As I type this it's day 72 of staying home and social shielding from the Corvid-19 virus, that's right not even a stroll out past my garden boundary. Reading has become a huge and happy distraction for me which also means more book reviews for you. I've read/listened to 11 and a bit books in May, I will split the reviews of these books over 3 blog articles this being the first.
Book Reviews Coming up...
- The Phone Box at the End of the World by Laura Imai Messina
- The Missing by C.L. Taylor
- Charlotte by Helen Moffett
- Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
- The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mcksay
- They Do It With Mirrors
- The Hero: The Enduring Myth That Makes Us Human
- Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry
- Missing You by Harlen Coben
- The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
The Phone Box at the End of the World by Laura Imai MessinaSynopsis
We all have something to tell those we have lost . . .My ReviewThe first half of this book deals with the after effects of the tsunami, with Yui living in a school gymnasium for the following months. It broke my heart, my sister can attest to my sobbing and rather loudly too. There are few books that have had this effect on me. I think this was because I knew the story was based on real events. I knew people in Japan at the time, I've been to Japan. As the author describes everyday life, Japanese peoples habits and mannerisms, I could envisage all these things - making everything so very real.
When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she wonders how she will ever carry on. Yet, in the face of this unthinkable loss, life must somehow continue.
Then one day she hears about a man who has an old disused telephone box in his garden. There, those who have lost loved ones find the strength to speak to them and begin to come to terms with their grief. As news of the phone box spreads, people will travel there from miles around.
Soon Yui will make her own pilgrimage to the phone box, too. But once there she cannot bring herself to speak into the receiver. Then she finds Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss.
What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking.
The second part showed me that dealing with death is a journey that everyone deals with differently. I enjoyed following Yui's journey her relationship with Takashi and the people she meets along the way, at the phone box at the edge of the world. At times I would forget that this was an imagined story, for all I could feel were the lives of the families left behind from the Tsunami. It's showed me the different ways of dealing with grief and lose, something none of us can avoid.
The Phone Box at the Edge of the World is released 25 June 2020, you and be can purchase from Amazon as an ebook, hardback and audio book. By using my link to purchase I earn a small amount from the sale, which helps me to maintain my book review blog.
4 out of 5 Stars
Thank you to Manilla Press and Bonnier Books for an advance readers copy of this book for review.
Charlotte by Helen MoffettSynopsis
Everybody thinks that Charlotte Lucas has no prospects. She is twenty-seven years old, unmarried, plain, and seemingly without ambition. When she stuns the neighbourhood by accepting the proposal of buffoonish clergyman Mr Collins, her best friend Lizzy Bennet is angry at her for undervaluing herself. Yet the decision is the only way Charlotte knows to provide for her future, and marriage will propel her into a new world, of duty, marriage, children, grief and ultimately illicit love, and a kind of freedom.My ReviewMoving onto an historical read, very possibly my favorite genre. I'm one of the many Jane Austen fans who particularly love Pride and Prejudice. So it is with excitement and nervousness I read Charlotte, I desperately want the world of Pride and Prejudice to live on but also I don't want to ruin my love for it. Don't worry this book will not disappoint.We meet familiar characters and homes that we know well. We meet Charlotte Collin's after she has been married for many years. She has a family, is settled into the life of a cleryman's wife, eats frequently at Rosings Park. Yes we meet Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter Anne, who I admit appears quite changed.
Jane Austen cared deeply about the constraints of women in Regency England. This powerful reimagining takes up where Austen left off, showing us a woman determined to carve a place for herself in the world. Charlotte offers a fresh, feminist addition to the post-Austen canon, beautifully imagined, and brimming with passion and intelligence.
Both Jane Bingley and Elizabeth Darcy are in the book, including the rather outspoken Mrs Bennett. It was a pleasure to read, I felt like I was on safe ground back in Georgian, England. A joy to see many of the characters we know but through the eyes of Charlotte,thus seeing them in a new light. Charlotte continues to be a close friend to Elizabeth, though they now live many miles apart and in very different circumstances.
Go on, pick up the book and find yourself lost in the world of Jane Austen again thanks Helen Moffett's imagination.
The books does stand alone, you do not need to have read Pride and Prejudice. But why would you have not? For me there was just a single point in the story line when I thought no I don't believe that Charlotte Lucas would of done such a thing. That has prevented me from giving the book 4 stars.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Charlotte is due to be released 3 September 2020, you can pre-order your copy from Amazon as an ebook, hardback and audio book. By using my link to purchase I earn a small amount from the sale, which helps me to maintain my book review blog.Thank you to Manilla Press and Bonnier Books for an advance readers copy of this book on Net Galley for my review.
The Missing by C.L. Taylor
Synopsis
When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinsons are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.My ReviewI read this book as a buddy read with my friend Darcy, we reviewed the book together via FaceTime another first for me! But one that has been repeated several times since. The Missing is the second C.L. Taylor novel I've read, Sleep being my first which I thoroughly enjoyed, a great psychological thriller which I score 4 starsThe Missing is a psychological thriller opening at the 6 month anniversary since Billy went missing. We see how its affected the family, and slowly the story looks back at the relationship of each member of the family with Billy. We are drip fed clues, who had reason to drive Billy out of the house, did he run away or is he dead. Who could of killed him and why. I flipped between a number of suspects and why things could of gone so wrong for Billy.The story is interspersed with Whatsapp conversations between 2 people. It's for the reader to identify these people, their conversations are blunt and very relevant to finding Billy. From our buddy read discussions Darcy and I had very different ideas on who these people where. I quite liked the character Claire the mom at first, but as you progress through the book your realize. She stifles her family, something she is unaware of, not allowing them to have freedoms to think or act for themselves. Trying always to keep the peace. There was a period of reading the book when I could not put it down. Right up to the big reveal I did not predict, who, what and why. A good read for anyone who loves a missing person thriller. There was a section in the book on pornography and I did feel that it wasn't necessary for the story. One of the reasons I enjoyed this book less than the book Sleep is its setting. It takes place within a family home, I realize that at the moment I am enjoying books that do not revolve around a single home setting. Maybe its the virus lockdown and being stuck at home has bought about this feeling.3 Stars out of 5 The Missing can be ordered from Amazon as an ebook, hardback and audio book. By using my link to purchase I earn a small amount from the sale, which helps me to maintain my book review blog.
Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.
A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?
Sometimes those closest to us are the ones with the most to hide…
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