Books: April to June 2022

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

Narrated by the unborn child growing in his mother's womb as she plots to kill his father. Such an unusual premise for a story, but Ian McEwan fails to disappoint. As always, his writing is superb. Loved it!

The Special Girls by Isabelle Grey

This was bought for me and was an odd choice of subject matter - a paedophile is murdered at a summer camp for anorexic girls, so you can imagine how disturbing this was to read. Not recommended.

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

My first read of a Mary Lawson novel, so I was delighted to see that she has actually written a few. She reminds me somewhat of a cross between Anne Tyler and Margaret Atwood, both of whom I love. The story is centred around a house: the elderly woman who used to live in it, the child next door who used to visit and a man who is surprised to inherit the house. Great depiction of characters.

The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne

I have always like Suzanne Berne's novels, but this one just lacked something for me. A dog is poisoned in a small town, and the repercussions ripple through the cliques of the town. I feel like it was trying but failing to be humorous.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

An absolute gem of a book by the author of Room, eerily written pre-Covid 19. It recounts a few days in the life on a maternity ward at the time of the Spanish 'flu during the First World War. The  writing is pretty graphic at times. Compelling.

Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

I listened to this one on Audible. It is a great tale of a company of strangers who are trying to flee the plague. Each has their own secrets and they are uncovered piece by piece as they walk further north. The most mysterious of the company is the ominous character of Narigorm, a child with bright white hair who likes to remove the face of her baby doll.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

This was a well deserved winner of the Booker prize 2020. Don't be under any illusion though, this is a tough, gritty read about growing up with poverty and alcoholism in Scotland. Even though the book is titled Shuggie, I found myself really routing for Agnes, and getting so cross with her in the process.

The Dark Side: Real Life Accounts of an NHS Paramedic by Andy Thompson

I absolutely love real life medical stories so this should have ticked all the boxes for me, however, although his stories were interesting, the writing style was pretty poor. I didn't feel that I needed every single medical acronym spelling out to me, even to the explanation of A&E meaning Accident and Emergency! Having said that, Andy comes across as a very caring and knowledgeable paramedic.

Love Mrs Jones x