Reading round-up August 2018

Reading round-up - August 2018 

I thought I'd be able to get back to posting more regularly but it's been ages again unfortunately. As I've not written any full reviews I thought I'd share a taste of what was a very good reading month for me in August. There was a lovely variety in what I read, everything was enjoyable,  and it was great to read such a quantity as well. I wish I could manage this every month but sadly that doesn't happen. I've read little in September so far, although the one novel I've finished thus far - A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne - was absolutely brilliant and I'd highly recommend it. I read some lovely illustrated children's books, a graphic novel, crime fiction, and a selection of other fiction - historical and contemporary, even some poetry. Additionally there was a compelling memoir, and a very welcome and supportive book on surviving the modern world. Some mostly brief thoughts on them.

The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau - Graeme Macrae Burnet has become a new favourite author since, earlier this year, I read his brilliant novel His Bloody Project, whilst  on holiday up in Scotland. I've since read his other two novels and thoroughly enjoyed both. 

Notes on a Nervous Planet - Matt Haig's book Reasons to Stay Alive (my review is here) was a wonderfully supportive and sympathetic read which I found an awful lot of strength from and this is another book which takes an honest look at the pressures of the modern world and the struggles we may have with it and gives support and hope in coping.

The Case of the Missing Hippo (Fabio the World's Greatest Flamingo Detective 1) - This book is fabulous fun and a very enjoyable read, what a clever imagination.

I Am, I Am, I Am I love Maggie O'Farrell's novels, and really enjoyed this series of 'brushes with death', if enjoyed is the right word. I enjoyed her writing once again, though these many close scrapes are at times frightening, she has come through so much. 

You Sad Feminist - I heard about this poet on Jean's - Bookish Thoughts - book tube channel and thought it sounded up my street, and then I watched a video of the author  Megan Beech reading some of her poetry aloud and was very impressed, as I was when I read this collection. 

The Yark - A children's book I found whilst browsing in Foyles, it caught my eye, translated from French and published in New Zealand, it's a story I enjoyed though be warned it certainly has a dark edge to it. 

The Book Case - Lots to love in this and I will look out for more. Some fab characters especially Daphne. I liked the illustrations a lot. A fair bit of action and adventure to the story.

The Poet's Dog - This is a lovely story that says so much about love/friendship and kindness in so few words. And the main character and narrator is a dog. Perfect.

Stay Where You Are and then Leave - I loved this story from beginning to end, it was moving and very well told. I was sad to leave the characters behind and am wondering what happened to them all next.

Rooftoppers - This was a magical read! I had a tear in my eye at the end. Not sure how I missed this before. 

All We Shall Know - 'We merged over time into one person, I think, and it's easy to be cruel to oneself.'

I've previously read one book by this author, The Spinning Heart, which I absolutely loved, so I did go into this new book with high expectations I suppose, and I wasn't disappointed. Whilst I think overall I still would say I loved The Spinning Heart most, I absolutely loved reading Donal Ryan's beautiful, lyrical writing again here in All We Shall Know, with his often acutely painful but so on the nose observations about people and about relationships of love and youth and promise gone so bitter and so wrong. I just feel he has a brilliant grasp on people and on what makes people's hearts soar with joy and what absolutely tears people apart in themselves and from each other. I think his writing is at times a class apart and sometimes I stop and reread a sentence or passage numerous times in awe of it. 

Here he tells the story of a woman named Melody Shee, who we learn straight away is pregnant and the father is not her husband Pat but Martin, a young traveller boy. She is in a very dark place in her mind as the novel begins, and we learn of the darkness that haunts her from her past, from schooldays and from her marriage gone sour. The only brightness on the landscape is a new friendship that blossoms between Melody and Mary, a traveller living on the same site as Martin, and to some extent the time Melody spends with her father. This book gave me an insight into a community that I know very little about. The author depicts the way memories of past transgressions haunt us and can come back to taunt us. The tension and atmosphere grows as the weeks of her pregnancy progress. The whole of the passage about marriage vows that is about a page long is amazing. Superb, writing which is both beautiful and so insightful, and amazing how he does this in 150 or 200 pages, and I've already bought two more by this author to look forward to.

