Philip Yancey is one of my favourite modern Christian writers. As usual, when I really like an author, I try and collect all their works. And while not everything Yancey wrote is in print, I have found some second-hand as well as new, and have enjoyed them all.
'I was just wondering' was first published about ten years ago, and is a series of short articles rather than a book on one theme. As such, it was good to read just a couple of chapters at a time. It attempts to slightly unusual questions about the Christian life, such as: Where did racial hatred come from? What is the value of reading fiction? Why aren't there more miracles? Why are dogs easier to train than cats?
Actually he doesn't address these exact questions one at a time. He has a whole list of related questions on six themes at the start of each section of the book, and then proceeds to write about them - or roughly about them - peppered with anecdotes and insights, that sometimes look at the questions, sometimes look around them, and sometimes look through them to something much more significant.
Yancey's writing is usually thought-provoking, and I found that to be the case with this, although not as much so as in his later books. He has an excellent, readable style with a surprising amount of irony for an American writer, which is much appreciated by this British reader.
Having said that, I don't know that I recall much of the book, having finished it. Nothing struck me so deeply that I'm still pondering it. I liked it while I was reading it, and sometimes took something from it into my day. It was an interesting diversion - but nothing life-changing.
Recommended in a low-key sort of way, if you want something light with plenty of variety.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, May 30th 2008.
I'm a great fan of Georgette Heyer's historical romances, and other novels. She's a very clever writer, with likeable, believable characters and intricate plots. I have most of her books, and re-read them all regularly.
So, as I hadn't read 'The Toll-Gate' since 1995, it was well overdue for a re-read. I found I had completely forgotten it, other than the general scene of an exciting climax. I also found that I didn't actually like it as much as most of Heyer's other books - or as much as I did when I was younger, and rated it highly.
It's the story of Captain Jack Staples, a tall young man who has sold out of the army after Napoleon's capture. He's not really sure what he wants from life; he feels perhaps he should settle down, but he likes life to be interesting, full of challenges. We first meet him in a rather dull setting, with several other family members who are described in detail, and then do not re-occur. I'm not entirely sure why they were mentioned at all.
Jack leaves the family gathering early, and sets out to visit a friend. On the way he's caught in a heavy rainstorm, and has to stop at a toll-gate, where he meets a small and rather frightened lad called Ben. Since Jack is friendly, he gets chatting with Ben and learns that his father has not been seen for twenty-four hours. So Jack decides he might as well stay the night, and get out of the rain.
The following day Jack meets a young woman who he finds very attractive, living nearby. Since Ben's father has not returned, he says he will stick around for a while and take on the job of gate-keeper. At least while it interests him. He instigates some new regimes in the toll-house - such as regular washing for Ben, and a clean kitchen - and gradually becomes embroiled with some highly dubious people, including a highwayman.
There's lots of action, and even some violence in the climax to the book. This really overtakes the low-key romance element which also runs through it.
It's very well-written, of course, although there's a lot more 'cant' language - that of fighters and criminals - than I'm really comfortable with. In her later books, Heyer cuts down on this almost incomprehensible style of slang. But she evidently had it down to a fine art, and used it fairly extensively in this book.
There's some humour, a couple of moving moments, and some well-drawn characters. But, given that all Heyer's books are good, this must now rank as one of my least favourites. Still recommended, though, to anyone who likes her writing, and to anyone who enjoys historical novels with a fair amount of action.
Still in print in the UK, as are most of Heyer's novels, even though 'The Toll-Gate' was first published in 1954.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 29th May 2008.
I've never come across Giselle Green before. I probably wouldn't have done so, but I was sent her first novel by The Bookbag for reviewing. I started it on Monday evening, thinking it would last me all week... and finished it a couple of hours ago. I was gripped within the first few chapters, and today could hardly put it down.
'Pandora's Box' is the story of Rachel and her daughter Shelley. Shelley is nearly fifteen, and is terminally ill. This has made her sometimes wise beyond her years, but she combines this maturity with being a normal moody teenager who likes dressing in black, and feels her mother is over-protective. She spends a lot of time at her computer, and she would love to have a boyfriend.
