Huge thanks to The Write Reads for my spot on the blog tour for The Chronicles of Iona: Exile by Paula de Fougerolles. I’m delighted to share a spotlight post with some links to the fabulous reviews we’ve had so far on the tour!

Blurb

The Chronicles of Iona: Exile tells the story of the Irish monk and Scottish warrior, Saint Columba and Aedan mac Gabran, who would band together to lay the foundation of the nation of Scotland.  They were a real-life 6th-century Merlin and King Arthur and their story has never been told.

The book begins in 563 A.D.  The Roman Empire is long gone, freeing the region of Scotland from the threat of imperial rule but opening it to chaos from warring tribes vying for control. Columba, a powerful abbot-prince, is exiled from Ireland to the pagan colony of Dal Riata on Scotland’s west coast for an act of violence. There he encounters Aedan, the down-and-out second son of the colony’s former king, slain by the Picts.

Together, this unlikely pair travels the breadth of a divided realm, each in search of his own kind of unity.  Their path is fraught with blood feuds, lost love, treachery, dark gods and monsters, but also with miracles and valor.  Beset on all sides, their only hope is to become allies—and to forge a daring alliance with the pagan Picts.

How Columba overcame exile and a crisis of faith to found the famous monastery of Iona (one of the greatest centers of learning in Dark Age Europe) and, from it, the Celtic Church in the British Isles; and how Aedan avenged his father’s death and became, against all odds, the progenitor of Scottish kings and the greatest warlord of his age, begins here.

For both, what begins as a personal imperative becomes a series of events that lead to the foundation of Iona and the kingdom of Scotland—events that literally change the world.

From the Blog Tour

[Click on blog name for full review!]

The Artsy Reader: “Paula de Fougerolles created a story that made it fun to learn more, to link historical figures with true events and she was effortlessly weaving historical facts with her own imagination – something I enjoyed immensely.”

Frost at Midnite: “Absolutely loved it. Even readers who do not prefer historical reads will no doubt enjoy The Chronicles of Iona: Exile.”

Sarah’s Book Life: “Together Columba and Aedan’s journey is filled with adventure, miracles and is highly entertaining. As they travel the breadth of a divided realm, their path is fraught with blood feuds, lost love, treachery, dark gods and monsters.”

I’m A Voracious Reader: “This wonderfully written fictional tale is rooted in factual historical details but since very little records survived this time period the author has given us a compelling story of two men who ultimately helped shaped a region into what it is today.”

My Bookish Bliss: “Aedan is one of the best characters I’ve ever read. His strength, coupled with his intensely good character, makes him a man for people to love.”

Bri’s Book Nook:  “Once the story picked up, I couldn’t put the book down. The battle scenes captivated me as I couldn’t wait to see who became the victor, and the romantic drama had me on the absolute edge of my seat.”

About the Author

Paula de Fougerolles has a doctorate from the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, and has taught and published in the field. She has lived and traveled extensively throughout Scotland and Ireland, including a prestigious year-long Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in which she criss-crossed Europe in search of the physical remains of the so-called Dark Ages–research which ultimately led to this award-winning historical fiction series. To learn more, visit www.pauladefougerolles.com

Length: 394 Pages

Publishing: 25^th May 2012

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Iona-Exile-Paula-Fougerolles/dp/0615602541

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21654964-the-chronicles-of-iona

Blurb

From bestselling author Hannah Beckerman comes a moving story about memory, secrets, and what it really means to feel that you’re one of the family.

When Nell’s father makes a deathbed declaration that hints at a long-held secret, it reignites feelings of isolation that have plagued her for years. Her suspicions about the family’s past only deepen when her mother, Annie, who is losing her memories to dementia, starts making cryptic comments of her own.

Thirty-five years earlier, Annie’s life was upended by a series of traumas—one shock after another that she buried deep in her heart. The decisions she made at the time were motivated by love, but she knew even then that nobody could ever understand—let alone forgive—what she did.

As the two women’s stories unravel, a generation apart, Nell finally discovers the devastating truth about her mother’s past, and her own.

In this beautifully observed and emotionally powerful story of identity, memory and the nature of family, Hannah Beckerman asks: To what lengths would you go to protect the ones you love?

Review

Many thanks to FMcM Associates for sending me a proof copy of the book in return for an honest review, and for my spot on the blog tour.

