Category: Uncategorized

An Iron Girl In A Velvet Glove- Triona Holden (2021)

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Back in the late 1980s/early 90s I lived in Crouch End in North London where close by a recording studio used by Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics was a café called Josie’s. The first time I went in there it was like being in some parallel universe.  Around the café were photos of big stars from two or three decades before with a glamorous blonde woman, not unlike Diana Dors, often photographed in sparkly gowns and leotards.  This lady was obviously the same lady who was now making our coffee.  From the magnitude of the people she was photographed with and the lengthy span when these photos would have been taken this was someone who I clearly should have known, but I didn’t.

Finding out some information nowadays would involve ten seconds on Google but things were different then.  I felt I couldn’t just ask her.  I eventually discovered that this was Joan Rhodes, a long lasting star of variety and the early years of tv, famed as a strongwoman and for tearing up telephone directories and now the subject of Triona Holden’s book published by The History Press, which seems a fitting publishing house for this unique talent who was very much of her time but whose attitudes and qualities will still very much resonate today. 

Joan Rhodes (1921-2010) went down a storm on variety bills, bending nails and steel bars with her bare hands, lifting weights and members of the audience, tearing up phone books, being a one-woman tug of war team and once, famously, tripping and dropping comedian Bob Hope.  Looking very much a showgirl and not overly muscular she was billed as “The Strongest Woman In The World” and “The Mighty Mannequin.” She toured the world, performed for royalty, appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in the USA and latterly ran a café in Crouch End where I encountered her.

The author befriended Joan in 2003.  By then retired and living in the garden flat she occupied for decades in Belsize Park she didn’t let that many people into her close circle but was a fiercely loyal long-time friend to luminaries such as Quentin Crisp, artist Dame Laura Knight, Marlene Dietrich and Larry Grayson.  She had an extraordinary tale to tell, was ripped off through attempting to self-publish an autobiography and so it was left to her old friend to tell this story eleven years after Joan’s death at the age of 89.

It’s a fascinating glimpse into the recent past, where things seem familiar and yet so far removed from today.  Joan did love to tell stories and had amassed large amounts of memorabilia and written accounts of events in her life and yet the author still discovered things she had chosen to hide.  Born into poverty, abandoned by her mother as a toddler, Joan credited the rage this caused within her to be the motivation for her feats of strength.  A street performer who worked her way up the variety ladder into becoming a highly recognised performer much feted by the popular press who loved to print stories about her. 

All this made me feel that I wished I had spoken more to her when I visited the café.  The author does a very good job of putting Joan Rhodes into context for a modern audience, even for those who might not now know what a telephone directory was! The book was inspired partly by the interest of the young production crew of BBC TV’s “The Repair Shop” where the author had one of Joan’s stage outfits she had inherited restored.  This felt both a nostalgic and empowering tale of a very special woman, who lived life on her terms, who used a unique physical talent extraordinarily and who also possessed great warmth, determination and resilience.

“An Iron Girl In A Velvet Glove – The Life Of Joan Rhodes” by Triona Holden was published in 2021 by The History Press.

The Sun Walks Down – Fiona McFarlane (Sceptre 2023)

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In 1883 in the desert environment of the Flinders Ranges in Southern Australia a six year old boy, Denny Wallace, disappears following a storm.  This is Australian author Fiona McFarlane’s second novel (there’s also been a prize-winning collection of short stories) and it is very much a character-led ensemble piece with a sizeable cast of fascinating characters.

This is the search for Danny and those involved include his family, the authorities and native trackers.  For me, the characters who burn brightest include his fifteen year old sister Cissy, who seems more on the ball than the adults, who borrows a horse from her teacher and is determined to locate her brother; Karl Rapp, a Swedish painter, in search of a perfect sunset; the newly-wed Minna Manning, throbbing with passion whilst her groom Robert, a policeman, is out looking for the boy and the mother, Mary, who waits stolidly at home.

The cast also includes an out of his element vicar; an aborigine whose youth was marked by his excelling in cricket, which no longer seems relevant, and a land-owning woman who yearns for the fur coat of a tracker.  We catch up with these throughout the narrative and there are occasional digressions into back stories which often serve to enrich our understanding of these characters.

