Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Reviewed by: R. Edwards, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Small Worlds is the story of Stephen, a young Ghanaian-British man growing up in London. It is the story of his passage from teenager into adulthood and all of the highs and lows, heartbreaks and joys that this entails. Stephen's world is music and dancing and all that he wants in life is to be a musician, but his father has other ideas for his future. There is a very strong theme of music, culture and food through the narrative that really brings the characters to life. Coupled with Azumah Nelsons beautifully poetic writing, the reader is really transported for a while into this 'Small World'. Highly recommended.
Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
Reviewed by: R. Edwards, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Roman Stories is a collection of contemporary tales set in and around the vibrant city of modern Rome. We are introduced to a colourful collection of characters from every walk of life and every corner of the city. Each story is a small window into the everyday lives of these city dwellers. There are themes of friendship and family, of loneliness and loss, of racism and otherness amongst many others.
But most importantly each story tells us what it means to be human in our modern world.
The Wren The Wren by Anne Enright
Reviewed by: R. Edwards, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
The Wren The Wren is a multi-generational family saga, mainly focusing on a mother daughter relationship. Told with Enright s witty and insightful humour, this really is a novel about the minutiae of the everyday and the ups and downs of life that go along with that. Covering several decades in scope, it is also very current and of the moment
There are also snippets of poetry woven in for good measure. Enright really is a master of words.
The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo
Reviewed by: C. Gordon, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
I have seldom felt so unsettled by a novel. This is a searing story of a man unravelling and visiting real horror on his wife and son. You feel that you are being held at arms length from the characters as they are referred to throughout in the third person and the description of a man descending into madness gathers pace throughout the book.
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata
Reviewed by: C. Gordon, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
This book is a far cry from My Life as a Geisha and similar books. It describes the totally exploitative nature of the geisha system. Set in early 20th Century Japan, it is based on real life events when the exploited women entrapped in the system go on strike. It is really brought to life by the two central characters who are totally convincing. The story is very vivid and colourful.
One Garden Against the World by Kate Bradbury
Reviewed by: Valerie Mulder, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
In the form of a garden diary Kate Bradbury tells the story of her small garden near Brighton through a year in minute and fascinating detail. Her knowledge about hedgehogs and bees is fantastic and all explained with a light touch with details of her life - her campaign into galvanising her neighbours into making space for wildlife in their gardens and her rescuing of caterpillars threatened with habitat loss. She has a lively, journalistic style that bounces along and takes the reader with her, entertaining as she informs. An inspiring read.
Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire
Reviewed by: Valerie Mulder, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Set in a remote coastal village in Ireland, this is a trope one might recognise from other novels: the new arrival in distress whose life is changed by the eccentric local characters. Not the less enjoyable for that, this novel does have some wonderfully drawn and original characters and is a cracking tale - one really does want to know the outcome. Despite a tendency to over write in places - physical characteristics of the main players are perhaps described too often in too much details - nevertheless this is a distinctly Irish voice and one well worth reading.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Reviewed by: Valerie Mulder, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
A first novel by an American art historian set in The Cloisters, the medieval art museum in New York. A terrific sense of the atmosphere of a hot New York summer and the smells and sights of the museum and its gardens, experienced by a young researcher into the use of tarot cards in Renaissance European courts. She becomes embroiled in the lives of two other researchers, ultimately ending in disaster. A tale of secrets, the occult and poisonous herbs with a little romance thrown in..
Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
What a fascinating story set in the mid 1800's. This fictional tale is rooted in fact: the hunt for Sir John Franklin's lost ship in the Northwest passage. A young girl dressed as a boy sets sail on the Makepeace searching for Franklin. At the time, hangings of both men and women were still popular, and Lizzie Pook's descriptions of life on board and the general squalor of everyday people is sordid and harrowing.
The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe M.B.E. by Claire Parkin
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
A tale of two obsessive, jealous women, born within hours of each other and thrown together by their mothers. Their initial friendship develops into a loathsome codependency, sharing everything... Darkly funny and full of twists. The situation may not end well!
Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Marianne, an only daughter of Colonel and Mrs Clifford, falls hopelessly in love with Simon, who is a few years older than her. Marianne confides in her mother and this is the worst thing she can do. Mrs Clifford, without thought or care, tells her daughter that "Nobody falls in love at your age..." This is devastating news and even if well-meaning sets a precedent for Marianne's uncertainty for the rest of her life. Mrs Clifford has set her sights at how Marianne's life should be lived, and she is not prepared to compromise on the outcome...
The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
What an excellent read. An unusual setting telling a story of love, hate, jealousy, deceit and murder. The contrast between rich and poor is well defined. The element of surprise is constant. An exciting read where I was driven on to the next page of chapter immediately. Plots, twists and turns continued to the very end.
