The Bridge of Clay - Markus Zusak

"Our mother was dead. Our father had fled.

Five Dunbar brothers are living – fighting, loving, grieving – in the perfect chaos of a house without grown-ups.

This is a family rocked by tragedy and long buried secrets. To understand his family’s story, Matthew Dunbar must travel to find three things. A lost typewriter -- A dead dog -- The bones of the snake that killed it.

He will learn of a mother who crosses continents for a new home; of a father searching for love in the keys of an old piano; and, finally, of a brother named Clay, who will make the most challenging journey of them all, and change their lives for ever."

A stunning book from a prose point of view, however disappointing when it came to plot. 

It contains poignant and brilliant writing, this story is messy and complicated and raw. I can feel every ounce of tears, hope, frustration, dedication, doubt, and love.

It tackles topics like how to make a home with those who surround you, what it truly takes to extend forgiveness, that family means those you love and who love you in return, the overwhelming grief of losing someone who is simply extraordinary, the shy but steady feelings that can only belong to a first love, and most importantly, the unwavering and unbreakable bond between brothers.

I'm still sitting with my thoughts trying to figure out how I feel. I liked how focused it was on the characters and there was a moment where I felt brought close to tears by something that occurred or a descriptive passage. Or found myself grinning at the joyful bond between brothers. Unfortunately though, I wanted more from the plot and I felt like things just kept getting unnecessarily dragged out. The plot is very sparse yet highly confusing. It felt like a story that kept getting tangled up in nonsense and wasn't ever untangled. Thematically it was confused and never really settled on what it wanted to say or committed to saying anything. While it was written unbelievably beautifully, it didn't say anything to me. I wanted to love it, but ended up feeling mixed about it as a whole. 

Age Rating 17+ Suicide, slow death from cancer, sex. 

The Mallen Girl - Catherine Cookson

"Even as a child Barbara was beautiful, but as her beauty grew, so
did the affliction which shadowed it—she was becoming more and more deaf. Yet living in her silent world, she was protected from the knowledge which might otherwise have destroyed her—the secret of her own origins."

Why is it that I always seem to find and read a Catherine Cookson when my life is in flux? I never seek them out, they just present themselves when I can't find any other books. 

First of all, I didn't realise this was the second book in a series so I didn't quite understand the dramatic backstory or the dynamics between the older characters but it didn't inhibit my enjoyment of the book too much. 

This book was so highly melodramatic...I am just speechless. It was like watching a car crash with a sound track of a Chinese OST, so I kind of enjoyed it from that level. I enjoyed the character of Barbara because of her wildness and passion, but what is it about Cookson always making her female characters so thoroughly unlikable and unrelatable? I didn't care for Barbara one bit. It held my attention because it kept me waiting for her to learn her lesson or get a good damn hiding but not once do you get anything like that. She happily swans through life, everyone excusing her horrific behaviour merely because she is deaf and then when she finally steps over the line everyone feels sorry for HER. She gets to play for the sympathy vote while being read to in bed after dramatically running of into the hills to freeze to death and everyone's worked their butts off find her. I mean ....please, can someone just slap this women. 

The only romance I got invested in was that of the Governess "Bridgie" and uncouth Master of the house. The dynamic between Bridgie's ideas of decorum, breeding and civility being impinged upon by this loud, brash, outspoken man who she has to realise is actually a wonderful, kind person despite it all was excellent and deeply entertaining. That being a "Gentleman" doesn't make some one a gentle man. However this romance had very little page time. The second romance between Barbara and Dan was plain awful. She marries him because she can't have the man she wants and he is just kind of there and procced to mope through the entire wedding....just why?

Age Rating 17+ Quite a few mentions of rape.

The Song Dog - James McClure

"A unique mystery series that focuses not only on fascinating crimes,
but also on the evils of apartheid in South Africa. When Lieutenant Tromp Kramer joins forces with brilliant Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi to investigate an accidental murder, they are confronted by the mysterious and legendary Song Dog."