Rachel is tired, and stressed. She loves her daughter, but caring for her is exhausting, since Shelley is wheel-chair bound. Rachel divorced her husband Bill three years before the story starts, but he still intrudes in her life at times, usually disagreeing with her parenting style. And there's Danny, Shelley's younger brother, who seems to get ignored sometimes because of Shelley's many needs. Moreover, Rachel has given up a lot in her life, and carries around a large burden of guilty feelings.
The story is told in alternating viewpoints - Rachel's and Shelley's. Shelley saw her friend Miriam die a painful death with the same medical condition as she has. So, clear-headed, she decides she will take her own life on her fifteenth birthday. We know this right at the start of the novel, but nobody else does.
We also learn there are some mysteries in Rachel's past, which may be revealed in old diaries and photos that are stored in a box. It's perhaps slightly forced that Rachel's mother (who sent her the old box of bits and pieces) is called Pandora... and Rachel feels that opening up Pandora's box will bring yet more trouble to her life.
Rachel and Shelley both have to come to terms with themselves, to work through the past, and to see what, if anything, their futures might hold. There are some difficult ethical questions raised in the book - is euthanasia ever right? What about suicide in the case of someone who knows they will soon die an unpleasant death?
I could relate quite strongly to Rachel. Just letting my sons go when they leave home is hard enough; the thought of seeing a child die, or take their own life doesn't bear thinking about.
It could have been trite; it could have been over-emotive and cringeworthy. But it's neither. Giselle Green has managed the middle path very effectively. There is a lot of tension and a dramatic climax, where I had no idea what would actually happen until I read the words.
I am very glad I have read this book. It's powerful, emotive, and moving and I'm sure will stay in my mind for some time. Highly recommended.
My slightly longer review of 'Pandora's Box' can be found here at the Bookbag site.
The writer John Piper is a theologian and pastor in the USA. I gather he's a Reformed Baptist with Calvinist leanings. That's not really my style at all, but one of my sons read one of his books and thought it good, so I decided to try this series of 120 devotional readings.
'A Godward life' isn't organised in any way that I could work out. It's a mixture of several kinds of reading: some are thoughts based on Scripture verses, some are general thoughts about the Christian life, based perhaps on an incident or idea. And there are a few 'pro-life' letters which (I assume) he sent to papers or politians.
I thought it would make a good book for daily readings, to inspire me and make me think further. However, it didn't really work like that. I found several of the readings very uninspiring, and often read two or even three in a day, just to find one that had something of interest.
The writing style is really rather dry, and although there are a few stories, I couldn't really relate to them much. I was struck by perhaps three or four of the readings, which made me think further - that's a very low percentage amongst a hundred and twenty.
On the plus side, I didn't find any theology that I disagreed with. In the readings where Piper talked about predestination or God's foreknowledge, or 'the elect' he didn't argue the Calvinistic views that I've heard from others. Perhaps this was deliberate, so the book would be read by a wide variety of people from different denominations.
It's not a bad book... I kept reading, and was pleased when I found the occasional gem amongst the rest. But I wouldn't particularly recommend it.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 27th May 2008.
I first came across Marcia Willett about ten years ago, and have gradually collected and read all her books. I last read some of the earlier ones about eight years ago and had almost forgotten what they were about, so recently I decided to re-read them, spread over several months, in the order they were written. This is because many of them share characters - they're not sequels, as such, but draw on minor characters in previous books, and refer back to events from earlier novels.
I re-read 'Those who Serve' a couple of months ago, and this weekend I re-read the second book in the series, 'Thea's Parrot', which I first read in August 2000.
It's primarily the story of Thea, a young and fairly bohemian woman in her twenties, who falls in love with George, a rather older man. Unfortunately George is rather tangled up with Felicity (a story told in the earlier novel) whose husband died recently. Felicity hopes that George will marry her, but he has no wish to do so... so he conducts his romance with Thea rather quietly, and marries her within six months of meeting.
Felicity is furious, and determines to destroy their marriage. Meanwhile, Thea inherits a friendly and very talkative parrot called Percy, and - while worried about the stage of her marriage - decides to write a children's book that features him.
The first part of the book deals with this plot, ending with a shocking (though not unexpected) climax, and a positive future for Thea.
