Set in a rambling country house, this is the story of Alison + Charles, who bring up their 6 children with the help of au pair Ingrid. As adults the children reflect on an unconventional childhood + strange parents, + we learn more of the secrets in this middle-class English family. Penelope Lively is adept at drawing out jealousies and tensions within families, and I love her writing. Always entertaining. Cake + tea brings mothers day to a close

I picked this up in the library and it is an excellently scary set of tales based in a haunted hotel on the fens. The underlying them is treatment of women over the years from the opening images of a woman blamed by villagers for children's deaths by plague, to hotel staff being mauled by lascivious men. The reading was enhanced by my then listening to the BBC series which came first + led to the book. Definitely worth reading and enjoyably creepy

Set in Tenessee in 1952 this is a great story of a family of 3 brothers + a father who is returning after a long absence. The father E F Bloodworth, in his 70s has a reputation for violence in the past and for playing the banjo. The bk also focuses on his grandson Fleming. This was a really enjoyable family drama with great characters and some brilliant scenes. Evokes the region + tensions within families, as well as the exuberance of youth well

Irl grp tonight had a good discussion abt Cal, + this great tale of Sean, a young irish man who, on returning from his degree in Liverpool to Belfast, is drawn back into a life dominated by the next party. A random act of violence drags him further down a path to oblivion until he meets an old friend, mariead. A story of the difficulty of life in a city in which the young are still impacted by the past + whether an individual can escape. V good.

A curious story that combines wonderfully ascerbic humour from Lydia, a London journalist, who returns to her Welsh cottage with her put upon friend Betty, with lovely descriptive writing. Lydia + Betty mingle with the locals and enjoy the various relationships that allow Lydia scope for her barbs. There is also a strange supernatural thread + commentary by a curious absent character, Angharad, which perhaps added little. Very enjoyable ⬇️

I was a little unsure abt the idea of a prequel when I have travelled over 20 years in the Tom Torne series but this was a great page turner that explains a lot of the detective's back story. Set in 1996, as the country is gripped by the European championship, a little boy is snatched in a park under the eyes of the two mothers. As the plot unfolds, we learn of thornes dissolving marriage and how he met Phil Hendricks. Good read

Last week, I read the 11th Dave Robicheaux, which, as usual, followed the similar formula and usual themes in Dave's life. Here he finds out that his mother, who left him, + his dad inbthe 60's was killed by cops. His search for the killer finds him against corrupt police and politicians as well as a rogue hit man. Enjoyable but I did feel after 11 books, the same formula and themes are getting a little too familiar. May leave bk 12 for a while .

A beautifully told story abt a young Catholic man living with his father in a loyalist community at the height of the troubles. Haunted by his part in the killing of a local police man he tries to get out of more ira activity. When he meets the widow of the victim, a love affair seems inevitable but doomed. A brilliant book that I couldn't put down + was immersed in brilliant writing. I saw the film in the 80s so will be interested to watch again

A gloriously dark tale of an English family. May has remarried the gruff retired colonel Herbert , using her money they buy a monstrous house as his daughter Alice and her 2 children, Elizabeth + Oliver, leave the home. The children's ill-fated love lives are explored with portraits of various characters being caustic + very funny. Men in this book are particularly ridiculous, but it is the ending that allows the writer to wallow in black humour.

After the events in book 1, Hella returns to 1950's Helsinki, having been kicked out of the police and working as a private investigator. When she is asked to look into the murder of a sex worker, she quickly clashes with two police officers who were involved in her dismissal. A very enjoyable crime novel set in 50's Finland, which alternated chapters from hella and one of the officers. Will read book 3 soon.

I very much enjoyed this inter War story of two families and the widowed matriarchs who are very different with parenting styles that put each other at odds. The story of the impact on the children who, in the end, seem lost while the g/children appear to be a thriving new generation.
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Catching up with last weekends reading and knowing that there are no more shardlake books, the stories of Giordano Bruno set in Elizabethan England are an enjoyable alternative. The 3rd finds our Italian ex monk going to Canterbury to save the life of Sophia, who has been accused of murdering her husband while his spy master Walsingham wants him to look into a plot to use the bones of Becket to start a Catholic plot. Good fun, historical crime.

