Out Of The Mouths Of Serial Killers by Mary Brett + #Giveaway

Join us for this tour from Mar 22 to Apr 2, 2021!

 
Book Details:

Book Title:  Out of the Mouths of Serial Killers by Mary Brett
Category:  Adult Non-Fiction (18 +),  350 pages
Genre:  True Crime
Publisher:  Wildblue Press
Release date:   Jan 19, 2020
Format available:  print, ebook, and audible
Content Rating:  R. VIOLENCE, CRIME SCENE PHOTOS

 

Book Description:
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF SERIAL KILLERS​ by author Mary Brett is as close as you will ever come to discovering the answer ... and in the killer’s own words! In this one-of-a-kind book, author Mary Brett corresponded with some of America’s most evil convicted serial killers and asked just one question: ​WHY? Their return letters give an insightful look into the dark mind of each killer. The reader also will be able to scrutinize direct quotes, unedited, from ​interrogation statements, trial testimony, media interviews, and parole hearing inquests 75 Serial Killers are included in the book, some only known to the unfortunate victims’ family, friends, and community, while others are the most infamous in the annals of serial killers. All bios feature the crime, the capture, the victims, and background facts. Crime scene photos, some graphic, are featured.

Buy the Book:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon.com

WildBlue Press ~ The Book Depository

Audible UK ~ Audible.com

I haven't read a true crime book in ages - I  think Truman Capote's In Cold Blood would be the last - but I was intrigued to give Out Of The Mouths Of Serial Killers a try because of the prospect of reading letters sent from the killers themselves to author, Mary Brett, in response to her question, 'Why?' I'm interested in that kind of psychology. Brett examines the lives and criminal activities of over seventy American serial killers giving concise details of their childhoods, killing sprees and possible motivations. I was glad that the goryness factor was not overdone and this book reminded me of the 'World's Greatest' series of books that I adored studying as a teenager. Out Of The Mouths Of Serial Killers has lots of information which I think would be ideal for readers seeking an insightful overview of this niche subject.

I was disappointed however that the main reason I chose the book - those letters - turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Lots of the cases ended in the killers being themselves put to death years ago so Brett had no opportunity to address them. Responses we could read were mostly either claiming innocence or refusing to cooperate with this project. Brett does instead include plenty of brief quotes from contemporary accounts and press reports which are interesting to read, but tricky to judge in isolation. However I appreciated the dispassionate and measured tone throughout Out Of The Mouths Of Serial Killers. Other than a closing essay which is fervently pro-death penalty, Brett doesn't glamorise violent acts. I don't feel I have a greater understanding of what individually drove those women and men to kill, but it was fascinating to try and establish causal patterns and behaviours.

Meet the Author:
 

I have just finished my 4th book, OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF SERIAL KILLERS. I wrote to convicted serial killers asking just one question: Why? Their letters back to me formed the basis of what I hope is a fascinating read as well as a chilling look into the mindset of 75 psychopathic killers who walked among us. WildBlue Press is the Publisher and I thank them and their amazing staff for producing my book in both paperback and Kindle format. In presales, my book hit #1 on Kindle in VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY. I am a Virginia native, living in Florida. I hold a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.

connect with the author: amazon

Giveaway
Win an Autographed copy of OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF SERIAL KILLERS (USA only) (1 winner) (ends Apr 9)

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Tour Schedule:

Mar 22  - From the TBR Pile – book review
Mar 22 - Stephanie Jane - book spotlight
Mar 24 - Books for Books – book spotlight
Mar 25 – Pick A Good Book – book review / guest post
Mar 26 - Celticlady's Reviews – book spotlight
Mar 26 – Reading is My Passion – book review
Mar 29 – Bound 4 Escape – book review
Mar 30 – Sefina Hawke's Books – book spotlight
Mar 30 - Jazzy Book Reviews - book review / guest post
Mar 31 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review
Mar 31 - Literary Flits - book review
Apr 1 – Jessica Belmont – book review
Apr 1 - Leels Loves Books - book review
Apr 2 - The World As I See It – book review

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Books by Mary Brett / True crime / Books from America

Brotherhood by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

Brotherhood by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

First published in French as Terre Ceinte by Presence Africaine in 2015. English language translation by Alexia Trigo published by Europa Editions on the 18th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

WINNER of the French Voices Grand Prize, Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, and Grand Prix du Roman Métis

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s searing and thought-provoking debut novel, Brotherhood takes place in the imaginary town of Kalep, where a fundamentalist Islamist government has spread its brutal authority.