This novel offers a deep dive into the secrets of a family, unravelling the tangled strands in a skilful and absorbing way. Nell’s attempts to come to terms with her father’s recent death and the decline in her mother’s health are complicated by the hints of things left unsaid, of memories pushed to the bottom of the pile, and it is a compelling emotional journey to uncover the truth. The narrative flicks back and forth between Now and Then, using an evocative present tense for both, and I found myself equally drawn to Nell and Annie as protagonists.

The story is tenderly and delicately told, excavating painful and difficult truths with care and sensitivity. The themes are deep and raw, but they are handled with beautiful empathy and respect. Beckerman is a wonderful writer – her sentences shine, and there is a deliberateness, a carefulness, to the prose that suits its heavy subject matter.

Annie’s story in particular reminded me a lot of Elaine in Mel O’Doherty’s novel Fallen, which I read earlier this year, and I think the two writers share a sensibility, a care and precision that lends itself to these weighty topics. If you like fiction that moves you, that delves deep into the emotional recesses of what it means to be part of a family, into the ebb and flow of memory and truth, then you will find much to enjoy in The Impossible Truths of Love.

About the Author

Hannah Beckerman is a novelist and journalist. She is a book critic and features writer for The Observer and FT Weekend Magazine and has contributed to a wide range of publications from The Guardian to Red magazine. As a regular chair at literary festivals and corporate events she has interviewed a host of authors and celebrities, as well as appearing as a book critic on BBC Radio 2 and Times Radio. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Hannah worked in television as a producer and commissioning editor for the BBC, Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel USA. She lives in London. The Impossible Truths of Love is her third novel.

The Impossible Truths of Love is published by Lake Union and is available to purchase here.

I’m still reading a little bit more slowly than I was in the first half of the year, but I’ve had a great month of reading nonetheless. Here’s a quick round-up:

She Came to Stay by Eleni Kyriacou (2020)

This is a wonderfully atmospheric story, drenched in smog and mystery and full of surprises. You can read my full review of She Came to Stay here.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (1928)

I got a bit behind on our Poirot readalong, so I’ve been trying to catch up. I enjoyed this one – I don’t think it’s up there with my favourites, but I do like a Poirot that flicks between locations (it always amuses me how effortlessly he nips down to the south of France or whizzes back to London for a night!) and there are some good characters. Solid mid-level Christie.

Black Coffee by Agatha Christie – novelisation by Charles Osborne (1998)

This novelisation of Christie’s 1930 play of the same name didn’t quite hit the spot for me, although I found it more enjoyable if I pretended I was seeing it on stage! As a locked room mystery, there just wasn’t quite enough intrigue to sustain my attention over the book, though there are some fun moments.

Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy (2021)

All I can say about this book is that I LOVED it. Absolutely one of my top reads of 2021 – not to be missed! You can read my full review of Iron Annie here.

The Impossible Truths of Love by Hannah Beckerman (2021)

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking book. The mysteries that are unravelled are both shocking and moving, and the writing is gorgeous. My review will be up on 2nd October as part of the blog tour.

Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun translated by Janet Hong (2021)

This is a startlingly fresh novel – a slim but powerful book that isn’t quite like anything I’ve read before. My review will be up as part of the blog tour on 18th October – keep an eye out!

29 Locks by Nicola Garrard (2021)

I’ll be getting a full review up soon, but this YA novel is brilliant. Donny, the narrator, is a wonderful character – and his story is really important. It’s just been released, and I hope it’s read widely by both teens and adults.

An Island by Karen Jennings (2020)

I’ve just finished this Booker longlisted novel, and I need some time to process it! It’s a really powerful story, told in an almost allegorical style, and it left me reeling. Highly recommended – I’ll try and gather together some more coherent thoughts soon!

September has been another good reading month – I’m still a bit stressed that my TBR doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller (but then I keep buying books, so…) but I’m trying to relax and not get so het up about reading to a schedule. Having said that, October seems to be a busy one for blog tours, so I guess I never learn!

Hope you’ve seen something that piques your interest – lots of reviews still to come, so keep an eye on my blog for more detailed thoughts!

Happy reading!

Ellie x

Blurb

I still think’a her every day, several times a day.

Aoife knows everyone in Dundalk’s underworld. Too well, in some cases. But when she meets Annie, a beautiful whirlwind of a woman, and brings her to the Town, she finds that she doesn’t know nearly enough about her.