It is very well-written with the sense of the desert environment strong where long-established livelihoods are threatened by the lack of rain.  Plot-wise, it is a little light in dramatic tension but atmosphere, characterisation and description made this a memorable, immersive read.

The Sun Walks Down is published in the UK by Sceptre on 9th March 2023.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

In Memoriam -Alice Winn (Viking 2023)

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There are some very strong debut novels which have already appeared in the first quarter of 2023- here’s another one.  I haven’t read that many World War I novels- I do have a little collection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry sitting on my shelves which I haven’t got around to.  I find it easy to put off reading about this time in history as it is so grim.  I was, however, intrigued by a strong publisher’s push and a description by Maggie O’Farrell of this as a “devastating love story between two young men on the Western Front.” I decided to grit my teeth and get on with what I suspected would be an emotional reading experience.

We first meet Sidney Ellwood and Henry Gaunt as sixth formers at Preshute, a public boarding school, perusing the school paper which produces a Roll of Honour for those killed, wounded and missing in the early days of the war, a conflict which you know they are inevitably going to be drawn into.  To begin with they are somewhat glib and their relationship is both caring and detached, maintaining a public indifference which masks a longing for one another.  Already they are children acting the part of grown-ups but nothing like their need to function in a completely different way once they sign up.

The description of battles, of everyday life in the trenches, of the limited chances of survival is exceptionally strong.  The action at times becomes overpowering.  A prisoner of war sequence is written as gripping thriller.  These boys should be rabbits-in-the-headlights, it is extraordinary to read how they were forced to adapt to these horrendous new experiences.  Life at home is also conveyed well, the anger the young soldiers must have felt towards their parents’ generation bothered by petty trivial matters without any understanding of what is being endured.  The young women handing white feathers to those too young to enlist or on leave and not in uniform I found absolutely chilling.  From time to time as the war advances  further issues of the school newspaper’s Roll Of Honour makes for very sobering reading.

I’m not sure how I feel about the author embracing aspects of the First World War that have become so familiar they are in danger of losing their power- the class divisions in the trenches, war poets, the footballs -at one point I became nervous that she would use the WWI football anecdote everyone knows but she states in her historical note at the end that she thought this would be too much.  I wasn’t totally convinced by her portrayal of the relationship between Gaunt and Ellwood and this for me was a little more tricky.  I appreciate I’m looking at a same-sex relationship from a modern perspective but I felt a little more could have been made of the issues regarding these very young men, forced to operate in a horrific adult world and exploring their feelings and sexuality within this.  In the war scenes their youth came across so strongly, in the love scenes less so.  I just think the balance was slightly off-kilter with these characters which meant I did not feel their relationship came across as real as I had hoped.

Reading about this war it is hard to comprehend how Europe survived after this.  I imagine it was largely, hard to believe this in our modern world, was because it wasn’t spoken about.  My grandmother lost a brother at the Somme, I cannot remember her ever talking about him.  This is the reason why, even a century plus on, I think it is so important that we have writers of the calibre of Alice Winn who can so vividly bring this dreadful time to life.

In Memoriam will be published by Viking on 9th March 2023.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Birnham Wood -Eleanor Catton (Granta 2023)

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It’s been 10 years since Eleanor Catton’s last novel, the doorstep sized “The Luminaries”, scooped the Booker Prize breaking both longest novel and youngest winning author records.  This book marks the long-awaited return for this New Zealand author and has a very different feel from her last highly-celebrated nineteenth century set work.

We are in modern New Zealand.  Birnham Wood is the name of a group of radical horticulturalists, a no profit organisation who carry out guerrilla gardening, planting crops in areas which do not belong to them.  An area called Korawai (fictional) cordoned off due to a landslip offers a great potential opportunity.  The land belongs to the newly knighted pest control expect Owen Darvish, awarded for services to conservation but he is in the middle of secret dealings with an American billionaire.  The Birnham Wood group get caught in the middle in what can loosely be described as an eco-thriller.

