The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

First published by D Appleton and Company in America in October 1895 after newspaper serialisation of an abridged version the previous year.

How I got this book:

Downloaded as part of the 2015 AudioSYNC season

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This story is about a young soldier, Henry Fleming, fighting in the American Civil War. It is a vivid and stark portrayal of war on the human psyche, interspersed with symbolic imagery and biblical metaphors. The story realistically portrays the young soldier's physical and psychological struggles after fleeing from his first encounter with a battle. He returns to his regiment to become a strong soldier and even taking on the task of the flag bearer in the final battle.

Though Stephen Crane had never been in any combat situations, his interviews with a wide number of veterans enabled him to create this novel, widely regarded as a unusually realistic depiction of a young man in battle.

This review was first published on my Stephanie Jane blog in 2015.

The Red Badge of Courage is the earliest dated book I received via this summer’s AudioSYNC programme. An American classic, it was first published in 1895 so is even before the first segment of theBookcrossing Decade Challenge I have joined on Goodreads.

Young Henry Fleming has enlisted to fight in the America Civil War. Naïve to what awaits him, he flees during his first battle, finding himself among wounded men whom Henry sees as displaying their red badges of courage – their bloodstains. After being hit by one of his own side, Henry returns to his regiment where, believing his previous cowardice unnoticed, he seizes the flag when its bearer is killed. Suddenly brave beyond his experience, he leads through intense fighting, remaining unharmed.

Red Badge of Courage is written in an impersonal fashion which I thought both helped and hindered its impact. By not particularly detailing people’s or places’ names, it can be a novel of any low-tech war, as relevant now as then and all across the globe. However, devices such as continually referring to Henry as ‘the youth’ made it difficult for me to really invest in his story and I found myself frequently drifting away from listening. I am also not sure whether Crane’s message was meant to turn readers on to or away from war. The descriptions of fighting and casualties are powerful, but our protagonist redeems himself by rushing headlong into battle, glorifying the bloodshed in order to 'become a man'.

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	Stephen Crane quotes  magnet gift set by Quoted Art in Louisiana, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

First published in the UK by Myrmidon in 2012.

One of my WorldReads from Malaysia

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the highlands of Malaya, a woman sets out to build a memorial to her sister, killed at the hands of the Japanese during the brutal Occupation of their country. Yun Ling's quest leads her to The Garden of Evening Mists, and to Aritomo, a man of extraordinary skill and reputation, once the gardener of the Emperor of Japan. When she accepts his offer to become his apprentice, she begins a journey into her past, inextricably linked with the secrets of her troubled country's history.

The Garden Of Evening Mists began by thwarting my assumptions which is always a good way for a novel to capture my interest. It was so long since I had read the synopsis that I forgotten everything except its post-war Malaysia setting (or Malaya as it was then). So I envisaged Judge Teoh making his way to his retirement celebration only to be brought up short when She arrived! Tut tut me assuming a judge would be male!

Tan Twan Eng has created an absolutely beautiful novel here. I loved his delicate turns of phrase in describing the incredible natural Malaysian landscapes as well as the deliberate beauty of the eponymous garden. This garden is designed according to Japanese teachings and I felt the whole story reflected Japanese style. Its theme of cultural conflict takes many forms from the obvious of the austere garden on a lush mountainside, to the aftermath of the Japanese army's horrific acts against the Malaysian-Chinese population during the Second World War. Much of Teoh's post-war is an attempt to come to terms with her treatment during those war years and, while Tan steers clear of overtly graphic detail, we readers are left in no doubt as to what Teoh and her sister endured. She narrates in two timelines being desperate to remember her personal history before disease takes her memory forever.

Tan writes brilliantly for a female narrator and I never had any doubt that I was reading a woman's words. I also appreciated the diversity of his cast of characters. Malaya at this time was a fervent melting pot of cultures on the brink of shaking off British colonial rule so we not only see the aftermath of the war, but also the guerrilla struggles to establish an independent future. So many narrative threads should have made The Garden Of Evening Mists a complicated novel, but it actually has a real clarity of vision and portrayal. And it's just beautiful!

Etsy Find!
	Japanese Garden  cross stitch kit by ZC Bazaar in Bristol, England Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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Once Upon A Time In The West ... Country by Tony Hawks

Once Upon A Time In The West ... Country by Tony Hawks

First published in the UK by Hodder And Stoughton in 2015.