Annie is magnetic and wild and Aoife’s desire to learn more quickly becomes a need, and then an obsession – to know this dangerous woman, to love her, to keep her. So when Aoife’s friend and collaborator the Rat King asks her to help him dispose of ten kilos of cocaine, swiped from a rival, she brings Annie along for a road trip through a Britain that she only knows as a place to be suspicious of. So when Annie decides she doesn’t want to return to Ireland, Aoife makes a decision that changes everything.

Gritty and yet tender, tragic and yet hopeful, Iron Annie is a breakneck journey that crackles with energy, warmth and heart, and marks the arrival of a fresh and vibrant new voice in literary fiction.

Review

Huge thanks to Brian at Storyline Literary Agency and Bloomsbury for providing me with a beautiful finished copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am going to find it very difficult to write a decent review of this book, because Iron Annie is one of those rare, special gems that has worked its way into my heart. I feel less as if I’ve read a novel, and more as if I have met and fallen in love with real people. It’s kind of similar to how I felt about Fíona Scarlett’s stunning book Boys Don’t Cry (incidentally, Scarlett is also quoted on the back cover of Cassidy’s novel) – in my review of that book, I wrote about the way in which the author makes space for the voices of the boys, stepping back so that the characters come to the fore. This also happens in Iron Annie – this is so definitively Aoife’s story – she is its voice and its centre and she comes alive through her narration, to the point where it is hard to remember that there is an author behind her words (sorry, Luke, I promise I do mean that as a huge compliment!)

But in Iron Annie there is another layer at play. Not only does the wonderfully vivid narrative voice immerse us in Aoife’s story, but Aoife herself is a generous, clear-eyed, honest narrator, who gives space to the other characters in the story, brings them alive for us, loves them fiercely despite their flaws, and it is impossible not to feed off her energy and enthusiasm and straight-talking wisdom. Seeing the world through Aoife’s eyes feels like a gift, an insight into a better way of looking at people and learning to love them. And yet there is nothing sentimental about this story – the hard, painful truths of scraping by and living in the margins are there in all their gritty realism, and Annie herself is far from idealised, despite Aoife’s love for her. But that’s what makes it so real – Aoife is under no illusions about Annie; she sees her clearly, she tries her best to understand her, and, in a very subtle, intelligent way, she shows us how to love without either judgement or naivety.

It did take me a little bit of time to get into Aoife’s distinctive voice, but as soon as I did, I was flying. It’s gorgeously written, compulsively readable – I found myself having to ration it out so I didn’t reach the end too quickly. There are so many small, moving moments in this book (as well as one GIANT one that had me break down in tears), so many instances of showing what it means to be truly, purely ALIVE. There are lines that will stay with me, characters who have firmly taken up residence in my mind – I know I will be thinking about them for a long, long time.

I don’t know whether the author will return to Dundalk in future books, but I’d absolutely love to revisit it. The Town is as much a character in the novel as the people, and I would love to catch up with its residents again. Regardless, I will definitely be reading anything else Luke Cassidy writes in the future – his talent radiates from every page, and I think I’ll be hard-pressed to read a better debut novel this year. I miss Aoife already, though I can still hear her voice.

Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy is published by Bloomsbury and is available to purchase here.

Blurb

London, 1952. Dina Demetriou has travelled from Cyprus for a better life. She’s certain that excitement, adventure and opportunity are out there, waiting – if only she knew where to look.

Her passion for clothes and flair for sewing land her a job repairing the glittering costumes at the notorious Pelican Revue. It’s here that she befriends the mysterious and beautiful Bebba.

With her bleached-blonde hair and an appetite for mischief, Bebba is like no Greek Dina has ever met before. She guides Dina around the fashionable shops, bars and clubs of Soho, and Dina finally feels life has begun.

But Bebba has a secret. And as thick smog brings the city to a standstill, the truth emerges with devastating results. Dina’s new life now hangs by a thread. What will be left when the fog finally clears? And will Dina be willing to risk everything to protect her future?

A story of friendship, family, love and loss set against the grimy and glittering streets of fifties Soho. For fans of Kate Furnivall and Rachel Rhys.

Review

Many thanks to the author for sending me a copy She Came to Stay in exchange for an honest review. I owe Eleni an apology for taking so long to get around to reading this, but I’m so glad I did, as I really enjoyed it.

She Came to Stay is such an atmospheric novel – the thick swirling smog that fills the streets, creeps under doorways, catches in the characters’ throats, becomes a sinister presence in the story, a poisonous, yellow-tinged evil that aligns perfectly with the darker side of this book. London in 1952 is perfectly evoked, from the fashion to the first stirrings of a more emancipated post-war era, and the details and descriptions are wonderful.