One thing I remembered about Eleanor Catton’s work is that she likes long sentences which slowed me down last time round but here it all becomes more and more readable as the plot advances.  I felt with “The Luminaries” that I was missing out on something allegorical I couldn’t  quite pick up on- here things seem more straightforward- it’s a state of the nation environmental novel with leanings towards thriller genre writing where the lines between the goodies and baddies are blurred and moral boundaries are crossed.

Despite the involving plot the main strength for me is (as in her last book) the relationship between characters, particularly Mira and Shelley, the two leading lights of Birnham Wood- Mira, inspirational, starting off enthralled by the prospect of new action for the group, Shelley, more practical, feeling disillusionment creeping in.  There’s great tension between these two friends which is convincing.  I’m not sure how I felt about the ending which wasn’t what I was expecting.  This is another strong title from Eleanor Catton, with less lofty ambitions than “The Luminaries”.  Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 10 years to read more from her.

Birnham Wood will be published by Granta in the UK on 2nd March.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Fire Rush – Jacqueline Crooks (Vintage 2023)

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This big buzz debut was one of the titles I featured as one of my potential highlights of the year.  Jacqueline Crooks has published short stories but this semi-autobiographical work is her first full-length novel.  It is also my first five star read of 2023.

This is a confident, lyrical, powerful work.  The author handles tonal change very well and is able, through an involving narrative, to sustain the pull of heritage, underwater imagery and the rhythms of the often undulating, often sparse dub instrumental versions of reggae music throughout a novel rich in plot and characterisation.

We start in 1978 in Norwood, a London suburb, with three girls, Yamaye, the narrator, Asase, prickly and sassy and Rumer, a white girl from the Irish travelling community who escape underground to dances in a church crypt, “a three-pin plug, charging ourselves to dub riddim, connecting through each other to the underground” whilst tensions with police, the use of stop and search laws and the men who hit on them on the dancefloor weave a potent web. 

A second section features Yamaye removed from her community, falling into a difficult lifestyle with restricted choices within a squat finding her expression in toasting over the rhythm tracks in a Bristol nightclub.  Circumstances force her to Jamaica in a third part to search for her heritage and regain meaning to her life.  Each section feels different and yet there is a flowing overlap which feels like it could stifle the main character at any moment as she struggles to keep her head above water.  This phrase is apt as there is so much water within the images of this book from the calling from the Caribbean over the oceans, the lingering ghosts of slave ships and release from the enchainment of the seas all having a part to play.

There’s a great cast of characters, vividly drawn.  The language is rich and rooted in a Black British Caribbean which feels poetic and powerful and often mystical and elusive, acknowledging a sisterhood of many previous generations, occasionally keeping meaning at arm’s length but then pulling in for a warming hug.

I really enjoyed this- from the fyah of the fierce girls dancing in the damp, smokey club to the fire of the title, the spiritual energy from a much simpler Jamaican life, there is much growth and development which kept me involved throughout.  It is a very strong debut and Jacqueline Crooks deserves to make a significant impact with this.

Fire Rush will be published by Vintage/ Jonathan Cape in the UK on 2nd March 2023.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

I Have Some Questions For You- Rebecca Makkai (Fleet 2023)

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I first discovered Rebecca Makkai in 2020 when I read her 2018 AIDS-era novel “The Great Believers” in one of the grimmest periods of lockdown.  I described the sensation of “feeling purged by the end but with the sense that I had received a tremendous reading experience.” It ended up as my Book Of The Year.  This, her 5th novel is the first since then.

It features a first-person narrative by Bodie Kane, a girl who found herself, due to unusual circumstances, as an outsider in an elite boarding school in the 1990s.  Her narrative is set in the present day and is addressed to one of her old teachers.  As an adult Bodie has never been able to move far away from the murder of an ex-room-mate, found drowned after a late-night visit to the pool.  Twenty-three years later she is back at the school teaching a podcast course and one of the students is manipulated by Bodie into re-examining the case.

This is a privileged American academic world largely within two time-zones, when Bodie was a student and then as a visiting staff member.  Since then, much has happened- different attitudes, MeToo and cancel culture means the later intake are a very different set of students, less accepting of the young Bodie’s environment and in the meantime a black man has been languishing in prison accused of a murder that an online community, which Bodie is very much a part of, seems never totally convinced he committed.