Another fascinating trio into the fascinating life of Maya Angelou. It opens with a brilliant portrait of an aging Billie Holliday spending days in Maya's home, moves to NY + Maya involved in the civil rights movement as well as acting + bringing up her son, before her setting off the Africa with her South African freedom fighter husband. What a life. Written poetically but so compelling a tale, you can't put it down.

In rdg grp next week we are doing the 2 Celias , Dale + Fremlin. I enjoyed this one immensely as Celia Fremlin builds the tension page by page in a story of sisters whose resentment of each other is magnified by the potential of a the older sibling former lover returning from prison to have revenge. Dark but also capturing the claustrophobia of English seaside holidays. Good fun all around.

Not my best photo but the blurring reflects the mystery of this enjoyable haunted house story which starts with twin teenagers Tim + Abi creating their own haunted photo in their attic where they obsess abt the supernatural to their parents despair.
Two years later, 1974 , + Tim finds himself in Yarlings a Suffolk mansion reputed to be haunted with a grp of misfits experimenting with séances + planchettes. I enjyd this spooky read, good creepy fun

I picked this up on a charity stall, + it proved to be a cracking spy story that had me hooked to the last page. When John Craig, a yng American, bumps into a former professor in Paris, he hears a story of a nazi camp officer who everyone believed dead appearing on the same streets. When the pr is found dead, Craig is drawn into the hunt for a nazi who spied for Russia. Intricate plotting stands shoulder to shoulder with le carre, a joy of a find.

A devastating picture of racial brutality towards young black adolescents which was heartbreaking in the realisation that the story of the Nickel reform school is based on a true story in which the state failed to protect those entrusted to their care because of colour.
Elwood + Turner are the 2 boys at the centre of this absorbing story, which captures their ambition + hope to see it destroyed. I couldn't put it down + felt saddened by the end.

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.

This will be my 1st 5* + my 1st willy vlautin. The story is of ordinary Americans just abt surviving in a society where life is tough. We follow Leroy, an Iraq veteran, who wants to kill himself, + his dreams in a hospital bed .Pauline is a nurse working hard shifts, and Freddie manages the home where Leroy lives as well as in a hardware store. Incredibly moving, a sorry story of America, brilliant characterisation, + a compelling bleak tale.

Latest Karen Pirie was good fun. Set in lockdown a librarian at the national archives links a crime writers manuscript to the disappearance of a young woman. With lots of nods and winks to the Scottish crime writing community, I think val macdermid enjoyed making the villains fellow crime writers. I enjoy the characters in the series, + it also still feels strange remembering lockdown. Hopefully, a new one soon + maybe a further TV adaptation

An enjoyable creepy tale in which a young teenager lived with her dad after the early disappearance of her mum. In a close community, there is suspicion around her dad, + Lauren has to manage his drinking as well as bullying at school. When a strange woman appears who no one remembers after being seen, things grow very strange. A disconcerting way to start 2025, and I'm looking forward to more by the author.

What can I say abt Holly Golightly, iconic because of the image of Audrey Hepburn so despite the black dress + pearls the book gives a back story of poverty + escape from marriage as a 14 yr old, I had different image in my head including the cover which I think is young Marilyn. I enjoyed this slight book + the short stories and would loved more of Holly who is a great character. Should I watch the film now, perhaps.

Irl reading group tonight, + we are discussing this + Breakfast at Tiffanys. I read this last wed + thought it was a brilliantly constructed page turner which should be a dystopian image of a society in which women are bizarrely turning into the 'perfect' housewife with no opinions, concentrating on home, husband + own image rather than assertive independent individuals. It is terrifying as the reader observes what is happening today in America.

#12booksof2024 Thanks @Andrew65 , I enjoyed going back over the reading year.
I have to say this might have been my favourite booker shortlist for a while, and in November, I enjoyed this story of a woman retreating from life to an Australian priory.
And for December, a book by a traditionally dark writer whose memoir had me laughing out loud, although Emmeline came close to being pickef

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
Picks for Sept - a new series to me, and after enjoying the first, I went on to read bk 2 and 3 fairly quickly. Set in dungeness and the Kent area, they are page turner's.
October is the safekeep and probably a very popular choice, which I wouldn't have read save for it being on the booker shortlist.

