers might be put off by the dialect the book is written in but within a couple of pages your ear becomes attuned and it is like being there beside Adunni, completely part of the immersive experience of the book. SO good. 

American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins

American Dirt is an explosive page turner that reads like a thriller and kept me completely hooked from beginning to end. I was initially pulled in by the quote on the cover from Ann Patchett : 'I couldn't put it down. I'll never stop thinking about it.' ; and I am able to report that this is not hyperbole - this really is the case for me as well! It tells the story of Lydia, a bookshop owner from Acapulco, as she goes on the run from a local drug cartel attempting to escape to the USA with her eight year old son. It is one of those books that leaves you a little wrung out emotionally when you finish it as I was often moved to tears or had my heart racing in fear. It is well researched and well written and leaves the reader horrified at conditions faced by migrants trying to reach the USA, hardships and difficulties often exacerbated by the fact that the protagonist is a woman. This is a fantastic novel that left me thinking about Lydia and her son long after I had finished reading.

A Room Made of Leaves, by Kate Grenville

Kate Grenville is one of my favourite authors (you can read more recommendations of her work here :http://thisreadingmummy.blogspot.com/2017/01/must-read-australian-booklist-for.html) so I was very excited to read her latest offering, another historical novel set in eighteenth century Sydney as Australia is being established as a British colony. The novel, based on real events and real people, tells the story of Elizabeth Macarthur, the wife of John Macarthur a British Army Officer often recognised as the 'father' of the Australian wool industry. Aged just 21, Elizabeth accompanies her new husband to the newly founded penal colony and we follow her as she carves out a life for herself on the other side of the globe with a husband she quickly realises that she does not love. Elizabeth is a spirited, likeable and fiercely independent  woman who works hard to break free of the shackles placed on her by the expectations of eighteenth century society and exacerbated by the male dominated world of the penal colony. This is a lovely read, beautifully evocative of time and place, and you leave it feeling that you have gained a friend in Elizabeth.  She is a woman famous for being the wife of her husband but this novel shows her as so much more than that - as a person with her own story. 

The Mercies, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The Mercies is another historical novel, this time set in seventeenth century Norway. It begins with a terrifying storm (a real event that occurred on 24th December 1617) that kills almost the entire male population of Vardo, an island in the far north of Norway, deep inside the arctic circle. The rest of the novel is an absorbing account of how the women left behind learn to cope firstly with life without their men and then with the subsequent arrival of a new governor who has come to enforce new sorcery laws and ends up leading a witchhunt. This is a fascinating and terrifying novel which completely transports the reader to another time and place, and a more detailed review can be read here: http://thisreadingmummy.blogspot.com/2020/03/book-review-mercies-by-kiran-millwood.html 

What novels highlighting women and their struggles against oppression and inequality would you add to this list?

Second World War Fiction for VE day

Friday 8th May is the 75th anniversary of VE day. That seemed like a good time to talk about some of the great fiction available about the Second World War. There is so much out there on this subject that this was not an easy list to compile, but I have to tried to include books that I would recommend, with varied settings and viewpoints. So, in no particular order, here goes:

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set on the Greek island of Cephallonia during the Second World War. Before I read this book (admittedly I was probably only 20 at the time!) I did not even realise that Italy had occupied Greece during the war, so this was fascinating for me. It is primarily a love story detailing the love between an Italian army captain and a local Greek girl (who was already engaged to a local man who had gone away to join the Greek Partisans). Love is complicated enough during wartime as many of these books recommended here will attest, but  imagine the difficulties for these 2 lovers who are on opposing sides of the conflict. They must deal with their conflicting personal and political allegiances as  the war carries on around them, bringing with it tragedies and atrocities that affect every one in the small Cephallonian community. Louis de Bernieres is a fantastic writer and he manages to write about some truly horrific circumstances without ever leaving the reader in despair. The novel is often humorous and always full of love. The characters are likeable and human. This is a beautiful novel which leaves the reader missing the characters after they have finished. It is one of my favourite books ever - can't recommend it enough.

The Narrow Road to The Deep North by Richard Flanagan
This novel won the Booker Prize in 2014 - deservedly so. The book is mainly set in a Japanese POW camp on the Burma Death Railway where Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans in imprisoned and looks back on his life before the war. This is not an easy read as it describes the inhumane conditions of these camps but it is a powerful read which examines the human capacity to endure and to love. It is very affecting and provides much historical insight for the reader into the Second World War in South East Asia. Well worth reading, although it is not a novel to be 'enjoyed'.

