The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules - Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg - Guest Book Review

Translated from the Swedish by Rod Bradbury

Published by Pan Macmillan

Guest book review by Tracy Terry

At last an 'international best seller' that I've actually enjoyed. 

A story about a pensioner (and her friends), The League Of Pensioners, behaving badly. Whilst I can understand comparisons being made between this novel and The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson I'm personally loathe to do so except to say that in my opinion this is a far superior read.

Far-fetched? Without a doubt and yet unlike the afore mentioned One hundred Year Old Man the author never strays into the absurd. But more than anything else The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules is a wonderfully quirky alternative crime novel that takes many of the stereotypes about elderly people and turns them upside down.

A more or less constantly funny novel (I did think certain bits fell slightly flat) full of memorable characters that I readily took to heart. Whilst written by a Swedish author (The English translation is extremely well done by Rod Bradbury) the almost farcical nature of some of the scrapes Martha and her fellow conspirators (also known as the League of Pensioners) found themselves in put me in mind of one of those old Ealing Comedies.

And yet very much up to date. The social commentary on topics such as the potential vulnerability of the elderly in residential institutes more concerned with their profit margins is exemplary.

Many thanks to Tracy for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library! Tracy blogs at Pen and Paper - do pay a visit there and read her brilliant book blog!

Rory's Boys - Alan Clark

‘My story was more complex than I had known it to be...'

Rory Blaine is a very successful advertising executive in London who discovers the grandmother he has been estranged from for many years is now close to death. He reluctantly visits her and whilst there meets Vic d'Orsay, a popular singer now in his seventies but still going strong. When his grandmother passes away, Rory is surprised to inherit his grand familial home, Mount Royal in Hampstead, a place that holds many memories for him, but which he has also not seen for many years. When he takes possession, Vic appears again and suggests an idea for the future role of the place, and a brilliant plan is born; 'Mount Royal was about to become Britain’s first residential home for gay men.’

Rory has turned 45 and when he experiences unexpected rejection in his personal life he begins to think about his life, what happened in the past, where he is now and what might lay ahead. Openly gay, he wonders if there will ever be a man who he can spend his life with, whether he can move beyond promiscuity and brief affairs and short-lived (albeit very pleasurable) gratification, on to finding something lasting.

This novel has a first person narrative from Rory throughout, in the form of a record of thoughts and events as suggested by his therapist. This allows the reader a very intimate look at his life, his innermost thoughts and fears, and his relationships, throughout the story, and has the feel of a very personal tale. 

I enjoyed this novel a lot; I thought the writing was very honest and moving at times, and also funny, entertaining and witty; some bits really made me laugh and reading other parts I felt very sad. It is frank and open about sex, casual encounters and gay relationships.

This story felt so real, at times Rory's pain was strong, the loneliness after being disowned at a young age by his grandmother, the only family he really had left, and his difficulties in coming to terms with himself, as well as with getting older, finding his place in the world, and accepting his past if he is to move onwards. Vic offers him valuable advice about forgiveness that was based on his own very difficult experiences, which are revealed in the novel through a very well written encounter that exposes the awful bigotry and ignorance of some in society.

                                  

Vic is a charismatic, affable and layered character. Rory observes of him that ‘he certainly wasn’t like elderly men were supposed to be. It had obviously never occurred to him to disengage with the world, to step back and leave life to the younger generation. He never stood on his dignity either so somehow, however he behaved, he kept it.’

There are some very touching friendships that grow and evolve over the course of the novel, with some characters, especially Elspeth, coming into their own as the story progressed. In fact, when I had finished reading the book, I realised I really would miss some of these characters, so vividly had they been drawn by the author.

Some of the elderly gay characters have evidently had to hide their sexuality from most of those around them for much of their lives, indeed, as mentioned in the novel, for some of them, they could remember when their love was considered a crime. I had never thought about the lack of places for older gay people to be able to live where they would be accepted and cherished rather than judged and questioned, and I thought it was brilliant to see this idea being discussed in fiction. 

The wealthy older men who come to reside at Mount Royal in its new life as a residential home are the 'Rory's Boys' of the novel's title. There are some fascinating, entertaining and endearing characters amongst them. One of the larger-than-life residents remarks that ‘we are each of us surprising and fascinating till our last breath', a line that I loved.

There are plenty of twists and turns within the plot too, some that I guessed at and some that certainly took me by surprise.

This is a really good first novel; the author imbues his prose with honesty, compassion, poignancy and humour, and has crafted an entertaining plot and some great characters.

Source - I was kindly sent a copy of this novel to read and review.

