The Jigsaw Maker (by Adrienne Dines)

(Amazon UK link)

I read a novel by Adrienne Dines about eight years ago, and liked it very much. I decided to put her first novel on my wishlist, but unfortunately it went out of print and I’d almost forgotten about it until I came across it recently on the Awesome Books site. My copy, when it arrived, was almost good as new.

I started reading ‘The Jigsaw Maker’ about ten days ago, and found it a bit slow-moving at first. Lizzie is the main character; she’s middle-aged, and seems rather uptight and defensive when we meet her. She runs a souvenir shop which is a bit dated, but ticks over. Then a younger man called Jim calls into her shop, explaining that he makes jigsaws. He takes local photos and asks people to write about them, not in a tourist guide way, but focussing on their memories, and the stories involved.

Lizzie is not prepared for the emotions that come to the surface when she starts to think back to her school days. The story switches between 2006, which is the present day of the novel, and 1969, when Lizzie was a somewhat innocent child of ten. She recounts stories of the nuns who taught her, and the day trip they took to the zoo. We also read, through the eyes of a child, of some of the adult happenings, and in particular of an older girl who was sent to Dublin, ostensibly to have her tonsils out and then recuperate, although it’s fairly obvious to the reader that this is a euphemism.

While I had guessed some of the turns of the plot, which were revealed towards the end, I certainly hadn’t expected some of the dramatic - and sometimes shocking - events that form the latter part of the book. By the time I learned why Lizzie was so uptight and unforgiving of herself, I was so engrossed I could hardly put the book down.

The writing is very good; clear, nicely-paced, and bringing out the different characters so that I could almost imagine them. There are quite a few different people involved but I didn’t have any difficulty remembering who was whom.

I thought the plotting and gradual revelation of the ‘jigsaw’ of Lizzie’s life was very cleverly done. It’s not quite Maeve Binchy, although set in a similar environment; it wasn’t a warm and uplifting story at all, but quite draining at times.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who likes powerful women’s fiction. The publisher Transita deliberately chose novels about middle-aged women, and I was sorry when they ceased publishing.

'The 'Jigsaw Maker' is not in print, but sometimes can be found second hand; it's also available on both sides of the Atlantic in Kindle form.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's Book Reviews

Soft voices whispering (by Adrienne Dines)

(Amazon UK link)

'Soft voices whispering' is by Adrienne Dines. It's her third novel - and the reviews of the first two don't appeal to me at all. But this one is poignant, suspenseful, and moving, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A tall and rather austere nun comes to teach at Kildoran Primary School. The children at the school find her over-strict, and the other nuns find her too private and rather abrupt. Besides that, there's obviously some mystery surrounding her past.

Much of the focus of the book is on Emer Fagan, a harassed wife and caring mother. Emer observes and wonders, but understands little of what is going on. She works hard, taking life fairly phlegmatically, while often wishing it could be different. As the story unfolds, it's often seen through Emer's eyes, and I found myself relating to her probably more than anyone.

There are a large number of characters, but somehow, it didn't matter. There are several viewpoints, too, but I didn't find it annoying. There were times when it was obvious what was going to, but I didn't skip any pages; instead I felt the tension of the characters as they gradually realised what I had already known.

All in all, the author got the balance exactly right from my perspective, with no extraneous words, no pointless dialogue, and no unnecessary descriptions. Highly recommended.

My longer review of 'Soft voices whispering' is here at The BookBag