Then the book changes to a plot primarily centred around Polly, a good friend of Thea's, who is not-very-happily married to an insect researcher. Polly goes to stay with friends, ends up baby-sitting for other friends when they have to go to hospital, and is snow-bound.
There's high drama for a few chapters, almost melodrama, as phone lines are down and Polly doesn't know what is going on around her... then that's all resolved, as are various other situations that arose through the book. I found I did remember the melodramatic part of the plot although as it has nothing to do with Thea or her parrot, I had quite forgotten it was part of this book!
I enjoyed re-reading this; there were one or two moving moments, and a lot of excitement. Having read 'Those who Serve' so recently I remembered many of the characters who appeared in it - this is set about three years after it ends - but this book might be a bit confusing to anyone who had not read the previous one.
I don't find the characters as real or sympathetic as those of some other writers, but I found I could fairly easily remember who was who, and I did rather like both Thea and Polly.
Not always in print, but fairly widely available second-hand. Recommended, particularly if you've read 'Those who Serve'.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 26th May 2008. All rights reserved.
After reading an emotionally moving novel, I like to have a contrast in something light, and preferably humorous. So what could be better than Terry Pratchett?
Rather than re-reading one of the Discworld books, however, I decided to read 'Truckers', first in the Bromeliad trilogy. It's intended for children, but is one of those wonderful crossover books, all the more enjoyable by adults who can pick up on much of the humour that may be missed by children.
I first read this about fifteen years ago, I suppose, when I first came across Pratchett. Then I read it to my sons when they were about six and eight - and it made an excellent read-aloud. But since then it's sat on the shelves; re-read by my sons several times, but not by me. Until now.
The story is about a group of 'nomes' - small people who inhabit the same world as humans, but a great deal faster. They remind me slightly of Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" 
, but are a great deal more interesting (in my view).
The first nomes we meet are outdoor ones, surviving - just about - in the open world, by luck, skill and determination. Masklin is the only hunter left, and he knows they cannot survive long in the wild. So he persuades them to get in a truck, and ends up at a large department store, established in 1905 by Arnold Bros. There they discover thousands of nomes, living in different departments in rivalry with each other, and with an entire religious system brilliantly written in the 'book of nome', passing down a little ancient wisdom, a bit of current happenings, and several misunderstood signs around the store.
The store nomes have no idea there is a world outside the store; they have their own world under the floorboards of the shop, and everything they could possibly need. Until they learn that the store is to be demolished in three weeks...
It's very cleverly written, with subtle humour that parodies human foibles in a similar manner to some of the Discworld books. Did you ever wonder why you press the 'up' button on a lift, only to go down a floor first? After reading this book, you'll never wonder again...
I thoroughly enjoyed it; it's a quick light read, probably best as a read-aloud. Still in print in the UK, and also available as part of the full trilogy. Buying the entire trilogy at once is a good idea, since 'Truckers' is left rather open at the end; the first time I read it, I immediately wanted to find the sequel ('Diggers').
Recommended.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 25th May 2008.
I'd never heard of Wendy K Harris until last year, when I was sent one of her books - 'Blue Slipper Bay'- by The Bookbag, for reviewing. I very much enjoyed it, and although it was complete in itself, I realised that it was a sequel, or follow-up, to another book. I was intrigued to know more of the previous story, as well as impressed by the writing, so I put the first novel - 'The Sorrow of Sisters'- on my wishlist. I was delighted to receive it for my birthday last month.
I started reading it a couple of days ago, thinking it would last me several days as it's nearly 400 pages. I was wrong. After the first couple of chapters, I could barely put it down. I read it while waiting for my computer to boot, I read it while waiting for jam to set, I read it in between loads of laundry... and finished it this evening.
The main character is Jane, an almost-fifty-year-old novelist who has been experiencing some writers' block. Her husband is an accountant, who's somewhat stressed about his job and their finances, And there's Henry, Jane's father, who's old and frail, and a bit bad-tempered.
