Three Sisters by Helen Smith

Three Sisters by Helen Smith
Published by Tyger Books in February 2011.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy from independent booksellers via Alibris
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Free download offered via the BritCrime newsletter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Join twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles for her first outing as an amateur sleuth. Emily is invited to a party in a large house in London, hosted by a mysterious troupe of circus performers. She accepts, despite her misgivings, because her dog has died and she needs cheering up. But when she witnesses a murder in the midst of the surreal entertainment, no one will believe what she has seen. Is Emily befuddled with grief at the loss of her pet? Or has something wicked happened in plain sight? Emily teams up with her neighbours to investigate.

The short story Three Sisters was offered as a free download by its author, Helen Smith, to attendees of the BritCrime Ball in December 2015. I subscribe to the BritCrime newsletter as it is a great resource for keeping up to date with the latest in UK crime and mystery writing.

Three Sisters is a modern mystery story set in Brixton, an area of London that I have visited a few times so was able to easily picture, especially with the help of Smith's fabulous descriptions. She really does have a talent for amusing metaphor. Our heroine, Emily, is upset at the recent death of her beloved dog so chooses an apparently atypical action for her - attending an performance art party in an abandoned building at the end of her street. I loved the sound of this party with its circus acts and bizarre characters. Emily soon spots, however, that all is not as it should be and sets herself to exploring behind the curtains.

This is a short story so there isn't space for extensive character development, but, for once, that didn't really matter to me as I was swept up in Smith's beautifully described visuals. The is-it-or-isn't-it crime is neatly plotted and satisfying. I have already downloaded another of Smith's stories and look forward to reading it.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Helen Smith / Short stories / Books from England

Torquay In Old Photographs by Ted Gosling

Torquay In Old Photographs by Ted Gosling
Published in the UK by Sutton Publishing Limited in 1996.

How I got this book:
Received as a gift from friends

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The photographs in this fascinating book are taken from the collections held at Torquay Museum. They portray a period both familiar and remote, and clearly illustrate the changes that have overtaken Torquay in the last 130 years. With the help of these images we can recall once-familiar faces, and revisit the social and civic occasions that were such an important part of the life of the town, the Queen of the Riviera, as it was then known.
In these pages Ted Gosling takes a nostalgic look at Torquay as it once was, and it is hoped that this book will give pleasure to local people and visitors alike.

Ted Gosling compiled a number of photograph collection books detailing the histories of various Devon towns. This Torquay volume is of particular interest to me as I moved to the town about a year ago. The photographs are a mixed bag of periods - some from as long ago as the 1890s and the most recent from the 1960s. They are presented by theme - The Early Days, Just People, Sporting Events, and so on - so there isn't a sense of Torquay's historical narrative, more a panorama of snapshots in which some of the town's features are still clearly recognisable while others have completely vanished.

Particularly interesting to me in light of the new hotel monstrosity that has just been approved to dominate Torquay harbour was a pair of images looking across to Meadfoot before and after the huge block of flats was built there. Apparently a 'triumph' of 1960s architecture 'over barriers of natural land formation', I much prefer the earlier Kilmorie house over the current glaring white box on the hill!

Etsy Find!
	Torquay  nautical wall clock by Coastal Clocks UK in Dover, England Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Ted Gosling / History books / Books from England

Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald + Free book

Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald
First published in German in Germany as Das Kind der Liebe by August von Kotzebue in 1780. English language adaptation by Elizabeth Inchbald published in the UK in 1798.

Free edition available to read via Project Gutenberg

How I got this book:
Play text included in my copy of Mansfield Park

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Agatha is thrown out on the street, sick and destitute, on the very day that her son, Frederick, returns from five years away in the Army. Both stigmatised by the circumstances of his illegitimate birth, Agatha devoted her life to providing for her son and now he is desperate to repay her self-sacrifice by begging the money to save her life. However fate instead sees him imprisoned when a chance meeting with Baron Wilderheim turns into armed robbery.

In her Preface, Mrs Inchbald relates the changes and cuts she made to von Kotzebue's original Das Kind der Liebe which is why I have reviewed Lovers' Vows in her name rather than as a translation of his work. I understand that much of the essential narrative is the same, but deep multi-page German speeches were condensed to just three or four English lines and the ending was changed so I suspect that reading Lovers' Vows is much like watching a film version of a great novel - this is the drastically abridged version!

Lovers' Vows is now most famous I think for being the play rehearsed by characters in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. My copy of that novel had the text of Lovers' Vows as an addition and I found reading it interesting as it gave a more rounded understanding of relevant Mansfield Park scenes. As a play in its own right though, it is pretty dire! Taken in its historical context I suppose this tale of pre-marital sex, illegitimate children and daylight robbery must have been thrillingly shocking to its audiences, but it is such a short work that, to modern eyes at least, so much overwrought angst from shallow undeveloped characters is laughable. I also frequently cringed at the 'humour' spoken by the patronised commonfolk characters and at the butler's terrible poetry. As a historical curiosity or alongside a group reading of Mansfield Park, I think the play might be fun to perform and perhaps even to watch, but otherwise I would be happy never to revisit it again!

