Monday, 14 April 2014

THE RIVAL QUEENS by FIDELIS MORGAN

THE RIVAL QUEENS
BY FIDELIS MORGAN


THE BLURB:-
It's 1699 and those intrepid heroines the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant Alpiew are once more scavenging for scandal for that scurrilous rag, the London Trumpet. But with the bailiffs in hot pursuit they are reduced to seeking refuge in a concert hall. No sooner have they settled down for an evening of tedium than one of the players staggers onto the stage, her hands dripping with blood- a doyenne has been decapitated under their very noses.

The unlikely sleuths find themselves with an abundance of suspects: players, ruffians in pink ribbons, a Punch and Judy man- not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis. Their pursuit of the culprit takes them from the Tower of London to Bedlam, with a brief detour via the fields of Wapping. With a little help from Pepys and a lot of laughs and mayhem along the way they uncover a web of corruption that extends to the highest echelons of society.


THE REALITY:-
The person who bought me this book was not wrong in thinking that I would love it- a bodice ripping carry-on of a thrill set in post-Restoration London, with reproachable characters, naughty ladies, mystery, wrongdoings and intrigue. As a lover of Forever Amber, by Kathleen Windsor, this period in history tends to excite me.

But I have tried.   For... oh, ten years now, this book has sat on my shelf. In that time I have tried to read it no less than three times, the last time very recently!  I managed to get to around page 100- but I still could not tell you much about what went on, as the words seemed to flow in through one ear and out of the other.

Maybe it was the somewhat slapstick style of writing. Maybe it was the stupid, childish names of some of the characters. But whatever it was, I could just not get into this novel so, sadly, it's finally going into the charity bag.

Maybe one of you would like to read it and give me an opinion?


THE GLASS PAINTER'S DAUGHTER by RACHEL HORE

THE GLASS PAINTER'S DAUGHTER
BY RACHEL HORE


THE BLURB:-
In a tiny glass-stained shop in the hidden backstreets of Westminster lies the cracked, sparkling image of an angel.

The owners of Minster Glass have also been broken: Fran Morrison's mother died when she was a baby; a painful event never mentioned by her difficult father Edward. Fran left home to pursue a career as a classical musician. But now Edward is dangerously ill and it's time to return.

Taking her father's place in the shop, she and his craftsman Zac accept a beguiling commission- to restore a shattered glass picture of an exquisite angel belonging to a local church. As they reassemble the dazzling shards of coloured glass, they uncover an extraordinary love story from the Victorian past, sparked by the window's creation. Slowly, Fran begins to see her own reflection in its themes of passion, tragedy and redemption.

Fran's journey will lead he on a search for the truth about her mother, through mysteries of past times and the anguish of unrequited love, to reconciliation and renewal.

THE REALITY:-
This was one of those books that easily slips between two times and places (1993 and the early 1880's), as Fran researched the history of the stained glass angel and how it tied in with her ancestry.

The writer has gone into great depth shaping her main characters, dipping into the world of classical music, and the artistry and techniques involved with stained glass workmanship. And it's paid off, with the creation of a truly lovely, yet melancholy story.

I like the way that Fran's difficult relationship with her father and the mystery regarding her mother adds a sense of intrigue that you just have to get to the bottom of, and way the Laura's dilemma's becomes central to the main theme. Family relationships, especially those that are less than perfect (as so many are) are deeply delved into, and these help to explain the characters foibles with a large dose of reality. In fact, a lovely contrast within this book is the way a hefty chunk of modern realism is mixed with the other worldliness of the past and the truly fantastical question of the existence of real angels.

I also absolutely loved all the angel orientated quotations at the forefront of each chapter- they gave a beautiful touch to the novel. Definitely one to give a go!


BORN BAD by JOSEPHINE COX

BORN BAD
BY JOSEPHINE COX


THE BLURB:-
Eighteen years ago, Harry made a hard decision that drove him out from the place he loved. Since then he carved out a life for himself, and found a semblance of peace. Yet he is still haunted by the memory of the warm carefree girl with the laughing eyes.

For Judy Saunders, the pain of her past has left her deeply scarred. Cut off from her family and trapped in a loveless marriage, the distant memories of her first love are her only source of comfort in a dark and dangerous world.

