This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell

Published: 17th May 2016

Publisher: Tinder Press

Pages: 483

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

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Blurb

Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway.

He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with twenty years ago, and this discovery will send him off-course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back?

Review

This Must Be The Place is Maggie O’Farrell seventh book but is actually my first. I know, where have I been! What drew me to this book initially was that at its core it’s a book about a marriage, simple right, but oh no it’s so much more than that.

Daniel Sullivan is a linguistics professor born in New York, who has been living in Ireland with his current wife Claudette, a reclusive ex-film star and their two children Marithe and Calvin. He also has two other children he hasn’t seen in ten years Niall and Phoebe who live in California with their mother.

At the beginning of the book Daniel is about to return to Brooklyn for his father’s 90^th birthday when he catches the end of a radio show playing an interview from a woman he knew twenty years ago. Filled with confusion and remorse Daniel embarks on a journey to find out what happened to the woman he once knew so well and in doing so he sets off a chain of events which will cause him to self-destruct and shatter his marriage with Claudette. Can Daniel pull himself back from the brink and fix everything that is broken.

The first thing that struck me about this novel is it has a very simple plotline but with Maggie O’Farrell’s marvellous writing skill it has becomes a complex and enthralling look at human character and how split decisions and misunderstandings can take us on a completely different course. Most of the novel is told from Daniels perspective in the first person as he takes us back in time to when he first met Claudette, when he knew his mystery woman through to the present where he rekindles his relationship with the children from his former marriage. Throughout the novel Daniels chapters are mixed with those from other characters which all vary in writing style and give more information about Daniels character and those around him. My favourite of these chapters was actually the extract from the auction house catalogue showing Claudette’s possessions, I thought this was a genius way of telling the story of Claudette’s film years.

This Must be The Place is a novel which skips around in both time frame and location. We are taken from 1986 up to 2016 but not in that order. As for location we are taken all over the world: London, New York, California, India, China, Bolivia, Paris and of course Ireland, where Danial and Claudette live in remotest Donegal. This does take some following and initially it did feel like a number a different short stories but eventually you can work out how they all fit together and why they’ve been included. If you’re not a fan of novels that do this then this book may not be for you, but I simply adored it for its genius.

Daniel was a tricky character for me to like or dislike. Some things he did I thought he was downright selfish and should think more of others, especially his children. But other times he seemed really caring as he just wanted to make everything alright.

Claudette was definitely my favourite character, I just adored her over the top quirkiness. My favourite scene with her had to at the beginning where she is walking round the perimeter of her garden wearing an oversized raincoat and pointing a gun at any passers-by. If this doesn’t make you think what on earth is going on with her and desperate to find out more I’m not sure what will. I loved her strong character and if she decided she wasn’t doing something then she could not be persuaded otherwise.

This Must Be The Place was a fantastic read and all I can really say is go and read this book for yourself and enjoy the superb writing of Maggie O’Farrell.

Thank you so much for the publishers for sending me a copy to review, you have found a new fan of Maggie O’Farrell . I give This Must Be The Place 5 out of 5 stars and think it’s definitely one of the must reads of 2016.

Book Review - A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman

 

A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman

Published: 18th June 2015

Publisher: Tinder Press

Pages: 310

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

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Blurb

Cornwall, 1947. Marvellous Ways is a ninety-year-old woman who's lived alone in a remote creek for nearly all her life. Recently she's taken to spending her days sitting on the steps of her caravan with a pair of binoculars. She's waiting for something - she's not sure what, but she'll know it when she sees it. Freddy Drake is a young soldier left reeling by the war. He's agreed to fulfil a dying friend's last wish and hand-deliver a letter to the boy's father in Cornwall. But Freddy's journey doesn't go to plan, and sees him literally wash up in Marvellous' creek, broken in body and spirit. When Marvellous comes to his aid, an unlikely friendship grows between the two. Can Freddy give Marvellous what she needs to say goodbye to the world, and can she give him what he needs to go on? 

 

Review

“A Year of Marvellous Ways” has been a book which seems to have received a lot of praise in the blogging world so I was eager to see for myself what this book was all about.  This book has been portrayed as “Magical Realism” and is not something I would normally read but I found it an utterly beautiful and emotional read.

The book is told from two perspectives, 89 year old Marvellous Ways an old lady whom the book is named after who spends her days alone in a remote Cornish creek until she meets Drake a young man set on a journey to complete a dying man’s wish. When the two meet their lives slowly become more and more entwined.

Firstly, if you read this book please don’t rush through it, the writing has a truly magical quality which I feel is best savoured over a longer period. The chapters are fairly short, some just a couple of pages so it is perfect to spread out which I did over a fortnight, which is a long time for me to spend on one book. I found the writing style descriptive, very poetic and utterly beautiful.

The two main characters got to me straight away, the sense of grief and loss which these two have experienced in their lives jumps of the page and pulls at your heart strings. They are both searching for that special something to help anchor them and give them hope.

This a very special book which I feel can help us all see the good in the little things and I know is a book that will sit treasured on my shelf for many years. I am definitely going to read Sarah’s other novel “When God was a Rabbit” very soon in the hope that it has the same magical quality as “A year of Marvellous Ways”

Thank you to bookbridgr for sending me a copy to review, I would rate this book 4/5.