Etsy Find!
	Sew-it-yourself  Jane Austen  heroines dolls by Pembertea in California, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Elizabeth Inchbald / Plays / Books from England

Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall

Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall
First published in America by Random House in 1959.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Stairs

I registered my copy of this book at Bookcrossing

How I got this book:
Swapped for on the book table at Torquay Indoor Market

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Selina's mother wants to stay in Brooklyn and earn enough money to buy a brownstone row house, but her father dreams only of returning to his island home. Torn between a romantic nostalgia for the past and a driving ambition for the future, Selina also faces the everyday burdens of poverty and racism. Written by and about an African-American woman, this coming-of-age story unfolds during the Depression and World War II. Its setting — a close-knit community of immigrants from Barbados — is drawn from the author's own experience, as are the lilting accents and vivid idioms of the characters' speech. Paule Marshall's 1959 novel was among the first to portray the inner life of a young female African-American, as well as depicting the cross-cultural conflict between West Indians and American blacks. It remains a vibrant, compelling tale of self-discovery.

I loved this novel of a Bajan family struggling to make good for themselves in 1950s Brooklyn, New York. The immigrant experience is a frequent theme in literature, but I think novels seldom evoke their culture and the clash of inter-generational ideas as well as Paule Marshall does in Brown Girl, Brownstones. Her characters are so vibrantly alive and vividly described that I could easily envisage the city through their eyes. Selina's mother, Silla, is now one of my favourite literary heroines - seemingly so strong in the face of everything life throws at her, yet worn down and fragile when alone. Her scenes sparkle with wit and a poignant irony given that we know neither of her American-born daughters will follow the life path she has so painstakingly laid out for them. Selina's wilful rejection of Silla's choices is brilliantly portrayed, especially as the daughter is basically repeating the actions of the mother at that age, yet neither can see the repeating pattern.

Brown Girl, Brownstones takes place over a number of years and I appreciated how we see characters develop and mature. Their outlooks and priorities change and there are even subtle shifts in language from the evocative Bajan dialect of early years to a more conventionally Americanised English. Marshall's portrayal of the tight-knit Bajan community allowed me to understand their cultural cohesion and why these particular people chose to reach only to each other for support. The Bajan Association is a prime example of this. Throughout the novel though we are reminded of the waves of people who relocate themselves to cities such as New York. This particular family's Brownstone house has been witness to many lives before theirs and, as we learn towards the end of the book, many Bajans are already choosing to resettle elsewhere, moving up the affluence ladder if they have been able. Marshall has written a distinctly West Indian novel, but one which also reflects human experience across the globe. It is an excellent, emotional book which I think should be far more famous and widely read than it is.

Etsy Find!
	Brownstone print tea towel by Claudia G Pearson in New York, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Paule Marshall / Women's fiction / Books from America

Wheeler by Sara Butler Zalesky + Giveaway

Wheeler by Sara Butler Zalesky
Self-published in America on the 4th July 2016.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

Add Wheeler to your Goodreads

Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’

Loren Mackenzie has spent much of her life honing her body to meet the physical challenges of being a professional cyclist in the women’s European peloton. She has also refined the control of her mind, using the power of her emotions in competition to become one of the elite cyclists in the world. After an accident at the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic, Loren must rise to the challenge of leading her team as the Women’s World Tour races across Europe, culminating with the opportunity to compete at the World Championships in Richmond, Virgina.

When a chance meeting develops into a whirlwind romance, what appears to be the perfect relationship threatens to unravel Loren’s tightly wound life. The microscope of tabloid media attention dredges up fears that her past will be unearthed; tragic secrets she has kept buried, even from those closest to her.

Can Loren face the trauma of her past and vanquish the demons within, or will betrayal and obsession ultimately defeat her?


Meet the author:

Sara was born in the wee hours of a November night in New York City. When her family moved to a small borough in northwestern New Jersey, she had little choice but to move as well. Self-sufficiency is a tough thing for a toddler.

The dichotomy of being the middle child of three, but the only girl, was difficult, as typically no one really pays attention to a middle child. Mostly, Sara spent her time creating fanciful stories in her head when she should have been focused on other things, an issue that continues to this day.

Most of these stories have never been shared, let alone completed. This all changed in the spring of 2015, when Sara was encouraged by a friend to expand upon a short story she had accidentally emailed to him. The result is 'Wheeler’, a romantic, women's fiction/sport novel, which combines the author's romantic inclinations and her passion for cycling.

Sara currently resides in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, with her loving husband and their son. She is a paralegal for a boutique law firm in Chester County, Pa, an avid road cyclist and indoor cycling instructor at a national chain.

Author links:

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

And now for the giveaway!
Open in the US only (sorry!) until the 3rd of August, you can win a signed copy of Wheeler and a $25 giftcard to http://macaroncafe.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Sara Butler Zalesky / Romance fiction / Books from America

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
First published as Sofies verden in Norwegian in Norway in 1991. English language translation by Paulette Miller published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1994.

