Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball by Giles Paley-Phillips

A Shadow In The Dark?

Review by The Mole

When Tamara can't get to sleep the monsters come and get her. They take here away to the Annual Monsters' Ball where they dance the night away.

Once again Maverick have come up with the goods in the form of a bright and cheerful picture book emblazoned with lots of bright colours and monsters that you could fall in love with.

The story to go with it is easy to read and humorous to entertain the youngest of readers or adults as they share the reading while also being in simple rhyme that has a rhythm that children will enjoy immensely. Perhaps a story to read when the shadows seem to threaten and they need to be explained?


Publisher - Maverick Books 
Genre - Children's Early Reader, Picture book

Buy Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball from Amazon (pre-order till September 2012)

The Tea Lords by Hella S Haasse

 review by Maryom

'A novel of Java' says the sub-title of the edition I read, but it isn't a tale of native culture or ancient Indonesian traditions rather one of late 19th century colonial expansion by the Dutch.

Rudolf  Kerkhoven is part of an extended Dutch family with interests in Java. His parents have already left Holland and leased land on which to establish a tea plantation. Having finished his studies, Rudolf goes out to join them. His life appears to be totally mapped out for him; - his parents decided which technical courses he should follow as being of most use to the family business and they have positions within the family enterprises lined up for him. Rudolf has other plans though - he doesn't want to stay as a subordinate but to strike out on his own - rather literally - to clear back the jungle and establish his own plantation, run his way.

As I read I felt rather removed from the emotion of the story - too often told what Rudolf says or thinks rather than hearing it in his own words or seeing things through his eyes. In part possibly due to this, I didn't find him particularly sympathetic character - he always seemed to be arguing with his family, convinced that his way was always right and that the family were in some way favouring his brothers. His only redeeming feature was his love of the country with steep mountain sides covered in impenetrable vegetation - so very different from his native Holland.

 The Tea Lords is, without doubt, a fascinating account of Dutch colonialism in Java - a phase of history of which I knew absolutely nothing. Unfortunately the writing style totally failed to grab me.

This book was drawn to my attention by  Iris On Books and the Dutch Lit Month 2012 running on her blog where an ongoing discussion of The Tea Lords is currently (June 2012) taking place. Other readers seem to have enjoyed this book more than I did, so it's worth checking out their thoughts.

Maryom's review -  3.5 stars
Publisher - Portobello Books
Genre - historical, translated fiction

Buy The Tea Lords from Amazon

Toby's Room by Pat Barker

Closure
Review by The Mole

The story starts in 1912. Elinor and her brother, Toby, are also best friends and share secrets. While Elinor is at Slade art school and her brother studies medicine close by, she meets Kit and Paul and the 4 of them are to find their lives touching throughout the forthcoming war years. The story then skips forward to 1917 and Toby is reported 'Missing, Believed Killed' and Elinor has difficulty accepting this. Someone must know for sure what happened.

The first half of the story hinges around Elinor and her determination to become an accomplished artist, despite the dependence others seem to place on her; Toby when he's seriously ill; her mother when the news of Toby is delivered; Paul when he returns from France, injured. During this part of the story we encounter some of the truly horrific facial injuries that soldiers actually sustained during the first world war.

The second half of the story is Kit's back story. Kit worked as a stretcher bearer under Toby's command on the very front line and is the most likely person to know what happened to him. Suffering a facial injury and dreaming (or are these nightmares?) under the effects of morphine for his pain we learn of the horrors of the front line and the sheer terror Kit lived under.

While all the horrors painted by Barker come through clearly and impact the reader, that impact is not presented in the stomach churning way that it could turn squeamish readers off, more that they make you think that 'yes, there must have been many people that were maimed in this way and had to live with it after the war' whether that injury was bodily or mental.

A book that is extremely riveting and thought provoking covering issues that many people won't be comfortable with but in a way that makes it totally acceptable. Also, despite, great loss in the story this is not really a tear jerker as it manages to stand to one side on all these issues.

So many books I have read lately I have not 'enjoyed' - but what does that mean? A happy ending? A happy getting there? But that's not required to feel it was a great read, one you couldn't put down and were hankering to get back to and that you end up glad you read and continue to think about after you have finished it. This was certainly one of those books.

Publisher - Penguin
Genre - Adult Historical Fiction

Buy Toby's Room from Amazon

Lowdham Book Festival

A few months ago I had the delight of reading ML Stedman's début novel The Light Between Oceans - a wonderfully atmospheric and engrossing tug-of-love story - so when I heard the author would be appearing at the relatively local Lowdham Book Festival I told The Mole we had to go! I also suggested he read the novel first - which he did.

The event was billed as Coffee and Cake with debut novelists Rachel Joyce and ML Stedman to be chaired by Alison Barrow from Transworld Publishers and held in the slightly unusual but very beautiful St Mary's Church. As it turned out, due to hold-ups with the train bringing ML Stedman and Alison Barrow, the audience started on the coffee and cake before they arrived - an excellent way to keep everyone happy and occupied while waiting for the vagaries of transport.

The real event started with Rachel Joyce and ML Stedman reading short teaser sections from their respective novels and then chatting to Alison Barrow before throwing the discussion open to the audience. Topics covered included the authors approach to writing, how and where to get their thoughts into words, striking a balance between the creative world and the real one, the route to publication, future novel writing plans. A comment of ML Stedman's that particularly struck me was how she sees her novel as a chrysalis (while working on it) now turned into a butterfly heading out among readers and coming back with their thoughts of what the book meant to them or how they saw the characters.
I normally go to events involving an author whose work I've read and loved, I suppose in the hope of gleaning extra insight into their novels or them as a person. This time there was an author who had deeply impressed me - and one of whom I knew nothing. The extract from and talk of Rachel Joyce's novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry have whetted by appetite enough that I now intend to track it down and read it.

Both books are published by Transworld.

The event still has a few days to run and the timetable shows that the events are varied and include a cooking demonstration by the kind person that provided the cakes for this event.

Read The Mole's review and/or mine

The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman

The Blurring of Right and Wrong
Review by The Mole


Tom Sherbourne came through the first world war unscathed and carries the scars of guilt and the horrors he endured. He has joined the lighthouse service to get away from people and to heal although he meets Izzy and they marry and return to the remote lighthouse, Janus,
 where Izzy longs for a child. Shortly after her third miscarriage a boat washes up with a dead man and a baby wrapped in a ladies cardigan and Izzy persuades Tom to do the 'wrong' thing for once.

What is 'right' and what is 'wrong' though?

If you want a tale of bunnies with a happy ending and justice for all then may I recommend that this is not the book for you - try Beatrix Potter either The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies or Peter Rabbit. It is the story of a moment's decision that has to be lived with for the rest of life.

Everyone of the characters came to life for me. First there was Tom who I wanted to shake and say 'no, no, no!' almost from the word go and at several points in the story. I felt both his and Izzy's pain and dilemma and understood them.When we met Hannah I could see her viewpoint and understand her but I wanted her to see what that decision would do and was doing. Gwen... well I didn't really get her that well, I would have expected at least some real loyalty but both sets of grandparents were so true to life, and the police men with their mixture of humanity and ambitions. In fact the entire cast of characters leapt out at me and that made the final chapter even more difficult. This chapter is one of the longest nine pages I have ever read. Before embarking on chapter 37 I strongly recommend having a box of tissues at hand. A BIG box. And if you normally weep easily get a friend to hold your hand while you read it.

Maryom and I have debated the ending... it was the ending she wanted but not the one I expected although having finished a few days ago I can reflect and look back at it and say that there could not be a better ending.

A story of life, love, prejudices and natural justice. I highly recommend this book to... well anyone really.

Maryom reviewed this book as well.

Publisher - Doubleday
Genre - adult fiction

Buy The Light Between Oceans from Amazon

My Family and Other Freaks by Carol Midgley

Review by Maryom

Danielle Dench is desperate to attract the attention of  dreamy, delicious Damian - but not in the cringe-making way she does when a smelly dog-related accident gets her the nick-name of Dench the Stench. That's not at all the sort of image she was looking for! As if that isn't enough, her family are all weird; her parents are still in 'lurve' (at their age!); her little sister likes playing dress-up and make-overs with the dog, and big brother Rick has a bedroom that smells like a wrestler's bottom!
These aren't all of her problems though - her parents have a little surprise for the family and Simon the dog seems to be getting increasingly out of control. Life seems to just line up things for schoolmates to make fun of!

Written in the form of Danielle's diary, My Family and other Freaks is a brilliantly hilarious look at the trials and tribulations of teenage life - from unrequited love to embarrassing parents and troublesome pets. A book that will have you laughing out loud - unless you're hissing at the villain, Danielle's arch-rival Treasure Cavendish with her expensive clothes, perfect hair and day-glo orange skin. Yes, you can tell where the plot is leading but after all it's a teen romcom so a happy ending is guaranteed.


Maryom's review -  5 stars
Publisher - Quercus 
Genre - teen, real-life, comedy,

Buy My Family and Other Freaks from Amazon

Crossing Over by Anna Kendall

review by Maryom

Roger has a gift that he would rather be without - when in pain he can cross over to the land of the Dead. This skill is something that his bullying uncle makes him use to make money - contacting the recently deceased for their relatives, rather like a face-to-face seance. It isn't a way of life that Roger likes but when he has to fend for himself, he has no idea of what else he may be able to do. Via a job in the Royal laundry he is discovered by the Queen who decides his gift may be just as useful to her in her attempts to gain control of the throne and power she feels is rightfully hers.


For a lot of the book there's very little 'fantasy'. The action takes place in a vague historical setting with an unusual matriarchal structure. There's a lot of royal politics and plotting - death by poison, treaties sealed in the bedroom - before the real 'fantasy' begins. Roger is very much an average teenager, has no real idea what he wants to do with life, imagines himself in love - or in lust might be more accurate - with almost any pretty girl he meets and even the Queen herself and - of course - overlooks the girl who loves him!

 Even so I found it to be an enjoyable read and although a YA book it's written in a way that should appeal to older fantasy readers - a lot of fantasy does of course follow a teenager growing into their powers. The ending rounds off but leaves it clear that more is to follow ( I knew that though as this book was part of a 2 book competition win). I feel book 2 of the series will start in with more fantasy from the start - watch this space as I'll be reading it soon!

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Gollancz
Genre - Teen/YA Fantasy