Years later, Harry is heading back. Excited, afraid and racked with guilt, he has little choice. He must confront the past and seek forgiveness.

THE REALITY:-
I've always wanted to read Josephine Cox's books, as they looked like the kind of family sagas that I get on well with. I just maybe wish I hadn't chosen this one? It was very gritty and real, in the style of Catherine Cookson, but was perhaps a bit too depressing for my taste.

Set in 1956, at 468 pages long the book was very thick, considering it's only dealing with the time span of a few months. It was therefore full of glorious detail (which I always prefer to too little) with a great plot:- the question of what really went on with fourteen-year-old Judy and her baby was the issue that kept me turning the pages.

I did find the characters extremely stereotyped, but was very glad of the much-needed happy ending! The twist regarding who was the real villain of the piece was also pleasantly unexpected.

I'd certainly give this author another go.


Friday, 11 April 2014

MR. HAU (CHINESE RESTAURANT IN EASTBOURNE)

I recently went for a short break to Eastbourne.  Although the weather was foul, we did not let it spoil our fun!
I can thoroughly recommend The Pier Hotel, where we stayed, but can thoroughly NOT recommend Mr Hau's chinese restaurant.  Here is a copy of my review, to be found on Tripadvisor.  Eat there at your peril!!!!

“Revolting attitude, food not much better”

I had a bad feeling the minute my partner and I entered this restaurant- I just wished I had acted on it and left there and then.
We were not made to feel particularly welcome and were given a minuscule table, wedged in between two other couples, despite there being other, better places to be seated at.
The food was edible although nothing spectacular. The crispy duck was cremated, and the beef in the curry was tough and gristly- a bit like chewing on an old plimsoll.
The food was not itemized on the bill and they charged me 80p for two extra pancakes to go with the duck ( they offered us 4 or 6, I chose 6 as this is what you usually get in other restaurants, with any extra often thrown in for free).
I then refused to pay all of the cheeky 10% tip that automatically appeared on my bill. Whilst I am not averse to tipping, I will decide exactly how much, thank you very much. This resulted in the waitress returning and moaning that I had not paid "the full amount". When I refused, the owner was brought out of the kitchen to show me the menu, where it states that 10% automatically gets added onto every bill. I pointed out that this was not something that he could legally enforce and he shut up. This resulted in us being duly ignored when we got up, said goodbye and left, not that I could care a toss.
Avoid like the plague- a very bad experience.

THE RIVER HOUSE by MARGARET LEROY

THE RIVER HOUSE
BY MARGARET LEROY


THE BLURB:-
Ginnie Holmes has found something she never intended to find- an overwhelming passion for a man she should not be with. At an abandoned boathouse hidden on the river bank of the Thames, Ginnie steps into a world that's just a little bit brighter than her ordinary life. An escape from an empty marriage and a drifting life.

A terrifying event means the lovers' secret becomes a deadly catastrophe. And Ginnie finds herself in the path of extraordinary danger, not only facing the exposure and grief she has feared, but endangering herself and everyone she loves.

THE REALITY:-
Ginnie's marriage is empty, although her family life, and her career are not. But during one of her romantic rendezvous with her lover, she spots a stranger behaving suspiciously. Murderous events mean that she is faced with a moral dilemma- does she say what she saw and risk everything, or keep quiet?

This is a very middle class take on the subject of extra-marital affairs. All the characters are well-educated, have good jobs and live in nice areas. They are well-rounded, carefully drawn, much defined by their careers and have enough substance and detail about them to be interesting. I personally know the area where the novel is set, so a sense of place was easy to envisage.

But somehow, the supposed passion of the affair all seems lost. When Ginnie and Will (also married) get together, their trysts seem way too seedy to be anything special. Maybe this was the intention of the writer, but the love scenes are very base, and the ending of the relationship comes across as lacking, and not very emotional. Although their passion is supposed to be “overwhelming” that doesn't come across at all, and the whole thing seems mapped out by Ginnie and Will from the start.

