Sugar Hall by Tiffany Murray - re-read

review by Maryom

In the run up to Halloween publisher Seren Books have been holding a read-a-long of Tiffany Murray's Sugar Hall  - one of the few ghost/horror stories that actually sent shivers down my spine and at times terrified me - so I had to join in! I find a lot of scary stories miss their mark with me - either falling flat or turning to comedy in their desperate attempts to frighten - Sugar Hall didn't.
I thought re-reading a ghost story might be a bit like going back to a crime novel, you know what will happen, all the plot twists, how it ends ...... so how did it go?  Well, actually I found it more terrifying than before ....

Lilia Sugar and her two children have moved from London to her late husband's family home Sugar Hall. It's a place full of secrets, built with money from slave and sugar trade, and it's haunted by one of those slaves - a young boy who saw his mother buried alive, and was then killed by his owner.

On the very first page we meet the ghost -  Lilia's son Dieter is fleeing from something he's seen; he knows it's a ghost, the reader knows it's a ghost but his mother and sister dismiss it as a figment of imagination or an attention-grabbing story. Dieter is lonely, he decides to make friends with the ghost, and, even at the first reading, the reader just knows no good will come of it. Dieter is both attracted and repelled by this slave boy; knows at heart that he should resist him but can't. First time through, I was hooked, wondering what would happen next; this time, knowing what would happen, I was horrified. I just wanted to shake his mother and say "Look at what's happening around you! Do something while you can!" But of course, I couldn't, and the whole ghastly tale reeled out again like a slow-motion car crash.
In some ways it seemed there was more time to 'look around' at the rest of the story, to see the other characters as more than just supporting the main plot. Lilia's story - her flight from Germany just before world war two, her relationships with the men in her life, her barely acknowledged dislike of her daughter - grabbed me more, because I was happy to be distracted from Dieter's growing dependence on the ghost.


It certainly lived up to the horror I'd felt first time .....maybe next year I'll read it again....


Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Seren Books
Genre - adult horror ghost story

Re-visiting "Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman" by Friedrich Christian Delius

a new view from Maryom

I always say this - Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius and translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch - is my favourite of all Peirene's books, so I approached a re-read with a little bit of trepidation - would it live up to my expectations or would I be disappointed?
Well, all the aspects I loved first time are still there - the slightly rambling, all-encompassing thoughts of this young German woman as she makes her way across Rome in January 1943. Having travelled from Germany's Baltic coast to join her husband, she's almost immediately been left alone as he was transferred to North Africa. From a pious church-going background, she's used to accepting the opinions of others - first her father's then the dictates of the Hitler Youth leaders - but now she's almost alarmed to discover thoughts of her own, that might not accord with either; her dominant wish, that her husband could find a safe posting in which to serve out the war, doesn't seem at all in keeping with German martial feelings. Rome itself is a bafflement to her; a mix of pagan and Catholic style, it seems exotic and sensual, and nothing in her Lutheran up-bringing has prepared her for it- merely walking unaccompanied through its streets seems an act of daring. 

Other aspects also struck me this time - most importantly Rome itself as more than a mere backdrop, almost a character in its own right; the route taken from Via Alessandro Farnese to Via Sicilia is given in such detail that every step of the way can be followed (on Google maps if not on the ground), and the sights and sounds are there before the reader's 'eye's'. I also was more conscious of the probable future awaiting these expectant parents; even assuming they both survive the war, their prospects are unlikely to be the rosy ones dreamt of.

I intend throughout this coming year to reread all of Peirene's catalogue, so although for now I'd still say this was my favourite my thoughts may change...

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Translated Fiction

Re-visiting "Stone In A Landslide" by Maria Barbal

a new view from Maryom

The second of a series of posts looking back at 5 years of Peirene translated fiction, today I'm re-reading Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal, translated  Laura McGloughlin and Paul Mitchell. It tells the life-story of Catalan peasant woman Conxa and at first glance would appear to be one of those books in which nothing remarkable seems to happen - and yet it encompasses the whole of life.  At the age of thirteen Conxa leaves home to live with her childless aunt and uncle, as a sort of unofficial adopted daughter. Life there is much the same as at home - an unremitting round of cooking, cleaning, tending the vegetable patch, and caring for the farm animals. Conxa grows up, marries, raises children - all with barely any time to stop and think about any of the questions we might pose about life; she just gets on with it. She's very much a woman of her time and place - prepared to accept her husband's view on wider issues such as politics and events beyond her village, believing that she knows little or nothing of such things, and that if she had an opinion of her own, it would probably be misguided.

