THE SUMMER GUEST by EMMA HANNIGAN

THE SUMMER GUEST

BY EMMA HANNIGAN

THE BLURB:-

Lexie and her husband Sam have spent years lovingly restoring No. 3 Cashel Square to its former glory. So imagine Lexie's delight when a stranger knocks at the door, asking to see the house she was born in over sixty years ago.

Kathleen is visiting from America, longing to see her childhood home... and longing for distraction from the grief of losing her husband.

And as Lexie and Sam battle over whether or not to have a baby and Kathleen struggles with her loss, the two women realise their unexpected friendship will touch them in ways neither could have imagined.

In Caracove, there's more than a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

THE REALITY:-

A truly lovely story at a time when I needed a truly lovely story and a bit of an uplift! After reading the blurb, I did worry that I'd stepped into the genre of chick lit, but this wasn't sarcastic chick lit that tries to be clever and ironic but ends up being painful (urgh!) This was more than that- a great story, told very well.

As most of the main characters are around my age group, it was easy to associate with the issues that they're dealing with. I think it's always important to create good, descriptive scenes, so that readers can envisage where exactly things are taking place, and the writer does this well with her detailed depictions of Lexie's house and the area of Dublin she lives in, and also the surrounding part of Ireland. It helps that I've been to both Dublin and Howth- it's nice to read novels set in places you've been to.

The lives of the characters are all clearly depicted, along with their shortcomings, issues and angsts. Kathleen's entry into the story offers a totally new perspective and though at first Amelie's teenage diary writings got on my nerves, I do think they were important for building her character, and also as an added contrast in terms of writing style.

The supernatural appearance of rainbows, albeit in unexpected ways, add a sense of other worldliness and make us question whether there is some kind of afterlife, and whether the dead come back to visit the living one way or another. I personally think they do!

Although there is sadness in the story, things do kind of work themselves out to a natural conclusion and the story finishes all wrapped up. Difficult to put down, and a truly magical read.

THE STORY OF YOU by JULIE MYERSON

THE STORY OF YOU

BY JULIE MYERSON

THE BLURB:-

A freezing room in a student house, a sagging mattress on the floor, and two people, one nineteen, the other twenty, kissing passionately.   All night.   It is to this terrible scene that, twenty years later, Rosy returns obsessively.  She has just lost a child in a terrible, careless accident and her partner has taken her to Paris to forget about things, to start again.

It has snowed in the night and, waking at dawn, Rosy goes for a walk.   At the hotel desk there's a note for her: 'I'm waiting for you X.'  And he is, sitting in the corner of a cafe she enters almost at random.  They talk.  He touches her.  She turns away and when she looks again he has gone.

Was he there?  Had she dreamed him?   And why, when he emails her out of the blue two days later, does he write as though they haven't met for twenty years?

THE REALITY:-

Years ago, I read Sleepwalking by Julie Myerson. My partner at the time liked the column she wrote for one of the broadsheets (which I don't know, the News Of The World was always more my cup of tea!) He subsequently bought her first novel. Sleepwalking tells the tale of a pregnant woman who embarks on a very strange affair after finding out that her disturbed father has committed suicide. It was compelling reading, so I thought I'd give this book a go.

Hmm. Part of me wishes I hadn't. “Written in stark, simple prose,” one review on the cover said, which was really an analogy for the writer having used no speech marks. Whilst I understand the need to be artistic, I do think the words would have had more of an impact had they been properly punctuated. This style really grated, and made it a mission for me to finish the novel.

But finish it I did. The subject matter is truly awful- Rosy/Nicole struggles to come to terms with the loss of her baby following an accident and (as in Sleepwalking) embarks on an affair, in this case with a guy she knew as a student. In this novel, she recalls kissing him all night long, with a pearl from a broken necklace in her mouth. I remember something similar from Sleepwalking, so maybe the author experienced this for real.

It didn't take me long to work out that Rosy/ Nicole's lover was actually dead, so if this was meant to be a punchline of great discovery near the end then it was a bit lost on me! The sections detailing baby Mary's accident were really harrowing and brought tears to me eyes. Ditto parts where Mary revisits her mother and also where her mother's feelings for her are described in details of sounds and smells. Very moving and extremely heartbreaking.

