#17. Nominated For The Booker Prize – Possession by A S Byatt (Audible)

I purchased this Audible book in February 2021. I found it tedious to listen to, despite the wonderful narration of actor Samuel West, and I stopped listening after the first few chapters thinking I’d try again “when I was in the mood.” At nearly 22 hours long, I couldn’t find the enthusiasm to listen to it.  I noticed that this title crept slowly to the bottom of my list as I continued to buy and listen to other titles which I found infinitely more engaging within the first few minutes of listening to them. 

When I read the blurb, I thought I had been buying an edgy detective novel, but this is a detective work more akin to family history research than a “who dunnit” murder mystery!  As I was looking for titles that had been nominated for the Booker Prize, I remembered that I still had this book to listen to and not only had it been nominated, but it had also won the prize, so it must have something going for it. 

Indeed, the book is cleverly constructed, and I found Sam West read it beautifully, however, it is a book full of beautiful prose and poetry and it is challenging to listen to and remember what’s going on.  If I need to sit and concentrate on a book, then my first choice is a paperback and this is a book you need to concentrate on, and perhaps flick the pages back and forth to remind you of events or look at things again in detail. You can't do this with an audio book and so my experience of the book fell a little short, but I still enjoyed it! 

“Winner of England's Booker Prize 1990.

 Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once a literary detective novel and a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets.

 Following a trail of  letters, journals and poems, they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time.”

Roland Michell is a literary researcher who has recently completed his PhD studying the eminent (fictitious) Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash. He is frustrated that he cannot find himself a permanent job, however, whilst in a London library, he discovers, hidden in the back of a book that once belonged to Ash, two draft handwritten letters to an unknown woman. Excited by this discovery, he secretes these letters with his personal belongings before returning the book to the librarian. Michell suspects that Ash must have been having an affair and begins to delve deeper to unearth who the letters were meant for. His knowledge of Ash leads him to theorise that the letters were intended for a contemporary of Ash, a minor poet named Christabel LaMotte.

Dr Maud Bailey is both a distant relative and scholar of Christabel LaMotte and Michell arranges to meet her in Lincoln to discuss his hypothesis.  Maud shows him some additional documents which show a likely correspondence took place between the two poets around 1858/59. It would be a significant find for the academics if Ash and LaMotte had been having an affair, as it had been widely understood that Ash was happily married, and LaMotte was probably a lesbian. Michell admits to Maud about the letters he has stolen, whilst she confirms she is intrigued and wants to find out more about the affair. Any academic who managed to discover the truth about the relationship would bolster their career, so Maud and Roland try to keep their research secret; but hot on their heels are another group of scholars including James Blackadder, and American scholars Mortimer Cropper and Leonora Stern, thus much excitement and underhand activities follow in the pursuit of the truth.

#16. An Omniscient Narrator – Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (Audible)

As a child, I used to watch the ITV series “Sherlock Holmes” starring Jeremy Brett and David Burke on the family black and white TV. According to my mother, Brett was the perfect Holmes, and as I grew older and watched other people try to inhabit the character, I had to agree. Brett and Burke were the perfect double act as Holmes and Watson, but what of their creator? I knew very little about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Despite owning a beautiful clothbound version of the complete works of Sherlock Holmes (and a copy on Audible to listen to on the way to work) I’ve never thought about the man behind the pen. I stumbled across this title on Audible, I think it was in one of their 2-4-1 sales; I'd read some other works of Julian Barnes and knew he was a good writer, so I was interested to hear what he had to say about the real lives of George Edalji and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

“As boys, George, the son of a Midlands vicar, and Arthur, living in shabby genteel Edinburgh, find themselves in a vast and complex world at the heart of the British Empire. Years later—one struggling with his identity in a world hostile to his ancestry, the other creating the world’s most famous detective while in love with a woman who is not his wife—their fates become inextricably connected.”

 

I think the story of George Edalji and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a fascinating one, and it is obvious that Julian Barnes has done an enormous amount of research into the lives of both men, but I think I made a huge mistake in getting this book on Audible. It is hard to write an unbiased review of a book when you're trying to work out if the book is badly written, or if it's due to the poor narrator. In this instance, I think it is safe to say that my main criticism of the book is not Barnes' beautiful prose, but the narration on Audible. My concentration was removed from the story and transferred instead to the poor accents, mispronunciations and general telling of the story, which is a great travesty to Barnes. 

George Edalji was a myopic solicitor, the son of a country vicar, and part Asian. His path only crossed with that of the creator of Sherlock Holmes for several months, but there meeting was most fortunate, as Doyle was instrumental in correcting a serious miscarriage of justice.

