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JAMES

JAMES

Now released in paperback, ‘James’ by Percival Everett and shortlisted for the Booker 2024 is a re-interpretation of one of America’s most acclaimed novels of the 19th century, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ written in 1884. With his dark humour and imaginative storytelling, Everett bravely re-imagines this iconic novel. Although it is not essential to have read Twain’s original classic, book clubbers would find it more enriching and entertaining to provide a backdrop to ‘James’.

In Everett’s novel, Jim takes centre stage with a voice who we now know as James. The novel is set in 1861 Missouri, as civil war is brewing and Jim discovers he is about to be re-sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter. Jim decides to run away to a nearby island, Jackson Island to make a plan. Meanwhile Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father. Together they journey across the American south, rafting up the vast Mississippi river towards freer States and beyond. Jim needs Huck as he cannot be seen as a runaway slave. Huck needs Jim to help him survive his ‘adventure’. By putting the focus on Jim, Everett allows him to tell his own story factually and without sympathy.

The writing is fast paced as this contrary pair stumble from one misfortune to the next, whether being faced with a group of vagrant scammers, or nearly being caught up in the wheels of a river cruiser on the Mississippi. Everett’s trademark of black humour is also in abundance, none more so than when Jim worries that he is going to be revealed as a black man whilst disguised as a black man in a singing troupe. There is a tendency to wonder how it is possible that Huck and Jim fortuitously keep finding each other after every separation, but maybe this is symbolic of a slave like Jim knowing he could never really escape his white master wherever he hides. The South being on the cusp of civil war reminds Jim that slavery is not the only type of oppression.

As we discover, Jim can read, write and speak like any white man but keeps this under raps to protect himself. Everett cleverly belittles the white supremacy for not spotting that Jim is in fact smarter and often more capable than the white counterparts he meets along the way. Jim’s secret weapon, is that he always carries a pencil and paper. We know education opens the doors for those without, and Jim discussing the ethics of slavery with his favourite philosophers reminds us this will be his secret weapon towards freedom.

This is a thought provoking, funny, poignant and page turning companion to the original story which is guaranteed to ignite a stimulating and interesting book club

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

'Remarkably Bright Creatures’ is best remembered for Marcellus, a giant Pacific Octopus - ‘that octopus book’! However, aside from the larger than life mischievous creature, this is an endearing and heart-warming story about a small community set in West Coast America who learn to cope with their personal challenges of bereavement, love and belonging through companionship with their neighbours, new and old. Infused with humour and a sense of adventure to resolve unsolved mysteries and some lost ‘treasures’, this was a book club favourite in 2024 and enjoyed in groups both sides of the Atlantic.

The story opens with Tova Sullivan, a widow who keeps her mind busy with a night cleaning job at the local Sowell Bay Aquarium, having mysteriously lost her teen son, Erik, who vanished on a boat some thirty years ago. Whilst she has enjoyed the comfort of her ‘Knit-Wit’ group who gather regularly to work on knitting projects, shoot the breeze and put the world to rights, she is unsettled by the news of her estranged brother’s death and the realisation that living alone in later life is fraught with issues that she is keen to attend to.

Running in tandem with Tova’s story the reader is introduced to Cameron, a lost teen whose backstory (abandoned by his mother, brought up by his aunt) leads him to Sowell Bay in search of his father who he hopes will resolve his own financial hardships. Cameron lands up in Tova's small community, finding work, romance and unexpected friendships including Ethan an aged Scottish gentleman who manages the local grocery store and then Tova herself, who Ethan is also keen to befriend and spend time with. As both Tova and Cameron find themselves distracted by lost ‘treasures’ - Nova her son and Cameron, a lost father, it brings us back to Marcellus, the octopus whose night time habit of escaping his aquarium, hunting for treasure to hide in his tank, provides unexpected clues to solve the impossible home truths of the past.

The book brought plenty of joy and discussion in book club and is a wonderful debut novel by the author Shelby Van Pelt whose wholesome tale was an instant New York Times bestseller. With a Netflix adaptation in the pipeline, 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' is an unexpected book club delight that you will want to read ahead of any streaming!

THE BUCCANEERS - A NOVEL

THE BUCCANEERS - A NOVEL

‘The Buccaneers’ is a lesser known 1936 manuscript that was updated and completed posthumously as Edith Wharton’s last novel in the 1990s by Marion Mainwaring. Now streaming on Apple TV, this forgotten drama makes a wonderful book club novel (especially with a new season in the pipeline, to be screened later this year). This is a story of love and marriage amongst old and new moneyed classes with the portrayal of a world on the brink of change.

Set in the 1870s, the story revolves around five wealthy and ambitious American girls, their chaperones and mothers who decide to come to London and England to find suitable partners, given their status in the America (as new money) is not welcomed by the elitist and snobbish old New York money.

Having been denied access to the New York party scene the beauties are encouraged by their governess, to set sail for England, home to lords, earls and dukes and launch their future amongst the unsuspecting British aristocracy. The girls set out to chase status and happiness but find themselves breaking all the rules that they have set themselves. Whilst the girls are all charmed by the exotic Choncita who marries first they soon realise the challenges of their new status in a foreign society with its own antiquated customs and traditions. Will a new country be a better place to find the perfect marital match? Can they be accepted here and can and will they become more powerful?

The Den enjoyed following the girls’ journey and the focus on Nan’s story (otherwise known as Annabel St George), one of the younger girls in her friendship circle and perhaps the most precocious. Unlike the other ‘Buccaneer’ beauties, Nan is the least greedy and manipulative. However she inadvertently becomes the most successful in marriage although not necessarily happy in love.

Definitely whets the appetite for those who enjoy watching literature being transformed on the screen! Perfect reading for the February freeze!

BRIDGET JONES - MAD ABOUT THE BOY

BRIDGET JONES - MAD ABOUT THE BOY

With the hyped excitement surrounding the new ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’ film, releasing on Valentine’s Day, the Den couldn’t resist returning to Helen Fielding’s novel of the same name, bringing a delicious dose of flirty romance and fun to February.

Written in 2013, readers will be delighted to reconnect with Bridget, who whilst all grown up (at 51) with a screen-writing career has been managing to juggle her hectic lifestyle as a single working mum of two young children. It has now been five years since widowed (spoiler alert: Mark Darcy has tragically died), and Bridget is persuaded by her good friends Tom, Jude and Talitha to get back into the dating game.

As a first step, Bridget who recognises herself as a ‘social media virgin’ realises she needs to improve her profile and launches herself on Twitter. She is quick to share her stories and her followers (and lack of!) becomes a new obsession in her diary along with other successes and failures such as weight, food and drink excesses.

"179lbs (huh), pounds lost 0, Twitter followers 0, protein chocolate bars 28."

Despite her ineptitude and hilarious tweets and learnings - ‘do not tweet about date during date’, Bridget manages to catch the attention of Roxster who is young (‘toyboy’ at 29), sexy and funny and loves the equally hilarious Bridget Jones who manages to continue to delight us all as she shares her life experiences as an older dating mum, be it trying to find her reading glasses on a date, being on high nit-alert or removing hot chocolate spills on the perfect working girl outfit.

Readers will enjoy Bridget’s commitment to researching the new dating landscape and the new rules. "DO NOT TEXT WHEN DRUNK."

Fans will also love the arrival of Daniel on the scene for babysitting duties and readers will enjoy Bridget’s resolve to manage dilemmas of dating and finding love and acceptance at fifty-something. A great feel good factor and laugh out loud read, for all!

‘Groundbreaking, iconic a trailblazer’ - according to one critic. Now over to you!

THE AMERICAN NO

THE AMERICAN NO

Rupert Everett’s latest book ‘The American No’ is a series of short stories. If you have read any of Everett’s memoirs you will know he writes with a mixture of vibrant wit, refreshing honesty and exquisite descriptions whilst never hiding from life’s disappointments. As usual, there are the raucous stories of debauched characters, his take on Hollywood and struggling actors. But Everett also includes Oscar Wilde’s last night in Paris, a bizarre funeral, a touching love story and the confessions of a dying 83 year-old widow.

A shorter, hilarious story is that of a wealthy American/Russian countess who with her fading beauty succumbs to the charms and good looks of a much younger male in a Wiltshire tea room whilst her son plays a school rugby match only to discover his intentions come with a caveat!

Everett’s take on Hollywood “a world with all the dials turned up” is told through Harry, a young British actor who recognises he isn’t going to make it in LA and starts working in the mail room of the agent William Morris. He soon learns to play the system, this ‘was the first step towards fitting in, all personal feelings under an impenetrable twitter of birdsong – have a nice day – you’re very welcome – go for Shelley – copy that – way to go – the court vernacular of Los Angeles, he’d put his best foot forward and arrived in good time’. The lengths Harry and his close friends go to make it in Hollywood are both hilarious and tragic, and when Harry does become successful, is it the land of dreams? Not really, ‘but meanwhile the show goes on’!

‘The Last Rites’ are the confessions of a dying 83 year-old widow who mistakenly leaves her beautiful English family for an unsuitable marriage to Captain Saunders based in 1850’s colonial India. She quickly discovers the carefree intimacy they had shared in North England is an illusion when in India he reveals his tyrannical superiority. Everything changes at the Mutiny in Meerut when he is killed and she is captured and forced to marry the Indian who rescues her so never making it back home to her loving family who believe she is dead. She must secretly tell her story to a vicar before she dies.

‘Ten Pound Pom’ is a heart-breaking love story and probably our favourite pick. A young soldier called Tom sells his crumbling, financially unviable family Irish castle. He leaves his remaining elderly relatives behind and sets off for Australia for £10 on an ocean liner. Living below decks in third class, he settles into the daily routine of ship life, until Athens, when Amara, a young Greek girl boards with her guardian Madame Kasta. Amara is betrothed to a husband in Australia she hasn’t yet met, being married in a religious ceremony in Greece without him being there. For the next few weeks they fall in love. Will their love survive? Why didn’t Everett develop this idea for a story into a full-length novel?

The End of Time – based on Proust’s childhood when his imagination is evolving. Everett fears it will never make it to the screen, so this is his way of giving him some recognition. For those of us not familiar reading scripts, this story is the hardest to follow.

When you read Everett’s stories you can’t believe they are not picked up for development to the screen, but maybe it’s because his wonderful observations and gossip are hard to capture in the same way with the camera? For the reader however, they are joyous, poignant and a delight to read.

THE VIRAGO BOOK OF FRIENDSHIP

THE VIRAGO BOOK OF FRIENDSHIP

'Friendship is a matter of investment, if not hard work. Like a garden without water, it 'dies fast' when neglected'. - Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology

‘The Virago Book of Friendship’ is a touching and thoughtful study of friendship as discovered by writer Rachel Cooke who shares her literary wisdom, diaries and letters that present an endearing insight into women’s friendship. This unique anthology makes a wonderful book club read or gift for your literary bestie.

The book covers defining 'friendship', first encounters, confessions, solidarity, frenemies and Den readers enjoyed picking up on friendship formed through the prism of literature. It was endearing to return to favourite writers such as Nora Ephron, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and indeed be introduced to lesser known authors. This book is the perfect way to start the new year as well as be inspired to discover new authors for 2025.

The Den enjoyed Cooke’s commentary on her own friendships and there are some lovely stories and gems covering fallouts to making up to final goodbyes.

'Disagreements have their place, but so does the whispering of secrets. When - if - important information is withheld, the friendship may ultimately be imperilled; a friend can often sense, even if they cannot quite see it, the gauze that is non-disclosure'.

Lots of gold dust in this collection and an uplifting celebration of female friendship and sisterhood!

NORTH WOODS

NORTH WOODS

This is another extraordinary piece of writing from Daniel Mason. The Den has previously reviewed his earlier work, ‘The Winter Soldier’ (see Den library), and once again the attention to detail and palpable landscape is brought to life in his latest novel ‘North Woods’. This sweeping, inventive story revolves around the occupants of a house set in the atmospheric woods of New England over four centuries.

The reader is given short glimpses into the lives of various inhabitants (not all human!) of a yellow house in the woods of western Massachusetts, beginning with two young Puritan lovers on the run who discover the woods, and decide to build a cabin on the throw of a stone. In the 1700s the cabin is unearthed by a widow and soldier, Charles Osgood following his obsessive search for a particular apple tree. He expands the house and starts to harvest apples until he is drawn back to war at which point his twin daughters take over the orchard. The spinster twins, Mary and Alice were a Den favourite, as beneath their righteous exterior is a fierce independence and loving rivalry resulting in a surprising finale.

Many of the stories have a darkness to them, whilst others are humorous – we particularly enjoyed the no nonsense clairvoyant Anastasia Rossi who when hired to lay ghosts to rest, takes great pleasure in seducing the obnoxious master of the house. Unsurprisingly, considering Mason’s background as a Professor of Psychiatry, there is the story of Robert, a young man who suffers from schizophrenia and flits between the woods and an asylum. When living in the woods he meticulously studies and individually records every element of the woods from the trees to the stones, the films of which are discovered many years later by his sister.

The house is always seen as an escapism from the city, but ultimately becomes a reclusive hideaway for most of its occupants. Mason interlinks the stories with poems, ballads, historical lectures and images. Gradually over the centuries connections and discoveries are made which join the different stories together. Every story is intwined with the surrounding nature and the past which often appears to those in the present. And sometimes the house is empty for a long period of time, but nature is continuous and Mason continually reminds us of the longevity of the natural world and the house compared to the transient disposition of human life.

Mason wrote this book whilst on a writing fellowship which he spent in New England. Consequently, he was able to write it in chronological order through the seasons, walking in the woods every day to inspire his writing. He also changes his style of writing to reflect the period and it does take a while to adjust to the old-fashioned language and imagery, especially when it takes the form of a letter or a ballad. The fate of the inhabitants are all linked with the trees, wildlife and extreme weather which is recognisably changing over the centuries and so relevant today. The story of the mating beetles whose pairing in a wooden log spreads Dutch Elm’s disease, beautifully captures the randomness and fragility that new occupants can have on an existing area.

Due to the complex nature of the writing and constant switching of narratives covering such a large time span it will certainly make for lively discussion points for your book club.

THE CHRISTMAS GUEST

THE CHRISTMAS GUEST

’Tis the Season to be wary’ - 'The Christmas Guest’ is a festive novella with a twist, blending Christmas cheer with a delicious dash of murder mystery. Peter Swanson, who is a Sunday Times bestselling author and best known for his psychological suspense thrillers, explains ‘while I like Christmas stories, what I really love is Christmas mysteries’. ‘The Christmas Guest’ is a scrumptious treat for book clubbers and perfect for your festive meet up.

The holidays are coming in New York City and the protagonist discovers a diary in her apartment closet which takes the reader back in time. It’s December 1989 and Ashley Smith, a history of art student is studying in London and unexpectedly invited by her classmate Emma Chapman to spend Christmas with her and her family in the Cotswolds. Whilst Ashley is not close friends with Emma, and having recently been orphaned with no particular desire to return to her home in California, Ashley is over the moon by the invitation.

Arriving at a small country railway station, Ashley is surprised to be met by Emma’s attractive and eligible brother, Adam. The diary entries share the excitement and heightened anticipation of a mystery destination for Christmas and Starvewood Hall, whilst cold and run down, is a seemingly attractive and quintessentially English country manor. However, there is something strange about the stately home and its guests and Ashley’s diary reveals some unexpected horrors. The diary flashes back to Ashley's introduction to Adam and his detour to a local pub, with all its trimmings - a log fire, a cast of characters and plenty of local gossip to set the scene. It is not long before we discover a local girl has been murdered and Adam is a prime suspect.

The Den were impressed with the diary entries - it tapped into a young girl’s emotions so you can expect exclamations, emotional outbursts and "CAPS". Suddenly we are in a '"GOTHIC THRILLER" and readers will enjoy this aspect, as well as the fast moving plot which presents surprising twists.

If you enjoy ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ and love a mischievous read at Christmas time this novella can be consumed in one sitting and easily shared amongst friends and family!

THE SIEGE

THE SIEGE

‘The Siege’ by bestselling historian Ben MacIntyre tells the minute by minute unfolding of events surrounding the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London in the Spring of 1980. Famed for his forensic approach to historical controversies, MacIntyre’s new book invites us to re-evaluate what really happened, how it was handled by the British government and how it marked a turning point in global history.

MacIntyre, who has authored many historical secret operations including ‘Operation Mincemeat’ and the hit TV series ’SAS: Rogue Heroes’ expertly sets the scene for the six day siege in London, laying out the political landscape in the Middle East including the overthrow of the Shah of Iran (1979), who was replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The author presents the background to the terrorists’ demands which was systematic of Middle Eastern terrorism that was arriving in the West. The world at this point had already witnessed the hostage crisis in Tehran in which the US’s ambitious rescue attempt, under President Carter, failed, whilst in England, Margaret Thatcher was entering her first year as Prime Minister and facing the need for military intervention, for the first time in 70 years (on British mainland).

The author creates a sense of foreboding by illustrating the impact of the siege on the individuals involved in the event and the moments leading up to their role in the attack whether it was an unexpected TV crew at the embassy, such as the BBC sound assistant Sim Harris, a Pakistani tourist (wrong time, wrong place), staff caught in the cross-fire such as the doorman, Abbas Fallahi who had served under the two opposing Iranian regimes, or the young student terrorists who were misled by a ruthless extremist, the ‘Fox’. The author also captures unexpected passers by at the scene, such as the local retired writer and resident, Dame Rebecca West, whose flat gave a birds-eye view into the Embassy. The account also acknowledges new faces in the newsroom such as Kate Adie whose courage at the assault made her a household name and synonymous with front-line world news.

Whilst the audible is read in person by the author making the pace and storytelling spot on, the book contains a fantastic array of visual material supporting MacIntyre’s account. Many of us in the Den were able cast our minds back to the siege - a hostage escaping the Embassy’s balcony, a burning building. Perhaps older readers may even recall this as the first televised terrorist attack on London which disrupted the BBC schedule including the snooker world championship. It was also the first time Britain was introduced to the SAS who until this point had been a special secretive unit.

Lots to interesting discussion points and a great book to re-gift and pass on! If you enjoy this book consider 'Operation Mincemeat' and 'Colditz' also by MacIntyre and in the Den library.

INTERMEZZO

INTERMEZZO

This is the first book by Sally Rooney which we have added to the Den as we weren’t immediate fans of hit novels, 'Conversations with Friends' and 'Normal People'. However, 'Intermezzo' definitely ticked the boxes in the Den. This is a beautifully written story centred round the relationship of two brothers and their respective complicated love lives set against a background of dealing with grief. Rooney sensitively examines why society presumes that any relationship which breaks the traditional mould immediately signals failure.

The story, as the title suggests, covers an intermezzo in the relationship between the two Koubek brothers. Peter and Ivan are coping with the death of their 65 year old father. Cracks in their relationship have started to emerge after Peter, who is 10 years older than Ivan, gives his father’s eulogy without considering whether Ivan, who at 22 was closer to his father, would like to say a few words. Their relationship had been running into difficulties following the separation of their parents, when Peter was already starting a life in law with a great new girlfriend, whilst Ivan was left to live with their mother and her new husband and children.

Ivan is introverted and a gifted chess player but fears he is never going to make it as true champion. To get by, he freelances and attends an event in a small town outside Dublin where he competes with keen chess players simultaneously. The events co-ordinator is the gentle natured Margaret, recently separated from her alcoholic husband. To Ivan, she has a refreshing and understated outlook on life. Margaret is drawn to Ivan’s quiet intelligence and mature approach to life. Margaret offers Ivan a lift back to his digs after the event and they unexpectedly click and start seeing each other every weekend. But the elephant in the room is Margaret is 13 years older than Ivan. Whilst this causes her angst, Ivan accepts it for what it is. Rooney’s handling of this relationship is wonderful to read and you can completely understand their different approaches to whether they should be together or not.

When we meet Peter, he is in a terrible place suffering from insomnia psychosis and downing Xanas and Diphenhydramine with red wine. His life has been in turmoil since Sylvia, the woman he was destined to marry suffered an accident which has left her in considerable pain and unable to have an intimate relationship. The true nature of Sylvia’s accident is never revealed which makes this storyline all the more suspenseful, but Peter and Sylvia remain close and thrive on each other’s inquisitive intellect. To avoid commitment, he has chosen to have a casual relationship with a student called Naomi, who is outspoken, rough round the edges and again there is a mysterious background to her situation which is only hinted at. Peter finds he is in love with these two completely different women but is convinced he has to choose one over the other which only adds to his turmoil.

Rooney tackles the juxtaposition of these relationships. And behind the emotional turmoil are the 3 independently minded women who silently enable the brothers to try and resolve their rift. The change in Rooney’s style of writing, particularly for the two brothers adds a layer of maturity as it reflects their different state of minds. This exploration of the inner workings of the characters adds depth and relatability which for us made this book a more interesting read than her earlier work.

THE BLOODY CHAMBER AND OTHER STORIES

THE BLOODY CHAMBER AND OTHER STORIES

‘The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories’ is a vintage classic by the English novelist and short story writer Angela Carter. Written in 1979, the collection is a reworking of familiar fairy-tales as well as other lesser known stories of vampires and werewolves that are presented as sensual fantastical novelettes. Carter injects a new conscience into the original stories, looking at the role of the demure submissive heroine and ideas, flipping the tales on their heads and definitely worth a re-read in 2024! With a rich and illuminating writing style these dark and sometimes subversive tales are perfect for longer evenings - when our imaginations are on high alert!

‘The Bloody Chamber’ is the longest story in the collection, telling the tale of a young girl who marries a wealthy widowed Marquis. After consummating the marriage the Marquis leaves the young bride alone at his castle with strict instruction not to enter one particular room. However leaving her with the forbidden key she finds herself unlocking the chamber to reveal some disturbing discoveries. Of course she is tempted. Lured into the bloody chamber we recognise her vulnerability and anticipate the dangerous consequences. Sexuality and violence are strong themes and there is plenty of warning from the author. “His wedding gift, clasped round my throat. A choker of rubies, two inches wide like an extraordinary precious slit throat.”.

Although the narrative, on the surface is very familiar, there is an explicit expression of macabre. Carter’s imaginative language is detailed and her exquisite visual descriptions tease us with the story’s direction of travel! Towards darker and bloodier tales. Readers may recognise ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ with Beauty & the Beast, although Carter’s re-imaging is sensual with gothic undertones. ‘Tiger’s Bride’ takes the reader to Italy, this time with a mysterious Beast who wins his bride in a poker game. Whilst recognising the objectification of women in Carter’s tales she also challenges the balance of power between the sexes and in some instances giving power to the powerless.

It’s by no means an easy read but the Den reflected on Carter as a women’s writer in the late ‘70s, at a time when women were gaining more freedom in their personal lives with opinions beginning to be seen and heard. ‘The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories’ also reflects the political and cultural restlessness of England - in which Thatcher had just risen to power, artists such as Bowie were redefining gender and the celebration of sex and violence in their cultural lives .. think Sex Pistols!

Considered one of the most influential writers in the twentieth century, ‘The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories’ was a winner of Cheltenham Literary Festival Prize, 1979 and is studied today as a popular A level text. Definitely worth a go as a wild card choice!