I did start to wonder if this was maybe a book that I didn't need to read, and it was DEFINITELY the worst I've ever read in terms of writing style.  An upsetting and unsettling novel.

SOME SUNNY DAY by HELEN CAREY

SOME SUNNY DAY

BY HELEN CAREY

THE BLURB:-

It is 1940 and as the bombs begin to fall on London the women of Lavender Road find themselves struggling to carry on with their lives in the midst of the Blitz. Shy Katy Parsons enrols as a nurse, but finds the rigours of hospital life, and the pressures of a secret love, almost impossible to bear.

Away on tour with ENSA, Jen Carter finds herself unexpectedly homesick- while her mother prefers to face the terror of the burning streets, rather than suffer her husbands brutality at home. And as Pam Nelson longs for a baby to breathe life into her flagging marriage, eighteen-year-old Louise Rutherford faces pregnancy with an illegitimate child.

Some Sunny Day depicts the courage, the emotion and the defiant laughter of war-torn London as the residents of Lavender Road face up to the hardships and dangers of the Blitz.

THE REALITY:-

I know I told myself that I wouldn't be reading another war novel just yet, as the previous ones I'd recently read were too harrowing (as they should be) and I was in need of a little light relief. But Some Sunny Day was in the last load of books I bought from the charity shop and, as a native Londoner, I thought it would be good to read a home-based war story. I wasn't wrong- this was a real tale of courage and community.

So many people who were alive during the war say that those days were “the best of our lives.” I always had to question why and really, any sane person would- what on earth is so great about rationing, making-do and mending by force rather than by choice, the worry regarding loved ones who'd been called up to fight and having to take constant shelter from the risk of having bombs dropped onto your head?  But the answer that comes back always states that the sense of “we're all in this together,” the pulling together of communities, the making of friends you otherwise would not make and the need to live each day to the full as it could be your last, made for real camaraderie and a sense of belonging. The scenes depicting London during the Blitz and the comparisons with country life for evacuees really came to life, with nicely researched historical realities thrown in for a good measure.

This was a lovely, feel good saga with great, likeable yet flawed characters, who were beautifully depicted and very human. Love and romance and defiance over adversity shone through and it was good to see so many happy endings muddled in with the tragedies. It was also super the the bad eggs got their come-uppance.  A very pleasant read.

ZEBRA PRINT SHOES....

ZEBRA PRINT SHOES

Here's a picture of these little zebra beauties, bought from Barratts some years ago.  The white bits have started to turn yellow with age, and the back has stretched a bit, so I will only be able to wear them again if I stick a heel grip in the back.

This seemed like a very good excuse to buy another pair, and here they are, only £2.99 from Ebay!

But when I tried them on, although they pinched around the peeptoe, they seemed really wide.  A close look at the bottom reveals that they are a triple E fitting.  Whilst my feet certainly are not slim, the are not pates o' meat either, and these shoes are very roomy and are also going to be slipping around the heel after a few wears.

Why, oh why, can't sellers state these things clearly, when advertising their wares????

THE AMAZING MR BLUNDEN

THE AMAZING MR BLUNDEN

(and the discovery of said film...)

A VERY STRANGE, OBSESSIVE TALE!

I have very vivid memories of my childhood, and one of the most memorable is sitting at my new desk watching a film on television with my father. It was somewhere between Christmas and New Year and it was afternoon, as I can remember the curtains being open and it gradually getting darker, such is the shortness of the days at this time of year. I was pretty certain it was 1977, as I'm sure that's the year I received my little red desk as a present. I would have been six.

Me at Christmas, age 6, sitting at my little red desk.

I remember snitches of the film:- there was a Victorian street scene with children dancing around a street maypole, and I had it in my head that this was taking place in London.

There was a Victorian room, and in the room was a big blue and white vase (how I knew that the vase was blue I do not know- instinct, perhaps? You have to understand that we only had a black-and-white television at the time, the kind my father had to hit with his slipper, on occasion, to get a decent picture!). (An update- after watching the film again, I've realised that the blue vase gets a mention towards the end...)