#15. Part Of A Duology – Deeper Than the Dead by Debra Webb (Kindle)

This was my selection from my Amazon Prime First Reads UK options for July 2024. At the time it was stated that this was the first book in a duology, and I thought the blurb sounded interesting enough for there to be a second book and that I’d read it once it was released. It now transpires that this is the first book in a new detective series, but I’m keeping it here under the #15 as I began reading it when I was under the impression there were only going to be two books!
 
“Crime analyst and newly disgraced deputy police chief Vera Boyett doesn’t visit home often, and she certainly doesn’t venture back into the cave on her family land. But when the remains of her long-missing stepmother are discovered, Vera will have to face a past that threatens all she is. She and her sister Eve had a fairy-tale childhood: good until it was tragic, with a stepmother they never found a bond with. At least they had each other, a baby half-sister, and a mutual devotion that would have them do the unthinkable. It’s a summer in small-town Tennessee, so thick with humidity it could drown you and so rife with secrets it could smother you. And deep beneath the surface, there are more bodies than you’d think….”
 
Twenty-two years ago, Vera Boyett's stepmother Sheree disappeared, it was presumed she had run away with her lover.  Human remains have now been discovered in a cave on the Boyett land in Fayetteville, and Vera's sisters need her to return home as the remains belong to Sheree. 39-year-old Vera has spent fifteen years working with the Memphis Police Department, working her way up to her current role of Deputy Chief in a specialised unit. Unfortunately for Vera, everyone on her team has been suspended, following a horrific shooting that claimed the lives of two of her officers. Vera is to be the scapegoat and the unit that she helped to create will be disbanded. With her career in tatters and the recent unearthing of human remains where she grew up, she is eager to head back to see her younger sister Eve and half-sister Luna. 

As with many novels focusing on domestic drama, families often have skeletons hidden in the closet, and Vera and Eve are no exception to this rule; although their skeleton is literally in a cave they used to play in as children. Twenty-two years ago, a family drama that they would prefer to keep hidden is about to be unearthed, but unknown to them both, there wasn't just one body hidden in the cave. Further remains are soon discovered in a deeper part of the cave system; some remains were deposited before Sheree's body was dumped there, and others were deposited after Sherree. Who else knew about the complex cave system and why was it chosen to dump the bodies in? 

#14. A Grieving Character – Eleven Liars by Robert Gold (Audible)

In 2020, as part of Hatchette publishers “secret reader” scheme, I received an advance copy of Robert’s book, “Twelve Secrets.” I enjoyed the book, so when I saw the second book in the Ben Harper series titled “Eleven Liars” pop up on Audible, I thought I would listen and see how the storyline had progressed.

 

“Journalist Ben Harper is on his way home when he sees the flames in the churchyard. The derelict community centre is on fire. And somebody is trapped inside.

With Ben's help the person escapes, only to flee the scene before they can be identified. Now the small town of Haddley is abuzz with rumours. Was this an accident, or arson?

Then a skeleton is found in the burnt-out foundations.

And when the identity of the victim is revealed, Ben is confronted with a crime that is terrifyingly close to home. As he uncovers a web of deceit and destruction that goes back decades, Ben quickly learns that in this small town, everybody has something to hide.”

 

This book starts pretty much from where the last one left off. Whilst it isn’t strictly necessary to read the first book in the series, I would recommend it, mainly because it helps to understand who the characters are, how their relationships fit together, and what issues have affected them in the first book. That said, the plot of the book is straightforward enough to follow, in chronological order, and Gold adds bit of information from the earlier novel, so you can quickly pick up on the back story without it hindering the rest of the plot.

The action starts immediately when investigative journalist Ben Harper takes a shortcut home  through the local cemetery and saves the life of a man who is trapped in a burning building. Despite Ben’s heroics, the man flees the scene before Ben can recognise him. The next day a skeleton is found in the ruins of the burnt-out building. No-one claims to know the identity of the body, or how it ended up in the foundations of the church’s community centre.

#13. An Academic Thriller – Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (Paperback)

This is the second Rosamund Lupton novel I managed to sneak into this challenge and it was easy to see why it was chosen as ‘Book of the Year’ by The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Stylist, Red and Good Housekeeping.

 

“In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Pupils and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster lies wounded in the library, unable to help his trapped students and staff. Outside, a police psychiatrist must identify the gunmen, while parents gather desperate for news. In three intense hours, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and save the people they love.”

 

Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds…it’s not that long a time, unless you are being held hostage. If you’re anxiously waiting for help to come, it can seem an inordinately long amount of time.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock…the amount of suspense that can be derived just from the thought of a clock ticking down. Will help come? Will the children be safe? Will the police fail in those last minutes? Whatever happens, we know that it will all be over in three hours. This is a book you can’t put down; you can’t leave the children in the school to their fate without knowing the outcome.

