Sisters of the Winter Wood - Rena Rossner

"Raised in a small village surrounded by vast forests, Liba and Laya
have lived a peaceful sheltered life - even if they've heard of troubling times for Jews elsewhere. When their parents travel to visit their dying grandfather, the sisters are left behind in their home in the woods.

But before they leave, Liba discovers the secret that their Tati can transform into a bear, and their Mami into a swan. Perhaps, Liba realizes, the old fairy tales are true. She must guard this secret carefully, even from her beloved sister.

Soon a troupe of mysterious men appear in town and Laya falls under their spell despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And these are not the only dangers lurking in the woods...

The sisters will need each other if they are to become the women they need to be - and save their people from the dark forces that draw closer."

I was so excited for this book. A retelling of Russian Folklore, centring on female connections. Offering a unique insight into Jewish culture and folk traditions. Shapeshifting and myths. The comparison of Kathrine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale. 

But no...teen angst, hormone stew and a never-ending train of terrible ideas with very little way of actual action. Truly a terrible read. 

It doesn't help that half this book is written in terrible meter-less "poetry". Line breaks don't turn indifferent prose into good poetry. They just make you seem pretentious. The good thing is that it reads quickly because there aren't many words. The bad thing is that it drives me batsh*t crazy. I'm not averse to poetry, but good poetry is compact and chewy, with lots of layers to tease out and the occasional transcendent phrase that opens up new ways of seeing or knowing. This is...not good poetry. 

Overall, It needed to be a much darker tale. The potential was there. The mythical and fairy tales on which this was based all have deeply sexual, violent themes and the discriminatory language and behaviour which leads to murderous violence against Jews within the narrative has clear historical origins. In fact, the author has a section at the end of the book that details the ways in which persecution and pogroms in Dubossary and Kupel affected her family, leading to desperate escape and even death. But instead, this is a story of youthful romance, a happy-ever-after tale of first kisses and forever love. It’s not what I was expecting or wanting. Instead of Grimm’s, this is Disney sanitised, with only the barest hints of the more monstrous reality. It’s a YA tale wrapped up in a beautiful cover, but the marketing to adult readers is going to leave many, including myself, disappointed.

Age Rating 14+. A book more suited to a younger audience. 

House of Glass - Susan Fletcher

"June 1914 and a young woman - Clara Waterfield - is summoned to a
large stone house in Gloucestershire. Her task: to fill a greenhouse with exotic plants from Kew Gardens, to create a private paradise for the owner of Shadowbrook. Yet, on arrival, Clara hears rumours: something is wrong with this quiet, wisteria-covered house. Its gardens are filled with foxgloves, hydrangea and roses; it has lily-ponds, a croquet lawn - and the marvellous new glasshouse awaits her. But the house itself feels unloved. Its rooms are shuttered, or empty. The owner is mostly absent; the housekeeper and maids seem afraid. And soon, Clara understands their fear: for something - or someone - is walking through the house at night. In the height of summer, she finds herself drawn deeper into Shadowbrook's dark interior - and into the secrets that violently haunt this house. Nothing - not even the men who claim they wish to help her - is quite what it seems."

I had such high hopes for this book. A period novel with lonely women, ghosts, gothic houses and reclusive men. It sounded like Jane Eyre with botany, something I was all for. But I got absolutely nothing. 

It does some things well. A main character that has a disability and is different and she stayed clear of the “this girl has a disability so she must be sweet and lovely” trope which I was grateful for but apart from that this book just did not quite know what it wanted to be. Completely all over the place. If I wasn’t so incredibly bored I could perhaps gather up some disappointment. This book is confusing and plotless from start to finish and there is nothing gothic about it at all. 

A promising start with a beautiful and atmospheric description of the protagonist's childhood and mourning of her mother. But all this promise petered out with a weak middle and was absolutely destroyed by the many pointless and unearned revelations at the end. The ending was truly abysmal with plot holes galore and absolutely nothing making sense. 

House of glass turned out to be less of a ghost story and more of a tale of loss and lies. Strangely, the plot spiralled into an odd half-baked romance that seemed to belong to a whole other story. By the time I read the last page, I just ended up feeling drained and sad.

There were some beautiful lines and sentimental moments that were truly memorable, for sure. The author took a lot of creative liberties with her grammar, which can be effective when done properly. As I said, there were many beautifully written lines. However, she did it a little too often for my taste, and sometimes for no reason at all. Many sentences just seemed incomplete.

Overall a deeply disappointing read. 

Age Rating 16+. Some surprisingly sexual and violent scenes. 