THE COUNTRY GIRLS

THE COUNTRY GIRLS

Our Missed Opportunity this month is the ‘The Country Girls’, the first story in ‘The Country Girls Trilogy’ by Edna O’Brien who sadly passed away earlier this year. Edna O’Brien was one of the most influential Irish writers of the 20th century whose writing often focused on women trying to break free from the domestic and religious constraints of Ireland during the 1960’s.

The first part of this ground breaking trilogy tells the story of two young girls, Cait and Baba growing up in a small village outside Limerick in Ireland. Their relationship is one of a loving and loathing dependence. From different backgrounds, Cait lives on a farm with her mother, alcoholic father who disappears off for weeks at a time on benders and Hickey, a loyal and caring farmhand. Money is tight and opportunities limited. By contrast, Baba is the daughter of a vet and his glamorous socialite wife Martha. Baba is jealous of Cait who naturally succeeds academically and Cait is in awe of Baba’s ability to live life to the full and take risks. Cait is literally minded and astutely describes her best friend as ‘coy, pretty malicious Baba was my friend and the person I feared most after my father.’ However, Cait has one secret, which is her infatuation with Mr. Gentleman. Mr. Gentleman works as a solicitor in Dublin but comes home at weekends. He is French, rich, well dressed and in Cait’s eyes totally exotic, most importantly he is married. He begins to pick Cait up in his car for drives together.

When Cait’s family suffer tragedy, both she and Baba are sent to a boarding convent school, Cait being on a scholarship. Inevitably Baba leads Cait astray and the two girls find themselves aged 17 moving to Dublin. Baba is determined to live the wild life ‘I’m going to blow up this town she said, and she meant it, that first night in Dublin’ Meanwhile, Mr. Gentleman sees Cait living away from home as his opportunity to step up their relationship. O’Brien’s handling of this relationship is both heart wrenching and familiar to read and his treatment of Cait which ends the first part of the trilogy is tragic to observe.

PROPHET SONG

PROPHET SONG

‘Prophet Song’ is a poetic and intensely moving novel about a family caught in the crossfire of war. Described as dystopian fiction and awarded the Booker Prize 2023, this recent book (now available in paperback) has a disturbing ‘wow’ factor that captures multiple stories of reality setting it apart from its genre and dividing opinion in the Den, reminiscent of a read like 'Milkman'! Written by another talented Irish writer Paul Lynch, this is a dark tale of human tragedy and a befitting Book of the Moment for November.

It’s a late wet evening in an ordinary family home in Dublin. Eilish Stack, a working mother of four, opens her door to two officers from the newly appointed secret police force. They want to speak with her husband, Larry, a trade unionist for the Teachers Union of Ireland. Ireland is in the grip of an authoritarian government that is taking a turn towards tyranny and Eilish and her family are being quickly swept into the nightmare.

Confronting her husband when he returns home, Eilish’s fear begins to take a hold and whilst Larry agrees to meet with the police there is already a sense of foreboding. And of course when Larry does not return home we feel the panic taking a hold of Eilish who is frightened, angry, scared but doing her best to keep her family together. As well as managing the everyday such as getting the children to school, Eilish is also juggling a job and looking after her elderly father, Simon, who is showing early signs of dementia.

Written in the third person and present tense, ‘Prophet Song’ tells the story from the point of view of Eilish. Mothers will recognise the domestic chaos at home, whether it is the disappearing teenager, the gamer or the cries of a hungry baby. The sentences flow in an internal monologue with no paragraph breaks or reported speech and this results in an extraordinary tension that captivates the reader and makes the tale all the more haunting, demanding and intense. As well as a sense of urgency the reader experiences claustrophobia, trapped by the writer into Eilish’s world. With no news on her husband, Eilish is offered a lifeline as her sister in Canada offers her the opportunity to leave Ireland. But can and will Eilish leave her husband and her father behind? Can she really turn around the paperwork to secure passports for 2 of her 4 children? The Republic of Ireland is slipping into a totalitarian state. As her father goes missing and rebels are rounded up liberal democracy is under attack. Emergency powers have been initiated, media has been curbed and normal life descends into an uncomfortable place - a civil war where food supplies are limited, curfews are enforced and all everyday utilities rationed. Assailed by unpredictable forces beyond her control Eilish is forced to do whatever it takes to keep her family together.

Exhilarating, terrifying and confrontational, 'Prophet Song' demands you to read its breathtaking story. Whether a parable of the present, future or the past it certainly got our attention! If you enjoyed 'Milkman' or 'The Handmaid's Tale' this is one for your book club!

ENLIGHTENMENT

ENLIGHTENMENT

‘Comets have always caused a bit of a stir’ and Sarah Perry’s latest novel ‘Enlightenment’ is a mesmerising read balancing matters of the heart alongside the extraordinary astrological wonders of the universe. Shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, this is a delightful novel for book clubbers especially as evenings draw in, giving more time to enjoy unexplained ghost stories as well as indulging us in a tale of love, faith and friendship.

It’s 1997 and the novel opens at Thomas Hart’s desk in the Essex Chronicle observing the editor’s suggestion to consider the imminent and recently discovered comet, Hale-Bopp. Thomas Hart, aged 50, is single and has been living a private life in the small town of Aldleigh, splitting his time between his job as a columnist, his Baptist pew at the church of Bethesda and his secret gay life in London. Thomas is intrigued by the planisphere given to him by his editor and drawn by the opportunity to consider an astrological story that would take him away from drearier events of his local surroundings.

The reader is enticed into Thomas Hart’s world resulting in a great affection for this pivotal character. Not only do we observe Thomas's double-life, but his interest in local mysteries and in particular, The Lowlands Ghost. Enter James Bower from the local museum services. Together they develop an obsession with the vanished nineteenth century astronomer Maria Vāduva, said to haunt Lowlands house and who may have discovered her own astronomical discovery that had never been acknowledged. Suddenly the stories collide as does his personal life in which we witness an unlikely friendship with one of the younger parishioners, Grace Macaulay, a furious teenager unhappy with life and with whom Thomas feels a responsibility for. Whilst Thomas falls in love with James, Grace meets Nathan a young local boy who pulls her away from her church into a wilder modern world, more befitting her age. Spanning 20 years the novel is divided into 3 celestial parts which neatly see Thomas and Grace orbit around each other but bringing them back together to solve the mysteries of Aldleigh.

Den readers appreciated the marvelling of the universe, encouraging us to look up at sky on clear nights and respect a world in which science and religion are not pitted against each but rather connected. Definitely gave us a deeper reading experience and lots of talking points. Den also recommends this on Audible.

TENDER IS THE NIGHT

TENDER IS THE NIGHT

A modern classic by the revered American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, famed for his depiction of the roaring ‘20s and the coining of the Jazz Age - a period of carefree hedonism, wealth and the illusion of the American Dream. ‘Tender is the Night’ is the author’s fourth and final book that alludes to his own tumultuous life including the cracks within his own marriage and perhaps the inspiration for this more serious portrait of a decadent era. A must read for Gatsby fans who are prepared for more darker secrets and an enlightening assessment of this period.

It’s 1924 at the start of the novel and the reader is presented with a lively and glamorous group of American ex-pats enjoying their summer on the French Riviera. At the centre of the friendship circle are the golden couple Dick and Nicole Diver who exude magnetism and it is against this backdrop that the young beautiful movie star, Rosemary Hoyt, finds herself bewitched by the Divers and happy to be welcomed into their group and tagging along to the Diver’s summer plans that involves lavish parties, excessive drinking and unexpected dramas.

Rosemary, young and naive, instantly falls for Dick but can not see the troubles that lie between Dick and his wife. Nicole has a secret and Dick has a weakness which we begin to see glimpses of. Rosemary finds herself entangled in the couple’s lives encouraged by her mother, however as a working woman, Rosemary, has to balance her love interest with her busy film schedule. And just as the reader is settling into the Diver parties at Villa Diana and a gun duel (and what or what wasn’t seen in the bathroom!) Fitzgerald takes the author back to 1917 in which Dick Diver a medical student and scholar finds himself pursuing a career in psychiatry and persuaded by his mentor and business partner to marry one of their patients, a younger Nicole Warren. Dick is the embodiment of the American Dream, ambitious and promising. However his marriage to Nicole in spite of her huge riches and family wealth cannot offset his inability to pursue a rewarding career and a sense of self worth. Attracted by Rosemary’s beauty an affair is inevitable, however Dick has to juggle his love affair with his commitments to Nicole. This is a mid life crisis and the novel tackles this along with mental health, depression and alcoholism as we see the American Dream begin to crumble through Dick and his friends.

Whilst 'The Great Gatsby' remains a literary classic studied and celebrated with film adaptations, ‘Tender Is the Night’ is an illuminating novel that laid out both the new possibilities of the Jazz Age as well as the dangers.

BOURNVILLE

BOURNVILLE

‘Bournville’ by the award winning author, Jonathan Coe is the Europhile’s state of the nation novel set in a now famous chocolate village with the factory at its heart. Warm and comforting for some, uncomfortable and lacking compelling substance for others. Either way this book, now in paperback, will keep your club engaged as a read with plenty of talking points and stories to unwrap! And not just the ones in the book.

Inspired by the author’s own mother, the novel centres around Mary whose world is rooted in Bournville and whose life and family live out seven historical moments in time that we recognise as occasions that brought communities together starting with perhaps one that is all too familiar and recent - It’s March 2020 and it’s a prologue to the pandemic! Coe then winds the story back to VE Day, 1945. At this point we meet Mary’s mum and father which on this occasion is tinged with awkwardness around German neighbours in the community - “she can’t help it if she’s got a German father”. As the events unfold we meet Mary’s own children Jack, Martin and Peter who all have very different talents, ambitions and ideological perspectives on life. As well as starting out as a story about Anglo-German relations (which included the Chocolate Wars!) the reader is introduced to other conflicts within communities that have quietly gone unnoticed. And this is certainly the author’s story that he is eager to tell.

In addition to VE Day, 'Bournville' reimagines popular scenes in the British psyche from the Queen’s Coronation, the 1966 World Cup final and memorable royal occasions including weddings and funerals.

This is a generational saga that was enjoyed by book club, most notably because it initiated further discussion around these historical occasions and how Mary’s relative’s embraced or rejected its relevance in their lives. Many of the Den felt that the story could have explored some of the themes in greater depth but overall it certainly offered a quick read and a novel that encouraged us all to share our own experiences of the past. And although final scores were averaging around 7, it certainly hit a 9 for 'talkability'!

Award-wining author of 'Middle England' and other popular reads including 'The Rotter's Club' and 'What a Carve Up!'.

THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG

THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG

EARTH

EARTH

‘Earth’ by John Boyne is the second novella in the author’s Elements series. This one blowing another punch to your senses and tapping into the unsavoury trappings of fame and entitlement.

The novel opens with a tabloid sensation; two well known footballers are standing trial for sexual assault and we the reader are privy to the text conversation between the two young men, Robbie and Evan, who are preparing for their first day in court. As the trial unfolds Evan the voice and storyteller scrolls back to his own backstory and the decisions that led him to this unfathomable turn of events. Readers of Boyne’s first novella in the series will recognise Evan as the young boy who was given a lifeline by Vanessa (in ‘Water’) to leave their small island and start afresh away from his controlling father. We know that Evan is a gifted footballer but his personal passion and ambition is to paint and it is Evan’s naivety quickly followed by a reality check that burdens Evan’s mind and we feel his heartache, coupled with his shame of who he really is.

True to the elements of earth, this novel feel grubby, raw and base. However Boyne manages to deliver prose that is both beautifully poetic and poignant. And we find a way to enjoy Evan’s journey to clear the ‘stench of earth’ from his nostrils and breathe freely.

‘Earth’ is bang up to date, topical and 'of the moment’ providing plenty of talking points in book club.

Boyne fans will be keen to add this to their book club list, especially with the arrival of ‘Fire’ coming soon (November ’24).

Water is reviewed in the Den's library, as are other novels by Boyne including 'The Heart's Invisible Furies', 'A Ladder to the Sky' and 'All the Broken Places'.

AMSTERDAM

AMSTERDAM

A cleverly crafted novel by a Den favourite, Ian McEwan. First published in 1998 and Booker Prize winner, ‘Amsterdam’ is a dark morality drama that remains a relevant and contemporary story blending psychological tension with comic undertones. A compulsive story, this book will keep you turning every page!

‘Amsterdam’ tells the story of the two ex-lovers of Molly Lane, Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday, who are reunited at their old friend’s funeral in which they make a pact that comes with unforeseen consequences. This novel explores the relationship between the two friends and the effects their personal and professional aspirations have on their friendship. Clive is an esteemed composer and Vernon a respected newspaper editor. Their individual ambitions cause a rift, nonetheless their lives become intertwined in unimaginable ways, leading them to the destination of Amsterdam.

This is a compelling story of betrayal, jealousy and relationships, one that every book club should read. McEwan delves into a tangled web of moral dilemmas exploring the themes of hypocrisy, mortality and betrayal.

Lots to talk about in book club and only 178 pages so easy to read in one sitting.

"Full of gusto, straightforward, and delivers blows to the gut...shocking". A.S.Byatt writes. We can't help but agree.

WE BEGIN AT THE END

WE BEGIN AT THE END

We don’t often recommend crime thrillers in the Den, but ‘We Begin At The End’ by Chris Whitaker came highly recommended by a Den reader, and it proved to be a beautifully written story of heart-break, redemption and sibling loyalty. If as us, you enjoyed ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, then we’re sure you’re in for a treat with this story.

Set in the small town of Cape Haven, California, news quickly spreads that Vincent King, the local killer of a young woman called Sis Radley, is being released from prison after 30 years. The people most affected by this news are his long-term best friend Walk - now Chief Walker and Sis’s sister Star, now a single mum with two children, Duchess 13 and Robin 5. Life has been hard for Star who has spiralled into drink and drugs so Duchess, mature beyond her years and a self-declared ‘outlaw’, has become the main parent to Robin and part carer to Star who descends into periods of darkness.

The start of the story is slightly clunky and confusing with all the different characters who sometimes speak without you being aware who they are. But once you grasp this, you will be hooked. As the past and present collide, further tragedy implodes when Vincent is accused of another killing which results in Duchess and Robin being sent to live with their estranged grandfather Hal, in Montana. Meanwhile Walk is struggling with an illness which is becoming more debilitating on a daily basis. Convinced of Vincent’s innocence, he contacts his ex-girlfriend and first love, Martha, now a family lawyer and persuades her to defend Vincent before his illness affects his ability to do his job.

Whitaker develops his characters beautifully and as with any thriller, there are several interesting oddities who could be involved, the weird and secretive Dickie Darke, the local butcher and of course is Vincent actually innocent? However, it is the touching relationships which lie at the heart of this novel. The fighting, independent spirit of Duchess to protect her younger, bewildered brother Robin as they deal with life’s setbacks shines through, together with the touching awakening of Walk and Martha trying to come to terms with all they lost 30 years ago, making this read much more than a whodunit and an altogether deeper and richer read.

The title of the book is summed up at the end when the resilient Duchess finally breaks down “She cried for everything she had lost, and everything she had found” for the future is surely both an ending and a beginning. The rights have been picked up by Disney so look out for the future adaptation.

THE COVENANT OF WATER

THE COVENANT OF WATER

‘The Covenant of Water’ is a sensational and immersive epic read by the much loved Den writer, Abraham Verghese, famed for his book club favourite novel, ‘Cutting for Stone’. With over 700 pages this is a perfect summertime read and a wonderful and informative journey to the changing back waters of South India.

Set in Kerala, this is a generational story starting in 1900 with a 12 year old girl who finds herself travelling within the state to marry a widowed 40 year old father. The child bride, whose marriage is brokered, learns to live with her new family on its working farm estate and soon becomes a respected matriarch, known as ‘Big Ammachi’. Ammachi bears witness to unimaginable changes in her life spanning three generations of heartache, secrets and drama in which a ‘condition’ results in a ‘drowning’ in every generation. Running alongside this story the reader is introduced to a young Scottish physician who arrives in colonial India to make his mark in Kerala. The two stories run alongside each other and eventually converge as the characters experience chance meetings adding heightened drama to the gripping plot that is rooted in the family’s secret. The author’s medical credentials (Verghese is an American physician) adds an informed perspective of the medical mysteries that were yet to be explained and discovered with the passage of time and medical advances.

Readers may criticise the length of the novel which is all consuming but in many ways the length gives us the opportunity to experience the sense of being pulled into the currents of life and imagine being a part of a family saga and drama that we want to discover and solve. Many in the Den appreciated the idea of a family curse - everyone feels they have one! We all appreciated the ebb and flow of events, recognising disappointments, experiencing and overcoming tragedy, finding love and hope in medical discoveries and cures.

A paperback worth finding space on your travels or at home!

LONG ISLAND

LONG ISLAND

'Long Island' is the highly anticipated sequel to Colm Tóibín’s 'Brooklyn' published in 2009 (and a pre-requisite read - see July’s Missed Opportunity). Picking up the story 20 years later, we once again delve into the lives of Eilis Lacey, Tony Fiorello and Jim Farrell and Den readers will be excited to learn it doesn’t disappoint.

The opening of 'Long Island' is first rate. It’s now the 1970s and Eilis is living in the States with her husband Tony, two teenage children and their extended Italian catholic family in neighbouring houses on their purchased land in Long Island. It’s a close knit, often suffocating environment with compulsory long family lunches taking place every Sunday. Without giving too much away, Eilis receives an unexpected visit destined to have far reaching consequences for her and her family if she doesn’t act. In order to have her demands at least considered by Tony’s family, she decides to leave America and return home to Enniscorthy for her mother’s 80th birthday, going ahead before her children Larry and Rosella will join her for the summer to enable them to spend time with the grandmother they have never met. Inevitably Eilis is drawn back into the world of her upbringing and what she’s left behind. Her visit coincides with the marriage of the daughter of her closest school friend Nancy, which predictably brings old relationships and unfinished business to the fore.

As with 'Brooklyn', Tóibín’s skill seems to be ‘less is more’. Again misalignment, poor timing, and the ‘unsaid’ drives his narrative building up to a shattering finale. It's a gem of read, which can almost be read in one sitting as we are once again drawn into the world of Eilis Lacey and what path her life will take, the difference being that older, wiser and with a family of her own she has an inner steely determination to look out for herself and them. After the success of the film of 'Brooklyn' starring Saoirse Ronan, surely there will be a film sequel too!

TABLE FOR TWO

TABLE FOR TWO

Amor Towles fans are in for a treat this summer with this recently released collection of six short tales and a novella whose story origins were first penned before the bestselling author wrote ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’.

Readers will feel instantly at home with Amor Towles as the first short story in ‘Table for Two’ starts in Russia in the early twentieth century after a new constitution and republic had been formed. This story instantly captures the daily struggles and hardships of life, queuing for basic amenities as experienced by Pushkin, a country peasant, who heads to Moscow with his wife and then journeys to America thanks to a mixture of good luck and fortune. And thanks to being in the right place, at the right time!

There are five other stories in ‘Table for Two’ fast forwarding the reader to post millennium New York City. Similarly, they all hinge on chance encounters and unexpected opportunities which gives fans the chance to enjoy the author’s craft and imagination with his finely drawn characters. Towles packs a punch of a story that you know will be filled with misadventures, humour and life lessons whilst heading towards amusing plot twists.

The second half of the book, 'Eve in Hollywood' takes the reader West Coast to ‘Golden Age Hollywood’ and Towles delights his readers by returning to one of his characters, the fiery Evelyn Ross from his debut novel ‘Rules of Civility’ who leaves New York in 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But instead of meeting her parents in Chicago she extends her ticket to LA. Told from various points of views, the reader enjoys Eve’s new life, navigating movie sets and dive bars whilst befriending a young Olivia de Havilland (just before her ‘Gone with the Wind’ fame) who joins her on her own bucket list of adventures in LA whilst protecting the young actress from the dangers lurking in the the darker side of Hollywood's Tinseltown.

Whether read in book club or as summer time treat, this is the perfect bedside book for Towles fans.

BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN

With the arrival of Colm Tóibín’s highly anticipated 'Long Island', now is the perfect time to read or re-read its prequel “Brooklyn” about a young Irish immigrant arriving in New York in 1952, which was also made into an iconic film starring Saoirse Ronan.

Eilis Lacey lives with her widowed mother and her beautiful elder sister Rose in a small home in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, their three elder brothers having all left in search of better jobs. Ellis, the youngest is bright but destined to stay with her mother until Father Flood arrives one day to inform the family how he could get someone, clever and bright like Ellis, work in his NY parish of Brooklyn. Before she knows it, Eilis is reluctantly crossing the Atlantic and then living in Mrs Kehoe’s boarding house for single girls and working on the shop floor of Bartocci’s. At one of the Friday night dances organised by Father Flood, she meets Tony, a warm and charming Italian and they are soon committed to each together. When Eilis receives some heart-breaking news from back home she is forced to return and in doing so acknowledges the life she left behind. Her best friend Nancy introduces her to Jim Farrell and Eilis soon finds her heart strings pulled in two different directions.

Tóibín’s gift is to write about ordinary people’s lives and everyday familiarity in such an entrancing and understated way. Consequently, it’s the undercurrent of ‘nobody ever really being able to express their true feelings’ which ignites the story. Eilis is not remarkable or special, and yet the reader becomes completely captivated by her life and what path she’ll decide to take, so much so, that when the end comes it leaves you rather deflated. But now with the release of Tóibín’s sequel ‘Long Island’, set twenty years later, you can stay involved for longer. And minor summer spoiler ... 'Long Island' will be reviewed next month in the Den!

THE NIGHT ALPHABET

THE NIGHT ALPHABET

Joelle Taylor has already earned a reputation as an impressionable, award-winning poet and this skill for writing has created a narrative in her first novel 'The Night Alphabet’ that transcends the boundaries of storytelling. Taylor has a superlative gift with words and imagery which she combines with her poetic style of writing which she describes as ‘feminist queer futurism’. It is totally compelling, but also at times rather incomprehensible, thus ensuring its place as our Wild Card read this month.

It's the 23rd century and a woman called Jones enters a tattoo parlour where two women, Cass and her younger assistant Small work. Already covered in distinctive tattoos, Jones asks to have each one linked with a thin line of blood and ink which reluctantly Cass agrees to do and as the doorway to each tattoo is unveiled, Jones goes on a 'journey of remembering'. All the stories are about the repression of women and impact of patriarchy across different timespans. The opening story is set in Lancashire (where Taylor grew up) and set in a period when young girls were not allowed to work in the Lancashire mines alongside the boys and women earned less wages for doing the same job. There is a wonderful story about the exploitation of sexual workers or gutter girls as they are referred to – the male pimp is referred to as a mosquito - before the women start to rebel and fight back. This story was influenced by Taylor’s experiences as part of the women’s peaceful protest camps on Greenham Common in the 1980s. The solidarity of community is a strong theme throughout the book. The final story called “The Woman Wasn’t There” imagines a scenario in which women and girls simply vanish – and worse, are humiliated by this act of being wiped off the earth for simply being female.

Some stories are figure of 8s or circles and difficult to find your way out of. We learn that her mother and grandmother could also disappear into trances of different times and places and so all three start going together in their “rememberings”, landing in the same story but in separate bodies which allows for assorted perspectives.