Out of the blue, Jane receives a letter saying she has inherited a cottage in the Isle of Wight, which belonged to her Aunt Lillian. Jane has no idea that she had an aunt, so she asks her father. He admits that Lillian was his late wife Victoria's sister, but that they did not have any contact. He refuses to say more. Jane is surprisingly disturbed, and decides to go and visit the cottage for herself.
Meanwhile, an elderly woman called Emmeline is mourning Lillian, and going over the past in her imagination with her, as well as hoping that Jane will arrive...
The book is a very clever mixture of past and present, allowing the reader to stay just one step ahead of Jane as she learns some surprising, sometimes shocking things about her past. She thinks she has discovered what it was that made her parents cast Lillian aside - little realising quite what further revelations are still to come.
The characters are well-drawn, the settings very believable, and the plot so well written that it drew me in almost at once. I kept guessing at the next step, sometimes successfully, sometimes not quite getting there. I didn't relate quite as strongly to the characters as I do to those of authors like Rosamunde Pilcher, but then again this was really plot-driven, with themes of love, loyalty, bigotry and jealousy permeating the novel.
There are one or two traumatic scenes, although nothing explicit; there are some moving passages too, and a positive bitter-sweet ending. All in all, I thought 'the Sorrow of Sisters' was an excellent book, and I'm very pleased to read that there will be a third in the series before too long.
Highly recommended.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 24th May 2008. All rights reserved.
I love re-reading my childhood favourites, from time to time. The 'Lone Pine' series by Malcolm Saville is a series of twenty books, which I gradually acquired during the 1970s, my teenage years, although I had read a few of them before that (and borrowed others from the library).
I re-read them all in the mid 1980s, when I was about 25, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so, but have not read them since - until recently. About a month ago I picked up the first of them, 'Mystery at Witchend' and enjoyed it was much as ever. So I determined to read the entire series again, although not directly one after another.
Yesterday I felt in need of another quick, light read so I re-read the second 'Lone Pine' book, 'Seven White Gates'. This features, again, David Morton - who is sixteen - and his loyal, endearing, and frequently aggravating twin siblings, Dickie and Mary, who are nine. It begins, however, with Peter (Petronella) Stirling, who is fifteen, and discovers just before the end of term that she cannot return to her beloved Hatchholt, as her father has to go away. Instead she is to stay with her unknown aunt and uncle, near Barton Beach.
On her way there, Peter encounters some friendly gipsies, and makes friends for life - Reuben, Miranda and Fenella appear in others of the series, as well; I had forgotten that they were introduced in 'Seven White Gates'.
Peter's Aunt Carol turns out to be a delightful woman, but Uncle Micah is a strange, slightly frightening person who wanders the hills alone, and is grieving for his son Charles, who left home years previously after an argument. It seems a little odd that Peter would never have met her uncle - her father's only brother - despite their living in the same county - but then again, this book is written during the war years, when people didn't travel much.
Tom Ingles, the lad who lives near the Mortons, is also involved in this story, and Jenny Harman, the impetuous redhead, is introduced when Peter meets her at the Barton beach post office.
There are no 'baddies' in this book, but it's an exciting adventure nonetheless when the twins go on a night-time wander, and get trapped. The conclusion is perhaps a little unlikely, but makes a very nice ending to the story. I don't mind coincidences in fiction so long as there aren't too many in one book.
This was really intended for teenagers, but today's teens are mostly far too sophisticated for this kind of simple adventure story. Younger children would probably enjoy it - anyone from about the age of seven or eight upwards, or even younger if parents read aloud to them. And, of course, it's nice nostalgia for adults too! I'm very pleased that the whole series is being brought out in facsimile editions of the originals but my version is the paperback Armada edition, which cost me all of 20p back in 1974.
Not the best of the series, but a useful introduction to several people and some places which play important parts in future Lone Pine books.
Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 22nd May 2008. All rights reserved.
I like Bill Bryson's writing, on the whole. My single reservation is his excessive (in my view) use of bad language, most of which seems entirely unnecessary. But I enjoy his sense of humour and style enough that I usually read his books anyway.
I hadn't realised that he had written an autobiography until my older son presented it to me for my birthday, about a month ago. 'The life and times of the thunderbolt kid' is sub-titled 'Travels through my childhood' and promised to be an interesting read.