#12booksof2024 @andrew65
double from me for July " our fathers" by Rebecca Wait for August and Brotherless nights for July.
The latter was a harrowing story of the Sri Lankan civil war told through the voice of a young woman whose 4 brothers are affected in different ways by the conflict.
Our Fathers was a well told story a man coming back to a small Irish island whose arrival brings out ghosts within the community

I picked up my final book of 2024, and I was determined to read it at last before I watched the BBC adaptation. What a phenomenal series, poetic writing, dialogue, and description that made me feel like I was hiding behind a tudor curtain terrified that Henry would pull it back and send me to the tower. It's so good that I forgot I knew the ending + on tenterhooks waiting for a pardon. If it wasn't nearly 900 pages, I'd pick I up again tomorrow.

#12booksof2024 @andrew65 My June choice was this story two young men in the first world War. Graphic in its portrayal of the horrors of men barely out of school experiencing war but tender in its picture of a forbidden love.

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65 This year I read 3 Benjamin Myers novels, all 5* and this was the highlight as we had a weekend in Durham, and I could read the linked tales of the city in the footsteps of the characters across 1000 years from st Cuthberts body being carried around to a young man working on building sitez off book caring for his mother who finds sanctuary in a job in the cathedral.

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
My April reading was reduced as I started the books of jacob which was ridiculously big. This was a Christmas present and a brilliant story of a beekeeper in a Ukraine town bombed to the extent that only he, a personal riva, and his bees remain. I had only read death and the penguin before so I definitely need to read more kurkov soon.

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
March saw me finishing the very good Laidlaw trilogy. Laidlaw is a curious detective who makes few friends within the Glasgow police force where he works. I am curious to read the Ian Rankin book in which he reimagines Laidlaws early days.

#12booksof2024 @andrew65 February and I picked up a book I had left unread in my huge tbr pie in anticipation of seeing the film adaptation. I'm still not sure why I didn't read it sooner as it was a brilliant piece of gothic comic writing that far surpassed the movie, albeit they made a good attempt. I then bought Lanark, so I plan to get to it in 2025

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65
Thanks for suggesting this thread Andrew. It is great to look back on my reading year and everyone else's.
This was the second in an excellent pair of memoirs told by Scottish author Janice Galloway, and I then went on to read her first novel. A great account of three women living in Glasgow in 50s/60s , janice, her mother, and her sister.

What a compelling but sad story about a child (13) whose poverty striken family, send Emmeline to work in the hazardous cotton Mills on New Hampshire. The subsequent events find her then moving away from the area back to her family, but again, fate deals her a terrible hand. Based on a true story, very readable
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This library hold came in, + I started the book, as the current events in Syria hit the headlines. A very good spy thriller set in the country 10 years ago as revolution threatens the Assad regime who are experimenting with poison gas. A cia operative runs a mole + falls for her as she spys on the regime. The hunt for the mole, discovery of the hidden weapons is well done. The news + revelation of horror, however, made it an uncomfortable read

In last weeks irl grp we read this memoir by Shirley Jackson of bringing up her 3 very young children. I laughed from the opening chapter and continued to chuckle throughout as the author manages to rise above the madness. Wonderful writing this was a joyful treat from a writer who normally has me listening out for creaks on the stairs as I pull the duvet up around me.

A lunchtime mince pie with this gloriously dark set of short stories. I've not read fremlin before + loved the post war England feel as various women(mainly) deal with ominous fears and anxieties where a creaking floorboard could be an escaped strangler, a woman's story to her children in a high rise flat presages doom, a strange babysitter causes a mother to rush from a theatre trip, a mysterious seller of youth reveals a secret + more.Wonderful

A curious story of a family in early 80s Melbourne who appear to have a perfect life until dexter meets an old flame at the airport. When Elizabeth introduces her wild sister Vicki and her on-off boyfriend Philip to the dynamics of Athena + Dexter's life, it causes ripples from which they may not recover. Perfect writing and dialogue, which held my interest but not characters to who I warmed. I will try the author again as I know she is well loved

The third innthis series in which DI Alex Culpidi juggles investigating murders in Kent while managing as a single mum of a teenage daughter in her Dunganess home. Here, an arm is found in a piece of modern art displayed in a gallery, two youths steal a mobile phone from a man leaving a station, and slowly bodies mount up. A real page turner and a great character.