The language is charged and alive and some of the stories shocking and inconceivable, but there is no denying the brightness and modernistic innovative writing. Here are a few examples to savour

“In my family people don’t have gap years. They have unemployment.”
“Money can buy anything except poverty”
“Outside the night is talking to itself. A shout. A choir of sirens. A sudden laugh. A relative who never ages. A boomerang town.”
“A face as cold as a fuel bill”
"Poems are keys for doors that have forgotten their locks"
and finally
“All of it and none of it makes sense.” pretty much sums up this book! If you’re looking for a vibrant and powerful alternative read for your book club this would be a great place to start, especially as a sequel is already being written.

THINGS REMEMBERED AND THINGS FORGOTTEN

THINGS REMEMBERED AND THINGS FORGOTTEN

‘Things Remembered and Things Forgotten’ is an illuminating collection of short stories taking the reader into different experiences of contemporary Japanese life, peeling back the layers of the past and a forgotten time. Written by award winning Japanese author Kyoko Nakajima this is a delightful wild card choice, especially for those seeking a taste of all things Japanese with a sprinkling of the supernatural.

There are ten short stories in the collection, each providing a different slice of Japanese life connected by an air of ghostliness that permeates within each story. The first story sets the tone for the book as the reader is introduced to a middle aged couple returning to an old neighbourhood in which the husband reconnects with his estranged brother. The brothers find themselves haunted by their childhood memories of war-time and foreign occupation. Tainted by these ghostly memories of the past, whilst living in the present, we recognise this as a literary motif that preoccupies the writer throughout the collection.

There is a quirkiness in Nakajima’s writing style and we are expected to accept the unexpected, such as in her story about a widow discovering his recently deceased partner in ‘When My Wife Was a Shiitake’. This brings the reader closer to what feels quintessentially Japanese. In ‘The Life Story of a Sewing Machine’ (an award-winning short story) we discover the 'Singer' machine has lost its heart, opening chinks into bitter sweet memories, not just of people but as the collection’s title suggests ‘things remembered and things forgotten’. Each story hints at a dream-like encounter or a memory behind an object and its owners and the reader is happy to believe in the characters, buildings and places whether they are real, in the moment or indeed ‘spirits’ of another place or time.

Everyone in book club were moved by different stories and the ideas presented in the collection and it was easy to find one that resonated with our own ‘ghostly’ experiences. We all agreed that objects can illicit feelings and trigger memories of another life or world. The twists in the stories were also perfectly timed and arranged. If this is this Japan's answer to Road Dahl we look forward to more from Nakajima.

If you enjoyed 'The Keeper of Lost Things' by Ruth Hogan or 'Small Pleasures' by Clare Chambers, both recommended in the Den's library, this should be your next book club choice.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

‘Brideshead Revisited’ is considered the most famous and autobiographical of novels by the celebrated English author Evelyn Waugh. Written whilst the writer was on army leave it remains reflective of youth, returning to a ‘golden age’ of good times which the author experienced between the wars.

Written in 1945, ‘Brideshead Revisited’ tells the story of Charles Ryder and his carefree years of youth at Oxford, his infatuation with the Flyte family and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege that they inhabit. Divided into three parts with a prologue and epilogue this classic is a wonderful escape novel that takes its reader into Charles’s aspirational days of youth - his romantic friendship at college in Oxford, summers at Brideshead Castle with his best friend Sebastian and an introduction into the eccentric Flyte family. As the novel moves into book 2, some years later, Sebastian’s objective is to travel and run away from life whilst Charles forms even closer relationships with the family. At the same time love interest and parliamentarian, Rex Mottram who represents new wealth is closing in on Sebastian’s sister Julia, just as old money, that has been squandered especially by the patriarch, Lord Marchmain, is running out. Through Charles’s storytelling we witness the stately home, Brideshead, become a struggling institution that is out of step with the country and inevitably doomed. Bringing us back full circle, the final section of the book brings the reader to the beginning when Charles began his story of reflection from the campsite set up in the grounds of the very home in which he has grown to love.

Religion is a recurring theme in the novel as Charles struggles with the Flyte family’s preoccupation with catholicism and 'divine grace'. As an atheist, Charles is equally obsessed with challenging their faith and the family’s own angst and beliefs as they face darker times. Love and relationships are also a strong thread in the narrative and a theme that tugs at the heart strings between friends and family, revealing a sense of regret and sadness that again we as readers might recognise as we reflect on our own younger selves.

‘Brideshead Revisited’ secured popular acclaim in the ‘80s with a TV serial starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick and Lawrence Olivier. It has subsequently been recognised as one of the greatest literary adaptions and one that closely follows Waugh’s narrative and dialogue. Whether you are reading the novel for first time or with memories of the hit TV series, this is a classic that remains relevant, offering up plenty of discussion in book club as well as an excuse to indulge in introspection and appreciate our own lost youth and the spirit of 'good times'.

YOU ARE HERE

YOU ARE HERE

'One Day' by David Nicholls was our first book club read many years ago and we've all been wrapped up in the recent Netflix adaptation, so excitement was high for his latest novel, 'You are Here' released at the end of April. Nicholls’s skill is his intricate dissection of relationships and this story of two damaged, single, middle-aged individuals being thrown together on a walking mini-break in the Lake District doesn't disappoint. A flawless, impeccably observed and heart-warming love story about being given a second chance at happiness.

Marnie is 38, divorced and living alone in a one bedroom flat in Brockwell Park, working from home as a freelance copywriter. Her best friend Cleo persuades her to join her husband and teenage son Anthony, also Marnie’s godson, on a 3 day walking weekend-break in the Lake District. Cleo plans to use the trip as a little matchmaking exercise for both Marnie and Anthony’s other godparent, Michael, a 42 year old somewhat geeky geography teacher who is forlorn after the recent separation from his wife Natasha. Cleo plans to set up Marnie with Conrad, a charismatic, good-looking pharmacist who lives in London. For Michael she invites Tess, an outdoorsy triathlete. Cleo has tasked Michael with plotting the route and he has chosen the first leg of the ‘Coast to Coast’ walk compiled by Alfred Wainwright’s 190 mile route which crosses the Lakes, over the Pennines, along the Dales across the Moors, descending to the North Sea. Michael plans to stay on after the initial weekend to hike the remainder of the west to east coast across the Dales solo, using it as an opportunity to clear his mind and enjoy nature.

The first hitch to Cleo’s best laid match-making plans is that Tess cancels last minute, followed by the typical, unpredictable British weather. The rain is torrential so gradually members of the party give up leaving Marnie alone with Michael, to not only finish day two’s hike but then stay one further night before her booked train ticket allows her to return back to London. Thrown together they begin to enjoy each other’s company. Marnie makes Michael laugh with her quick witted self-degrading humour and she finds herself confiding in him about her life and ex-husband.

Nicholl’s ability to navigate the awkwardness in those early days of a new relationship together with the missed opportunities of intimacy is exemplary. He skilfully captures the lack of confidence experienced by damaged people and beautifully expresses their rawness and hesitation to be drawn into a new relationship with his sizzling dialogue. The back drop of the Lake District, exhausting hikes, an eclectic selection of overnight accommodation and the contrast of one experienced hiker with one novice provide great humour. Whilst Marnie takes a complete wardrobe with her for a 3-day trip, including a selection of dresses, Michael (never called Mike or Mikey) has just the one shirt. Both prove to be inadequate for the circumstances they find themselves in. A joyous and perfect summer read.

CALEDONIAN ROAD

CALEDONIAN ROAD

‘Caledonian Road’ by Andrew O’Hagan is an instant hit epic giving a bang up to date ‘state of the nation’ novel set in post pandemic London. With over 600 pages the Den was grateful for the glossary of characters (over 50!) although O’Hagan’s direct narrative and short chapters make it a relative breeze for readers to follow.

The novel pivots around the world of respected art historian and UCL academic, Professor Campbell Flynn who finds himself regretting a loan from a friend whose business and public reputation is being questioned. This starts off as a niggling worry but one that he manages to put off with a new book ‘Why Men Sleep in their Cars’. Campbell believes that this book, in the money spinning self help genre, could be ghosted for a celebrity, successfully sold as a bestseller and by doing so remove his own personal money worries.

The reader is introduced to Campbell’s friend who provided the loan, Sir William Byre and here the web of connections and corruption begin as we meet his privileged family and friends who have links to wealthy Russian oligarchs whose offspring are diverting sanctioned funds into a criminal underbelly. As a slice of London life there is an addictive ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ storyline that has echoes of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series ‘The Gentleman’ and Tom Wolfe’s ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ which we are eager to follow. Running in tandem with Campbell's worries, he has become friendly with one of his pupils Milo Mangasha who lives nearby on the Caledonian Road. With this new friendship, Campbell is enjoying the opportunity to be challenged and learn from his student about social justice, the dark web, crypto currency and the general ‘word on the street’. But he is unaware that Milo and his local girlfriend Gosia have their own plans in mind for him. Whilst Gosia's Polish roots uphold good family traditions at home and in business, her brother has branched out into haulage and transportation which we discover is code for a darker criminal underworld. At the same time, Campbell is experiencing heightened tensions with his sitting tenant, Mrs Voyles, who is occupying the basement flat in his London home.

Campbell himself has working class Glaswegian roots who has bettered himself through education. He is now part of a successful Islington power couple whose wife is a professional therapist from a titled family with privileged children who are exceeding the fame of their own parents. The reader reflects on Campbell’s achievements and his children’s as the story unfolds. The web of interconnecting spin offs from this family make it is an addictive read and we feel Campbell’s anxiety begin to escalate, recognising he is being haunted by his bad judgments and hunted by his frenemies.

The novel touches on lots of modern threads of discussion that include hypocrisy within the world of academia, the arts, business and public life as well corruption that runs through the social strata of metropolitan London. Family dynamics are also probed, presenting a growing chasm in values and ambitions amongst the generations. Love or hate the length of this novel, ‘Caledonian Road’ promises to offer lots of discussion in book club as well as plenty of potential to be snapped up for our screens. The Den is keen, are you?!

THE WHALEBONE THEATRE

THE WHALEBONE THEATRE

Holiday reads are about escaping into an unforgettable and immersive world and so this month we have picked ‘The Whalebone Theatre’, a magical debut novel by Joanna Quinn. Centred round the eccentric upbringing of three children growing up by the Dorset coast, the story begins just as WW1 has finished and ends just as WWII is coming to a close. This book is the ideal summer read which allows you to get lost in the captivating world of the Seagrove family across the generations.

Jasper Seagrove arrives with his new young bride Rosalind at Chilcombe, the family home in Dorset, following the death of his first wife leaving him a both a widower and a father of a young daughter. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the family across death, marriage and war. At the heart of the story are three young children. The eldest Cristabel is bright, feisty and quite the tomboy, Digby is artistic and sensitive like his mother Rosalind and Flossie is a contented daydreamer. All have varying different parents but together lead a rather wild and dysfunctional life within the confines of Chilcombe, brought up by a French governess whilst the adults host glamorous parties. Added to the mix is Taras, a Bohemian artist who lives with two women and a troupe of wild children. One day 12-year-old Crista discovers a beached whale and instantly tries to claim it has her own. With the help of Taras, who sees something special in Cristabel, they preserve the whale’s carcass to make an outdoor theatre and the family become well known for hosting productions, Greek and then Shakespeare, creating imaginary worlds for the local audience. Whilst Digby is a natural acting star, Crista has a talent for directing.

The story moves to the war and correspondence between the family, particularly Crista and Digby as they both serve their country and due to a childhood of speaking French turn out to be valuable recruits as secret agents in occupied France. Back at Chilcombe the whale theatre becomes a vegetable garden overseen by Flossie, with the help of two German prisoners, before she too joins the war effort in Dorset. Can the Chilcombe estate survive and will the Seagrove family be reunited?

This is an epic piece of immersive storytelling across the generations. Quinn’s writing has a wonderful tempo set against the backdrop of the Dorset countryside and the French resistance. Art, theatre and music are beautifully interwoven into the narrative showing their importance in wartime. At times you feel that Quinn could have taken greater risks and allow a darker side to some of her characters to create heightened tension, but nevertheless it is a warm and thoroughly enjoyable read and the perfect book to pack in your holiday suitcase.

IN THE TWILIGHT

IN THE TWILIGHT

‘In the Twilight’ is a collection of short stories set in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century by the accomplished playwright Anton Chekhov. Picked by a Reading Den fan, it was this collection, his third, that received the prestigious Pushkin Prize after it was published in 1888. Whilst best known for his plays such as 'The Cherry Orchard' and 'The Seagull', Chekhov is considered one of the greatest writers of the short story genre, making this a fabulous choice for book clubs as well as an inspiration to explore more of his work.

This edition, published by Alma Books (2014) and still widely available in print and as an e-book, contains 16 stories from Chekhov’s original collection presenting a slice of life, be it a country walk, travellers on the move, domestic moments in time, a court room drama or a church event. There is little to connect the stories, only perhaps that the characters, from a wide spectrum of life and fortune are all reaching a crossroad in their lives, in which what they say and do defines their path (even if we the reader don’t get the chance to be told the consequences of their actions). Chekhov effortlessly sets the scene as we are dropped into a short story to find ourselves observing moments and interactions amongst family, friends and neighbours, travellers, lovers, religious figures and governing officials.

Fast forward to now and Chekhov's short stories remain fresh and relevant - capturing the essence of his characters battling the elements of life. Popular gems in the collection include “Agafya’, ‘Misfortune’ and ‘On The Road’. The Den enjoyed the touching tale of Vera’s unrequited love in ‘Verochka’.’ And ‘The Witch’ which had a dark and comic twist, reminiscent of Roald Dahl's 'Tales of the Unexpected' collection.

Brevity and precision are expertly used by Chekhov reflecting perhaps a new realism that was permeating Russian life at the time as this was a tumultuous period in history for a country that bore witness to the changing social and political reform including the abolition of serfdom and with this the end of feudalism.

In the introduction we learn that Chekhov explained his choice of title to his brother "In the Twilight - there’s an allegory here: life is twilight, and the reader who has brought the book should read it at twilight, whilst resting from the day’s labour.".

Whilst you may find yourself reading the collection on the move, maybe at speed over the spring time break we are sure it'll provide lots of discussion for your next book club gathering.

GLORIOUS EXPLOITS

GLORIOUS EXPLOITS

‘Glorious Exploits’ is an original and entertaining debut novel by the Irish author, Ferdia Lennon, that presents a new and witty historical tragicomedy set at the end of the Peloponnesian War, 412 BC. But you don’t have to be a classicist to enjoy this novel.

Set on the island of Sicily, the story opens with two local potters Lampo and Gelon of Syracuse, who are visiting the local quarry which is holding thousands of Athenian soldiers captive.

"So Gelon says to me, ‘Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians."

From the start the reader is drawn in by the comic and cheeky Irish vernacular which sets the tone for the novel and enables compassion and kindness in the deadly dark quarry that is holding the island’s enemy.

With no work on the horizon for the local potters, the two young men exchange scraps of bread and olives for recitals of lines from the much loved Greek tragedies enjoyed by Athenians and Sicilians alike. Overcome by their poetic delivery, Lampo has a proposition - to put on Medea in the quarry "Full production with chorus, masks and shit", on the basis that you can hate the Athenians but still enjoy their plays. Redefining themselves as unlikely directors Lampo and Gelon quickly set about casting, sourcing funding and commissioning costumes and stage sets. Their enthusiasm elevates their ambition and the plan expands to not just ‘Medea’ but also ‘The Trojan Women’ (in fear that these plays by Euripides might never survive or get the chance to be seen again). As the performance of the play draws closer the lines between friends and foes are blurring testing their moral compasses within their own communities and amongst their enemy who are integral to the production.

There is also love interest for Lampo who falls for a Persian slave girl from another war torn territory. The tragedy of war runs deep. Everyone has a tragic story to tell which makes this novel all the more captivating and a book you want to pass on because it brings hope to humanity.

The Den particularly enjoyed the audiobook which was narrated by the author - a rare opportunity to bring Lennon's own voice to his story.

KILLING THATCHER: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown

KILLING THATCHER: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown

Our Wild Card this month is a gripping non-fiction historical narrative about the audacious attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher during the Conservative party conference held in Brighton in October 1984. Guardian journalist Rory Carroll gives a fascinating visualisation into the minds and thinking of all sides, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), the personality of Maggie Thatcher and her government and those involved in the subsequent police manhunt. This all makes for an insightful and riveting thriller read.

Carroll divides his research into three parts, the genesis of a plot, the countdown to the explosion and lastly the long manhunt for the culprits all of which he derived from memoirs, eyewitnesses, police reports and court records. He tells the story through the perspective of various individuals central to this monumental event revolving around Patrick Magee who planted the bomb. Carroll seeks to shed light on why someone of Irish descent, yet who grew up in England, chose to take this infamous path.

The Troubles had been part of life in Northern Ireland and to a different extent, in the UK for several years before the Brighton bombing of 1984. Carroll reminds us of the shocking murder of Louis Mountbatten, the lingering hunger strikes, through to the various IRA atrocities before focusing on the specific build up and behind the scenes work leading up to Magee planting a timed bomb in Room 629 of the Grand Hotel on Brighton’s seafront set to explode on October 12th 1984. Carroll examines the specific circumstances surrounding the explosion, the element of chance involved and the meticulous preparation both sides undertook for their cause, whether that be destroying the government of the day or hunting down the perpetrators. The book reads like a thriller, and for those who remember the Brighton bombing, it not only reminds us of those iconic moments, such as Norman Tebbit being pulled out of the rubble on live TV, but enlightens us to the lesser known facts and long-term consequences of those caught up in the bomb.

The Grand was an iconic landmark hotel in Brighton and a timeless representation of the British monarchy, in which royal portraits adorned the walls and various leaders and celebrities chose to stay here. Magee and the IRA believed that if they could bring down Thatcher, they would be victorious in bringing down British imperialism and uniting Ireland. Whilst the IRA may have committed a crime no one thought possible, it gave Thatcher the golden opportunity to show her resolve and “carry on” - she refused to cancel the party’s conference and went ahead with her speech. It helped Thatcher win an unprecedented third term in office. Yet it did change Thatcher. Carroll believes she forever felt guilty towards those whose lost their lives and in particular the impact it had on her closest friend and colleague Norman Tebbit and his wife Margaret who was paralysed in the bomb. He also believes it led to a certain degree of paranoia which affected her judgement, some of which would result in long-term policy changes. An interesting and thought provoking true crime/political/historical/factual read for this month.

BIG SWISS

BIG SWISS

A funny, tragic and darkly absurd story of an unlikely relationship between two women of polar opposites, who seek sanctuary and love in each other’s unconventional lifestyles. The perfect time to read this funny and affectionately bizarre story before it arrives to the screen starring (what better casting!) Jodie Comer.

Greta is middle aged, single, broke and has moved from California with her precious Jack Russell dog called Piñon to a dilapidated mansion in Hudson NYC owned by her eccentric friend Sabine. Greta works as a transcriber for the town’s sex and relationship coach called Om for a book he is writing. Greta finds herself particularly drawn to his latest client whom she names Big Swiss for the simple reason she is tall and from Switzerland. Big Swiss comes across as a strong and formidable woman. She is a gynaecologist, married and wealthy, but we soon discover has experienced a near death beating in her younger years and has never experienced an orgasm. One day, whilst walking Piñon in the dog park Greta bumps into Big Swiss (real name Flavia), instantly recognises this person from Om’s couch and decides to start up a conversation. To avoid detection, Greta calls herself Rebecca and fails to disclose that she is privy to Big Swiss’s sessions with Om. So begins an intense and perilous relationship.

This book is tragic, funny and darkly absurd. The unlikely relationship between Greta and Big Swiss unearths both their pent-up anxieties and hidden suffering. At times the story is quite 'off the wall’ with Greta’s haphazard living arrangements adding to the bizarreness. There is a beehive occupying her kitchen ceiling and various less welcome insect invasions invading the house and many of the periphery characters seem to be life’s ‘oddballs’. As the relationship between Greta and Big Swiss intensifies so it is only a matter of time before the wrong word will be said, or they will be seen together. The intensity of their clandestine relationship reaches boiling point when Piñon is injured causing Greta to spiral into theatrical hysteria, her screaming sounding like “badly played bagpipes” and forcing both women to confront their own internal demons.

LOOK WHO'S BACK

LOOK WHO'S BACK

‘Look Who’s Back’ is a popular German satirical novel originally published in 2011 about Adolf Hitler who wakes up in modern Berlin to find himself clashing with a new world order. Following its success, the novel has been translated into English (2014) and the basis for a black comedy film of the same name (2015) which has been aired on leading TV platforms. A daring novel written by German journalist, history scholar and ghostwriter, Timur Vermes - for readers looking for a Wild Card choice that will challenge and shake up any book club.

It’s Berlin 2011 and the Führer has woken up to find life has changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party and no war. In fact he barely recognises the new Fatherland now filled with immigrants - and with a woman in charge (Angela Murkel)! Rising from the ashes - a patch of earth, Hitler dusts down his uniform and is welcomed as a comic impersonator who refuses to break character.

This novel is shocking and challenging in equal measure as we the reader are lured into the story, told from Hitler’s perspective. However we clearly recognise his insanity and how his thinking is completely at odds with his community and us the readers.

The premise of a historical figure waking up in modern times gives rise to plenty of amusing encounters and it was easy to imagine the surprise and incredulity from our own ancestors and deceased elders, let alone a dictator. There were plenty of comic moments as the twentieth century character comes to terms with technology and communication and simple modern day conveniences such as self service shopping and local chemists in which Mr Boots will not be serving you! The comical aspect of the story lures the reader into the novel and it seems very plausible to imagine how such a monstrous leader and personality might rise to fame in the modern world. In this case, the 'impersonator' is loved for his authenticity and comic genius - always appearing in character (whilst we the reader understand this is the real Hitler). In fact, Hilter’s grotesque slanders finds him further notoriety and adoration amongst his fans.

The outrageous satire sparked lively discussion in our book club and it was easy to see how modern day leaders and personalities can easily exploit social media platforms to spin stories and manipulate its audiences. This was a chilling read and warning to all on how the unthinkable can happen - without even considering the emergence of AI and deep fake resources.

This won’t be a choice for all book clubs - but it certainly is a Wild Card option!

WATER

WATER

‘Water’ by John Boyne is the author’s first instalment of his Elements series. Written by the master of storytelling including the Den’s much loved ‘The Hearts Invisible Furies’ readers and bookclubbers will be consumed by this immersive tale that can easily be read in one sitting.

Written in the first person, ‘Water’ is a short and captivating story about a woman who arriving on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, changes her name to Willow Hale to escape Dublin and all recognition from her previous life, choosing to live as a hermit in a small cottage. Her first act is to cut away at her hair. This is an alarming start to the novella but one that the reader cautiously accepts because we are in Vanessa’s head and absorbed by her vulnerability, her heightened emotions of guilt, anger and sadness, hanging onto a secret that she is shamed to share but one we know we will discover as the story unfolds.

Vanessa tries her best to appear as an anonymous loner within the island’s small isolated community. However she can’t evade what little there is and all those who frequent the old pub, the new pub, the church and the island’s grocery store. Vanessa is welcomed by the local priest and this takes her back to life with her husband and family and through this encounter the reader discovers flashbacks allowing us to understand her backstory and what it is that she is running away from.

