I read nine books in December.
The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
Read for book group.
‘Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from
a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the
inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a
mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week. What happened to these
three men out on the tower?’
Twenty years later the women in their lives
are still coming to terms with the mystery – the mystery that has caused them
to fall out with eachother. Now, a writer wants to talk to them and old secrets
come to the surface.
Based on a true story and beautifully
written, the book was described by Hilary Mantel, no less, as ‘the novel I’ve
most enjoyed this year.’
Broken
Ground by Val McDermid
I’ve been volunteering for my local Shelter
shop for three years now, sorting out their book donations and shelves. Almost
nothing gives me greater pleasure than arranging books. It’s costing me a
fortune though (luckily a very good cause benefits) – I nearly always come home
with some irresistible find ssuch as these two hardback Val McDermids.
They are the fifth and, the latest, the
sixth in her Karen Pirie series of cold-case solving, set in Fife and Edinburgh.
I hope there will be more.
Still Life by Val McDermid
(Editions other than hardbacks are available of course.)
Diary
of an MP’s Wife by Sasha Swire
Sasha Swire was (is?) her husband Hugo’s
political researcher, both of them good personal friends of David and Samantha Cameron.
Here she spills the beans on eg the infighting in the Tory hierarchy, the two
referendum, and the appointment of the two subsequent prime ministers Theresa
May and Boris Johnson.
No one comes out of it well. And since
katewritesandreads is not a political column I will stop there.
Looking
Back with Love by Dodie Smith
Today, Dodie Smith (Dorothy, 1896-1990) is
most associated with The Hundred and One
Dalmatians – although it’s probably more likely that Walt Disney’s name
would come before hers. (I like the films but the book is better than any of
them.) Her other book which has more than stood the test of time and one I've read and reread is I Capture the Castle.
But in the 20s and 30s she was a
much-performed playwright, the best known ‘woman playwright’ of her day. The others are forgotten now; only Dear Octopus had
any real longevity.
She is a fascinating character. She was brought
up in Manchester by her widowed mother, grandparents, three bachelor uncles and
two aunts, who all lived in the same house and doted on her. It was a fun,
noisy household with musical evenings and many outings to theatres; her uncle
Harold was a leading light in one of the local companies.
All this adoring attention gave Dodie a
very healthy ego. She ended up writing five volumes of autobiography (only
three have been published). This is the first; it takes her up only to the age
of fourteen when her life changed. Her mother married again and moved with
Dodie and her new husband to London.
I love these Slightly Foxed books; they’re
comparatively expensive but so delightful to hold and to look at – and to read
of course.
Dear
Dodie by Valerie Groves
I already had this biography of Dodie Smith
and had read it but having acquired Look
Back with Love I wanted to remind myself of what happened after she was
fourteen.
She didn’t succeed in her desire to become
an actress – she was slightly odd looking, very short with a large head and
bust, and dressed in a startlingly individual style, so directors were more inclined
to smile and send her on her way than to cast her – so she began to write plays
and to keep the wolf from the door was a successful saleswoman at the famous
London shop Heal’s for a time (and had a long affair with its married owner).
After marrying the wonderful (and
long-suffering) Alec she lived in America during the 40s, adapting books for
film and making friends with, amongst others, Christopher Isherwood.
Back in England she was given her first
Dalmatian although it took her a long time to write about him. She was
extremely extravagant and loved spending money even when she didn’t have it –
but it seemed that a large cheque from some project always arrived in time to
bail her out.
Hard to do justice to her in a few words –
do read about her for yourself.
Snow Angel Cove by RaeAnne Thynne
A prettily-covered romance set in a picturesque American
small town ticks a box for me and there are some great series of them. Here, I’m
afraid I didn’t really take to Eliza, her inevitable heartstrings-tugging
issues and the way everyone thought she was so wonderful. In fact, everyone
thought everyone else was wonderful so it was all too sugary with no real
conflict. Her little daughter, Maddie, was the only character who came over as
a real and delightful individual rather than one from central casting.
The
Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
I went to the launch of this at my local (brilliant)
branch of Toppings back in September. About three hundred of us (masked) crammed
into a church near the shop to hear RO being interviewed by Scottish comedian
and presenter Fred MacAulay. They’d evidently met before so there was some good
banter between them.
I saved the book up for the Christmas hols
and it did not disappoint; in fact I preferred it to the first. Great characters,
great twists and a cracking ending.
On which note … that’s the end of 2021.
Happy 2022 (we can but hope) and thank you for reading my blog.