One of my WorldReads from Norway

Where to buy this book:


How I got this book:
Borrowed from my partner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When 14-year-old Sophie encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy, mysteries deepen in her own life. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined.
A phenomenal worldwide bestseller, SOPHIE'S WORLD sets out to draw teenagers into the world of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and all the great philosophers. A brilliantly original and fascinating story with many twists and turns, it raises profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe.

Dave picked up a copy of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder in The Children's Society charity shop in Garstang (Great book selection there!). We both knew of its hype, but hadn't previously read it so were interested to see how good we thought the book really was. Sadly Dave gave up about a quarter of the way through so, discouraged, I had let it languish on the shelf until now.

Having finished reading, I now have mixed views on Sophie's World hence the three star rating. On one hand I was fascinated by the potted history of philosophy, most of which I didn't know anything about, and am hoping that at least some of what I read has lodged itself in my brain. There are a lot of names and dates to take in so I would probably need to re-read in short sections - like a textbook - in order to really start learning. However the history is written in such an accessible way that this is something I may well do over the next few months.

The fiction elements of Sophie's World were very disappointing though. I think I understand what Gaarder was trying to achieve with the inclusion of his fictional characters, but I just didn't find their conversations convincing. We are repeated told that Sophie is a fourteen year old girl, but she doesn't speak or act like one and I don't think Norwegian teenagers are so very different from British ones! Everyone appeared more like a plot device than a real person and I frequently found that irritating and distracting. For me, the fictional interludes were a respite from the increasingly intense philosophy, but I would have preferred Gaarder to have written a similarly accessible nonfiction history of philosophy instead. Then again, without the fictional hook Sophie's World probably wouldn't have hit the bestseller lists!

Stephanie Jane

Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Jostein Gaarder / Philosophy books / Books from Norway

Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley

Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley
Published in Australia by Text Publishing Company in April 2015.
Winner of the Acorn Foundation Literary Award (Ockham New Zealand Book Awards), New Zealand, 2016.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Dogs and WorldReads: New Zealand

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository
Buy the paperback from Waterstones

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publishers via NetGalley.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Western Australia, the wheatbelt. Lew McLeod has been travelling and working with Painter Hayes since he was a boy. Shearing, charcoal burning—whatever comes. Painter made him his first pair of shoes. It’s a hard and uncertain life but it’s the only one he knows. But Lew’s a grown man now. And with this latest job, shearing for John Drysdale and his daughter Clara, everything will change.
Stephen Daisley writes in lucid, rippling prose of how things work, and why; of the profound satisfaction in hard work done with care, of love and friendship and the damage that both contain.

Set in 1950s rural Australia, Coming Rain has a distinctive style which made it refreshing to read. Daisley frequently uses sentence fragments, but in a way that suits his prose and effectively pushes forward the pace of his story. It's not just poor grammar as in some other novels I have read! He also writes in Australian, presenting explanations of dialect words within the text but not dwelling on the translations. This effectively gives authenticity to the writing and made me feel as though I was discovering a new-to-me culture. Two storylines run in parallel throughout the book. One one hand we have two human drifters, sheep-shearers and general handymen Painter and Lewis, who travel in a clapped-out truck across the Australian desert to isolated farms to shear sheep. On the other hand we have two dingo drifters, a pregnant bitch and an adolescent male, desperately trying to find themselves food, water and safety.

It did take a good chunk of Coming Rain before I really settled in to Daisley's writing style. I understand this is his second novel so I might now look out the first, knowing that I could get more from it by repeating the first pages to get into the flow before continuing on. I frequently found myself distracted too by different subjects running into each other. We might start reading about the dingoes, then move to the men in the next sentence with no break or clue in the text as to the change. I am not sure if these overlaps were deliberate on Daisley's part or if my preview copy hasn't yet been fully edited. However I didn't notice any other typos or publishing weirdness. The device could be intended to highlight the similarities between the humans and animals - their paragraphs and lives being interchangeable - but I just got annoyed at having to keep stepping back from the narrative flow in order to work out what was going on.

The richness of Coming Rain is in the information given in passing. At one point we learn that the man now charged with persuading the dingos to go elsewhere - by firing at them with rifles and shotguns - is the same man who had previously persuaded the indigenous aborigine tribes to leave. It is a given that similar methods applied. We also see repeated examples of derelict white settlements littering this huge empty land and even the sheep farm at which Painter and Lewis finally arrive appears to be a shadow of its former self. The two men sleep in dormitories that could house dozens and only the farm owner's daughter is left to help out. In seeing the violent poverty-stricken lives of Painter and Lewis I was reminded of American novels such as Cormac McCarthy's Suttree or John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Coming Rain has the same melancholy feel of desperate pride and harsh life. Daisley understands these lives completely and shows them without apology or any softening of the edges.

Stephanie Jane

Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Stephen Daisley / Historical fiction / Books from New Zealand

Hopeless Love by Kerdel Ellick + Free book

Hopeless Love by Kerdel Ellick
Self published on the 1st of July 2017.

Where to buy this book:
No longer available.

How I got this book:
Downloaded from Smashwords

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a series of heart breaking poems written by a man who desires to be loved by a woman he has known for many years. But he can't be loved in return because of what he has done.