Whilst access to the mainland is limited Vanessa is not completely disconnected from her old life and this is a reminder of her sadness and unhappiness, with texts giving us some impression of her broken relationship with Rebecca, one of her daughters.

Vanessa also has a series of events and chance meetings on the island that help provide some perspective on her past as well as liberating and enabling her to be more independent and care-free - culminating in a noticeable change of character - unexpected hope and a sense of new beginnings.

Whilst there is a deep and traumatic undercurrent to ‘Water’, the Den enjoyed Vanessa’s new found inner strength of identity, confidence and bravery surviving a life changing trauma, as well as a respect for the curious and intriguing islanders that enrich her life and the story.

For those who are eager for more the next instalment, ‘Earth’ is already published for keen fans of Boyne's work. A series you won't want to miss out on!

THE ENGLISH PATIENT

THE ENGLISH PATIENT

'The English Patient' not only won the Booker Prize in 1992 but also the 2018 Golden Booker Award so springtime feels like the perfect time to read or revisit this wonderful classic. A caveat however is that if you have seen the iconic Oscar winning film, it takes a while to push these images out of your head.

The story is set in San Girolamo Villa which had been used as a military hospital during WWII. Located 20 miles outside Florence in Italy, the war has just come to an end. Hana, a Canadian nurse has refused to return with her colleagues and opted to look after a severely burnt and nameless “Englishman” in this rundown villa. She is joined by Kip, a Sikh sapper working for the British army and Caravaggio, a thief and friend of Hana’s father who also works for the intelligence service. Through this unlikely union of characters the back story develops.

Everyone in the Den was mesmerised by this book. It is a beautiful and sensual novel, which skilfully transports you into the intriguing and different lives of these 4 individuals. They all share a sense of sadness and loneliness in the world, but are drawn to each other by the random circumstances of war. As the story develops we learn about the deep love story between this injured English Patient and Katherine, a wife of one his friends during their time working in the desert in Egypt. He falls in love with her after hearing her recite poetry “That night I fell in love with a voice.” Alongside this is Kit, who forged out his path as a gifted bomb disposal expert.

There are some magical scenes between all of them and just when you think they are beginning to understand each other, move forward from previous mistrust and all be on the same page, Kit hears some news which forces him to leave suddenly and crush these special relationships.

This is an iconic novel, which any book club should read. The pace of the novel is exquisite and the images linger long in the memory.

THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE

THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE

Richard Osman released his latest Thursday Murder Club mystery last year and whilst still in hardback (paperback released in May 2024), ‘The Last Devil To Die’ is a fabulously compulsive read for book clubbers looking for entertainment and the chance to catch up with their favourite murder club besties - Joyce, Elisabeth, Ibrahim and Ron. The perfect dose of comedy, compassion and a thrilling crime to be solved.

It’s Christmas time at Coopers Chase but it doesn’t take long for The Thursday Murder Club to find themselves drawn into another suspicious and untimely death involving an old friend in the antique business who has mysteriously been killed and a package he was protecting gone missing. As readers we are delighted to be reunited with the gang as well as drawn into another adventure that takes the team away from their cosy retirement village and on the road to the South Coast to meet with art fraudsters and heroine dealers. Will they be able to find the murderer of their friend? Will they be able to track down the mystery package? Meanwhile back at Coopers Chase a new resident has been tricked into an on-line romance or rather scam. There is also a sub-plot involving Elizabeth who is preoccupied with caring for her husband Stephen who has advancing dementia.

The novel contains the same laughs, a new heartache and a devilish mystery. Something for every Murder Club fan with the biggest tease - who will be the last devil to die?

The Den remain loyal to the characters and enjoyed this quintessentially English murder mystery. Book clubbers will also appreciate the opportunity to indulge in this cosy armchair read. ‘The Last Devil To Die’ won’t fail to disappoint fans but if you are new to the series, it would be wise to read Osman’s earlier novels in the collection.

IN ORDER TO LIVE: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

IN ORDER TO LIVE: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

“my mother told me not to whisper because even the birds and mice could hear me”

Yeonmi Park was 13 when she defected from North Korea, first escaping across the border into China and from there to begin a new life in South Korea. She now lives in USA, where she is an author and human rights campaigner who continues to fight for change in the country of her birth. Aged 21, she wrote her memoir ‘In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom’ which documents her remarkable journey from this dictatorship regime.

As a young girl, Yeonmi lived in Hyesan, a North Korean city on the border with China, with her parents and elder sister Eunmi. During her early years, both Yeonmi’s parents had good jobs by North Korean standards, yet they were still very poor and always starving, so their father smuggled goods across the border from China, selling them illegally on the black market to supplement their income. When the economy in North Korea collapses in the 1990s and famine ensues, the state clamps down on such activity and her father, Park Jin Sik, is first sent to a labour camp and later imprisoned causing the family’s position and wealth to spiral to the lowest levels.

During this time, Yeonmi describes the oppression and suffering, always starving. What is particularly poignant to note, is that because they are continually fed lies, they were never able to practise critical thinking. The only love North Koreans knew was for their ‘Dear Leader’ who was their almighty God and whom they believed was suffering and starving like all North Koreans were. With a sub-standard education, it was impossible to comprehend that the hardship they were experiencing wasn’t normal. The situation becomes so desperate for the family that Yeonmi’s mother is forced to leave both her daughters alone in their tiny apartment for days on end with barely any food and no light. Yeonmi’s account of this time is harrowing and hard to imagine.

By 2007 the situation reaches tipping point and with their father still in prison, the rest of the family make the monumental decision to try to flee to North Korea across the river into China. Eunmi is 16 and Yoenmi is 13. Living on the border, the family could see the bright lights of China at night and perhaps this was what allowed them to imagine a life beyond their own. The consequences of this choice are far-reaching. Apart from the unimaginable risk of what will happen to them if they are caught, for anyone who defected, the rest of the family left behind in North Korea were made to suffer. Eunmi leaves first, unexpectedly and with no warning. It is left to Yeonmi and her mother to take this highly risky journey together. Yeonmi has been very ill and so is already extremely weak when they finally escape. They soon discover life in China is not the golden ticket they thought it would be. They are at the mercy of human traffickers. She later says that it was the humiliation of this trafficking that held her back from telling her story and some of it is distressing to read.

Finally, Yeonmi and her mother take a further dangerous decision to flee China to get to South Korea, where they know they will be welcomed and safe but if they are caught trying to escape, that they will be killed. After much preparation and under the guise of a Christian Missionary group led by a South Korean pastor, they are guided to make the treacherous walk miles across the Gobi desert in freezing temperatures from China to Mongolia where they will be sent to South Korea. The final section of the book follows Yeonmi and her mother trying to adapt to a totally different kind of life and freedom in South Korea together with the continued search for Eunmi.

This is an astonishing memoir of survival and determination. Den tip – it is worth viewing one of the talks Park has given to hear some of the stories and what her life was like first hand.

IT ENDS WITH US

IT ENDS WITH US

‘It Ends with Us’ is a raw, heart wrenching romantic drama by best selling author Colleen Hoover and released this summer in cinemas (August), starring starring Gossip Girl star, Blake Lively.

Based on the author’s own personal experiences, ‘It Ends with Us’ is Lily’s story, a young graduate who leaves her small town in Maine for Boston to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams of setting up a flower shop. On arrival Lily meets a charming, playful and successful neurosurgeon, Ryle. Attracted by his assertiveness and sometimes arrogance, Lily is smitten and starts a world wind romance which seems too good to be true. As the relationship becomes serious, Ryle unleashes his temper to reveal an abusive side that is uncomfortable for Lily. Love blurs her ability to assess the dangers and before we know it we are spiralling (with Lily) into a dark place. However her first love, Atlas unexpectedly appears back into her life and his suspicions surrounding Ryle are raised. But how and why can’t Lily see the direction of her relationship with Ryle?

The reader discovers a number of events and circumstances that affect Lily’s dilemmas surrounding Ryle and this gave book club plenty to discuss and debate. Not an easy read for some but it certainly encouraged us to understand how and why women become trapped in their relationships and are unable to assess its disturbing attributes. An emotional read for many of us and a taste of modern love affairs resulting in an addictive page turner.

The sequel 'It Starts With Us' is another bestseller by Hoover and also available in paperback.

A RIP IN HEAVEN

A RIP IN HEAVEN

Book club fans of 'American Dirt' may not be aware of the author's earlier work, 'A Rip in Heaven' but a Den fan selected this book as part of our "Your Discoveries" feedback page. This book is a non-fiction true crime memoir, based on a personal, traumatic family tragedy, which Jeanine Cummins wrote in 2004 at the request of her brother. A powerful and crushing account of the family's personal suffering following their heart-breaking ordeal.

In April 1991, when Cummins was 16, her brother Tom and her two cousins, Julie and Robin Kelly were brutally attacked on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St Louis Missouri before being thrown into the Mississippi river by their four attackers. Tom survived but the cousins didn’t and Robin's body has never been recovered. It was spring break and had been the cousins last night together before Tom and his two sisters were to return back home to Washington DC. Julie was a budding poet and wanted to show Tom one of her poems which she had graffitied onto the bridge.

Cummins writes in the third person about herself, using her family nickname - Tink. The aim of the memoir is to tell the story from the perspective of the victims and their families’ point of view, especially as in this case, the police force’s initial misjudgement was uncompromisingly flawed and later the press coverage of the case focused on the murderers rather than the victims, giving them an elevated status. Cummins didn’t want her cousins to be forgotten or what happened to their family to be overlooked and fade into insignificance.

It is clear that when Cummins writes this story that she feels a sense of responsibility to ensure she doesn’t let relatives down. By doing so, she does seem to over-justify some of the less sensible decisions they made, but it is a remarkably honest and compelling piece of writing which stays with you long after you have finished reading it and there is no doubt you have a greater understanding for the victims of this horrific and unexpected crime which affected this perfectly normal happy family. It is a fitting tribute and a great legacy to both cousins who so traumatically lost their young lives. This true crime memoir is thought provoking, gripping and an eloquent homage to her cousins, brother and the rest of her family.

THE FORTUNES OF FRANCIS BARBER

THE FORTUNES OF FRANCIS BARBER

‘The Fortunes of Francis Barber’ tells the story of a young child born into slavery in Jamaica who arrives in London circa 1752 to find himself serving in the household of the literary critic, playwright and man of letters, Dr Samuel Johnson.

Written by commercial city lawyer, Michael Bundock, the author originally stumbled upon Dr Johnson’s historic home in Gough Square in his lunch hour and it wasn’t long before he found his own curiosity getting the better of him and leading to this fascinating story. Was Barber employed as a slave or a servant by Johnson and how and why did Barber became Johnson’s chief beneficiary?

‘The Fortunes of Francis Barber’ lures the reader into the author’s own journey of discovery by re-imagining the scene of Johnson’s home in the heart of bustling London, 1752. Having captured our attention the author shares and examines extracts from the biographies and letters of Samuel Johnson, which provide plenty of material for us to piece together Barber’s story and appreciate the close relationship between Johnson and Barber.

The author chronicles Barber’s life in Gough Square and his work thereafter as an apothecary assistant and joining the British navy during the Seven Years’ War. Johnson however was clearly alarmed by the reports of the war and assisted with Barber’s early release and return to his household.

Bundock’s forensic and measured approach to the resources make this book a credible account of the life for Barber and the black community in London. There are also plenty of stories of London life sourced from Johnson’s friends through their letters to him, backed up by illustrations and paintings by artists of the time including ‘A Young Black’ by Joshua Reynolds which is thought to be a portrait of Francis Barber.

As well as presenting the strong bond between Johnson and Barber, the reader is able to appreciate Dr Johnson’s charitable nature and his own story of eclectic friends and characters who he attracted to help him with his work, specifically compiling his great Dictionary of the English Language which took some years to complete.

Recommended by a Den reader, this is a fascinating account and one that gave book club plenty to discuss. It was very informative making us all curious to discover more, maybe in the form of a visit to Dr Johnson’s House in London.

First published in 2015, this paperback edition was commissioned in 2021.

GOOD MATERIAL

GOOD MATERIAL

‘Good Material’ is Dolly Alderton’s second novel, after ‘Ghosts’, and she has stolen our hearts yet again with a story of a ‘break-up’ wrapped up in gentle humour, touching moments about heartache and a true and deeper understanding of love.

“Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. And he can’t work out why she stopped.

Now he is …
1. Without a home
2. Waiting for his stand-up career to take off
3. Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn’t looking”

‘Good Material’ tells the story of an unexpected break-up of a well established 30something couple, told to us from the perspective of Andy who is trying to process the how, the why and the what if he was able to win her back. Written loosely as journal entries - the days, weeks and months unfold before us sharing Andy's devastation and how he gradually attempts to come to terms with ‘the break up’. As readers we can all relate to the friends who rally round to form ‘WhatsApp - let’s help Andy’ groups. We also recognise the switch to anger, resentment and then a concerted effort for reinvention of a better self. A new diet and new fitness regime, experimenting with a dating app - and maybe even a new personal trainer.

Full of warmth and humour the Den loved listening to this novel as an audiobook because the writing is effortless and as a reader we all enjoy the chatty style of Alderton’s storytelling. There are also plenty of humorous twists and entertaining cameo scenes that lighten the pain of a 'break up'. A bit like life!

Other books by Dolly Alderton in the Den's library include 'Ghosts' and her recent 'Dear Dolly - on love, life and friendship'.

MOLLY & THE CAPTAIN

MOLLY & THE CAPTAIN

‘Molly & The Captain’ by Anthony Quinn is a delightful and absorbing novel about three families spanning 3 centuries whose lives are interconnected revolving around art and love. An immersive historical fiction.

The first section of the novel sets up the story of a successful artist, William Merrymount in Georgian England whose private painting of a double portrait, that of his daughters ‘Molly and the Captain’, becomes a treasured and intriguing centrepiece. Through a series of diary entries and letters written by the eldest daughter, Laura shares her perspective of her celebrated father in whose footsteps she follows, her ambition as an artist and her fear of failure living in his shadow. Laura accompanies her father from Bath to London and is immersed in the vibrant city. Her diary entries provide a window into life in the West End and later joining her sister in Kentish Town, looking back at her own misfortune in love, family secrets and how her own passion for art leads her to an unexpected masterpiece of her own making, ‘Portrait of a Young Man’.

Rolling forward into the next century readers find themselves in Kensington Gardens observing another artist, this time a young man, Paul Stransom, whose creative energies are consumed by the park’s vista and its line of elm trees that captivate and demand his attention. The subject of his painting is interrupted by a mother playing with her daughters which he paints setting off a mystery in his own mind about who they are and why they are there. Whilst preoccupied by these events his sister Maggie has become embroiled with Paul’s artist friends and the auction of a painting that captures her eye, that is the ‘Portrait of a Young Man’. The painting becomes a token of love and entangled in a proposal, followed by some unexpected courting.

Just as the reader comes to terms with the end of the novel’s second romantic rollercoaster and family drama, we are thrust forward to ‘80s London and back to Kentish Town in which a retiring painter and her two grown up daughters discover an ancestral link to William Merrymount and the missing double portrait. Set against a political backdrop of an election and the cultural evolution of punk we are further entertained by Billie a successful actress (a character who appears in one of Quinn's earlier novels) who discovers the Merrymount journals that we the reader have been privy to.

The three families and 3 stories make wonderful talking points in book club as we looked back in the Den at generational themes of behaviour, talents and misgivings. It was also interesting to appreciate the struggles of talented artists, the sacrifices made within families to benefit their survival and the strong bond of love.

Quinn fans can look forward to some ‘Eureka’ moments and nods to historical London artists and celebrities. A wonderful ambitious novel that you may never want to end.

Other books by the same author in the Den include ‘London Calling’, ‘Our Friends in Berlin’ and ‘Curtain Call’, the later being adapted into a period film, 'The Critic' starring Ian McKellen and Gemma Arterton (awaiting release in UK).

THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN

THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN

For lovers of historical fiction based on a true story, this is a joyous read. 'The Personal Librarian' is a collaboration from Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray about an African American woman who helped J. P. Morgan build his prestigious and famous manuscript and art collection during the early 1900's, all the while passing as a white woman.

In order to succeed in the world as an African American woman in America during this period, Belle’s mother tells her she cannot and must not reveal her heritage. So, being of pale skin, Belle and her siblings pass themselves off as white, much to the disappointment of their principled father, Richard Greener who fights for racial equality and consequently feels compelled to abandon his family. Belle Greener becomes Belle da Costa Greene which to the outside world stems from her Portuguese grandmother. When Belle lands the top job of Personal Librarian to the eminent and extremely powerful J. P. Morgan in New York, it becomes even more essential that she doesn’t reveal her true identity. Gradually she forms a close working bond with J.P. Morgan and consequently she is allowed to procure valuable pieces of art and rare manuscripts for his growing library. But as Belle’s success and fame begins to spread across different continents and her relationship with J. P. Morgan deepens so it becomes harder to keep her true identity secret. To succeed as an African American woman in the upper echelons of society at this time was virtually impossible so to know this story is based on the real Belle da Costa Greene adds to its appeal.

This is a fascinating read which opens the reader’s eyes to the decisions young African Americans had to make to leave behind their heritage to further their careers and on achieving success the lengths and sacrifices they endured to not reveal their past. It was a life constantly lived on tender hooks and this story beautifully shares the impact such a double life had on Belle and her family which meant she could never really totally enjoy and embrace her achievements or form long lasting relationships. The reconnection with her father is particularly poignant.

This book scored a solid 7-8 out of 10 in the Den. A few of us sometimes thought Belle was portrayed as too perfect and therefore it was initially hard to be on her side. But others thought this merely highlighted that she always had to bring her best performance to the table and made them empathise with her more. Certainly plenty of material to talk about in your book club made all the more easier with the readers’ guide questions for discussion included at the end of the book! We have even added a few of our own too in the Den’s IB questions for this month!

THE OFFING

THE OFFING

‘That distant stretch of sea where sky and water merge. It’s called the offing.’

Dulcie Piper had always been expecting Robert Appleyard. Sixteen year old Robert has wandered into the gardens of her small cottage overlooking the North Sea. ‘Oh, there you are.” says this tall, eccentric elder woman as if she had been expecting him to walk into her life that very second. And so begins this beautiful story of a remarkable relationship. WWII has just finished and the resulting hardships and rations are very much still in place. Robert has completed his school exams and decided to explore the country before returning to follow his father’s inevitable path down the mines when he stumbles into the idyllic, overgrown grounds of Dulcie’s home.

Decades apart in age, Dulcie opens Robert’s eyes to a world beyond the collieries awaiting him. Through nature, good food, plenty of alcohol and most importantly literature she uncovers his potential. In return for her hospitality, Robert renovates a small cabin which clearly holds secrets from her past. Dulcie is plain speaking and opinionated but also generous and intelligent. She revels in shocking Robert with her views on Germans, famous people she has met such as Noel Coward and D H Lawrence and delights in his ignorance of good food and wine. Despite her cantankerous, abrupt manner, she nurtures this young man and allows him to see an alternative future for himself. At the same time Robert exposes Dulcie’s vulnerability, unravelling her past and allowing her to finally emerge from her buried secrets and tragedy.

Myers appreciation for the beauty and healing power of nature and the countryside of North East England compliment this unlikely friendship and it is hardly surprising this touching story is due to be made into a film starring Helena Bonham Carter and directed by Jessica Hobbs.

COLDITZ - PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE

COLDITZ - PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE

‘Colditz - Prisoners of the Castle’ is Ben MacIntrye’s latest true story of the most infamous castle in WW2 where dangerous daredevil and defiant allied prisoners were held captive. Perfect read to bunker down with this November. And now in paperback!

This new and real Colditz story comes from the skilled and best selling historian, Ben MacIntyre bringing together what we think we know of the mythical castle and more. Colditz was a huge historical gothic castle in East Germany that became the highest security prison, set up in the 3rd Reich, for captured officers of all nationalities made up of Brits, Poles, Dutch, French, Belgians and laterally Americans - who all distinguished themselves for escaping from other prison camps.

Everyone has a favourite character. Be it the eccentric ‘Clutty of M19’ (the model for James Bond’s Q) who created secret gizmos such as false passports in board games, secret inks and hidden compasses in walnuts. Or double-amputee Douglas Bader the famous pilot who became a ‘poster boy’ in Germany’s propaganda. And then there is Eggers, the German officer and head of security at the castle whose earlier profession as a school master (teaching in Cheltenham no less) and an Anglophile treated his prisoners as naughty school boys, confiscating their escape booty and leading the ‘cat and mouse’ game that appeared to exist at the castle. Or the irrepressible Pat Reid who was one of the few British officers to escape.

The book exposes how and why Colditz saw more attempted escapes than any other prison camp. Readers discover how the old castle provided scope for tunnels within its cavernous design, hidden staircases and medieval locks. In fact, Colditz was an escape academy in which the officers colluded but also thrived in international rivalry- resulting in 18 different tunnels being built at the same time. We also appreciate how the prisoners were encouraged and allowed to blow off steam - either in the Colditz Olympic Games or in the theatre which staged regular plays and shows.

There are plenty of remarkable and stand out stories but one that touched the Den was the Indian doctor, Birendra Mazumdar, who was the only Indian officer serving in the British Army Royal Army Medical Corps. This didn’t serve him well at Colditz. He was mistrusted and excluded from all escape plans on the grounds of his colour and his identity as an Indian national which was at odds with his loyal allegiance to the Crown. His hunger strike forced a transfer to an all-Indian camp in France from which he successfully escaped to Switzerland in 1943. But even then the allies suspected he was a spy!

All these stories build up a fascinating picture of life for inmates at this seemingly impenetrable castle. A great book club choice especially for history lovers and readers who enjoy the accounts of those imprisoned and attempted an escape.

THE BEE STING

THE BEE STING

Shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, 'The Bee Sting' by Paul Murray is a scintillating piece of storytelling revolving round the lives of four members of an affluent Irish family as their comfortable lives come tumbling down around them. A luminous and exhilarating read.

We soon discover that life for Dickie Barnes is not going as planned. His car business is failing due to the economic downturn. His teenage daughter Cassie who hopes to follow Dickie’s own path and go to Trinity University seems to be going off the rails and drinking and 12-year-old PJ, his not particularly cool son, is being bullied and ostracised. Even his beautiful and loyal wife Imelda seems preoccupied and angry with him for spoiling their comfortable life. Having grown up in poverty and an abusive environment she certainly doesn’t want to return to her previous existence of shame and insecurity.

The book becomes tragically comical as it seems the whole family live in terror. Dickie’s life further unravels as Murray introduces his and Imelda’s back story and why are there no photos of Dickie and Imelda’s wedding? Dickie’s answer to his own predicament and the family’s imminent crisis is to spend every minute of every day building an apocalypse proof bunker with the local oddball handyman called Victor, even roping in poor helpless PJ on the basis that when the impending climate change judgement day arrives they will take retreat to their underground bolthole. Meanwhile Cassie dislikes everyone and everything (including her own boyfriend!) with the exception of her best friend Elaine, a rich good time party girl. This destructive relationship takes on a pivotal role later in the book.

As the relationship between Dickie and Imelda worsens, PJ dreads being sent to boarding school and so seeks refuge in an online friend who invites him to stay in Dublin. As for his faithful wife Imelda, she is haunted by ghosts from her past, which all seems to stem from the death of Dickie’s brother Frank, and the infamous bee sting on her wedding day. But it is the ghosts from the past which cause their paths to converge with horrifying consequences.