Gentleman and Players - Joanne Harris

"Audere, agere, auferre. To dare, to strive, to conquer. For
generations, privileged young men have attended St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys, groomed for success by the likes of Roy Straitley, the eccentric Classics teacher who has been a fixture there for more than thirty years. But this year the wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork, and information technology are beginning to overshadow St. Oswald's tradition, and Straitley is finally, and reluctantly, contemplating retirement. He is joined this term by five new faculty members, including one who -- unbeknownst to Straitley and everyone else -- holds intimate and dangerous knowledge of St. Oswald's ways and secrets. Harbouring dark ties to the school's past, this young teacher has arrived with one terrible goal: to destroy St. Oswald's."

The novel is a psychological thriller, which features cunning deceits, flawed childhood, hidden identity, class distinction and revenge; the story ends with a deliciously unexpected twist at the end. There are two narrators; Roy Straitley, the Classics Master, on the eve of his century (100th) term who is affectionately referred to, by his students, as Quasi or Quasimodo as he is a trifle hunched and whose rooms are in the Bell Tower. Straitley is a Luddite; ignoring all requests to attend to his email, he swears in Latin and smokes (banned by the school) secret Gauloises in his office. The other narrator is the unnamed perpetrator who is bent on revenge for a myriad of both real and imagined slights committed by St Oswalds; a sociopath who is filled with hatred and bitterness. This perpetrator knows no rules he will not break; somehow he has infiltrated the teachers' ranks, and become one of them. 

Harris is able to evoke a real sense of place and conveys a perfect understanding of when to show and not tell, and how to fully immerse her readers in this rarefied setting. Her exploration of identity is remarkably nuanced. Age, gender, class, psychology, elitism, work ethic, personal value system... all are at play in this novel. The prose on a technical level is without fault; the tone shifts effortlessly from playful to foreboding and then back again. The mystery itself is very absorbing - despite the richness of the writing, the novel is a page-turner.

I truly loved this book. It was everything I was wanting from it. An engaging mystery, with detailed characterisation, a unique aesthetic and a nuanced interweaving of many of my favourite themes. I highly recommend it.

Age Rating 16+. Mentions of alcoholism, sexual abuse and murder. 

Acts of Desperation - Megan Nolan

"In the first scene of this provocative gut-punch of a novel, our
unnamed narrator meets a magnetic writer named Ciaran and falls, against her better judgment, completely in his power. After a brief, all-consuming romance he abruptly rejects her, sending her into a tailspin of jealous obsession and longing. If he ever comes back to her, she resolves to hang onto him and his love at all costs, even if it destroys her…

Part breathless confession, part lucid critique, Acts of Desperation renders a consciousness split between rebellion and submission, between escaping degradation and eroticizing it, and between loving and being lovable. With unsettling, electric precision, Nolan dissects one of life’s most elusive mysteries: Why do we want what we want, and how do we want it?

Heralding the arrival of a stunning new literary talent, Acts of Desperation interrogates the nature of fantasy, desire, and power, challenging us to reckon honestly with our own insatiability."

I must be honest, I find the blurb of this book to be quite misleading in terms of the tone of this book. This is not a book about a delusional and obsessional woman falling in love. It is a painfully ordinary tale of a woman damaged by society who finds herself taking the love she believes she deserves. 

I believe this is what made the events of this book distressing. It wasn't outlandish violence or the strange behaviour of a masochist. It was an extraordinarily relatable story of a woman's self-destructive and desperate need to be loved, and going to awful lengths to achieve it. But lengths that aren't that out of the realms of possibility. Nothing about this story is romantic, both characters have extremely distorted visions of what love and affection are supposed to look like: we have on one hand an unnamed narrator who engages in obsessive behaviour to be loved and on the other, an incredibly cold man, Ciaran, who seems unable to provide her with even the most elementary bit of affection yet loves her attention. 

A self-destructive, unlikeable and deeply depressed protagonist with self-esteem issues through the roof, yet she is instantly familiar. Either as a friend, an acquaintance or even mirroring sides of your own personality. 

I have seen this book described as visceral, raw and dark. I must be honest I didn't find it that moving. The emotion isn't quite there, the relationship isn't fleshed out and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. I felt little to no connection to the main character, and no understanding as to her dependent connection to Ciaran. Possibly this is a "me" issue as I can't relate to the protagonist's mental issues or outlook as it is very different to my own. 

There are moments where it becomes very clear that this Nolan’s own diaries, tossed into book form with the lightest of edits. At times Nolan veers into a personal essay cul-de-sac. What differentiates a novel from an essay is that it’s specific, not general. You can make some general claims, but it has to be through the lens of a specific character’s opinions or experiences. Otherwise, it just reads like frantic space-filling, for example with not terribly original analyses of topics such as everyday sexism and diet culture. 

Overall, an interesting book to get into the mindset of someone very different from me. Do I think it is the best and most nuanced example of the writing of toxic relationships, definitely not. 

Age Rating 18+. Multiple instances of rape and dubious consent, verbal and psychological abuse and destructive behaviours.

 

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

"Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically
modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist."