Later on you see this very same room on fire, with a man riding from the scene on horseback (although I have since realized that he's riding towards the burning house, not away from- it's amazing what information the mind stores).

You see the fire and horse scene replayed later in the film, in a flashback.

As a little girl, I loved my colouring-in, and had received a colouring book that Christmas. On one of the pages was a patterned vase that was similar in shape to the one in the film, so I duly crayoned it blue.

My memory didn't store the name of the film, nor any of its principal actors, so I didn't know how to find out more about it, and it bugged me BIG time, right through into adulthood.

This is one of the scenes that ABSOLUTELY HAUNTED me!

I questioned my parents about films with fire scenes in them.

'Jane Eyre?' said my mother. No, I know Jane Eyre, and there was no indication of a mad woman living in the attic.

'Great Expectations?' said my father, but no. There was only a fire, not a person being set on fire.

'Gone With The Wind?' said my mother. Although I was sure the street scene was set in London, I saw no reason to suspect that they didn't have street maypoles in the USA.  I duly watched the film, and it was definitely not it.

God bless the internet!

A few years back I googled in “Christmas programmes shown on television” for 1977, 1978 and 1979 ( I wasn't 100% sure about the year). I wrote down some of the names that appeared. Although I was sure it wasn't correct, I duly sat through three hours of War And Peace, in my quest for recognition. No, It definitely wasn't that film.

I recently discovered a Radio Times website dedicated to every programme the BBC had shown, EVER! Although my memory vaguely recalled advert breaks, I had a look through.

Maybe it was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy? I watched the 1970s version, thinking that I'd struck lucky, but no.  This film was set in modern London, and people certainly didn't dance around street maypoles then. I thought it might have been an episode of The Old Curiosity Shop, as the London scenes definitely had a Dickensian feel about them, but there was no footage of the 1970s version available online and anyway, the programme had been televised too late in the afternoon to coincide with my memory clock.

As it was now Christmas, I googled the 100 best Christmas films ever, and gave It's A Wonderful Life a go, thinking that could be it. But no, this wasn't it and I found this film, sadly, very disappointing.

Only days ago I found a TV Times website which listed Christmas programmes, and duly wrote down a few names. I googled images for a few of the films I'd listed, with no joy.

I then typed in The Amazing Mr. Blunden, and immediately my heart began to race- images showed Victorian children and a fire! And Wikipedia mentioned that the film began in Camden Town, and was filmed in flashback sequence! The whole film was available via YouTube, and within the first five minutes I knew that I'd hit the jackpot. I have since ordered the film on DVD.

Described as a much-loved classic, the film stars the late, great Diana Dors (dressed down to look rancid) as the reprehensible Mrs. Wickens, and also a young Lynne Frederick (she later married Peter Sellers and, incidentally, shared the same birthday as me).  Those of you that like real ghost/ mystery stories with a twist of humour will love this, and I couldn't recommend this film more, for adults as well as kids.

But this was most odd- I'd never heard of The Amazing Mr. Blunden, or even seen it advertised, either as a trailer or listed in a TV guide, even though it's apparently one of those films that gets wheeled out over Christmas and Easter.

It is now up there with my list of favourites/ life-changing-movies, whatever you want to call it. And a thirty-seven year old mystery has finally been solved!

And that concludes this strange, obsessive tale!

ENEMIES OF THE HEART by REBECCA DEAN

ENEMIES OF THE HEART

BY REBECCA DEAN

THE BLURB:-

Berlin 1909, cousins Zelda and Vicky are about to meet the Remer brothers- an evening that will change their lives forever...

Vicky Hudson is only seventeen when she marries Berthold and moves from her idyllic Yorkshire home to Berlin. Adjusting to her new life isn't easy, not least when she discovers that the Remer family are producing weaponry for the German army. With war looming, Vicky flees with her children, leaving Berlin, and her husband, behind.

Striking dark-haired beauty Zelda Wallace is eager to meld into Berlin's high society and sever all ties with her American identity. But beneath her exotic looks, Zelda holds a deeply hidden secret that if revealed, could threaten everything that she holds dear...