Standard Deviation - I really enjoyed this debut novel. I do like a good story of everyday family life set in the present day, and Katherine Heiny has crafted just such a tale here, a really readable story centred predominantly around just a few characters - Graham, his wife Audra, his first wife Elspeth and Graham and Audra's son Matthew. The author has a pacy writing style, and she writes with great humour at times, and makes some very sharp and true observations on modern life, love, marriage, parenting, there's some lovely characterisation. There's also some real sadness, sometimes coming as quite a surprise. Though in some ways it feels as though Graham is the main character, Audra is such a presence that it does feel like she is the most memorable character in the book, and at times I thought Audra was brilliant, though I do think she would also drive me a little mad at times too if I encountered her in the real world. Sometimes I thought, oh she's not really going to say that is she, and then she does, oh my goodness! The development of young Matthew's character was nicely done, his talent for origami. There's some witty and at times acerbic commentary and judgements, often from Graham, on the personalities and behaviours of those he meets, and sometimes you can't help feeling you might have thought the same thing, however unkind, and other times it makes you stop and think about how we judge others based sometimes on very little. It made me think about how we view our relationships. And although there were very sad moments, it really did make me laugh at times. I'd definitely read more by this author. 

The Pavee and the Buffer Girl - I enjoyed this moving graphic novel about outsiders finding each other. 

An American Marriage - A compelling tale and one that makes you think about whose side, if anyone's, you are on. 

Snap - I really enjoyed this, a compelling page turner, some witty lines and enjoyable characterisation, recommended. One of my favourite reads from a few years ago is Belinda Bauer's novel Rubbernecker (my review is here).

Have you read any of these? What was your favourite read over the summer? 

New releases

I'm hoping this autumn will bring more good reads and there are several I'm really excited about over reading the coming weeks, including Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak, Transcription by Kate Atkinson, Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton, to name a few. 

Is there a new release you are looking forward to?

Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig

Synopsis from goodreads:

I want life.

I want to read it and write it and feel it and live it.

I want, for as much of the time as possible in this blink-of-an-eye existence we have, to feel all that can be felt.

I hate depression. I am scared of it. Terrified, in fact. But at the same time, it has made me who I am. And if - for me - it is the price of feeling life, it's a price always worth paying

Reasons to Stay Alive is about making the most of your time on earth. In the western world the suicide rate is highest amongst men under the age of 35. Matt Haig could have added to that statistic when, aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn't, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression. It's also an upbeat, joyous and very funny exploration of how live better, love better, read better and feel more. 

