Bestseller (by Celia Brayfield)

(Amazon UK link)

I have a lot of books on my shelves about writing. This is no surprise; I tend to collect a large number of books on any topic in which I’m interested, many of them bought second-hand. What does surprise me is that there are at least half a dozen which I have never read. I’ve decided to try and read one per month, and started with ‘Bestseller’ by Celia Brayfield.

I have no idea where I acquired this book. It’s marked ‘1.99’ in pencil on the inside cover, but it’s not clear whether the currency is pounds or euros. I probably picked it up in a charity or thrift store; the subtitle, ‘secrets of successful writing’ would have appealed. But not enough for me to read it, apparently.  According to GoodReads, I shelved it in 2017 so I’ve evidently had it for at least eight years.

Most books about writing cover similar ground, but with a slightly different focus. The theme of this one is that of writing not just a book, but a bestseller. Even in 1996 when this was first published, that wasn’t an easy thing to do. And while the author had written four novels before writing this book, and I assume they sold well, I had not heard of any of them. 

Still, it’s a well-written and well-constructed book. The author makes it clear that it’s about story-telling, of unlocking our subconscious and crafting the books we have inside us. And she explains her points giving examples from books which, presumably were selling well at the time she wrote the book. I was not familiar with any of them, but they still mostly made the points effectively. 

There are chapters claiming to offer ‘secrets’, but this isn’t done in an over-dramatic way. Instead it asks us to think about stories, about what makes a good opening scene, and so on. And just about every aspect of writing a novel is covered. We’re invited to think about location, and how much description is appropriate. We look at characters: at the importance of introducing the main one within the first few pages. I hadn’t quite realised how vital it is that this viewpoint character should have clear flaws as well as virtues. But, thinking about books I have loved, that is undoubtedly the case.

The author also looks at plots, at the importance of a strong beginning, and what to do when stuck in the middle. She suggests various possible methods of structuring a book, whether writing out detailed chapter summaries or letting the book tell itself.  She looks at editing, too, though not in a great deal of detail, and about finding a publisher, via an agent, and marketing. She makes some good points about most writers, by nature, not being suited to lots of networking and promoting. 

I had quite high hopes for the section about getting going, but really the author just talks about willpower, and about making a time and place for writing. She insists that it should be our second or third priority - that we should forget about housework and even cooking while in the throes of a novel. I can’t bring myself to do that, which is probably why I’ve never managed to finish a novel, despite starting several. 

I thought there were some useful reminders in this book, though most of it was familiar to me. It’s good that most published authors agree on most parts of how to write; but it means that books about writing are, mostly, quite similar. Perhaps that’s why I never manage to read more than two or three in a row. 

Inevitably, too, the book is somewhat dated. There’s almost no mention of computers, and self-publishing was really in its infancy when this book was written. There’s a lot of discussion about writing by hand, and the distractions of the phone. There is no mention, of course, of modern distractions such as social media or computer games.

Overall, I’m glad I read it. If you haven’t read a lot of books about writing, and if you can find this one inexpensively, it’s thorough and interesting to read. And possibly worth reading even if, like me, you have read rather a lot of books on writing. This is no longer in print, though it's available in ebook form; however paperbacks can fairly often be found second-hand. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews

A man called Peter (by Catherine Marshall)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s a long time since I read the book ‘A man called Peter’ by Catherine Marshall. I probably read it in the 1980s or early 1990s, before starting this review blog. But I remembered it for two reasons: firstly that it was more interesting than I had expected, and secondly that it had a sad ending.

To make it clear, this isn’t about the apostle called Peter, but about the author’s husband Revd Dr Peter Marshall, who was a well-known preacher and minister in the United States in the first half of last century. I’ve finally been re-reading it over the past couple of weeks. My paperback edition is rather falling to pieces, but it’s still readable. And, in the other sense of the word, it’s a very readable book.

Catherine Marshall was the writer of a couple of novels (‘Julie’ and ‘Christy’) and some other Christian books, including the excellent ‘Beyond ourselves’. She has a style that appeals to me, and while I’m not, in general, a huge fan of biographies, I found ‘A man called Peter’ quite difficult to put down at times.

