From the author of Room, this is
a collection of fourteen short stories, some of which have been broadcast on
BBC Radio 4. The theme is travel to,
within and from the United States and Canada.
The stories are inspired by historical facts and I liked reading the
notes at the end of each story to see what lay behind it and what inspired the
story and the characters. My favourite
was Counting The Days, a story told from the points of view of both a husband
and wife. Many of the stories are moving
and thought provoking, some gave me an insight on a particular incident in
history and others I found hard to believe, even though they are based on historical
fact. Without exception, each narrator
tells the story in their own individual voice and style. Reading the Afterword gave me an insight into
life as an immigrant.
Nita Reads
Welcome to my book blog where you will find a short summary of the books I have read.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Starter for Ten by David Nicholls
This was laugh out loud
funny. Set in 1985, it is the story of
Brian as he leaves his home in Essex, his Mum and childhood friends to embark
on his first year reading English at university. Ever since he was a child he has dreamed of
appearing on University Challenge and, it seems, his wish is about to be
fulfilled or is it? It is a coming of
age novel. I enjoyed it as much, if not more, as One Day.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
I wasn’t sure of this at first as
it is written from several viewpoints.
However, as each section is headed up with the narrator’s name it was clear
who was narrating the story. As the
story developed so did the individual voices.
The story is set over a ten year period from 1901. It is about two middle-class households whose
lives become entwined due to the fact their family plots in the local cemetery
rest next to each other. The daughters
of both families and the son of a gravedigger meet on the day of Queen
Victoria’s death and there begins an unlikely friendship between the three
children. I enjoyed the attention to
detail. It captures the frivolousness of
the Edwardian period when the rich were comfortable, but bored, especially the
women, who longed for something more meaningful to enrich their lives
with. No wonder a lot of women at the
time embraced the suffragette movement, which the story also touches on. I liked all the characters and it was
interesting seeing the same scene through different eyes.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
The Shock of The Fall by Nathan Filer
Winner of the Costa Book Awards
2013, this is the debut story by Nathan Filer.
The novel explores mental health in a sensitive but not an overly sentimental
or bleak way. It is also about grief and
grieving. It is the story of Mathew
Homes and how he is haunted by the death of his older brother Simon who
suffered from Down syndrome. In the end,
it is the memory of Simon that tips Mathew over the edge and the reader is
taken on his emotional journey as he writes his story about living with mental
health issues. The story jumps about a
bit just as if it is Matthew’s mind flitting from one subject to another and
this gave it a unique style. I found all
the characters believable and I liked Matthew and found myself routing for him. I look forward to reading more from Nathan
Filer.
Monday, September 12, 2016
The London Train by Tessa Hadley
The London Train consists of two
novellas that are linked in a clever and unexpected way. Both novellas could stand on their own as
complete stories. As the title implies,
both have the London Train as a theme.
The first story is about Paul whose mother has just died. Her death triggers a mid-life crisis and
makes him question the direction his life is going. A call from his first wife asking for help to
track down their missing daughter seems to fulfil his restlessness and, as he
goes to London to track her down, he finds himself drawn to her new friends, a
group of Polish immigrants. The second
story is about Cora who is also facing a mid-life crisis. She has moved back to her parents’ house in
Cardiff, which she has inherited following their death, leaving her husband in
London. As she settles into her new life
she is forced to question whether she should end her marriage. As we discover more about Cora’s past and her
reason for escaping to Cardiff, the connection between the stories is
revealed. The characters in both stories
are realistically drawn. It was an
enjoyable read.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
The Story of You by Julie Myerson
I have not read anything quite
like this before and I was intrigued by the poetical style of the writing. The story opens with a flashback of a snowy
scene and two young students sharing a single bed in a cold room. Then the story jumps to the present day, some
20 years later, and it is clear from the narrator’s halting voice that some
tragedy has gone before. The narrator,
Rosy, is struggling to come to terms with the death of her baby daughter,
although the reason for her daughter’s death is not revealed until much later
in the book. Her husband Tom has taken
her to Paris in a bid to escape the past, but Rosy is unable to confide in
him. Instead, she returns obsessively to
the memory of her younger self and the man she shared a cold night with 20
years previously. In Paris, as if
conjured up by her memory, she bumps into him.
They catch up over coffee and he tells her he has become a successful
business man and how he has never forgotten her or the night they shared. She is unsure whether it is really him or a
figment of her imagination. It is a story of loss and grieving. I enjoyed
the writing style, but felt let down by the ending.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
A Song for Issy Bradley By Carys Bray
This story follows a
Mormon family and how they deal with the fallout from a tragic family event. It is told from the point of view of all
members of the family – Ian, a Mormon Bishop and maths teacher, stands firm in his
faith, but his wife Claire has lost hers and has retreats inside herself.
We meet sixteen year-old Zippy who is
experiencing first love and is desperate for some motherly advice; fourteen year-old Alma who finds
the Mormon faith tedious and dreams of becoming a famous football player and
seven year-old Jacob who thinks he can work miracles and hopes to mend his
broken family. It is an emotional read,
but it doesn’t become too heavy as the author cleverly interlaces the sadness
with moments of laughter and pure joy. The
characters were so realistically drawn that I felt I got to know each one. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave me an
insight into the Mormon faith, something I knew little about. Carys Bray is one of the authors appearing at
Parisot Literary in October this year and I’m looking forward to meeting her.
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