Hopeless Love was the first of two poetry books I chose to download as part of the 2017 Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale. This sitewide extravaganza is on throughout July and you can read more about in my Stephanie Jane blog post.

Kerdel Ellick's poetry appealed to me because he is a St Lucian author and I haven't read anything from that country before. Hopeless Love is a collection of seven poems themed around unrequited love and it is redolent with teenage angst and anger. At times Ellick's unnamed poet narrator (himself?) is frightening in his obsession, especially his indignation that the woman at the focus of his desire somehow owes him her attention.

The poetry itself uses a more prose-based than rhythmic and rhyming approach and there is some fairly grotesque imagery at times! I was frequently thrown by Ellick's strange use of plurals, initially wondering if this was a style decision and, if so, why. As a young adult poetry collection, I think Hopeless Love will have a wide thematic appeal.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Kerdel Ellick / Poetry / Books from St Lucia

The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L C Tyler

The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L.C. Tyler
First published in the UK by Macmillan in 2007.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the book from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from Speedyhen
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository
Buy the paperback from Waterstones

How I got this book:
Swapped for at the book exchange at Camping Casteillets, Ceret, France

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ethelred Tressider is a writer with problems. His latest novel is going nowhere, a mid-life crisis is looming and he's burdened by the literary agent he probably deserves: Elsie Thirkettle, who claims to enjoy neither the company of writers nor literature of any kind. And as if things weren't bad enough for Ethelred, his ex-wife, Geraldine, is reported missing when her Fiat is found deserted near Ethelred's Sussex home. The disappearance soon becomes a murder investigation and there is no shortage of suspects, including Geraldine's sister, bank manager and former partner, Rupert. Geraldine was a woman with debts. Soon the nosy, chocoloate-chomping Elsie has bullied Ethelred into embarking upon his own investigation, but as their enquiries proceed, she begins to suspect that her client's own alibi is not as solid as he claims.

I chose The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L C Tyler from a limited English language selection at a French campsite book exchange so was pleasantly surprised at just how much I enjoyed the read. Cosy mystery stories aren't my usual fare, but my eye was caught by the great title.

The herring seller in question is the wonderfully named Ethelred Hengist Tressider, general hack writer by trade whose most popular book series is crime fiction, hence the fish moniker - he sells red herrings! When Ethelred's ex-wife is found dead under mysterious circumstances, his literary agent Elsie desperately tries to persuade him to undertake an amateur sleuth hunt for her killer. Ethelred would far rather leave all that to the police who seem to already have their ducks neatly in a row.

The mystery itself is nicely plotted with some interesting twists and turns. It's not too difficult to figure out - even I managed - but the ending is satisfying. I know the Sussex area where The Herring Seller's Apprentice is set so got the local references. However, what really made this novel for me was the first person narration which has lots of black humour and is very funny. Ethelred explains elements of his crime writing craft as we go along and I loved the clever way theory melded with its practice. Knowing comments such a second Point Of View introduction being over-obviously flagged to the reader with A Very Different Font rang so true and the drippingly sarcastic descriptions are great fun. Poor Elsie!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by L C Tyler / Crime fiction / Books from England

A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman

A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman
First published in Hebrew in Israel as Sus echad nichnas lebar by Ha'kibbutz Ha'meuchad in August 2014. English language translation by Jessica Cohen published by Alfred A Knopf in February 2017.
Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2017.

My Book Of The Month for July 2017

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The setting is a comedy club in a small Israeli town. An audience that has come expecting an evening of amusement instead sees a comedian falling apart on stage; an act of disintegration, a man crumbling, as a matter of choice, before their eyes. They could get up and leave, or boo and whistle and drive him from the stage, if they were not so drawn to glimpse his personal hell. Dovaleh G, a veteran stand-up comic – charming, erratic, repellent – exposes a wound he has been living with for years: a fateful and gruesome choice he had to make between the two people who were dearest to him.

A Horse Walks into a Bar is a shocking and breathtaking read. Betrayals between lovers, the treachery of friends, guilt demanding redress. Flaying alive both himself and the people watching him, Dovaleh G provokes both revulsion and empathy from an audience that doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry – and all this in the presence of a former childhood friend who is trying to understand why he’s been summoned to this performance.

I am not sure why I chose to respond to an emailed NetGalley invitation to read A Horse Walks Into A Bar. I previously read David Grossman's Be My Knife and didn't like it at all. I am also often underwhelmed by Booker prize winners. So the odds were set against this novel from the start which is why I was amazed to find myself completely taken over by it! I can't genuinely say that I enjoyed the read because I think its subject matter is too dark for that, but immersed, compelled, entranced. For me, A Horse Walks Into A Bar was one of those books where everything else around me ceased to exist while I was within its pages. It is not a particularly long novel and I read it in two intense burst, emerging each time not exactly sure of how much time had passed or how I suddenly returned from an Israeli comedy club to a Welsh field (we're camping)!