O for my 2019 Alphabet Soup Challenge and one of my 2019 Mount TBR Challenge reads

How I got this book:

Swapped for on Camping Le Moulin book exchange shelves

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You can take the man out of the city, but is the countryside ready for him?

Comedian and born and bred townie, Tony Hawks is not afraid of a challenge - or indeed a good bet. He's hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge and taken on the Moldovan football team at tennis, one by one. Now the time has come for his greatest gamble yet - turning his back on comfortable city life to move to the wilds of the West Country.

With his partner Fran in tow and their first child on the way, he embraces the rituals of village life with often absurd and hilarious results, introducing us to an ensemble of eclectic characters along the way. One minute he's taking part in a calamitous tractor run, the next he's chairing a village meeting, but of course he still finds time for one last solo adventure before fatherhood arrives - cycling coast to coast with a mini pig called Titch.

In the epic battle of man vs countryside, who will win out?

I blogged about Once Upon A Time In The West ... Country on Stephanie Jane on Thursday, choosing it as my next Books From The Backlog read. This reminded me of my enthusiasm in originally choosing Hawks' memoir last year. I hoped his humour would be the perfect foil for our current dismal weather and I also thought it would be a good literary palate cleanser after the intensity of Demian by Hermann Hesse! So I queue jumped it and started reading pretty much straight away. Both things turned out to be true - and the sun is now shining too! Perhaps not as 'hilarious' as other Hawks memoirs I have read, Once Upon A Time is fun nonetheless. It covers three main events: Tony and his partner, Fran, relocating from London to rural Devon; Tony cycling from coast to coast across Devon with an adorable miniature pig; and Fran's pregnancy and giving birth to their child. As such, the book felt bitty - more like three short books than one full memoir, however it is light enough to carry this.

I noticed, at the risk of alienating any Devonian readers I might have, that Tony and Fran appreciated Devon far more than Dave and I did after our move there. Perhaps their not picking Torbay might have had something to do with it! Personally I would quite happily never set foot in the county again, but then I did recognise a number of places Tony visited as part of his epic pig-carrying cycle that we too had enjoyed visiting. If you're looking for a quick, light read that might just inspire you to pump up your bicycle tyres (or move to Devon!) this book could be the perfect choice. There's a strong message about taking time to appreciate our immediate surroundings, and a little preaching from Hawks who appears (then) to be a recent convert to serious environmentalism. There's also lime and coconut cake, and a day out on a vintage tractor - what more could you need!

Etsy Find!
	Needle felted  Miniature Pig by The Wool Zoo in New York, USA Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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Books by Tony Hawks / Biography and memoir / Books from England

Demian by Hermann Hesse

Demian by Hermann Hesse
First published in German in Germany by Fischer Verlag in 1919. English language translation by Hilda Rosner published in 1923.

D for my 2019 Alphabet Soup Challenge, one of my 2019 Mount TBR Challenge reads and one of my Classics Club Challenge reads.

How I got this book:
Bought the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Demian is a classic coming-of-age story that continues to inspire generations of readers in its exploration of good and evil, morality, and self-discovery. The main character of this classic novel, Emil Sinclair, is a young boy raised in a bourgeois home. Emil's entire existence can be summarized as a struggle between two worlds—the show world of illusion and the real world, the world of spiritual truth. According to Hesse, the novel is a story of Jungian individuation, the process of opening up to one's unconsciousness.

It's been two and a half years since my first Hesse book (Rosshalde in September 2016) and I've been meaning to read more of his works since. Now I've finally got around to it thanks to featuring Demian as one of my Books From The Backlog. Unfortunately I felt this one was nowhere near as good as Rosshalde. It's a fairly standard coming of age story where young Emil Sinclair first discovers lying to his parents, then getting drunk at boarding school, then has a massive crush on an older boy, the eponymous Demian, before realising it's actually Demian's mother who is the real target of his affections. As you do!