The three time settings gives a clever slant.  The three levels of looking back all presented in a form of an address to a member of staff Bodie had not seen since schooldays provides a fascinating set of perspectives.  As this structure demands, it is a very tight, controlled piece with lots of ruminations of the same events all stemming back to one night after a school production of “Camelot”.  I can, as a British reader, find writing set in American educational establishments rather distancing- it’s such a different world and there was a point where I felt my interest would wane but a leap forward to the post-Covid world regained my enthusiasm.

Within the narrative there is a nifty use of references to cases of abuse and murder, in an off-hand, suggestive manner, for example, she relates listening to a radio news item at one point and mentions was it the one where such and such happened, or the one where…or the one where.. This happens quite a few times within the text and is a sobering reminder that the case that Bodie experienced is one of so many where violence has destroyed lives.

I was impressed and involved but not in the same way as I was with “The Great Believers” where I felt a great emotional pull.  This is a very different book and is a highly contemporary and relevant one.

I Have Some Questions For You is published in the UK by Fleet, an imprint of Little Brown Viking on 23rd February 2023.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy. 

Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan (2021)

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“Why were the things that were closest so often the hardest to see?”

It’s been a long time since anybody bought me a novel as a present wanting me to read it because it has made such an impression on them.  So thanks to my dear friend Louise as this book was one of her favourite reads of last year as well as enjoying wider critical acclaim; a place on the 2022 Booker Shortlist and the winner of the Orwell Prize given for political fiction.

First of all this is a short novel of 110 well-spaced pages with a generously sized font and I must confess I do struggle with the short novel as a form, perhaps even more than I do with short stories.  I approach them with hovering anxiety- that I might not get them, that the short form adopted will require too much reading between the lines extracting the story from what is not there as much as what is there.

I don’t know why I feel like this, if need be, I’m very well versed enough as a reader to extrapolate meaning so I don’t know why this would be a dealbreaker but faced with a couple of tempting novels – one short, one longer I’d generally pick the longer.  I do hope it’s not a latent miserliness in me, subconsciously thinking about value for money as there is certainly much value within this short work.

It is a Christmas story, which makes it both an excellent gift and something to return to each December.  It’s a read in a day title and should be sought out by those who like a festive dose of Ebenezer Scrooge each year (or annually watch “It’s A Wonderful Life”).  With great economy and narrative skills the author weaves a haunting, simple story with much hidden power behind it.  There’s a lot of unsentimental kindness which feels a salve to the soul.

In 1985 in a small Irish town the Furlong family are preparing for Christmas.  Bill, the father, is a coal and timber merchant kept busy by the cold weather.  The true life Magdalen Laundries, a Church-run network of sweatshops for girls fallen on hard times touches Bill’s life but the circumstances will need to be discovered by the reader of these 110 pages as I’m not revealing any more plot.

Claire Keegan certainly leaves the reader wanting more and I will certainly seek out other works by her.

Small Things Like These was published in 2021.  The paperback edition is now available.

Unleash The Magnificent You! – Christopher Bradbury (2022)

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January is the month for self-help books. “It’s February now!” I hear you cry, “we don’t have to bother with any of that New Year’s Resolution stuff! ” but indulge me a while.  Firstly, I read this in January and more importantly, as we all suspect, the first month of the year is not the best for lasting, positive change.  On a recent health-check a very astute nurse said weight-loss plans are probably not best begun at this time of year when there are unopened Christmas treats lurking and that three quarters full bottle of Baileys calling out to you on the cold January nights so I’m pleased to tell you that Christopher Bradbury’s inspiring self-help book is not just for January and that Magnificent You can be unleashed the whole year round!

There’s no doubt the author’s an optimist- just look at that cover promising us a “Gazillion ways to turbocharge your life”.  I didn’t count up to verify but certainly any of even the smallest changes suggested has the potential to transform lives.