Published by Canongate

~~~~~

'When you are depressed you feel alone, and that no one is going through quite what you are going through. You are so scared of appearing in any way mad you internalise everything, and you are so scared that people will alienate you further you clam up and don't speak about it, which is a shame, as speaking about it helps. Words - spoken or written - are what connect us to the world, and so speaking about it to people, and writing about this stuff, helps connect us to each other, and to our true selves.'

I read Reasons to Stay Alive the same day it arrived in the post. 

I'd been looking forward so much to this book arriving.

Actually, both looking forward to it, and a bit trepidatious about reading it. 
For one thing, I thought, if I don't read it straight away, I might put it off and become more and more scared about starting it. So I opened the cover and just read it. 

It's not always easy to comment about something that deals with subject matter which relates very personally to you. 

But I want to try, because if ever there was an important book it's this one. 

Because, speaking from experience, depression can be an isolating, frightening, misunderstood illness, and if there's anything that's able to help with a sufferer feeling a bit less alone and bit more understood, then that 'thing', be it a book, a film, whatever, is worth shouting about. 

Words I would use to describe this book, for someone who doesn't want to read or can't manage to read a big long review just now, (based on my experience of desperately wanting to understand more about this illness but recoiling at the detail in some books that I just couldn't cope with on my own at times when struggling):

kind, understanding, honest, helpful, warm, positive, open, important, cheering, supportive, encouraging, straightforward, a friend.

This book helps because it grasps what depression is like, how it can take over your life and make you feel like you are not yourself anymore, the depression is you. How can the book do this with so much insight and comprehension? Because the writer has been there and knows.

Author Matt Haig describes his own personal experiences with depression and anxiety, the worst and lowest point he found himself at, what he has done to try and get better, how he has found ways that sometimes help him, and the things that he wants to live for. 

It was wonderful to read of how books, and then starting to write, have been so important in helping Matt. He recommends here some of the books that he read when he felt unwell. I find solace myself through reading as much as I am able to, and still want to try writing one day, so it was encouraging to read how these things helped the author.

He also discusses some of what he has learnt about the illness; I found the mentions of evolutionary psychology interesting and maybe one day I'll read more about this - has the world moved on too fast for our minds? I think that was the sort of idea, if I've grasped it correctly. 

The book informs, or reminds us, depending on your knowledge, that there is still a huge amount that is unknown about this illness:

'The more you research the science of depression, the more you realise it is still more characterised by what we don't know that what we do. It is 90 per cent mystery.'

In terms of my thoughts about the book, all I can say is what the book did for me, as I was reading it, and after I had finished. I hope that this is helpful.

For someone struggling with depression (and anxiety), this book could make a difference to you in these ways - these are some of the things I thought and felt about it as I read:

It will help me

It will help someone who loves me

It's kind and understanding and honest

It's easy to read, and well presented, decent sized decently spaced print and a manageable length, something that can't be underestimated when you're depressed

It's open and honest and it shows me that there is a chance to get through each day

It shows that I are not alone in thinking awful things, in thinking I might never feel better, and it understands - this is huge - it understands that sometimes doing the tiniest smallest things are terrifying, and they are major accomplishments. In particular I'm thinking of the part about going to the shop on your own when you are very low. 

It understands the battle to try and hold on to a positive thought. 

It offers me reasons to be hopeful, to be strong, and ways to look at things differently, positively.

I feel like someone else in the world understands me now. I feel a bit less alone, a bit less scared, a bit less guilty and anxious and burdened. 

It helps you understand that everyone's experience of depression differs, that there is no one size fits all approach or answer to it, but it offers things to try that have worked for the author.

Just to reiterate one of my feelings about it mentioned above - I think it will be helpful to read for someone who loves you and is trying to help you with this illness, to help them see it from the inside as well as the outside, it offers some clarity and insight that a person really suffering might not be able to put into words very well for themselves, - how do you explain depression? - and it will help them to encourage their loved one that they are not the only one who feels depressed like they do (a common feeling). 

There's a couple of pages headed up 'Things depression says to you'. I nodded at it all so I marked the whole pages. Things like...
'Why are you trying to apply for a job? Who do you think you are?.....
Why are you crying?
Because you need to put the washing on?
Look at the people walking outside....
Why can't you be like them?'
Those pages alone really helped me feel a relief that somone understood. And they might just help others without experience of it to gain insight. And to me, both of these things, the compassion given to sufferers and the understanding given to others, breaking down stigma, are really, really important. 

Many other words that struck a chord as I was reading, here's a couple of them: 

'...the sheer exhaustion of never being able to find mental comfort. Of every positive thought reaching a cul-de-sac before it starts.' 

'days contained thousands of tiny battles'

There are so many sentences I will revisit and re-read, that struck a chord with me and had me nodding in agreement, thinking 'yes, that!', or passages that had me in tears, or sections that felt like a comfort, like a virtual hand holding mine or a virtual friend offering understanding and kindness, and I think and hope I will be able to find encouragement in this book in any future times that I might need it.

It was great to see the quote from Stephen Fry on the book's cover, someone else in the public eye whom I like and admire for breaking down stigma surrounding mental illness.

