Books: March and April 2021

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Siblings Danny and Maeve are drawn together by their shared memories of the Dutch House, a lavishly ostentatious house bought by their ordinary father for their mother who subsequently felt so uncomfortable by it that she had to leave her family. The horror that the children remember at their father taking on a new wife, and what she in turn did to them lure them to stalk the house through their adult lives.

Ann Patchett is such a great writer and I am really delighted to have discovered her.

Trespass by Rose Tremain

Two sets of siblings- one French, one English with similarities in that they both suffered some form of parental abuse. The French pair are living in a rural area of France on adjoining land which one of them wishes to sell but the sister does not. She has been at the mercy of her father and later her brother for years and finally seeks some retribution. One of the English siblings wishes to buy the land, but Audrun (French sister) seizes this opportunity to wreak havoc on the future of her brother. A dark and disturbing tale.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

I’ll be completely honest and admit that I bought this because it has been a very talked about book, and is actually seen as a love it or loathe it book. I didn’t love it or loathe it actually. There were some parts that I really loved: the descriptions of the natural life in the marsh and Kya’s naive efforts to understand the world; and some I hated: the constant reference to Amanda Hamilton poetry, and I would argue that there was no real need for a murder plot. I also really didn’t like how “neat” the ending was, I don’t always like to have all the answers.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Please don’t hate me, but I didn’t love this book like so many have. The story of the struggles a Syrian beekeeper and his artist wife have in fleeing Syria for England after the horrific death of their child which literally blinds the wife, should have been so moving and heartrending. However, there was just some depth lacking in the portrayal of the characters. I was strangely more moved by the plight of the teenage twins than that of Nuri and Afra.

And that wraps up another couple of months of reading. Read anything good lately?

Love Mrs Jones x