Bill Bryson's childhood was actually rather uneventful - he makes reference to this in his prologue, explaining that while his parents had a few strange quirks, they didn't abuse or neglect him, and didn't treat him in the appalling manner of some recent well-publicised autobiographies.
But, as one of the newspapers said, Bryson could write about lint in a tumble drier and make it funny. His childhood, in the USA in the 1950s, has a great deal more scope than drier lint... and although it's not laugh-aloud funny, I smiled several times, and found it a very readable book.
Interspersed with childhood anecdotes that seemed very real (although he admits to changing a few details, and exaggerating here and there) is some commentary on America in the '50s and '60s - probably nothing new to readers in the USA, but for someone who knows very little of American history, it was quite revealing.
Bryson is entirely honest about the problems that overtook American culture, and the bad habits that people developed (such as junk food and excessive TV watching) while clearly loving the positive sides of his country and people. Perhaps for the first time I began to understand some of why America is what it is - and it's mostly a rather strange culture for those of us in Europe and elsewhere.
As well as the autobiographical incidents, and social history comments, are some slightly surreal accounts of Bryson's belief that he was 'Thunderbolt Kid' - a child from another planet, who could zap and obliterate people he didn't like. This belief grew from the super-hero culture, found in comics and television, but he writes these sections as if they're as real as the rest of the book. It helped me get a better picture of what he was like as a child, and made the book all the more enjoyable.
I'm not sure that Americans would appreciate this as much as Brits; it does poke a lot of fun at their culture, and the historical parts are probably nothing new to folk who grew up in the USA. Much of the humour in the writing is ironical, or subtle, which appeals strongly to the British sense of humour but perhaps not so much to those in America.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys Bryson's style - and to anyone who wants to know a bit of social history of America in the post-war years.
Review copyright © Sue's book reviews, 21st May 2008. All rights reserved.
I have enjoyed Susan Howatch's writing for about eight or nine years now, particularly her 'Starbridge' series. I'm less keen on her historical sagas, and not at all sure what to make of her earliest work, the 'gothic' thrillers. Still, once I like a writer I tend to collect all her (or his) works, so I have them all on my shelves.
I don't remember if I've ever read 'April's Grave' before. Certainly not for a long time, and I didn't have any recollection of it - even slightly. As with all Susan Howatch's work, it's very well-written, fast-paced, and with believable characters who are clearly distinct, despite being pretty short: only 156 pages.
It's mainly told from the point of view of Karen, who is in America when the story opens. She goes out to dinner with Marnie - a man, who just happens to be in her town, and who was the best man at her wedding to Neville a few years back. She has not seen Neville for three years, since a major fight over his infidelity, but they are still legally married.
Karen makes a casual enquiry after her twin sister April, whom she has not heard from in three years. In discussion, they realise that April has apparently vanished from the face of the earth. Karen decides she will spend some time in the UK, seeing her stepson who has the unlikely nickname of Snuff, and possibly seeing Neville, whom she realises she still loves.
Suspicions rise that April must have been murdered. However, Karen and Nevile start on a tentative reunion, and travel to Scotland, to the place where they last saw April. Other people gather in the same place, for various reasons: Marnie, who works with Neville; Leonie, Neville's sister and housekeeper; Snuff, who plays an important part in the story, and Melissa, an old friend of Karen's who has also been Neville's lover during their separation.
I didn't find this nearly as frightening as some of Susan Howatch's other 'gothic' novels; although there's some tension as the story draws to a close, it's more like crime fiction - a 'whodunit'- than a real thriller. For me, that's a plus point as I don't like too much tension!
Other than Snuff, who was something of a shadowy figure, and Melissa, who rather a caricature, the people seemed real and the interactions believable - even if the end was rather melodramatic. But then that's what happens in gothic novels.
Recommended, on the whole. Not in print - and would probably be lost in antiquity if it weren't for Howatch's successes with her later novels - but frequently available second-hand.
Review copyright © Sue's book reviews, 17th May 2008. All rights reserved.
It was only when trying to find a website about one of my favourite authors, Mary Sheepshanks, that I discovered that she is also known as Mary Nickson (her maiden name) and has published two novels under that name in recent years. They went immediately on my wish-list, and I was delighted to receive one of them for a recent birthday.