What is provided here is an overview in short snappy chapters full of pearls of wisdom.  There’s little new in the world of self-help, the reason why some succeed more than others is the way in which help is presented and how it is taken on board by the individual.  I like this general overview approach.  It starts by getting the reader to examine personal values, identifying the most important for you as an individual and encouraging thought on ways to stick to them.  Potential is unleashed when these values are combined with your vision and Christopher Bradbury is on hand to help with this.

He does so in 60 sections and 380 (in the hardback edition) motivational pages.  He suggests we can pick and choose the sections which feel most appropriate- I’d say don’t do that, find time to read the whole thing.  I’m not a parent so I might have decided to skip the parenting section, for example, but there’s so much good advice therein which I could apply to other situations that I would be missing out.

I made notes and I’m glad I did as I now have a little personalised handbook on areas such as kindness and compassion, fear, flexibility, thoughts and emotions, worry, gratitude – the list goes on.  He’s practical as well and there’s the odd good statistic to back things up, which makes me happy.  Here are my Top 3:

Only 10% of what we worry about actually happens- therefore 90% is wasted energy.

Only 3% of people write down their goals and these people achieve 5-10 times as much as the other 97%

And one to stop you in your tracks:

The average smartphone user checks their phone 63 times a day, 70% within 5 minutes of waking up.

I also want to add a couple of sayings to help with everyday life.  Take a bow the one beloved by “Love Island” participants, “It is what it is”- but then it really is and taking this on board would remove much stress over what you cannot control and slightly cheesy but none the less effective for that is “Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery.  But today is a gift, so enjoy it before its gone.”

There will inevitably be moments when the author’s whistlestop tour approach will have you wanting more detail and I for one would welcome a bibliography or further reading suggestions linked to the areas raised but he does always provide enough information to start you well onto your road for change.

As a general self-help book this is strong and the emphasis and linking to personal core values (if you only do one exercise make sure it is the one that starts the book which encourages you to identify these) makes it stronger and seem more relevant.  Go on, get that Magnificent You unleashed!

Unleash The Magnificent You is published by Lightning Source and is available to purchase on Amazon.  Many thanks to the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham (Harper Collins 2023)

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Stacy Willingham impressed with her debut “A Flicker In The Dark” (2022), a twisty Louisiana-set thriller with skilful misdirections and careful plotting.  All this is evident in her second novel which I think I enjoyed even more than the debut.

Isabelle Drake, a freelance journalist, is facing a year since her three year old son was snatched from his bedroom by speaking at a true-crime convention in the hope that someone might come up with unforseen evidence.  On the way home she meets Waylon, who can provide the opportunity for new perspectives on the case.  Isabelle’s family has been shrouded in secrets, from her childhood and her relationship with the husband she separated from since her son’s disappearance.

This is an intense thriller with the author drip-feeding us information which shifts almost continually how we perceive events.  The author states she has written it as an acknowledgement of the weight of motherhood, having to go it alone with feelings that might not feel normal but are in terms of blame and guilt and responsibility. 

I like the Southern setting, the characterisation, the touches of gothic, neighbours who seem to appear out of nowhere, the stifling heat and the boggy marshes.  This is a strong second novel.

All The Dangerous Things will be published by Harper Collins on 2nd February 2023.  Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Reviewsrevues is 8!

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Today I am celebrating 8 years and 891 posts and a big thank you to those of you who have stuck with me or joined me along the way or even just discovered one or two posts randomly when looking for something else!  I thought I would celebrate by looking at the top 10 most read posts of the last year – some of which were written quite a long time ago now and which have continually appeared on my most-read lists (in fact only number 3 was read and reviewed in 2022).  I admit I do continue to  find it fascinating to see what  people are reading.  So here goes:

10. Diary Of Two Nobodies – Giles Wood and Mary Killen

Posted back in 2018 and has been one of the most read posts ever since.  The musings of the couple from “Gogglebox” has certainly been of interest- although it has slipped down from its number 5 spot in 2020.

9. Scott And Bailey – Series 5

When I last looked at the top posts back in 2020 this was  the most read even though this last series of the ITV police show was first shown in 2016.  Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp certainly made a lasting impression.

