Six in November

 

I read six books in November.

 

 

The Postcard by Anne Berest

This translated French best-seller is a harrowing read. It’s the story of the author’s ancestors’ flight from Russia and their moves to Latvia, Palestine and Paris. Each time they thought they were moving to safety. In 1930s France, this Jewish family was the opposite of safe. Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents and her teenage grand-aunt and grand-uncle uncle died in Auschwitz. Through chance, her grandmother did not suffer the same fate.

Why ‘The postcard’? In 2003, a postcard arrived for the family. On one side was a picture of the Opera Garnier. The other side bore only the names of their dead relatives. By the end of the book, we know who sent it and why. No spoilers about the who but I’ll tell you the why – so that the names of Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie and Jacques would never be forgotten.

Anne Berest has done an incredible job of researching her family’s traumatic history and recounting it in a way that’s as page-turning as a novel. Harrowing, yes, but highly recommended.

 

And now for something completely different …

 

 

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes

Perhaps the last book about Marian Keyes’ much-loved Walsh family. This one focuses on Anna, returning to live in Ireland with burnout from her high-pressured job in PR for a cosmetic company in New York. The timing turns out to be good as family friends whose new business is in trouble are in dire need of someone with her experience.

This being the Walsh family, they all get involved with much shenanigans along the way. Great escapism. This, by the way, is the first book I’ve read on the Kindle app on my phone and it worked a treat. Now I’ll never be caught without something to read …

 

 

Without Fail by Lee Child

The mixture as before. More escapism.

 

 

Death at the Double by Jo Allen

‘On her return to Cumbria after years in Australia, Connie Sheldon’s first stop is the nursing home where she hopes to mend her relationship with her estranged elderly father, Edwin, but she’s in for a shock. Not only has Edwin been dead for three years but another woman, passing herself off as his daughter, has stolen Connie’s inheritance — and disappeared.’

Intriguing or what? Jude Satterthwaite investigates.

 

 

No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym

I reread my Barbaras regularly. This one, about spinster Dulcie and her curiosity (some might call it stalking … ) about charismatic academic Aylwin Forbes is one of my favourites.

 

 

Crusoe’s Daughter by Jane Gardam

Motherless six-year-old Polly Flint is sent to live with two aunts in a yellow house on a marsh; soon she is fatherless too. This excellent, atmospheric book follows her into extreme old age.

The household is not geared towards a small child so Polly’s early reading is from her grandfather’s library of classics. Robinson Crusoe, rather comically, becomes her hero; she sees a similarity between his situation and her own. In modern terms, she frequently asks herself: What would Crusoe do?

 

And if you are looking for another read this Christmas-tide how about this?

 

 

Or this?

 

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful 2026.

Nine in March

I read nine books in March:

And the Land Lay Still by James Robertson. Read for book group. 672 pages. A political history of Scotland over the last fifty or so years – in the form of a novel. Let’s just say that didn’t work for me.

As a complete change from the above I re-read three of Jane Gardam’s YA novels in quick succession – A Long Way from Verona (published by Abacus), The Summer after the Funeral and (my favourite of the three) Bilgewater (both Peacock (Penguin) titles) – although the term YA had not been coined when the books were published in the 1970s. Even for this age group Jane Gardam’s writing takes no prisoners and you find yourself concentrating on reading every single word. Her heroines are either very beautiful or (in their own estimation) very plain but they are all eccentric, doughty and fiercely intelligent. Isn't this a gorgeous cover? I don't think the newer edition is so striking.

Who Was Sylvia? by Judy Gardiner. This is the last of the books I bought at the Christian Aid sale last year. I was intrigued by the title and then by the blurb on the back: Why did Sylvia Coryn suddenly leave home one weekend on the eve of World War II? The question obsesses her younger sister Kit … The story was originally published in Woman’s Realm magazine in 1982 – but if you think this means a cosy, predictable ending you’d be quite wrong. What Kit finds out about Sylvia is genuinely shocking. I see that there are copies for 0.1p on Amazon and the book is now available on Kindle.

ThankYou for the Music by Jennifer Young. A romance with a dark edge set in St Andrews and Majorca, published by Tirgearr Publishing. I interviewed Edinburgh-based Jennifer about the novel and about her writing here.

A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming. A page-turning spy story. Tom Kell is an agent on the trail of the newly appointed head of MI6, Amelia Levene,who has disappeared while on holiday.

Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay. Poet and novelist Jackie Kay’s encounters with her birth parents in Milton Keynes and Nigeria. Funny, sad, thoughtful – and of course most beautifully written.

From Writing with Love by Avril Joy. By the winner of the first Costa Short Story Prize (chosen by public vote). She’s also a novelist and teacher. The book (available in paperback and Kindle), full of inspirational quotes as well as excellent practical advice for writers, includes her Costa-winning story Millie and Bird and has so far gained thirteen five-star reviews on Amazon.