Ginnie eventually does the right thing from the point of view of her conscience and a murderer gets convicted, but it's a story that seems to drift off into nothing rather than have any sense of a real climatic ending (although the part where Ginnie's daughter goes missing does have a sense of tension). In fact it's Ginnie's relationship with her daughter, rather than Will, that comes across as more interesting.

Light, bright and trite. You kind of know how this would continue if there were to be a sequel. An OK read, but nothing to rock the boat.



SISTERS by LINDA LAUREN

SISTERS
BY LINDA LAUREN


THE BLURB:-
Kate and Alice are sisters who are so different and yet so much the same.

Kate, the one who'd done something with the looks and sense of style they'd both shared. Her life: the world of fashion and fashionable places. Keeping in touch between trips abroad. A world of airports and exotic destinations, spring collections and sensuous fabric, of beautiful people and immaculately skin-deep emotions.

Alice, her twin and once inseparable companion. Living now in the suburbs with a nice, boyish husband and a house that's always a mess.

Alice pregnant, then Alice a mother: lovingly flustered and scatty, almost- but never quite- coping. Both women a warm, living reproach to the other as Kate, coolly organized, descends to help out her sister's crises.

Each woman with an ache of regret for what might have been. Neither foreseeing that her way of life was not as stable as she thought.

THE REALITY:-
I read Linda Lauren as a teenager, and her other two novels explored the journey of pubescent girls growing into women in a completely unique way. This book deals with twin sisters whose lives have taken very different paths.

At 128 pages long, this was probably the shortest book I've read since I was a kid. Also, having 20 pages missing in the centre of the novel was not a positive thing! On close inspection, looking carefully at the spine, it looks as if they were never there in the first place, as opposed to having fallen out, or having been cut out...most strange! But I found that this, thankfully, didn't mar the story too much.

Linda Lauren writes in a gritty and very real way, exploring many of the issues that affect working class young women. Although the book was written in 1983, everything inside here holds a strong relevance today.

Perfectly groomed Kate works in fashion and reconnects with the sister she's been out of touch with for a while. Alice lives in happy domestic chaos with an adoring husband, popping out children in quick succession. But neither of their lives are as happy as they appear on the surface- Kate is married to a harsh, self-centred, perfectionist of a man and Alice doesn't feel she can accommodate the third child that is already on its way.

I like the way women's problems are dealt with; the medical realities of difficult pregnancies and childbirth, the struggles trying to run a home and raise a young family and the question of abortion. I also like that the story is tinged with more radical ideas, such as Kate experiencing severe abdominal pain as Alice goes into labour. I love the way the relationship between these siblings is explored and explained.


But most of all I loved the ending, with its very, very, VERY unexpected twist. Certainly worth a read. 

THE DISTANT HOURS by KATE MORTON

THE DISTANT HOURS
BY KATE MORTON


THE BLURB:-
Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long-lost letter arrives one Sunday afternoon, with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed upon its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother's emotional distance masks an old secret.

Evacuated from London as a thirteen year old girl, Edie's mother was chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe and taken to live at Milderhurst Castle by the Blythe family.

Fifty years later, Edie too is drawn to the castle and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiancé in 1941 plunged her into madness.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother's past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

THE REALITY:-
Kate Morton writes in a fascinating way, in layer upon layer of information that slips seamlessly from wartime to 1992, from the deep perspective of one character to another. She also adds the “fictional” writings of the Sisters Blythe's father, Raymond Blythe- these seem so real that you find yourself questioning whether the man actually existed!

I can really identify with the main character Edie: a creative woman who lives within her own head, as many imaginative people do. She is someone who's a book person (to the point of being obsessed by books) rather than a people person. The 1990s sections are all via Edie's voice and written in the first person, which gives a lovely contrast to the other parts of the novel and helps the reader to avoid confusion.

The novel also deals with the difficulties that lie within families, such as being the one member who doesn't fit in with the rest, the lack of closeness that can exist between mother and daughter (noted in both the modern and historical sections) and the way mental illness can be passed down through the generations.


This is a meaty tome of a book for serious readers, and not for the fainthearted! But it will draw you in and not let you get away. A must for those of you who love stories regarding mysterious, whispering buildings that contain deep secrets and fascinating occupants within their walls. I seriously recommend this novel as it drew me in and wouldn't let me leave until the very last end.