The Siege by Helen Dunmore

The Siege is set in Leningrad.  The story begins in the spring of 1941 with twenty three year-old Anna who is reminiscing about her childhood as she plants vegetables for the winter at the family’s Dacha (country home).  Anna’s mother died giving birth to her younger brother, Koyla and now Anna is responsible for five year-old Koyla and her father, a dissident writer.  As spring turns to summer German forces invade and the family retreat to the City.  The people of Leningrad fight back, but their desperate attempts are overthrown by the might of the German army and soon German forces surround Leningrad and major supply routes are cut.  Winter arrives.  The story follows Anna and her loved ones as they struggle to survive as food and fuel run out.  I found the descriptions of the peoples’ battle to survive extremely moving.  The narrative point of view jumps around a bit too much for me.  The reader gets to hear a lot of characters’ voices, but I felt I didn’t really get to know any of them and I would have preferred to stay with Anna’s point of view.   It is a piece of history I knew little about and I found it an interesting and poignant read. 

Espedair Street by Iain Banks

This is one of Iain Banks’ earlier novels.  It is about Daniel Weir or Weird (Weir.D) as he is known.  Daniel is a famous rock-star who, in his early thirties, has retired from the limelight and now lives in a church in Glasgow.  He is tall, gangly and clumsy so not your normal pop star material.  We join Daniel as he reminisces about his hedonistic days on the road.  The tale switches between the past and the present where we follow him on his drunken escapades with his heavy-drinking working-class pals who don’t know his true identity.  We see Daniel struggling with the guilt he feels for various things that have happened in the past.  In the end he meets up with his first love.  It is a short book, but felt long to me as I didn’t enjoy it.  I don’t think I cared enough about, or particularly liked any of the characters.  I found the characters were similar to those in "The Steep Approach to Garbandale," which I enjoyed.  It has left me wondering if all Iain Banks’ novels are written using the same type of characters.      

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

I saved this book from being put in a rubbish bin.  I’m so pleased I did.   It is 1886 and Edgar Drake has been summoned by her Majesty’s Government to go to Burma to tune a rare Erard grand piano.  The piano is owned by the infamous surgeon-major Anthony Carroll.  As Drake embarks on his voyage, leaving behind his beloved wife Katherine, he learns much about himself.  His eyes are opened by the journey, by the Burmese and by an exotic elusive woman called Khin Myo.  Drake is very much out of his comfort zone and It is not long before he feels a changed man.  Daniel Mason’s writing is evocative of Burma at a time of British colonial power. His writing is gentle, yet compelling. I particularly liked the penultimate paragraph where Drake’s memories of both the women he loved merge under the image of a parasol.  The book stayed with me long after I had finished it.  I’ve just found out he has written a second book, A Far Country, which I will add to my reading list!