The Siege, by Helen Dunmore 

This novel is set during the siege of Leningrad (when Leningrad was besieged by German forces on the Estern front in WW2), beginning in September 1941, and tells the story of 2 couples and their desperate fight for survival under siege in an unimaginably cold winter. The characters are pushed to the limits of their endurance and while this novel is a depiction of the horrors of war and the far-reaching consequences it has for the lives of ordinary people, it is also a celebration of life, of love and of survival. It is truly astonishing. I am ashamed to say this is a part of history I knew nothing about, but this fantastic novel opened my eyes to this incredible event and had me rushing off to do my own research. Detailed and evocative and deeply moving - not to be missed.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
This is an atmospheric and moving depiction of life in occupied France during the second world war - specifically St Malo, through the eyes of a young blind French girl, Marie Laure. At the same time it is the story of a young German orphan, Werner, who is fascinated by the workings of his radio and grows up to become a master at building and fixing radios, which leads to him becoming a tracker of the resistance in St Malo, ensuring that his path crosses with that of Marie Laure. It is beautifully written and deeply moving, with an usual structure that moves between the 1930s and occupied St Malo in 1944. It effectively explores the good people try to do in their lives and it will certainly make you think.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven, by Chris Cleeve
I read this book a couple of years ago and intended to write a review at the time, but was left feeling too raw afterwards. It is one of those books that gets the reader completely emotionally involved and there is some heart-wrenching stuff involved as well as some particularly horrifying descriptions of the Blitz, so be warned. That said, I was affected and moved by the experience of reading it which is why it makes it onto this list. As with his other novels Chris Cleeve has written an addictive and compulsive book - you cannot put it down. The story centres on 3 main characters - Mary, Alastair and Tom - and their wartime experiences. It is a story of bravery, love and friendship as well as the effects of war. It is very different from Cleeves' other work, but well worth a read.

Enigma, by Robert Harris
As the title suggests this fast-paced thriller is based around the code breaking events at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Robert Harris has the rare ability to tell a story that educates as well as absorbs. Too often you can come away from a historical novel feeling that you have been bombarded with facts and information without getting to know the characters or being immersed in their world. Not so here - while the reader undoubtedly learns about what happened at Bletchley Park and how instrumental that was to the war effort, they are also seamlessly transported to the 1940s Britain that is so artfully evoked. Great stuff.

The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters
This tells the story of London through the 1940s through the eyes of 4 main characters; Helen, Kay, Viv and Duncan. Each character has a backstory and their stories connect in subtle and sometimes startling ways. This is a very moving story about relationships set against the backdrop of the Blitz and the ordinary acts of heroism encountered every day. Beautifully written, this novel is both a thrilling page turner and an emotional rollercoaster.

What Second World War fiction would you add to this list?

Book Review: Africa, Amazing Africa, by Atinuke

Anyone who has visited my blog before will know I am a big fan of books about Africa. And I am a really big fan of books for children about Africa. And I am an even bigger fan of books about Africa that help to dispel the media and education- perpetuated misconception that Africa is a simply a place full of mud huts and poverty in desperate need of Western aid. This beautiful children's book ticks all those boxes, and some! I can't recommend it enough.
It is a book for young children (5-8 years) and has a simple format - 1 page of information about every country on the African continent. The Nigerian born author has found a unique interesting fact about each country and writes a short paragraph for each one, showcasing the diversity of the continent. While she does talk about poverty she also makes sure to point out that much of Africa is modern, dynamic, urban and forward thinking.
The illustrations by Mouni Feddag are gorgeous and there are fantastic maps to refer to as you read. My daughters aged 4 and 7 love this book. We read about one country each night at bedtime, and they have enjoyed searching for the countries on the map. Both girls have also taken this book into school, eager to share with the class the information about the country where they used to live.
This is a really great book -beautiful to look at and very informative.

Book Review: The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The Mercies is Kiran Millwood Hargrave's first novel written for adults, after several successful YA and children's novels.

The Mercies is set in northern Norway in the seventeenth century, beginning with a terrifying storm (a real event that occurred on 24th December 1617) that kills very nearly the entire male population of the island of Vardo. The women left behind must fend for themselves in the harsh landscape north of the arctic circle. Eighteen months later a new commissioner arrives, summoned from Scotland to impose civilisation and order in this remote place. He brings with him his new wife, Ursa, a cossetted city girl from Bergen, who quickly befriends local girl, Maren.

The developing friendship between Maren and Ursa is one focal point of the novel and the reader comes to care deeply for the fate of these 2 young women, a fate which is bound together ever tighter as the novel progresses. At the same time, the real purpose of the commissioner's posting becomes clearer - to enforce sorcery laws brought in by the King to unify Norway in the Lutheran Church - and a literal witch hunt ensues. 

This book is by turns tender and terrifying. The setting is hauntingly evoked - I am always amazed at the power of books to transport readers to  a time and place so completely alien to their own experience and this book does that wonderfully - and the characters are incredibly real. It is atmospheric and builds to a dramatic and brutal conclusion. I flew through the final third of the book  desperate to know the outcome. It is made all the more chilling knowing that the novel is based on real events. There were witch trials throughout the Finnmark region in 1621 that resulted in the deaths of 91 people. I love fiction that builds on real events and this affecting novel left me thinking about the fate of the real people at the heart of it and inspired me to find out more about the history of witch trials in the seventeenth century.