Under the regime of the so-called Brotherhood, two young people are publicly executed for having loved each other. In response, their mothers begin a secret correspondence, their only outlet for the grief they share and each woman’s personal reckoning with a leadership that would take her beloved child’s life.

At the same time, spurred on by their indignation at what seems to be an escalation of The Brotherhood’s brutality, a band of intellectuals and free-thinkers seeks to awaken the conscience of the cowed populace and foment rebellion by publishing an underground newspaper. While they grapple with the implications of what they have done, the regime’s brutal leader begins a personal crusade to find the responsible parties, and bring them to his own sense of justice. 

In this brilliant analysis of tyranny and brutality, Mbougar Sarr explores the ways in which resistance and heroism can often give way to cowardice, all while giving voice to the moral ambiguities and personal struggles involved in each of his characters’ search to impose the values they hold most dear.

My first Senegalese novel and I was impressed by the way in which Sarr portrayed deeply philosophical conversations between his characters without losing the sense of real speech and style. I wish my French was good enough to have read Brotherhood in its original language, but I felt Alexia Trigo did a good job of the translation. Brotherhood has two linked narrative strands: one recounts the efforts of a group of seven dissidents to publish a journal decrying jihadist violence and oppression in their occupied city; the other is a series of letters between two bereaved, grieving mothers who, unable to leave their separate homes, attempt together to understand the loss of their children. 

Brotherhood starts out with a scene of extreme, but dispassionate violence - a double execution - which reminded me of the opening of The President's Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli. The eponymous Brotherhood imposes their vision of correct Islamic life onto the city through bloodshed and fear, and public demonstrations of their power are an integral part of their strategy. Behind the scenes though, the Brotherhood's foot soldiers are only too keen to indulge in the forbidden behaviours they publicly punish, much to the chagrin of their leader who was probably the most fascinating character in the whole novel for me. He absolutely believes in the purity of the Brotherhood's vision, even while he is also aware of his superiors' corruption of that vision for their own ends. Sarr managed to allow me understand this man.

Brotherhood is a novel that, as I guessed pretty early on, is never going to end with a happily ever after. I found the narrative structure satisfying, however, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the novel even though it doesn't have the kind of rich detail that usually appeals to me. For example, Sarr takes a whole chapter to introduce one character, an incredible chef, without ever identifying a single meal or ingredient more precisely than 'food'! That said, I liked how this work drew me in to this city and its people's lives.

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Books by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr / War fiction / Books from Senegal

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

Published by Solaris on the 16th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Oxfam Online

The Book Depository / Waterstones

Drink down the brew and dream of a better Earth.

Skyward Inn, within the high walls of the Western Protectorate, is a place of safety, where people come together to tell stories of the time before the war with Qita.

But safety from what? Qita surrendered without complaint when Earth invaded; Innkeepers Jem and Isley, veterans from either side, have regrets but few scars.

Their peace is disturbed when a visitor known to Isley comes to the Inn asking for help, bringing reminders of an unnerving past and triggering an uncertain future.

Did humanity really win the war?

I leapt at the chance to read Skyward Inn having previously been equally enthralled and baffled by Aliya Whiteley's historical science fiction novel, The Arrival Of Missives. Skyward Inn shares some similarities in its rural English setting, this time in the Western Protectorate which is a future independent Devon and Cornwall, politically split away from the rest of what was England, but still financially dependent for trade. Elements of Western Protectorate life are recognisably unchanged - council meetings, evenings in the pub, apple harvests, and inappropriate humour from the vicar - but this is obviously an impoverished community which cannot afford to waste any of its resources.

I loved how Whiteley sets up the circumstances of this novel, hiding the most salient points in plain view so, as a reader, I accepted as normal things that I should perhaps have questioned much earlier. This lack of suspicion however is also true for the villagers, struggling through their daily lives without really noticing anything untoward. Jem herself is a fascinating character. A woman who, when young, abandoned her son in order to escape claustrophobic Western Protectorate culture, she spent a decade on the alien world of Qita, only to eventually find herself pretty much exactly back where she started with only the existence of her Qitan love, Isley, as a remembrance of her travels. Isley, the sole Qitan in this community, is subject to jokey racism from the villagers. Pub goers compliment him on how well he fits in, but fail to include him in anything more companionable than cooking their food.

Whiteley contrasts Qita with the Western Protectorate so well that I was completely convinced by both environments. In fact, despite its alien landscapes and life, I never once found myself questioning the plausibility of any of the characters or their decisions. I even experienced a real yearning to join at the end (which surprised me. I'm rarely a 'joining in' kind of person.). It's difficult to really talk about Skyward Inn without giving something away that should be discovered through reading this profound novel, rather than its reviews. I am delighted to have had this opportunity to read it myself and enthusiastically recommend the book to fans of speculative fiction, thoughtful science fiction, and stories about loners.

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Books by Aliya Whiteley / Science fiction / Books from England

The Cursed Village by Harripersad Samaroo

The Cursed Village by Harripersad Samaroo

Published by Troubador on the 14th October 2020.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

Usati is a four year old growing up in Sunnyvale, a small, poor and remote sugar cane farming village in Trinidad in the 1940’s. He describes the world he sees, and captures the language and culture of the mainly illiterate peasant workers who live around him. There is widespread belief in black magic, and nearby is the infamous silk-cotton tree which houses the evil spirits who are responsible for all the ills of the village. Usati looks after his two younger siblings. Even as a four year old he has to be a human shield for the neighbour on several occasions in the face of domestic violence. Life is hard and brutal with constant fear of violence and beatings. 

Following his mother’s death the children are brought up by their grandparents, but there are further constant upheavals within the family. Violence remains within all parts of this society, as is crime and suffering. Usati observes how his family suffers through their illiteracy and the society within which they live. 

Usati battles for a good education. He vows to bring literacy to the village and to fight against the cruelty that surrounds him. Usati and B started as teenage lovers, but can their love survive and endure a lifetime from the wicked curse and traumas of the intervening years?

The first thing, I think, to say about The Cursed Village is that it is a grimly violent novel. Scenes of child abuse, domestic violence, and grinding poverty follow one upon another which made this a difficult novel for me to read. In a lot of ways, the story reflects issues and practices I read about in The Secrets We Kept by Krystal A Sital. However, while character portrayals in that book drew me in, I felt I was always kept at arms length from The Cursed Village. I think most of the problem was my inability to believe in Usati as the young boy we are supposed to see. Usati is well-read, pompously erudite and very knowledgeable about medical matters. This is entirely plausible towards the end of this novel when we encounter him as a seventy year old man, or even possible for him in the chapters where he is a young man returning from five years of college, but four-year-old pre-school Usati making statements such as 'They are the ones responsible for and contributing towards the high infant and child mortality rates in the village', when his parents and neighbours speak exclusively in a phonetically-written local patois, just didn't work for me. This was a shame because Samaroo has a lot to say about typical rural life in this 1940s Trinidad community and he obviously has strong ideas about the importance of education in improving the people's lives. The settings were described in lots of detail and I felt I got a good sense of people's daily lives. Overall, I am glad to have read The Cursed Village, but I am also glad to have finally got to the end.

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Books by Harripersad Samaroo / Historical fiction / Books from Trinidad

The Colour of Hope by Jen Feroze

The Colour of Hope: Poems of Happiness in Uncertain Times by Jen Feroze

Published in the UK by Matador on the 3rd March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository / Waterstones

The Colour Of Hope is a poetry collection with happiness at its heart. The 45 poems inside were created during lockdown, at a time when finding beauty and comfort in the everyday seemed at once fraught with difficulty and vitally important.

Each was written for a specific recipient, based on three things they guaranteed would make them feel happy. I received a wonderful range of briefs. From the beautifully universal a longing for nature and freedom, time spent with family, summers spent in other lands to the gloriously specific snaffling a Toffee Crisp from the fridge late at night, Fleetwood Mac songs, foam banana sweets, and Ceilidh dancing.

The result is a collection of poems that serves both as a record of this intense and intensely strange year, and as an uplifting reading experience that will connect and resonate with a much wider audience than the individuals they were initially written for. 2020 will be one for the history books, a year that has created emergencies on many fronts, not least the emotional. 60% of adults, and 68% of young people in the UK reported a decline in their mental health during lockdown.

Mental health charities are working harder than ever to provide support to the vulnerable and in need, and every little helps. As such, £2 from the sale of this book will be donated to Mind, to help provide a bit of light in these uncertain times.