Emil's personal disasters and consequent emotional growth do make for a pretty interesting story, but this is hidden in pages and pages of religious philosophy, plus our Emil is possibly the most pompous precocious egotistical little oik I have ever 'met'! Now, I don't mind an unlikeable protagonist (Fatboy Fall Down being a recent example), but Emil is, frankly, insufferable and I spent most of his story cheering his misfortunes. Oh, and his view of women is decidedly bizarre too. At times I wondered if Hesse had ever actually spoken to a real woman. However you probably shouldn't take my complaints too seriously if you're deciding whether to read Demian for yourself. I saw a lot of Goodreads reviewers raving about this being a life-changing philosophical novel for them so I'm wondering if this is a book which should be read at a certain age in order to truly appreciate it?


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Books by Hermann Hesse / Coming of age fiction / Books from Germany

The Seventh Train by Jackie Carreira

The Seventh Train by Jackie Carreira
Published in the UK by Troubadour on the 31st March 2019.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Railways, one of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads and a Book With A Vegetarian Character

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What if you can’t stand where you are because there’s nothing there? What if you don’t want to end up anywhere else in case that’s empty too? When life has lost its road map, sometimes the only way to get back on track is to get back on the rails.

The Seventh Train is a ride - a ‘road movie’ on the railways. It’s a journey that Elizabeth invented; the only original thought she has ever had in her previously uneventful life. Unbeknown to her, she is not travelling alone. If only she’d pretended that the spare seat was taken.

With a wonderfully eclectic cast of characters, The Seventh Train takes its passengers on a journey from the tragic to the strange, arriving finally at hope. By turns heart-breaking, thought-provoking and hilarious, this tale is a life-affirming exploration of the human spirit via the British railway timetable! 

I gave Jackie Carreira's previous novel, Sleeping Through War, 5 stars last year because I loved her writing so I was excited to spot this new novel, The Seventh Train, on NetGalley recently. Less ambitious in its scope, The Seventh Train is nonetheless a thoughtful and well observed story. I now have a new travel quote to accompany my all time favourite 'I'm always homesick for the journey' (Discovering Aberration by S C Barrus). In The Seventh Train I could completely empathise with Elizabeth's assurance that 'Travelling is just a way of not staying where you are.'

I could see shades of myself in Elizabeth which helped me to understand why she decided on her present transient lifestyle. In fact, by the end of the story, I was feeling quite enthused to join her - although I don't know whether she would appreciate yet another companion stepping into her idea! All the characters are very real so I could easily believe in them and their individual emotional journeys. Ellie particularly is great fun to spend time with! Her lively outlook and humour is a good foil to the darker themes surrounding the characters. I felt especially strong sympathy for Daniel and could not imagine how I would cope in such a situation.

The Seventh Train began life as a short play and Carreira explains its growth through various theatrical incarnations before its current presentation as a novel. Having a little theatrical experience myself I recognised scenes that would play brilliantly on stage and would love the chance to see a production in the future!

Etsy Find!
	British Rail fabric  cushion cover by Recovered Underground in the UK Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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Books by Jackie Carreira / Contemporary fiction / Books from England

April In Paris by Michael Wallner

April In Paris by Michael Wallner
First published in German in Germany by Luchterhand Literaturverlag in 2006. English language translation by John Cullen published by John Murray in 2007.

How I got this book:
Received a copy in a publisher's giveaway

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


When people on Paris's bustling streets look at Michael Roth, they see little more than a Parisian student, a quietly spoken young man with a book under his arm, handsome but guarded. What they do not realize is that he is carrying a painful secret, one that he cannot even reveal to the woman he loves.

For Michael is no ordinary Frenchman but a German. He has been sent to Paris to assist the Nazis in dealing with Resistance fighters. Desperate to escape his daily life, he steals into the world of the oppressed Parisians, and into the path of Chantal. But as Michael falls for the bookseller's beautiful daughter, he discovers that a person's past always catches up with them. Soon he will be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice and choose between his country, his life and his destiny.

Daring, romantic and of exceptional quality, April in Paris is an extraordinary love story which will stay with you long after its final pages.

April In Paris is billed as a wartime love story, but it is a novel with surprisingly little romance between the two characters, Michael and Chantal. Wallner instead shows how Michael's belief in his love for Chantal, a woman he barely knows, is actually fuelled by his love of his idea of himself as someone completely different from reality. Michael is a bilingual Wehrmacht Corporal who finds himself working as a translator during SS interrogations. His regular metamorphosis into French student Antoine is his escape from these daily scenes of brutality and I appreciated how Wallner depicts this duality in his personality. As readers we get to see scenes of wartime Paris both from the German and the Parisian perspective which is interesting.