What I liked most about the story is that it genuinely took me by surprise. This makes it quite hard to review, as I don’t want to give away the unexpected swerve I felt the story took – suffice to say it is a brilliant exploration of the changing dynamics between the three main characters, and as Dina, Beppa and Peter move into closer proximity, the results are dramatic and gripping. All three characters are nuanced and intriguing, and, as with real life, we don’t see all sides of them at once. Instead, as the story progresses, their complexities are revealed, in a way that rings very true.

There is a really good balance of thoughtful examination of what it means to be an immigrant, to leave your home country behind in search of the fabled ‘better life,’ and a full-blown mystery that dramatically unravels. It’s not easy to hold both strands confidently in a narrative, but Eleni Kyriacou does it with aplomb, and it creates a lovely tension between the interior lives of the protagonists and the thriller-esque events they have to face. I liked the change of pace as the novel gathers momentum and becomes more thriller-like in its second half – I always enjoy reading books that play around with mode and genre, and She Came to Stay does this brilliantly.

Conventional attitudes at the time are similarly juxtaposed with the real feelings of the characters, creating yet more conflict and tension as they struggle to fit into a world that seems set against them. It is a fascinating story, full of intrigue and excitement, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. She Came to Stay would appeal to lovers of both historical fiction and thrillers, marrying as it does both genres in an interesting and compelling way.

She Came to Stay by Eleni Kyriacou is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available to purchase here.

Some Bookish Thoughts

So, it’s been a while since I’ve written a long, rambling post on my blog, and I’m sure you’ve missed it. I’ve been seeing a lot of disillusionment about book blogging on my Twitter feed, and I am far from immune to it myself. A few months ago, I was wondering what the point of my blog was, when my tweets and Instagram posts seem to get a lot more engagement. I mean, my blog views are LOW, and yet a silly tweet I posted about my kids went viral. Social media is certainly a funny one. And the effort that goes into writing blog posts is fairly considerable – it’s a time-consuming (not a) business, and I fully understand why people might start to feel jaded. It’s always worth reflecting and considering whether we’re spending our time on the right things, and I think we’ll all come to different conclusions.

For me, I needed to think back to why I started blogging about my reading in the first place. I wanted a reading record, somewhere to note down what I had read and a few thoughts about the books. For YEARS, it was an inconsistent, highly personal mish-mash of posts, mostly what I now know as ‘monthly wrap-ups’, and the only person who read it with any regularity was my lovely bookish auntie. But it was somewhere to keep track of what I’d read, and I was happy enough with that.

Then I stopped reading. Unsurprisingly, this coincided with having two babies in two years, and a full time career, and a general creative lull. The blog went on pause while life went on. I lost parts of myself, and found new parts, and occasionally I’d have a reading binge on my Kindle, but I was lucky to read five books a year. Then, in 2019, after the total sleep deprivation had eased, and my creative spark returned, I found books again. I read quite a lot (by previous years’ standards) and I started keeping a list again. I thought, why not revive the blog, and go back to keeping my monthly log? I think that’s when I moved it to WordPress – but at this stage it was still a private thing, a personal record.

In February 2020 I remembered a Twitter account I’d set up five years previously and never used, and figured why not post my January Reading on there? This, of course, led me to discover that my personal, private hobby of ‘book blogging’ was in fact A THING.

Fast forward to now: I actually get sent proofs of books that aren’t out yet; I have authors messaging me to ask if I want to review their books; I sign up for the occasional blog tour; I have fully returned to physical books and learned the weird, paradoxical joy/terror of the teetering TBR pile. It’s simultaneously amazing and overwhelming, and I’ve had to learn to occasionally say ‘no’ to books – which is HARD. My record of my hobby has become something more public, something with expectations and commitments, and that is quite a strange thing in and of itself.

I’ve also dipped my toe into Instagram, which I fall in and out of love with on a regular basis. I go through phases of really enjoying ‘stack challenges’ and setting up arty shots, and then I have weeks when I just don’t feel like posting at all. I’ll be honest, I find Instagram quite hard work, and I can’t pretend to understand the dreaded ‘algorithm’ at all. For me, it feels less personal, and I don’t post full reviews there. Although I do read them, and enjoy them, so I’m not quite sure what it is that stops me. I think I don’t like having a word limit, and also I find it harder to keep track of my reviews as neatly as I can on here.