'Secrets and Shadows' is a fairly long book, in saga style. It's character-driven, as were the previous books by this author, and I found the characters came to life vividly and realistically.
The opening section features an elderly lady, who feels somewhat invisible while on holiday, and a small, neglected American girl called Marnie. They form an unlikely friendship, which means a lot to them both, and the elderly woman is determined to keep in touch with Marnie.
The main section of the book is set in Scotland, at an arts centre which runs various courses through the year. As this section opens, a writing course is about to begin. It's the first of the season, and the hosts - Isabel and Giles - are wondering what to expect. It wasn't until mention was made of their twin children, Amy and Edward - Amy a brilliant violinist, Edward a boy with special needs - that something clicked, and I realised this book is in fact a sequel - of sorts - to 'Off Balance (by Mary Sheepshanks)', which I thoroughly enjoyed some years ago.
Isabel and Giles are somewhat in the background in this book, interacting with the nine people who attend the course. These include Marnie, now an adult; Louisa, an old friend of Isabel's, and some other characters who were slightly caricatured, making them easy to remember and also an amusing foil for some of the more serious issues that arose in the book, looking back at the childhood and early adulthood of the participants on the course.
I enjoyed the book from the perspective of being about writing; I enjoyed it because it was set in Scotland, featuring one or two places I actually know, with even a mention of Janetta's ice cream in St Andrews, one of my favourite places! But most of all I enjoyed it because the main characters were so real, and some of the situations were extremely moving.
Mary Nickson writes very well, with a great gift of characterisation. I found this book so interesting that I could barely put it down once I had started, and finished 450 pages in about two days.
Highly recommended - I hope this author will write many more novels! Unfortunately it seems to be out of print already in the USA.
Review copyright © Sue's book reviews, 16th May 2008. All rights reserved.
I've always been quite a fan of CS Lewis. As a girl of about eight or nine, I read and loved the Narnia chronicles. I re-read them in my teens, and also enjoyed the sci-fi trilogy. I started reading his non-fiction works in my late teens, and have read them all at least once.
'The Four Loves' is one of Lewis's classics, explaining clearly the four different forms of love that can be found in the Bible, using different Greek words. These four loves are: affection or family love, friendship, romantic love, and what used to be known as 'charity' - the Christian love and compassion that is often so hard to find.
Lewis also mentions in an early chapter the love of material things, and how this differs from the other kinds of love. When we say we love ice cream, or boats, we simply mean that this particular taste or sensation or activity pleases us. But the love of the inanimate is not really a love in the sense of the four loves he writes about. He also gives a clear explanation of the difference between 'need-love' and 'gift-love', and how they work within the four kinds of love he is focusing on.
It's clearly argued and well-written, although I have to admit I found it a bit dry in places. I couldn't manage more than about half a chapter (ten pages) at a time before my mind wandered. Lewis had a very organised mind, and evidently had his definitions clear and his thought-processes structured as he wrote the book. Unfortunately it's not really the way my mind works, so I had to concentrate at times to fully get the point of what he was saying.
I also found myself slightly irritated by Lewis's cultural biases that now seem so very dated. I didn't like his paternalistic sexism, nor his condescension towards those less intelligent than himself. Not, I am sure, that these were deliberate. He was a product of his time, as we all are, and it would hardly be fair to expect a book written in 1960 to reflect societal standards of nearly fifty years later.
I thought I would enjoy it more, reading it as a more mature adult. I was slightly disappointed that it was not more interesting. Nevertheless, it's well worth reading for anyone who hasn't already done so, as it's now considered a classic of Christian writing. It could help anyone confused by the modern mish-mash muddle of emotions and ideas that our one word 'love' tends to conjure up.
Still in print on both sides of the Atlantic, and widely available second-hand.
Review copyright © Sue's book reviews 15th May 2008
I thoroughly enjoy Georgette Heyer's historical romance books. Her characterisation is always excellent, her plotting clever, her writing believable and very well researched. Over the years I've collected most of her novels, and re-read them regularly.
