TITLE: RUBICON: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

AUTHOR: Tom Holland

DATE PUBLISHED: 2003

DATE READ: September 2007

NOTES: Brilliant account of the period of the fall of the Roman republic. A serious (but not difficult) read infused with wit and insights. The narrative takes us from 140 BC to the death of Octavian (Caesar Augustus) in AD 14. A fascinating period of history that left me wanting to know more about lots of the characters – such as Sulla, Cato and Cicero. There are obvious parallels with modern societies but these are not laboured.

He creates a wonderful picture of Rome and its wonderful ideals that were never quite lived up to. Also had brilliant illustrations, maps and timeline.

TITLE: THE SEA LADY

AUTHOR: Margaret Drabble

DATE PUBLISHED: 2006

DATE READ: September 2007

NOTES: Humphrey Clark and Ailsa Kelman met briefly as children in north-east England. They later meet up as lovers and embark on a short unfortunate marriage. Both have gone on to eke out very different careers. Ailsa has made a name for herself through her academic work on feminism and then through media appearances. She scandalized people by putatively wearing a foetus as a pendant. Humphrey has had a fairly successful career as a marine biologist albeit not without disappointments. At the Green Grotto (in the white elephant at Greenwich) which he had a part in setting up is a robotic mermaid who moves in and out of the water. His embarrassment at this as he escorts his grandson is almost tangible.

Their stories unfold as they travel back to Ornemouth fifty years later to receive honorary doctorates at one of the country’s newer universities.

The book is a wonderful evocation of childhood at the seaside as well as the anxieties and uncertainties of ageing. There are constant references to sea life and marine biology (Ailsa’s name, her mermaid-like dress, their journey compared to salmon coming home to spawn)

Margaret Drabble is one of the best writers about older people - very welcome in a youth obsessed world.....

A grown-up book for grown-ups!

TITLE: THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER

AUTHOR: Jed Rubenfeld

DATE PUBLISHED: 2006

DATE READ: August 2007

NOTES: A young psychoanalyst links up with Freud and Jung when they are visiting New York to help solve a complex murder plot. Superbly atmospheric of the times and some great characterizations. Freud’s approach and the arguments against him are forcefully put forward in a very readable way. Also includes some great background details – the building of the Manhattan Bridge is fascinating and is at the same time intrinsic to the plot.

Ultimately I found the plotting to be overcomplicated and there were just too many twists and turns. However as I read it I was increasingly intrigued as to what was historically true and which characters were real and which were fiction. The notes at the end were very illuminating. A really good read.

TITLE: THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON

AUTHOR: Kate Morton

DATE PUBLISHED: 2007

DATE READ: August 2007

NOTES: Ninety-eight year old Grace is looking back over her life and in particular her time as a maid at Riverton in the early part of the last century. Her life (and her parentage) is entwined with the stories of the family who live there and the ultimate “secret” is not revealed until the last few pages. (Think of sub-literary Atonement crossed with Gosford Park) Unfortunately the story does not justify the nearly 600 pages it takes to tell. The device of the maid relating the story through overheard conversations is clumsy and could probably have been avoided by a straightforward narrative. Lots of research has obviously gone into the book but this whole thing has been done better elsewhere (Pat Barker, Evelyn Waugh) and it adds little to what has gone before.

Quite a disappointment – I fell for the hype but fortunately bought this book at a car boot sale for 50p.

TITLE: CORAM BOY

AUTHOR: Jamila Gavin

DATE PUBLISHED: 2000

DATE READ: July 2007

NOTES: Coram Boy is set in 18th century England and contrasts lives of the fortunate and unfortunate children of the times. Well written beginning given a horrific picture of child trafficking and murder. Unfortunately it all becomes a bit predictable – abandoned child is reunited with his parents, bad people get their just desserts etc. Not sure which age group this book was aimed at. Concepts such as pregnancy outside marriage, selling of young children into slavery and infanticide suggest it is aimed at 12 – 13 year olds. However the actual writing is very simple and the main boys are aged nine.

TITLE: THE PILOT’S WIFE

AUTHOR: Anita Shreve

DATE PUBLISHED: 1999

DATE READ: August 2007

NOTES: Kathryn gets a knock at the door in the middle of the night and her life begins to unravel. Her husband has been killed in a mid-air explosion en route to US from London. She and her teenage daughter are both distraught and are comforted by Robert, sent by the airline, and Kathryn’s grandmother Julia. It soon becomes clear that her “good marriage” may not have been all she thought. She picks up the clues and travels to London where she meets up with Muire who has also been “married” to Jack and has two children by him. Meanwhile the press are suggesting suicide by Jack (and at the same time killing a hundred other people) caused by a bomb brought on the plane by him.

This is not the best Shreve book I have read. The prose is lovely and the emotions of Kathryn and Mattie are well handled and believable and the character of Julia is strong. Muire is much less real and the plot all a bit contrived……

The ending is ambivalent which suits the tone of the book.

TITLE: IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY – INSIDE BAGHDAD’S GREEN ZONE

AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran

DATE PUBLISHED: 2007

DATE READ: August 2007

NOTES: Superbly researched and lucid account of the US attempts to impose a new order in post-invasion Iraq. Records the unreal life led by the Americans in the Green Zone compared to the unfolding chaos in the rest of the country. He also tells of how the main criterion when recruiting staff was allegiance to the Republican Party rather than any past relevant experience. Also very revealing on how differing US agencies were at odds with one another and were trying to impose differing agendas. Breathtaking amounts of dollars were paid to contractors who then failed to carry out their agreed work while other people with specific needs to aid the reconstruction were denied any real funding.

A hard hitting account of the blunders, venality and cynicism of the occupiers but at the same time Chandrasekaran acknowledges the undoubted good motives of many of those involved in this continuing tragedy of a broken country.