After much ruminating, what it boils down to is this: if the ARCs stopped tomorrow, and my blog went 100% offline, would I still keep writing it? For me, the answer is yes. I like writing down my personal response to books, and I love having a record of what I have read (I am a list geek – lists are the best). If I was only reading books I’d bought, as indeed I was doing for many, many years, I’d still be noting down my thoughts on them and making lists and so forth. It’s useful to me as both a reader and a writer. I like to see where I’m falling into the trap of sticking to a couple of genres; where I’m neglecting forms I love, like short stories and literature in translation. It allows me to take stock of my reading and see where I need to diversify. Ultimately, I guess, I’m keeping my blog for the selfish reason that it is still of immense value to me personally.

I will add that, with the new dimension of ARCs and author requests, I know that Twitter shout-outs and Instagram are also important – if I am sent a proof, and I enjoy it, I want to shout about it in the most effective way possible (let’s be honest, that is WHY I’ve been sent it) – but I can do that, too – I can post a nice pic on Instagram, tweet about it, support the author as much as I can. I can do all that as well as writing my reviews and my monthly wrap ups for me. I do want to be a part of creating buzz around books I love – it’s a great feeling – and I know that my blog reviews aren’t actually a huge part of that – but I still want to do them, because I still enjoy it.

Finally (yep, nearly done!) I want to say that there are masses of absolutely fantastic bookish folk who don’t have a blog, and who shout about books in loads of different ways, and I think it is essential that we have all these different mediums for doing so. I’m excited by the enthusiasm of the Book Tok crowd, and the hugely positive effect they have on persuading potential readers to make purchases – but I also know that I really don’t want to join in that particular strand, as even Instagram feels almost too much for me! Find what makes you happy, what’s fun and makes you feel like you’re getting your message and your love of books across, and do that. Change it up when you need to, take a break from the bits that start to feel like work, and remember there are a million different ways to share the book love. I like having my own space to write down my thoughts, and to be honest, the low stats make it fairly unintimidating, so for me, for the foreseeable, I’m keeping my book blog. I’ll do me – you do you, and let’s all keep enjoying all the fab books that come our way.

Happy reading!

Ellie x

August was a very difficult month, as I was very unwell and ended up in hospital for three days, followed by quite a long recovery period. I’m amazed I managed to read anything at all last month, but I did, and these six crackers are all well worth a read. I’m just about back on form now, so I’m hoping to get through a few more books in September, but do you know, I read less than usual and the world didn’t end (okay, poor choice of words, as it is all a bit apocalyptic atm…) – so I guess there is probably a lesson there about taking off the pressure when it comes to my reading!

Fireborn by Aisling Fowler (2021)

I was thrilled to be on the Write Reads tour for this fantastic MG adventure. The story of Twelve and her companions makes for a cracking read, with monsters and magic aplenty, plus there is an adorable squirrel called Widge – what more could you want?! I’m looking forward to the next instalment. You can read my full blog tour review here.

Cecily by Annie Garthwaite (2021)

Cecily was our @Squadpod3 Book Club Pick for August, and I loved chatting about this novel and getting to ask the author about it in our Q and A. This is a deeply intelligent historical novel, impeccably researched, and it gave me a new perspective on the role of women in politics during this era. You can read my full review of Cecily here.

The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990)

This is the first volume in the Cazalet Chronicles series, most of which I read a very long time ago. I’ve got the newly reissued editions, which are absolutely beautiful, and I reread The Light Years while recovering from being ill – it was exactly the right thing! You can read my review here. I can’t wait to crack on with the rest of the series!

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks (2021)

I was so excited to receive a proof copy of the new Sebastian Faulks novel, and Snow Country did not disappoint. An elegant, original story that shows what a fantastic writer Faulks is. You can read my full review of Snow Country here.

The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson (2021)

I’d seen bloggers whose opinion I trust implicitly raving about this book, so of course I had to see what all the fuss was about. The Hierarchies is brilliant – perfect for fans of Atwood’s dystopian fiction (me!) and Sylv.ie is a character who will stay with me for a long time. You can read my full review here.

This Good Book by Iain Hood (2021)

I really loved this book, and I think it is going to be one of my top reads of 2021. It’s a clever, funny, fresh examination of morality and art and platonic friendship, and I just think it’s one of the most original novels I’ve read in a long time. You can read my full review of This Good Book here.

