KINGFISHERS CATCH FIRE by RUMER GODDEN

This is only my second read of this prolific author and the second exceeded my expectations after reading the first.

Set in colonial India in 1953 I now discover that this could be partly biographical of the author herself. In this story, Sophie is recently widowed with no money and no pension or passage back to England for herself and her two very small children. Sophie however takes the bold step to stay back in India and make a life for herself there. The difference is that she "goes almost native" in the eyes of the Britishers who are in India by going to live in a very remote village far away from Srinagar which is the closest city and in a village where people have never even seen a white person let alone a white woman and children.

Teresa and Moo the two children are very much part of the complicated story of Sophie and Dilkhush which is the name of the house which Sophie takes on rent for their stay in India. Sophie loves India with a naivety which could be taken for foolishness. In her eyes all peasants are good and decent,and her enthusiasm for putting in new schemes for the benefit of the villagers is unlimited.  She cannot see the other side of the coin that she is considered very rich by the poor country folk and ripe for plucking. She does not heed advice given from either the Pundit who is the owner of the house, Profit David who is a jack of all trades and procurer of anything and everything and neither will she take notice of her chief servant Nabir Dar who warns her repeatedly of her trying to deal with the villagers in the straight forward way of the Britisher.

We watch with horror how the story is unfolding because you know disaster is not very far away and the story telling keeps you on edge because you never know what the repercussions of Sophie's decisions will be. You know that there is heartbreak ahead and even danger not just for Sophie but even for her children. I felt so angry that Sophie could be so naive by putting her two children in such danger, almost deliberately. Teresa is an old head on young shoulders at just eight taking in and understanding India so much better than her mother. The responsibility for her younger brother Moo and even for her mother at times fall on this little one's shoulders who understands the workings and machinations of those around them. The author understands the working of a child's mind so very well and this part of the story is beautifully told. 

A fascinating read. Unfortunately the local library here in Melbourne has no other books by this fabulous author. 

PRUDE AND PREJUDICE by FRANCENE CARROLL

We have all our main characters - Mrs. Bennett aka Mrs Higginbottom and the mild Mr Bennet in the form of Mr H - we have the spunky daughter, the mild daughter, the milder daughter!! we have them all. We even have Bingley aka Bradley and Darcy aka William Darling all acting exactly as they would in the JA original.

Light and fun and you knew from the first page where you were going to end, this was a nice read for me for Sunday afternoon.

Am leaving for Melbourne tonight and hopefully hoping to hit the Carnegie library at the earliest. Have lists in hand of books I need to read so here's hoping they are all around at the time I go there. Have a twelve hour lay over at Changi and looking forward to that as well. I love Singapore!

ONE THOUSAND PORCHES by JULIE DEWEY

This was a very unusual story. A story telling of a very old fashioned kind. Julia Dewey has taken the subject of tuberculosis  and entwined it in a story which made for very good reading Sounds improbable and I would not have believed it possible either but it is so.

Told from several viewpoints of characters who are interlinked to each other the stories set in the 1800s is at a time when the disease was considered incurable and entire communities were lost to it, leaving a survivor not just alone but destitute.

The story commences with Christine. She has lost two children to the disease and when her third Collette comes down with it, she is determined that at whatever cost she is not going to lose this child. At the same time she is faced with her husband who is terrified of the contagion and just wants to protect his surviving children also at any cost. The division of the family and the final breakdown of the family unit is also a tragic result of the illness. Christine and Collette make a brilliant life for themselves in a sanitarium which sounds idyllic ( I really wished that places like this would exist today for people faced with such life threatening illnesses). Whilst there Christine realizes that much more needs to be done and that funds are always needed to achieve this. She sets out to achieve just this and is brilliant at it. 

The story continues with Collette and then to Amy, Daniel and Edward all characters linked to the story. Frankly and brutally told with no holds barred the story takes you not just into the illness but the implications that the illness had on people's lives at the time. It also marks the development of sanitariums and how the illness was treated and how new methods were improvised to keep it at bay.

An excellent read.

SET IN STONE by LINDA NEWBERY

Set in the beautiful countryside of Sussex we have Four Winds the home of Ernest Farrow - rich, respectable, cultured, recently widowed with two young daughters. Samuel Godwin is young, naive and an art teacher who is offered a very generous position as art tutor to the two young Miss Farrows.

Mrs Farrow has recently died and the girls are in the care of a very conscientious and caring governess in the form of Miss. Agnew.

That is the very bones of the story. But what bones they are and from this very basic beginning we have a great story. The secrets hidden within the family are unimaginable. Considering that the story is set in a puritan, conservative background makes it even more so. How everyone other than the immediate family is aware of the actual secret and how gradually does it come out to the horrifying knowledge of both Samuel and Miss. Agnew and the results of that form the crux of the story.

Imaginatively told, extremely descriptive,  the book written in a diary format moving from one character speaking to the next gives us a concise view of what is happening and of what has happened. We have elements of insanity, sexual licence and misconduct all set in a gorgeous Gothic background.

The book captured my interest and I finished it as quickly as I could. I liked the writing style of this author and will be looking for other books by her.  

FALL ON YOUR KNEES by ANN-MARIE MACDONALD

My review is very short because this is not an easy book to review. 

A family saga - drama really with a bit of everything thrown in. Covering five generations and four remarkable, eccentric sisters this is a dysfunctional family.

Reading it was something similar to the curate's egg. Good in parts! very difficult to read in parts the story covers Kathleen the brilliant singer whom the father had pinned his hopes on, then we have Mercedes who took on the role of Mother with the tragic death of actual Mother, then we have Frances the middle one and Lily the crippled daughter and the one who wants to please everyone. The mother is almost incidental to the story though she was a big influence in the life of all especially Mercedes. The author makes her almost recede into the background.

Dark, twisted with a huge dose of incest and physical abuse the book was one which I alternately disliked and liked. Cannot say I loved it but I did want to read the whole thing through. I dislike myself more when I do not finish a book. 

Just to create a bit of something light, flowers from the garden at Rozella!

THE MIND READERS by LORI BRIGHTON

This is an unusual choice for me. As I said before a mix of paranormal, fantasy and YA I did not find this odd at all. 

Cameron is unusual. She can read minds but this is only known to her immediate family comprising just her grand mother alone who tries to curtail these activities because she has learnt the very hard way how detrimental it can be. Cameron's secret comes out in school when she tries to protect a friend from a disastrous relationship which will just lead to her death. It backfires on Cameron when the friend spreads the word around.

Unknown to Cameron however, is the fact that she is not alone. That there are people like her and when Lewis turns up at just the right moment offering her a safe haven and protection she grabs it eagerly thinking that this a group who will understand her. However she also finds out slowly that everything is not exactly as it seems. How she can extricate herself from this and return to her grandmother's protection is the story. Whether she will ever be able to escape the clutches of The Mind Readers is the question readers are left with?

Interesting premise and story.

IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Am in the midst of an unusual genre for me. A mix of paranormal, fantasy and a bit of YA thrown in for good measure The Mind Readers is a book which is a different kind of read.

As the title suggest Cameron can read one's mind. She is also not comfortable with this and becomes the one in high school whom everyone turns against. What Cameron does not know is that she is just one of a line of people in her family who are Mind Readers and there is a whole society out there of Mind Readers who are willing to help her out.

Am quarter of the way through and enjoying the book very much.

Not doing a Mailbox Monday this week as no new books came to the house!