Murray has a gift for impressive storytelling, often finding humour in the darkest moments of tragedy. He also has a wonderful knack of switching the rhythm of his writing using different punctuation. The sections told through Imelda contain no fullstops and are like a stream of consciousness, illustrating her lack of education and impulsive actions. The last section of the book switches to third person. It is a nail-biting finish and certainly has a sting in the tail as the Barnes family’s past comes to a head and they hurtle towards their dramatic finale. It makes for a tense and brilliant climax and is sure to leave you and your book club with many questions.

At 643 pages long it is an epic story but Murray has certainly created a highly entertaining rollercoaster of a read which will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

NORMAL RULES DON'T APPLY

NORMAL RULES DON'T APPLY

‘Normal Rules Don’t Apply’ is a collection of interconnected short stories by one of the Den’s favourite story tellers Kate Atkinson. Returning to this format after 20 years, Atkinson’s imagination is on fire fusing fantasy with the everyday. A feast for all book lovers and Atkinson fans - as well as a lovely present for forward thinking gifters.

The collection kicks off with ‘The Void’ a despotic tale imagining how the end of the world might happen for Ted and his family - when the outdoors is literally plunged into darkness and it becomes a dangerous place for all living creatures. Recently widowed the reader takes a peak into Ted’s life and his family as they experience this inexplicable ‘void'. Whilst the story is short Atkinson quickly gains our full attention. We are invested in her characters, even though we know it might not be for long!

The stories are varied, magical and upside-down in which normal rules definitely don’t apply - with talking dogs, racehorses, a riches to rags fairytale, a blithe spirit looking down on her own post mortem, death and life and ‘the void’ that no one can escape from not even Princess Anne!

Atkinson fans will be pleased to see the return of Franklin a recurring character in many of her novels, this time working as a producer for a TV soap ‘Green Acres’. The characters and the soap pop up throughout the book providing extra nods and threads that unite the stories in a captivating tapestry of life.

The author is not afraid to have fun with her readers, looking at the madness of the world now and how it could be. Even as we see and feel the collection coming to a close, readers can delight in the tales as they are beautifully composed, funny and sanguine, with plenty of clever twists and light-hearted humour. Even in Gene-sis the author takes us aside with her character Kitty. Whilst the world is imploding around them we sit in on an advertising scene as creatives meet at ‘Edge (Hedge spelt with 'E) to discuss the launch of a new smoothie, Humble. ‘So I am thinking clean and wholesome’ Ewan said ‘A milkmaid, a dairymaid’. We the reader know this is clearly very unlikely but we are equally happy to enjoy the directness and pithiness of Kitty who points out ‘It should be called Poison, in my humble opinion’. One of Kitty's many witty commentaries about a world that doesn't make sense.

The Den enjoyed this book in audio, providing ample opportunity to revisit the stories and enjoy the collection. Whilst critics wanted more from the author, book clubbers enjoyed the ability to dip into and return to the collection, whether listening on the move or reading as a night time treat.

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO

‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ (2017) is a popular historical fiction with modern twists, set in the glamour years of old Hollywood. A bestseller in the US and the UK this novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, has also been a smash hit on Tik Tok with a Netflix adaptation in the pipeline. No surprise to find this is an enjoyable book club choice and one the Den recommends as a Missed Opportunity, ahead of its next wave of hype! Perfect novel for escapism, especially as the nights draw in.

At the start of the novel we meet Monique, an ambitious but unknown magazine writer, keen to secure herself a scoop and get noticed at the top New York magazine, Vivant. Unexpectedly Monique is invited to give an exclusive interview with the 79 year old Hollywood star, Evelyn Hugo, to promote a charity auction of some of her most iconic gowns. Monique is unclear why the actress has chosen her and visits her apartment, only to discover Evelyn Hugo, now a recluse, wants Monique to write her life story (to be published after her death). Although suspicious, Monique agrees to meet with Evelyn and undertake this career changing opportunity.

The book is divided into 7 sections, each one dedicated to one of Evelyn’s husbands. Through the chronicle of Evelyn’s life with her husbands, the reader discovers how and why her marriages and love affairs evolved and ended along with her own story of how she rose to fame through these relationships. Her own retelling of events is set alongside newspaper articles, which present an alternative ‘fairy tale’ narrative providing further intrigue for the reader, especially as their accounts differ.

‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ looks back at the nostalgic periods of Hollywood’s history from the '50s to present day, challenging the reader to consider hidden scandals for young ambitious women (like Evelyn Hugo) and the price they were prepared to pay. It gave us in the Den plenty to talk about, segued with relevant and recently uncovered scandals - of which there are many!

This Missed Opportunity read will set you questioning the nostalgic sparkle of Hollywood as well as challenging what we are presented with by the press and social media.

SOLDIER SAILOR

SOLDIER SAILOR

"We are together all day but we never have time, if you know what I mean?"

Claire Kilroy throws the reader into the depths of those overwhelming and often isolating first few months of first time motherhood with her sharply observed and brutally honest narrative. 'Soldier Sailor' resembles a stream of consciousness, a jumble of wonderful observations and terrifying insights of those early, unfamiliar first weeks when the realisation of looking after a totally vulnerable and dependent human being strikes like a bolt of lightning.

Written in the third person, the narrator, Soldier, is a first-time mother. The story opens when she is beyond exhaustion and seemingly beaten - is she really going to abandon her baby son, her Sailor, on a cliff path in the cold and give up, believing the most loving act she could do is to end her life and set him free? “Should I remind you again how lonely I was, Sailor, how terribly lonely? I didn’t know my own mind. I certainly did not know it that night.” This is not meant to be morbid, far from it, it is an illustration of how the insanity of tiredness can lead to recklessness.

Grappling with both overwhelming love and resentment, Kilroy addresses the strain early motherhood puts on a marriage as bitterness sets in due to the never-ending exhaustion and exasperation Soldier has with her ‘useless’ husband. There are so many recognisable, extremely funny moments, none more so than when the couple are spending a Saturday in IKEA to buy Sailor’s first bed on his, but apparently not her, 'day off'. There are those moments when her fury at her husband's badly timed tips on parent advice become irrational to those more tender moments when she messages him loving pictures of their baby son.

The book also touches on the effects that motherhood has on the role of women as she begins to lose her identity. It is when Soldier unexpectedly meets an old friend, someone with whom she can recall her fun past and share tips on parenthood, that life begins to take on meaning again. Yet even as she emerges from this sleep deprived relentless period of being a mother, Kilroy reminds us that the love for a child will forever be all consuming. A powerful acknowledgement that motherhood is a job you are perhaps never qualified for and one that never ends.

There are so many wonderfully observed gems that any mother or parent in charge of a child will recognise, from walking out in the night in her pyjamas, the lengthy routines to get food down, the ridiculous car seat straps for which two hands are never enough to the humiliation of mother and toddler clubs when your own child doesn’t conform. What stands this book apart though, is the way Kilroy merges all these moments into one long stream of consciousness so you can feel and share the tiredness, overwhelming love and resentment as vividly as she does. The prose is truthful and charged and will either bring back strong memories for some or show any new mothers that they are not alone.

DR NO

DR NO

‘Dr No’ by Percival Everett is the author’s latest quirky comic satire, inspired by Bond’s supervillain Dr No with a mission intent on revenge and the hunt for literally ‘nothing’. A truly wild card choice for any book club.

The novel revolves around Kitu, a brilliant maths professor and expert of nothing who is employed by the aspiring billionaire villain John Sill who wants to break into Fort Knox to steal its hidden treasure. Just like Bond’s supervillains, this is all part of his master plan for domination and mass destruction. However Sill knows the ultimate outcome will be nothing and Kitu is the perfect partner for his madcap plan.

The novel employs oodles of humour in Kitu’s world of academia along with his mismatched pairing with Sill. Den readers enjoyed Kitu’s playful word games around nothing, juxtaposed with Sill’s bizarre fantasy outlook and his own playbook which embraces a Bond lifestyle taking Kitu (and us the reader) to shark invested waters, on private jets and surrounding us with a cast of dangerous manservants, goons and scantily clad beauties.

As Sill and Kitu move closer to the treasure, the reader is never far away from Sill's own story to avenge his father’s death which he suspects is connected to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Everett’s inventive style of writing has a uniqueness and absurdity that captures the imagination and will carry you to the last page. In spite of knowing how the story ends it is the journey that provides a wonderful escapist read for book clubs. Lots to unpick and talk about!

'Dr No' follows Everett's shortlisted Booker novel ‘The Trees’ - enjoyed by Den readers and book clubs.

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES

With the passing of Cormac McCarthy earlier this year, the Den revisited one of our favourite books from his collection, the first of his border trilogy 'All The Pretty Horses'. Reassuringly, we loved this contemporary classic just as much as second time round. Mesmerising prose, melodic rhythm combined with a love for fauna and the desert this American West adventure is a work of compelling and understated splendour.

John Cole is 16 when his grandfather dies and he finds himself adrift from his Texas ranching upbringing. Cole’s relationship with his mother is detached so when she decided to sell the family ranch, he re-evaluates his life and with his friend Lacey Rawlins, the pair head on their horses for the wilds of Mexico. Complications ensue when they agree to help a young runaway called Jimmy Blevins capture back ‘his’ stolen horse and are branded horse thieves. In their flight, they separate from Blevins and so, begins a remarkable coming of age story as these two young men journey on horseback through the dramatic landscapes of this striking, unforgiving terrain. It is a journey of survival, danger, proving their ranching skills and forbidden love so exquisitely portrayed through McCarthy’s absorbing tempo.

This is a book to be enjoyed for its lyrical prose and hauntingly rich narrative which brings this harsh rugged landscape and his characters so captivatingly to life. You feel and breathe the American West. And central to McCarthy’s writing is the understated pairing of the dramatic sequences with his rich descriptions of nature and the barren yet beautiful landscape.

'All the Pretty Horses was made into a film in 2000 with Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz.
This is the first of the trilogy ('The Crossing' and 'Cities of the Plain' follow).

Den tip – we read the book this time on the kindle which is a real help to look up and appreciate unfamiliar vocabulary.

DEMON COPPERHEAD

DEMON COPPERHEAD

This award winning novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2023 and Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023) by Barbara Kingsolver is a gripping modern retelling of Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' set in the Southern Appalachia in the United States during the '90s opioid epidemic and a sensational 'Book of the Moment' for book clubs!

Demon Copperhead’s childhood in Lee Valley is harsh and unforgiving. Born to a teenage drug addict, orphaned on his 10th birthday, rejected by his step father, he moves from one exploitive foster home to another. Thrown into a world of drugs, poverty and homelessness, Demon finds it impossible to stay on the straight and narrow. But Demon is nothing if not charismatic, with his striking ‘copper’ hair, natural talent and a dream to reach the ocean.

Demon has several lifelines, one being the wonderful caring Mrs Peggot (Dickens ‘Peggotty’) who despite showing him love and generosity is ultimately unable to provide him a secure home. Also his paternal grandmother who arranges for him to live with Coach Winfield, a well-regarded school football coach and his determined tomboy daughter known as ‘Angus’ (Dickens ‘Agnes Wickfield’) who live in a dilapidated mansion in Jonesville. Suddenly the focus of his life is given to education, art and success on the football field. However the unnerving creepy presence of the coach’s assistant U-Haul (Dickens ‘Uriah Heep’) hovers in the background. You always sense through Demon that he knows this new life is too good to be true. When he falls in love with an equally damaged teenager Dori, who has left school to look after her sick father the two of them spiral out of control.

The key to this mesmerising story is Demon’s narration whose voice is so real and funny. Kingsolver brilliantly captures his childlike innocence coupled with his savvy intelligence and ability to survive. He is sharp, spirited, pragmatic and occasionally vulnerable but at the same time there is such humour with an understated irony given to his desperate situation and continual knock backs. He describes himself and his friends as “Four demons spawned by four starving hearts” and concludes "The wonder is that you could start life with nothing and lose so much in between.”

It is uncomfortable to think that this story is relating to 1990’s America. Kingsolver is a masterful storyteller and by setting the story in her own community of Appalachia, she cleverly intertwines the opioid crisis of these deprived areas with her desire for recognition for the need for change and support. It is a forgotten part of American society, not deprived of food, space, or countryside, but of education, opportunities, and support, where it becomes too easy for vulnerable young people to be caught up in an unforgiving and corrupt child welfare system. Kingsolver has successfully used an English classical novel to highlight a modern American equivalent and achieved a wonderful balance, of providing a page-turning addictive read with a message not to neglect this forgotten and poverty stricken generation.

For those who enjoy audio this story is excellently brought to life Charlie Thurston.

SHRINES OF GAIETY

SHRINES OF GAIETY

An entertaining caper set in London, 1926, in which the country is reeling from the aftermath of the Great War and its capital has become the focus of a delirious new night life. Written by the bestselling author Kate Atkinson 'Shrines of Gaiety' is an addictive 'take me away with you' novel to enjoy as an indulgent summertime treat .

Inspired by a real life impresario, the novel begins with the release of Ma (Nellie) Coker, a ruthless and ambitious London nightclub owner who has been discharged from Holloway Prison for alcohol license violations. The reader is introduced to a cast of many characters which include Nellie’s own family comprising six children of varying ages and ambitions - all affected by the war and their mother’s hold on them. Running alongside Nellie’s story whose nightclubs are frequented by socialites, dignitaries, gangsters and spies, the reader follows Freda and Florence, young runaway girls from York, who journey to London to audition for a glamorous life on the stage. The girls realise that the auditions are not what they seem and it soon becomes a dangerous pursuit in a city where young women are disappearing and turning up dead in the River Thames. Meanwhile Gwendolen Kelling, a young librarian (previously a battlefield nurse) from the girls’ hometown, has agreed to track down Freda and Florence. In order to do this, Gwendolen agrees to be recruited as a spy, first for the police and then to work for the notorious Ma Coker.

This fast paced tale of intrigue and adventure effortlessly shifts timeframes and voices which takes the reader deeper into the underbelly of the nightclub world. The Den was fully immersed in the twists and turns of this exciting and intriguing period in history; in which London was alight with the glittering and captivating night life, social classes and divisions were collapsing and crime and corruption was creeping in.

Other books by Kate Atkinson reviewed in the Den include ‘Transcription’, another pacy spy thriller and the Costa award winning novel ‘Life After Life’ which has also been adapted for TV.

Fans of the author will be pleased to discover her next book of short stories coming very soon - ‘Normal Rules Don’t Apply’ (released end of August 2023).

BLACK BUTTERFLIES

BLACK BUTTERFLIES

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 ‘Black Butterflies’ tells the story of Zora - a mother, daughter, teacher and wife who finds herself trapped as well as ‘liberated’ by the war and siege of Sarajevo. A moving story of love and suffering in a war-torn city in which human tragedy co-exists with resilience and a fight for life.

‘Black Butterflies’ begins in the spring of 1992 and we the reader are quickly immersed into Zora’s world in which a war is creeping into her beloved city. Whilst Zora and her husband are feeling safe in their modern high rise, a reported burglary at her mother’s unoccupied family home triggers concern about who and what might be happening. Up until this point the residents, whether Bosniak, Croat or Serb have lived in relative harmony together. However nationalist gangs are closing into the city with religious and cultural divisions rising in a country heading towards a break-up.

The story follows Zora, who at 55 is struggling with middle age, but the unwelcome occupiers of her mother’s home spark a more spirited purpose in life. Sending her mother and husband to England for safety, Zora remains in her home town to continue her work as an art teacher as well as keeping watch of her home and her mother’s flat. As the seasons change it is not long before Zora see her city falls in the siege, forcing her to reinvent how she lives within her community, building new friendships and ‘family’ and learning a new way of living in a war-torn city.

Written by debut author Priscilla Morris, ‘Black Butterflies’ sets out to understand the ugly war that devastated her own mother’s hometown of Sarajevo and as a reader there is a depth of passion and richness to the narrative that provides a more intense and profound account of living in a city under siege. The novel which retells the story of a relatively recent war in Europe provided lots of talking points in the Den as well as an appreciation of our own family unit and community. A worthy shortlist for your book club this summer.

VIOLETS

VIOLETS

'Violets' by Kyung-Sook Shin is a beautiful and sad story about a young girl who, trapped by loneliness, heads to the city in search of love and friendship. A poignant and soul-searching read.

Set in South Korea, it tells the story of San, who abandoned first by her father and later by her mother, leaves her village following an emotional incident with her best friend. San moves to Seoul in search of a new start in life and begins work in a flower shop. Here she learns the art of taking care of plants and flowers and finds a new friend, Su-ae who by contrast is vibrant, fearless and full of life. San comes out of her shell and seems to be enjoying a new life.

Yet all this changes when a young male photographer arrives at the shop to photograph violets for a magazine. He captures San’s loneliness in a beautiful picture. Several months later they are unexpectedly reunited in a café and a brief special moment passes between them. San becomes obsessed by this moment and an overwhelming desire to be loved by him. She becomes totally lost in the moment and begins to stalk him before inevitably discovering her feelings do not match his. Consequently, San spirals with dangerous consequences. The final scenes of the book are dramatic and poignant.

As the author writes in her afterword, Violets are very small plants which are often overlooked as weeds. San is continually overlooked. The story stays with you - surely a sign that the author achieved her aim of making us listen to the voices of those women silenced and discriminated against. The author also references music from ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ and translates the lines - “I want to hide my pain from the flowers. I don’t want to tell them of life’s suffering. Because if they know my sadness, the flowers will cry too.“

A remarkable, heart-rending read.

OUR MAN IN HAVANA

OUR MAN IN HAVANA

A witty and entertaining spy vintage classic from the English novelist Graham Greene. Set in exotic Cuba, ‘Our Man in Havana’ (published in 1958) predates the missile crisis but presents the Cold War tensions that were rising with the real threat of a communist take over.

The story revolves around the novel’s comic character and British expat, Wormold, who is a vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana selling the latest ‘Atomic Pile Cleaner' in a city prone to power cuts making his pitch somewhat tough. Meanwhile his teen daughter is living well beyond her means so when a mysterious Englishman (and spy) offers extra income for local intel Wormold is tempted. In return, all he has to do is carry out a little espionage and file a few reports. As the reports are heading back to MI6’s HQ in England, Wormold decides to send fake reports, but when these start coming true Havana becomes a more threatening place!

The Den enjoyed being whisked away to another world and time in which spy activity was rudimentary and channels of communication unreliable. We also enjoyed the characters, all lightly drawn and woven into the carefully crafted spoof caper and it was a wonderful treat to enjoy a spy thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Entertainment at its best.

The Den has also reviewed ‘The End of the Affair’ which can be found in the library.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

As with many of our favourite authors, they are always more special when they absorb you in a country and period of history you know little about.  "Half of a Yellow Sun" is no exception as this stunning book follows the lives of five main characters during the Biafra Nigeria civil war of 1967-70. 

The story is portrayed through the intersection of three lives: Ugwa who arrives aged 13 from his village to work for Odenigbo, an arrogant and radical professor at the university. Olanna, the professor's privileged, well educated lover who is determined to be set apart from the rest of her family and Richard, an Englishman married to Olanna’s twin sister Kainene, from whom she has grown apart.  

The once highly charged intellectual evenings at Odenigbo’s house in Nsukka become a fight for survival as war ravages the country and they are forced to flee their former life as refugees. It is when the events of war and hardship cause all privileges to be removed and society to break down that the story reveals those who are able to cope and survive and those who sadly crumble and fade as their previous lives are overturned. 

A deeply moving and passionate novel that sweeps you away with these tragic events by telling the story through these differing characters in such an empathetic and humane way. Totally compelling.

There is a film adaptation starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton (2013) but sometimes a book has so much richness, you don’t need any other format.

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD

Set in Turkey, "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World" is a remarkable and infectious story which is beautifully written and sure to bring a lump to your throat. Short-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize, expect to be literally turned upside down in this haunting and imaginative novel. 

Tequila Leila is dead, a prostitute murdered and left in a waste container on the outskirts  of  Istanbul. There is a period of 10 minutes 38 seconds before her brain cells shut down when her mind recalls key moments from her life. She leaves behind five special friends – also outcasts in society and her first thought is of them and the brilliant, colourful funeral they will give her. The grief-stricken friends in turn are determined to rescue their brilliant friend from having an unnamed burial in the Cemetery of the Companionless out of town. Their determination and love binds these unique individuals together as they break down barriers and beat the system to give Leila the end she deserves and should be entitled to.

There are so many dimensions to this book beginning with the suffering and silencing of women within a patriarchal society, the exploitation of sexual workers, gender equality, the attempt to suppress student activists and the corrupt hierarchy of the wealthy.

Although it is a dark and brutal book, it also has such humanity and the end is wonderfully told and beautifully moving. We were blown away in the Den. For some it was too disturbing, too weird, sometimes surreal but all agreed on its creative flair and imagination. Leila is a wonderful character, and her unassuming nature means she is likeable because despite having no proper education she is clearly intelligent and interested in life beyond her village and her claustrophobic family.  

Sadly, Elif Shafak feels she is unable to travel back to Turkey for fear she may be arrested. This makes reading this book even more important in bringing these issues to the forefront. She is giving a voice to those who don't have one. 

Den recommendation - follow Elif Shafak on twitter for her insightful and thought provoking tweets.

MILKMAN

MILKMAN

Some novels never leave you and remain a talking point amongst book clubbers when you brave our 5th birthday favourite (and a natural Wild Card)! Milkman by Anna Burns is a Booker Prize Winner (2018) and an extraordinary novel that has the potential to divide opinion in your book club - so definitely a wild card choice but one that we urge you to experience.

Set in Northern Ireland during the 1970’s Troubles, it tells the story of a young girl dealing with the gossip, rumours and “what ifs” over what she may or may not have done, been part of or witnessed. Everyone is anonymous - no person or places are named - and this becomes a marmite moment for readers as stylistically it is ground-breaking, potentially challenging but truly innovative.

The novel tells the story of 'Milkman', an older man, presumed to be a leader of a paramilitary group, who starts to encroach on the life of the young narrator 'Middle Sister'. Through a stream of consciousness the reader experiences the sinister impact of Milkman's presence which escalates and suffocates Middle Sister's otherwise quiet but tough life. To escape the troubles Middle Sister indulges in long distance running with 'third brother in law', reading classics whilst walking, French night-time classes and meet ups with 'maybe boyfriend'. But the arrival of Milkman interrupts this and her relationship with him quickly escalates “beyond the pale.”

The novel touches on allegiance, trust, the danger of stepping out of line, but the young girl herself tells the story with dark humour and an originality that gives her and the reader hope. Burns herself has said that whilst her book focuses on the repressive society of Northern Ireland, there are many relevant parallels with other repressive regimes.

There has been much debate about whether you have to work at reading this book. Some of the Den found it hard to get into the mind-set whilst others found it spellbinding and unputdownable. It is a unique and inspirational novel, one we think you will be very pleased to have read.

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

Russia has always provided an alluring backdrop for drama, spy thrillers and romance and whilst a no-go destination for travel we couldn't deny this book's place in the Den's 5th Birthday favourites. Towles's fans have recently enjoyed his latest epic adventure 'The Lincoln Highway'. However, 'A Gentleman In Moscow' remains in our hearts as an award winning and enduring favourite book club choice. Also a popular must read novel, before Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation hits the screen with Ewan McGregor as the Count.