Publisher - Bliss, an imprint of Arcadia Books
Visit the author's website here

Coming of Age...Again - Carol Mizrahi - guest review

Irene, Barbara, Rochelle and Sylvia have been friends since Kindergarten and have remained so through all kinds of ups and downs.  Now in their early sixties when life should be fairly settled they find themselves in turmoil. 

Rochelle has spent her life pleasing others and doing as she’s told but now finds that she doesn’t really want to spend the rest of her life being an unthanked childminder for her grandchildren and taken for granted by just about everyone she knows but can she take control of her own life?

Uncurable romantic Irene has been looking for the perfect man since her husband died and thinks she has found him, until he moves in with her...is there ever such a thing as the perfect man or does true love mean accepting some flaws too?

Barbara has had a very comfortable lifestyle even if it meant looking the other way whilst her husband played around but when she discovers his latest love interest she becomes worried that this time it might be permanent...What can she do to stop it?

Sylvia, pessimistic and unhappy lives with her daughter and a fear that she is going to choke to death if she lives alone.  Each time daughter Mary has a boyfriend Sylvia manages to frighten him off when she invites him for dinner but what will she do if Mary decides to move out.  Can she survive alone?

It’s not often you read about women in their sixties and certainly not women like these four; they are feisty and full of life, definitely not ready for assisted living and Meals on Wheels!  This novel shows that there is life after 60 and that no matter what age you are life is always full of surprises and you can still achieve what you want to achieve.  Sylvia, Irene, Barbara and Rochelle are very realistic characters, quirky and lively and their problems are everyday true to life problems which readers will recognise and relate to and which are handled with, sometimes dark, humour and insight.

Definitely a novel I would recommend; I found it very enjoyable and different.  Light hearted yet serious and, often, genuinely very funny. It was a refreshing change to read about some women in their sixties with a different set of familial difficulties and decisions to be thought about and made than the usual 30 something sagas I usually read.  The writing, characters and storyline engaged me throughout, so much so that I was quite disappointed when I came to the end and I’d certainly look out for other writing by this author.

Reviewed by Lisa Ward-Weir, guest reviewer

Thanks very much to Lisa for kindly reading and reviewing this book for The Little Reader Library

Thanks to the author for an ebook copy of this novel to read and review.

Lisa also blogs at Book-Addicted Housewife

You can visit the author's website here 

Kismetology - Jaimie Admans

‘Mac here knows her stuff when it comes to kismetology.’

This enjoyable contemporary novel deals with matters of the heart in an entertaining and humourous way. Mackenzie Atkinson moved three doors down the road from her mother Eleanor’s house to live with her partner Dan. As she might perhaps have suspected, this has resulted in her mother being a regular visitor to her home, made a problem by the fact that her mother doesn't hesitate to interfere in all aspects of Mackenzie's life, in particular her love life, and often comments, usually unfavourably, about Dan, even if he is in the same room! Mackenzie decides that what would help an awful lot is if her mother were less lonely and had her own romantic interest, and she sets out to help her find a perfect match.

The twist comes in that, rather than send her mother out into the world on blind dates with complete strangers, Mackenzie decides that she will do the advertising and sourcing of potential suitors and that she will even meet any prospective partners before her mother does and vet them first, only lining up dates with her mother if the men are up to scratch. Cue many episodes of Mackenzie meeting often very unsuitable and sometimes downright awful candidates! Finding a balanced, mature gentleman proves much more difficult than first anticipated. The story kept me engaged as I wondered who, if anyone, Mackenzie's mother would like, and whether Mackenzie's own love life would survive the whole experience intact too.

I really enjoyed this romantic, funny novel, and the storytelling and the editing impressed me. Mackenzie has a likeable personality and is an engaging lead character who carries the story throughout. Her reactions to the various different men she meets on the dates are brilliant. As well as trying to help her mother, Mackenzie begins to consider her own situation and wonders if she could improve it, in particular in terms of work but also love. Eleanor is an interesting character, usually accompanied by pampered pooch Baby. Despite the antagonism between mother and daughter at times, it comes across that Mackenzie genuinely cares about her mother and wants to see her happy. The only small thing I would mention is that sometimes the thing that Mackenzie had made her mind up to do was repeated several times in her thoughts; I think this was just to reiterate her determination to do what she had planned, but occasionally I thought the idea had been described and didn't need repeating again, or arguing about with Dan again. 

I thought this was a light, entertaining and funny read and many will sympathise with Mackenzie's situation. I looked forward to reading a bit more every time I picked up my ereader and the story always kept me interested and often made me smile. Jaimie Admans writes really well and with heart about love, relationships and families and has crafted a promising debut novel. Also I think the book cover is really pretty and attractive. 

Thanks very much to the author for kindly sending an ebook copy of this novel for me to read and give an honest review. 