Spanning four decades, from the decadence of early twentieth century Berlin, to the horror and devastation of war, Enemies of the Heart is a sweeping international epic that will hold you mesmerized from the first page until the last.

THE REALITY:-

Gawd, remind me not to read another drama set in wartime for a while, as parts of this novel are just too damn depressing.

But then, so they should be- the layers and layers and layers of suffering that went on during WWII, and how many millions of people that were affected, are something we all should know about. There was never going to be a totally happy ending with a book with this subject matter, yet it was a book that you couldn't put down.

This was beautifully researched and came from the interesting angle of an English family with American connections marrying into a German family and also gaining a Jewish in-law. You were curious as to how the interpersonal relationships would all pan out.

The characters were strong and varied- all of them came across as really human and dimensional, and it was interesting to see how they grew as individuals as the situation in Europe worsened- and worsened.

This novel is a good study of both history and geography, as you find out what life was really like within both Berlin high society, and Yorkshire country society, with great descriptions setting the scenes.

As a bit of a fashionista, Lotti was my favourite fashion character, with her kooky (and quite tarty) style of dressing, and I also liked Zelda, with her exotic looks and carefully put together outfits (trust me to find the sartorial element within such a serious book!)  She was someone who defiantly held her head up high, whatever the situation, and someone who embraced Berlin culture and totally tried to eradicate her former American life. There's nothing wrong with reinventing oneself- we should all do it, when need be, and if you are not happy with a situation, sometimes it's better to let the axe fall upon it and move on.

Like The Women In His Life (Barbara Taylor Bradford), Heart Of The Night (Judith Lennox) and A Week In Paris (Rachel Hore) this book tells it like it is and is all the better for it as wartime is not something you can soft-soap. With as happy an ending as possible (have to say, I always prefer a happy conclusion!) this book comes highly recommended. 

WATERMELON by MARIAN KEYES

WATERMELON

BY MARIAN KEYES

THE BLURB:-

Claire's husband left her the day he was at the birth of their first child- I mean, if he thought it was going to upset him that much he should have just stayed at home- but to rub salt into the episiotomy, he didn't even have the decency to leave her for someone skinny!

He's just absconded, leaving Claire with a newborn baby, a broken heart, two extra stone and an er... birth canal ten times its normal size.

In the absence of any better offers, Claire goes home to her family. To her beautiful sister Helen, her soap-watching mother, her bewildered father. And in a story that's both hilarious and bitter sweet, Claire gets better. A lot better.

In fact so much better that when James slithers back into her life she's in for a bit of a surprise.

THE REALITY:-

After having a bit of a hard time with Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married (another Marian Keyes novel) I decided to give Watermelon a go as the blurb made it sound like a much better story, even though I knew it would sit within the same, disliked, annoying, genre of “chick lit.”

This was not bad, and a far easier read. Marian Keyes is definitely a good writer and all the characters here, especially the principal ones, had a lot more depth to them.

Long winded and in need of a little speed reading in parts, it nevertheless painted a very good picture of cohabiting life in London and a rich family life in Dublin.

As a study in a relationship breakdown, you can't help but like Claire and feel for her “if it wasn't so absurd I'd cry rather than laugh" predicament. Being dumped just after having had your first baby cannot be anything apart from heartbreaking, but the writer manages to add depth and humour to the situation and to Claire herself.

It's interesting to see the different stages Claire goes through in her quest for recovery, and it's great to see her winning, with the help of her lovable family and a bit of eye-candy in the shape of Adam.

But it's with the slimeball known as James, the shit who has an affair with a fat neighbour, and then has the audacity to blame Claire for pushing him into it due to her shortcomings, that really allows the writer to shine. Every annoying aspect of him comes across on the page well, and you just want Claire to stick up to this twat- which she eventually does. James is a bully who feeds off other people by undermining them so that they lose their confidence and become dependent on their aggressor for approval. We've all suffered someone like this, at some time or other in my life (I had to put up with someone like this at home, as a child) and ultimately, we end up (hopefully) finding our self esteem and rejecting them.

I'm glad Claire gives James the big fuck off. This is chick lit that's managed to arouse emotions in me, so brownie points to it!