Literary Brooding

All these Perfect Strangers - Aoife Clifford Advanced reading copy - March 1st 2016 by Simon & Schuster AU I was provided with an advanced copy by All these Perfect Strangers by NetGalley for an honest review. A young woman with a complicated past attempts to secure a new future but as she undertakes treatment truth and lies weave together in a clever thriller. Penelope has returned home after attending her first year at University, to a town that she hates and where a great number of people hate her. In an attempt to help her resolve and discuss her feelings about events that have occurred, her psychiatrist encourages Pen to commit to paper the story of what has occurred. We soon learn that Pen is linked to a series of murders that have been committed at University and we learn of an earlier incident as well. This is fast paced and you are quickly devouring the words on the page. I knocked this book over in a day and I really did not want to put the novel down. You are...

My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante Kindle Edition, 336 pages Published July 24th 2013 by Text Publishing A story of friendship between two young women that is forged through poverty, violence, family expectations  and discovering love. This is a powerful novel that resonates the difficulties of friendship as you mature. The doubts of having a close friend who you come to rely on and the anxieties of finding your own place in the world. Ferrante writes with great beauty, capturing the world her characters inhabit with great realism and you can vividly picture the streets, the shops that they walk through. The characters that she has created are flawed, beautiful and ugly. It is their ugliness I found the most compelling as it you appreciate their motivations. There are also insights which come as shock when the age of the parents is revealed and you realise that this is a cycle of behaviour. There is a great deal to like about the novel, it is richly detailed and the c...

Well someone has not been updating the blog due to a number of reasons but the biggest excuse is life. Sometimes it just gets in the way. There were some real highlights Lynda LaPlante's Tennison, Geraldine Brook's The Secret Chord and Robert Galbraith's Career of Evil. So here are the books I have worked my way through. Restless - William Boyd Paperback, 336 pages, Published 2007 by Bloomsbury I have not read any of William Boyd’s works before and thought it was about time I took the plunge. The selection of Fearless was based on purely the blurb that a mother announces to her daughter that she was a spy during World War II. Eva Delectorskaya/Sally Gilmartin is an intriguing character as a young woman thrust into a world of espionage. You are drawn into her story as she slowly hands to her daughter Ruth the chapters of her life. Ruth is struggling with her life, trying to balance being a single mother, teaching foreign students and trying to complete her degree. ...

Numero Zero - Umberto Eco Expected publication: November 3rd 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Numero Zero starts with a man, who we later know as Colonna worried almost to the point of paranoia as to the reason why there is no water coming from his tap. Colonna ponders about who turned off the tap and why did they do it. Whereas the reader is wondering why is this person so bothered about such an insignificant event? Then Eco begins to unravel the story as you go back to learn about a newspaper in name only, that ‘produces’ stories that will never go into publication, a romance and a conspiracy theory about Mussolini that has everyone involved. This is the part where I start the review and this is the part that I am struggling with for the simple reason I do not know what to make of what I read. There were parts I enjoyed and parts I thought would never end. There were the wonderful descriptions of character ‘She was slim and spoke with cautious gaiety’ and place ‘this vast...

Criminal - Karin Slaughter Paperback, 448 pages,  Published July 1st 2012 by Century Have not read any of Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series before so coming in at book six does require a little bit of catch up but the book easily read be as a stand alone. Will Trent's past has caught up with him and he really does not know how to react to the events that are unfolding around him. Slaughter knows the dark side of human nature and creates characters that lift off the page. She creates macabre crimes and knows how to keep you guessing. You jump back and forwards through time as you unravel the crime and understand the characters more. At the start this seem to make the novel a bit disjointed and difficult as a reader to get into. Once you get over those early chapters it is a really engaging read. For more information on Karin Slaughter check out her website

Monkey Grip – Helen Garner Hardcover, 363 pages Published November 20th 2013 by Penguin Books  (first published January 1st 1977) I have read two of Garner’s works previously being Joe Cinque's Consolation, A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law and This House of Grief. Both books are examinations of true crime and compelling read but Monkey Grip is the first fictional novel of Garner’s that I have read. Set in 1970s Melbourne, Victoria, Helen Garner captures a time where there is no internet, no mobile phones, no automatic teller machines and leaving notes as an explanation was the norm.  Unemployment is real, struggling to live is real, access to cars is limited but people find a way to enjoy life. They go dancing, they go to the local baths, they ride bikes, visit the markets and visiting families and friends. While it could come across as idyllic there is two main conflicts the drugs and relationships especially with Javo.  It is a world that is now alien to ...

Close Your Eyes Michael Robotham Paperback , 392 pages Published August 2015 by Sphere I have never read a Michael Robotham novel and after ‘Close your Eyes’ I will be picking up the seven other books in the series. This is a cracking read, can be read as a standalone, is full of twists and turns with a great lead character. Joe O’Loughlin is a clinical psychologist who is struggling to cope with his physical limitations and a desire to reunite with his family. He is trying to leave behind a career that has almost destroyed him and along comes a phone call that throws him back into the deep end. A mother and daughter are found murdered in a remote farmhouse and what seems to be isolated event turns into a complex investigation. Robotham’s writing is sharp and concise, he keeps the story moving along and engaging. I was drawn into the novel and it is a cliché but it’s true, this is a real page turner. The characters Robotham has created are well fo...