You can find the author on twitter @be_the_spark and visit her website here.

The Crane Wife - Patrick Ness - guest review

Oh my word, Patrick Ness has done it again.  Like A Monster Calls and his Chaos Walking trilogy, The Crane Wife is a powerful and heart-stirring book with big themes.  It's both wise and funny, immensely readable and very memorable, this is one of those rare books that leaves me sad I've read it and don't still have it to look forward to.  I'm quite sure it will be one of my top 10 favourite books of 2013.

George, middle-aged and divorced, is woken in the night by an unearthly cry, "a mournful shatter of frozen midnight falling to earth to pierce his heart and lodge there forever, never to move, never to melt." On going out into the garden to investigate, he discovers  a large bird, a crane, wounded by an arrow through its wing.  George does what any decent man would do and removes the arrow, leaving the bird free to fly away.  The next day at work, as George mulls over these strange events, the elegant and mysterious Kumiko walks into his life, a woman who, like the cry heard in the night, will lodge in his heart, changing his life forever.

This is the hauntingly beautiful opening to a multifaceted story that's about love, imagination and beauty, and about stories. Central to the book is the love affair between George, a man who represents "safety and softness and kindness and respite" and the elusive Kumiko.  In the middle of his mundane and ordinary life, George finds something utterly extraordinary in his love for Kumiko, a love that alters not only his life, but the lives of those around him as well; and the book has something to teach all of us about love, about its possessiveness and its capacity for forgiveness, about the way love can be both selfish and selfless.

At one level, then, this is a beautiful and timeless love story with all the elements of hope, drama and despair to make your heart ache.  As Kumiko puts it, it's about "the extraordinary [that] happens all the time... Life and happiness and heartache and love."  However, rooted in the Japanese folktale of the Crane Wife, a tale that is interwoven through the story of George and Kumiko, this is also a very artfully constructed story about stories, about the stories shared and private that make up the lives of all of us.  The novel is based on age-old fables and legends, with echoes of George and the Dragon and Leda and the Swan as well as the Japanese crane wife fable, and it's a glorious hymn of praise the eternal power of story-telling, and to the sheer physical beauty of books.  George "loved physical books with the same avidity other people loved horses or wine or prog rock... What was more perfect an object than a book?" Ness also points out how every character in every story (real or fictional), and indeed every story teller, will give a slightly interpretation of the tale and, more than this, will keep the story alive with every telling. As George says, for any given incident "there were as many truths - overlapping, stewed together - as there were tellers. The truth mattered less than the story's life.  A story forgotten died. A story remembered not only lived, but grew. "  Thus Ness himself not only keeps alive the various fables that weave through The Crane Wife, but he adds in something of his own in the telling to create a new tale.  "Stories shift. They change, depending on who is doing the telling."

Of course, the way a tale is told also matters, and Ness has a genius for telling a story that captures both the reader's mind and his heart.  His writing is acute and devastatingly sharp with hardly a wasted word; it's dramatic, tender and witty, and although there is just the occasional phrase that jars slightly, for me this just highlighted the near perfection of the rest of the book.  All the way through I kept trying in vain to work out quite how he creates such yearningly, achingly beautiful stuff from mere ordinary words.  It's a marvellously alchemical gift, rather like the talent George and Kumiko have for creating mesmerisingly beautiful art from mere feathers and the pages of old books.  Although The Crane Wife is anchored very firmly in the mundane real world of George's prosaic job and narrow life, in "real life with all its disappointments", it opens windows to a world that is magical, timeless and wonderful and it stirred my heart in a way that few books can.  If you've any interest at all in love, beauty and what makes us human, you should read this book and let it work its magic on you.

Reviewed by Penny Tattersall

Published by Canongate

Thanks very much to the publisher for a review copy of this novel.

Many thanks to Penny for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library

Lydia Bennet's Blog: the real story of Pride and Prejudice - Valerie Laws

‘Well it seems to be a given, when a bloke’s made his pile (or waited for his Pa to peg it), he’s ready to commit longterm and install some ‘lucky’ woman to like, run his crib and die having his babies.’

Recognise this? Or think it sounds familiar in a strange sort of way? Welcome to the blog of Lydia Bennet. This book rewrites the much-loved story of Pride and Prejudice from the viewpoint of Lydia, who is a thoroughly cool and fashionable fifteen-year-old girl with a very modern turn of phrase. She introduces us to the idea behind her ‘blog’: ‘Well, me and my buddies on the Net are wayyy too cool to read or write those boring ladylike journals! That’s ‘buddies’ from ‘rosebuds’, we being young, sweet, innocent maidens (irony alert!). So we started to write our goss and news in our own style, in our ‘buddies’ logs’ or ‘blogs’ for short, and pass them around our Network, or ‘the Net. Geddit? Readers are therefore immediately aware of their very hip and with-it narrator from 1811!

