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.  

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.           

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.

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.    

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. 

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Set in the future, this is the story of Offred and her life in the Republic of Gilead, a dystopian society where women have no power, individualism is repressed, sterility is the norm and fertile women are treated as production machines.  The position of women in society is indicated by the colour of their uniforms.  Handmaids where long, loose fitting blood red dresses and huge white headdresses that restrict their sight.  Offred is a Handmaid and, as such, her role in the Republic is to breed.  Once a month, she is taken to her Commander and his wife for a bizarre breeding ceremony.  Forced to live her life under this new dictatorship, Offred dreams of her old life and of being reunited with her husband Luke and their daughter, but she knows that if she breaks the rules she risks severe punishment or even death.  She remembers what it felt like to desire and be desired.   In the end it is desire that makes her risk everything. I liked the way the author made the ordinary extraordinary.      

The Viking Hostage by Tracey Warr

The setting for this historical story is set in late 10^th century France and Wales.  It is the story of three women, Sigrid, Aina and Adalmode.  Sigrid is Norwegian and the story opens with her being sold as a Northchild slave at a market in Tallinn.  Aina is heiress to the French fortress of Segur.  It is Aina’s mother who buys Sigrid and she becomes Aina’s maid.  The girls grow up together and become confidantes.  Adalmode is the daughter of the Viscount of Limoges.  Her father has promised her hand in marriage to Guillaume, the young heir of the Duke of Aquitaine, but she has fallen in love with Audebert who is being held prisoner by her father.  Adalmode is close to her brother Guy and begs his assistance.  But Guy has problems of his own trying to win the heart of Aina to whom he is betrothed.  As the story unfolds the lives of these three women become inextricably linked.  I enjoyed the historical detail of the story and the political power struggles between the women and the men.  A genealogy of the characters that are based on real historical people together with dates of accession to titles are included.  I was surprised by how powerful the women of that time were.  I’m lucky to have heard Tracey talk about The Viking Hostage and the importance of setting in her writing at the Parisot Literary Festival and to attend some of her creative writing workshops.  I’m looking forward to reading Tracey’s next novel, Conquest – Daughter of the Last King, which is due to be released in September.