I found April In Paris to be a very readable novel which I happily polished off in a couple of sittings. The narrative isn't particularly unusual and, although it kept my interest throughout, I could usually guess the outline of where the story would go. There are harrowing descriptions of torture, some of which I wish I could unread, so readers of a more squeamish disposition might want to give this one a miss. However, otherwise, April In Paris is a good addition to the WWII genre.

Etsy Find!
	Tiny 1940s  Eiffel Tower Brooch by Art Decova Vintage in the UK Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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The Stars in the Night by Clare Rhoden + #Giveaway

The Stars in the Night by Clare Rhoden
Published in Australia by Odyssey Books on the 26th January 2019.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Barbed Wire and 5Books1Theme: The Great War, and one of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads


Add The Stars In The Night to your Goodreads

“Harry Fletcher is a confident young man, sure that he will marry Nora, no matter what their families say. He will always protect Eddie, the boy his father saved from the gutters of Port Adelaide.
Only the War to End All Wars might get in the way of Harry’s plans…
From the beaches of Semaphore to the shores of Gallipoli, the mud of Flanders to the red dust of inland South Australia, this is a story of love, brotherhood, and resilience.”

The Great War was said at the time to be 'the war to end all wars' yet warfare has raged in one form or another, in one nation or another, across the globe ever since. The Great War still holds a unique place in history though and I felt that Rhoden does a wonderful job in this novel of bringing the Australian soldiers' experiences to life. She has obviously thoroughly researched her subject and I appreciated the authenticity reflected in The Stars In The Night. The novel begins whn Harry is an elderly man, just after his wife has died, and his granddaughter, Kate, wants him to talk about an old notebook she has found amongst her grandmother's possessions. For Kate the notebook is a historical artefact, but its contents are still very real and vivid to Harry. Rhoden then takes us back in time to witness Harry signing up to fight so we can understand why he chose to do so, and see how the war he experienced was so horrifically different to what the young soldiers expected.

I loved Rhoden's character creations. Everyone felt genuine and I could appreciate less well known ideas such as Irish mother Ellen's being so against her Australian son signing up to fight an English war. Even though this family lived thousands of miles away, European ideas were still important to them and the men were keen to fight for Britain in a war that otherwise would not have reached Australian shores. A lot of the war scenes are understandably difficult to read because Rhoden doesn't shy away from the grim realities of trench life. This harshness is countered though by the heart warming bonds formed between most of the soldiers. We also see how the war remained with them for decades after the conflict itself had ended. Australia was a very different place when they returned and lots of their traditional job roles were either no longer there or had been taken by women. Expectations altered drastically in the 1920s and trying to cope with this while also suffering from physical and mental war damage must have been such a struggle for many families including Harry's as we see here. The Stars In The Night is an emotional and beautifully written reminder of a war that should never be forgotten.

Meet the author

Clare Rhoden writes historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy (check her titles at Odyssey Books). Clare lives in Melbourne Australia with her husband Bill, their super-intelligent poodle-cross Aeryn, a huge and charming parliament of visiting magpies, and a very demanding/addictive garden space.

Clare completed her PhD in Australian WWI literature at the University of Melbourne in 2011, and a Masters of Creative Writing in 2008, in which she investigated the history of her grandparents who emigrated for Europe to Port Adelaide in January 1914. The Stars in the Night is the result of her research.

Author links: 
Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

And now it's time for the Giveaway!

Win a signed copy of The Stars in the Night, a metal poppy brooch made by a Melbourne craftswoman, and a cross-stitch poppy card.
(Open Internationally until the 29th April 2019)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box above.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel's Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel's Random Resources will delete the data. Rachel's Random Resources is not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Etsy Find!
	Codes And Whispers  limited edition giclee print by Port Out Starboard Home in Bournemouth, England Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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We, The Survivors by Tash Aw

We, The Survivors by Tash Aw
Published by Fourth Estate on the 4th April 2019.

One of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads, one of my WorldReads from Malaysia and a Book With A Vegetarian Character

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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A murderer’s confession – devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable – which reveals a story of class, education and the inescapable workings of destiny.