Grossman evokes the dark oppressive nightclub so vividly that I could clearly see the desperate stand-up comedian, Dovaleh, in the spotlight, his unwilling audience in the shadows and his invited guest skulking by the door. Like the guest, as readers we don't initially know what Dovaleh is trying to achieve on this night or why we are there. Like the audience I found his early routine embarrassing and later sections uncomfortable to witness. Dovaleh is too personal, too upfront with his revelations, but it is impossible to look away.

I am sure my lack of knowledge of Israeli life and culture meant that several references were lost on me, but even without such insight I loved this book. It won't be for everyone certainly and there were moments when I almost couldn't bear Grossman's sadism towards Dovaleh. Phrases and images are still rolling around my brain and I think will do so for hours and days to come. A Horse Walks Into A Bar could well be my book of the month.

Etsy Find!
	Comedy Club Night  scrapbooking kit by Tizzy Fit Paper Crafts in California, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by David Grossman / Contemporary fiction / Books from Israel

Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie

Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie
First published in the UK by Ebury Press today, the 20th July 2017.

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Three and half weeks. Three hundred miles. I saw roaring arterial highway and silent lanes, candlelit cathedrals and angry men in bad pubs. The Britain of 1936 was a land of beef paste sandwiches and drill halls. Now we are nation of vaping and nail salons, pulled pork and salted caramel.
In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie, walks from north to south retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade.
Travelling down the country’s spine, Maconie moves through a land that is, in some ways, very much the same as the England of the 30s with its political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks and of course, football mania. Yet in other ways, it is completely unrecognisable. Maconie visits the great cities as well as the sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways. He meets those with stories to tell and whose voices build a funny, complex and entertaining tale of Britain, then and now.

Readers of my Stephanie Jane blog will already know of my loves of history and of walking so Stuart Maconie's latest travel memoir, Long Road From Jarrow, was perfect for me! Like many of the people he meets during his solo reenactment of the famous Jarrow March, my knowledge of the original was a little hazy so I was glad to be far better informed on finishing. Maconie is fascinated with our country and the people who have made it their home and his enthusiasm shines through every page making this book an enjoyable and inspirational read.

200 unemployed men and their MP, Ellen Wilkinson, set out on the Jarrow March in October 1936. They walked hundreds of miles to present a petition at Westminster asking for jobs. I was amazed by the varying reactions they provoked at the time. From being officially ignored by the Labour Party to receiving donated boots and clothes in towns through which they passed to becoming the media darlings of the moment, the Marchers have passed into British folklore. Eighty years later, retracing their steps day by day, Maconie wanted to mark the March's generally overlooked anniversary and to discover how different the England of 2016 was. Disconcertingly, to me at least, there are still far too many similarities. The north of England is still far poorer than the south, especially the south-east corner, and the experience and demands of people there are just as easily dismissed by London-centric leaders. Right-wing propaganda and fascism is again on the rise with immigration bearing the brunt of blame and anger as it did in the 1930s.

Against this doom and gloom however, Maconie maintains an upbeat outlook. I like that he generally finds a positive in whatever town he happens to visit. I learned a lot from Long Road From Jarrow and now have several more previously unconsidered towns on my must-visit list! Bedford's Italian community was formerly unknown to me as were the numerous Sikh forge workers that I don't remember getting a mention at the Black Country Living Museum! I feel inspired to go long distance walking too although perhaps using Maconie's hotel overnighting method rather than the Jarrow mens' dossing in church halls.

Long Road From Jarrow is less of a walking book than I had hoped and I would have liked maps showing each day's route, however as a zeitgeist survey of England and as travel inspiration, I highly recommend it.

Etsy Find!
	Jarrow March tea towel by Stroud Labour Party in Stroud, England Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Stuart Maconie / Biography and memoir / Books from England

Blues With Ice by Tin Larrick

Blues With Ice by Tin Larrick
First published by Obscure Cranny Press today, the 18th July 2017.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meet 20-year-old roofer and aspiring blues guitarist Alex Gray, who, on the cusp of the millennium, is heading west to California to seek his fortune. Armed with big fear, bigger dreams, a handful of dollars and his beloved guitar Camille, he arrives in Los Angeles to a self-imposed ultimatum: Make it here and now, or grow up and Get Serious.
It's a well-worn track, however, and Alex follows the vapour trails of former dole-buddy and expat-done-good Marvin Price. Already gregarious and exuberant, Marvin has been well and truly Californified by his year in the sun, and persuades Alex that fame and fortune are practically guaranteed the moment you clear customs.
As if to prove the point, a fortuitous encounter with homeless Santa Monica busker Rosco Dunhill III leads to a showcase at Rosco's downtown residence, and the American Dream seems to be playing out in front of Alex. But the sudden appearance - and transformation of - Alex's onetime love, Marie Clement, is a broadside he doesn't see coming, and the flames of Possibility evaporate almost as soon as they have appeared. Not one to admit defeat, Marie injects her new zest for life into Alex’s dejected dumbfoundedness, and pretty soon the three of them are in search of the elusive busker, chasing the spirit of Gonzo and the soul of the Beats around California.

