The Things We Never Said by Susan Elliot Wright

review by Maryom

 Maggie wakes up in a psychiatric hospital having no idea of where she is or how she got there or even who she is. In fits and starts, prompted by the awful electric shock treatment she undergoes, her memory returns revealing the traumatic events that led to her being committed...
Meanwhile teacher Jonathan's life is in meltdown. He should be happily looking forward to the birth of his first child but he's plagued by nightmares, feeling angry and out of control. His father has always been a cold authoritarian figure and Jonathan is determined that he'll not be the same. But then his father dies suddenly and Jonathan's problems increase - lashing out at a pupil leads to him being arrested, police interest in a 'cold case' is reawakened and secrets from the past come tumbling out.

The Things We Never Said is a stunning debut novel about family - the relationships within it, the secrets that are kept and everything that's never said. The two strands, Maggie's and Jonathan's, weave round each other and gradually the pieces of their history emerge and slot together like a jigsaw puzzle. It's a very compelling read and, no matter how I tried to pre-empt the plot twists, I wasn't ready for the final missing link that shed light on all that went before.
The story looks both backwards and forwards. At this pivotal point in his life Jonathan feels a need to find himself, visiting his past haunts and old friends in the hope of making sense of what is happening to him now and settling the deep sense of loss that has pervaded his life before being able to move forward and embrace his role as husband and father.

This is an amazing first novel and an author to look out for in future.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Genre - adult fiction

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The Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook by Lynn Hill - Event

 
By The Mole

Last night's event at Waterstones was a promotion for the cookbook but somehow that didn't seem the top of many people's lists!
When we arrived the room was laid out like a cafe almost, with 'coffee' tables and groups of chairs around each. At the far end of the room was a table that seemed to be creaking under the weight of the cake. We hadn't known what to expect when we arrived but as other people arrived they approached the organiser and presented her with yet ANOTHER cake. It appeared as though the event was to be attended by members of the club only? As we got to chatting it became apparent that many of those attending were planning on joining the club and while the event was promoting the book it was also promoting the club. Their website says "Bake, eat and talk about Cake. Gather in secret locations, UK & overseas. Arrive as strangers, leave as friends. It’s all about CAKE." and last night that certainly happened. But we were told that at the first meeting of the club in one area there were 18 people and at the second there was just 1. I suspect that people felt a little overawed by the cakes on display and that's where the book could help. The cakes on display weren't just any old cakes, they were mainly innovative. There was:- pistachio and lime cake, Marmite cake, rhubarb and custard cake, passion fruit cake, pineapple and cherry cake, ginger and syrup cake, banana and chocolate cake, chocolate and berry cake, Victoria sponge with lemon curd - and they were just the ones I tried. Some of these were from the book and some weren't. Most were extremely nice and some were... well just the talking point (the Marmite cake actually). An extremely nice evening was had by all I believe, despite the groans of  "Too much" that seemed to emanate from all corners of the room and by the end of the evening the table seemed a bit relieved it was all over. So if you enjoy baking and like cake why not look for a branch of the club near you or even consider starting one? All the contacts you need are on the website. Or maybe get a copy of the book before you do and get some practice in?

Once again  a great event so remember to watch for book events in your area.

Buy The Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook from Amazon

Captain Valiant (and me) - Revenge of the Black Phantom by Adam Britten

Review by The Mole

When, using their super powers, Captain Valiant and Dynamic Boy defeat The Black Phantom they are warned that much worse will follow - and it does. An explosion totally destroys Mark Taylor's (Dynamic Boy) school and, as they investigate, the Astral Knights are instructed to cleanse the earth - everything living will be wiped out unless Mark, his dad, his mum (Ms Victory) and his sister (Moon Girl) can defeat Abbadon before things get even more out of hand.

This is how I like my superheroes - funny. Poor old Dynamic Boy is forever complaining that he has a stupid name, a stupid costume and stupid super powers. His sister is always bullying him and treating him like... well a younger brother. His dad is getting fat from too many bacon sandwiches and his mum is... well a mum I suppose. With plenty to laugh at and lots of humorous black and white drawings this book will delight younger readers and older readers too, if they can find an excuse to read it - "I'm checking it out as to whether it's suitable for my nephew for his birthday!" (Or make up your own excuse - I was reviewing it!).

A really good story to encourage reading in youngsters.

Publisher - Piccadilly Press
Genre - Children's 8+, Fiction

Buy Captain Valiant and Me: Revenge of the Black Phantom (Captin Valiant & Me) from Amazon

Author Events - Nottingham

 by The Mole

 Last week was a busy week for us with two separate and very different author events being held in Nottingham.

The first event was Alison Moore, author of The Lighthouse which was, of course, Booker Prize short listed. The event was to cover the launch of her latest book The Pre-War House and other stories, published by Salt and nominated for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award 2013. The event was held on the ground floor of Waterstones which offers a cosy environment amongst the book shelves laden with their cargo of stories. When we arrived we were greeted by a glass of bubbly as this was, after all, a book launch. The audience was the usual mix of couples and after a brief introduction to her route into publishing - which started as many authors do, through short stories -she read a couple of complete stories from the collection, Jetsam and The Smell of the Slaughterhouse. She then followed this with a reading from the beginning of The Pre-War House. The Q&A seemed to focus, unsurprisingly, more on The Lighthouse and how she got published (a topic that so many of these events tend to raise). The book signing and one-on-one that goes with it ensued.    

