The Silversmith’s Wife - Sophia Tobin - Guest Book Review

Published by Simon & Schuster

Guest book review by Josie Barton

In the winter of 1792, Pierre Renard, the eponymous silversmith, is found dead in London’s Berkeley Square. With his throat cut and his pocket watch stolen, his murder could have been the work of an opportunist pickpocket, but as the story progresses it becomes obvious that, whilst on the surface, Pierre Renard was a man of means and self importance, he had more than enough enemies who wished him dead. At the heart of the story is Mary, the silversmith’s wife, who is completely overshadowed by her erstwhile husband, and yet by necessity, must play a pivotal role in the evolution of events. It’s a time of great uncertainty, not just for Mary as she copes in the aftermath of her husband’s murder but also for the continuation of Mary’s silversmith business, when a woman alone and defenceless was seen as the ultimate weakness.

From the beginning, I was drawn into the dark and dismal world of Georgian London where the patrolling night watchmen sink their sorrow into the bottom of an ale cup and where the great and the good of the city divide their time between squandering their wealth and interfering in other people’s lives. The Silversmith’s Wife takes the reader on a journey into the complicated world of Georgian melodrama and into the hub of the silversmith trade in the very heart of Bond Street, a place where petty jealousies run rife, and where thwarted passions and long buried hostilities threaten to overshadow everything.

There is no doubt that the author has a real skill for storytelling and in The Silversmith’s Wife, she conveys an introspective story, which whilst keeping at its heart the mystery surrounding Renard’s untimely death, also looks at the minutiae of daily life and the sadness which pervades Mary’s role as the unhappy wife. Reminiscent at times of Michel Faber’s, The Crimson Petal and the White, this story oozes quiet elegance and a decadent charm, which lingers in the way the story, evolves at its own pace. I found much to enjoy in the story, the plot kept me guessing, and I was so sympathetically drawn to Mary’s character, that by the end of the novel I only wished for her a long and happy life.

I would definitely recommend The Silversmith’s Wife to those readers who enjoy well written historical fiction.

Huge thanks to Josie for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library! Josie blogs at Jaffa Reads Too, do visit her wonderful book blog too!

Ghostwritten - Isabel Wolff

'...we should embrace all our memories, whether joyful or painful. They're all we ever really own in this life.'

Jenni is a ghostwriter; she loses herself in the details and intricacies of the lives of others partly to avoid facing up to aspects of her own life in the present and the past. At her friend Nina's wedding, Jenni meets someone who suggests his mother, Klara, now approaching her eightieth birthday, may be ready to record her memoirs; she has a traumatic, moving, life story to share, and has thus far never divulged many of the details to anyone else, even her family. Jenni is keen to follow-up on this, but when she discovers exactly where Klara lives, a little village in Cornwall named Polvarth, she hesitates to take the job on, as the place holds distressing memories. 

I was soon drawn deeply into this moving, compelling story, it offered me an insight into a setting and a part of history and the world that I knew little about. Klara was Dutch and spent her childhood in Java (now Indonesia) where her father had gone to run a rubber plantation. She grew up happily there at first, with friends amongst other workers' families and amongst the locals too. Then the Second World War, which at first seemed distant from them, arrived on Java, and brought with it huge changes for them all, and terrifying times, her father taken away, then Klara and her mother and brother Peter interned in a camp and kept there in deprivation by the occupying Japanese troops. I learned about tenko, the experience of the roll-call faced by the women and children, and I read how badly people were treated; some of their experiences are very upsetting and harrowing indeed to read about. I was interested, and saddened, to learn not only of these times, but also the period immediately following the end of the war, when it was still so difficult for some of the survivors to find a place to call home where they would be welcomed - neither Indonesia nor Holland seemed entirely hospitable.

Isabel Wolff has evidently researched the period and the setting thoroughly to authenticate her story of Klara’s experiences. In Klara, she has created a strong, admirable and brave woman who has endured and thrived despite her terrible experiences as a girl. I felt that having read this story I had been through it with her, the time and place is brought to life by the author and I got to know them. The voice is clever too, though Klara is an older lady now, she recounts her childhood experiences very much with that child's voice I felt, which felt right. 

Jenni’s story also grabbed me. I wondered if she would ever be able to discuss and reconcile herself to the events of her past, and move forwards. Would her relationship with her partner, schoolteacher Rick, be strong enough, would they be able to reconcile over the fact that Rick would like to have children and Jenni doesn't. I felt an understanding of her, and also very sad for her, that she still carried such a burden regarding events when she was a child, and that they still affected her life so deeply, keeping her in the background of her own life. The author touches insightfully on the experiences of those with a close family bond as a child versus those who have a lonely childhood.

