Jaffareadstoo....

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

At Last ...

At last my eagerly awaited copy can be plucked from the shelf.

Waterstones - Liverpool.

One of only two copies left on the shelf

***

Time Ceases.....

Outlander #8

Published 10 June 2014

Orion

Blurb..

It is June 1778, and the world seems to be turning upside-down. The British Army is withdrawing from Philadelphia, with George Washington in pursuit, and for the first time, it looks as if the rebels might actually win. But for Claire Fraser and her family, there are even more tumultuous revolutions that have to be accommodated.

Her former husband, Jamie, has returned from the dead, demanding to know why in his absence she married his best friend, Lord John Grey. Lord John's son, the ninth Earl of Ellesmere, is no less shocked to discover that his real father is actually the newly resurrected Jamie Fraser, and Jamie's nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for the woman who has just agreed to marry him.

And while Claire is terrified that one of her husbands may be about to murder the other, in the 20th century her descendants face even more desperate turns of events. Her daughter Brianna is trying to protect her son from a vicious criminal with murder on his mind, while her husband Roger has disappeared into the past....

My thoughts..

For the last week I have been chasing time in an effort to reacquaint myself with 18C America and have re-kilted An Echo in the Bone, which at over a thousand pages of tiny print takes a valiant effort but after a gap of four years in between books it really is essential to read back at least one book in this mammoth series before starting another epic adventure.

And this journey into Outlander life has been long anticipated....for the last four years I have known this book simply by Diana’s own soubriquet – MOBY- and with a supreme effort of will I have managed to avoid every tantalising excerpt she has posted on social media, not from any misguided belief that her enticing snippets would be mediocre but more because the anticipation of what is to be found between the actual pages acts as an incentive to avoid potential spoilers.

There is something very special about these books, so much so, I have to physically walk into a book store to choose my own copy. I know it would have been oh so easy to pre order this book so that it would arrive this morning neatly wrapped in brown packaging on my doorstep – but the magic for me is in the choosing – to pick that book, with that long anticipated cover, is a simple joy I relish. There is no other feeling quite like a Diana Gabaldon novel and only her most loyal fans – and believe me there are millions of us - and my friends in the Outlander Book Club who will know what I am talking about...

Time ceases when I open a new Diana Gabaldon book - I am immediately whisked aboard a rather superior time travel machine and as the 21^st Century world around me fades into oblivion, the streets of 18C America come gloriously alive and I am reacquainted with friends I have grown to love and in whose company I am complete.

And the world was all around us, new with possibility was the last line of her very first book, and with every succeeding book, this author has never failed to deliver to us a sparkling new world of possibility...

Diana Gabaldon

My review of Written in my own Heart's Blood can be found here ....spoiler free , of course !!

~***~

Sunday, 8 June 2014

Sunday War Poet....

Julian Grenfell

1888- 1915

Into Battle

The naked earth is warm with spring,

And with green grass and bursting trees

Leans to the sun’s gaze glorying,

And quivers in the loving breeze;

And life is Colour and Warmth and Light,

And a striving evermore for these;

And he is dead who will not fight;

And who dies fighting has increase.

The fighting man shall from the sun

Take warmth, and life from the glowing earth;

Speed with the light-foot winds to run,

And with the trees a newer birth;

And find, when fighting shall be done,

Great rest, and fullness after dearth.

All the bright company of Heaven

Hold him in their high comradeship-

The Dog-star, and the Sisters Seven,

Orion’s Belt and sworded hip.

The woodland trees that stand together,

They stand to him each one a friend;

They gently speak in the windy weather;

They guide to valley and ridge’s end.

The kestrel hovering by day,

And the little owls that call by night,

Bid him be swift and keen as they-

As keen of sound, as swift of sight.

The blackbird sings to him, ‘Brother, brother,

If this be the last song you shall sing,

Sing well, for you will not sing another;

Brother, sing.’

In dreary doubtful waiting hours,

Before the brazen frenzy starts,

The horses show him nobler powers;

O patient eyes, courageous hearts!

And when the burning moment breaks,

And all things else are out of mind,

And Joy of Battle only takes

Him by the throat, and makes him blind,

Through joy and blindness he shall know,

Not caring much to know, that still

Nor lead nor steel shall reach him, so

That it be not the Destined Will.

The thundering line of battle stands,

And in the air death moans and sings;

But Day shall clasp him with strong hands,

And Night shall fold him in soft wings.

***

Julian Henry Francis Grenfell DSO was a British soldier and poet of World War One.

He joined the army in 1910, and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order in 1914.On the 13 May 1915, as a Captain in the Royal Dragoons, Julian was hit when, a shell landed a few yards from him and a splinter of the shell hit him in the head. He was taken to a hospital in Boulogne where he died of his wounds 13 days later with his mother, father and sister at his bedside. He was 27 years old and was buried at the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.