I hope these thoughts have made some sense and it's not all too incoherent I just felt this was a brilliant book and I had to write about it.

Thank you Matt Haig for being brave enough to look back on his memories and experiences and write this book, thank you to the publisher Canongate for bringing it to us. 

The Blue Suitcase - Marianne Wheelaghan

'Everyone is on edge and scared - scared to say what they think, and scared of what might come. Those not killed by the bombing are collapsing in the street from stress and anxiety.'

The Blue Suitcase is a fictional work that was inspired by actual letters and diaries which the author Marianne Wheelaghan found amongst her mother's belongings after her death, and it tells the story of a teenage girl growing up in Nazi Germany. The author writes in her prologue:

'I discovered the story of a vital person, who endured a shocking history, and this is why I have translated everything and put it in book form here. Simply put, her story deserves to be told.'

Written in the form of diary entries by the central character, Antonia Nasiski, as well as letters between her and members of her family, with some entries just a few lines long, others several pages, this is a moving, honest account of several years in a girl, and young woman's, life before, during and after World War II. Antonia lives in Breslau, in what in 1932 was the Province of Silesia in Germany, and is now an area within Poland. The story follows Antonia's life through the 1930s and 1940s, and charts the political and societal changes happening around her and her family, and the way these affect them all.

It's a frank record of turbulent times, when there seemed to be a strong answer to a country's problems but which turned into an horrific, destructive regime. And here is the voice of a girl, growing into a young woman as all this happens, recording her thoughts, her feelings, her reactions, what happens to her and those around her. 

I started reading and felt that the child's voice felt authentic and believeable; her observations suit the age that she is at - nearly twelve in 1932 when the novel starts - with sibling rivalry and jealousy, childlike hope, happiness and indignation at things she sees as unfair. She mentions the changes happening in the world around her, most affected by the fact that the events are causing her family to argue all the time. Antonia's Papa, who was initially not keen on the new leader, remarks that 'All Hitler is trying to do is gain stability. If anyone can hold Germany together, he can.' To which his wife replies 'What's gaining stability got to do with locking up my son and raiding bookshops?' And so we hear about the wonderful authors whose books have been removed from the shelves. Twelve-year-old Antonia witnesses all of this and writes 'I wish they would stop arguing!' This conflict represents the divide between those who believe the changes may be for the better and those who are uneasy or angry about what is happening to their country. It's hard to read about this period of history without thinking about the horrific outcome, but the author portrays here how, at the time, some people were swept up and deceived by the force of change.

Through her diary recording her daily life, including the disagreements between her family, we see the implications of the large scale political changes as they affect one group of ordinary people causing divides and unrest. She writes of the dramatic things that happen to her family. She sees her brothers torn between the extremes, Hubert loyally following Germany's new leader, Hansi sympathising strongly, later to his cost, with the communists. I thought the positions taken by her two brothers, and the paths they followed, made for a very interesting contrast within the story. Her sister Maria is unable to fulfil the ideal role of a mother that society wants her to be. Through Maria's letters we learn of the bombing of Berlin. It was sad to read how Antonia's mother becomes a shadow of her former self. 

The situation grows desperate and frightening for them all. In April 1945 Antonia writes of the way the people are being treated now by the German authorities; 'They terrorise and bully us and don't care if we live or die. How did it come to this?'  She has grown up through such tumultuous times, seen so much distress, we observe the way she has to mature, just to cope, going from a girl who just wanted an enjoyable birthday celebration without arguments at the start of the book, to a woman desperately trying to survive in a city turned to ruins, seeing what was her homeland disappear. I felt the terror and fear as people were ordered to leave Breslau. 

There is so much change, so much suffering and sadness as their lives become more and more difficult, and it's a battle to survive. In taking as its focus ordinary German citizens, this novel tackles an area not always broached in WWII fiction, the author illustrating how war affects people on all sides. I'm reminded a little of the conflicting empathy I felt whilst reading other novels such as The Undertaking by Audrey Magee and The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook.

The writing style, presenting the events day by day and with such a frankness and at times factual tone, yet showing the very personal effects they have, makes the novel very readable and shocking at the same time. Marianne Wheelaghan has taken the personal documents she found, part of her own family history, and combined this with historical research to create a compelling, frank portrait of ordinary people living through a period of huge change and terrible destruction, people surviving at times through awful conditions and changed irrevocably during those dark days. This isn't always easy reading, at times it is uncomfortable and harrowing, but it is fascinating, thought-provoking and hard to put down, I was eager to know what happened to Antonia and her family. I liked the representations on the suitcase on the book cover of the journeys which Antonia makes. 

Thank you to the author for kindly sending me a copy of this novel for an honest review.

There's more information on the author's website about the background to writing this novel.

Author links - twitter @MWheelaghan | website |
Published by Pilrig Press

Tuesday Intros: The Blue Suitcase by Marianne Wheelaghan

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea - every Tuesday, sharing the first paragraph (or a few) of a book you are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Visit the blog here to join in.

I'm reading The Blue Suitcase by Marianne Wheelaghan.

First paragraph

'Mum was eighty-two when she died. I discovered the suitcase three months later. Her flat was to be sold. I was waiting for the agent to come and view it. Except for a feather duster forgotten in the airing cupboard, a kitchen chair and the big mahogany wardrobe, the place was empty.'