School shootings and stabbings are the horrific news headlines no-one wants to see, yet here, between these safe pages, you are invested in this cat and mouse game between police and gunmen, entering the psyche of the person at large. Why on earth would they want to target innocent children, children that have been dropped off at a place of safety, children who should spend the day knowing that in a few hours they’ll be back at home watching TV or texting their friends.

This is a story built on a parent’s worst nightmare, you are going to be with them every step of the way until you know whether their child is safe or not. Three hours is not a long time at all, and I certainly needed a bit longer than that to devour this book but devour it I did over a wet and windy weekend.

#12. Starting With The Letter "L" – Lullaby by Leila Slimani (Paperback)

“The baby is dead. It took only a few seconds.”

Browsing the local bookshop, I gasped in shock as I read those words. The first chapter is only 2.5 pages long, so I just continued reading, mouth open.  Immediately I knew I wanted to read this book, and that it was one I wouldn’t put down until it was finished, so armed with my new purchase, I headed off to the local park, bought an ice-cream, and continued reading.

“When Myriam decides to return to work, she and her husband look for a nanny for their two young children. They find their dream candidate: Louise: a quiet, polite and devoted woman who sings to their children, cleans the family's chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint and hosts enviable birthday parties. But as the couple and their nanny become increasingly dependent on each other, jealousy, resentment and suspicions start to breed, and Myriam and Paul's idyllic domesticity is shattered.”

From the first lines, Leila Slimani sets out her intention, that this is going to be a horrific tale and one that those triggered by child violence should not read. There is not going to be a soft approach to any of the issues which are raised in this book. Within the first paragraph you know that a baby is dead, a little girl is in a critical condition and the mother is hysterical. A 4^th person has tried to take their own life. The wheels have been set in motion and the reader must make an uncomfortable decision, keep reading and head out on a  journey to find out how and why the children are dead, or leave the book on the shelf and find something less disturbing in the bookshop.

TRUST. Such a short word, but so powerful. Believing someone, hoping that they are honest, reliable, that they are speaking the truth…it is a difficult thing to do, especially the older you get. We put trust in people all our lives, from our early years of trusting someone with a secret that they then tell the whole school about, so you find out that they’re not as reliable as once thought, to getting older and trusting a complete stranger to operate on us.

I’ve never had the worry about employing someone to look after a child. The closest I’ve got to is when I go on holiday, there’s only one person I trust with the welfare of my cat; God knows what I’ll do if I (or they) ever move house. I know my cat is safe, so I really can’t imagine how hard it would be for me to put my trust in someone to look after my flesh and blood – especially a small defenceless child.

“ ‘My nanny is a miracle-worker.’ That is what Myriam says when she describes Louise’s sudden entrance into their lives.”

After interviewing several candidates for the role of a nanny, Myriam and Paul decide they have struck gold when Louise walks into their life. She is immediately at ease holding the baby and playing games with Mila, calling her a princess. She cooks dinner and cleans the house so that Myriam can concentrate on her career as a successful lawyer, and Paul can continue with his demanding schedules working as a music producer. Louise quickly makes herself indispensable, the household has never run so smoothly, but there is already a chilling discomfort as each page is turned, the reader is aware, unlike the parents, that Louise is no Mary Poppins.

#11. Title Starting With the Letter ‘K’ – The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (Audible)

This is the fourth book by Natasha Pulley that I have listened to, and then decided that it would have been better to have read a physical copy of the book. At some point, I may treat myself to the books, because I’m sure there are details that I’ve missed whilst walking and getting distracted by something I’ve seen. That is a shame really, because her books are full of such exquisite details, they deserve more attention than what I’ve given them.

 

“Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English—instead of French—the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,” but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.”

 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the history you thought you knew was wrong? What if you were given the chance to go back in time and change events that have already happened? If you did change things, then the future as you know it wouldn’t be able to exist…you might not be able to exist; those you love now might not exist because of the changes you’ve made. It’s quite the deep soul-searching question, and one that comes to play out in this novel.

The first thing that I have to say about this book is that it is a slow burn, in fact all the novels I’ve read by Natasha Pulley are slow burns, which is why I think I would do better reading her books than trying to listen to them. That said, I don’t mean to suggest that the books are boring, rambling on about nothing, I mean that the story slowly unfurls. Pulley is a storyteller, she weaves a magical tale around “nothingness,” it is as though you can read several pages and still feel left in the dark, but you continue to read because you know, you know, that something interesting is being kept from you, it’s just ever so slightly out of reach, but with a bit of patience, the answer will come in its own time. At some point, everything you have been told will suddenly start to make sense.

The year is 1898 when Joe Tournier disembarks from a train in London into a world which is unfamiliar to both him and us the reader; only this isn’t London, it’s Londres. The UK is under French rule and slavery still seems to exist, somehow, the French won the Battle of Trafalgar, and the English are now slaves.