So, on going through my collection a few months ago, I was very surprised that I did not have 'Sylvester', nor had I read it within the eight or nine years in which I have been keeping reviews. Perhaps it got lost in our move from England to Cyprus - or perhaps I only ever borrowed it. For I have certainly read it before, but maybe only a couple of times.
I was pleased to see that 'Sylvester' has been republished in the UK, yet again, so it went straight on my Amazon wishlist, and I was delighted to receive a copy for my birthday.
'Sylvester' features the Duke of Salford, a likeable young man who has been bred to great things. He has a casual kind of arrogance that's very cleverly indicated without him ever appearing unpleasant.
Sylvester has decided that it's time for him to get married, so he draws up a list of five possible girls, with specific qualities he is looking for in a bride. Then asks his mother which one he should choose! She tells him not to marry anyone until he falls in love, and also recommends that he might like to meet Phoebe, only daughter of her late friend Verena.
Phoebe is a rather plain girl, very much in submission to her stepmother who has always treated her fairly, according to her 'duty', but never shown her affection. Despite this, Phoebe is outspoken, and has also written a clever novel, caricaturing many of the people in top society.. including Sylvester himself.
The book is exciting, humorous in places, with some memorable characters, including Sylvester's delightful nephew Edmund, and his sister-in-law's new husband Nugent, who is enormously fat, enormously wealthy, and loves to puff off his arrogance - although he is also generous and mostly good-hearted, unaware that he is a figure of fun to many.
It's also rather moving in places. I admit to a few tears in my eyes towards the end, when - as expected - everything is tidily sorted out. Having not read 'Sylvester' for at least ten years (perhaps more) I had only the vaguest memory of the plot, although some parts came back to me as I read.
Very enjoyable, definitely recommended.
Review copyright suesbookreviews.blogspot.com All rights reserved.
Although Rosamunde Pilcher, one of my favourite modern authors, has stopped writing, I was delighted to discover that her son Robin Pilcher also writes excellent novels. While they are not as gentle as those of his mother, he has clearly inherited her gift for characterisation, and I hope he will continue writing for many years.
'Starburst' is the fourth of his novels, one I have been eagerly awaiting. It has been on my wishlist for some time, and I was delighted to receive it for a recent birthday.
I have to say, it's a bit hard going at the beginning, as a large number of characters are introduced, and I had no way of knowing which ones were going to be significant. There was Tess, an organiser in the Edinburgh Fringe, who is newly married and very happy... until an old lover comes into her life and threatens to reveal their past to her boss unless she will meet him for dinner. Then there some men involved in designing the fireworks for the end of Edinburgh festival, planning a programme that will be bigger and better than any they have done before.
Next we meet Rene, a comedienne from Yorkshire, whose buddies are determined to give her a surprise... and raise money to send her to the Edinburgh Fringe. Unfortunately her husband Gary, currently unemployed, is not impressed. And Rene herself is terrified. Then straight after meeting Rene, we move to Paris, where Angelique, a gifted young French violinist, is beginning to become disillusioned with her rather controlling trainer and manager, Andre Dessuin.
So it continues for a few chapters more, giving a snapshot in the lives of various people, from several walks of society - even including a young down-and-out whose main skill is breaking into cars - with their only connection being either a home in Edinburgh, or the intention of going there to take part in one of the festivals.
Each one was well-written and engaging, but I don't do well with a large cast of characters, and found myself forgetting, from day to day, who I had encountered.. and wondering when the real story would begin.
I should not have worried. Robin Pilcher weaves all his strands together brilliantly, as these characters meet or interact in some way. They were memorable enough that, now I've finally finished the book, I remember their stories pretty well. They all seem to be fairly three-dimensional, and by the time I was about half-way through the book it was very difficult to put down. There's excitement, danger, suspense, and romance... all low-key, without anything graphic, but all the more readable as a result.
Much of the ending was predictable, and some of it was very moving, bringing a tear or two to my eyes as I read. This is certainly a book I shall be re-reading in a few years, and I hope it won't be long before Robin Pilcher brings out another! Highly recommended.
