March 2007 Archives
I couldn't quite believe I'd missed out reading The Body Farm - it's one of the most well known of Patricia Cornwell's Dr Kay Scarpetta novels, and covers the two key events in the lives of Dr Kay Scarpetta, her genius neice Lucy and FBI profiler Benton Wesley. I shall say no more, other than if you like the series and haven't yet read The Body Farm, put it at the top of your Books To Read list!
Amazon.co.uk link: The Body Farm - Patricia Cornwell
Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)
The Places in Between describes Rory Stewart's walk from Herat to Kabul, over the mountains, rather than via the valleys and Khandahar, following in the footsteps of Moghul Emperor and empire builder Babur.
It is a fascinating read about the remote mountainous places and peoples of Afghanistan, in the months after the fall of the Taliban in 2002, and beautifully written. All in all it makes me more inclined to read Occupational Hazards Rory Stewart's account of his time as governer in post-invasion Iraq - I'd not realised he was one and the same, enlightened chap.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Places in Between - Rory Stewart
Set in a small NSW town in the modern Australian outback, with strong characters and a focus on the past, I found this to be a book with depth, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Ignore the blurb on the back which talks of romance between two apparently mismatched temporary residents of Karakarook - yes, that does eventually come, but the book is about modern Australia and the few generations of white man and women who write and determine the history of this far more ancient land, and features relationships and attitutes that are far more complex, and rewarding, than the blurb suggests.
If you like Tim Winton's West coast Australian novels, I think you'll like this East coast equivalent.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Idea of Perfection - Kate Grenville
Another strongly researched mediaeval romance from Elizabeth Chadwick, but the first that left me wondering whether I should have a break from her before reading another of her novels.... The Winter Mantle is by no means a bad book, but three generations' worth of stories isn't really sufficiently supported by three generations of characters and depth. And for the first time I failed to warm to any of the characters.
What you do get in exchange is a plot that shows the social and political impact of the Norman invasion of 1066 and the gradual merging of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds, at a time when the Normans were building an empire on the continent that would power the Crusades - and which would once again emphasise the position of England and the English on the periphery of the Western world.
As one of the amazon reviewers put it, Elizabeth Chadwick "now writes about the period with the convictions of her obvious knowledge of the subject and has also made a subtle change from writing what were in effect historical love stories (nothing wrong with that) to historical novels with a love interest."
Amazon.co.uk link: The Winter Mantle - Elizabeth Chadwick
Having missed the film and enjoying the frivolity of Ugly Betty, this seemed the perfect light read, and so it proved. If you too have enjoyed the New York fashion world setting of Ugly Betty with its larger than life characters and misplaced underdog, then you'll enjoy this US chicklit, and no doubt film version too.
Definitely not demanding; making this a library loan rather than a purchase.
Amazon.co.uk link:
The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
An easier read than The Kingdom by the Sea and, although enjoyable, The Island isn't a great read. The tale of four generations of Cretan women from the early 20th century to the start of the 21st century, the bulk of the book focuses on the twin coastal communities of Plaka and Spinalonga - the former home to the family at the centre of the tale and the latter a leper colony to which sufferers from all over Greece are sent. Sandwiched around this is the 21st century element, with the main characters' twenty-something British descendant returning to Crete and discovering her family's complicated history.
At times you can tell that this is a first novel - but the detail and history in the novel push it beyond chick lit and you come away having learned a lot about the history of Crete, leprosy and attitudes to it. Don't be put off by the leper element - one of the key themes of the book is that lepers are normal human beings too.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Island - Victoria Hislop