I've been eagerly awaiting this new Tin Larrick novel since reading an early draft version several months ago. Blues With Ice is very different to his previous crime and thriller books. Inspired by 1950s American Beat classics such as Jack Kerouac's On The Road ( to which numerous nods are given) it recounts the highs and lows of a six week trip to California in the late 1990s. I also journeyed alone to California, albeit for just two weeks, at around the same time so this was a wonderfully nostalgic read for me. I didn't have a guitar, nor was I in search of stardom, but I did meet some amazing people in Los Angeles and rode the Amtrak from LA to Santa Clara and Santa Clara to beautiful San Francisco.

Larrick's naive hero, Alex Gray, is very English in his manners and outlook and this clash of cultures provides much of the thoughtfulness in Blues With Ice. His last ditch attempt to kickstart his music career is frequently derailed by alcohol and drug-fuelled days and nights, leading himself astray as often as he is led. I enjoyed following his journey and seeing how quickly he matured emotionally during what was a brief period of time. Larrick evokes the American cities in an interesting way although we do mostly see them through the bottom of whisky glasses and beer bottles.

The Beat writers seem to be undergoing a resurgence of influence at the moment and the style of Blues With Ice reminded me of Harry Whitewolf's travel writing especially Route Number 11. If you liked that book, I would certainly recommend Blues With Ice to you and vice versa.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Tin Larrick / Coming Of Age fiction / Books from England

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
First published in America by Atria in April 2004.

How I got this book:
Borrowed from my sister

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Anna Fitzgerald doesn't want her sister to die. But she's sick of helping her to live. Anna was born to be a perfect genetic match for Kate, who at just two years old was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. For thirteen years, she has acted as donor to her sister. Now, Kate needs a kidney, and nobody is asking Anna how she feels about it, they're just assuming she will donate. Until the Sheriff serves the papers that will rock their family's world: Anna is suing her parents for the rights to her own body.

I borrowed My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult from my own sister who said it was a very emotional book. Picoult delves into the ethical and moral minefields caused by creating genetically designed babies. The youngest daughter of her imagined Fitzgerald family, Anna, was conceived solely in order to provide 'spare parts' for elder sister Kate who is dying from leukaemia. However, by the time she turns thirteen, Anna is fed up with repeated hospital visits and invasive operations so takes out a lawsuit to prevent any more of her body being harvested for Kate's benefit. The ensuing arguments threaten to tear the whole family apart.

Family members take turns narrating chapters throughout the novel so the story unravels from multiple perspectives. Unfortunately everyone speaks remarkably similarly so I often lost track of whose chapter I was reading. Picoult's prose is very manipulative too. This is an incredibly emotionally charged subject, but as readers we are subjected to extra tugs through plot devices such as the father's career as a heroic firefighter - at one point he really does rush into an inferno to rescue a toddler. Anna's completely unprofessional legal team seem to spend more time resurrecting their abruptly halted college romance than fighting for her rights - the pair hadn't seen each other for fifteen years until they just happened to be thrown together for this one case. And of course, Anna's mother used to be a hotshot lawyer herself until she sacrificed her career for her children.

Her Sister's Keeper could and should have been an excellent novel confronting a hugely important contemporary issue. However I found it mawkish and frequently so sentimental as to be nauseating! There is a good story underneath, but it needs far stronger characters and greater subtlety with those emotional hammers to be convincing. Oh, and don't read the last chapter. Stop when the court case finishes because the real ending is just dire!

Etsy Find!
	Jodi Picoult typed quote by Days Long Past in Indiana, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Jodi Picoult / Women's fiction / Books from America

Nine Kinds of Naked by Tony Vigorito

Nine Kinds of Naked by Tony Vigorito
First published in America by Mariner Books in October 2008. Audiobook edition narrated by Kristen Kalbli published by ListenUp in December 2014.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Alibris
Buy the audiobook from Audible via Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Bought the audio download from Audible

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do you believe in the butterfly effect? Can the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Tibet? What if the butterfly happens to be flapping centuries before the tornado stirs? Does the Great White Spot - a twenty-first-century weather anomaly rotating clockwise off the coast of Louisiana - stem from a ninth-century serf untying a knot in a strap of enchanted leather? In the tradition of Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore, and with all the playfulness and prose-poetics that made his "Just a Couple of Days" such an underground phenomenon, Tony Vigorito now turns his visionary gaze to the wonder of synchronicity and the mystery of cause and effect. He takes us on a wild ride through time and space, introducing us to a cast of fascinating characters whose lives are all affected by one breath of wind.

Nine Kinds Of Naked is bizarre! Essentially it's a fantastically surreal tale of chaos theory in the aftermath of a tornado, but with such an incredible array of characters and interconnected events that I was equally as gripped as bewildered for much of the time. My copy was an Audible download brilliantly narrated by Kristin Kalbli. How on earth did she keep a straight face throughout? I was frequently giggling away at the sharp imagery. Tony Vigorito does a great job of imparting the essence of his scenes and makes even the most ridiculous plot twist seem as though this was the obvious and natural course of events. The revisitation of scenes and actions from different viewpoints is cleverly layered and I loved discovering and recognising minor characters as well as cultural references.