The typeset in Adobe Caslon Pro and the length of the book were perfect. I loved it. Thank you Elizabeth Macneal.
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
What to say... a book about a half a dozen men who have tuberculosis in 1913. There is no cure and they live in a Sanatorium in a guest house for gentlemen in Silesia, what is now Western Poland.
They are all misogynists and don't really understand women or even want to. They discuss them occasionally but in a very demeaning and negative way. There is an undercurrent of sinister forces but this doesn't become apparent until a death occurs in suspicious circumstances. The whole story revolves around the conversation, walks, treatments and a hallucinogenic local brew. It was a fascinating read, but... I felt something was missing.
Lioness by Emily Perkins
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Never judge a book by its cover. Well the cover for this edition is unusual and fascinating but I'm not sure about the novel. Although I found it difficult to put down, and I can't really say why. The characters are rich and spoiled: a patriarch who works hard well into his 70s, with a younger wife who doesn't have her own children but nurses and cleans up after her surrogate children. One particularly unpleasant offspring who is spoiled relentlessly becomes the downfall of his father with seemingly no remorse. I thought they all deserved each other and I felt no empathy for any of them.
One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
After losing her mother, our main character Teresa visits a Greek town, busy with locals going about their daily business. She finds a cafe, watches the comings and goings of the residents, starts chatting with various people and visiting local landmarks.
Nine years later after another personal loss, Teresa returns to the same town, and strikes up more meaningful conversations with previous acquaintances. Their deep talks range from quantum physics to Schrodinger's cat to Greek Mythology to whether mites have a conscience. These vignettes of knowledge are tied in neatly to the story of memories and softness. She resolves her feelings about her ex-husband Tom; has an affair; and finally returns to England. I loved this book, and don't think I've done it justice in my review.
Rosarita by Anita Desai
Reviewed by: G. Shephard, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Set in two continents - Asia and America - Anita Desai draws a vivid picture of death and destruction during partition in 1947, when many families were torn apart, and a seemingly similar uprising in Mexico in 1910. Both descriptions are minutely drawn.
A strange woman in Mexico swears that she is sure Bonita is the daughter of Rosarita, whom she met in San Miguel as a young artist. Bonita denies her mother ever came to Mexico but is curious to find out what this woman claims to know, and follows her to various destinations in pursuit of the history of her mother.
Anita Desai's descriptions of places, people and life in general are exquisite.
The Bookbinder of Jericho by PipWilliams
Reviewed by: S. H. Hill, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
If you enjoyed Pip Williams' first book - The Dictionary of Lost Words - you will love The Bookbinder of Jericho. Set in 1914 , twins Peggy and Maud work in the Oxford University Press bindery, folding pages. With the onset of war their lives and women's lives in general are set to change forever. This is a story about love, loss and friendship. I enjoyed every word of it.
The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales
Reviewed by: C. Snow, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
The Abyss, the deepest part of the world’s oceans, is the last unexplored wilderness where strange, alien creatures have evolved to survive in an underwater world with no light and scarce nutrients. Human exploitation and sea mining risks destroying creatures yet to be recorded by science that live to many hundreds of years old.
Late Light by Michael Malay
Reviewed by: C. Snow, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Contemporary nature writing by a young Australian/Indonesian author experiencing the countryside of Southwest England for the first time. As he discovers species new to him, he quickly realises that they are disappearing. Shining a light on a few species, he unveils the ecology of our rivers and landscapes and inspires with his warm and grounded appreciation of the living world.
Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne
Reviewed by: C. Snow, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
An intriguing story of how a young woman turns her life around after being diagnosed a sociopath to become a psychologist helping others like herself. She reveals that many people in fields like the music industry, where influence, fame and money dominate, have this trait. The book would benefit from better editing and being shorter.
Between the Lies by Louise Tickle
Reviewed by: P. Shephard-Mayes, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Between the Lies is set in the present, in and around Bristol & South Wales. Cherry is a freelance journalist and attends Bristol's courts on a regular basis. Her private and not-so-private life is intertwined with the family she is about to report on through the family courts. Cherry's suppressed memories of her traumatic childhood are slowly revealed as the story of the family she's covering unravels in the most dramatic way. A well-researched and well-written book. A real page-turner that has you guessing and questioning to the end... and beyond.
Death on the Lusitania by R.L. Graham
Reviewed by: P. Shephard-Mayes, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Death on the Lusitania is a novel by R.L Graham: a whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie that weaves fiction with historical fact. A real page-turner that keeps you gripped & entertained, it uses dates & times as headings, leading inexorably to its fatal conclusion. Who dies and who survives?
