February 2010 Archives
Misled by the reference in the blurb to Detective Bosch, I've instead ended up encountering The Lincoln Lawyer, who I'd been studiously avoiding on John Grisham (and work) grounds. Mitch Haller and his team are more interesting than I'd allowed for, but The Brass Verdict remains a legal story rather than a police procedural; and Bosch a more interesting character than Haller. I've started so I'll finish, but I'll not be going back for more.
Now finished, by way of another (cf The Secret Scripture) incredible (not in a good way) coincidence-heavy subplot ending.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly
A good read, in which we follow two accounts of the childhood and early womanhood of Roseanne Clear. Roseanne's own account, of growing up and falling in love in a small coastal community in the northwest of the island of Ireland in the early part of the twentieth century, is beautifully told.
Interspersed and interleaved we have her psychiatrist, Dr Grene,'s narrative, which draws upon the written records of Roscommon Mental Hospital and the institutional system in which Roseanne has spent most of her adult life. Using both accounts, Sebastian Barry illustrates Irish social, religious and political attitudes and history of the past 100 years.
The only downside? The Eastenders-eque denouement.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
Disappointing.
The blurb and the Barbican Library Book Club Selection and Richard and Judy's Summer Read stickers suggested a more demanding read. The main character was shallow, the narrative cliched. By far and away the best bits concerned to gradual unravelling of the story behind Villa Docci's Renassiance garden itself, but even they seemed to rely on Adam Strickland having moments of inspired interpretation that materialised from nowhere.
If you like novels that reach back in time to solve historical who dunnits, then Peter Rippon's The River Crossing, Kate Morton's The House at Riverton and Michael Frayn's Headlong are all much better. And if you like more modern day mysteries/crimes set in Italy, try Michael Dibdin.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Savage Garden - Mark Mills
A fantastic read, following in Geoffrey Moorhouse's footsteps through Pakistan in 1983, from Karachi on the coast, via Sind and Baluchistan, to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass and onwards through the other-worldiness of the high Hindu Kush. A book to have taken with me on my Hindu Kush Adventure. A book to read to understand the reality and history of life on Pakistan's frontiers.
Amazon.co.uk link: To The Frontier - Geoffrey Moorhouse
Starting in 1970s, The Northern Clemency focuses on the lives of two families, the Sellers, and the Glovers. When Mr Sellers' job takes him and his family from London to Sheffield, they move into house opposite the Glovers', in a superior suburb on the outskirts of the city.
Even before the Sellers arrive in Rayfield Avenue, we are taken behind that community's lace curtains and smiling party faces to witness Mr and Mrs Glover's marital crisis, the sexual escapades of their eldest son Daniel, the literary aspirations of 14 year old daughter Jane and the obsessions of ten year old Tim.
We move through the Abigail's Party themed 1970s, meeting money laundering florist Nick and Daniel Glover's and Sandra Sellers' teenage friends en route, to the early manoeuvres in the miners' strike and the start of Jane Glover's London career in the 1980s. The novel ends in the late 1990s, with both sets of parents still living in their respective houses on Rayfield Avenue, and their offspring having - eventually - flown their nests.
It's a hefty tome but with beautiful period detail throughout, The Northern Clemency is well worth the read.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher