Book review: The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
Though written for children, it’s clear from the wit and dark undertones that Geraldine McCaughrean wrote The Death Defying Pepper Roux with adults in mind too. It’s a wonderfully imaginative journey that requires you to leave you grown up scepticism at the door and accept that: “People see what they expect to see.”
Book review: Secret Son by Laila Lalami
This sweet, soulful story set against the slums of Casablanca begins in the vein of so many coming of age fables, with a disenchanted youth yearning for more than his poverty dictates. But as Youseff soon discovers, as in any good fairytale his apparently dead father is alive, and better than that, he’s a rich and powerful man with a longing for a son.
Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King
There are numerous books out there that tell us how to be a writer, but Stephen King’s On Writing appears to offer something different. King manages to utilise biography and humour in order to make On Writing more than just another text about writing. It is also a laugh-out-loud piece of entertainment.
Book review: The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah
The Other Half Lives opens in a hotel room in London where Ruth is about to divulge a dark secret to her beloved Aidan. But it’s his revelation that plunges the couple into turmoil, when he confesses to having killed a woman whom Ruth is certain is still alive. Sophie Hannah draws us in gently, setting up enough conundrums to keep us intrigued.
Book review: Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
Summertime was on the shortlist for the 2009 Booker Prize and follows the interviews of a young English biographer with the deceased J.M. Coetzee. The book itself is described as a ‘fictionalised memoir’ and Coetzee does fictionalise the biggest element of all – his death. It begs the question as to why Coetzee would write of himself in this way.
Book review: The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson
Far from being an instruction manual on how to heal an autistic child, this is a beautifully written account of the adventures of one family who followed a hunch that took them into one of the most remote places on the planet. All in all, it’s an incredible journey. Open your mind and go along for the ride.
Book review: The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
Adam Foulds’ most recent novel was a surprise amongst the shortlist of this year’s Man Booker Prize. The book revolves around real events in Epping Forest in 1840, which Foulds combines cleverly with his own imaginings. With so much dramatic symbolism, it’s not difficult to see why The Quickening Maze was shortlisted for such a prestigious prize.
Book review: The Bay at Midnight by Diane Chamberlain
Entwining an examination of family relationships with a whodunnit mystery, The Bay at Midnight crosses 40 years of secrets and guilt in a compelling read from Diane Chamberland. Telling the story through three characters plus their younger selves provides a mishmash of good old-fashioned red herrings.