Lydia proceeds to guide us throughout the story we know and love so well, putting her own unique and honest perspective on people and events. She is obsessed with the arrival of the soldiers in Meryton, in particular Mr Wickham, ‘who’s hotter than a heatwave in hell’, and tells us about the much-anticipated arrival of ‘Blingley, as I like to call this loaded incomer.’ Lydia comes across here as a smart, sassy and sussed teenager, or at least that’s what she seems to think of herself! And what is her first impression of the esteemed Mr Darcy? ‘Darcy. Arsey more like. Oh dear, he thinks he’s all that, and with reason to be honest. Handsome, if you like them snooty, looking down on us all and not just because he’s tall.’ As Kitty races to tell her sister, ‘he’s dead loaded! He’s got ten big ones a year!’ Money is as always the driving force behind the matchmaking here.

Valerie Laws has successfully employed the speech and behaviour of a modern teenage girl and incorporated this into the character of Lydia living back in the early 1800’s, making her story an amusing mixture of the historical and the humourous. There are some interesting new ideas about Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas, and when Lydia refers to what Jane or Elizabeth have said, the words she reports that they used will often be more in the style of the original text, making clear the contrast with Lydia’s style. The Lydia we meet here is cheeky, clever and at times sneaky, as well as being very funny in her observations and remarks. The author displays an impressively thorough knowledge of the original material in her retelling.

If you are open to the idea of such a classic being handled in this way, you might find this, as I did, a clever, funny and entertaining read, cleverly adapted by the author to put the story into the hands of Lydia and show everything through her unique eyes with a very modern touch that had me laughing at times.

If the idea of it really doesn’t appeal, fair enough. I must admit I don’t particularly seek out books that look at the classics in a new or different way; without wanting to prejudge them, I usually prefer to read the original books. However, the author approached me to read and review this book and I was amused, entertained and impressed by it. I thought some aspects were very cleverly done, and above all it reminded me what a wonderful and timeless story the original novel offers us and how much I love that book.

Thank you to the author for kindly sending me an ebook copy of this novel to read and review.

You can visit the author's website here.

Lydia Bennet's Blog: the real story of Pride & Prejudice is Valerie Laws's eleventh book, and her first e-book as an indie author.

Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines by Carol E. Wyer

‘Welcome to Facing 50 With Humour the blog that gives you laughter lines.’

What a fun book! This novel genuinely did have me laughing out loud numerous times. Some of the situations and some of the conversations really ring true, and made me chuckle. I really enjoyed it as a light read with some very fitting observations about modern life.

Written as a blog, with posts in chronological order, and with comments from fellow bloggers at the end of the posts. This is thus written in a chatty style, as would befit a diary style blog.

Amanda Wilson is facing her fiftieth birthday, has a penchant for wine and describes herself as ‘a very desperate housewife’, loyal but grumpy retired husband Phil is nevertheless somewhat of a bore at times, and son Tom has dropped out of University and arrived back in their home, making very little of a helpful contribution, but adding to the general mess of their lives.

Amanda comes across as a fundamentally happy, cheerful person, who nonetheless is experiencing rather a slump in her life. She wonders what is around the corner, and wishes her days were a little more exciting. Her relationship seems to have lost any spark that it had.

Then there is some online flirting with an ex from many years back which adds a degree of interest in Amanda’s mundane daily life and intrigue for the reader as to what might happen, but also anxiety for Amanda as to whether it is ever a good idea to try and revisit the past in this way or if it is best left as just happy memories.

She has complaints about her husband but never any real malice, and underlying this there is always the sense of a genuine love for him and a sense that beneath it all they are good together.

There were some scenes described that had me in stitches whilst reading; one in particular was Amanda’s adventures trying to buy a bottle of milk, another was her son Tom’s efforts at doing the Christmas food shopping, it is brilliant in the incompetence of his efforts and wonderful in the hilarity it produces.

In writing this book in the style of a blog, it feels very current, and also very easy to pick up and read a few pages. It leaves you wanting more and eager to read the next post. Carol E. Wyer successfully creates moments of real humour from the everyday.

A lovely, genuinely funny modern read of contemporary women’s fiction, this is an easy read that you could happily sit back with and pass a few hours in light hearted pleasure. I am looking forward to reading Surfing in Stilettos which is the new book from this author and which features Amanda and Phil once again. 

Reviewed by Lindsay Healy

You can visit the author's website here and follow her on twitter @carolewyer

Carol is part of loveahappyending 

Thank you to the author for kindly sending me this book to read and give an honest review.