The Latest from Hastings Library Book Chat

We’ve had a few from the group enjoying the Turn Up the Heat winter reading challenge and some books that might not have been picked up otherwise, which is what it’s all about.

There was only one non-fiction title on the list, but it was a cracker. Under the Hornbeams by anthropologist Emma Tarlo describes the author’s experiences during a Covid lockdown in London. Suddenly sequestered with her loved ones, she regularly escapes to nearby Regent’s Park where she meets two homeless men. Their conversations offer insight that have a wider reaching affect on the author. A fascinating read.

Crime fiction was a popular choice, with some books by favourite authors popping up. Among them was David Baldacci’s recent thriller, Dream Town – an Aloysius Archer novel. The story takes us back to New Year’s Eve 1952, and our PI is approached by a screenwriter who thinks someone is trying to kill her. At her apartment, Archer is attacked after coming across a dead body, then the screenwriter disappears. We’re off to a pacey start in no time and the pages fly by.

Eric Van Lustbader has a made a name in conjunction with Robert Ludlum for the Jason Bourne series of thrillers. The Testament is the first in a series that takes us into the secret world of the Order of Gnostic Observatines, a sect connected to St Francis of Assissi. Our hero, Braverman Shaw is after a secret cache hidden by his father who has died in mysterious circumstances. Assassins, lost treasure and explosions – what’s not to like?

Another oldie but a goodie was The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell – the sixth novel in the Kurt Wallander series. The detective investigates two new crimes – the grisly murder of an elderly birdwatcher and a disappearance. It seems likely the two are connected, and the case will explode into a massive investigation, as Wallander is increasingly disturbed at the violence developing in modern Sweden.

More recent crime reads included Insidious Intent, a Tony Hill (police psychologist) and DCI Carol Jordan novel which starts out with a body discovered burned in a car. There are more killings and we’re again in serial killer territory, a complex plot building towards a terrific twist at the end. And Ann Cleeves’ The Heron’s Cry was again shared and we all agreed Cleeve’s a terrific storyteller.

Among the most highly received novels on the table were historical ones, with Rules of Civility again garnering high praise for the fabulous writing. One reader commented that one of the characters here turns up in the new short story collection by Towles, Table for Two. We’ll be looking out for that one, for sure.

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain is a fascinating read that takes us back to 1800s Bath as well as to Borneo. In Bath, Jane turns down the chance for a respectable marriage for an unconventional future. In Borneo, an eccentric British ‘rajah’ and brother of Jane’s spurned suitor struggles with compromised passions of his own. The two stories will connect in an engaging read.

Another reader has been discovering Diana Gabaldon’s massive Outlander novels, discussing her enjoyment of Voyager, the third in the series. Our heroine, Claire, discovers Jaimie Fraser might be still alive after the brutality of the Battle of Culloden. She travels back to eighteenth century Scotland via the magical standing stones. 

There was a good crop of contemporary and literary fiction, and something of a mixed bag. Among them was The Honeyeater by Jessie Tu. The story is set across three continents and follows the story of Australian-Taiwanese translator Fay. We’re in Sydney as well as France and Taiwan, as Fay considers fallout from breaking up with her married lover. This novel had an interesting premise, but our reader found it slow-going.

Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie is the story of two friends and again takes us across the world, first to Pakistan where Maryam and Zahra grow up from different backgrounds. They are friends when an event changes their lives. Three decades later they are now good friends in London, but it is a fragile friendship, tested by echoes of the past. Our reader didn’t enjoy this one as much as they’d hoped. Shamsie had previously won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for Home Fire.

Lionel Shriver doesn’t shy away from difficult topics and this is the case in her new book, Mania. In this satirical novel, we’re slightly in the future where tall poppy syndrome is taken to an extreme. The Mental Party Movement has decreed that no one can be called ‘stupid’, and that everyone is equally clever, and even doctors needn’t be rigorously qualified. Two friends find themselves on opposing sides of the debate, in this clever book.

Markus Zusak writes creatively about growing up, often in difficult circumstances as we saw with his novel The Book Thief. In Bridge of Clay the Dunbar boys grow up in a tragic household where a lot happens to young Clay. To survive he decides to build a bridge to ‘transcend humanness’. This is a very long book, and at times a little unpleasant, but very clever and worth it in the end.

The Incendiaries follows two students at a prestigious university – Korean-American Phoebe, a glamorous girl who blames herself for her mother’s death, and Will a misfit, scholarship boy from Bible College. Theirs is an intense relationship but there’s a dark side to the story in this novel about cults and fanaticism. Our reader found the book a little predictable.

A more satisfying read was Sign by Colin Dray which follows a young boy who has lost the ability to speak following an operation. He’s supposed to be learning to sign, when his Aunt Dettie takes him and his sister across Australia to Perth to be with their estranged father. But Aunt Dettie’s behaviour is erratic, and on top of that it’s bushfire season and their road-trip becomes fraught with danger.

Last but not least was Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, a classic novel from 1948. Set in South Africa, the book describes the country pre-apartheid, where pastor Stephen Kumalo is trying save his troubled son. A beautifully written novel that is lyrical, tragic and unforgettable.

19 July 2024

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