There is a strong political message arcing across the story which encourages all the characters to reject our society's debt-ridden commercial culture in favour of a simple life in the present. This really resonated with how I am living right now, especially having recently enjoyed reading No Baggage by Clara Bensen. I did think that the several long philosophical debates espousing this theory in the second half of the book could use heavy editing though. The pace here grinds to a standstill and had I had a paper edition, I would have been flipping past. However, once we get back to the perfectly suited laid-back vibe of New Orleans, Nine Kinds Of Naked takes off again. I loved the character of J J Speed and the wondrous antics of the wind, Bridget Snapdragon is great and I had to pity Dave Wildhack - the toothpicks! I would love for all the factoids, especially the etymology, to be true. Perhaps they are, but I didn't pause to take notes and can't remember enough detail to now go a-Googling, but I frequently found myself in complete agreement. And now I just want to find a dayglo orange frisbee and Walk Away.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Tony Vigorito / Fantasy fiction / Books from America

Revenants - The Odyssey Home by Scott Kauffman

Revenants - The Odyssey Home by Scott Kauffman
First published by Moonshine Cove Publishing in America in December 2015.

Where to buy this book:

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A grief-stricken candy-striper serving in a VA hospital following her brother’s death in Viet Nam struggles to return home an anonymous veteran of the Great War against the skullduggery of a congressman who not only controls the hospital as part of his small-town fiefdom but knows the name of her veteran. A name if revealed would end his political ambitions and his fifty-year marriage. In its retelling of Odysseus’ journey, Revenants casts a flickering candle upon the charon toll exacted not only from the families of those who fail to return home but of those who do.

Every so often one of my indie author reads turns out to be an absolute gem and I am delighted that this was the case with Revenants. The novel is a modern day retelling of Homer's Odyssey, but I admit it has been so long since I read that classic that I didn't identify Kauffman's story with Homer's, nor did I think it needed that distinction as Revenants stands strongly on its own merits. I did have to look up some of the American slang - a candy-striper for example is a young female volunteer at VA hospitals so named for their red and white striped uniforms. And VA is the acronym for Veterans' Affairs, an American government department charged with the care of former military personnel.

In Revenants, Kauffman explores the aftermath of war both on the fighting soldiers and on their friends and families back home. Unusually for American novels I think, his veterans are physically and mentally damaged by their experiences, many horrifically so, and he sensitively presents their plight. The book is set partly in a 1970s hospital and partly in First World War trenches. Perhaps attitudes have changed now, but it was saddening to read of men being feted heroes as they go off to fight and shunned for the injuries incurred in that fighting on their return. Kauffman has his characters comment on the political use of medal pinning at election times while those same men are kept out of sight for the rest of the year.

Revenants is emotional historical fiction and also an ingenious mystery story. As readers we uncover the story of the hidden patient alongside Betsey and her brother. Betsey's story is intriguing too as she tries to assuage her guilt by helping the hidden patient, but cannot forgive herself enough to avoid her own life slipping into delinquency and drug addiction. This unglamorous reality of war is often suppressed when hysterical and jingoistic rhetoric fires up yet another generation to take up arms against each other, but hopefully honest novels such as Revenants will prove memorable and encourage greater debate before new bombs fly.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Scott Kauffman / Historical fiction / Books from America

The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt by Tracy Farr

The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt by Tracy Farr
First published in Australia by Fremantle Press in 2013.

One of my WorldReads from Australia

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from its publishers via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I hold one regret from that day: that I put my first love, my cello, aside. But it was to take up a bigger love, a greater thing; it was to step into the future. Music's Most Modern Instrument. And I was to become Music's Most Modern Musician.
Tracy Farr's debut novel is the fictional memoir of Dame Lena Gaunt: musician, octogenarian, junkie. Documentary filmmaker Mo Patterson approaches veteran musician Lena Gaunt after watching her play at a festival in Perth: her first performance in 20 years.
While initially suspicious of Mo's intentions and reluctant to have her privacy invaded, Lena finds herself sharing stories from her past.
From a solitary childhood in Malacca and a Perth boarding school, to a glittering career in Jazz-age Sydney, to quiet domesticity in a New-Zealand backwater, Lena's is a life characterized by the pull of the sea, the ebb and flow of passion and loss, and her enduring relationship with that extraordinary instrument, the theremin.

The Life And Loves Of Lena Gaunt is an introverted and thoughtful novel telling the life story of the world's first theremin player, Lena Gaunt. Gaunt never actually existed of course, but Farr's writing so beautifully creates her world that I often found it difficult to remember I wasn't reading about a real person! Daughter of an affluent but aloof family, Lena is shunted off to boarding school at an early age where she discovers her first love, the cello. As a young woman, chance leads her to the new invention of the theremin and her dedication to perfect playing results in her growing fame. We see Singapore and Australia, New Zealand, France and England through her eyes as she bounces, or is bounced, across the world, usually alone and usually returning to a district of Perth, Australia, the closest concept she has of home.

