Started my #bookspin today! @TheAromaofBooks
The darkest of dark humour in this story introduces me to the mind of celia dale + early 1960's England as two villainous characters swindle old ladies out of their meagre assets. The seedy nature of their enterprise finds Maisie + Josh Evans taking elderly Flo into their home + quickly manipulating her into a grim life trapped in her bedroom. The image of Josh creating his scrapbook will stay with me for a while. Bleak but bizarrely I loved it.
Yet another from my extensive collection of seasonal crime novels….
#Day22
#Snow
#ChristmasCheer
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs
“Mrs Napier walked slowly to the middle of the terrace, noted the oncoming car, looked round to make sure that she was fully observed, crossed her legs deliberately, and fell heavily on to the red gravel drive.”
Now that‘s a great opening sentence!! 😂
It‘s the last #BookSpin day of 2024! Thank you, Sarah, for running this challenge—I look forward to it every month! My last two spins of the year are: a mystery from my Kindle TBR (I‘d love to use it for the #christmascrimechallenge if I can make it fit a prompt), and one from my library list that I‘ve been meaning to read forever (and it fits a year I need for #192025). Looking forward to squeezing these into my already-full December!
A farcical story about a middle age man Douglas who tells his wife he is going to Scotland fishing but sets of on an artistic groups visit to Moscow with his lover the flamboyant actress Nina, who then appears to be permanently avoiding him. His journey around 1980s Russia with the other members and the authoritive olga makes for a strange tale of misadventures. Enjoyable, strange ending, as ever Bainbridge is a great storyteller but not my fave
This was published in 2002 when Fay Weldon was 70. And its like sitting down with an older lady who has lived quite a life and having her describe that life to you over tea and cake. Its written in an easy style but Fay never kept diaries so its not always detailed - although her childhood in NZ is very well remembered. Her mother was a solo mum in the 30s and Fay was a solo mum in the late 50‘s ⬇️