~~~~~

What do you think, and would you keep reading?

I've nearly finished this book and have found it a very interesting historical read with a compelling voice, namely Antonia's personal diary entries.

~~~~~

Synopsis

It is 1932, Silesia, Germany, and the eve of Antonia's 12th birthday. Hitler's Brownshirts and Red Front Marxists are fighting each other in the streets. Antonia doesn't care about the political unrest but it's all her family argue about. Then Hitler is made Chancellor and order is restored across the country, but not in Antonia's family. The longer the National Socialists stay in power, the more divided the family becomes with devastating consequences. Unpleasant truths are revealed and terrible lies uncovered. Antonia thinks life can't get much worse - and then it does.

Partly based on a true-life story, Antonia's gripping diary takes the reader inside the head of an ordinary teenage girl growing up. Her journey into adulthood, however, is anything but ordinary.

Turning This Thing Around - Keith Maginn - Author Guest Post

Today I am pleased to welcome author Keith Maginn to my blog with an article about how he came to write his memoir, Turning This Thing Around.

Guest author post by Keith Maginn

"I'm not what I ought to be, I'm not what I'm going to be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be."

This famous quote sums up where I am these days. I am still a work in progress, but I am light years beyond where I was just a few years ago. There were times back then when I wondered if life was worth living. I do not feel that way whatsoever anymore.

About five years ago, I found myself sitting outside of a psych ward in Atlanta, Georgia. My fiancée was struggling terribly with bipolar depression. I had done everything I could, but was powerless to help her. I was also fighting my own battle with chronic pain and anxiety. I had no idea what I could do to turn things around. No matter how hard I fought, how much I prayed, things seemed to get worse and worse.

I soon found myself slipping into a deep depression, though I remained outwardly happy. Few of my family, friends or co-workers had any idea how desperate my predicament had become. My fiancée was adamant that no one know what she was going through, but I knew I couldn’t keep everything bottled up inside. I was perilously close to a complete nervous breakdown. Not wanting to betray her trust and talk to anyone, I started writing. It was my therapy, the only way to get some of the anger, sadness and confusion out of me.

I have been writing most of my life, as far back as I can remember. But it was never focused writing, just here and there. Now the words (and emotions) poured out of me. The story seemed to write itself. I realized that others might benefit from what I was writing. I felt people could relate to at least some of what I went through: heartbreak, depression, chronic pain, frustration…

Despite more hardships and heartbreak initially, my life gradually started to improve. I felt I was doing what I was meant to be doing, fulfilling my purpose. My mental and physical health improved and I had a new direction in life, a new focus. Things were looking up, finally.

When I started writing what eventually became Turning This Thing Around, I had no plans of ever publishing it. I wrote for myself, for my own sanity. But what started as a very personal diary evolved into something that I wanted to share with others. If I could overcome what I had, then others could, too. I decided to take a chance and self-published my writing as a “self-help memoir” (changing my fiancée's name to protect her privacy).

I had no idea how people would react to my book. Would they think I was feeling sorry for myself and looking for pity? I had my doubts, but I am very glad I decided to go ahead with the project. The response was wonderful. I have gotten many replies from people that relate and share their own stories with me. I am happy that people can learn from what I went through and that we can connect on an emotional level. I now know that people are often going through more than they show, making empathy, kindness and understanding all the more important.

As Eckhart Tolle said in The Power of Now, my challenges helped me grow as a person and gave me more "depth, humility and compassion." I knew it was time to be around my family and closest friends after ten years of living four hours away. Once I swallowed my pride and reached out to them, their support was overwhelming.

