A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar is a quirky novel with an even quirkier title, bringing together a cast of characters from very different worlds with very different outlooks.

Evangeline takes her bicycle when she tags along with her sister Lizzie and her imposing missionary friend, Millicent, on their journey into Kashgar. It is 1923 and the region, bordered by Mongolia, Tibet and Russia, has had its fair share of invasions, both military and religious, so it's not surprising the locals treat the women with distrust. When Millicent and Eva stop to help a girl give birth, the young mother dies and Eva is literally left holding the baby.

Meanwhile, in present day London, Frieda returns from work in the Middle East to find a stranger camping on her stairwell and a letter informing her she has inherited the estate of a relative she has never heard of. These personal effects include a diary and an owl. The stranger is  Tayeb, a Yemeni overstayer who luckily knows a thing or two about birds. Together they embark upon a quest to find out about Frieda’s lost relative, taking Frieda into the uncomfortable territory that is her past.

The novel flips from one character to the other as it tells the stories of Eva and Frieda, both of which are packed with drama and uncertainty. Each character makes disturbing and life-changing discoveries which makes the plot gripping enough to keep you reading, with a richness of perception that makes the novel deeply satisfying.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue Link: A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood

We all know that music has a power to change our mood, to calm or excite us, but can music also heal? Benjamin Wood plays around with this idea, and also the close relationship between genius and madness in his debut novel, The Bellwether Revivals.

Set in Cambridge, the story is narrated from the point of view of Oscar, a young care worker at a home for the elderly and infirm. Oscar loves the traditions and culture of his new town having escaped a working class background and a difficult relationship with his father. Now he borrows books from Dr Paulsen, a retired professor he looks after, hoping to plug the gaps in his education.

Walking home one night he is drawn into a service at Kings College Chapel by enchanting organ music. Here he meets the brother and sister, Eden and Iris Bellwether, two rather glamorous and exceedingly gifted students, who both take to Oscar in different ways.

Iris is beautiful and forms an attachment to Oscar, which he returns, while Eden dabbles in some weird experiments involving music and hypnosis. He is happy to invite Oscar to a little party with some hypnosis thrown in, an event that alarms Oscar immensely. As Eden becomes more and more of a loose canon, the worlds of the Oscar, the Bellwethers and Dr Paulsen become increasingly entangled and the plot builds towards a tense and chilling climax.

The Bellwether Revivals was nominated for a Costa Award last year, and it is not surprising as it has all the hallmarks of a terrific read, with a gripping storyline and fabulous characters. Benjamin Wood has produced a very original novel written with great panache.

Posted by JAM 

Check the Catalogue and reserve online:  The Bellwether Revivals

How to Create Chemistry With Anyone by Leil Lowndes

This isn’t the usual type of book that we include in our blog, but if you or someone you know are trying to navigate the wild world of singledom with a bit of finesse, then it could be an invaluable.

Firstly, at its most basic level, it is a handy little how-to guide for anyone hoping to get a handle on the more incomprehensible parts of dating. Just why don’t I like that gorgeous looking guy or girl who ticks every box on my wish-list? Leil Lowndes has found out the answer. Your physical body has surprising ways of picking a potential partner that you may not realise. With knowledge comes power and Lowndes provides tips on turning these chemically charged interactions to your advantage.

While that sounds a bit cynical, this book could be used for more altruistic reasons. Most of us know someone who has fallen head over heels in love with a totally unsuitable person. We know it, everyone else knows it, but they seem oblivious to danger. Can we save them? Probably not, but this book is a handy little reference tool for you to point out to the overly-impressionable just why they aren’t capable of rational judgement. At the least, it will salve your conscience knowing that you have attempted to avert disaster.

Finally – and surprisingly, this book has important implications for the health and wellbeing of the future generation. Do you know why choosing the future father of your babies while you are on the contraceptive pill may not be a good idea? Do you know the difference between lust, attraction, and attachment? Look behind the superficial façade of this book and you will find the facts that will make sure you are fully informed before you dive beneath the sheets.

Posted by Spot

Catalogue Link - How to create chemistry with anyone

The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas

The Commissaire Adamsberg novels are a joy for anyone who wants a thrilling story plus the bonus of being immersed all things French - the lifestyle, idioms and attitudes - set in the wonderful City of Light.

Fresh from the rural backblocks, scruffy, genial Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg takes up his new role leading a team of Paris detectives, promoted because of his stunning success at solving crimes. He’s not your usual detective though. He doesn’t do things by the book, he’s vague and disappears for hours on end, strolling about and sitting in cafes. But Adamsberg has an unusual talent: he can tell when someone is capable of cruelty.

In The Chalk Circle Man, Paris is talking about mysterious chalk circles that appear on the pavements at night, and the peculiar objects left inside them. Before long, Adamsberg’s worst fears are realised, and a dead body is discovered inside the next chalk circle. As more bodies appear, the police must ask themselves if this is the work of a serial killer, or if there’s an evil purpose to the killings.

