The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

DATE PUBLISHED: 2002




DATE READ: April 2011

NOTES: This book languished on my “to be read” shelf for many months. I had heard good reports of it but was put off by its enormous size: 830 pages of small print! However I so enjoyed the first episode of The Crimson Petal and the White on TV that I decided to make a start…..

What a brilliant book! Right from the start we are swept up into the Victorian London world of Sugar as she makes her way through life. She works as a prostitute but is bright, articulate and quick to take advantage of anything (or anyone) that comes her way. But at the same time she remains a mystery. Is she the tart with the heart of gold or the whore with her eye on the main chance. One of her customers, William Rackham, becomes enamoured with her and she seizes on the chance to escape from her depraved surroundings. But again we are never sure whether she feels any real affection for William.

There are some wonderful larger-than-life characters. Mrs Castaway is the abusive brothel keeper who is mother to Sugar. William’s brother Henry has rejected the family perfume business and is hoping to become a minister of the church and rescue lost souls. He loves the widowed Mrs Fox but is incapable of being open with his feelings for her. She in turn is portrayed as a somewhat comical creature at the beginning of the book as she attempts to convince young prostitutes to give up their life of sin and turn to Christ and honest work. But as story progresses she becomes a rather fine human being who is motivated to do good works. And then there is Agnes, William’s wife – naïve, abused, depressed, addicted and anorexic. Poor thing, what fate awaits her?

The whole is a wonderful mix of class and sexual politics. It has been compared to Dickens – this is how Dickens may have written if he was not constrained by Victorian censorship. There are echoes of Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair and Middlemarch.

Some people will be disappointed by the ambivalent ending. I loved it – it is very much within the spirit of the book. Michel Faber takes us by the hand and leads us into this world. But he doesn’t tell us everything – some things are best left to our own imaginations.

Superb.

So Much For That by Lionel Shriver

DATE PUBLISHED: 2010


DATE READ: April 2011

NOTES: Shep Knacker has a dream of leaving New York and setting up home in some distant place. He plans to lead a simple life with the help of his substantial nest-egg acquired from the sale of his business. However his dream is his alone and not shared by his wife and children. His research tells him that an ideal place to spend his “Afterlife” would be an island paradise off the Tanzanian coast. But his determination to set off on this adventure is shattered by the news of his wife’s cancer.

From this point disastrous events occur. All Shep’s former financial decisions have been wrong and he is now caught up in battles with a third-rate health insurance company that will only pay a portion of the astronomonical fees. His wife Glynis is put on a range of experimental (and expensive) drugs and month by month Shep sees his nest-egg diminishing. He seems to love Glynis rather than like her and an inner resentment builds up. Shep is a decent character but is generally considered a “soft touch” by his whole family. As well as supporting an ailing wife he has a son at an expensive school, a daughter being subsidised through university, a sister who is too creative to actually earn money and a father who despises the monetary system but expects to be assisted by his son.

His long term friend Jackson has a disabled daughter suffering from a horrific genetic syndrome. Jackson is often filled with rage and has frequent rants about how the government is ripping everyone off. He is convinced that people who works hard and pay their taxes are made fools of by both the federal government and by idle scroungers.

Sounds awful, doesn’t it? But actually this is a really compelling read. I was enthralled, horrified and angry in turn. Sometimes I wanted to scream: “Shep – get a grip!” By halfway through this book I expected the ending to be really depressing. But amazingly it is not. Lionel Shriver actually gives us a redemptive and (dare I say) uplifting conclusion.

(This book should be compulsory reading for anyone who thinks more privatisation in our Health Service would be a good thing!)

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

DATE PUBLISHED: 2008


DATE READ: March 2011

NOTES: An extremely readable approach to medieval life. Ian Mortimer points out that “Medieval England” covers a very long time span and so rightly chooses to concentrate on one century – the fourteenth. It is written in guide book style and gives us insights into what life was like for people (or travellers) of that time. He describes the landscape, homes, food, clothes, health and transport. There is a fascinating chapter were on Health and Hygiene – if you do get ill you are best to avoid the ministrations of doctors! It was also best to try to keep to the right side of the law but even this might not keep you out of trouble. The short, sharp shock was very much in vogue at the time. But as Mortimer points out the law is designed to find somebody guilty – it does not necessarily follow that that somebody is the person responsible for the crime in question.

This is a really fascinating and insightful book into an England of long ago. It is obviously meticulously researched but wears its scholarship lightly as it is a very entertaining read. It is helped by the selection of superb colour illustrations.

An essential for any potential Time Traveller…….

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

DATE PUBLISHED: 2010


DATE READ: March 2011

NOTES: Another great (if somewhat confusing!) read from Kate Atkinson. A complex story set in two different time scales and from the point of view of lots of characters. The plot cannot be encapsulated easily. In 1975 a prostitute is found murdered in her flat. One of the officers attending is Tracy Waterhouse. We then move on to the present day when Tracy, now a retired police inspector, buys a child from a know drug-user. On the same day Jackson Brodie takes possession of an abused dog. A doddery ageing actress, Tilly, loses her purse in the shopping mall. Jackson is trying to help Hope (who lives in New Zealand) to find her real family but some people seem to be deliberately blocking his way. More confusion abounds when another detective appears – also called Jackson.


