The Narrow Road To The Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014.  The story follows the life of Dorrigo Evans born in rural Tasmania to a poor family.  He goes on to become a surgeon.  The story is multi-layered, but the main topic of the book is Dorrigo’s experience as a Japanese prisoner of war in a camp on the Burma Death Railway.  Running parallel to this is Dorrigo’s affair with his uncle’s young wife, Amy.  This affair haunts him throughout his life.    At times a harrowing read, it is beautifully observed and told from different points of view.  I disliked the style of writing at first as I found it too fragmented dealing with the different strands of Dorrigo’s life in what seemed a random way.  Towards the end of the book the strands come together in an unexpected way.  I liked the way the stories of the other main characters are tied up, but not too neatly or in an overly sentimental way.   As always with books about war, it paints a grim picture of the human race and the cruelty inflicted by mankind.  It made me cry and will be a book that stays with me.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The story is not a Whodunit, but a Whydunit.  Like the Goldfinch, the narrator, Richard Papen, is a misfit desperate to reinvent himself.  The story is set in a college in New England in the 1990s and, like the Goldfinch, features drink and drugs.  Richard, feeling rudderless and wanting to escape from his boring suburban life and his uncaring parents, gains a scholarship to Hampden College.  At Hampden he finds himself drawn to a group of five clever and elitist students (Henry, Camilla, Charles, Francis and Bunny) who are studying Greek under a charismatic classics professor. Richard is invited to study with the closely knit group, but he is never fully accepted.  It opens with a prologue depicting the aftermath of the death of Bunny and it is clear that one of the group has murdered him and the others are implicit in the murder.    The first half of the book leads up to Bunny’s death and the second half the fallout and impact of his death on the group.  

Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary

Winner of the Theakston’s 2015 Crime Novel of the Year, this is Sarah Hilary’s debut novel introducing the character of DI Marnie Rome.  It is a fast-paced read as you would expect in this genre.  I liked the character of Marnie Rome – she was sufficiently complex with a backstory of her own.  I also liked her side-kick, Noah Jake.  The book opens with a devastating scene from Marnie’s past.  We’re then back in the present day with Marnie and Noah making a visit to a woman’s refuge to take a routine statement.  Their arrival interrupts an attempted murder.  It all seems a straight forward case of domestic violence, but as the investigation continues all is not what it first seemed and Marnie is forced to confront her own ghosts. The book deals with a serious subject in a sensitive way.  The chapters are short and punchy.  I look forward to spending more time with the characters in Sarah’s second book, No Other Darkness.     

Instructions For A Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell

I’m a big Maggie O’Farrell fan so I was looking forward to reading this.  The story is set against the backdrop of the heatwave of 1976.  It’s a story about relationships.  It is written from multiple viewpoints – I’m not usually a fan of multiple viewpoint novels, but this worked for me as all the voices were distinct.  The story opens with Gretha in London.  She is up early baking her usual soda bread despite the heat.  Her husband, Robert, greets her as usual and then pops out to the newsagents – something he’s done every day since his retirement.  What starts as a normal day turns into an extraordinary one when Robert doesn’t return.  We then meet their children:- Michael-Francis, a teacher with two young children and marital problems.  Monica, the favoured child, who has just re-married and become a step-mother; she should be happy, but she’s not.    And, Aoife the youngest and wildest child, living in New York after falling out with Monica.  As the crisis deepens, the family pull together as they try and solve the mystery of Robert’s disappearance and face up to their own problems.  The story depicts the intricacies of family relationships so well.  I could feel the sticky heat of the summer of 1976 and there was a real sense of place, especially when the story moves to Ireland.  I wasn’t sure when I started reading if I was going to enjoy this as much as Maggie O’Farrell’s previous novels, but it didn’t disappoint and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

The Girl In The Photograph by Kate Riordan

This is the story of two women, Alice Eveleigh in 1933 and Elizabeth Stanton in 1898.  The setting is Fiercombe Manor located in an isolated valley in Gloucestershire.  The chapters alternate between Alice, written in the first person and Elizabeth, written in the third person.  Unmarried Alice is pregnant and has been sent from her home in London to Fiercombe Manor to be cared for by Mrs Jelphs, the care taker of the manor.   Edith Jelphs is an old childhood friend of Alice’s mothers and Alice’s mother hopes that by sending Alice away no one will know of the pregnancy.  Alice, unused to life in the countryside, soon finds her imagination running riot in the eerie atmosphere of the house and the overbearing presence of Mrs Jelphs.  Alice becomes fascinated with stories of the Manor’s ancestors and, in particular, Elizabeth Stanton.  In 1898 Elizabeth Stanton was also pregnant and Mrs Jelphs had been her maid.  The mystery of what has happened to Elizabeth soon becomes an obsession and, as the unborn baby grows, Alice worries that her life is mirroring Elizabeth’s.   An easy read, I would have liked to know more about Alice’s mother’s past and her connection with Edith Jelphs.      

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

The Guest Cat is a gentle, thoughtful read.  It is about a couple in their thirties who have lost their way and have stopped communicating with each other when a cat starts to visit them.  The uninvited guest keeps coming back and brings a cheerful respite in their daily grind.  They become attached to the animal closely observing its habits.  They look forward to the cat’s visits.  The author is a Japanese poet and the writing is lyrical.  The story has been translated from Japanese and offers a window to a different culture but, because of the translation, I think I missed some of the subtle messages the author was trying to get across.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Set in London in 1922 and told from the point of view of Frances Wray, a woman in her twenties.  The story conveys the aftermath of war, how the class system is changing and how women are seizing these changes.  Frances would dearly love to be one of these women, but her sense of duty to her mother keeps her tied to the family home.  Her father has died and she has lost her beloved brothers in the war.  The Wrays are struggling to make ends meet.  They can no longer afford the luxury of servants and the daily chores of running the house falls to Frances.  We feel her resentment towards her father for his bad management of the family affairs.  Frances persuades her mother to take in some lodgers and the story begins with the arrival of Mr & Mrs Barber, a lively couple in their twenties.  At first the house feels strange with its new occupants and there are embarrassing moments when the daily minutia is played out such as accessing the outside toilet, but the bills have to be paid and the money is useful.  Frances is attracted to the colourful flighty Mrs Barber and, before long, the two become unlikely friends.  I liked the character of Frances – a woman keen to explore her sexuality, but reluctant to abandon her mother.  The descriptions are rich and vivid and I was easily transported to the place and time.