Ah Hock is an ordinary, uneducated man born in a Malaysian fishing village and now trying to make his way in a country that promises riches and security to everyone, but delivers them only to a chosen few. With Asian society changing around him, like many he remains trapped in a world of poorly paid jobs that just about allow him to keep his head above water but ultimately lead him to murder a migrant worker from Bangladesh.

In the tradition of Camus and Houellebecq, Ah Hock’s vivid and compelling description of the years building up to this appalling act of violence – told over several days to a local journalist whose life has taken a different course – is a portrait of an outsider like no other, an anti-nostalgic view of human life and the ravages of hope. It is the work of a writer at the peak of his powers.

We, The Survivors reminded me of an Indian novel I read a few years ago, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Both books are narrated by a murderer after the crime has taken place and consist of the culprit explaining his disadvantaged life story and how it led him to commit such an awful deed. In We, The Survivors, Ah Hock is speaking to a journalist who is going to write his story for publication in a true crime book. We don't actually get to see this journalist until later in the novel so I felt as though Ah Hock was speaking directly to me. He is an engaging narrator with an unusual story to tell so We, The Survivors was, for me, a faster read than expected because I kept making excuses to keep on reading!

I was intrigued by the different portrayal of immigration in this story. Ah Hock frequently describes himself as a 'local boy' and states that his having to almost continually lived near where he grew up has given him some kind of advantage. Yet his family only fairly recently arrived as refugees from China. He is a third-generation immigrant to Malaysia so while he sees the current Bangladeshi and Rohinga migrants as desperate people who can be exploited, his own situation isn't far removed from the same straits. I could draw parallels between Malaysia and Britain (or America) where snap judgements are made about people based pretty much only on their skin tone and perceived ancestry.

We, The Survivors is quite a dark novel which depicts how carelessly awful people can be to each other when we lose a sense of shared humanity. A safe, comfortable existence is surprisingly precarious especially in such parts of the world where war or natural disasters can wipe out someone's home or livelihood overnight with no chance of recompense. Hard work alone often isn't enough for success when luck or destiny seems to be pulling in the other direction, and destiny can be patient as Ah Hock finds out.


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Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback

Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck
Published by Hodder And Stoughton in February 2015.

One of my WorldReads from Sweden
One of my Top Ten Books of 2015

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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are six homesteads on Blackasen Mountain.

A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather.

But now it is summer, and new settlers are come.

It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage.

The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest.

To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions, digging at the secrets of the mountain.

They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?

This review was first blogged on Stephanie Jane in 2015.

I absolutely loved Wolf Winter! Set in Swedish Lapland in 1717, the novel tells of a tiny settler community's struggle to survive during a particularly harsh and bitter winter. Adding to their fear is the knowledge that one amongst them is a murderer. Recent Finnish immigrant, Maija, is determined to discover who was responsible for a violent murder that occurred pretty much as her family arrived, however Wolf Winter is not a standard whodunnit thriller. Instead, the story is a thoughtful and measured exploration of living in an incredibly inhospitable environment and of how, when even basic survival is not guaranteed, fear can become a significant enemy.

I loved Ekback's wonderfully real descriptions of Blackasen mountain and the settler homesteads dotted around its base. Her writing allowed me to picture every aspect of the place and also to understand the eerie isolation of Maija and her children. Knowing that other people are not especially far away, but that your chances of reaching them mean they might as well be on the moon, is a terrifying prospect. Ekback never overdoes the threats to her characters so their predicaments are thoroughly believable throughout the novel, yet she continues to weave in extra strands until fear itself becomes one of their greatest challenges. Wolf Winter is not a fast moving novel. Instead its cleverly varying pace acts more like a pressure cooker and, once engrossed in the story, I found it difficult to tear myself away from the pages. A device I particularly liked was illustrating the passing of time with a series of spaced descriptive paragraphs with little or no action. The contrast then to fast-moving violent incidents was very effective.

Every character is a very real person, convincing in their actions. Maija's immigrant Finn family are used to snowy winters, but their outsiders' view of Blackasen life and responses to it is expertly portrayed. The particular difficulties of women to be heard in a strongly patriarchal society is an important theme, as is that of the Church and its failure to understand the settlers lives. I had no idea that the temporary trading and taxation towns existed so was fascinated by this detail.