Read this book and be thankful that your daughters are free to be strong independent women without fear of persecution. 

Jane Harper, a crime writing force to be reckoned with.

A while ago I published a review of The Dry, Jane Harper's debut novel which blew me away (http://thisreadingmummy.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-review-dry-by-jane-harper.html ).

Since then  she has written 2 more books which are just as good. Each novel has a different setting and a different set of characters though the setting is always an isolated area of rural Australia. In each novel it is her description of the setting and dramatic evocation of the harsh and dangerous landscape which lifts her writing away from conventional crime writing and gives it an extra dimension. All the novels are exceptionally well plotted with a seemingly impossible conundrum to solve that is revealed cleverly, allowing each character to be a suspect for a while before drawing to a satisfying and plausible conclusion. The suspense and tension created is electrifying - I could not put any of these books down - reading long into the small hours of the night. 

Force of Nature centres around a corporate team building weekend in a remote nature reserve. A team of 5 women set out on a hike and only 4 return to the rendezvous point. What happened to the 5th woman? The missing woman, Alice Russell,  is the whistleblower on the current case of Aaron Falk (the detective from The Dry), a money laundering investigation, so Aaron and his colleagues begin looking into her disappearance. It soon transpires that the relationships between the 5 colleagues were filled with mistrust and suspicion and everyone has a motive for wanting Alice out of the way.

Again, the setting takes centre stage as Harper deftly shows the reader just how frightening it would be to be lost in the impenetrable forests she describes.

The Lost Man is Harper's latest offering. I just finished reading it and I literally could not put it down.  It is a little different from her previous two novels in that Aaron Falk does not feature. In fact there are no real detectives or police investigation at all. Instead the focus is completely on a handful of characters within the Bright family. 

The novel opens with Cameron Bright being found dead on the boundary of his vast cattle station in outback Queensland. The autopsy confirms that he died from dehydration having walked away from his vehicle. The police believe he walked away deliberately, opting to end his own life, but the family thinks differently. His brother Nathan (Cameron's closest neighbour, but still a 3 hour drive away) ends up investigating the circumstances of his death and working out what actually happened. There are few characters and therefore few suspects owing to the geographical isolation of the setting, which is vividly brought to life. Again, Harper uses the setting to build tension as the remoteness and isolation increases the pressure on the characters and begins to show the cracks in the outwardly perfect family life of the Brights. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else and the reader is cleverly led to suspect everyone in turn before we find out what took place. This is a fast paced thriller with likeable, believable characters and an incredibly well described setting that completely drew me in as a reader. Definitely my favourite of her novels so far.

Jane Harper writes thrillers that are so much more than thrillers. I can't recommend them highly enough and I can't wait to read what she writes next!

Book Review: Addlands, by Tom Bullough

This was not a book I had heard of before I stumbled across it in a local bookshop. It was truly a serendipitous find.  I bought it because it was a book about the local area (well, somewhere about 15-20 miles from where I live) by a local author,  and I'm very glad I did. It is a totally absorbing read, lyrically beautiful and with the power to totally immerse the reader in the life of the isolated valley in mid-Wales where it is set.

It is huge in scope (but not in length, being a very manageable 293 pages long) following the fortunes of the Hamer family over 70 years and 4 generations as they scratch out a living from their hill farm. The characters are brilliantly brought to life and the changing seasons of the farm and the hillside on which it nestles lyrically described. The language is often poetic as it seeks to show how the place where these characters live is just as much a part of them as any other character trait.

Etty is a young woman, already pregnant when she marries Idris Hamer and comes to live on the remote Funnon Farm, on Llanbedr Hill near Builth Wells. She is the rock around which the novel revolves, the anchor to which all the other characters are moored, and the reader quickly grows to love her. Her son, Olly is a different matter altogether, wilder and more unpredictable yet also completely rooted to the farm and his mother.  Olly was born in 1941 and we follow his life from then until 2011 -  over a period of monumental change and modernisation for this part of mid-Wales. We see the closing of the local railway, the gradual moving away from the hold of the methodist church on the local population, the arrival of electrictiy, the move from horse power to tractors and the life-changing foot and mouth outbreak of 2001. All these upheavals and the personal triumphs and tragedies of the characters are contrasted with the quiet natural rhythms of the landscape which remain the same year on year.

It is a beautiful and affecting book, which will make you laugh and cry. The local dialect is cleverly employed, helping with the total immersion of the reader in this landscape and bringing the characters vividly to life. It is a haunting examination of continuity and change: how the landscape we live in makes us who we are and how the last century has changed us all.

When you have finished reading if you are anything like me you will yearn for the hills of Radnorshire and will be thinking about the characters and what the future holds for them for a long time to come. Highly recommended.