As much as I wanted to like this book, something about it just didn’t jibe. It has good intentions- highlighting, for example, the vulnerability of refugees- but doesn’t quite ring true. The SPOILER ALERT death of schoolboy Mitchell does however leave a lasting sadness so some of it gets under the skin, but unfortunately it’s […]
Other People’s Secrets
Who can resist a big lakeside house in Italy and the uber rich who inhabit it? Not Ginny and Adam Trustlove, who are drawn towards the wealthy Sales despite being utterly heartbroken by the recent death of their baby son. Bea Sale, wife of a philandering husband and mother to three grown up kids, is […]
Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan
A solid, intelligently written little thriller with fairly satisfying twists and turns. Margot Lewis, a teacher and newspaper agony aunt, gets a letter (how quaint that people still write actual letters) purporting to be from a girl who went missing twenty years ago. How can this be? There’s a few too many dream sequences in […]
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
Normally I avoid books with cursive writing on the cover or the word ‘love’ in the title (CHICK LIT) but for McLain I will make an exception. She has a way of getting right inside the minds of the women she writes about. Love and Ruin is her second novel based on the wives of […]
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Aaliya is 72 years old, divorced and lives alone in an apartment in Beirut she refused to let her family bully her out of. She has no really close bonds and suspects she would be judged by society as an unneccary woman, but by God what a mind she has. History, literature, humour, human nature, […]
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
I loved this book. So refreshing to see a woman in her late fifties at the height of her powers and not wholly defined by her relationships with others: mother, wife. Fiona Maye is a judge in the Family Court. She is thoughtful, humane and compassionate in the way we want all our judges to […]
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
You’ve got to appreciate a protagonist who has a plan and sticks to it, much like Agatha. She sees the life of Meghan O’Shaughnessy, so bright and shiny from the outside, and plans to take something from her. Meanwhile, inside Meghan’s life, it’s far from glamorous. Both women are struggling in their own way; both […]
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
This very good little thriller is a stand alone from Robotham. Audie Palmer escapes from prison the day before he is due to be released after serving ten years for armed robbery. Why, you’ve gotta ask? As the story unfolds it turns out he has ample reason, and his story is a very sorry one. […]