The Commissaire is helped by Inspector Danglard, who is as smartly dressed as Adamsberg is dishevelled, and an attractive marine biologist who studies people as well as fish. There’s plenty of dialogue and the story seems to be more about character than action, until the end when an exciting manhunt turns up a brilliant surprise finale.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue Link:  The Chalk Circle Man

The Villa Girls by Nicky Pellegrino

Warning: Do not read this book hungry! In Nicky Pellegrino’s distinctive fashion food is liberally featured.

Savour this story as you are whisked away to the wonderful country of Italy - where the enjoyment of excellent yet simple food is an integral part of everyday life.

Four English girls are on holiday in Italy – this book deals with what happens then, later and then later still. The in-between stories are interesting as the girls are growing up and making their own way in the world, particularly the main character who has lost both parents.

This is a relaxing read, perfect for a duvet day.

Posted by Cookie Fan

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About the Author Now living in Auckland, Nicky Pellegrino was born in Liverpool. She spent childhood summers staying with her family in southern Italy. A shy, tall, gingery child she never really fitted in with her exuberant Italian cousins and had a tendency to stay quiet and observe things.

She works as a freelance journalist, has weekly columns in the Herald on Sunday newspaper and the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and her novels are distributed in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and have been translated into 12 languages. http://www.nickypellegrino.com/

The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

Alison Moore was short-listed for the Mann Booker prize for this unusual little book, which looks at the mayhem caused when certain events and people collide.

Futh’s life has been an unremitting series of disappointments, beginning with the departure of his mother when he was a boy. Still haunted by his mother’s perfume, he works as an industrial chemist recreating scents, and carries the long-empty perfume bottle in his pocket. It is shaped like a lighthouse, a potent symbol, but does it mean welcome or danger?

Ester runs a guesthouse in Germany with her husband, Bernard. She’s so starved of affection she lures willing males into empty bedrooms while Bernard seethingly completes his crossword puzzles. Ester also has a lighthouse perfume bottle she is attached to, and a tendency to filch baubles from guestrooms. When Futh books into the hotel for a walking holiday all three characters seem to be on a collision course for disaster.

The Lighthouse is a carefully crafted book, full of echoes and resonances and, in particular, smells. Moore unashamedly throws her characters in at the deep end, and whether they sink or swim is for the reader to discover. The book gives us a lot to think about, and its story is utterly compelling, if somewhat nerve-wracking. Fortunately its detached, ironic tone also makes it extremely readable.

Posted by JAM

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The Lighthouse by Alison Moore, 2012

She Left Me the Gun by Emma Brockes

Emma knew that some mystery lurked in her mother’s past. She had once told her ‘One day I will tell you the story of my life and you will be amazed.’ But 10 year old Emma was too young at the time and the full story was never revealed during the rest of her tranquil upbringing in the English Home Counties.

Periodically, her mother would receive letters from half-siblings still living in South Africa and tell her tales about the wildlife and the weather. But Emma sensed there were certain blanks and omissions where there ought to be family stories. And she never knew the reason why, one day, her mother had packed all her belongings (including her gun) into a suitcase and emigrated all alone at the age of thirty.

It was only when she and her father were mourning her mother’s death that 28 year old Emma decided it was time to find out more. As a journalist, she used her investigative skills to uncover documents revealing the family’s dark and dysfunctional past. Talking with her relatives in South Africa left her with a deep respect for the strength and determination of her mother and illustrated just how much she had been protected from its painful legacy. 

This is a moving and well-written personal story, and Brockes has told it with much wisdom and compassion.

Reviewed by Spot

Check our Catalogue and reserve online:   She Left Me the Gun by Emma Brockes, 2013 
        
Emma Brockes talks about writing her mother's story:

San Miguel by T C Boyle

T C Boyle conjures up a world of dreams, possibilities and heart-break in this novel set on San Miguel, an island off the coast of California. The island is the wild and windswept site of a sheep station and in 1888 it becomes the home of Will and Marantha and Marantha’s lively teenage
daughter, Edith. Will hopes to make his fortune, and Marantha hopes the fresh air will cure her tuberculosis, but optimism soon turns to disappointment, and both Marantha and Edith find themselves desperate to leave.

Forty odd years later another couple is eager to try island life. This time it’s Elise, who has been swept off her feet by exuberant and adorable Herbie, just when she thought she was a spinster for life. Their experience is more the island dream they hope for and their marriage seems truly blessed, but can they survive at a time of the Great Depression and then another world war?

Boyle has a gift of making his characters very real and their isolation on the island throws their relationships, trials and aspirations into sharp relief. The island itself is described so well you can taste the salt in the air and feel the sand beneath your feet. This is a haunting and unusual story, beautifully narrated.

Reviewed by JAM

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San Miguel by T C Boyle, 2012