The friendship and trust that grew between these two women was wonderful to witness, I loved how they got on. They share a common bond, how the past has affected them both; both had aspects of their childhoods in effect stolen away from them and are carrying a deep sadness from the past, and the novel explores the gradual facing up to what happened. Memories are recalled, painful, difficult, at times awful, but there is hope and friendship, love and the opportunity for overcoming loss and tragedy to move forwards. Klara is inspiring to Jenni: 

'She'd coped with her memories, in silence, and despite her sadness had made a good life for herself. I needed to do the same.'

I was impressed by this novel, it was a fascinating, absorbing and well-researched read with the historical and present day aspects combining well, and with two engaging, resilient lead female characters, the kind of story that will linger in my mind. I loved the beautiful book cover design which fitted the story very well. The title is fitting; as well as Jenni's career, there are the ghosts of the past in both women's lives which still haunt them.

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

Author links - twitter @IsabelWolff | facebook 

Published by HarperCollins

The Son-in-Law - Charity Norman

This is the second novel I have read by Charity Norman; I was very impressed by After the Fall, and though that remains my favourite of the two, there is much to admire in this, her latest offering, The Son-in-Law.  (You can read my thoughts on After the Fall here. Freeing Grace is on my to be read asap pile).

The Son-in-Law opens with an explosive short section – one of the exhibits in a criminal case at Leeds Crown Court - the transcript of a telephone call made to the emergency services by a ten-year-old girl named Scarlett, recounting what has just happened to her mother Zoe; Scarlett’s father Joseph hit her. 

Then the main narrative begins, we move forward a few years, and we discover the aftermath of what happened, and we learn what the present and future might hold for all those affected by Zoe’s death. (Her death is no secret; it is revealed in the synopsis to the novel that she was killed.)

Three voices tell us the tale: we hear about the lives of Scarlett and of Hannah, Zoe’s mother, in their own intimate first-person accounts, and then Joseph Scott, Zoe’s husband and Scarlett’s father, whose side is told at a slight distance through a third-person narrator. 

Hannah's holds her son-in-law Joseph fully responsible for Zoe's death. Hannah is riddled with grief, bereft that her only child is gone from the world. Together with her husband, she has cared for the three children left behind when Zoe passed away and Joseph went to prison. Scarlett is Zoe's daughter and her eldest child; there are two brothers as well. Scarlett is now in her teenage years. Joseph is emerging from prison in Leeds having served his sentence. He has lost his wife, his career as a teacher, and his three children. He feels that Hannah never liked him and that he wasn't good enough for Zoe. Now he wants his children back, something Hannah can't even contemplate.

The family is so torn, filled with pain and hurt, wanting to do the right thing for the children. The anguish and loss is strongly felt by the reader; it’s an emotional read, and one that makes you think, it causes the reader to debate internally and consider the outcomes and where the children might be best suited, who they ought to be with, and it’s certainly a tricky one, despite what your gut reaction might be. I had to think twice about what I thought the best outcome was.

The novel deals with another difficult subject, that of mental health. I didn't realise this when I started reading, and I found it a bit upsetting when I discovered this. I felt strongly that Zoe ought to have had more help and support and I would have liked this area to have been explored in a bit more detail; this was the main weakness of the story for me. 

I do enjoy this author's writing style very much. She writes convincingly in different voices, from that of a girl to a grandmother, building rounded characters, and revealing character cleverly. The interactions between the characters feel believable, with credible dialogue used very effectively. The touching relationship between Hannah and her ageing, wonderful husband Frederick, whose health starts to fail, is tenderly portrayed. We are drawn into this family's life, and there is light and shade in these characters, as with real life, no one is perfect, they have redeeming features and they have weaknesses, and there is no easy answer to what they face; far from it. 

I also enjoyed the Yorkshire setting, the mentions of the city of York, and the use of authentic expressions. (Between this and After the Fall, Charity Norman has used two of my favourite places in the world, Yorkshire and New Zealand, as her settings, which I've really enjoyed.) The author's background as a barrister added authenticity to the sections dealing with legal procedure, and the dealings with the family court advisor Lester Hardy felt plausible; I liked how his character was brought into the tale, someone who looked at both sides and offered an unbiased interpretation of the situation. 

This is a painful, emotionally raw story that examines the deep wounds left behind after the tragic death of a beloved daughter, mother and wife. It was heartbreaking and at times upsetting, and Charity Norman doesn't avoid the sad realities of this difficult situation for all concerned, but the story also offers hope and looks at people's ability to forgive and build bridges even when it feels impossible. This author isn't afraid of tacking life-changing themes, and she is a must-read for me now.