Set against the Bolshevik revolt, the lead character Count Alexander is a loveable cultured hero who is condemned for writing a poem that offends the regime. His punishment as well as house arrest in the luxury hotel where he resides is to take up a staff post. The count is a smooth operator and humbly accepts and handles his new working life with charm, wit and grace. He is the eternal optimist and you just can’t help falling for him. It is an epic tale of love and humanity that begins just as the Russian Revolution takes its grip on the capital, passing through the second world war and then on to the Cold War and the Soviet Regime.
If you want to enjoy Russian history but never quite found the time or energy to read Tolstoy this will transport you back. You just can’t help racing through the short chapters so don’t be put off by the length, because it is a book which will you keep enthralled! It is also definitely a perfect holiday read. One that none of us wanted to put down.

​Amor Towles is a bestselling and book club favourite author of 'The Lincoln Highway' and 'Rules Of Civility' - both in the Den's library.

ISAAC AND THE EGG

ISAAC AND THE EGG

An imaginative and truly unique story that is touching, funny and tragic about feeling the pain of grief and surviving heart-break and loss. Written in the style of a modern-day fable, this is a beautifully written novel to be read with caution, because it is sad, tough but delicately crafted with warmth and hope. Now in paperback and picked by the Den to recognise Mental Health Week which falls in May.

‘Isaac and the Egg’ is the story of a broken young man who finds himself with dark thoughts on ‘Dog Suicide Bridge’ when a scream in the woods catches his attention. He is drawn into the clearing to discover an enormous white egg which is a fantastical figure who arrives glittering like a Fabergé piece. Whilst this may sound improbable, this is our introduction to a magical story about the grief stricken Isaac whose unlikely companion is able to befriend him and help guide and transform his grieving process which on the face of it seem unimaginable. As the book explains ‘Sometimes to get out of the woods, you have to go into them’.

The reader is carried along by Isaac’s story that draws out his emotions as they evolve from the depths of despair to curiosity (befriending Egg), anger that is literally expressed in the typography (aaarrrrgghhhhh) towards an overwhelming sense of lack of control, in spite of the warmth that he experiences from family, carers and doctors who we meet as his story unravels.

The novel provides an understanding of Isaac’s grief from the inside, and evokes unexpected emotions for the reader who is captivated by the story, gaining an appreciation of those who are struggling with loss. Den readers enjoyed the visual narration and appreciated the fantastical aspects that the Egg brought to Isaac's world.

A truly original piece of writing and destined to be passed on as a 'must read' book!

AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER

AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER

Our missed opportunity is a wonderfully imaginative and beautifully written novel by Mario Vargas Llosa who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010. Set in Peru in 1950’s the story alternates between a passionate scandalous love affair interspersed with crazy, highly amusing instalments of a radio soap opera. Hidden gem of a read.

Varguitas (Mario) is 18, studying law at university whilst working on the news bulletins at a struggling radio station in Lima. He lives with his grandparents and on a visit to his uncle Lucho meets Aunt Julia. Aunt Julia is a 32-year-old divorcee, recently arrived in Lima in search for a new husband. Mario becomes totally smitten with Aunt Julia who is not a blood relative. Gradually his feelings are reciprocated as they begin a clandestine love affair at a time when such an age gap and the fact Aunt Julia is divorced would be deemed scandalous for any respected catholic family.

Mario’s dream is to be a writer and live in Paris, so when he meets Pedro Camacho, an eccentric Bolivian writer who has been employed by the radio station to up its ratings, they form an unlikely friendship. The novel alternates between the developing relationship between Mario and Aunt Julia and episodes from the now highly anticipated and successful instalments from the radio show. However, as the lovers become careless and expose their relationship can Mario and Aunt Julia survive the wrath of his family who had such high hopes for him. Meanwhile Pedro Camacho begins to suffer from exhaustion and memory lapses causing him to confuse his characters and make appearances in the wrong stories. What will be become of this rather shambolic, unsightly figure with a magical voice and gift for storytelling?

Through Pedro Camacho’s soap opera, Llosa has created highly entertaining, often bizarre and highly imaginative parables. Usually revolving around tragedy and always ending on a cliff-hanger, they often tell a ‘rags to riches’ tale or vice versa.

This is a beautifully written and comic book which has semi-autobiographical influences as Vargas Llosa himself married his “Aunt Julia”, also not his actual aunt (!) and started his career working in a radio station. Vargas Llosa not only gives an insight into the complexities of being a writer, he also ponders the often absurd turning points of life and parallels of tragedy and comedy within our fragile lives. An unexpected, entertaining treat for any book club.

The book was made into a film called ‘Tune in Tomorrow’ in 1990 with Keanu Reeves but was switched to the US location of New Orleans - so definitely worthwhile reading the book set in its original Peruvian setting first.

TRESPASSES

TRESPASSES

A brave and compelling debut novel by Louise Kennedy (short-listed for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction). Set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, 'Trespasses' centres on love and the challenges of living and working on a daily basis during this period of sectarian and political unrest.

It's 1975 and Cushla Lavey, a young Catholic primary school teacher in her twenties lives at home with her alcoholic mother whilst also serving in the family pub. Here she meets Michael, an older, married barrister and perhaps most significantly, a Protestant. They begin a precarious and secretive relationship. At the same time, Cushla becomes close to Davey, one of her pupils from school, who coming from a disadvantaged Catholic family is bullied and marginalised. Both these relationships are dangerous and perhaps destined for failure?

Cushla is educated and bright and yet the focus from both her mother and brother is to settle down, marry and have her own family. The pub adds a testing dimension as it is a place where the regulars include many Protestants, but also members of the British army. Kennedy, the author, grew up in Northern Ireland during this era and therefore has candidly captured the complications of growing up Catholic in a predominantly Protestant town, making 'Trespasses' all the more poignant.

In Cushla, Kennedy has created a captivating and charming character, but also frustrating as this typically chaotic 20 year-old allows her well intentioned actions and naivety to lead towards disastrous consequences. Cushla is often unaware of the risks she is taking and the lines she is crossing which makes her vulnerability even more striking. Her close friend Jerry, who whilst not knowing the extent of what she is up to and who she is seeing, supports her throughout which adds humour and a touching reality to her predicament.

'Trespasses' is a beautiful and heart-breaking read which opens your eyes to the constraints of class and religion on young people trying to live their lives in 'The Troubles'. A moving, touching and wonderful read which gives a breath-taking, honest insight into this fragile period.

Den tip - The book begins and ends in the same place, so it is worthwhile re-reading the opening pages again once you have read the book.

SEA OF TRANQUILITY

SEA OF TRANQUILITY

We read and reviewed the brilliant “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel back in 2021 (see our library). The story was about the effects of a devastating pandemic before Covid. 'Sea of Tranquility' is another masterpiece by Mandel, a joyful short novel which blends four stories from different time periods after three people all experience a moment from ‘elsewhere in time’. Mandel imagines time travel and a future when humans inhabit moon colonies, travelling on commercial airbuses to and from earth. But is this the future, or is it just time simulation?

The story begins is 1912 when Edwin St. John St. Andrew, an entitled aristocrat (and yes, he is a descendant from the author’s own family) arrives from England in the Canadian Wilderness believing the country is there for the taking. One day he witnesses a dissociated moment in the forest which he cannot fathom and is deeply disturbed by. Also present is a priest, Gaspery Roberts whom Edwin believes witnesses the same event but can not be traced. The reader is then transported to February 2022 and Mirella (a character from St. John Mandel’s 'The Glass House') arrives in New York in search of her lost friend and photographer Vincent. Mirella meets Vincent’s brother Paul who, by chance, is in the company of Gaspery Roberts. Gaspery is enquiring about a peculiar piece of footage made by Vincent in which her film is unexpectedly interrupted by a strange anomaly of a forest path before it goes black accompanied by the sound of a violin.

Then time leaps to forward to 2203 and famed author Olive Llewellyn leaves her husband and daughter on the 2nd moon colony to undertake an epic book tour on earth just as an unknown pandemic is arriving. The reader is then transported to the Time Institute in 2401 in which brother and sister, Zoey and Gaspery Roberts (who we now learn was named after a detective in Olive’s bestselling book), have noticed these anomalies and set about trying to investigate them by travelling in time to the place of their occurrence, the condition being they must not try and change the course of events knowing the outcome as they do.

This storyline may sound confusing, but in Mandel’s hands it isn’t – she wonderfully merges the unimaginable possibility of time travel, layered with the possibility of simulation hypothesis and makes it imaginable. She develops her characters so you connect with them and their everyday routine of normal relationships and family love. Then she raises the question, is the world always ending and a new world beginning? What makes a world real? And even if we do live in a simulation hypothesis, does it matter if it still feels real. Are our current day cities any different from living in a moon colony with an artificial dome? When Mandel’s characters long to gaze at the fields worked by robots and the sky filled with airships you believe it is real.

There is so much to reflect on and discuss in this book – it was a top hit in our book club and an ingenious piece of storytelling.

THE MUSE

THE MUSE

This is a wonderfully paced Missed Opportunity novel that tells two intriguing stories about love, passion and art, one set in the swinging ’60s of London and the other some years earlier in rural Spain when civil unrest is growing. Written by Jesse Burton, this is the author’s second novel that follows her highly acclaimed ‘The Miniaturist’.

‘The Muse’ begins in Dolcis, a shoe shop in Clapham. It's 1967 and Odelle Bastien, who arrived from Trinidad some five years earlier, has secured a typist position at a London art gallery, appealing to her interest in the arts and allowing her to move on from her shop assistant role. Odelle is employed by the enigmatic Marjorie Quick. When a lost masterpiece, 'Rufina and the Lion', arrives at the gallery, Quick is transfixed and more than curious, as is Odelle who is determined to unravel the truth.

The painting’s secret history lies in 1936 in rural Spain and the reader is taken back to this period in which Olive Schloss, the daughter of a renowned art dealer is harbouring her own artistic talents. Whilst Olive remains too scared to confront her father about her own creative ambitions she falls in love with the political activist, Isaac Robles, who is employed by the Schloss family.

The two stories run side by side as we begin to discover the mystery of the lost masterpiece. The Den enjoyed the sense of urgency in the novel and an exciting eagerness to know who is going to escape the dangerous war in Spain and how the 'Rufina' painting is going to survive. Plenty of stories to unpick in our book club discussion as well as the characters themselves as they are presented in the stories. A delightful read for all.

DEAR DOLLY

DEAR DOLLY

‘Dear Dolly’ is a fabulous curation of Dolly Alderton’s agony aunt columns which have been a favourite go-to page in The Sunday Times ‘Style’ magazine since the early 2020s. This collection of ‘problem page’ letters followed by Alderton’s pearls of wisdom, make a great alternative book club choice, especially for those looking for a Wild Card read that offers an insightful and refreshing look at life’s conundrums.

‘Dear Dolly’ is divided into seven sections covering dilemmas associated with ‘love, life and friendship…’ Alderton picks out a range of questions that involve friendship, breakups, the complications of love, family, sex, being friends with an ex, the highs and lows of social media and body image. Although some dilemmas are rather bizarre and zany, most topics and issues feel universal and relatable which makes great discussion with friends and your book club posse. It was fascinating to observe how we all found similar predicaments in life, which Dolly evidently recognised, picking out scenarios that deemed her favourite and/or presented common modern life problems that together can be unravelled and in the most part solved. The book covers a diverse range of letters from readers of all sexes and age so be prepared to expect the unexpected and not always be in your ‘comfort zone’ of problems. In book club the letter and answers raised lots of smiles and laughter as we shared hidden problems of yesteryears as well as current issues and ones that seem on the horizon as we all head towards our own next chapter in life. The Den enjoyed the warmth of the author’s tone and her ability to lift the mood and find a positive spin on sharing problems.

From outlandish to relatable Alderton writes without judgement, leading a guiding light into solving the many chaotic problems and craziness that life throws at us. Described as the ‘Nora Ephron’ of our time, Alderton balances words of wisdom with just the right amount of sprinkling of good humour, uniting readers and book club to ‘work out the mess of life’.

The book works brilliantly as an audiobook and it’s certainly a quick and easy book to read, in small or large chunks - depending how much problem solving you have time to enjoy!

Dolly Alderton fans will be delighted to reunite with ‘Dear Dolly’, especially if they missed her column in ‘The Times’. Plus her second novel, 'Good Material', will be published later in the year, so do watch this space...

THE SECRET BARRISTER

THE SECRET BARRISTER

‘The Secret Barrister’ is a jaw dropping read and makes a fascinating book club choice examining a criminal justice system in crisis. Published in 2018, this book is an award winning non-fiction bestseller and remains relevant as ever as budgets for the court system are cut and crime remains on the increase, currently 10 per cent higher compared to 2020.

Written anonymously ‘The Secret Barrister’ brings enlightening insights and is a first hand critique of the legal system as seen from a junior barrister’s perspective whose experiences from the early days at the bar result in an invaluable and honest account with stories of the law and how it’s broken.

The author of ‘The Secret Barrister’ had been clogging up twitter, blogging and writing newspaper columns prior to the release of the book and it wasn’t long before these experiences were crafted into an award winning No 1 bestseller. Clearly horrified at the disconnect between the justice system and the people who own it, ‘The Secret Barrister’ sets out to explain the history of the legal system, how and why it was set up, and by doing so addresses the knowledge gap covering the myths and misconception of a sector that remains a mystery for many of us.

Whether you have experiences of the legal system or not, this book is a brilliant starting point to see how it works and how you can play a role to call politicians out or at least help you to become more informed.

And if your book club are already ahead, consider ‘Nothing But The Truth - The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer' (currently in hardback, coming in paperback soon!).

THE FOUNDLING

THE FOUNDLING

Step back in time to Georgian England in this atmospheric page-turning historical fiction about a young girl’s search for her missing daughter in the city of London.

Bess Bright lives with her father and elder brother in cramped accommodation in the shadow of Fleet Prison. Together they work in the busy Billingsgate fish market selling fresh shrimp from quays around Ludgate Hill and St Paul’s. The story begins as Bess, still a teenager, has gone with her father to drop off her new born illegitimate daughter at The Foundling Hospital. The Foundling Hospital was set up to give a home to babies whose parents were unable to look after them, usually because of poverty, with the idea if their circumstances changed, they could return and collect their child. This rarely happened, but the mother would leave a personal token and be given a record of their child. Six years later, having set aside a few savings, Bess goes to collect her daughter from the hospital only to discover that she has already been claimed within a day of her arrival by someone claiming to be the mother. l

Bess cannot read or write, but she is sharp and determined. With the help of Doctor Mead who works as a physician at the hospital, she sets out to find her daughter and bring her home. This path leads her to experience the other side of Georgian London where we discover more about Clara’s father and meet Alexandra, a forceful young widow who has not left the house for 10 years.

Stacey Halls vividly brings the past to life, and we get a wonderful glimpse of the contrasting lives of poverty and wealth within London society during this period through the eyes of two strong women. Halls allows us to sympathise with all her characters through her wonderful storytelling and effortlessly transports the reader to 18th century London. 'The Foundling' reveals the traps of poverty, class and the struggles for women, particularly the helplessness of unmarried girls who became pregnant during this time. It also shows the power of a mother’s love and the tenacity required to bring up children in poverty.

If your book club is in the mood for a fast-paced, engaging read which is both enjoyable and gripping, this is a great choice.

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW

An instant New York Times best seller, this is a wonderful and original story about the bond of friendship. Three college friends share a passion for video games and this leads to a long-term collaboration of creative minds as they set out on their future paths together. But don’t worry, you don’t need to be familiar with the gaming world to appreciate this imaginative and enjoyable read.

Sadie Greene and Samson Masur (Sam) meet as teenagers in the children’s hospital game room whilst Sadie is visiting her sick sister. Sam has been in hospital for six weeks recovering from a bad car accident and barely spoken a word since badly injuring his foot. Together they start playing Super Mario Bros on the hospital Nintendo and discussing their favourite games. As they play, so a deep trust for each other grows and with it the start of a unique friendship.

Several years later, in a moment of destiny, Sam bumps into Sadie at a busy train station whilst he is studying maths at Harvard and she is studying computer science at MIT and so their extraordinary friendship continues. Sam introduces Sadie to Marx, his good-looking, wealthy and charming room mate who has taken Sam under his wing. At this point, Marx is trying his hand at acting, and is about to play Banquo in a college production of Macbeth. One evening, the three of them decide to design and produce their own game which they name Ichigo. Ichigo is a runaway success and so begins a new path for these three courageous and creative young people leading them on a rare journey of discovery and collaboration. Catapulted to fame and fortune - can they share the same freedom and love they have for each other in their perfect virtual creations in the imperfect real world?

“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” is Macbeth’s famous bleak soliloquy, when Macbeth is contemplating the futility of life. Yet in the world of video games, you can die numerous times and have infinite opportunities to take different paths. Sam and Sadie use their virtual worlds to help them survive the real world. This is never more apparent when tragedy strikes and Sadie cuts herself off from everyone including Sam. He finds an ingenious way of communicating with her through a new game he devises especially for that purpose, knowing this escape will provide her with a security blanket in her time of need. It is an extraordinary and beautiful act of love.

Inevitably 'two’s company, three’s a crowd' takes a hold over their relationships, but the resourceful and imaginative minds of these three young people always draws them back together again. A mesmerising and touching read - hardly surprisingly, this imaginative story is already destined for our screen.

FREEZING ORDER

FREEZING ORDER

A true story of Russian money laundering, murder and surviving Putin’s wrath by Bill Browder, author of international bestseller ‘Red Notice’.

It’s 2018 and Bill Browder finds himself arrested in Madrid and we the reader are immediately drawn into another story from the financier who had in the ‘90s entered a new financial frontier in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In ‘Freezing Order’ Browder scrolls back to the highs and many lows of working in Russia and how he had come to be black-listed with an extradition order in place by 2005. Whilst Browder moved back to London for safety, his young Russian lawyer colleague and friend, Sergei Magnitsky remained to fight a $230 million tax corruption scheme however he was arrested and died in a Moscow jail. Browder made it his mission to pursue justice and ‘Freezing Order’ brings the reader up to date on how money laundering and freezing assets became the new battle ground. Browder’s justice for his friend included lobbying and advocating the Magnitsky Act, a law to punish all Russian human rights violators all over the world as well as fighting the charges. His story shares his success of the Act, as well as his journey to clear his own name. This involved tracking down the money that flowed from Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas.

‘Freezing Order’ involves all the ingredients of a spy thriller including honey traps, bogus charges, ruthless villains and a cast of legal characters including an octogenarian judge (because there is no retirement age) and a renegade prosecutor named John Moscow no less!

It’s a thrilling and informative financial caper, a powerful page turner and a fascinating story of how one man ‘on the run’ takes on the enemy. Whilst the Den enjoyed 'Red Notice' more, Browder's new book, now in paperback is a brilliant wild card choice for book clubs and definitely a book of the moment!

Also see our Den review for 'Red Notice' in the library.

THE ROMANTIC

THE ROMANTIC

‘The Romantic’ by William Boyd is the all consuming story of Cashel Greville Ross who is born into the nineteenth century at a time when travel was for the adventurous, the swashbuckling gambler and the hardy romantic. Boyd’s fictional hero, Cashel is a beguiling explorer of life, distracted only (and very frequently) by love!

Cashel Greville Ross’s life begins in County Cork, Ireland who we are led to believe is an orphaned nephew to a young governess. It soon becomes apparent this is not the case when his aunt, Elspeth Soutar, leaves her position to start a new life with Cashel in England. She is also pregnant with twins and Cashel, now a young teenager and scholar is instructed to call her mother, not aunt and take on a new family name as part of their mysterious new beginnings. Cashel is curious and unlocks a disturbing secret resulting in an impulsive decision to leave home and enlist as an army drummer boy. Before long, his regiment is drafted to France and actively engaged on the battlefield at Waterloo (1815).

From here, Cashel’s taste for life abroad and travel is his destiny taking him to India and Sri Lanka and then back to Europe where he decides to write a book about his experiences as a traveller in Europe. Along the way, Cashel falls in love in and out of love with the unobtainable as well as potential life partners. The reader is entrapped in Cashel’s world as he travels to America ’the land of the free’, diversifying his talents on his new farmstead.

Boyd cleverly interweaves historical events into his hero's life, taking an active part rather than just bumping into history! Cashel as an adventurer finds himself wandering from Zanzibar to Africa in search of the source of the Nile. His enthusiasm for travel in a century of great historical discoveries makes this an addictive read and the Den enjoyed his stories of stolen relics smuggled between empires. Book clubbers will enjoy the humorous touch of Boyd’s writing style. Cashel though generally optimistic is a flawed loveable character who follows his heart as he travels the world, sometimes in pursuit of love and sometimes just for survival, making it easy to be swept away by his gentle joie de vivre.

Literary lovers will also appreciate the younger Cashel who as a writer makes acquaintance with Mary Shelley and Lord Byron during his stay in Italy. A wow read for Boyd fans and definitely a fun novel for February.

THE QUEEN OF DIRT

THE QUEEN OF DIRT

Donal Ryan is becoming quite a favourite author in the Den. His latest book, “The Queen of Dirt” once again set in a small, rural, Irish town beautifully focuses on four generations of women bound tightly together by loss and love.

Eileen Aylward’s life is turned upside down when her newly married husband is killed in a car crash a few days after the birth of their daughter, Saoirse. After his death, Eileen is supported by her mother-in-law Nana and they forge a particularly strong bond even though Nana has two other sons. When it looks as if history is destined to repeat itself with Saoirse, these strong women unite to be creators of their own destiny. This is a beautiful story of determined women keeping their family together and proving they can not only survive but shine in a tough and judgemental small town community.

Ryan’s writing is a joy to read, it bubbles along effortlessly. Every chapter is no more than a few pages so in each one we capture a glimpse of a time or event, often ending with a monumental declaration before beginning the next chapter. This means he is able to capture a long of period time without the book ever becoming unwieldy. Ryan beautifully brings ordinary lives to the forefront with humour, empathy and ultimately joy.

THE YOUNG ACCOMPLICE

THE YOUNG ACCOMPLICE

'The Young Accomplice' by Benjamin Wood, out in paperback this month is a compelling story of two siblings out of borstal who are given a second chance to change their life by a young couple living on a Surrey farm in 1950’s England.

Arthur and Florence Mayhood are young architects who decide to give up the rat race and move into the family farm Florence grew up on after her father dies. Their vision is to run the farm at the same time as taking on two disadvantaged apprentices who they will teach architecture, thus mirroring Arthur’s own upbringing as someone who had been in borstal and given the opportunity to become an architect. After careful consideration they choose two siblings, Charlie Savigears and his elder sister Joyce. At first, their experiment seems to pay dividends and offer Charlie and Joyce a different path in life, working on the farm and doing household chores alongside draughting classes. However, the arrival of Mal, a relationship from Joyce’s past threatens to destroy Arthur and Florence’s best laid plans and threaten their good intentions. How far will they go to protect these two young people they have become so attached to?