I personally didn't enjoy this book. Some aspects and ideas where very clever and I genuinely enjoyed them. The first third of the book in which the basic outline of the "Brave New World" and its devalued, conveyer belt morality is set forth is brilliant. The narrative device employed by Huxley of having the Director of Hatchery and Conditioning provide a walking tour to students around the facility as a way of informing the reader on the societal basics was perfect. We learn of the cloning/birthing process, the caste system and the fundamental tenets upon which the society is organized. 

It invited some intriguing concepts. The concept of forced consumerism, social conditioning, the breaking down of all emotional bonds, genetic castes, the dumbing down of media to reduce audience engagement and the use of narcotics to escape anything vaguely disconcerting all have parallels in our own world abet not as extreme. You could definitely understand and identify many of the societal trends that Huxley was concerned about. 

However the rest of the book, and thus the main pathos, fell flat for me. The visit to the reservation, the introduction of John, his arch into ascetic monk/lunatic. None of these elements really make me feel anything. I couldn't connect to John or his struggles. The rest of the book was unemotional, dry and uninteresting. Huxley's final point was lost on me. John was no more sane/ relatable than the rest of the drugged up characters. 

Age Rating 16+. Allusions to sex and some vaguely disturbing imagery. 

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World - Elif Shafak

"For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the
taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . ."

10 Minutes is separated into two parts, the Mind, with Leila recalling the moments of her life and The Body, the efforts of her friends to recover and bury her. Right there, in that two-part structure is something startlingly radical: Leila is both a mind and a body, a fully rounded woman with four decades of lived experience and a cadaver on a medical examiner’s table. Her death is not where the story ends or where it begins. Her grisly murder is not an outrage to be avenged, nor a puzzle to be solved , there is no brilliant/jaded/antisocial detective , it is simply a tragedy. A lurid death of the type so common in fiction (and upon which a whole genre has been built) – a murdered whore stuffed into a bin – but here the victim is humanised, centred, she is no plot device in someone else’s story.

It is a deeply depressing story of exclusion, sexual abuse, the fall into prostitution, the death of loved ones and an all encompassing feeling of abandonment and hopelessness. But that is not all it is. Yes, there is incredible sadness. But there is also hope, and friendship, and love. For me this book re-affirms how very special life it. What it means to be alive. How and why we can try to make changes and make the world more inclusive and loving.  Most importantly to seek out those with which you will be able to share your life with, those who are meaningful and understand you. 

Shafak's sensual writing abounds. You can smell the scents of spices, cardamom, lemon. You can feel the heat from the sky. The evening breeze on your neck. The lights of the city at night. The sizzle of the food vendor's grill. See the sun reflecting off the harbour. Hear the seagulls careening. The writing is so wonderfully descriptive. 

This is not a perfect novel by any stretch. Leila’s life story is compelling, but not remarkably so; Shafak’s prose style is undeniably lush and sensual, but also occasionally sentimental. Two consecutive chapters open with almost identical lines, which felt slightly lazy. Leila’s ‘found family’ of misfits are drawn with broad brushstrokes and feel more like ‘types’ than real people and their farcical efforts in Part Two are a bit slapstick (Part Two is overall weaker than Part One). 

But along with the mawkishness and melodrama there is poignant charm , wisdom, beauty and compassion. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is a novel that beguiles and seduces despite its flaws.

Age Rating 18+. Sexual abuse of a minor, prostitution, swearing, murder, serious mental illness. 

Blue Salt Road - Joanne M Harris

"So begins a stunning tale of love, loss and revenge, against a
powerful backdrop of adventure on the high seas, and drama on the land. The Blue Salt Road balances passion and loss, love and violence and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless, wild young man.

Passion drew him to a new world, and trickery has kept him there - without his memories, separated from his own people. But as he finds his way in this dangerous new way of life, so he learns that his notions of home, and your people, might not be as fixed as he believed."

Harris understand storytelling and the deep emotional and moral power of the folk tale tradition. Like all the best artists, she takes the base but makes it wonderfully her own in this rich tale. She takes you there, to the wide strand by the ocean, the poor village, the whaling ships, and into the water itself, to a part of the world where both the Folk and the Selkie live. Although the story centres on one couple, slowly the wider picture emerges of a reality that’s different to anything we imagine at first, yet absolutely believable. Her characters are alive. Their good traits and  their bad; nothing is painted in black and white, not even love. It’s a very human story, as all the best ones should be, one that ends with bittersweet hope, and an unexpected twist. There's redemption and reclamation, along with every shade of emotion, and that, along with a lovingly-told story, is what makes it such a compelling read, with magic treading lightly between the words. 

Overall, a really intriguing story from one of my absolute favourite authors. I love the beautiful way she has with prose and she never fails to take me someplace else. I always feel deeply human after reading her books. This is a story of change, betrayal, forgiveness, identity, belonging, anger, loss and love.

Age Rating 14+ Nothing untoward, a few mild allusions to sex and the horrors of whaling.