Lovely Treez Reads

Today sees the publication of Stuart Neville’s third novel Stolen Souls which I reviewed here in December 2011.  To celebrate, the lovely folk at Harvill Secker have kindly offered a bountiful bundle of Stuart’s novels, The Twelve, Collusion and Stolen Souls, all signed by the man himself.  

If you would like a chance to win this breathtaking bundle please complete the form below and leave a comment.  UK ADDRESSES ONLY.   Giveaway ends Midnight 1st February 2012.   Good luck!

I’ve never done one of these linky, meme, bloggy type things so let’s hope it all works out – well, hopefully no-one will die in the process…see, I copied the logo three times…oh, well better three than never…

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

This week I happened upon a new article by Joanne Harris here about her much anticipated forthcoming novel Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure.   Cue squees of delight all round!  I have devoured and relished almost all of Joanne’s previous novels and I cannot wait for this, the follow up to The Lollipop Shoes (US title was The Girl With No Shadow).

Synopsis

It isn’t often you receive a letter from the dead. When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she has no choice but to follow the wind that blows her back to Lansquenet, the village in which eight years ago, she opened up a chocolate shop. But returning to her old home, Vianne is completely unprepared for what she is to find there. Women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea – and there, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the church, a minaret.

Born in North Carolina, raised in an evangelical church, Wiley Cash draws on his own personal experiences to produce this impressive debut novel.  

One Sunday, in the oppressive Summer heat, the congregation of River Road Church take their religious fervour one step too far with devastating consequences.  This compelling story, set in Madison County in 1986, is narrated from the perspectives of three different characters – Jess Hall, nine year old brother to Christopher “Stump” whose autism hinders any verbal communication,  Clem Barefield, Sheriff of Madison County for 25 years yet still considered an outsider and finally, Adelaide Lyle, elderly spinster who leads the Sunday School yet remains wary of the Pastor, Carson Chambliss.

Chambliss is a very shady character, one of those larger than life, mesmerizing preachers who rules his ingenuous congregation with a rod of iron as well as traumatising them with snakes, poison and fire – blind faith indeed…  This may be the 80s but this could be the land that time forgot.   There’s a great sense of place as the narrative moves from present to past and back again, evoking the seasons and landscape of this timeless setting.   The author also seems very much in tune with his characters, ordinary, down to earth folk who try to get by the best they can – with perhaps one glaring exception.

If you enjoy well told stories with that languid, laconic vibe you find in the best Southern fiction, you will relish this gripping, poignant tale.   Looking forward to hearing more from Madison County in Wiley Cash’s future novels.

I was drawn to this like a moth to the light – I can’t resist novels set in academic environments with quirky, over-privileged characters who I’d be tempted to throttle in real life.  It’s always a bonus if this elite group assimilates someone from a lower class, hoping to mould him in their own image.  Brideshead Revisited and The Secret History rank amongst my all-time favourite reads so The Bellwether Revivals should be a shoo-in….but is it strong enough to forge its own path or is it just a readable homage?

I’m delighted to report that The Bellwether Revivals is a very distinctive, debut novel with its own identity and power.  Oscar Lowe, a young Care Assistant, finds himself drawn into another world when he meets and becomes romantically involved with Iris Bellwether, an undergraduate at Cambridge.  It is the hypnotic organ playing of Iris’s enigmatic brother Eden which draws Oscar into a church and acts as the catalyst for a series of disturbing events.

The characterisation is superb – you feel like you’re right beside Oscar, meeting Eden for the first time, being magnetically drawn to this rangy, curly haired, eccentric/mad creature who thinks he can heal via the medium of music.   Eden’s friends and family feel compelled to protect him but is he merely a tad idiosyncratic or a real danger to himself and others?  Iris is torn between loyalty to her brother and her burgeoning romance with Oscar.  Mater and Pater live in splendid isolation, with only a vague interest in their children, as long as their grades are good.

From the very first page I was drawn into the compelling and, at times, unnerving world of the Bellwethers.  The opening will hook you as we begin with an ending and you really have to find out how we get there.  An excellent debut novel which will appeal to fans of Brideshead, The Secret History and The Lessons by Naomi Alderman.  I can’t wait to see what this talented author comes out with next.

My thanks to Net Galley for sending me this ARC.

I was initially attracted to this YA novel as I used to teach French to a wide variety of pupils from top stream to those who faced severe behavioural and emotional challenges on a daily basis. I was keen to see how an author would recreate the voice of a youth who struggles to fit into “mainstream” education and I think he’s got it spot on.

The novel takes the form of a journal/diary written by young Jason who has the opportunity to move onto a mainstream school if he’s on his best behaviour but as we gradually discover, it’s rather hard not to LOSE IT when his mum looks like she might go back on drugs, when he is continually riled by his classmates, when he has to listen to the platitudes of the teachers. At first he treats the diary project as some sort of joke, a way of fooling his teacher, Pete, into thinking he’s actually doing some work but gradually he puts down in words the truth about his home situation…but the diary is confidential so how can anyone else help?

