Review - Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude

I read about this first from Thomas from Stuck in a Book and it was a surprise when the library had it available. Not a very long book I was able to finish it in one go also because I could not keep it for the following morning!

Set in the bleakest of backgrounds during the Second World War in a boarding house all occupied by people who seem lost and without any direction, we have a time of shortages and a seemingly unending war, blitzes and bombings and short tempers and irrational fears and irritations.

Miss Roach, sensible and conservative has to put up with the bullying of Mr. Thwaites who seems to want to terrorize her into a feeling of helplessness (which he succeeds very well), we then have the American Lieutenant who helps her to enjoy herself a bit, and then comes in Vickie Kugelmann the German refugee and this is when Miss. Roach's real problems begin.

Courageous and gritty and how everyday Brits just got on with it despite overwhelming odds and difficulties, the manner in which life changed for people especially for women (drinking in a public house and smoking in public!!!) the role of women in everyday life changed forever. On a more intimate level the difficulties of female friendships and how women may have to work harder to make a friendship really work out is also highlighted in this book. The author deals very cleverly with relationships as seen in the boarding house and how every timid person has its limit and that Miss. Roach is not going to be intimidated forever!

A good book.

Review - Christopher Fowler THE VICTORIA VANISHES

I first read of the series and the pair Bryant and May through Sakura - it was on my TBR but my TBR is a bit of a hit and miss affair. When I actually got these books (there is another to follow) I was delighted. I later realized that they are a series and I have come in mid way but I do not think it affected the story in any way.

I found the book slow going till around the 70th page when it perked up and got interesting right to the end. I liked very much the humour right throughout the story. Is it representative of the so called British humour? I would think so. Slightly quirky, slightly sarcastic at all times but such good reading.

Sixth in the series the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit) solves as it says peculiar crimes which do not come under the Metropolitan Police. Bryant and May back from the country are in London once again and right now Bryant is not feeling himself - loss of memory and maybe creeping old age whilst May has been diagnosed with cancer.

Several middle aged single women have died around pubs in London. Seemingly unconnected all die from a fatal injection. None of them are attacked in any other way. This is the last case which the two are going to handle as the higher ups are determined to disband this unit. The story becomes interesting when one victim seen at The Victoria by Bryant himself later turns out to be a puzzle. The Victoria as a pub had ceased to exist since 1927 and we are all beginning to doubt whether Bryant is actually declining into senility. Bryants description of the pub, all the detail including the background is so authentic that you do realize that a mystery is afoot.

There is a lack of blood and gruesomeness normally reminiscent of murder mysteries but there are clues scattered around which I did not connect at all! In addition what I really liked was the introduction of a series of London pubs, including ancient history and tidbits of information, trivia sometimes but very, very interesting trivia at that.

Liked the book and definitely in for a pub crawl when I am in London next (if ever!).

Review Peter Mayle's Provence A - Z

For someone like me where it is most unlikely that I would visit Provence this I think is the next best thing. I have read his books before and found them delightful. All the idiosyncracies and quirks of Provence are brought to life in this book. Things present and things past as well so everyone is very well catered for. It is not just a book that would be suitable for a traveller to the region, it is a book that will suit anyone with just an interest in life and living!

History, culture, food, people, wine, agriculture, industry and tourism are all covered in this wonderful almost encyclopaedic book.

Enjoyed the read very much.

Review - Anuradha Roy - THE FOLDED EARTH

As usual I read about this on the blogs but the cover did nothing for me. The story however was wonderful. Set in a remote hill cantonment of Raniket in very northern India the book revolves around Maya who is seeking a refuge after the very sudden death of her husband Michael. Disowned by a Hindu orthodox family for marrying a Kerala Christian the story is timeless.

It is also set in a very picturesque part of India - very distant from the humid, hot India which I personally know and makes me long for Shimla and Nainital and the hill stations!

Very reminiscent of the British Raj we are dealing with army generals and brigadiers, former Raj's who still seem to live in British India - deploring the lack of discipline and formality long gone. On the other hand we see the emerging hill tribes, politics in all its glorious Asian colors, romance, family ties and a beautiful story which actually unfolds. I loved the bits about Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten so long discussed and pored over and gloated over and how these very normal and much talked about bits are taken by Anuradha Roy and made into something very visual and very poignant is what this story is all about. The mundane and usual become something much more.

A very enjoyable read. Another book contribution by me for the South Asian Challenge 2011 conducted by S. Krishna.

Review - Willa Cather's OBSCURE DESTINIES

Not a review as such but it was such a delight for me to find this book. I had read about this author on several blogs and most people considered it very good reading. Like Dorothy Whipple or Dodie Smith I thought I would have to be just happy with reviews only. So this was very good for me personally!!!

A collection of three stories all set in Nebraska all dealing very much about the frailities of human nature, there is joy, sadness, family lives all put together very beautifully in language which is so very expressive.

I loved the book.

Review - Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni's ONE AMAZING THING

Another wonderful book by this author who never fails to amaze me with her writing.

Set in a visa office in the States it takes just one incident (an earthquake) and how nine

people put together in an enclosed space for over 36 hours survive by their sheer wit.

It opens with Uma a very Westernized Indian girl waiting for her visa application number to be called and impatient about it. We have different characters, different races all wanting to go to India and we wonder what the idea behind the whole visit is. The book keeps you going from page to page as everyone is different, everyone is not what they seem to be and each one's story is better than the next.

Uma comes up with the idea of each one telling a story. Just something from their lives which would interest the others because until they are rescued there is no entertainment, no electricity, the room is getting slowly flooded and no one knows when and if they will be rescued.

The stories are so human, so intriguing that you want to know what Uma says, what Lily says, what is Mr. Pritchett actually like and why does Mrs Pritchett who seems so amenable flare up so angrily, why is Tariq so violent, is he actually a terrorist or are we racially profiling once again. The book is so very good taking us from the present into the past, that I cannot recommend it enough. I have read a few of her books but I did not know that she has written fourteen of them so definitely a visit to the library to check out her other books is a must.

This is also one of my reads towards the South Asian Challenge 2011 conducted by S. Krishna.

Brief Review - Katherine Howell's VIOLENT EXPOSURE

I have read very few books by Australian authors so when I saw this recommended I thought I'd read it right away. The author is a former ambulance officer so there is a great deal of authenticity and detail in that part of the book.

The story of a murder - a violent one at that and all suspicions pointing out to the husband in this case. How through a series of deductions the eventual murderer is found is how the story works out. Add to this ambulance officers (a once in a lifetime incident by one who gets tempted by piles of drug money lying around!), the police, an aid group for displaced and vulnerable teenagers and you've got a good story going.