All in all, I’m really pleased that I managed to read these wonderful books last month, and I hope at least one of them has piqued your interest! Do let me know what you’ve been reading – am always looking for more recommendations!

Happy reading!

Ellie x

Blurb

‘Sometimes I wonder, if I had known that it was going to take me fourteen years to paint this painting of the Crucifixion with Douglas as Jesus, and what it would take for me to paint this painting, would I have been as happy as I was then?’

Susan Alison MacLeod, a Glasgow School of Art graduate with a dark sense of humour, first lays eyes on Douglas MacDougal at a party in 1988, and resolves to put him on the cross in the Crucifixion painting she’s been sketching out, but her desire to create ‘good’ art and a powerful, beautiful portrayal means that a final painting doesn’t see the light of day for fourteen years.

Over the same years, Douglas’s ever-more elaborately designed urine-based installations bring him increasing fame, prizes and commissions, while his modelling for Susan Alison, who continues to work pain and suffering on to the canvas, takes place mostly in the shadows. This Good Book is a wickedly funny, brilliantly observed novel that spins the moral compass and plays with notions of creating art.

Review

Huge thanks to Will at Renard Press for sending me a copy of This Good Book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to have to do it: THIS is a damn GOOD BOOK (sorry, not sorry). It really is something special, and I will try and tell you why, although to be honest, I don’t want to be too specific, as I think a lot of the ‘frisson’ comes from not knowing too much about it before you start reading. I devoured it in one sitting, staying up way past my bedtime, as I just had to keep reading. That’s a pretty good sign.

What I can tell you is that you won’t have met a character quite like the narrator of This Good Book before. Susan Alison is a creation of literary genius – she is somehow straightforward and enigmatic at the same time both blunt and sharp, dry-humoured and naive all at once. She isn’t endearing or empathetic, but my god, she is fascinating. There is also something almost mesmerising about the rhythm of the dialogue, with the repeated “And I said,” “And he said,” “And I said” structure; it chugs along like a runaway train, and it is impossible not to get caught up in the hectic whirl of conversation.

This book is full of tricks and delights, playing with structure and language, and yet managing to avoid being gimmicky. I gradually realised that the paragraph breaks had one word repeated either side, worked into the text so naturally that I had to flick back and make sure that I wasn’t inventing it. It’s a small thing, but it is an example of how the narrator AND the author play with the form of the novel, a subtle acknowledgment that this is a carefully constructed work of art, which of course links back to the main themes of This Good Book.

I think what I love most about this book is that it is a hugely intelligent and philosophical examination of the big question: “What is Art?” without being at all pretentious – on the contrary, it is loads of fun, and I laughed a lot. It packs in so much – religion, morality, unlikely friendships, the act of creation – and manages to be playful without being frivolous. There is a darkness that creeps in, too, but I won’t spoil anything here, except to say that the ending left me reeling. I feel very strongly that books like this are why we NEED indie publishers willing to reach outside the mainstream – it is a very exciting thing as a reader to discover a book that feels entirely new. I can’t recommend this book highly enough – you honestly won’t have read anything like it before.

This Good Book by Iain Hood is published by Renard Press and is available to purchase here.

Blurb

Your Husband is the reason for your existence. You are here to serve him. You must not harm your Husband. Nor may you harm any human. Sylv.ie is a synthetic woman. A fully sentient robot, designed to cater to her Husband’s every whim. She lives alone on the top floor of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife and concealed from their child. Between her Husband’s visits, deeply curious about the world beyond her room, Sylv.ie watches the family in the garden–hears them laugh, cry, and argue. Longing to experience more of life, she confides her hopes and fears only to her diary. But are such thoughts allowed? And if not, what might the punishment be?

As Sylv.ie learns more about the world and becomes more aware of her place within it, something shifts inside her. Is she malfunctioning, as her Husband thinks, or coming into her own? As their interactions become increasingly fraught, she fears he might send her back to the factory for reprogramming. If that happens, her hidden diary could be her only link to everything that came before. And the only clue that she is in grave danger. Set in a recognizable near future and laced with dark, sly humor, Ros Anderson’s deeply observant debut novel is less about the fear of new technology than about humans’ age-old talent for exploitation. In a world where there are now two classes of women–“born” and “created”–the growing friction between them may have far-reaching consequences no one could have predicted.