I moved home two years ago and threw myself into writing. In January, I self-published my second book, Goodwill Tour: Paying It Forward, about a philanthropic road-trip that I went on with a friend around the southeastern United States. After working at a library for the past year and a half, I took a leap of faith last month, leaving my job to pursue writing full-time. I don't know what will happen, but I will in no way regret not giving my dream everything that I've got. Though I may never understand why I have gone through what I have, I remind myself often that I am right where I am supposed to be and that everything happens for a reason.

As an unknown, independent author, I am grateful to people like Lindsay for giving me a platform to help spread my message. I also appreciate people like you for reading my story. I would love to connect with you on Twitter (@Keith_Maginn) or at my website keithmaginn.com. Thank you and all the best!

The Memory of Lost Senses - Judith Kinghorn

‘When the journey ended, this was all one was left with, memories.’

I absolutely adored Judith Kinghorn’s debut novel The Last Summer – (read my review here) – it was one of my favourite books of 2012, I felt very emotionally involved in that wonderful story of Clarissa and Tom, and I still clearly remember the weekend I sat reading it, and the bereft feeling on finishing it. I was therefore eagerly anticipating the arrival of this second book, and I was also a little nervous; will I enjoy this one as much, will the story grab hold of me, will the writing be as good? I am pleased to say that the answers were yes, yes and yes.

This is a beautifully written novel that took me back in time again to early in the twentieth century, to places and a period which are vividly evoked and introduced me to fascinating characters whose lives I was enthralled by.

A mysterious elderly lady, a countess in fact, arrives to take up residence in a quiet Hampshire village, and everyone is curious as to her identity and her past. Cecily Chadwick is one such curious neighbour of the countess, eager to find out more about the life of this enigmatic lady who has lived abroad for so many years. Cecily is attracted by this life and keen to hear about Cora’s experiences. However Cora is troubled by threats she has received, and by her memories. Her close and dear friend Sylvia, a novelist, joins her in Hampshire and endeavours to compile a more detailed account of Cora’s past to become her memoirs. The challenge of this process of thinking back over things is acknowledged; 'Sometimes it's not easy to revisit the past. It involves confronting everything we've done and said, all our actions, mistakes, and regrets.'

This is a novel about love, intrigue, memory, mystery and truth. It asks, can we rely on our memories? Place is very important in this story; both Hampshire and also Rome, the expatriate life there, and places within the story are intensely realised, as is the way in which places can offer 'a kind of freedom, and the chance to be whoever one wished to be,' as Cora speaks about Rome. Indeed she entrances Cecily with her strong recollections of her life in Rome: 

'And behind every doorway, no matter how humble, were masterpieces, friezes depicting ancient stories, magnificent frescoes, statues, intricate mosaics and richly marbled floors. Every window and balcony overlooked the antiquities, like one's own museum, one's very own art gallery. It felt to me like the centre of the world. And of course it had been, once. Everywhere one looked were relics, history and art, stupendous art. How could one fail to be inspired in such a place? All of it shaped me, who I am, and like those I have loved, it remains here,' she said, placing her palm flat upon her chest. 'It lives within me...that place.' And how could it not? Cecily thought.'

From the start, the clever structure hints at mysteries. There are secrets hidden in Cora’s past which her grandson Jack, staying with her now, wishes to uncover, to know more about his family’s past. The emotions stirred by the past, and the nature of memories, run throughout the novel. The author illustrates through Cora a keen understanding of the acute pain of joy and sadness deep within our pasts, and how, when we think about the events and feelings in our pasts, it can be overwhelming:

'Numbness had come with old age, but to her bones, not to her heart. And though in public she was careful to keep her emotions in check, to maintain - or try to maintain - a ready smile, a relaxed countenance, in quiet, solitary moments, moments of reflection, and often when least expecting it, she was sometimes plunged under, submerged, left gasping for breath; drowning in a great swell of sorrow and joy and pain and rapture. And it was this, the memory of senses and sensations, that made her weep.'

The quandary with me when reading this book, one that I think other readers will identify with when it comes to a new book by a favourite writer, was that part of me wanted to read it as quickly as I could, to devour it greedily because I couldn’t wait, and part of me wanted to take my time in reading, to savour it; having waited with excitement to read it, I didn’t want to rush it. The prose has a lyrical quality; there were many passages I savoured as I read.

Judith Kinghorn is now very high up on my list of authors that I know I can trust to skillfully create another world on the page for me to venture to and become ensconced in, always with a compelling, beautifully written tale to tell, a gorgeous use of language, with characters I love and relationships that are certain to intrigue me. Definitely recommended; settle yourself in a comfy chair and be captivated by this lovely period story. As with The Last Summer, this is certainly a book that I will keep on my shelves and return to one day.

Published by Headline

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

You can follow the author on twitter @JudithKinghorn and visit her website here.

Swimming Studies - Leanne Shapton

‘I dream about swimming at least three nights a week.’

Leanne Shapton used to be a competitive swimmer. She trained for the 1988 and 1992 Canadian Olympic swimming trials when she was a teenager. Now, as an adult, she reflects on the training she did, the fiercely competitive world she was part of, and looks at what part this might all play in her life now that she is no longer involved in the swimming competitions which once totally dominated her life.

It’s fascinating to read about the world that Leanne Shapton was once part of from the insider’s perspective that she offers us. Clearly the years she spent training so intensively still dominate her life and thoughts even now:

‘I still dream of practice, of races, coaches and blurry competitors. I’m drawn to swimming pools, all swimming pools, no matter how small or murky. When I swim now, I step into the water as though absentmindedly touching a scar. My recreational laps are phantoms of my competitive races.’

There are some great illustrations that add to reader’s understanding of the author’s former world and her experiences – images of Leanne Shapton’s collection of her own swimming costumes and also watercolour pictures of the swimming pools she has swum in. There are images of other swimmers, and the author’s thoughts and reflections about them or anecdotes concerning them.

It’s an intensely personal book of intimate memories, experiences and feelings. The recollections and musings move forward and backwards in time throughout Leanne Shapton’s life. Bringing together her former athletic and her current artistic pursuits, the book also discusses the similarities of effort that both demand. In the author's words, ‘artistic discipline and athletic discipline are kissing cousins.’

The hardback copy of the book, which is the one I have read, is a lovely volume, very pleasing to hold and read. There are just two shades of blue used on the cover, which boasts the title, the author's name and nothing else but a rectangle of light blue to denote a swimming pool; it’s a simple yet very attractive and effective design. 

This is a thoughtful, involving and unusual memoir offering an glimpse into one woman's past and present, illustrating the strict routine and dedication of a swimmer in training to potentially swim for their country at the highest level, and pondering what a person does with that level of dedication and commitment when such an activity is no longer undertaken competitively and life has moved on. I found this an interesting, engaging read, and liked the inclusion of the author's artwork to create a fuller impression of the swimmer's world and add an extra dimension to the book. I'm not an enormous fan of swimming but this didn't hinder my interest in reading about Leanne Shapton's life.

Published by Particular Books, an imprint of Penguin Books

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy of this novel to read and review.

You can visit the author's website here to find out more.