Published by Allen and Unwin

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

You can find the author on twitter @CharityNorman1 

Little Exiles - Robert Dinsdale

It's post World War Two England, and we meet young Jon Heather, living with his mother and his older twin sisters in Yorkshire. Jon has never known his father but still holds out a hope that he will return one day soon; Jon imagines his father having adventures overseas. Struggling to cope, and with fading health, his mother takes Jon one day and leaves him at the Chapeltown Boy's Home of the Children's Crusade, in Leeds, where he meets and befriends Peter, who is an older, supportive boy, and George, who is younger and very scared. Jon believes initially that he is only there temporarily, that his mother is coming back for him in a couple of months. Most of the boys have been told their parents are dead. They are watched over by mysterious, menacing men in black gowns, including, one, Judah Reed, who is Australian, and leads them on their voyage further from everything they have known; they are taken on a ship to Australia, with promises of a better life, a good future. When they arrive though, they are divided up and set to work on the land, doing hard strenuous, sometimes grim, work, strictly supervised by the men in black and the cottage mothers, and at times harshly disciplined. Jon is ten when he arrives there.

It's a very sad story based on events that actually happened - forced child migration between Britain and Australia after World War Two, in order to provide inexpensive labour and to further populate this country within the empire. I am glad that the author has chosen to tackle and highlight this important, true episode from history in his fiction here. I knew little about this prior to reading this novel; though this isn't a factual account, it presents us with an idea of what went on that to me felt very real, and because of the sadness and hardship it could be harrowing and I didn't find it an easy read at times, and it's difficult to understand the deception perpetrated by those involved; I believe this was a church based organisation. As Robert Dinsdale writes in his acknowledgements, `though Little Exiles is a work of fiction, the world it presents was frighteningly real...'

The author depicts very well how the boys feel, what happens to them, and how the boys change through the experiences they endure, and the unlikely friendships that are formed under these strange and difficult circumstances. The three boys, Jon, Peter and George, were vividly and roundly drawn, I could imagine little George in his terror, and Peter being strong and trying to help him, reassuring him at one point on the boat that `it's going to be a grand adventure.'

I felt the palpable sense of fear and abandonment that Jon, George, Peter and the others experience knowing that they have been left at the boys home, separated from their families and everything that they have ever known, and then to face the further upheaval of being taken across the world with little idea what will happen to them there. Jon wants to come home. Many were told that their mothers had died. One moment that struck me as particularly poignant was when we learn that some of the smaller boys can't remember when their birthday is, and there's no one they can ask who will know, now. The style of narration is not overly emotional, though - the events speak for themselves - and the writing used seemed fitting for portraying this tale. I might have preferred the story to be slightly shorter, but Little Exiles was an evocative, convincing and very moving read bringing to the fore a part of history that ought to be better known. I think it will certainly linger in my mind.

Published by HarperCollins

The View on the Way Down - Rebecca Wait

'He was fine some of the time, yes. But his mood could plummet at any moment. I wondered what that must be like for him.'

I was so very keen to read this novel when I heard about it. At the same time, I was very hesitant, because it deals with some things that affect me personally and that I strongly identify with. With this in mind, I did wonder how I would feel whilst, and after, reading it. The answer was that I was very moved by it and it did affect me, it made me cry and many times it made me think how astonishing it is, because the author has understood depression and has conveyed it as it is and can be; crippling, overwhelming, devastating, rendering a person so different from who they were and leaving those who love the person affected by it wondering what they can do. Aspects of the story were more close to home than I could have realised. 

The story tells of Emma, of her brother Jamie, and her other brother Kit, and of her parents Joe and Rose. One of Emma's brothers died five years ago, and the other left the family home on the day of the funeral and hasn't been back since. Emma's parents haven't told her what actually happened, and neither have they spoken to each other about it. The immense impact of what has happened in the past is finally exposed as events in the present bring it out into focus for all of them. Emma is a lovely character who drives much of the story forward. I liked her and I felt for her. She is sweet and sensitive and is being bullied at school and can't understand why Jamie hasn't been in touch since Kit's death. This separation of the younger sister from her older brother with her not knowing why broke my heart. Her memories of time spent with her brothers are so important to her, but she has begun to question them: 

'She clung on to memories like this, but it had occurred to her recently that perhaps they couldn't be trusted. If enough time went by, how could you be sure what was actually true and what you had imagined? Especially if nobody talked about any of it.' 