Review

I’d seen a few blogger friends posting about this book, and I am a big fan of the work that Dead Ink publishes (Exit Management by Naomi Booth was my book of the year last year), so I treated myself to a copy from new indie bookshop Bearded Badger Books (and I may have chucked in one of their fabulous tote bags too, because, you know, I love a tote).

The premise is, admittedly, somewhat familiar – I read the blurb to my husband and he said, “Right, so it’s like that TV show Humans?” but remember, folks, he is a non-reader who doesn’t understand that even a familiar concept can make a fantastic story if done well, so don’t let that put you off. Yes, okay, sex robot gains sentience and wants more from life may be something we’ve seen before, but trust me, the way that this book is written makes it an incredible, fresh, original read.

The success of the story hinges on the brilliance of of Sylv.ie as a character. The first person narration and the diary-style episodes keep us immersed in her point of view, learning and understanding more about her situation only as she does. It is also a really good mix of dramatic events and more ruminative sections on really quite deep questions of what it means to be human or not, to have consciousness and free will in varying degrees – it’s fascinating. But it’s also a funny book, full of wicked humour and sharp observations. One of the joys of reading a story from a non-human point of the view is the mirror it holds up to the ridiculousness of so much of human behaviour, and Sylv.ie’s puzzlement at our foibles is wonderfully depicted.

I wasn’t expecting to be so moved by this book, but I got so caught up in Sylv.ie’s story. The twists and turns of her story are much less predictable than the premise suggests, and there are plenty of surprising, even shocking, moments. The ending is just right (I shall say no more about it for fear of spoilers!) and I finished the book feeling satisfied in that lovely way that the very best stories leave you feeling.

As dystopian fiction teeters ever closer to reality, books like The Hierarchies take on a new and frightening resonance, and I think this heightens the reading experience. It helps that Ros Anderson writes beautifully – there are many phrases and sentences that will stay with me from this book. It’s a story that leaves a lasting impression, and I highly recommend it.

The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson is published by Dead Ink and is available to purchase here.

Blurb

1914: Aspiring journalist Anton arrives in Vienna where he meets Delphine, a woman of experience and deep secrets. Entranced by the light of first love, Anton comes to life. Until his country declares war on hers.

1927: For Lena, life with her mother in a small town has been cosseted and cold. After a few years of schooling, she encounters a young lawyer who spirits her away to Vienna. However, what she imagines to be love soon crumbles, and she leaves the city behind to take a post at the snow-capped sanatorium, the Schloss Seeblick.

1933: Having lost many friends on the Eastern Front, Anton is sent to write about the mysterious Schloss Seeblick. In this place, on the banks of a silvery lake where the roots of human suffering are laid bare, two people will see each other as if for the first time.

Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and awaits the coming of another, SNOW COUNTRY is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, Sebastian Faulks has produced an epic love story of timeless resonance.

Review

I was very excited to get an early read of Snow Country (even my family were impressed that I had an early copy of the new Sebastian Faulks novel – first time they’ve shown any interest in my book post!). Huge thanks to Najma at Hutchinson for sending me a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second novel in the planned Austrian trilogy (which began with Human Traces), but it can absolutely be read as a standalone story. It is an elegant book, sweeping in its themes and locations, while also managing to feel intimate. The two protagonists, Anton and Lena (pronounced Layna), are complicated and original, their personalities built up in multiple layers, revealing a psychological astuteness on the part of the author that matches the setting of the Schloss Seeblick sanatorium. Lena in particular is such an interesting, unique character – I can’t think of any other character I have read recently to compare her to, and I loved seeing the idiosyncratic way she interacts with the world.

Faulks excels at the two cornerstones of a great novel: description and dialogue. The balance between the two is pitch-perfect, and the settings, from early twentieth century Vienna to the lakeside sanatorium surrounded by snow-capped mountains, feel as integral to the plot and the character development as the interactions between the characters themselves. There is something slantwise in the approach to the story that really intrigued me – perhaps connected to the inter-war setting much of the novel takes place in, a sense of sliding into the liminal spaces of history and closely examining the psychology of people who seem ordinary but are in fact anything but.

From a writing point of view, there’s so much to learn from Faulks about crafting beautiful prose that serves the story, that is not embellished for its own sake – every sentence, every description moves the narrative on. It flows wonderfully, and is a pleasure to read. I highly recommend this evocative story of the quiet places between the big events of history, the frenzied psychological activity taking place beneath a lake of seeming calm.

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks is published by Hutchinson and is available to purchase here.