Peter Marshall was born in Scotland early in the 20th century, and grew up in a Christian (presbyterian) home. His father died when he was just four, and one of his earliest memories was seeing his funeral procession. He longs, as a teenager, to go to sea and even tries to sign up for the Navy, but is turned down. He takes various other jobs, and has hopes of an introduction to naval life, only to be disappointed. 

Catherine Marshall makes it clear from the start that in these rejections and disappointments, God is shutting the door to Peter’s ambitions, gradually making it clear that his call is to the ordained ministry. At the same time, he finds that his financial needs are met, sometimes by unexpected promotion. Peter’s mother prays for him regularly, and he has a growing awareness of God’s presence in his life.

In another writer’s hands the story might be dull, or pious, or cringeworthy, but somehow Catherine Marshall makes Peter’s story come to life. This is so even in the early chapters, at a stage before she had met him. But as is clear later in the book, they had a close friendship as well as love, and must have spent a lot of time discussing their childhoods, and the ways they became closer to God. 

Peter’s call involves studying - for which funds are supplied as needed - and eventually a move to the United States, which is where he meets and falls in love with Catherine. He starts to make a name for himself as an inspired, creative preacher. He believes in listening to God, to using images and stories, rather as Jesus did in his teaching and parables. He studies and uses the Scriptures too, of course, but makes his sermons so interesting that people start to crowd into his church, many of them meeting God themselves for the first time.

Yet Peter is also a very human person, with a sense of humour. He has the ability to play imaginary and silly games with friends, and, later, with his son ‘wee Peter’, who is their only child. He loves to play board games, and does them with dedication and quite a competitive spirit, and he likes to take walks and to spend evenings with friends. He and Catherine clearly balance each other well, sorting out problems in their relationship as they arise, and inspiring each other in their lives and ministries. 

There’s a lot more, of course. There’s a chapter about their holiday home, and one about Peter’s first illness, three years before his death. And while it’s Peter’s story, there’s inevitably a lot about Catherine too, and her gradual willingness to lay down her own ambitions and irritations, and to support Peter in whatever ways seems best.

Some of the book is inevitably dated, happening, as it does, nearly a hundred years ago. But the personalities of the people described shine through realistically. I didn’t remember the names of the quite large number of minor characters - if that’s the word in a biography - but when it’s necessary to know who someone is, the author drops in a brief reminder. 

All in all, I very much liked reading this book again. The ending is bittersweet, as I recalled; there are some quite moving sections. Overall I found it encouraging and inspiring. It's a book intended to be read by Christian believers; those of other faiths (or none) might find the number of listed prayers and Christian content to be a bit off-putting, although I didn't find it excessive, given the topic of the book. 

'A man called Peter' has been published many times in several editions, and is still in print including in ebook form. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews

The Fifth Summer (by Titia Sutherland)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s a long time since I read the novels by Titia Sutherland. I recalled enjoying them, but not much else about them. So I decided to reread them, in the order in which she wrote them. It’s over twenty years since I read ‘The fifth summer’, and I had entirely forgotten the people and the storyline. 

The main characters are a family of four: Will and Lorna have been contentedly married for a long time, and have two teenage children. Debbie is eighteen, Fergus is sixteen. For the past four years they have thoroughly enjoyed delightful summer holidays in a villa in Italy, owned by an older woman called Phoebe. As the story opens, they’re due to go there again, for the fifth summer. 

But they’re not as happy as they used to be. Will clearly has a secret: a health problem which he hasn’t told Lorna about. This has caused other problems in their marriage, and she feels as if he has withdrawn from her. Lorna is a writer, and often retreats to her writing for solace, but she is beginning to wonder if Will has found someone else. 

Debbie is very conscious of her appearance; she’s overweight, but unwilling to do anything much about it. She longs to find a boyfriend, but is convinced that no boys will be interested in her. And Fergus, too, has started noticing women, fantasising about going to bed with them, but quite uncertain how to get started.

It’s a book about family relationships, about growing up, and about trust and security. I found it a bit frustrating at first as the viewpoint changes so quickly, often within just a page. There were times when I wasn’t sure whose viewpoint was being expressed, and had to go back a few sentences to figure it out. And yet, somehow, despite this being frowned upon in most writing advice books, it works. I didn’t feel very attached to anyone, but I did feel as if I got to know something of how each person was feeling and thinking.