Review copyright suesbookreviews.blogspot.com, 10th May 2008
I didn't expect a whole lot of this book. I find Christian autobiographies a bit variable, and this is a paperback from the mid-1980s, which I picked up second-hand. 'How a brilliant scientist came face to face with the miraculous' is the rather dated byline on the front. Professor Roy Peacock is an aeronautical engineer in the UK, who has apparently been at the forefront of research in his field, and has lectured in many countries.
So, yes - he is (and was) a brilliant scientist. And this book does indeed relate what happened when his world was rocked on its foundations by encounters with Jesus.
Roy Peacock's childhood was somewhat bound up in the church, in a ritual kind of way, for he sang as a chorister. Religion is what happened on a Sunday, and although he had a general belief in God, that's as far as it went. As he grew up, and started to focus more on science, the church got rather pushed aside.
He started work, and got married to Elizabeth... and then found himself caught up in a mission. Very skeptical at first, he could not deny the changes that took place in his wife when she became a believer, and shortly afterwards decided to become a Christian himself.
From that moment, his life was never the same. He knew nothing of the Bible, despite having read it many times, and the person mentoring him was no expert either. But together, in small groups, they observed God working, and studied Scripture. One by one his preconceived ideas about life and the universe were toppled as God revealed himself more and more.
What I found interesting about this book, and Roy Peacock's journey of faith, is that he remained very much a scientist throughout. When something new surprised him - for example, a clear sign of physical healing without any medical intervention - he saw it as new data, examined the circumstances, looked in the Bible and other sources to see patterns and trends, and generally subjected it to rigorous scientific investigation. Each time, he found more and more evidence of God's reality and the way he works in the world today.
'Foolish to be wise' is clearly written, combining an autobiographical account of the author's life and Christian journey with explanations of various doctrines, some of them quite controversial in today's church, which seem very matter-of-fact from this scientist's perspective.
I was planning to read a chapter a day,but often found myself reading a great deal more. The book was thought-provoking, and very interesting, as well as a wonderful account of God really working in people's lives, and using an unlikely person to do great things.
Definitely recommended. Sadly it's long out of print, but seems to be available second-hand in both the UK and USA.
Review copyright © suesbookreviews.blogspot.com, 2nd May 2008
I've been reading Elizabeth Buchan's books for a few years now. I like her style, and her characters, although I tend to find them a bit over-filled with extra information that doesn't particularly interest me. Still, I'm gradually picking them up from second-hand shops, and find them good light reads on the whole.
'The good wife' is told in the first person, from the perspective of Fanny, who is married to Will. Will is a politician, and Fanny is a wine specialist, working with her much-loved father. She has something of a whirlwind romance with Will and is then thrown into the life she is expected to lead as the 'good wife' of someone in politics.
So Fanny has to watch what she wears, and what she says, and who she mixes with. She has to attend functions and dinners, and keep smiling, and support her husband at ballots - right through the night, sometimes, as the votes are tallied. She finds it quite a challenge at first, but she is deeply in love with Will and makes a determined effort to do all that is needed.
Their daughter Chloë is very important to them both. When the book starts she is 18, just finishing her A-levels, and preparing to do a gap year in Australia. Fanny is not ready to deal with her daughter leaving home - something I can well relate to! - and finds herself re-thinking her roles, and whether she might start doing more work with her father.
It took a while for the book to get going. There's a lot of switching between the past and the present, gradually building up a picture of Will and Fanny's lives, and the problems surrounding politicians trying to juggle work and home priorities. There's more detail about politics than really interests me, although I suppose it was necessary for the sake of authenticity, and also for readers who like practical details about how people life.
I found the characters good, though not as sympathetic as I would have liked. I could relate to Fanny as a mother, yet her role as Will's wife is so difficult that I found it hard to imagine how anyone - other than a dedicated politician - could possibly uphold it for so long. Naturally she harbours some doubts and resentments, and when matters come to a crisis, towards the end of the book, the pace gets going.
I found myself enjoying the latter third of the book considerably more than the first part. There were some thought-provoking questions arising about loyalty, and commitment, and forgiveness, and the ending was basically satisfactory, after a few shocks and surprises.
All in all, not a bad light read. I have certainly learned to be very thankful that I am not married to a politician!
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, May 2008