When a family of mother, stepfather, + 2 teenage children visit their Norfolk holiday home, they all have secrets that are tearing them apart. A stranger Amber appears who Eve + Michael both assume is the others friend. This strange yng woman befriends the children, + life will never be the same again. I enjoyed as always one of Smith's earlier works set in the mid-2000s. She writes children so well + creates tension within ordinary situations.

A beautifully told story of the vibrantly attractive wife of a much older man, a rich railroad pioneer. Living in a beautiful house, she attracts admirers to her home. The young narrator is such an admirer who watches at close quarters as fortunes impact on Marian. Loved this story, which was both gentle but also a bitter tale of unrequited love, infidelity, and an emerging affluent west, as also the 20s crash occurred. She is such a good writer.

Quick catch-up of 3 recent crime reads
The Monk - another enjoyable George Cross mystery in which the repeated question is why anyone would kill a monk. George is a great character.
The last remains-the final Ruth Galloway. Im sorry to see the end but a satisfying finale.
The Narrows- return of the poet + the tenacious Bosch is drawn into the search for this master villain who is back from the dead,+ as always Bosch and the fbi cross swords.

A poetic book that I found disturbing. There was one scene that I wished I hadn't read, + my heart broke for poor Pecola, a victim in so many ways. I stumbled as a poetic description of growing plants changed into how effective they were at various stages to hit a child. The scene where pecola's father is humiliated by white men during a sexual act is painful.The writing is incredible, the themes important, but I would struggle to read it again.

A small northern coastal town in Germany 1943 is a microcosm for the internal conflict of the country as the police inspector clashes with the famous resident artist, former friends the ban on degenerate art splits them apart as well as family + friends. Narrated 10 yrs later by the son of the officer , Siggi, from a juvenile facility, this is an absorbing book that explores how Nazism tore the nation apart. Been on my shelf for ages, great read.

4th booker shortlisted book + another excellent read. The narrator is a woman impacted by the death of her parents + after a short 1st visit moves to live in an Australian priory where she recounts life with the nuns but also her memories which are peppered with curious tales. Covid, an infestation of mice, the return of the bones of a murdered nun, + their escort a nun the narrator recalls from school add to the hypnotic fascination of the tale.

2nd bk from a series curated by bernadine evaristo of modern black Br writers. This was a compelling legal thriller set in the 90s abt a talented black female criminal barrister from a working class background. When a lucrative corporate fraud bruef is given to her, she is subject to prejudice from members of the bar but of more concern an affluent client who seems too good to be true. A page turner. Will look for more from the author + the series

This may be my favourite of the booker shortlist so far (3 read) and was an intricate story of two women in 1961 Netherlands. Isabel lives on her own in the house her family moved into during the war, but her life is impacted when her older br leaves his girlfriend staying there while he works away. Ava is a dizzy, vibrant woman who grates on isabel. As the plot reveals itself as a reader, I was absorbed and ultimately moved by what was revealed

The 5th Rebecka Martinsson book, and this is now one of my favourite series with great characters and plots in the North Swedish Town of Kiruna. Here, a body is found + hidden in the victim's frightened grandson. There is also a plot from the early 1900s around the mine owner who built the town and his affair with a young woman. As Rebecka is pushed out of the investigation by an old foe, she sets off to look into things herself. A page turner

The 1st half as Teresa's father escapes Eng with his dtr to India, is a romp with curious characters + vivid descriptions of life on a ship but more vividly the sights,smells,+ sounds of bombay. The 2nd half finds the pair on T's half sisters tea plantation, a story then of strained family + marriage. Good read
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I'd love to visit India but this passage transported me to a busy Bombay street as 14 year old Teresa strikes out on her own, escaping her dreadful father Mr Digby who is travelling half the world to spite his ex wife. Another enjoyable read in #persephoneclub
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