Black Hole by Kate Brody
Reviewed by: P. Shephard-Mayes, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
The author of Rabbit Hole is Kate Brody - or is it? Even though her photo is on the inside back cover, the publisher's page states that James Ball is the author of this book! Intriguing? Whatever happened to Angie Angstrom? Did her sister's friend Mickey know more than she was letting on? Can you solve the mystery? Having some knowledge of text messaging might be useful, and if you don't mind American English then this book might be for you.
Fairplay by Louise Hegarty
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
A book about grief masquerading as a whodunnit.
I have to say I was expecting a conventional murder mystery but while that was a huge element of the book and there were lots of hommages to classic whodunnits; it wasn’t the point of the book.
The point was that someone died and they all wanted answers as to why. Wouldn’t it be nice if a book detective could arrive to tell you all the answers but that only happens in fiction.
Gunk by Saba Sams
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
This book explores relationships very well, relationships between parents and children, between lovers and exes and between friends. It’s never straightforward, and can easily become transactional with resentment bubbling under the surface. Jules is very sure that she wants a baby, she’s always had the instinct to look after people and she needs them to need her. She gravitates towards vulnerable people so that she can support them
Nim doesn’t want to need anyone and she can change her mind about things at the drop of a hat. When she becomes pregnant she decides to offer the baby to Jules who she knows can’t get pregnant. Nim and Jules are able to provide what the other is lacking but it takes them a while to realise just how much. Their relationship doesn’t fit standard categorisation and it’s very interesting to see how much it develops as Nim’s pregnancy progresses.
It’s a short read but a powerful one that gets you thinking about the nature of parenthood and the role we play in our own relationships.
The Accidental by Guadalupe Nettel
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
I like when short story collections have a theme, the theme of this one is that each story involves something that disrupts the course of the lives of the characters. I loved that this concept was based around albatrosses and how when they stray too far from home and lose their bearings they become ‘an accidental’ and so the characters in each story are accidentals too.
I really enjoyed her writing style and each story was very different from the other but all were very well told. I liked that there were fantastical elements sometimes but my favourite stories were probably the ones which were just about mundane life.
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
This book really captures the complicated bond that is sisterhood. Each of the Blue sisters has their own issues stemming from their dysfunctional childhood and when one of the sisters dies each deals with their grief by running away.
New York serves as the backdrop for getting things back on track for them. A really compelling book with great character development. Mellors has created three very unique characters in the Blue Sisters and like in her debut novel she does messy relationships and multiple perspectives very well.
Instructions for Heartbreak by Sarah Handtside
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
A story about a breakup with not one main character but four. Katie’s heartbreak is the catalyst for this narrative but we also get insight into Rosa, Liv and Dee’s perspectives. They decide to create a heartbreak handbook for Katie which results in an introspection of each of their own recent heartbreaks and becomes a way for all of them to unpack their unresolved issues.
Each chapter represents a different entry into the handbook ie. another stage of dealing with heartbreak. As such the shift in perspective from character to character happens within each chapter. This gives a sense of each character experiencing the theme of the chapter in their own way. It really helps with character development as each of the girls is so singular their way of thinking about the same thing really varies.
Heartbreak is so universal and consequently there are many books on the subject but this book still manages to have a fresh take on it. It’s a great debut!
Experienced by Kate Young
Reviewed by: N. Zentner, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
A sapphic romance with the comforting tropes of a 00s rom com. Bette is happy with Mei, then seemingly out of the blue Mei decides that they need to go on a break for 3 months so Bette can have some ‘experience’ casual dating. It’s a strange decision for Mei to make on Bette’s behalf but as she goes along with it it’s the start of a ‘dating odyssey’ with varying degrees of success...
An interesting if implausible premise but an entertaining read with well developed characters that ticks the boxes for a fun romance novel.
Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Reviewed by: I. Lilley, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
This is a richly told YA story on found family and a heist, laced with historical trivia and memorable characters. A multi-perspective book where all the characters have a backstory going on which makes the depth of the book all the more impressive. The main overarching story doesn’t get lost along the way and the ending will leave you feeling satisfied
The Maid and The Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Reviewed by: T. Marshall, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
This is something quite special, I think; a story exploring the real impacts of class differences and ableism and the struggle for better without demeaning the lives of the poor. The heroine learns a lot, without losing her fundamental core and values. The romance did nothing for me, but the depth of the rest of the story made up for it.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune
Reviewed by: T. Marshall, East Gate Bookshop Review Club
Chapter one made me laugh out loud; it's delightful.
A story with unusual children facing discrimination can't help but be a metaphor for queerness, and it's so poignant. It means so much to me as a queer person that this joyful, defiant story exists, celebrating the fighters for rights and respect. The climax was possibly slightly simplistic, but cathartic. The ending had me a wibbly incoherent mess.