 

Book Review - A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

 

A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

Published: 24th March 2015

Publisher: Tinder Press

Page: 352

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

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Blurb

To find yourself, sometimes you must lose everything.

A privileged elder son, and stammeringly shy, Harry Cane has followed convention at every step. Even the beginnings of an illicit, dangerous affair do little to shake the foundations of his muted existence - until the shock of discovery and the threat of arrest cost him everything.

Forced to abandon his wife and child, Harry signs up for emigration to the newly colonised Canadian prairies. Remote and unforgiving, his allotted homestead in a place called Winter is a world away from the golden suburbs of turn-of-the-century Edwardian England. And yet it is here, isolated in a seemingly harsh landscape, under the threat of war, madness and an evil man of undeniable magnetism that the fight for survival will reveal in Harry an inner strength and capacity for love beyond anything he has ever known before.

In this exquisite journey of self-discovery, loosely based on a real life family mystery, Patrick Gale has created an epic, intimate human drama, both brutal and breathtaking. It is a novel of secrets, sexuality and, ultimately, of great love.

 

Review

A Place Called Winter follows Harry Kane on his journey from high society in Edwardian England to the remote prairie outback of uninhabited Canada in a small settlement called Winter. When we first meet Harry he is in a psychiatric unit in Bethel, as the story develops we learn the events which unfolded for him to end up there.

Harry is the eldest son of a wealthy businessman who spends his days lazing about in gentlemen’s clubs. After his father’s death he is left with a substantial fortune and eventually finds himself a respectable wife Winnifred Wells. All would have been well for Harry except an ill-fated investment sees him living back in his mother in laws house. Feeling trapped Harry gives into a temptation burning inside him. After his illicit affair is unearthed by his brother in law he has no option but to move away and save the family from shame. By chance Harry stumbles on an advertisement for labourers in Canada willing to build new homesteads in the remote prairies. Taking his chances Harry sets off for Canada and the place called Winter.

To be completely honest it wasn’t until I was about half way through this book that I fell for its charms. During the first half of the book very little happens and Harry himself was just not a character I could feel anything for. He came across as socially awkward and seemed to believe he was incapable of doing anything useful with his time other than frequenting clubs and horse-riding. The boat journey sees Harry changing and becoming determined to do something with his life, if only to compensate for the shame he bought his wife. I liked this stronger, more determined Harry and was glad when he was able to finally find some inner peace.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was the writing, it just flowed beautifully and gave such a vivid description of life in Canada, Patrick Gale has such a talent for creating a sense of place that I was totally mesmerised by the end. I know he has written some previous novels, so hopefully I will get a chance to read these someday.

This is a story of Harry’s journey, not just from England to Canada but from being a seemingly lost and awkward individual to someone who is confident and has finally found his place within society. It’s a book which made me laugh and cry and one which I’ll still be thinking about for a long time.

I’m giving this book 4/5, mainly because it took me a while to get into it and also I don’t think I would read it again myself. I do think it is definitely a book worth picking up and reading as it has a way of capturing your heart.

I would like to thank Georgina at Headline for sending me a copy to review.

Book Review - Six Stories and An Essay by Andrea Levy

 

Six Stories and An Essay by Andrea Levy

Published: 23rd October 2014

Publisher: Tinder Press

Pages: 127

Available on Kindle and in Hardback

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Blurb

Andrea Levy, author of the Man Booker shortlisted novel THE LONG SONG and the prize-winning, million-copy bestseller SMALL ISLAND, draws together a remarkable collection of short stories from across her writing career, which began twenty years ago with the publication of her first novel, the semi-autobiographical EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE BURNIN'.

"None of my books is just about race," Levy has said. "They're about people and history." Her novels have triumphantly given voice to the people and stories that might have slipped through the cracks in history. From Jamaican slave society in the nineteenth century, through post-war immigration into Britain, to the children of migrants growing up in '60s London, her books are acclaimed for skilful storytelling and vivid characters. And her unique voice, unflinching but filled with humour, compassion and wisdom, has made her one of the most significant and exciting contemporary authors.

This collection opens with an essay about how writing has helped Andrea Levy to explore and understand her heritage. She explains the context of each piece within the chronology of her career and finishes with a new story, written to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. As with her novels, these stories are at once moving and honest, deft and humane, filled with insight, anger at injustice and her trademark lightness of touch.

 

Review

This is not normally the type of book that I would read; I much prefer longer books where you really get to know the characters. However I have been interested in reading something by Andrea Levy for some time, so this seemed the ideal book to try.

I really enjoyed Andrea Levy’s writing style its light and flows really well, the stories were written in such a way that you could imagine her telling you the story herself. I was a little frustrated that as soon as the stories began they were over and we didn’t get chance to find out much about the characters and their situations.  Each story did have a point to make and I liked that, maybe if they had been longer the reasons behind them would have been lost. The stories were moving and humorous, my favourite story was “That Polite Way That English People Have” The essay at the beginning gave an interesting insight into Andrea’s life in 1960s London and her reasons for beginning to write.

I would recommend this book if you are a fan of Andrea Levy’s work or who want to have a taster before you read one of her longer novels.  For me it was lacking in the character development which comes with longer stories but I did find the writing style enjoyable so will probably read one of her longer works in the future.

Thank you to Georgina at Headline for sending me a copy to review. I rate this book 3/5