As well as gaining insight into Jason’s home life we also see life in school, warts and all with the tiniest slight sending some pupils over the edge. One scene reminded me of the time a chair was thrown in my direction…but I had the good sense to duck! I have so much admiration for teachers who can draw on infinite amounts of patience and creativity to help disadvantaged and disaffected children and are happy to see progress on a day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute scale rather than throwing in the towel. I think the author does an excellent job of representing the work done by such professionals.

This is a very honest portrayal of one boy’s life, with a fair injection of humour too – well worth reading and recommended for both young teens and adults in need of a hefty dose of empathy.

Thanks to the lovely folk at Royal Mail, I have 5 sets of the truly scrumdidlyumptious, recently released Roald Dahl stamps to offer as my first ever giveaway. Each winner will receive a Presentation Pack worth £8.10 and in addition an exquisite miniature sheet of stamps featuring my favourite Dahl character, the BFG. It’s hard to believe it’s the 30th anniversary of the book’s publication this year!

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If you would like the chance to win a presentation pack and miniature sheet,  please complete the form below and leave a comment. 

UK addresses only
Ends 19th Jan 2012

A FOUR STAR READ FOR ME.

Jodi Picoult applies her tried and trusted formula again in “Lone Wolf” and I think most of her fans will be satisfied with the result. As in her previous novels, multiple narrators become embroiled in a moral dilemma with a bit of courtroom action thrown in for good measure. However, this time there’s a slight twist to the formula.

Luke Warren, more at home in a wolf pack than with his own family, is comatose following a road accident. His fate will be decided by one of his children – either Cara who hopes he’ll make a miraculous recovery or Edward who is more in favour of pulling the plug, literally… Whilst various characters take turns in this dance of ethics, we also hear Luke’s voice through his recollections of his experiences with wolves. It soon becomes clear that Luke’s priorities lie very firmly with his lupine pals. For me, it was like watching a movie in split screen where you face constant distractions – just as you feel you are getting to know one character, another one pops up or you’re back with the wolves again.

I found the wolf sections much more compelling than the human interactions even though I felt no empathy whatsoever for Luke, a man who wants to have his cake and eat it. It’s clear that Jodi has done meticulous research and she paints a fascinating portrait of the hierarchy and idiosyncrasies of a wolf pack whilst comparing them to those of a human family.

I have really enjoyed most of Jodi Picoult’s books but this one slightly missed the mark for me. It was bound to happen sometime! All in all, an enjoyable enough read but not the strongest contender in the Picoult stable – a 3.5 star read for me.

Published
01/03/2012

Publisher
Chatto & Windus

I jumped at the chance of reading and reviewing this when it showed up on a recent Amazon Vine newsletter.   It’s a story of many parts encompassing the frequently fraught relationship between a father and his daughter set against a backdrop of manic religious fervour and the stress of  strike action with a pinch of fantasy thrown in for good measure – a heady mix indeed!

Ten year old Judith McPherson leads a rather isolated life with her widowed father.  Their routine revolves around their strong religious conviction that the End Times are approaching fast but such faith won’t be a match for the bullies at Judith’s school – or will it?  Could  Judith’s model of the Promised Land, the Land of Decoration save her from the brutality of the real world?  Whilst Judith focuses on her own daily struggles, her father is facing his demons too as he defies the union and joins the much hated scabs.  Previously held beliefs and certainties are shaken and torn apart as the McPhersons’ lives hurtle out of control.

There’s no doubt about it, this is an unusual novel.  At first it seems almost childlike in tone, with our young narrator Judith concoting her imaginary Promised Land out of old sweetie wrappers and cotton wool.   However, as the narrative develops, the atmosphere becomes darker and more sinister as Judith becomes more and more convinced of her miraculous powers.  It does get slightly confusing at times, spoiling the reading experience somewhat but I guess this serves to mirror Judith’s own distress and confusion of fantasy and reality

With hints of Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (the religious extremism bits!),  I found this a challenging, strangely enjoyable read and a promising debut but not quite the miraculous masterpiece the blurb would have you believe.

It’s been ages since I read anything by Joanna Trollope probably not since her early novels The Rector’s Wife and The Choir but I thought I’d try her again as this, her latest novel, resonates with me and my role as a daughter-in-law as well as preparing me a little for what lies ahead if and when I become a dreaded mother-in-law myself!

As in other Trollope novels, our story is firmly rooted in Middle England and peopled with characters who seem to have escaped any ill effects of recession.   For the most part it is set on the coast of Suffolk where the matriarchal Rachel holds court with her affable husband Anthony but the times they are a changing and a shift in power is inevitable with her three sons now all married to independent thinking women.  Rachel struggles to hold her family together not realising that her interference only serves to cause more rifts and alienation.

Whilst the characters are very unlike anyone in my own social circle (more affluent certainly!) they share the flaws and concerns of all of society.  This is not an action packed story by any means but an important one which takes the time to examine family relationships showing how a little bit of give and take can go a long way to build bridges.  At times, Rachel really irritated me with  her single-minded aim to rule every waking moment of her sons’ lives but I also felt immense pity for her when she realised she needed to move on and carve out a new life for herself as something other than a mother.  She displays the same insecurities of all mothers, walking that tightrope between being too invasive or seeming indifferent.

A really enjoyable, readable, thought-provoking read which will strike a chord with many readers. 

For those interested interested in reading about extreme in-laws, The Little House by Phillipa Gregory  will make you smile!