I liked Will very much. He’s gentle, hard-working, and cares deeply for Lorna. He has a sense of humour too, and loves to relax on holiday. Lorna is a more complex person, and Will really has no idea that she’s so intuitively aware that something is wrong. I could see both points of view. 

I didn’t relate much to Debbie, but thought Fergus an interesting person too. He's quite like Lorna in personality, and very aware of tensions and stresses going on around him. His teenage hormones sometimes get in the way of his common sense and intuition, but perhaps that’s not surprising. He seems quite realistic, in a 1990s way. For this book is over thirty years old. People don’t change so much, but behaviours and language do. There are, obviously, no mobile phones; people still hand-write letters, and make phone calls with what we now refer to as landlines. 

They also smoke excessively, something which was never part of my culture, and which didn’t seem to me all that common even in the 1990s, particularly in families like this one which evidently have a fair amount of money. The children are at boarding schools, they have family holidays abroad, and they eat out in an era when it was much less common for Brits to do so. They also seem to drink rather a lot - and even Fergus is offered both wine and cigarettes. 

But other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book. There are other characters too, catalysts for what transpires in the second half of the book. There are friendships and low-key romances that develop, and the threat of adultery too, but I had entirely forgotten whether or not this would happen at some point.

The conversations seem believable, the relationships authentic, and the dramatic climax of the book quite shocking, with tension building for a couple of pages; we then don’t know what the outcome will be for another few pages. 

All in all, I thought this an excellent book and would recommend it to anyone who likes fairly gentle women’s fiction that’s relationship-based. There’s nothing explicit (though some things are implied) and minimal bad language. 

'The fifth summer' is long out of print, but sometimes found inexpensively second-hand. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews

The lion, the witch and the wardrobe (by CS Lewis)

(Amazon UK link)

I re-read ‘The magician’s nephew’ just over a month ago. Although it wasn’t written first, it’s the earliest of CS Lewis’s Narnia books, chronologically. It recounts the creation of Narnia, and hints at events to come. I wouldn’t recommend it being read first when introducing children to the series, but as an adult, I always prefer to read that one first. 

And now I’ve just finished the best-known Narnia book, ‘The lion, the witch and the wardrobe’. It’s the one that should be read first when someone is new to the series, either reading to oneself or when reading aloud to a child. I last re-read it in 2010 but I’m very familiar with the story, as I read it many times as a child and teenager. I’ve also seen both the BBC adaptation, and the film made in 2005. 

The story doesn’t give the wartime background that the film does, as it was written in 1950. Children old enough for the book would still have been familiar with the evacuation process, or would be able to ask older siblings or friends. So we see the Pevensie family sent to live with an elderly bachelor professor in the countryside. He has a housekeeper, the rather grumpy Mrs Macready, and three servants although they don’t come into the book. This seems like an excessive staff for one man, but was probably not unreasonable for the era. And it’s a huge house. 

The action starts by the end of the first chapter when the youngest child, Lucy, finds her way through the back of a wardrobe into the snowy land of Narnia. Lewis doesn’t give the children’s ages, but I see her as around eight or nine. Lucy is a friendly, outgoing child and she meets the faun Mr Tumnus. She goes to tea with him and they have a delightful afternoon, ending with him in tears, torn between his orders from the white witch and his observations about Lucy. 

When Lucy returns to the old house, no time has passed, and none of her siblings believe her account. She’s young enough that they think she’s making it up; yet old enough that they feel she should admit to this. She knows she’s telling the truth, and becomes upset. This is only made worse when her brother Edmund, who must be nine or ten, also finds Narnia, but then pretends that they were just playing a game…

While the main story involves all four children discovering Narnia, thrust into a fight between good and evil, I always liked the early part of the book. The children’s characters are clearly established: Peter, as the oldest, is usually the leader. Susan can be a bit fussy, but is very responsible and tries to look after her younger siblings. Edmund is rather self-centred and looks down on Lucy, while trying to make himself look better than he is. And Lucy is a free spirit, with a lot of intuition and courage.