I think Wolf Winter will appeal to readers who enjoy character driven novels and especially the creeping dread style of Nordic Noir. Perhaps parallels can be drawn with the recently successful Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, which I also thought was brilliant(!), although I think Wolf Winter is a more magically mysterious tale. A wonderful novel and I will eagerly await Ekback's next work.


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Books by Cecilia Ekback / Thrillers / Books from Sweden

One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
First published in Spanish as Cien años de soledad in Argentina in 1967. English language translation by Gregory Rabassa published by Jonathan Cape in 1970.

How I got this book:
Bought the ebook from Amazon.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One of the world's most famous novels, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, blends the natural with the supernatural in on one of the most magical reading experiences on earth.

'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice'

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's great masterpiece is the story of seven generations of the Buendia family and of Macondo, the town they have built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and its miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buendia can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny. Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy and comic invention, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century.

This review was first blogged on Stephanie Jane in 2015.

I had One Hundred Years Of Solitude on my kindle for nearly a year, since I enjoyed losing myself in my first Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, Love In The Time Of Cholera. One Hundred Years is equally as immersive a novel which tells the story of a remote South American village from its inception to its happy years, on through a nationwide civil war, to its near destruction by greedy white industralists, and through years of constant monsoon-like deluge. I love the huge scale of the story, especially as it is contained within a single small village and, a lot of the time, in one large house.

The extended Buendia family are the central pivot and their matriarch, Ursula, is a great character. She sees several generations live and die, stay near or travel away, and all named for the generation before which leads to incredible potential confusion for the reader. It seemed at times as though all the many male characters were named either Jose Arcadio or Aureliano! Initially I tried to remember the familial relationships of each as they were mentioned, but this became far too baffling so I instead just kept reading and found that discreet indications in the text allowed me to know about whom I was reading as I got to know the family better.

Marquez' knack for language and description is fabulous. I loved imagining the invasion of the schoolgirls, Aureliano playing the accordion at his parties, the Colonel becoming wearied of endless war, Melquiades continuing despite death, the old Jose tied to the tree, the candied animals and the little gold fishes, the gringos locked behind wire fencing in their chicken coop houses, the people becoming moss-covered in the endless rain. One Hundred Years Of Solitude is worth reading for its imagery alone, but when so many human stories are threaded through as well, the novel transforms into a superb experience.

Etsy Find!
	Upcycled Book Handbag by Bagsy Me First in Buckingham, England Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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Books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez / Contemporary fiction / Books from Colombia

Fatboy Fall Down by Rabindranath Maharaj

Fatboy Fall Down by Rabindranath Maharaj
Published by ECW Press on the 9th April 2019.

One of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A heartrending novel about one man’s search for meaning in a difficult life.

A child ridiculed for his weight, a son overshadowed by a favored brother, a husband who falls short of his wife’s ambitions, an old man with a broken heart… As Orbits’s life passes, he doggedly pursues a simple dream — a little place in the country where a family might thrive — while wondering if he can ever shake free of the tragedies that seem to define him. 

Fatboy Fall Down is the lush and heartbreaking musings of a man trying to understand his place in the world. Though shot through with sadness, Fatboy Fall Down is also full of surprising moments of wry humor, and Rabindranath Maharaj's deft touch underscores the resilience of the human spirit.

Fatboy Fall Down is a quirky novel not so much of a life lived, but of a life that passed by while its owner was absent-mindedly looking the other way. Orbits sees his personal history as one series of disasters after another. Mentally scarred by the bullying he endured as a child, he has become too used to seeing negatives and blaming others for his bad fortune so when good things happen to him, he doesn't notice their benefits. As such Orbits makes for a very unusual protagonist and one that I found exasperating as often as not! Fortunately he is surrounded by more vivacious people - his mother for example who, when she is elderly, has a wonderful sparring relationship with her nurse.

Maharaj shows the economic rise and fall of Orbit's island country (which I guess is Trinidad, but I don't think was ever actually named) over the course of his lifetime. We see oil revenues flood in and then fade away leaving problems in their wake both times. Orbits, of course, has his head too high in the clouds to realise what is happening, but I thought this brought up an interesting question. Most self help books demand their readers get out there and grasp every opportunity in order to be successful. Yet Orbits stumbles into good jobs, a marriage, an affair, and economic freedom without ever really trying. Perhaps, for some of us at least, good fortune is better waited for than chased?

I enjoyed reading Fatboy Fall Down although it did take me a while to get into the story. I felt as though the novel was drawing to a close at its mid-way point too before it got a second wind. Despite not liking Orbits as a person, he did keep me interested in his story and I loved getting to see so much of this beautiful island through his eyes. Maharaj has a gentle touch for humour so while the story explores some pretty dark issues such as bullying, dementia and suicide, I didn't think it ever felt like a depressing book. Instead, the contrasts between the characters and, especially, their outlooks on life, keep a light tone.


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Books by Rabindranath Maharaj / Contemporary fiction / Books from Trinidad

A Change Of Time by Ida Jessen

A Change Of Time by Ida Jessen
First published in Danish as En Ny Tid by Gyldendal in Denmark in 2015. English language translation by Martin Aitken published by Archipelago Books today, the 16th April 2019.

One of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads, featured in 5Books1Theme: Older Women, and one of my WorldReads from Denmark

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Set in rural Denmark in the early 20th century, A Change of Time tells the story of a schoolteacher whose husband, the town doctor, has passed away. Her subsequent diary entries form an intimate portrait of a woman rebuilding her identity, and a small rural town whose path to modernity echoes her own path to joyful independence.

Another wonderful find from Archipelago Books who have made themselves easily one of my favourite publishers over the past few years. I can be confident when I spot one of their distinctively styled book covers that the enclosed work will be worth a look and A Change Of Time is no exception. This novella is an insightful portrayal of one woman's quiet life, lived in the shadow and to the expectations of her overbearing husband. This isn't a story of an abusive marriage, but there were several moments where I was shocked by how things have changed since the time this book was set - to outside observers at least. Fru Bagge is so subsumed by Vigand Bagge's requirements that she almost seems to lose her own identity. I don't think I even learned her first name until practically the last page of the story. She isn't a weak waif though. This is an educated woman, a capable schoolteacher who ran her own village school before her marriage, but who, over the years, then became unable to independently choose her own clothes.

As we meet Fru Bagge, we learn that Vigand is terminally ill in hospital. Fru Bagge will soon be reliant entirely on herself again with even her home at risk because it is tied to the doctor's job, not to the Bagges specifically, and a new man will take up the role. A Change Of Time can almost be  a coming-of-age novella, even considering Fru Bagge's advanced years. She has a chance, finally, to strike out alone and make her own decisions again. What is uncertain though is whether losing Vigand will allow her to bloom or whether she will no longer be able to cope without his guidance. Jessen has written her characters beautifully so I could feel completely involved with this story. The rights and wrongs are ambiguous so I didn't just sympathise with Fru Bagge and feel angry at Vigand, but could understand why both behaved as they did and how that fitted into rural Danish society of a hundred or so years ago. I believe Jessen has a personal connection with the village of Thyregod and she authentically depicts this place and its community. A Change Of Time is a lovely, thoughtful historical novella.

Etsy Find!
	Antique Danish pottery vase by Nordic Ann in Stockholm, Sweden Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

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Books by Ida Jessen / Historical fiction / Books from Denmark

When the Pipirite Sings: Selected Poems by Jean Métellus

When the Pipirite Sings: Selected Poems by Jean Métellus
First published in French as Au pipirite chantant in France in 1978. English language translation by Haun Saussy published by Northwestern University Press today, the 15th April 2019.

One of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads

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

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


When the Pipirite Sings gathers poems by the noted Haitian poet, novelist, and neurologist Jean Metellus, who died in January 2014. Along with other signature works, this volume includes the first English translation of Metellus's visionary epic poem, "Au pipirite chantant" ("When the Pipirite Sings"), widely regarded as his masterpiece.

Translated by formidable comparative literature scholar Haun Saussy, When the Pipirite Sings expresses an acute historical consciousness and engages recurrent Haitian themes-the wrenching impact of colonialism and underdevelopment, the purposes of education, and the merging of spiritual and temporal power. And, as always with Metellus's poetry, the range of voices and points of view evokes other genres, including fiction and cinema. This eminently readable book has formal and thematic ties to Aime Cesaire's Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, central to the canon of French-language postcolonial writings.