Rachel Caine's event was the second event she had held at the store and so the larger, more formal location of the Silitoe room was chosen. The event was to promote Fall of Night, the penultimate book in the The Morganville Vampire series. With most seats taken, it brought a smile to my face when I looked around the room and found less than 10 men in the room and most of them were accompanying their partners, although there were one or two that had come on their own. Rachel started by explaining her name. Yes, it's a pen-name but she explained she has also written as Roxanne Longstreet and Roxanne Conrad. She has written under a couple of other names as well but these she didn't mention. Rather surprisingly there was no reading but instead she recounted events along the way to getting Fall of Night published and how the first book came about. Although the emphasis was on The Morganville Vampire series she has written a few other series of books namely Outcast Season, The Revivalist and The Weather Warden. Neither Maryom nor The Mole has read any of her books (though our daughter has) but despite that the evening was very entertaining and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The last Morganville book comes out before the end of the year and she has another book out later this year in The Revivalist series. Clearly she is not only a great speaker and entertainer (everything was tinged with humour) but she is also a prolific author. After a Q&A which focusssed on The Morganville Vampires the book signing snaked slowly around the room and people left gleefully excited that THEY had spoken to Rachel Caine. Another great event from Waterstones.

The Hope Factory by Lavanya Sankaran

 review by Maryom

The Hope Factory is the story of two people from different ends of the social spectrum who share a common goal - to improve their life.
Anand is the owner of a factory which makes car body parts. He's affluent, lives in a spacious modern house with his wife and two children, thinks of himself as a 'modern' Indian, not held back by superstitions or out of date ideas about caste. He's hoping to clinch an important deal with a Japanese firm but expansion of his factory is vital to this and to buy the necessary land he comes up against the culture of bribery and back-handers that he refuses to be part of.
Kamala on the other hand works in Anand's house as a cleaner. She's a widow with a teenage son to support. They live in one small room and share their water supply and bathroom facilities with other lodgers. Her finances are stretched in all directions. She'd like her bright clever son to go to a better school which would open up wider opportunities for him - but such a thing requires money and meanwhile the demand for building land is pushing up her rent. All Kamala's hopes rest on the whim of her employer and his wife.

The Hope Factory is vivid portrayal of life in today's India, highlighting the inequalities of life there while showing the underlying similarities - a sort of modern, literary, Indian 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. It's set in Bangalore, a vibrant, noisy city, bursting at the seams, ever growing and expanding, often at the expense of its inhabitants. The plot concentrates on the lives of  business-man Anand and his maid, Kamala and their parallel attempts to better their lives. The obstacles they face are different but come down in the end to the need to have money before you can make more.
There are many themes explored throughout the novel - the clash between old and new methods, Eastern and Western ways; the enormous gap between poor and wealthy - but it is above all a very readable, enjoyable story. The characters are well drawn, believable individuals - the sort you feel you could transport out of the novel to elsewhere and know how they'd behave and react. Both Anand and Kamala gained my sympathies for their persistence, particularly Kamala whose life has been harsh almost beyond belief.

Although the author has published short stories before, The Hope Factory is her debut novel - and another amazing book from Tinder Press.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher -  Tinder Press
Genre - Adult fiction, literary

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The Scarlet Thief by Paul Fraser Collard

review by Maryom

1854: The banks of the Alma River, Crimean Peninsular. The Redcoats stagger to a bloody halt. The men of the King's Royal Fusiliers are in terrible trouble, ducking and twisting as the storm of shot, shell and bullet tear through their ranks.
Officer Jack Lark has to act immediately and decisively. His life and the success of the campaign depend on it. But does he have the mettle, the officer qualities that are the life blood of the British Army? From a poor background Lark has risen through the ranks by stealth and guile and now he faces the ultimate test...
THE SCARLET THIEF introduces us to a formidable and compelling hero - brutally courageous, roguish, ambitious - in a historical novel as robust as it is thrillingly authentic by an author who brings history and battle vividly alive. 

The Scarlet Thief is an action-packed historical adventure that introduces a charismatic new hero - Jack Lark.  There are obvious similarities to the Sharp and Flashman novels but Jack is very much his own man. Having risen through the ranks in a sometimes rather dubious manner, he is now a captain facing battle for the time time in the Crimean War - peace-time training in Aldershot barracks is one thing but putting that training into practice under canon fire quite another. Can he face down his own fear and inspire his men?
I grew up in the sort of area that had streets named after the Crimean battles - Alma, Inkermann, etc - but it's a conflict I know little about beyond The Charge of the Light Brigade and the dreadful conditions that Florence Nightingale encountered in the military hospitals there. Collard brings the Battle of the Alma vividly to life - both from overall troop displacement and the viewpoint of the individuals caught up in those manoeuvres. To me, this is what good historical fiction should do - take the dry dusty facts from history books and tell the story of the men and women who lived through them - and Collard does this admirably.

Maryom's review -  4 stars

Publisher - Headline 
Genre - Historical fiction, action adventure, Crimean War


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Dangerous Cakes by Elspeth Smith

Review by The Mole

Poetry is something I normally steer clear of. The reason? Well, start by reading the preface. It reviews the collection in very highbrow terms making it a very 'intellectual' collection. For me poetry must be enjoyable - not clever and 'intellectual'. Most of the prefaces to such collections actually turn me cold.

However I read the poems before I read the preface - is that wrong?

The poems are most enjoyable to read but this is not a 'fun' collection - no "When daddy fell into the pond" in this book. Most of the poems are short, single verse that feel like they are giving you a small and very private window onto the poet's life.

I won't pretend to understand all the poems as a few lacked context for me. They are mostly reflections on a life that has been filled with both joy and sorrow and contain memories of childhood, early adulthood and later life as well. Somehow I felt we learned far more than the number of words actually told us and that's the best kind of poetry for me.

Publisher - Eyewear Publishing
Genre - Poetry

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