Shifting Colours by Fiona Sussman

Shifting Colours is set in a domestic service environment during South Africa's apartheid years. Celia is a maid in Johannesburg. Her sons are being brought up by her mother in Soweto; her husband works away, in the mines.
Celia's bright young daughter Miriam lives with her in a small shack in her employer's - the Steiners - garden. After the Sharpeville Massacre the Steiners decide to migrate to England and want to adopt Miriam and take her with them.

Celia reluctantly agrees (after she and Miriam witness some shocking police brutality) in the hope that Miriam will have a better life. Sadly Miriam's life in England is lonely and filled with a different kind of racism, and the Steiners do not keep up the promised contact with Celia. Years later Miriam returns to South Africa to try to find her mother.

I found this novel gripping and powerful. The characters of Celia and Miriam drew me in and the backdrop of apartheid South Africa makes for a compelling read.

Fiona Sussman was brought up in apartheid South Africa and migrated to New Zealand in the 1980's.

 

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link: Shifting Colours

Author website: Fiona Sussman

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

Rosamund Lupton takes the reader on a nail-biting ride through an Alaska in sub-zero conditions with her latest novel, The Quality of Silence.Yasmin arrives at Fairbanks to meet up with her husband, Matt, a wildlife film-maker, with her hearing-impaired daughter, Ruby, in tow. They are going to spend Christmas together, which is only a few weeks away, so as you can imagine, the weather in this part of the world is somewhat less than balmy.

When the northern Inupiaq settlement Matt has made his base is reported destroyed in a gas explosion with no survivors, Yasmin refuses to believe her husband is dead. The mother and daughter determine to journey north across the snowy wastes with a storm imminent. It will be a race against time to find her husband alive, and with the last flight cancelled, Yasmin has to depend on the good nature of the trucking community.

As if this isn’t enough, Yasmin has the distinct impression of being followed, feelings supported by Ruby who has a knack for noticing people’s body language. Lupton ups the tension notch by notch to a real cliff-hanger of an ending - the desperate drive through the night as the storm hits, a final showdown with the malefactor determined to stop her.

The Quality of Silence is a total page-turner, but it also gives the reader plenty to mull over on the dangers of fracking in a fragile environment and about the challenges of being a deaf child trying to fit in at school. On one level it is about communication - of both truth and lies - but mostly it reads as a pretty decent sort of thriller. Rug up warmly first though.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: The Quality of Silence

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

When Helen Russell’s husband gets a job for Lego in Denmark, the high-flying London journalist has to find a way to entertain herself in rural Denmark. As well as taking up freelance writing, she embarks on a study of why Denmark show up on statistics as the happiest nation.

In the resulting book, she delves into wide-ranging aspects of the Danish lifestyle: from how many candles they burn in winter, to the tradition of burning 'witches', to Danish eating habits, and their take on feminism.

It turns out, trusting people more is key:

“[That’s] the number one reason the Danes are so damned happy,” she writes. “So try it. You’ll feel better, save yourself unnecessary stress and trusting the people around you can make them behave better, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

This broad examination of Danish cultures is tied in with a personal look at what it is to be a newcomer in Denmark, and includes an even more intimate dimension – her quest to become a mother.

Helen has written for The Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent, The Daily Mail, Metro, Grazia, Stylist and Marie Claire UK among others.

Posted by Bookish Betsy

Catalogue link: The Year of Living Danishly 

Catalogue link ebook:  The Year of Living Danishly

Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood

Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher mysteries are light, bright fun and while the TV series was full of period charm and great characters there is nothing like reading the novels. This is because Greenwood’s prose is so sharp and witty.

Death by Water places Phryne and companion, Dot, on a cruise ship sailing around New Zealand of all places. Phyne has been hired to investigate a series of jewel thefts on board the S.S. Hinemoa. She’s been given a luxury berth of course (Dot’s in second class so she can get all the gossip from the maids), and along with a vast wardrobe of low-cut evening dresses, she’s wearing a dazzling but fake sapphire pendant. This will help her tempt the culprit into action.

Soon there is a goodly assortment of potential perpetrators, most of whom share Table Three in the dining room. Could it be Albert Forrester, a photographer with an eye for the ladies, or sullen Mr West who is led a merry dance by his flirtatious young wife? There’s young Jack Mason who is full of fun and Professor Applegate, an expert on all things Maori. The Melody Makers is an all-girl band who keep the music pumping.

Murder lurks in the shadows, however, and it isn’t surprising with illicit romance, dark secrets and blackmail keeping the plot humming along. As does the dramatic New Zealand scenery. Greenwood has the tone just right for the 1920s and Phryne, as always, delights with her modern, flapper style. There are twenty novels in the series, and I haven't come across a dud yet; these are ideal novels for lazy afternoons by the fire or at the beach - any time really.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Death by Water

Man Booker Prize Shortlist

The shortlist has been announced for the coveted Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015! Sadly our own longlisted Anna Smaill did not make the cut this time with her debut novel The Chimes, but what a huge achievement to have been in consideration.

The remaining contenders for the top prize are:

• Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings
• Tom McCarthy, Satin Island
• Chigozi Obioma, The Fishermen
• Anne Tyler, A Spool of Blue Thread
• Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways
• Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

The Man Booker Prize is awarded for the best English language novel of the year, as chosen by a panel of acclaimed judges. The 2015 Judges are Ellah Allfrey, John Burnside, Sam Leith, Frances Osborne and Michael Wood (Chair). The winner receives £50,000 in prize money as well as huge publicity for the author and novel.

• The Man Booker Prize winner will be announced on Tuesday 13 October 2015.

New Zealand’s Eleanor Catton won the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 2013 for her novel The Luminaries

For more information visit www.themanbookerprize.com

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

In 1974 Philippe Petit daringly and illegally walked a tightrope between the twin towers of the brand new World Trade Centre.
This novel tells Philippe’s story and that of others who were in New York City on that day, and were directly or indirectly affected by this event.
The characters are eclectic and convincing, including: an Irish monk working with prostitutes in the Bronx; a recovering drug addict artist; a group of grieving mothers; and the presiding judge of Philippe’s eventual court case.
This disparate group is beautifully characterised by McCann, and their stories are expertly and beautifully woven together in unexpected ways.
Social issues of the day such as the Vietnam War; the earliest days of the internet; and the appearance of HIV also feature.
McCann is a masterful writer who tells a fascinating story.
I so enjoyed this book I have searched out Philippe Petit’s autobiography ‘To Reach the Clouds’; as well as the fantastic award winning documentary ‘Man on Wire’ – both held by the Hastings District Libraries.

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link:  Let the great world spin
Catalogue link:  To Reach the Clouds
Catalogue link:  Man on Wire

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

The Bloomsbury Group are credited with having a huge influence on literature, social thought, aesthetics and economics. Priya Parmar delves into the origins of the group with her fictional diary of Vanessa Bell, a well-known painter in her own right, but perhaps more famous for being Virginia Woolf’s sister.

Before marrying, the two young women shared a house in Bloomsbury, London, with their brothers Thoby and Adrian Stephen, where the boys invited their clever Cambridge friends for soirees every Thursday. This was the early 1900s, so these late nights spent changing the world and no chaperones were considered shocking for the time. Among the characters Parmar treats us with are Lytton Strachey, Ottoline Morrell and Roger Fry.

But more interestingly, this is a view of the relationship between two sisters. As the eldest, Vanessa looks after the family accounts and worries about Virginia who is prone to mental breakdowns. When Vanessa is courted by Clive Bell, Virginia becomes so jealous she schemes to create a rift in the couple's relationship.

Stories written in diary format don’t always grab me, but this one just hummed along and I couldn’t put it down. Vanessa is such a sympathetic character and what a fascinating bunch the Bloomsbury Group were. Mingled with Vanessa’s diary entries are witty letters between Strachey and Leonard Woolf, telegrams and assorted correspondence.

Parmar has done a lot of research to imagine Vanessa Bell’s voice and her feelings for her charismatic but difficult sister. She allows her character to grow and change as events affect her to make a compelling and intriguing read.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Vanessa and Her Sister

The Good Life on Te Muna Road by Deborah Coddington

So, so, good and worth reading! This former journalist has had a great life and had me smiling many times.

Deborah –a former journalist; writes a great book – she’s very honest about her life ‘warts and all’. She takes readers back to the hippie era in 1960’s Martinborough; so many names are familiar and she was part of the artist, protesters, poets, novelists and photographers set. Deborah and Alistair’s home Waiura seemed to be the centre of all the socialising – until he went bankrupt and they had to leave Martinborough under a cloud of unpaid debts. She then ran a Bay of Islands restaurant for a few years.

Deborah also recounts details of her career as a journalist and her term in Parliament as an ACT list MP. She later returned to Martinborough unsure of the reception – all was well, the community was outstanding , with a fabulous ‘can do’ and ‘all in this together’ spirit. She was accepted back into provincial New Zealand.

Later, wiser and very much in love, she marries Colin Carruthers QC and they buy a vineyard on Te Muna Road. With help from neighbours they build a winery and move a house on. She’s an at home mum and grandmother now, working the vineyard, as well as a columnist. Deborah has a great love of animals and tells stories of pig raising, poultry, birds, horses, and dogs. Lovely anecdotes are included of her cheeky animals, with names like Mugabe and Gorbachev, Crackling and Bratwurst.
If you love animals you’d enjoy the book – in fact I didn’t want it to end!

Posted by Rae, Young@Heart Book Group

Catalogue link: The Good Life on Te Muna Road
Catalogue link: The Good Life on Te Muna Road

An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson

The first book in Nicola Upson’s mystery series featuring real-life author, Josephine Tey, throws the reader into the heady atmosphere of London’s theatre scene in the 1930’s. Josephine is quickly caught up in events when a young milliner is found murdered on a train. She is particularly upset as she shared a compartment with the victim, Elspeth Simmons, and was talking to her mere minutes before her death.

The crime scene has been artfully arranged by the killer and here police discover two commemorative dolls from Josephine’s play, a run-away hit at The New theatre. What’s more, Elspeth was visiting London to see the play with her boyfriend, a stage hand. You can only wonder if Josephine had been the intended victim. Josephine’s old friend, Detective Inspector Archie Penrose, isn’t ruling anything out, but when another murder takes place, a variety of suspects and motives pop up.

There’s the director, John Terry, a character possibly modelled on a young John Gielgud, who has an awkward secret, while actor Lewis Fleming is hiding a personal tragedy and needs cash. A bitter stage manager and an absconding boyfriend are more contenders, while doubts about Elspeth’s parentage and a wartime mystery give the reader lots to mull over.

Upsom delivers a classic Agatha Christie style of whodunit here with plenty of red herrings and a fairly convoluted plot. I particularly enjoyed the theatrical world she has created – you forget that before TV, cinema and online streaming, theatre was huge. It is interesting to note that Tey also wrote crime fiction and her novel, The Daughter of Time was voted the greatest crime novel of all time by the Crime Writer’s Association in 1990.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: An Expert in Murder

More about Josephine Tey