Wood alternates the narrator throughout the book, which gives a wonderful empathy to all the characters, even those with a smaller role such as the farm hand Hollis. His writing has a thoughtful and important theme – one mistake can change your life but by giving people a second chance alongside an education and a purpose you are giving them an opportunity to turn their life around. This touching story asks us to consider the question - can anyone succeed in life if they are given the right opportunities and support? The ending seems slightly out of kilt with the rest of the book, but does emphasises how two people’s lives can have very different outcomes depending on the path they choose.

I'M A FAN

I'M A FAN

The man I want to be with
The woman I am obsessed with
My boyfriend

This is how our female narrator refers to the relationships in her life throughout this funny, dark and brutally honest wild card choice for February.

‘I’m a Fan’ by Sheena Patel is a brilliant stream of filterless writing about a young woman struggling with her obsession with a man she can’t have because he only wants her on his own terms and a woman who is also sleeping with the same man.

“I stare across Brockwell Park. I am on home turf, kissing a man who isn’t my boyfriend who I wish was my boyfriend and he is wishing he was kissing someone else who he doesn’t want to make his girlfriend.”

Written in the first person, the writing has a unique spirit – our young narrator is funny, deceitful, obsessive, desperate but trying to be cool – all the things we have experienced at one time in our lives when obsession for a person causes you to react out of character and take ridiculous risks. She is also a victim.

We never find out exactly what "the man I want to be with" does, except that he inhabits the art world and within his industry he is cool and famous. We also never find out what the narrator does, except she is a freelancer and seems to be very capable at her job. We discover even less about her boyfriend who is the most stable person in her life. However, she trolls the woman she is "obsessed with,” scrolling through her Instagram, refreshing her page fifteen times a minute and stalking her every move. She is consumed by the posts of expensive art and privileged lifestyle.

When one of the relationships in her life comes to an end, so does the writing – stopping the narrative abruptly which is disconcerting for the reader! The writing inevitably touches on some of the comparisons and frustration of being a woman (vs men). More interestingly, it looks at status and why people in certain professions and backgrounds think they have more status than others. It also looks at the effects of online presence, when ‘the woman I am obsessed with’ takes a break from social media our narrator is adrift and panicked. Many of the chapter headings are memes inviting the reader for their reaction.

This read is more likely to appeal to millennials and gen-zers but it also provides a brilliant opportunity to appreciate the protagonist's story as well as recognise her feelings and how she might be blinded by “love” for someone totally unobtainable.

Sheena Patel’s writing is simmering with emotion – the author says her character’s voice is deliberately unapologetic with no filter and that she writes in “in a dream like state”. Patel also writes for TV and Film and you can see ‘I’m a Fan” being adapted for TV.

Published by Rough Trade Books who describe themselves as a publishing venture in the mould of the pioneering independent record label – aiming to bring the same radical spirit to the world of books – this book certainly has a fresh and vibrant feel. If you want to wait for the paperback, it arrives on 2 March.

OH WILLIAM!

OH WILLIAM!

‘Oh William!’ is the third novel in Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy Barton series and a favourite book club choice - also perfect for understanding the hidden complexities of later-life love and friendship.

Lucy Barton is a writer who is unexpectedly invited by her ex-husband William to join him on a trip from New York to investigate a recently uncovered family secret in rural Maine. Having shortly lost her own husband, Lucy reflects on her adoration for her departed partner, David and her relationship with William over the decades who she explains ‘has always been a mystery to me’. Another mystery is why the two have remained so connected after all these years.

Lucy agrees to help William and along the way we discover Lucy’s deeper connection with him stemming back from their first meeting at college, their consistent and independent work ethic and their love for their own children and family.

The novel moves back and forth in time to episodes in Lucy’s life with her ex-husband. For her and William, she considers their fears and insecurities as well as the simple joys and acts of tenderness - even after relationships fall apart. Lucy takes the reader back to her own very poor beginnings, ‘who came from nothing’ which dominates her story as well as her sense of feeling invisible in spite of being a recognised author. We also confide in her new vulnerability as a widow looking back at her choices in life, dealing with disappointments, her own experiences of love and trying to understand what holds a relationship together.

Lucy’s voice pulls us aside with her reflective conversational musings and we are absorbed by her wandering thoughts that makes this an addictive read. Lucy’s humble beginnings is a constant reference point revealing a little known American truth in which the struggle from poverty and moving closer to the ‘American Dream’ is still a reality that often comes with guilt and shame. Overall, the Den enjoyed Strout’s easy reading style and her pearls of wisdom about love and life.

‘Oh William’ was short listed for the Booker Prize 2022 and also in the recent Literary Laughs Favourite Reads for book clubs last year. If you are already ahead of the trilogy, consider Lucy Barton’s latest adventure ‘Lucy by the Sea’, recently released in hardback (October 2022).

A WINTER BOOK

A WINTER BOOK

'A Winter Book’ is a collection of best loved short stories by the popular Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson, translated and published into English for the first time. Full of heart warming observations and charm, the book will lighten up any January blues respecting the Nordic wonders and simpler pleasures in life.

This collection follows the widely acclaimed ‘The Summer Book’ and is inspired by Janssen’s own memories and experiences growing up in the dramatically beautiful Nordic setting.

The book takes the reader from the author’s Bohemian family home in Helsinki out into the Nordic islands and along the coast line and archipelago. The stories portray a way of life peculiar to its Scandinavian countryside in which there is an overwhelming appreciation of the landscape's natural beauty as well as an acknowledgement of its dangers. The stories balance the inherited wisdom about survival from its elders who have understood the rules of the sea whilst appreciating nature's awe-inspiring beauty.

The collection spans Tove’s own life experiences and is brimming with stories of the human heart that can be enjoyed for its brevity of words (without losing its depth of sentiment). Den readers picked out different stories that captured their imagination or similar life experiences and it was wonderful to take oneself away to a magical place, lifting our spirits as we settle into the New Year.

For those familiar with Jansson’s work, the author was made famous as the creator and illustrator of the Moomin books which are comic strip stories written for children. This imagination is matched in her short stories and certainly inspired an admiration for colder climes.

THE QUEEN OF DIRT

THE QUEEN OF DIRT

Donal Ryan is becoming quite a favourite author in the Den. His latest book, “The Queen of Dirt” once again set in a small, rural, Irish town beautifully focuses on four generations of women bound tightly together by loss and love.

Eileen Aylward’s life is turned upside down when her newly married husband is killed in a car crash a few days after the birth of their daughter, Saoirse. Eileen has a very strong bond with her mother-in-law Nana, even though Nana has two other sons. When it looks as if history is destined to repeat itself with Saoirse, these strong women unite to be creators of their own destiny. This is a beautiful story of strong women keeping their family together and proving they can not only survive but shine.

Ryan’s writing is a joy to read, it bubbles along effortlessly. Every chapter is no more than a few pages so in each one we capture a glimpse of a time or event, often ending with a monumental declaration before beginning the next chapter. This means he is able to capture a long of period time without the book ever becoming unwieldy. Ryan, like many Irish writers, manages to bring ordinary lives to the forefront with humour, empathy and ultimately joy.

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

This lovely coming of age story set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early 20th century is our heart-rending but optimistic Missed Opportunity this month. Francie is the eldest daughter in the Nolan family, born to second generation immigrants as they try to survive and escape the life cycle of acute poverty and lack of education. Yet can each generation make a step forward?

The story is narrated by Francie, the eldest daughter who is bright and imaginative. Although her father Johnny and mother Katie are teenage parents, they are determined to carve out better futures for their two children Francie and Naurie. But Johnny, a good looking and charming performer of Irish descent loses his job and succumbs to drinking. However, he does not resort to cruel behaviour with his family, instead he becomes depressed and introvert.

There are many beautiful moments of family happiness, but as the need for money and food becomes harder, Katie is unable to keep the family afloat despite working as a cleaner all the hours she can. The arrival of another child, means she has no alternative but to let her elder children take on menial jobs to bring in the pennies.

Despite the extreme poverty and lack of food, the Nolans are proud people and Katie is particularly determined to keep her children’s education going. However when the situation becomes untenable, it is Francie, her brightest child who must forego school. Francie is a voracious reader and writer but equally very naïve about “life” for a young adult. Her journey through this difficult period is poignant, fraught and beautifully told.

'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' is symbolised by the tree in the courtyard where they live which survives against all odds, nothing destroying it – symbolising Francie's blossoming into a mature young woman. If you enjoyed Frank McCourt's 'Angela's Ashes' this would be a perfect choice for your book club.

ALL THE BROKEN PLACES

ALL THE BROKEN PLACES

“There’s nothing more provoking than the guilty escaping justice”

John Boyne’s powerful and gripping sequel to 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' is the story of Bruno’s sister Gretel. It is an emotive piece of writing about guilt and culpability - should a 12-year-old child be answerable for the evil actions of her father, a senior officer in the Reich and concentration camp commandant. Interwoven into the narrative is the haunting presence of Gretel’s deceased brother. Boyne is a superb storyteller who tackles a multifaceted subject with humanity and sensitivity.

We first meet Gretel as an active 93-year-old lady who has been living in Winterville Court, a luxurious apartment overlooking Hyde Park for many years. When a young couple, Alex Darcey-Witt, a successful filmmaker and his beautiful actress wife Madelyn together with their shy son Henry move into the flat, the quiet equilibrium of her present life is thrown into disarray. Gretel is witness to a series of disturbing events which if she chooses to be drawn into could bring unwelcome attention on herself and possibly unravel her past which she has kept hidden all her life. The narrative flashes back to Gretel’s escape to Paris with her mother in 1946, then later trying to start a new life in Australia in the early 1950’s before arriving in London in 1953, each time with a different identity, but always keeping her first name.

Boyne doesn’t make Gretel the most likeable person, she is steely, direct and extremely irritated by the arrival of her new neighbours. But this renders the story more persuasive as Boyne brilliantly draws the past and present together and we discover the contradictory and complex decisions Gretel has been left to cope with throughout her life and the close secrets she still harbours in her nineties. Whilst she has never taken responsibility for her past, can she now take responsibility for the present and prevent further evil and pain, without compromising herself and those around her? It is up to the reader to decide whether feeling guilty and having regrets is enough.

Den tip - Whilst 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' was written for older children, this is an adult read.

Available in paperback.

THE BULLET THAT MISSED

THE BULLET THAT MISSED

Another Thursday Murder Club mystery that is an easy fly off the page novel from popular author, Richard Osman. ‘The Bullet That Missed’ (September 2022) takes the reader out of Cooper’s Chase on an investigation spanning 10 years - this time with two murders to solve. It’s another warm and humorous whodunnit for fans and book clubbers - great to read or gift or do both!

So settle down and spend time with the septuagenarian sleuths - Elizabeth, Ibrahim, Joyce and Ron. Plus Allan the dog!

The team take on an investigation into the murder of a local TV news presenter Bethany Waites. Whilst the team kick start snooping around Bethany’s life, albeit 10 years after her death, Elizabeth has been given a more dangerous mission to murder a KGB general, an enemy she respected from her spy days or sacrifice her friend Joyce.

Whether you have been following Osman’s series or not, the characters are devilishly curious, funny and as we know from the Den’s own book clubs everyone has a favourite detective - but we all agreed, it’s just great to get the gang back with another deadly adventure investigating a murder with no body and trouble knocking on their door…

Love is also in the air in this novel and as Osman himself confides “it’s a blast spending more time with the gang!”. Treat yourself and your book club - a read we can all look forward to (and share!).

And if you have enjoyed this 'The Last Devil To Die' is out now.

MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS

MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS

‘Mrs Harris Goes to Paris’ by Paul Gallico is a short charming story that has recently inspired a new romantic ‘feel good’ film starring Lesley Manville. Responding to the 4 star reviews, the Den pick out the original 1958 novel as its missed opportunity read about a London ‘salt of the earth’ cleaner who is destined to leave her chores and travel to Paris to fulfil her dream - that is to own a Dior dress. A nostalgic fairytale read for book clubbers looking for an (almost) happy ending.

Ada Harris of Battersea is a widowed London charlady who falls in love with one of her client’s dresses and decides her mission and destiny is to own a Dior dress, which in post war Britain was £450 - equivalent to Ada’s total annual income. Mrs Harris initially has some good fortune playing the football pools, taking her chances to win and gamble her savings. However she soon realises that luck was not enough and that determination and two years of hard work would be the only way to raise the funds.

Paul Callico’s novel takes the reader on Ada’s journey from her humble working class life in London in which she cleans tirelessly for her Belgravia clients. Having put in the hard graft, the reader enjoy’s Ada's first adventure to the Continent, flying on BAOC to the glamorous and exotic city of Paris. Placing Mrs Harris in a foreign setting, the reader is entertained by her journey and the reactions that she elicits from her Parisian counterparts working at The House of Christian Dior. As well as encountering snobbery and facing her own challenges alone in a foreign city, Mrs Harris is cast as an unexpected fairy godmother who oversees a romance and brings good fortune with her outspoken brashness and objectivity.

Gallico crafts a punchy story and the Den was not too surprised to discover that many of his novels such as ‘The Snow Goose’ and 'The Poseidon Adventure' were adapted and scripted for films. This is a delectable chocolate box read and for some of us it was inevitably too sweet and predictable although we all agreed it was a novel that could be easily consumed in one sitting and enjoyed as a historical time piece of 1950s Britain, travelling abroad and crossing the class barriers and cultural settings. And there is a bonus in the latest paperback edition as it also features 'Mrs Harris Goes to New York'!

TREACLE WALKER

TREACLE WALKER

‘Treacle Walker’ is a short magical winter’s tale by the popular author, Alan Garner, best known for his fantasy stories and folk tales. Short-listed as a surprising entry for the Booker Prize 2022 this year, Garner presents a wonderful magical world that demands the reader’s attention and imagination on every page. A gem for book clubbers.

'Treacle Walker' tells the story of Joe, a young sickly boy who is recuperating at home when the rag-and-bone man, that is Treacle Walker, comes knocking at his door. Living at home alone Joe exchanges a pair of his pyjamas and a lamb’s shoulder blade for a jar and a stone bearing a mysterious drawing of a horse. Treacle Walker is introduced as a curious healer and the reader is told early on to expect the unexpected as well as embrace the peculiar world that surrounds Joe. We know Joe suffers from a lazy eye “What the eye doesn’t see” said the man, “the heart doesn’t grieve for”. Or does it?’. Accepting Joe's optics and his thirst to make sense of the world, the reader soon appreciates the magical aura surrounding Treacle Walker and the chimney which is at the heart of Joe’s home as well as the ‘axis mundi’ connecting two contrasting worlds. Is this heaven and earth? An explanation of quantum physics? What is fiction and what is reality in Joe's world? Full of wonder and curiosity Joe wants to understand his natural surroundings, venturing out just beyond his home to the moor where he meets another curious character - this time a bog man, Thin Amren. Joe develops friendships with both characters although there is some tension between Treacle Walker and Thin Amren and we accept that he can't be friends with both.

The novel fuses the magical fantasy of Joe’s childish imagination with the author’s own more reflective observations and philosophical thoughts, looking back at his own childhood and trying to make sense of young inquisitive minds. The Den enjoys the surprising style of writing which was both moving and cryptic. As this is Garner's tenth novel, written in his eighties, fans can expect to find 'Treacle Walker' intriguing and soul searching. It is also worth listening to Garner's interview describing his unique approach to writing this novel - deliberately allowing the subconscious to steer his story-telling as well as present the unexplained. Definitely a wild card novel for the alternative reader!

GREAT CIRCLE

GREAT CIRCLE

This epic adventure spans continents, timelines and war. Maggie Shipstead’s extraordinary story of a young woman determined to be a pilot and a Hollywood star hoping to portray this woman's life over half a century later is a sweeping, adrenaline-charged journey of love, nature, freedom and survival. Shortlisted for both the 2021 Booker Prize and the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Great Circle is a tumultuous book club read.

Marian Graves and her twin brother Jamie are rescued at birth by their father from the sinking ‘Josephina Eterna’ of which he is Captain. Disgraced for abandoning his ship, he is imprisoned leaving his brother Wallace as charge of these tiny infants. Marian and Jamie grow up fairly wild, with little school education, but a natural affinity with nature alongside their equally untamed friend, Caleb. All three roam the countryside, swim the creeks and rivers embracing the wilderness. When Marian meets The Flying Brayfogles, it unleashes in her the desire to be free and fly planes. Meanwhile, in 2014 Los Angeles, Hadley Baxter, a Hollywood star has just cheated on her co-star (and therefore the brand) and consequently been dropped by the film franchise. In an effort to escape the scrutiny of the press, Hadley is persuaded to change tact and play the role of Marian Graves in a film based on the aviator’s life, a fitting role for someone who has lost both her parents in a plane crash.

The story follow’s Marian’s quest, as a young woman of no means, to become a skilled aviator, periodically linking it back to the lives of those she has left behind. Over the next decades the story moves from US prohibition to Alaska, through wartime London and finally New Zealand. Hadley, wanting to do justice to her role, begins her own research – will unearthing Marian’s true story allow her peace from her own turbulence?

Shipstead is also a travel writer who has spent time in the Artic, Antarctica, Alaska and New Zealand and so is able to bring her expertise and first-hand detailed knowledge of these places to her writing with such skill and freedom. The details of flying, art, wartime London, modern day Hollywood, every scene and character comes empathetically to life. What probably makes this book even more special, is that it lets us experience so much of the world, at a time when for so long travel has been prohibited. In the video on her website, Maggie Shipstead says she hopes the story “takes you somewhere far away and unexpected” – it certainly did for everyone in the Den.

Hardly surprisingly, there are plans for a TV series for the story in the future.

THE GLASS PEARLS

THE GLASS PEARLS

Karl Braun is not whom he seems. Can this rather lonely middle-aged man, living in London on a meagre wage as a piano tuner really be a Nazi war criminal? This is an extraordinary story, originally published 50 years ago, about someone living incognito in London to escape being tried for his past atrocities.

Dr Otto Reitmuller performed notorious brain experiments on Jews in concentration camps during the second world war. Whilst clearly evil and culpable, we meet the rather quiet and unassuming Karl Braun, living a simple clandestine life in Pimlico, London 20 years later. Yet we soon discover that Braun’s survival is complex, always looking over his shoulder, fearing the worst, imagining that any moment he is going to give himself away.

When Braun’s fellow lodger, Strohmayer, gives Braun prime concert tickets, he invites Helen Taylor from the estate agents he used to find his accommodation. Young, energetic, and a single mother, they are hardly the likely match, but Braun is swept away by her companionship – the question being, will he reveal too much about himself and be found out? Helen knows nothing of his covert life, but is drawn towards his charming gentlemanly behaviour until events spiral when he takes her on a weekend to Paris.

What makes this novel remarkable is the writer Pressburger’s own background. It is well worth reading Anthony Quinn’s forward about his life from his birth in Hungary, his time in Berlin which he regarded as home, before his escape to Paris and then London when the Nazis rose to power. But it was the German people who held his affection, which probably explains his affinity with the personality he creates for Karl Braun. Whilst Braun/Reitmuller’s crimes are monstrous, he doesn’t create a monster, perhaps until the end when, without giving too much away, you discover the depth of his deceit.

The Den were blown away by this hidden gem of a book. It has the amazing ability to allow you to sympathise with this mild-mannered gentleman, even though you know he is totally evil which puts the reader in an uncomfortable position. The tension is built up beautifully and it becomes a real page-turner as you are drawn into Braun’s paranoia. Pressburger was a successful film maker and this book certainly has the feel of film noir.

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE

‘Small Things Like These’ is an alternative winter novella by the acclaimed short story writer, Claire Keegan. Set in a small town in Ireland during the ‘80s the novel presents a slice of social history in which the festive season is interrupted by the dark and chilling secrets of the lesser known Magdalene Laundries. Short listed for the Booker Prize (2022) this is a story that thrives on tension, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the operations of these secret institutions.

In the story, it’s 1985 and Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant is facing his busiest season delivering fuel to the community whilst snatching time with his young family of five girls. There is festive excitement in the air, present lists to be written and a general sense of busyness and countdown to the holidays. Whilst Furlong is doing his rounds he unwittingly discovers a dark secret held at the local convent. As the protagonist begins to realise the truth of his encounter in the high-walled convent premises we the reader peak into this world wondering what we might do. As a hard-working father to a young family, money is tight but equally the cry for help from the young girl is prickling his conscience.

This shameful story of young 'fallen women' who were incarcerated into homes - disappearing from public life provides an uncomfortable narrative. Set against the warmth of family and local life, the reader discovers how the church and its communities were complicit, hiding the secret institutions that were kept under wraps for many decades. The reader is also privy to Furlong’s own back story and the life that he was saved from - a secret that his own friends and family hint at to him.

The Den found the story hit many nerves in their own lives providing a great novella for discussion in book club. Definitely inspired the Den not to shy away from the novella format - not only because it is gives everyone the chance to complete the read in good time for book club. Now available in paperback.

OPERATION MINCEMEAT

OPERATION MINCEMEAT

‘Operation Mincemeat’, originally written by the acclaimed writer Ben MacIntryre in 2010 is an impressive retelling of the true spy story that changed the course of World War II. Successfully adapted as a major film as well as for the stage, the book is gripping and entertaining - making a fabulous page turner and wild card choice for book clubs.

Ben MacIntryre, famous for his forensic approach to spy stories, takes a deep dive into all the materials behind Operation Mincemeat - the most ambitious war time deception operation ever attempted. Operation Mincemeat was a bizarre plan dreamed up by an RAF officer and MI5 agent, Charles Cholmondeley, who came up with the idea of using a dead body to fool the Nazis. Working with Ewen Montagu, a barrister officer in Naval Intelligence (who wrote his own account of the event in 1953 - ‘The Man Who Never Was’) the two men hatched a plan to persuade Hitler that instead of attacking Sicily in 1943 the allies were about to attack Greece.

In the early hours of 1943, a corpse wearing uniform and carrying a series of false papers is floated ashore on the South West coast of Spain, designed to catch the attention of a specific Spanish spy who was able to share the disinformation up the German chain of command to Hitler.

This bold deception plan makes a spellbinding story as MacIntryre chronicles the operation and presents the extraordinary characters involved in the deception and the creative manner in which the spies approached the operation. The Den were surprised by the spies who approached the plan as if they were writing a novel, in which the fictional characters, such as the love interest, Pam, become real characters with their own back stories. There were also some fascinating discoveries such as Ewen Montagu’s brother Ivor Montagu, who was a film maker, table tennis pioneer, communist and Soviet spy! Lots to enjoy and discover in this book as well as questions for the inquisitive reader.

If you enjoyed MacIntrye’s book the Den recommends his Cold War spy thriller ‘The Spy and the Traitor’ which can be found in the Den library or Ewen Montagu’s own account in ‘The Man Who Never Was’.

THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

‘The Marriage Portrait’ by award winning Maggie O’Farrell is the author’s sensational new historical novel about a young bride’s story set in the brutal world of Renaissance Italy. A delicious treat of a read - filled with intrigue, captivating energy and Renaissance drama.

‘That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive, I call
That piece a wonder, now: Fra Padolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her?'

Extract from ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning

Inspired by Robert Browning’s poem ‘My Last Duchess’ and the historical events that the poem were based on, Maggie O’Farrell weaves a compelling story drawing on the mysterious death of the young bride Lucrezia de Medici who marries Alfonso d’Este, the Duke of Ferrara uniting two powerful dynasties in Renaissance Italy. Just like the portraits that typified this period, Maggie O’Farrell paints a vivid and colourful portraiture, looking at and beyond the poem, the artwork and the facts.