I actually enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would. As a South African myself, this story was a little close to home at times. The story is set in the early 60's in Apartheid era South Africa, yet written in the 90's, and the language used by the white people and their attitudes towards the coloured people in the story made me wince. In the guise of a crime story it lays bare the horrifying way that Apartheid worked to enslave, discount and dehumanise the black population of the country at that time.

The story is full of hysterical, colourful characters and enough twists and turns to keep me reading right to the end. It may sound odd given the plot and the time and place in which it is set, but it is also very funny in places. Kramer's lassie-faire attitude, one of the Sergeants constantly wears ruby socks even with is Police Uniform and the witty one liners. I laughed out loud at some points. Some section truly reminded me of home. The growing respect between the black and white detectives working together is paced well and the story creates a wonderful sense of time and place. I thought Zondi was also an amazingly interesting character. His is fight to except his tribal root yet also his own casual racism towards other black people due to being raised in a white missionary school certainly reflected the internal hatred that Apartheid created. 

Of course while certainly ahead of its time in the 90's, the book is by no means perfect in it's race portrayal. The discounting/laughing at tribal ways, the agreement of the general stupidity of black people, the absence of any female characters, the lack of black character's other then Zondi all showed how far we have come and still need to go.

The crime itself isn't knock out but still kept me engaged and I definitely didn't guess who the perp was. What this book really excels at is creating an understanding of the situation without getting didactic. 

Age Rating 17+. Sex, heavily racist language, violence. 

Holy Fools - Joanne Harris

"In the year 1605, a young widow, pregnant and alone, seeks sanctuary
at the small Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer on the island of Noirs Moustiers off the Brittany coast. After the birth of her daughter, she takes up the veil, and a new name, Soeur Auguste. But the peace she has found in remote isolation is shattered five years later by the events that follow the death of her kind benefactress, the Reverend Mother.

When a new abbess -- the daughter of a corrupt noble family elevated by the murder of King Henri IV -- arrives at Sainte Marie-de-la-mer, she does not arrive alone. With her is her personal confessor and spiritual guide, Père Colombin. A man Soeur Auguste, with secrets of her own, knows all too well and the one man she fears more than any other."

A gorgeous, compelling story set in mediaeval France, Holy Fools has all the ingredients I love in Joanne Harris’s books. There’s a strong, complex heroine with pagan inclinations, a flamboyant villains, a gothic setting, a rich luscious atmosphere and a lot of less than comfortable reflections on the human condition. Harris has a very warts and all approach to portraying people. She doesn’t tend to do clear lines between the wholly good and the wholly bad, and I love this about her work.

First thing first, I adored the overall feel of this books. It's sets, atmosphere, themes and general aesthetic was wonderful. It truly felt unique and rich, something that could easily be translated into a beautiful movie. 

One of the themes running through this novel is that way in which people are often complicit in their own oppression. In trying to please the oppressor, and trying to avoid punishment, we give other names to the witch hunter. We accuse someone else to take attention from ourselves. So often what is called for in oppressive scenarios is a banding together to fight off the tyrant. If there’s one tyrant and many people being mistreated, weight of numbers should fix it, but often it doesn’t. Instead, in trying to protect ourselves, we uphold evil systems and support those who abuse us. It was also a fabulously interesting exploration of the fusion of religious mania, trauma, female repression, redirected sexual need and guilt complexes. 

However, I did have a few problems with this book. First of all was a relationship between Juliette (Soeur Auguste) and her daughter fell flat. The daughter is less an actual person then a plot device, which, unfortunately, completely emotionally undercuts the weight of the story. I also found the relationship between Juliette and Le Merle deeply frustrating. (SPOILERS) For a book supposedly so strongly about female empowerment, strength and sisterhood I found the ending thematically confusing. Le Merle has out right emotionally and physically abused Juliette, once even pimping her out without her consent leading to her being raped. I understand having a dark emotional connection, a sort of deep understanding of each other's darkness, and I truly love these relationships being explored. But I don't think it was in character for Juliette to consent to be with Le Merle, nor should she. While she might have had a special bond with him, this doesn't mean that it would be healthy for them to be anywhere near to each other. 

Age Rating 15+. Some sexual elements but only alluded to really. Small acts of violence. Death, suicide, religious mania and forced exorcism.