The day after his death, together with news of his death, his most famous poem 'Into Battle' was published for the first time, in The Times.

*~*~*

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Review ~ Don't stand So Close by Luana Lewis

Random House UK
Transworld
2014

Stella is a severe agoraphobic, cruelly entrapped within her home for several years, she only feels safe in her isolated world with her psychiatrist husband Max. Late one snowy night, a teenage girl turns up on her doorstep, frightened and alone, Stella is reluctant to accept this stranger into her home especially as her husband is away for the night, but even as she hesitates , you realise that whatever decision she makes, it will have profound consequences.

What then follows is a taught psychological thriller which takes in the vagaries of recall and of how we are all trapped by memories of the past. The story unfolds from three perspectives and the author has used her considerable expertise as a clinical psychologist to weave to together both past and present and offers a story which has all the elements of surprise, combined with the juxtaposition of three unreliable narrators.

From any viewpoint this is not an easy book to enjoy nor could I say that I truly liked the story which started to emerge but what I can acknowledge is the deft way in which the author controlled the narrative from its tentative beginning through to its dramatic and timely conclusion.

Should appeal to fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Sister by Rosamund Lupton and Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Hayes.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK / Transworld for my e-copy of this book.

*~*~*

About the Author

Luana Lewis

S.L. Lewis is a clinical psychologist and author of two non-fiction books (written under Sharon Lewis) An Adult’s Guide to Childhood Trauma (1999, Cape Town: David Phillip Publishers) and Dealing with Rape (1994,Johannesburg: Maskew Miller Longman). DON’T STAND SO CLOSE is her début novel, a gripping psychological thriller about a reclusive psychologist who is forced to confront trauma from her past and secrets in her marriage.

***

Thursday, 5 June 2014

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2014..

And the 2014

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

Winner

is

Eimear McBride

22011034

Faber and Faber
2014

A bit of blurb from Goodreads

Eimear McBride's debut tells, with astonishing insight and in brutal detail, the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. Not so much a stream of consciousness, as an unconscious railing against a life that makes little sense, and a shocking and intimate insight into the thoughts, feelings and chaotic sexuality of a vulnerable and isolated protagonist, to read A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing is to plunge inside its narrator's head, experiencing her world first-hand. This isn't always comfortable - but it is always a revelation.

***

I'm not an avid literary prize reader and if I'm honest I was sort of hoping that The Undertaking by Audrey Magee would be the winner....so I have to hold my hands up and say that I had never considered reading this one until the winning announcement was made last night. It's probably going to sit on my 'to be read sometime' wishlist, .....perhaps it's one for the library loan list.

A Girl is a Half Formed Thing has received mixed reviews on the book sites I frequent - some reviewers saying it's the best book they've ever read, through to the more critical reviewers who say that at 205 pages it's more of a novella rather than a novel and that the style of writing takes a bit of getting used to...as always it's best to make up your own mind. Whatever you make of the book, winning such a prestigious literary prize is a great achievement and a huge boost for the author's work....so credit given where credit is due...

This is it's opening paragraph....

For you. You’ll soon. You’ll give her name. In the stitches of her skin she’ll wear your say. Mammy me? Yes you. Bounce the bed. I’d say. I’d say that’s what you did. Then lay you down. They cut you round. Wait and hour and day.

Intrigued .....?

Amazon

~*Well done to the other authors ~*

who made the 2014 short list

*~*~*

Wednesday, 4 June 2014

The Boy That Never Was by Karen Perry

Penguin Books UK

With the ebullience of youth, artists Harry and Robin immerse themselves in the colourful and decadent splendour of life in Tangier. When their baby Dillon is born he slots into their life with gratifying ease and yet, an overwhelming irresponsible act by Harry will have devastating consequences. In a momentary lapse of judgement, Harry leaves Dillon sleeping and unsupervised in their Tangier apartment during a devastating earthquake. When Harry returns home, both the building and Dillon are gone.

What then follows is a story about reparation and punishment as Harry seeks to atone for his reckless lapse of judgement and even as Robin tries to remain uncritical; her own culpability needs to be addressed. Returning back to their native Dublin, the couple seek to rebuild their lives, but however far they stray from the truth of that dreadful night in Tangier, Dillon remains in the shadowy recesses of both their minds. Harry’s refusal to believe that Dillon is dead is the driving force of this compelling story.

The story unfolds in alternate chapters and both Robin and Harry’s examination of what happened in Tangier makes for fascinating reading. There are cracks and fissures in their seemingly stable marriage, and as the secrets and lies are gradually exposed, there really can be no hiding place for them.

The author does a really good job at keeping the tension both credible and tight, and as the mystery of what happened in Tangier gradually unfolds, the psychological damage inflicted remains a forceful part of the story.

I enjoyed it and look forward to more books by this author.

My thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley for my copy of this book