I only discovered Kathleen Rowntree recently but I'm already impressed with her as a writer. Each of the novels I've read so far by this author has been completely different.
'Laurie and Claire' is my favourite of her books so far. It's about two people called - unsurprisingly - Laurie and Claire. They grow up almost as if they were brother and sister, in the strange atmosphere of a thriving music community.
Claire realises at a young age that she is not at all musical. She is thus both a disappointment to her parents and a misfit amongst the people she knows. Laurie is always her champion, and gradually she falls in love with him.
The novel follows their lives, new discoveries they make about each other, and forays into adult life. Their unusual relationship is explored fully, seeing it remain strong despite traumas and problems.
I found this book thought-provoking, and very enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
(You can also read my rather longer review of 'Laurie and Claire', written after re-reading it sixteen years later, when I didn't rate it quite so highly, though I still enjoyed the book).
Every so often I take a break from reading books for adults - however light - and indulge in a children's book. I only discovered Helen Cresswell's stories, and particularly the Bagthorpe Saga, when my sons were at primary school in the UK.
These books are about slightly unlikely characters in a family. They all spend time competing with each other in various ways. They are observed - usually - by Jack, the most sensible and ordinary child in the family.
'Bagthorpes Besieged' is the ninth book in the series. Unusually, for these books, the plot of the whole story takes only about 24 hours. The catalyst is that Mrs Fosdyke, the Bagthorpes' cleaning lady, is 'discovered' as a media personality.
To give a sample of the strangeness of these books, this one includes the following: Daisy tries locking various people up in her idea of prisons. Meanwhile Uncle Parker dons a dress to try and fool his wife. She is having a phantom pregnancy with twins, and imagining angelic visitors.
There's more, of course...
General mayhem and humour makes this an enjoyable book for children of about 8-11. They are all a bit similar to each other (I don't read more than one of these at a time, usually) and predictable, once the bizarre people and circumstances are accepted. But definitely recommended for fluent readers or as a read-aloud for children of around seven and upwards.
I like Maeve Binchy's novels, particularly her later ones. But I'm a little less certain about her short stories. They have nice characterisation, but sometimes tend to leave the endings open. My preference is for short stories to have a clear resolution.
'Victoria line, Central line' is a collection of Binchy's short stories. They are cleverly written with realistic characters, often facing unusual situations. Unfortunately I found that some of them seemed to end rather too abruptly, leaving me wondering what would happen.
However that's what I have come to expect, now, with Maeve Binchy's short stories. So I was pleased to find that on the whole they were enjoyable and thought-provoking. I realised, after I had started, that I had read them previously. I even remembered parts of some of the plots. This didn't spoil them at all, and probably made them all the more interesting.
This collection would make good reading for a holiday, as none of the stories are particularly long.
I'm not sure why I keep picking up novels by Mary Wesley. Probably it's because the covers do look appealing, and I know she is a good writer. But I always find I have mixed feelings about her books. They tend to contain more bad language than I'm comfortable with, and have rather darkly bizarre characters at times.
'A sensible life' opens with a little girl called Flora, whose parents neglect her. She makes friends with holiday-makers, and finds herself falling in love with three different boys.
When Flora is old enough to join her parents in India, after several tedious years of boarding school, she sets out - but then changes her mind. One at a time, she meets her past acquaintances, and learns about life. Then - in rather an odd coincidence - she finds, again, the one who will bring her lasting happiness.
I thought this a pleasant novel, on the whole, with a reassuring conclusion.
I hadn't heard of Sarah Neilan, and I can't find any web sites about her to link to. But this looked like my kind of book, with pastel colours and interesting blurb on the back.
The novel opens with middle-aged Elizabeth arriving in Toronto, to meet people who may be her only living relatives. After a short meeting, the story flashes back fifty years, to little Lizzie, aged six, staying with her exciting cousins in their glamorous home.
In this house, Lizzie learns about class prejudice, and the privileges of being wealthy; she also enjoys normal, everyday family life.
From that point, the main story is in the past, with occasional brief episodes in the future, cleverly revealing a little more of Elizabeth's motives for being in Toronto. Eventually the past reaches the present, and the final chapters lead to a happy and satisfying conclusion.
I thought this a nice novel, although I'm not sure I'll read it again. Recommended as light holiday reading.
This is one of those books I picked up at a charity shop, based on the blurb on the back and an attractive cover. I had not previously come across the author, Jean Stubbs.
'Summer secrets' opens, as so many novels seem to, with a funeral. Marina is mourning her eight-year-old daughter Sarah. But Sarah had a twin, Joshua, who - up till now - has always been 'difficult', and rather in his sister's shadow.
Marina decides to go for a long holiday with Joshua, in an isolated cottage, to begin to recover together from Sarah's death. Joshua quickly makes friends with a family nearby, and Marina finds herself drawn in, healing slowly, and also making some friends.
An attempted weekend in London with her husband leads to a shocking revelation, and a new life with many changes.
Marina's growing relationship with her son makes a powerful thread to the book, which I thought ended hopefully.
I thought this a well-written and positive book, on the whole.
Of all Susan Howatch's early 'gothic' novels, I think this one is probably the most frightening. 'The devil on lammas night' is not at all the kind of book I would normally read. But I like Howatch's writing so much that I decided I would try it.
The story is about a young couple called Jane and Benedict Shaw, who rent a relative's cottage for the summer. Nearby, their relative Walter has had his house taken over by a group of health-food fanatics who want to make it their base.
Various other members of the families enter the scene, and gradually fall under the spell of the health-food group leader, Tristan Poole. An evil plot is revealed, as the book rushes to its conclusion.
Very well written and extremely tense. It's a gothic melodrama, hopefully not realistic; yet somehow it is very believably chilling.
Recommended if you like being scared....
Before writing her saga novels, and the Starbridge series, Susan Howatch wrote some short 'gothic' novels. They are full of suspense and excitement. They're rather different from her later work. But even in her early days as a writer she was clear, and concise, with her later distinctive style already beginning to show.
'The waiting sands' begins when a young woman called Rachel receives an invitation to stay with her friend Decima at a castle in Scotland. It turns out that six people are gathered there, each of whom seems very suspicious of the others. Decima believes that she will be killed before her 21st birthday.
When two murders happen, suspicion falls on everyone present. Rachel is persuaded to conceal part of what she knows until some years later, when she returns to the castle.
The story draws to an exciting and suspenseful conclusion that I wasn't expecting.
I thought this book very well written, even though suspense novels are not normally a genre I enjoy.