8. Past Caring – Robert Goddard

I reviewed this 1986 novel in 2018.  This was the debut novel from the much loved British crime writer and despite me saying at the time “I am convinced, however, that there will be some real gems in the 25 or so works of his that I am still to encounter” I haven’t got around to reading him since.  I do have a copy of his 2020 novel “The Fine Art Of Invisible Detection” looking across at me from the bookshelves as I write this so I might very well find myself rediscovering this author this year.

7. This Is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay

I read and reviewed this in 2018 when it was dominating best seller lists.  It’s just reminded me that I have not got around to watching the BBC TV adaptation which was so well received  and which starred Ben Whishaw- I have the whole series recorded on Sky but never seem to be in the mood to get started with it.  Looking back at my review I’m wondering if that is because I said “I haven’t read anything before with so much bodily fluids sloshing around”.  It’s one thing reading about it but another when you are watching it whilst eating your tea!

6. Kathy Kirby: Secrets Lives And Lipgloss – James Harman

Obviously one of my guilty pleasures which is 60s songstress Kathy Kirby has had a bit of renewed interest in the last year as she features twice in my most read list.  At number 6 we have this four star 2005 memoir which I reviewed in 2016.  Harman shines a light on a woman who found fame under the shadow of her lover and mentor the much older celebrated band leader Bert Ambrose but who after his death went into free fall.  Exploited by both the music business and the press her naivety ran alongside a determination to bounce back.  Harman knew her well and conveys the 1960s showbusiness world she inhabited as well as the vulnerability of some who rose to the top.  It might be a struggle to get hold of this book now which may explain why fans are searching for my review of it.

5. Sanditon – Jane Austen and Another Lady

Another consistent top 5 performer is this 2019 five star review of a 1975 publication of the completion of Jane Austen’s unfinished fragment which was completed by the “Another Lady” in this case Australian-born author Marie Dobbs.  I’m sure the ITV series has helped maintain the interest in what I thought about this.

4. The Very Best Of – Kathy Kirby

Number 79 in my Essential CD lists is the 2016 review of a 1997 20 track release on the Spectrum label.  I’m pleased to see this getting a good number of reviews – I wouldn’t want this singer who was once reputedly the highest paid woman on British television being forgotten.  By the mid 60’s when Beatlemania was at its height her chart career was over yet within these twenty tracks there are some fine examples of British pop music.

3. The Whalebone Theatre – Joanna Quinn

My four star review of this 2022 novel meant that it was out of the running when I came to choose my Top 10 books of the year as I had read so many 5 star titles but this is a book which remained with me throughout the year that I am wondering if my original four star rating was not a little stingy.  A splendid Dorset-set debut and I am pleased that so many people have wanted to find out more about it.  A book which achieved a very good level of critical and commercial success.

2. 20 Of The Best – Shirley Bassey

This budget Music For Pleasure CD spans the years 1960-73 and made it to number 80 in my Essential CD countdown.  This has tended to hover around the lower half of the Top 10 most read posts since publication but has had a real surge this year to become my second most read post.  This is surely because of the continued love and support for this now 86 year old Dame of the Realm, living legend and national treasure. 

1. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne

How delighted am I to see this at the very top of my most read pile as this is one of my favourite books of all time and I don’t miss  many opportunities to mention this and recommend it so I do hope that readers have found their way to this book through my promotion of it.  I reviewed this back in 2017 and in the eight years I have been writing this book I think only this year’s Book Of The Year “Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart has come close to toppling this off my favourite book pedestal.  Thank you for seeking this review out in considerable numbers and thank you for reading this book. 

Where are you reading from?

The Top 10 countries for visitors to reviewsrevues.com.  The figures in brackets relate to 2020 when I last published this list.

1(1) UK

2(2) US

3 (7) Australia

4(-) Italy

5 (6) Canada

6(4) Germany

7(-) China

8(-) France

9(5) Netherlands

10 (-) Ireland

Welcome to the new countries in the Top 10.  Not sure what has happened to my Belgian visitors who have slumped from the number 3 position.  Hopefully they will be back before I celebrate reviewsrevues 9th birthday.

Many thanks for your continued support.