I loved Farr's writing in terms of its musical content and references. Lena's world is very much created around and guided by sound and this is conveyed in amazing detail to the reader. 1930s Sydney came across as a fabulous place and I would like to read more books set around this era. What particularly moved me about The Life And Loves were the flashback portrayals of Lena's search for both contrasted with her octogenarian self looking back over her life. Elderly Lena is not a generic geriatric and is very much the product of her bohemian youth. Still unable to resist a little flattery, but sadly aware of the her own mortality and loss, the experience gap between herself and the young festival musicians, herself and the film maker, gives a delicate melancholy to the whole book.

Etsy Find!
	Theremin Player  watercolour by World Of Pollux in California, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Tracy Farr / Contemporary fiction / Books from Australia

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo
First published in Norwegian in Norway as Sorgenfri by Aschehoug And Co in 2002. English language translation by Don Bartlett published by Harvill Secker in 2008.

I registered my copy of this book at Bookcrossing

One of my WorldReads from Norway

Where to buy this book:


How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How do you catch a killer when you're the number one suspect? A man is caught on CCTV, shooting dead a cashier at a bank. Detective Harry Hole begins his investigation, but after dinner with an old flame wakes up with no memory of the past 12 hours. Then the girl is found dead in mysterious circumstances and he begins to receive threatening emails: is someone trying to frame him for her death? As Harry fights to clear his name, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery.

I am sure I have never read any Jo Nesbo books before, but this Scandinavian crime novel felt very familiar throughout. It has an alcoholic lead detective emotionally tortured by actions in his past, an inexperienced but brilliant sidekick, a bizarre serial crime for them to solve, a trip to the other side of the world for no great reason and, of course, our detective has a close personal attachment to the crime. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Nesbo is certainly a competent crime writer and I liked his evocation of Oslo life, especially in respect to the city's frequently miserable climate, but for me this novel felt too formulaic. I thought most of the characters didn't have the believability of, say, the Martin Beck creations, and the plot line seemed to become more outlandish by the minute! As an escapist read, Nemesis did keep me occupied for a couple of afternoons, but my high expectations were ultimately disappointed.

Stephanie Jane

Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Jo Nesbo / Crime fiction / Books from Norway

Killers Of The King by Charles Spencer

Killers Of The King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I by Charles Spencer
First published in the UK by Bloomsbury in September 2014. Audiobook edition narrated by Tim Bruce published by Audible Studios in November 2014.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the audiobook from Audible via Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the paperback from Speedyhen
Buy the hardback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Bought the audio download from Audible

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain's history, Parliament had overpowered King Charles I and now faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king, a king who refused to surrender?Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the appalling suffering and slaughter endured by his people. A tribunal of 135 men was hastily gathered in London, and although Charles refused to acknowledge the power of his subjects to try him, the death sentence was unanimously passed. On an icy winter's day on a scaffold outside Whitehall, in an event unique in English history, the King of England was executed.When the dead king's son, Charles II, was restored to the throne, he set about enacting a deadly wave of retribution against all those - the lawyers, the judges, the officers on the scaffold - responsible for his father's death. Some of the 'regicides' - the killers of the king - pleaded for mercy, while others stoically awaited their sentence. Many went into hiding in England, or fled to Europe or America. Those who were caught and condemned suffered agonising and degrading ends, while others saw out their days in hellish captivity.

Best-selling historian Charles Spencer explores this violent clash of ideals through the individuals whose fates were determined by that one, momentous decision. A powerful tale of revenge from the dark heart of royal history and a fascinating insight into the dangers of political and religious allegiance in Stuart England, these are the shocking stories of the men who dared to kill a king.

I had this audiobook awaiting listening for several years before I actually steeled myself to get all the way through it. The problem for me is that Spencer initially rushes through a great long list of names and battles, most of which were unknown to me, in order to give an overview of the lead-up to the execution of Charles I, the act itself and the following Commonwealth Republic years until the demise of Oliver Cromwell. I struggled to kind my mind from wandering during the first third of Killers Of The King, eventually having to restart the narration three times over in my determination to hear the whole book! Other reviewers had said it got more engaging later on and I wanted to find out for myself that this is indeed the case.

Once Spencer begins to talk about the individual names as real people, Killers Of The King became a much interesting listen, albeit a frequently gruesome one! He investigates the lives and deaths of as many of the sixty-odd men who had signed Charles I's death warrant as he could find, describing them in fascinating detail. Over a period of two to three decades England swung from one political extreme to another and back again with, it seemed, practically every man of note absolutely determined that whatever cause he had chosen to support was also that chosen by God. The degree of religious fanaticism shown by most of these men is terrifying, especially as their violent actions in the name of God are rooted in Old Testament vengeance. Only those with the foresight to keep switching sides seem to have maintained or accumulated any degree of wealth (and kept their heads) including one George Downing, called a 'perfidious rogue' by Samuel Pepys, whose rewards from Charles II enabled him to buy up swathes of London - including the street that now bears his name!

Tim Bruce is an excellent narrator, admirably portraying a range of accents from across Europe and as far afield as the New England colonies. I would listen to more of his audiobooks although I am not sure I would attempt another Charles Spencer history volume.



Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Charles Spencer / History / Books from England