‘The Marriage Portrait’ starts with an unexpected visit to the Duke’s country lodge. Sitting down for dinner in this ‘wild and lonely place’ the reader learns from Lucrezia that her husband has a sinister reason behind bringing her to the lodge: he intends to kill her. The first chapter immediately sets the tone and pace of the novel - presenting the foreboding danger and sense of urgency. Whilst the format is short and pacy the author alternates the present and impending doom with longer chapters that provide Lucrezia’s back story in which she grows up as the wilder free spirit within her sheltered and privileged palazzo. Whilst the novel has a strong historical narrative O’Farrell brings a modern perspective to the ill fated heroine. As the story evolves the reader recognises the entrapment and closing down of the young bride’s life. The author peels away at the layers of stories hidden under the portrait and just like Lucrezia the reader is trapped by the young girl's predicament.

Interestingly there is only one portrait of Lucrezia de Medici, unlike the rest of her siblings, begging the question why and what really happened to this young bride? The Den enjoyed O’Farrell's exploration of the mystery surrounding Lucrezia - bringing to life a credible narrative of a young girl’s plight to survive. Although a very sad story the Den loved the imaginative writing that brought freshness and brilliant clarity to this little known historical figure.

The Den also recommends 'Hamnet' as a favourite book club read - see Den's Dozen for our review.

NEMESIS

NEMESIS

‘Nemesis’ by Philip Roth is a short and all consuming novel about the summer of 1944 in New York when an outbreak of polio strikes. Given the recent pandemic this is a ‘dare you’ to read novel that looks beyond the disease. Written by the award winning author Philip Roth in 2010 (recently deceased, 2018) 'Nemesis' is studied by schools as a modern classic and is a powerful and profound read that will shake up your book club.

‘Nemesis’ opens on a sweltering hot day in Newark, in the grip of a terrifying epidemic. The reader is introduced to Bucky Cantor, a young fit playground director at a Jewish school who is proud of his duties and charge of children but equally embarrassed by his poor eye sight that has excluded him from serving in the war alongside his friends. Bucky lives and works in a tightly knit community and the reader follows events as the impact of polio begins to affect those around him. We are quickly drawn into Bucky’s story who becomes caught up with the unexpected consequences and responsibilities of his playground duties. As polio begins to take a grip, Bucky’s love interest, Marcia, beckons him to join her at her polio-free summer camp to escape. Bucky also faces a spiritual crisis, asking himself why God would allow innocent children to be maimed and die of polio. The story revolves around Bucky’s responsibilities, as he sees it, becomes greater - is this hubris or nemesis?

The Den enjoyed the pace and character development which were clearly defined with the author’s own voice setting the tone, questioning their actions and thoughts. Roth fans will not be disappointed with ‘Nemesis’ and if it is your first Roth novel we invite you to try his Pulitzer Prize winning book ‘The Human Stain’ next - reviewed in the Den library.

YOUNG MUNGO

YOUNG MUNGO

Young Mungo is the next book following on from Douglas Stuart’s remarkable and powerful debut “Shuggie Bain” for which he won the 2021 Booker Prize and which is in the Den’s Dozen top reads. This read is slightly more problematical which is why we have made it our Wild Card Choice. Somewhat surprisingly, the books storyline is again about a young boy who doesn’t fit in growing up in poverty in Glasgow with an alcoholic mother. Secondly it lacks the humour of Shuggie Bain and the main characters Mungo and Mo-Maw are not such likeable characters as Shuggie and Agnes. And finally, the cover gives a major theme of the book away – it’s like regretting watching a film trailer in case it reveals the plot. But once you put those thoughts aside, you are left with a book which is many ways more powerful, more emotionally draining and more gut wrenching than ‘Shuggie Bain.’

Mungo Hamilton is 15 and lives on a Protestant ….. estate in poverty in Glasgow with his alcoholic mother, Mo-Maw, a “hard man” of a brother Hamish and his intelligent no-nonsense elder sister Jodie. The story opens with Mungo going on a fishing trip with two men, one elder St Christopher and one younger rather sinister Callowgate to a special spot they know at Loch .........The story cleverly switches from the loch to the sequence of events leading to that point so the reader is immediately wondering why Mungo is on this trip he clearly doesn’t want to be on, with these two oddballs.

As the book flips back to Glasgow we see Mungo’s mother Mo-Maw regularly disappearing for weeks on end leaving her eldest daughter Jodie to look after young Mungo before returning and throwing herself into AA meetings. Jodie is an intelligent and ambitious young woman, who earns her own money working in a café and is relentlessly scathing of her mother. She wants Mungo to be like her, but he is sensitive, less clever and lacks her drive. The elder brother, Hamish or Ha-Ha as he is called, feels rather stereotypical even if he does wear glasses – he’s a hard man, father at the age of ….and leader of a group of young “Prodders” constantly looking out for a fight so re-enforcing the Sectarian violence theme.

This book focuses less on the bond between a young boy and their alcoholic mother, and more on the consequences of having no role model for a mother as Mo-Maw really can’t be bothered with her children. With so much time on his own, Mungo meets James, a pigeon fancier whose mother has died and father works the rigs so again is absent. James is open about his sexuality and unsurprisingly catholic. As the two become close and Mungo starts to spend more time with James, the family become suspicious of Mungo’s intentions and set out to end the relationship. So when Mo-Maw meets St Christopher and Callowgate at one of her AA meetings, she persuades them to take her son with them on their fishing trip despite the clear alarm bells ringing in her head. Every time the story moves to the loch, your heart is in your mouth, as you know it is not going to end well.

But this book draws you in. There are moments, particularly when Mungo is on the fishing trip, when we had to book the book down. It is gripping and gruelling at the same time. Stuart never takes the easy option for his characters, which is why it will probably bring tears to your eyes and why it is our Wild Card Read. Not one for everyone, but if you loved Shuggie Bain, give this a go, if you struggled with Shuggie Bain then this is not for you.

THREE

THREE

Valérie Perrin’s first book 'Fresh Water for Flowers' was a firm favourite in the Den, and 'Three' (also translated by Hildergarde Serle) is as equally enthralling as she brilliantly draws the reader into the untouchable friendship of three young people growing up in the small town of La Comelle in France.

Valérie Perrin is adept at moving between timelines as the story switches between three best friends growing up in the late '80s, early '90s and present day.

Nina, Adrien and Étienne meet at school aged 10 in 1986, linking arms with Adrien on the left, Nina in the middle and Etienne on the right – an untouchable friendship. Sharing music, movies, playing at being radio presenters, the three are inseparable – Etienne the leader, Nina the heart and soul and Adrien happy to follow. Nina is confident, graceful and artistic and lives with her loving grandfather, a postman having never known either of her parents. Etienne is tall, blond, athletic and fearless but unable to live up to the high academic expectations set by his father. Adrien, brought up by his mother, is painfully shy, clever and sensitive, he can’t quite believe these two enigmatic people have chosen him as their friend. The story follows their childhood, dealing with the ups and downs of those formative teenage years as they work towards their 'le bac' exams – the dream being to all study together in Paris and make something of their lives beyond small town La Comelle.

But as Perrin switches the story to 2017, we realise that these 3 inseparable friends no longer see each other and haven’t done so for a long while. Will a life affirming moment force them back together again and what haunts them from their past?

Full of suspense and surprise, Perrin has a gift for drawing you into all her characters as they deal with love, loss, hardship, illness and regrets. She effortlessly creates a gripping and beautiful story and as the two timelines begin to converge throws in wonderful plot twists and unpredictable moments. A perfect summer's read.

THE NIGHT INTERNS

THE NIGHT INTERNS

The Den were enraptured with ‘The Night Interns’ by Austin Duffy, but because not everyone will want to delve into the night time shortcomings of an overstretched hospital, it is our ‘Wild Card’ read this month. Duffy's compelling story of three interns working night time shifts in a large Irish hospital is honest, brutal, unsettling, compelling and a must read.

The story is narrated by an unnamed surgical intern as he fearfully begins his night time training residency in hospital with two fellow trainee surgical interns, Lynda and Stuart. With barely any experience, we witness these three very different characters navigate the demands and relentless pressure of being on call. Lynda is super gifted, exuding confidence and willing to try any procedure. Stuart initially appears timid and totally out of his depth, reluctant to perform basic tasks. The narrator is captivated by Lynda and dismissive of Stuart, if not taking comfort in the fact Stuart appears to find the job more nerve-racking than he does.

Austin Duffy is a consultant oncologist so, similar to Adam Kay’s “This is going to Hurt”, he is able to draw on his medical knowledge to vividly tell his story. In this case, the dynamics of navigating the consultant’s furore, the nuanced conversations between nurses and doctors and the interns navigating how to handle the constant workload whilst perhaps snatching a few moments for sleep and sustenance. Duffy skilfully conjures up the claustrophobic nature of the hospital environment – the moment the interns emerge into daylight are so real and powerful - and expertly creates such a clear picture of the loneliness, fear, exhaustion and abuse suffered by interns that it is no surprise to learn that not all interns have made it through. You can feel the changes in temperature, capture the smells and without doubt you or your family will recognise a scenario or a scene and wince. And then there are the patients - helpless, resigned, confused and reliant that the treatment they are getting will make them well.

This may all sound rather depressing, but it is an addictive and page-turning read and Duffy’s writing is wonderfully direct and upfront. Admittedly some of the consultants appear too stereotypical and their lack of guidance hopefully in part unrealistic, but overall this short read gives a wonderful insight into nights at a hospital and at the same time recognises the shortcomings and inefficiencies of what these young doctors are being asked to do. And, as the interns settle into the work, a glimmer of hope that it will ‘all be worth it’ is brought beautifully together in the opening and closing scene when our unnamed narrator deals with death.

THE PROMISE

THE PROMISE

'The Promise' by Damon Galgut is last year's Booker Prize winner and a poignant and emotive story about living with the consequences of an unfulfilled promise. Beginning just as South Africa was transitioning out of apartheid, Galgut's novel provides an honest insight into the personal impact of the country's recent history.

Set on a farm outside Pretoria in the mid 80s, the novel opens with the death of Rachel - Ma - who leaves behind a broken family and a promise from her husband Manie that their black housemaid Salome must be given her own house and land. This promise is overheard by her youngest daughter Amor whose unwillingness to let the matter drop becomes a jinx which overshadows any family unity. When the white Afrikaner family gather at Rachel's funeral this promise is deferred as the family comes to terms with Ma's wishes to receive a Jewish burial in conflict with her own family's faith. Ma leaves behind other ghosts impacting her immediate family - alongside husband Manie are their three children - each with their own demons. Eldest son Anton cannot escape from an impulsive crime he commits whilst doing his service, Astrid, once carefree and joyous finds herself unhappily married with twins and consequently striving for an unrealistic better life, whilst Amor whose near death experience as a child seems to have marked her as separate from her siblings can never forgive her family for not honouring their mother's promise.

Divided into four stories the story moves along seamlessly from one character to the next over the subsequent four decades. The writing is beautifully crafted. Galgut expertly switches narration, often in the middle of a thought process catching you unaware, his original descriptions, the asides as if the author is saying "come on, you know what I mean" and the subtle thought process which as a reader you feel part of. Lastly there is the unsaid - you know there is so much more to know about Salome but that almost seems to be the point.

"The box is empty and has four sides, no, six, no, more, but what does it matter when it's going into the ground?"

Funerals bring the family together over the decades at which point they try to understand old wounds as well as reconsider 'the promise' that remains broken. And lastly, the final question - could Manie have fulfilled his promise even if wanted to?

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

Inspired by the recent Tiffany’s exhibition in London, Truman Capote’s classic novella ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’ makes an indulgent treat of a read for book clubs. Also a wonderful excuse to combine with the nostalgic adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.

Set in New York City in the 1940s, ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’ tells the story of Holly Golightly as witnessed by a young aspiring author who is bewitched by his mysterious Brownstone neighbour. Holly Golighty is an enigma and probably one of Capote’s most famous characters who has charmed and intrigued readers, as well as captivating us on screen (thanks to Hepburn's interpretation). Pursued by Mafia gangsters and unsavoury characters Holly leads a precarious life, balancing charm with resilience and grit. The narrator, clearly besotted by Holly, draws us into his obsession and it is easy to fall in love with her damaged and irrational behaviour.

As Capote explains “The main reason I wrote about Holly, outside of the fact that I liked her so much, was that she was such a symbol of all these girls who come to New York and spin in the sun for a moment like May flies and then disappear,” he said. “I wanted to rescue one girl from that anonymity and preserve her for prosperity”. Capote certainly achieves this!

Whilst the book is a one sitting read, Capote is masterful with his character development including those around Holly such as Joe Bell, the bar owner, Mr Yunioshi the 'Californian photographer' as well as his exquisite cast of cameo hangers on. Much of the enjoyment reading this novel is in Copote’s ability to capture the reader’s imagination with his tightly scripted story and beautifully crafted dialogue.

The book abounds in memorable quotes that Den readers picked out and the novel worked brilliantly as an audible version.
'No matter where you run, you run into yourself'.
'Home is where you feel at home. I'm still looking'.
'I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany’s'

Interestingly, Tiffany’s is mentioned briefly by Holly although it certainly captures the sparkle and attraction of her character as well as a befitting title for the novel.

'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us in the Den and it a great way to get back into your book club this autumn.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

“Despite what Elizabeth Zott will tell you, Supper at Six is not just an introduction to chemistry. It’s a thirty-minute, five-day-a-week lesson in life. And not in who we are or what we’ve made of, but rather, who we’re capable of becoming.”

An original and entertaining page-turner about female empowerment. Elizabeth Zott is trying to forge a career as a top chemist in California in the early 1960’s but acceptance of such a strong, clever woman is not going to come without its consequences and setbacks. A superb, fun read and a book club favourite, also now available in paperback.

When we first meet Elizabeth Zott, she has turned from being a research chemist at Hastings Research Institute to packing her daughter’s lunch and presenting a daily cookery show called Supper at Six on American TV. We soon discover that Elizabeth is no ordinary mother and no ordinary TV host. She is a scientist, specifically a chemist and she utilises her new TV platform to teach the stay at home housewives the chemistry of cooking, refusing to pamper to her boss’s demands to conform to the stereotypical cosy baking show format they intended.

As we uncover the reasons why Elizabeth agrees to do the show in the first place so we discover her first love, being a chemist, working at the Hastings Institute, where despite her extraordinary intelligence she isn’t able to progress or win over the staff in the male dominated environment. This all changes when she accosts the infamous and highly esteemed chemist, Calvin Evans, whose reputation at Hastings is untouchable. Unlike her work colleagues, Elizabeth is not intimidated by Calvin and their shared passion for chemistry ignites a unique and special relationship which threatens those around her. Calvin introduces Elizabeth to rowing and when a stray dog finds its way to her, she simply names him Six-Thirty as this is the time she glances at her watch when Calvin first meets them both together. But an unexpected turn of events, leaves Elizabeth alone and pregnant and the question is whether such a strong-minded person can carve a future for herself in the chemistry field she loves whilst also being the breadwinner and sole parent for her daughter and trying to empower other woman to be like her.

'Lessons in Chemistry' will give you or your book club plenty to dissect. In Elizabeth Zott, Garmus has created an unforgettable character whose analysis of the world is absolute and uncompromising. Garmus’s writing bursts with energy and through Elizabeth, she not only creates someone who defies all the odds of her generation, she also questions the adverse effect of religion and culture on a woman’s progress in the world. And as the title of the book says, you will also learn some interesting lessons in the chemistry behind baking!

THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO

THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO

Christy Lefteri’s bestselling ‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ is a heart-breaking story of one family’s struggle trying to escape war torn Syria for a better life in the west.

Based on her experience working as a volunteer at a refugee camp in Athens, Lefteri has written a heart-breaking and eye-opening story which personalises the refugee crisis. The Den were all moved by this powerful and honest portrayal of one couple’s struggle to come to terms with trauma and find themselves again.

Nuri works as a beekeeper looking after his friend Mustafa’s apiaries in the mountains of Aleppo. He lives with his artist wife Nuri and their beautiful son Sami leading a happy and fulfilled life until civil war in Syria threatens their stability. Nuri watches those around him flee the war, including Mustafa and his family who head to the UK. But Afra can’t bear to leave and it is not until disaster strikes that they are forced to give up everything and make the dangerous journey west.

Lefteri switches the narrative between the present day in a UK holding camp awaiting asylum and their previous life in Aleppo journeying through Turkey and Greece. As the story unfolds we learn of the heartbreak and suffering they have endured. But at the heart of the story is the damaged relationship between two people, Nuri and Afra - can they find each other again as they confront an uncertain future?

Lefteri touches on the post traumatic stress of the events in Aleppo and gives us an understanding as to why people stop talking about their traumas. Nuri’s love for his job as a beekeeper brings nature and adds depth to the story. Bees are a mystery to most people, they are beautiful and dangerous at the same time and live in their own world, perhaps reflecting Nuri’s state of mind.

If you have already read this, try Christine Lefteri’s latest book, ‘Songbirds.’

THE PAPER PALACE

THE PAPER PALACE

Elle and her family spend every summer in the Back Woods living in their big summer house with a huge porch and four small cabins overlooking the shoreline of a pond and set against the beaches of Cape Cod in New England. A wild and lonely place for much of the year until the summer when it comes alive and breathes life into the families who go each year to enjoy nature at its best.

Miranda Cowley Heller begins the novel in the present day – it’s 6.30 am in the morning and for Elle "This is the end of a long story." From this point on, Cowley Heller switches between a 24-hour period over the present day versus snapshots of Elle’s life since her birth in December 1966 across the next 50 years. At 15, Elle bumps into 12-year old Jonas and together they form a special bond as they explore the woods, beaches and swim in the pond, sharing the same passions for the wilderness of the Back Woods. They become inseparable until a shared secret ruptures their relationship leading each to take different paths towards happiness. A night of reunion threatens to undo all they have carefully held together over 40 years.

Thrown into the mix is Elle’s troubled childhood of heartbreak, abuse, love, loyalty and an ever-present domineering mother who has failed in every relationship she has had with men. Throughout, the Back Woods form the solidity which give Elle, her sister Anna and their mother strength.

Cowley Heller has weaved a compelling love triangle set against the raw beauty of the New England backdrop. As two parallel words collide, the story left everyone in the Den guessing the outcome until the final page and beyond. A few of us felt some of the characters such as Elle’s English husband, were rather cliched but the parallel timelines add an interesting concept and the fallout of tragedy expertly drives the story.

Miranda Cowley Heller worked as Head of Drama at HBO for over a decade – it seems likely we will see this on our screens in the future.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

‘A Room with a View’ is a short, sunny love story and a charming classic that your book club can easily take away for a weekend break, holiday or staycation. An enjoyable comedy of manners.

Written in 1908, E.M. Forster delights his readers with a visit to Italy starting in Florence at the Pension Bertolini, where we are introduced to a group of English characters on their 'Grand Tour'. Focus is drawn to Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin Charlotte who don't get the rooms they are expecting with views over the Arno River. This misunderstanding is quickly resolved by Mr Emerson and his son George who offer an exchange. Charlotte who is chaperoning Lucy considers this inappropriate for her charge but eventually agrees. George is young and single, from a different background and class to Lucy making them a social mismatch. However George’s passionate sensitivity and melancholy makes him an attractive love interest in the novel. Whilst in Italy there are a number of key events that shape the story’s direction; a dramatic street fight in Piazzi Signoria witnessed by the young Lucy and George, a passionate kiss shared between the two in the Italian Tuscan hills and an engagement in Rome.

When Lucy returns to her family in Surrey she has to contend with introducing her fiancé to her family, her friends and country life which is in stark contrast to her holiday experience. Her fiancé finds Lucy’s family coarse and unsophisticated. At this point, Lucy had thought her life was mapped out but her trip to the ‘chaotic’ and ‘dangerous’ Florence and her passionate encounter has shaken up her sensibilities and ignited a personality that is at odds with what is expected of her. Forster challenges the petty snobberies and constraints of the social class structures and it is through Lucy that we see an enlightening break through.

‘You love the boy body and soul, plainly directly, as he loves you…'.

For those who watched the award winning Merchant-Ivory 1985 film, there are plenty of moments that will be fondly remembered - with a remarkable closeness to the original characterisation which will not fail to disappoint the reader. Whether it’s Mr Beeb the rector from Lucy’s town (played by Simon Callow), a young outspoken novelist Miss Eleanor Lavish trying to experience the ‘true Italy’ (played by Judi Dench) or the awkward and pretentious Cecil Vyse (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), the Den thoroughly enjoyed the comic satirical touch of Forster’s story telling.

As well as providing an amusing insight into Edwardian travel to the Continent ‘A Room is a View’ remains an enlightening critique of this period. We are in no doubt the novel will delight your book club and works brilliantly as an alternative or additional choice for those planning to read one of the bestselling book club favourites recommended by the Den this year - ‘Still Life’ by Sarah Winman, which is a modern twist on Forster’s ‘A Room with a View'. Now in the Den's library.

Other great classics by E.M. Forster include ‘A Passage to India’ and ‘Howard’s End’.

ELEKTRA

ELEKTRA

‘Elektra’ by Jennifer Saint is the author’s second novel, reimagining another classical myth taken from the perspective of three lesser known female characters - Elektra, Cassandra and Clytemnestra. The novel is a modern, intoxicating and gripping backstory to the Trojan Wars in which 1,000 ships famously set sail to Troy to see the return of Helen. The legendary tale is flipped and we the reader get the chance to imagine a different tale with an alternative narrative. But this is a marmite read for book clubbers!

‘Elektra’ revolves around the story of two cursed families - the House of Atreus and the House of Troy. The former house is tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance which they blame on their forefathers and the gods. The House of Troy is doomed with the return of Paris who had been banished by his parents as a baby to protect the city from their own cursed household.

Clytemnestra - The first voice in the novel is that of Clytemnestra who marries Agamemnon, ignoring the ‘curse’ of her husband's family. Her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister Helen (who is also married into the same family) is taken to Troy by Paris. Whilst it unclear whether Helen leaves with Paris willingly, Agamemnon raises a great army to win her back, whatever the cost. But Clytemnestra questions the futility of this war. ‘Is she worth a thousand ships, tens of thousands of our men?'

Cassandra - Meanwhile in Troy, the reader is introduced to Cassandra, Princess of Tory who is cursed by Apollo to see the future but never considered a credible voice by her own family. Instead she is powerless in the knowledge to realise that her city will fall.

Elektra - Before long the third voice, that of Elektra, provides a new perspective with conflicting thoughts and unexpected views. Elektra is the youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and whilst horrified by the murder of her sister Iphigenia she accepts the sacrifice made by her father to the gods, who 'slit her throat for a fair wind'. Elektra is a very different voice and warrior in the story and we are gripped as readers to see if she can escape her own curse or is her destiny also bound by violence?

'Elektra' is an explosive retelling of a popular myth with an exciting pace. Saint manages to retain the tone and feel of a Greek tragedy whilst providing a more emotive and nuanced narrative. The Den recommend the audio book edition as the voices work brilliantly in unfolding the story.

If you enjoyed 'Elektra', the Den would recommend Saint's debut novel, 'Ariadne', now available in paperback.

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