The whole story is allegorical, although loosely so, and it’s entirely possible to read it without any idea of the underlying, deeper meanings. It’s a very good story, told with just the right pace for a child’s attention, and also enjoyable by teenagers and adults. When I first read the books I must have been about five or six; it wasn’t until I was maybe ten or eleven that I had a huge ‘aha!’ moment, and discovered who Aslan the lion represents. I’m still glad that nobody had told me, or tried to ‘explain’ the book to me. 

The book is ideal for children of about seven or eight and upwards, either as a read-aloud or for fluent readers to peruse themselves. I first read it to my sons when they were four and six, and they subsequently read this (and the others in the series) themselves. There’s some violence which could disturb a sensitive child, and the evil witch is quite chilling. But, as with all the best children’s books, good overcomes evil in the end. 

While it’s obviously not necessary to have read ‘The magician’s nephew’ prior to this, I do appreciate the links with it. I know who the professor is, and why he’s so interested in the children’s story. I understand the significance of the lamppost in the forest, and why there are animals who talk. I even understand why the wardrobe is magical. But none of that is relevant when reading for the first time. 

Recommended highly for anyone who has never read this series, or for those who have and would like a light but thought-provoking book to reread. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews

Miss Garnet's angel (by Salley Vickers)

(Amazon UK link)

I had not heard of Salley Vickers until her book ‘Grandmothers’ was assigned for our local reading group nearly four years ago. I liked it very much, and put one of the author’s other books on my wishlist. I was given ‘Miss Garnet’s angel’ by a relative… for Christmas 2021. It’s taken me this long to decide to read it.

We meet Miss Julia Garnet shortly after her friend and flatmate Harriet died. Miss Garnet is an organised, staid kind of person who doesn’t really have any other friends. She is, we learn, a left-wing humanist. She must be in her sixties, as she has recently retired. And then, soon after Harriet’s death, her cat Stella disappears. 

Miss Garnet - and she’s referred to by this rather formal name for several chapters - decides she’s going to travel. She is able to rent out her flat quite easily, and, somewhat at random, picks on Venice as a place to visit. The author evidently knows the city well, or has done scrupulous research as the arrival in Venice is described in minute detail, with the scents, sounds and sights that greet Miss Garnet.

She is befriended by two outgoing (and evidently wealthy) Americans, and eventually reaches the small apartment which she has leased for six months. 

Interspersed with Miss Garnet’s story is the account from the biblical ‘apocryphal’ book Tobit. It tells of the young man Tobias (son of Tobit) who travels to a distant region accompanied by an unusual man and a dog. We’re told early on that the guardian is in fact an angel, but Tobias doesn’t learn this until the end of his journey. 

I quite liked the way that the story of Tobias was told, rather more readably than in the original, in short sections at the end of some of the chapters. Miss Garnet does read the story, after seeing paintings featuring Tobias and his companions on an old panel. She is also very taken by a statue of the angel Raphael. 

The book is essentially character-based. Miss Garnet becomes more adventurous, and tells people that her name is Julia. She even falls a little in love, and befriends some young people, too. It’s not entirely clear who she can trust, and there are some revelations that I really wasn’t expecting. I liked the way that she expands her somewhat limited belief system, deciding that perhaps there is something more than what she can sense. She’s in the midst of devout Catholics, and becomes friendly with a priest. 

There’s also a fair bit of story related to restoration of ancient churches and the discovery of long-hidden artwork. But I didn’t find those sections all that interesting and found my mind wandering somewhat in those sections. It’s not a short book - nearly 350 pages in paperback - and I didn’t find myself eager to sit down and read at every moment, as happens with some books.

I very much liked the way that this is about a retired single lady, rather than someone much younger. Having said that, Miss Garnet must have been around my age, but her 'feel' is considerably older. I did like the way that she enlarges her horizons and tries out new things after so many years of being somewhat stuck in a rut.  The ending, however, is bittersweet; I didn’t particularly like it, but it made the book come to a tidy end. Perhaps it’s the only way it could have finished. 

I’m glad I read it; the author has an excellent style, and brings people and places to life. But it’s not a story that’s likely to stay with me, and I doubt if I’ll read it again. It might well inspire some people to travel or be adventurous in other ways, and I think it’s worth reading if you like gentle women’s fiction with not a great deal of plot. But it's unlikely to appeal to anyone under the age of about fifty. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews