I read seven books in November.
I love books by someone tracing their hitherto unknown family history. This is couched as a novel because Eleanor Thom has had to fill in gaps but in essence it’s her finding out about her mother’s side of the family. Her grandmother, Jewish single mother Dora, lives in Berlin in 1937 and because of her father’s immigration status finds that she is ‘stateless’ and is forced to move to the UK to work as a domestic servant – as it turns out of course that means that she lives while relatives she leaves behind do not.
‘Helena’, as the book’s protagonist is called, decides to find her long lost family after the birth of her baby who has an unexplained medical condition, echoing the author’s own experience.
This is Eleanor Thom’s second book; her first, The Tin-Kin, explored in fiction her grandfather’s, (Dora’s husband) side of the family.
The Mouse in the Manse by Lavinia Derwent
Lavinia Derwent is (or was) best known for her books for children, including the Sula series, but these are autobiographical. They are an easy, nostalgic read but kind of make you gasp when you think about it. In her late teens, Lavinia (although that wasn’t her real name) found herself ‘the lady of the manse’ when her minister brother got his first charge and needed a housekeeper. With very little money, and none at all for her own use, she looked after the large, draughty manse and in addition to housework and cooking had to fulfil various parish duties.
One amusing story is that of a neighbour’s boy, ‘Wee Wullie’, who is in awe of the young red-haired minister, believing him to actually be God.
It doesn’t cross her mind not to do as her family wanted and it did lead to her career; to make some pin money she began to write articles.
(The pb of The Lady is expensive online; mine came from a shop swap-box.)
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
Twenty years after Rachel’s Holiday comes a sequel and it’s worth the wait. What happened after she got out of rehab and married Luke? Are they still married? And what about her mad-as-a-box-of-frogs family? Well, they still are mad but that’s all I’m going to say, no spoilers.
Exiles by Jane Harper
The third book to feature Aaron Falk (following The Dry and Force of Nature); set in small town Australia. Aaron is actually a forensic accountant but he gets involved in the case of a missing woman when he goes to stay with a friend. Excellent, as are the other two.
The Wayward Miss Wyckenham by Melinda Hammond
‘Miss Clarissa Wyckenham comes to London to live with her pretty step-mama and finds that Mama-Nell has formed a discreet club for ladies. Soon she is pitched headlong into the scandalous antics of the Belles Dames Club, and finds herself in conflict with the disapproving Lord Alresford … ’
A very enjoyable eighteenth-century adventure and romance.
Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons by David Stafford
Arthur Skelton has gone from being an unremarkable barrister to a much sought after one after winning ‘the legal case of the century’. Now he is charged with defending a woman accused of poisoning her husband. The story itself is satisfying but it’s the characters that make the book– Arthur has several wonderful sidekicks and the dialogue is wonderful.