It's almost impossible for Emma to bring up the subject of Jamie, and of Kit's death, with her parents, because of the extreme reactions it provokes. So she has been left alone with her thoughts about them both. Rebecca Wait captures so well the complexity and pain of the feelings of those left behind, not just of Emma but of Jamie, Joe and Rose. Jamie has a great deal to cope with, and I was incredibly drawn to him through the way he was portrayed. I thought the portrayal of the father, Joe's feelings, was also particularly well drawn and convincing in showing how difficult it was for him to try and deal with what had happened; quite simply, he hadn't been able to deal with it. 

'...he did nothing, simply carried on as before. Head down, struggling through the days. Keeping going, getting through. He'd always known, without having to consider it, that there was no chance of recovery. Not for him, not for any of them. The passing years hadn't changed a thing. There was no getting over this.'

But I have written that the author has been honest and true in portraying this story and these people. So we know that doing nothing can't carry on forever, not without someone breaking or something having to give, and for them all to have to face what happened, at last. The conclusion felt right to me and I'm glad the story ended as it did.

The View on the Way Down is a beautifully written debut novel, and Rebecca Wait sensitively portrays painful, harsh truths about depression. But it remains throughout a compelling, vital story that the reader has to read to the finish. 

This story is sad, tender, raw and painful but it is also warm and hopeful. It is heartbreaking, vivid and it feels very real. I felt so involved with this story as I read it, I felt the agonies of this family, I was moved by the characters and I found myself thinking about them after closing the pages. I read the book in one day; it's very rare for me to manage that. 

Evidently Rebecca Wait knows the ins and outs of what she is writing about here; there were moments that I felt were so accurate, so heartfelt and true. It had a powerful effect on me to feel the strength and honesty in her words. It's an important story, told so, so well. The writing is light and understated and yet so incisive. The author has a deft touch whether writing about the everyday or the extreme.

So many sentences and passages stood out to me. There are moments that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes because they were so simply stated yet so painfully true, such as the observation by Jamie's former girlfriend about the letter he once wrote to her; I will let you discover the details for yourself if you read the book. It made me think just how much the author has understood about people and life, how she has captured the reactions and realities that rang so true to me as I read. 

One of my principal thoughts after finishing this novel was that it's so special to read a book that actually reminds you why you love reading so much. To read a book that you connect with, that takes you away from your world and into the lives of others, into a story that you are deeply moved by and compelled to read, but a book that, when you put it down and return to your own world, makes you feel that you are not alone in that world or not alone with your feelings. 

I hope I have done this book some justice in my review. I think there is so much more I could say, but in the end all I can say is I thought it was an amazing, accomplished debut and please do read it. 

I don't use ratings on my blog anymore but if I did this book would get 6 out of 5.

Published by Picador

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

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


Other reviews from book bloggers:

| Being Anne Reading | Dog Ear Discs | And Then I Read a Book | Random Things Through My Letterbox | Fleur in her World

Heading Out To Wonderful - Robert Goolrick

Charlie Beale arrives in Brownsburg, Virginia one day in 1948. We know very little about him, where he came from or his life before now; all we know is that he brings with him two suitcases, one full of his possessions including a set of butchers knives and another full of money. He begins working for Will Haislett the town butcher and befriends him, his wife Alma and their young son Sam. Sam spends a lot of time with Charlie and events that he inadvertently witnesses will change his character and impact permanently on his life; we see these events from his past as he recalls them.

This a beautifully written novel, with such a tangible sense of place and time; the setting is a small town where everyone gets on with their business, attends church, and rarely ventures any further than towns borders; it's a place where you are born, live and die. There is no crime to speak of and everyone has their place within the community. Charlie finds peace in this place, but then one day Charlie sees Sylvan Glass and he is enchanted, his peace is shattered and life is destined to change for all involved. Sylvan dreams of places, people and lives far beyond her lowly origins and means, she copies the voices she hears on the radio, and dreams of the movie stars in the magazines, but at what cost?

Heading Out To Wonderful boasts a compelling narrative voice and delivers a captivating story that drew me further in as the tension built. It encompasses so many ideas and themes; childhood innocence lost, friendship, passionate, destructive and fragile love, hope and longing, matters of race, fantasy and dreams, dangerous jealousy and terrible sadness; 'a world of heartbreak.' 

At the heart of the novel is an all-consuming love affair that made me hold my breath wondering what would develop; I felt so involved in the story and therefore so terrified about the potential dangers ahead as a result of Charlie and Sylvan's actions, fearing how others would react. There are some notable characters, in particular the mysterious Claudie and loathesome Boaty. There are mysteries that remain unsolved, that left me pondering at the end of this beguiling and devastating novel that provoked feelings of both joy and sadness within me.

Published by Hutchinson

Reviewed for We Love This Book

Thanks to We Love This Book and the publisher for providing a proof copy of this novel to read and review.