Ordinary saints (by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, and only came across her debut novel ‘Ordinary saints’ because it was this month’s choice for our local reading group. We try to choose a variety of styles and settings, and I appreciate the chance to discover new authors and - sometimes - to be taken right outside my normal comfort zone.

I bought it for my Kindle when it was on special offer a few months ago, as it was hard to find a reasonably priced paperback edition, and I’ve just finished reading it. The style was mostly fairly light, and it only took me a couple of days. 

The main protagonist is a young, gay woman called Jay. And it opens quite dramatically, telling us that the first time she kissed a girl was the same evening that her brother died. The two events, we quickly learn, are quite unconnected. But Jay was at a party, and ignored repeated messages and phone calls from her parents. So she didn’t learn about the tragedy until the following morning.

The feud in the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link)

As a teenager, I read all the Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer at least once. I reread many of them again over the decades; I acquired some myself, and my mother managed to get the entire set, though some were abridged Armada paperbacks. I would dip into some of them whenever I visited, but inevitably some were read more often than others.

It’s nearly ten years since I last read ‘The feud in the Chalet School’, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the ones I didn’t read very often. I had not recalled the story at all, or any of the new characters. I did vaguely remember one rather dramatic and dangerous escapade, but would not have known it was in this particular book.

The basic story involves another school, St Hilda’s, that starts in Geneva by a Miss Holroyd. She takes on three staff, including a matron, and begins with just thirty or so girls. They discover that the summer heat is too much, so for her second year she acquires the lease of a chalet in the mountains. Forty-seven girls are due to arrive when disaster happens. Miss Holroyd is taken to hospital, and the girls are taken on, temporarily, by the much larger Chalet School.  

The wisdom of Sally red shoes (by Ruth Hogan)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve liked the somewhat quirky novels I’ve read by Ruth Hogan, so I put another one on my wishlist a few years ago. I was given ‘The wisdom of Sally red shoes’ for Christmas 2023 and it’s sat on my to-be-read shelf all this time. I finally picked it up to read a few days ago. 

It took me a while to get into the book, which is written in a series of very short sections - some of them just a couple of pages. It focuses mainly on three diverse women, and I found it a bit confusing at first. 

There’s an elderly, somewhat eccentric woman who sings in an amazing voice to the crows in a park. Then she feeds them with bread crusts. She wears red shoes, hence her nickname which gives the title to the book. We never really get to know her, though she’s the first one we meet; but she’s instrumental in change for others in the novel. 

The ice cream girls (by Dorothy Koomson)

(Amazon UK link)

I do like the books by Dorothy Koomson, though some of her writing is rather harder-hitting than many of my preferred authors. Her later books seem to be thrillers, which is a genre where I feel less comfortable than with more straightforward women’s fiction. I’m currently rereading my collection of her books, around one per month, and this week I picked up ‘The ice cream girls’, which I last read over thirteen years ago.

Usually, after such a long gap, I have entirely forgotten a storyline. It’s a testament to the author’s powerful writing that I did recall a fair amount of what happened in this book, once I had started. This did not detract in any way from the story, or the suspense that continues throughout.

There are two main protagonists, Serena and Poppy. We meet Serena first when her husband Evan goes down on one knee and proposes to her… a romantic gesture of the kind she has been longing for. He’s a kind, generous man - a doctor, and apparently a very good one. They have a good relationship, and now he’s offering to marry her over again, with a lavish ceremony that contrasts with their more basic original wedding. 

Naturally gifted (by Gordon and Rosemary Jones)

(Amazon UK link)

I don’t remember how or when we acquired the book ‘Naturally gifted’. But I vaguely recall that the authors, Gordon and Rosemary Jones, were giving a seminar somewhere and sold their books afterwards. I don’t know if I was there, or if it was my husband or even someone else. What I do know is that their book has been in one of our bookcases for a long time, and I haven’t read it for at least twenty years, possibly longer.

The byline or subtitle on the front says that the book is ‘a Christian perspective on personality, gifts and abilities’. That’s essentially what the book is about, summing up various ways of looking at gifts, temperament, abilities and more, from the point of view of the body of Christ. 

The first chapter talks about the importance of recognising our individuality. It examines, briefly, a few people from the Bible, some of whom were very dubious about their abilities. It also gives some brief anecdotes, describing people who feel lost, or without talent; it also mentions people who are in careers or ministries where they feel constantly stressed, or struggling in some way.