Cornflower Books

Have you read ... Malice Aforethought?

  

A few new arrivals to mention briefly (I'm dashing just now so these posts will be very brief!), and to begin with some 'classic' crime. Have you read Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles? - (it gets five stars here), and has a memorable opening paragraph:

"It was not until several weeks after he had decided to murder his wife that Dr. Bickleigh took any active steps in the matter. Murder is a serious business. The slightest slip may be disastrous. Dr. Bickleigh had no intention of risking disaster."

A Devon village in the balmy summer of 1930, tennis parties, infidelity and dark deeds - sounds great!

Good lines: summer in London

 

     "It was the sort of moment when, on a hot evening, London gives an indolent sigh of despair. There is a pointlessness of summer London more awful than anything which fogs or early afternoon twilights are able to evoke, a summer mood of yawning and glazing eyes and little nightmare-ridden sleeps in bored and desperate rooms. With this ennui, evil comes creeping through the city, the evil of indifference and sleepiness and lack of care. At such a time the long-fought temptation is wearily yielded to, and the long-dreamt-of crime is with shoulder-shrugging casualness committed at last."
From The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch.

I hope London readers will tell us if that is an accurate description - Edinburgh's climate is, of course, far too brisk for such degeneracy!

Sang froid

     Having loved Sally Gardner's marvellous novel I, Coriander (see this post) I was very keen to find out how well her next book compared, and I'm glad to say that The Red Necklace does not disappoint - should that sound like damning with faint praise, let me make it clear that it is terrific!
     Beginning in Paris in 1789, moving to London and back to the seat of the revolution and reign of terror, the book's beautifully deployed historical setting is the backdrop for a tale of romance and adventure, blackmail and intrigue, and - crucially - magic. It has great charm and dash, and an engaging hero in the form of the young gypsy Yann Margoza. His counterpart is the aristocratic Sido who shows equal pluck and who will feature, with Yann, in the recently published sequel, The Silver Blade.
     Written for older children or adults of any age, it is a story marked by the imagination of its creator. What could have been a straightforward tale of derring-do in the shadow of the guillotine becomes a contest between good and evil - it has a very sinister, chilling villain - and a study of courage and of 'coming into one's own': "Many men spend their lives living in the wrong corner of their souls, mainly out of fear of what they might find on the other side," says the impecunious actor Mr. Trippen who [like a couple of people I know!] has an apt quotation for every situation. There is a depth to the book which enriches it but doesn't detract from its pace or its passion; splendidly vivid, it is very entertaining, and I can't wait to find out what happens next!  

Searching questions

    For anyone who has had trouble finding a particular post or tracking down a book on the site, this might help!

Books to take away

      Scanning the press articles on 'holiday reading', it seems those canvassed fall into roughly four categories:
1. People who read something 'improving': the weighty tome - and it is usually long and heavy - perhaps a classic such as War and Peace, or a scholarly biography or a history of some sort. These readers see their time off as a chance to concentrate on a book, something which their everyday busy life denies them.
2. Those who read something 'undemanding': the light, the familiar, the book which absorbs the reader without draining them of mental energy. Reading this is easy pleasure - it doesn't have to be worked at and can bear interruptions.
3. Those who make a point of reading something connected to the place they are visiting: a book set in that location or written by someone from there. Local colour - and the chance to compare the fictional with the real, perhaps.
4. Those who read whatever they'd have been reading had they been at home, because the reading life is the reading life, no matter where you are.

     As a by-product of any of the above is the category of people whose chosen holiday reading turns out to be so atrocious that they are compelled to sit down and write a book of their own, to eventual great acclaim.

     So, do you change your reading habits when you go on holiday? Do you fall neatly into one of the above categories? I am pretty much a 4 by inclination, but I may yet do something radical and join another group - the question is, which?!!

Wind knot

   There is a great deal of good writing and expert story-telling meshed together in Jane Rusbridge's novel The Devil's Music. Set partly in the present and partly in the late 1950s, its detail is impeccable, and every particular of a scene is realised to what becomes - deliberately, I feel - an almost stifling extent. That's not a criticism, because it's a tense and intense book and the minutiae help make it so. If at times the reader feels they need a breath of air, that's to the writer's credit - she's done her job.
   The story revolves around Andy, a loner, a wanderer, returning 'home' after many years away trying to escape the tragic events of his earlier life. Now his father has died and his sister has summoned him back for there are strands from the past which have never been neatly tied up and finished off. As a boy, Andy was obsessed with knots and ropes - he was taught by his rope-maker grandfather - and even now, he retreats into the world of knots when real life threatens to unravel, for "knots keep treasures safe". Andy has lost a lot, but memories are not always reliable, as he'll find out when the knot of guilt he has carried with him all these years is finally untied.
     I loved the 1950s scenes, the intricate construction of the family story at the book's heart, the 'knot work', too. There are some stylistic quirks which didn't sit well with me (but that's a very personal reaction) and there are aspects of the present day story which I felt were a touch over-egged, but where it impresses most is in the way it shows how a child thinks - the touchstones, the surreal associations, the delight in words as new and shiny playthings, the misinterpretations of the adult world. It is a very strong book indeed and I shall certainly look forward to more from Jane Rusbridge.

Good lines: starstruck

     "If there's anything that Laura longs for, other than being Elizabeth Taylor, it is the chance to have a keen, piercing conversation with Richard Burton."
From The Ladies' Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer.