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!

Moon in a Dead Eye - Pascal Garnier - Guest Book Review

Published by Gallic Books

Translated by Emily Boyce

Synopsis

Given the choice, Martial would never have bought a home in Les Conviviales.  But Odette's heart was set on this new retirement village in the Midi. 

At first the move feels like a terrible mistake: they're the sole residents and it rains non-stop.  Then three neighbours arrive, the sun comes out and life becomes far more agreeable..

Until some gypsies set up camp just outside their gated community...

Guest review by Janice Lazell-Wood

A rich and darkly humoured tale, and one that I enjoyed immensely.  Five characters come together in a retirement community, two couples and one single lady who has been left her house as a gift. The community sounds idyllic, it boasts activities, year round sunshine and a pool. However, the stark truth is, it's raining, there are no activities and the only water in the pool is rainwater. 

Living their lives under the watchful eye of sinister and gossipy Monsieur Flesh, the caretaker, our five characters, Martial and Odette, Maxime (with his ill fitting dentures) and Marlène, and single lady Léa forge friendships and start to make the most of things, until resentments are inevitably stirred up, past histories revealed and truths told...

The dialogue is snappy and very well translated from the original French, there is humour, horror, irony, sadness and a page turning desire to find out where the story is going.  Highly recommended, and if this story is anything to go by, I will be looking to read more of Monsieur Garnier's novels.

My thanks goes to Lindsay forgiving me the chance to review this novel.

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

The Time of Women - Elena Chizhova - Guest Book Review

Translated from the Russian by Simon Patterson with Nina Cordas

Published by Glagoslav

Guest book review by Mandy Jenkinson

On the surface this is a simple, domestic tale. Three elderly women are raising a little girl, Sofia, the illegitimate daughter of factory worker Antonina, who has been lucky enough to be allocated a room in the “grannies’” communal flat. While Antonina goes to work, often accepting double shifts, to support the makeshift family, the grannies tell their stories to little Sofia and reminisce about their lives, filling her head with images from Russia’s troubled past. Each of the old women has suffered immeasurably during the war and siege of Leningrad, losing homes and families. Now they pour all the love they have into the little girl.

Life is hard. The novel poignantly and vividly captures the atmosphere of 1960s Soviet life – the daily drudgery to find enough food, the endless queues, the excitement of finding fabric to make a dress and managing to jump the queue and get a TV, the difficulties of washing and doing the laundry without a bathroom. And interspersed with the minutiae of daily life are the memories of the old ladies and the unbelievable struggle they had to survive during the Siege, the hunger, the deaths, the cold. Much of the action takes place in the flat, but we are also taken to Antonina’s factory, to the shops, the church, the nursery where Sofia goes before the grannies take over.

With these three generations of women the reader has a moving and compelling account of life in Soviet Russia, all told from a feminine perspective. Men are pretty much absent from the book, or if there, then pretty unsatisfactorily. It’s certainly a grim story but ultimately one of hope and renewal. Antonina doesn’t have to suffer as much as the grannies did. Sofia will not have to suffer as much as her mother did. She will have choices none of them could have dreamt of, and she will remember them with affection and gratitude.

This is a rich and multi-faceted novel and a must-read for anyone wanting to learn more about life in the Soviet Union. It’s not always an easy read, as it frequently switches between the narrative voices, and it’s not always immediately clear whose voice we are hearing. Passages of stream of consciousness need to be read slowly and carefully to fully follow what’s happening. And it certainly helps to have some knowledge of the historical background before starting. However, these are minor criticisms of a book that I very much enjoyed and one that I look forward to reading again.  It captures perfectly the atmosphere and environment of a particular place and time with compassion and empathy, and the characters come alive and linger in the imagination long after the reader finishes the last page. A fascinating and immensely enjoyable book and a worthy winner of the Russian Booker.

Many thanks to Mandy for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library. Mandy is an omnivorous reader who enjoys reviewing, for newbooks magazine as well as elsewhere, and enjoys discovering new authors.