 Of the Peirene novels I've re-read, this one feels closest to how I remembered it. When I first read it, I was amazed at how much could be packed into such a short novel - and I still am. I felt I knew Conxa, her village and inhabitants, and the mountains that surrounded it. Maybe if there's a change it's that I'm more inclined to feel life passing me by as a blur these days too.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction

Re-visiting "Beside The Sea" by Veronique Olmi

A new view from Maryom - beware spoilers!

Peirene Press have now been publishing their short but powerful translated fiction for five years, and to mark this milestone Stu at WinstonsDad's Blog suggested a re-read of the back catalogue to see if our views have changed at all.
So, beginning at the beginning, I started with Peirene's very first book, Veronique Olmi's Beside the Sea, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. A single mother is taking her two boys on a trip to the seaside - a fun time for all is what you'd expect, with paddling, building sandcastles, eating ice creams and fish and chips, but reality doesn't quite live up to the dream; the town is muddy, the hotel dingy, the weather blustery and wet, the sea rough. But this oppressive 'exterior' atmosphere echoes a more threatening darkness that's taken hold of the mother's thoughts and feelings - her love for her children has become twisted and paranoid.
Beside the Sea is an absolutely devastating read - more so, if possible, this second time. On first reading it, I felt like someone watching an accident unfold - I could see the various elements moving towards a point where disaster would become inevitable, but still hoped that somehow it would be averted. Second time through, I knew there was no chance of a happy ending. The author takes the reader inside the troubled mind of this young, unnamed mother, explores her love and fears for her boys, hints at the various problems she's had, with talk of social workers who have obviously tried to help but failed to grasp the enormity of her problems. It's obvious that the boys, although only half-brothers, feel a great love for each other, are prepared to stand together against the world and would probably have been able to cope if taken away from their mother and into care - which makes the ending even more tragic.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction

Other reviews;
 WinstonsDad's Blog  

Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson - re-read

post by Maryom

As I was taking my copy of Before I Go To Sleep up to Edinburgh Book Festival, hoping to have it signed by S J Watson, it seemed only sensible to read it again. I was a little curious about how well the story would work second time round as I now know all the plot twists and I also wanted to take into account some of the criticisms I've read from non-fans.

Second time through I found the story just as compelling as the first. I thought there were hints and clues to be picked up along the way that I'd missed first time and in some ways knowing how everything would end increased the tension. I don't want to run the risk of spoilers but I felt at times like shouting "he's behind you" or some such warning to Christine.

As for criticisms I've heard. Someone actually found Christine's wearing of tights under trousers to be a major credibility-fail. It isn't for me as I know women who do this. More worthy of consideration is that some readers didn't believe in the feasibility of Christine's diary - of how she could maintain it. In part, even first time round, I was prepared to accept this with a little suspension of dis-belief. After all, it's mainly a plot device to tell the story through Christine's eyes - if a different character had told it, all the plot twists would have been given away on the first page! And the up-coming film with Nicole Kidman? I think it should work well. As I re-read I tried to envisage Kidman as Christine and found myself thinking of her role in The Others - a very creepy ghost story with a twist at the end that completely alters all that went before, much like Before I Go To Sleep in that respect.


As you can see from the photo above, my copy of Before I Go To Sleep is a rather special one with padlock and key sent out by the publicist to reviewers. It's now extra special as it's been signed by S J Watson himself. It was great to meet him at last, even if only briefly as he had quite a long line waiting to have books signed. I'd chatted to him before via Twitter and was curious to know if he'd at last seen 50 First Dates. He had - and said he thought his novel was more like that would be as Drew Barrymore's character aged, than my theory which is that Before I Go To Sleep is what would happen if Adam Sandler were evil!


Original review  25th May 2011
Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Transworld
Genre - adult, crime/thriller