We have an incredible mix of lost parents, lost children and sad memories. There are murdered relatives, aborted babies, lost loves, road deaths, police corruption and a dramatic funeral. But the whole is infused with Atkinson’s joyful language and energetic pace. Some of the best bits are when Tracy tries to be a parent to Courtney – very much an unknown territory for her. Tracy was surprised that more kids weren’t killed on so-called play equipment. People (parents) seemed blithely oblivious to the peril of small bodies arcing high into the sky on swings they weren’t strapped into, or of the same small bodies launching themselves from the top of a slide when they were knee-high to a gnat. Courtney was astonishingly reckless, a kid without a reck was a dangerous thing.

I enjoyed it very much although I wasn’t always sure if I was keeping up with the plot. There were a few loose ends (or was it me?) And I did wonder about the brilliant abilities of the ex-gangster Harry Reynolds. No request seemed too much for him and he deserves a book of his own!

(The Yorkshire Ripper has worked his way into the social and cultural fabric of the 1970s and 80s. The references here are not at all gratuitous but does Sutcliffe know – and does it give him pleasure?)

The Perfect Murder by H R F Keating

DATE PUBLISHED: 1964


DATE READ: April 2011

NOTES: I was first introduced to the Inspector Ghote books over thirty years ago. I overheard a conversation on the London Tube as a passenger praised the books written by an Englishman about an Indian policeman. He said that the author had never visited India and had used a street map of Bombay to help with his plotting. I was intrigued and on returning home I got a couple of Keating’s books from the library. I remember enjoying them at the time but never bothered to seek out any more.

Now some of this series is being re-issued so I was happy to have another look into the life and work of Inspector Ghote. The Perfect Murder has a lot of charm – and Ghote is a great creation. He cares about doing a good job; he wants to be a person of high morals but is all too aware of corruption all around him. The story itself is well plotted and coherent which makes it a very easy read.

The atmosphere of 1960s Bombay “feels” right. But does that mean it is right? As (like most readers) I have not lived any length of time in India but have nonetheless built up a picture of how the country works, how people relate to one another and how they use the English language. But what are the sources of this picture of India? E M Forster? Paul Scott? Kipling? – or Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Ruth Prawer Jhabvali and Rohinton Mistry. Do any Indians really talk like Arun Varde with his rhyming words (“corruption poppuption” and “doorstep poorstep”)? I would like to hear how and Indian born and bred in India responds to these books.

Or perhaps I am taking the whole thing too seriously……

Heresy by S J Parris

DATE PUBLISHED: 2010


DATE READ: April 2011

NOTES: Giordano Bruno is an Italian ex-communicated monk who escaped from the Inquisition to France and then on to England in 1583. He has rejected much traditional religious thinking and his heretic philosophy goes beyond Copernicus. With his friend Philip Sidney he travels to Oxford – ostensibly to debate with their senior don but also to seek out a lost book of Hermetic writings. As a further complication Sir Francis Walsingham has inveigled him into looking out for anti-Elizabeth sentiments among the Oxford academics. While in Oxford some murders occur and Bruno finds himself in the role of investigator.

Heresy is a well-written atmospheric historical fiction. The scenes of London, the Thames and Oxford are all well done. The tensions caused by religion and politics in Elizabethan England are clearly described. Although there were many who clung desperately to their chosen religion and were prepared to be martyred others just wanted to get on with their lives. “You must excuse Doctor Bernard some of his harshness,” he said, apologetically. “He has had to change his religion three times under four different sovereigns.”

The Tudor period has given rise to many other novels so any writer approaching this period needs to show considerable originality. Although Heresy has many positive attributes it is far from original. There are echoes of The Name of the Rose – especially with the reference to the secret book. The Shardlake books have already encompassed the role of Tudor detective so S J Parris had her work cut out to compete.

One of my problems with this book was the characters – none were especially prepossessing. Among the Oxford academics there was little differentiation and they all become merged in my mind. However the pace picked up towards the end and the final denouement was exciting if not credible. Why do the villains admit and explain what they have done? They don’t do this in real life but it happens again and again in books and films.

Orchid Blue by Eoin McNamee

DATE PUBLISHED: 2010

DATE READ: March 2011

NOTES: This is a novel based on real life incidents. In 1961 and young girl was savagely murdered in Newry following a dance at the Orange Hall. A local man, Robert McGladdery, is accused but the Detective in charge is concerned that because feelings are running so high he might not get a fair trial. Things are further complicated by the appointment of Lord Justice Curran as the trial judge. Nine years previously his own daughter had been murdered and the accused in that case was deemed of unsound mind and sent to a mental institution. The death sentence still exists and there seems to be a general feeling that the ultimate penalty should be paid for such a dreadful crime.

Eoin McNamee is a very good writer. He creates the atmosphere of the sixties brilliantly and all the characterisations are excellent. McGladdery is shown to be an enigmatic character who is not helped by the sloppy police tactics of the time. There are also the many ambiguities regarding the murder of the Judge’s daughter. Parts of the story do not add up but it is as if he was too important a person to be vigorously questioned.

If this was a complete fiction it would be a brilliant book. But as it is based on real people and real incidents I felt very uncomfortable reading it. 1961 is not so long ago – some of the people involved could still be alive. He also writes in a detailed way as to what people said and what they were thinking. I found myself thinking “How does he know this”.

I didn’t know about this case before reading Orchid Blue so would not have known how McGladdery’s trial ended. However on the inside cover is a spoiler….. black marks to the publisher!