In addition to many books of poetry, Metellus published novels, chiefly about the remembered Haiti of his youth, and plays about the conquest of the Caribbean. His nonfiction included reflections on Haitian history and politics, on the iconography of slave emancipation, and studies of aphasia and dyslexia.

I've been looking forward to reading When The Pipirite Sings for a while, especially because I love the beautiful cover art of this new Northwestern University Press edition. This first English translation of the important Haitian poet Jean Metellus is being published forty years after the original French work. I was surprised it has taken so long! Metellus lived in exile from Haiti from most of his adult life so his poetry is strongly infused with nostalgia and the expatriate's yearning for home - even though that remembered home no longer exists in the same state as it was left.

Most of this book is taken up with the epic When The Pipirite Sings which is named for a colloquial Haitian phrase for daybreak. The little pipirite is usually the first bird to sing in the dawn chorus. Through the poem, Metellus shows us a bewildering mix of Haitian scenes as people begin their days across the island. He blends present-day with slave history, and jumps swiftly from one person's moment to another. I imagined the multitude of voices as being like a pipirite chorus - I couldn't tell where one ended and another began. This did make it difficult for me to appreciate the whole poems and there were several times where I lost the thread for a page or more before I could recognise a specific reference or scene and re-join the work. The poem does begin with an introductory essay which I found useful for my understanding and scattered footnotes helped provide a glossary too. However I think the 'eminently readable' claim made in the synopsis is misleading! Perhaps poetry scholars would find Metellus less of a strain, but I struggled through most of the long poem, only really feeling myself comfortable and fully appreciative of Metellus' poetry when reading the few short poems included at the end of the book.


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Books by Jean Metellus / Poetry / Books from Haiti

An Empty Nest: A Summer of Stories by Sandy Day + #Giveaway

An Empty Nest: A Summer of Stories by Sandy Day
Self published in Canada on the 8th April 2019.

One of my 2019 New Release Challenge reads

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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Her kids are gone.

Her husband is gone.

She is slammed by an unexpected grief after her daughter moves out. This is why, relocating from her small messy apartment in the city sounds like a reasonable thing to do. 

But can living with her sisters at the cottage be a good idea?

You’ll love this poignant short read as it fearlessly portrays life beyond the empty nest. 

I am so thrilled that Sandy Day offered me a copy of An Empty Nest to read and review because I absolutely loved this short story collection. At just under a hundred pages, I had assumed the book would be a swift read, but actually found myself lingering over certain stories and rereading others so I came away from the collection almost with the sense of having read a whole novel, and an emotionally charged one at that. This sense might also be because of how each story fits so beautifully into the whole work.

Set across the course of a single summer, An Empty Nest depicts one woman's coming to terms with herself when there are suddenly no family members or pets to demand her time. At first angry and bereft at her abandonment, she gains perspective both from looking back into her past, and out into her present. I felt this book to be a coming-of-age story for women at a point in our lives when we are often overlooked. I loved the progression from our narrator's fraught emotional state at the beginning, to a serene tranquillity at its close. In fact reading An Empty Nest, for me, had a lot in common with a meditation. I could feel myself calming and focusing in step with our narrator. I'm not sure I have ever experienced this physical reaction in quite the same way from a book before.

Day has a sensitive and evocative turn of phrase and I felt as though every word was here for a reason. Her writing is rich with observations and memory, but never feels bloated or padded out. Yet stories of less than half a page in length are just as satisfyingly complete as those of several pages. I admit to being envious of not only the summer cabin around which many of the stories take place, but also of Day's ability to evoke this location! I think An Empty Nest is a stunning achievement. I would highly recommend it to introspective readers and women who, like me, are rapidly yet nervously heading towards that Certain Age.

And now it's time for the Giveaway!

The prize is an ebook copy of An Empty Nest which will be gifted to the winner via Smashwords.
Open Internationally until the 28th April.

(Entry is by way of the Gleam widget below. You will be asked for your email address which I will need in order to contact the winner. I will then need to tell Smashwords the winner's email address in order to send out their prize.)

An Empty Nest by Sandy Day ebook giveaway



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Books by Sandy Day / Short stories / Books from Canada