Hope comes in many shapes and colours, and it's my hope that you ll find some of your own pieces of happiness, comfort and, yes, hope within these pages.

I was drawn to read this unusual poetry collection when I discovered how the individual poems were inspired. As with much poetry, each work is incredibly personal yet, here, it is personal to its recipient rather than to the poet herself which I thought was a beautiful idea. The Colour Of Hope comprises 45 poems, each dedicated to the woman whose three happiness prompts led to its creation. Obviously I could identify more fully with some than with others, but I was amazed how every single poem brought a smile to my face and several prompted a chuckle too. I'm usually more of a fan of gloomy, angst-ridden poetry, but this happy collection cut straight through my habitual cynicism in a way that I really didn't expect.

I love how Feroze captures a sense of place in the poems inspired by travel and in those that are set within a single room or garden. Many celebrate the simple pleasures of a picnic or a flower (or a secret chocolate bar!). This, I felt, was very much a reflection of Spring 2020 when rediscovering time-consuming rather than time-saving activities (more sourdough anyone?) became a national pastime. In a way, The Colour Of Hope is a snapshot of those months, only at most a year ago, hard though that is to believe. Yet I think the collection also taps into something more essential about the way we live or, rather, the way we would prefer to live and briefly did when the opportunity arose. I hope that The Colour Of Hope won't just be a record of one year, but will continue to quietly remind readers that true happiness is more often found through small acts and time spent with the people we love than as a result of grand, expensive gestures.

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Books by Jen Feroze / Poetry / Books from England

Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai

Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai

Published by McClelland & Stewart on the 1st September 1998.

How I got this book:

Bought the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository

In Shyam Selvadurai's masterful second novel, set in repressive and complex 1920s Ceylon, the Cinnamon Gardens is a residential enclave of wealthy Ceylonese. Among them is Annalukshmi, an independent and high-spirited young teacher intent on thwarting her parents' plans to arrange her marriage. In a parallel narrative, her uncle, Balendran Navaratnam, respectably married but secretly homosexual, has his life disrupted by the arrival in Ceylon of Richard, a lover from long ago. 

I bought myself a copy of this novel over two years ago and have no idea why it has taken me so long to get around to reading it. I think I expected it to be a deeply literary work whereas it is actually a much lighter, very readable story of people trying to be true to themselves in an era and place of stifling repression. I recognised elements of Annalukshmi's predicament - to have the freedom to determine her own fate whilst still remaining respectable - replicated in many women's stories from around the world. Her advanced education has already rendered her unmarriageable in the eyes of some potential suitors' families and Annalukshmi herself has no intention of abandoning her burgeoning teaching career for a housewife's life. This storyline intertwines with that of Annalukshmi's uncle, Balendran, a homosexual man who, in deference to his father's privileged place in society, has attempted to completely repress his tendencies toward 'inversion', as he calls it.

I appreciated Selvadurai's having his characters focus their thoughts on the happiness potential of their life choices especially, as in Balendran's case, where he has convinced himself that he is better off living as he should rather than as he wants to. Each of these two central characters stubbornly follows a narrow example of what they believe to be their ideal lives and it isn't until they gain much greater insights that they start to question their determination. Selvadurai contrasts these individual stories with that of Ceylon's struggle towards self-government and independence which took place during the era in which the book is set. Having spent decades under colonial British rule, the Ceylonese people might have a chance to finally choose their own path, but of course, every possible ruling faction has their own ideas about what is best for everybody else.

 
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Books by Shyam Selvadurai / Historical fiction / Books from Sri Lanka

The Abominable Man by Sjowall and Wahloo

The Abominable Man by Sjowall and Wahloo

First published in Swedish as Den vedervärdige mannen från Säffle in Sweden in 1971.

How I got this book:

Borrowed the ebook from my partner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository / Waterstones

The seventh classic instalment in this genre-changing series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Martin Beck.

On a quiet night a high-ranking police officer, Nyland, is slaughtered in his hospital bed, brutally massacred with a bayonet. It's not hard to find people with a motive to kill him; in fact the problem for Detective Inspector Martin Beck is how to narrow the list down to one suspect. But as he investigates Nyland's murder he must confront whether he is willing to risk his life for his job.

Written in the 1960s, these masterpieces are the work of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo – a husband and wife team from Sweden. The ten novels follow the fortunes of the detective Martin Beck, whose enigmatic, taciturn character has inspired countless other policemen in crime fiction. The novels can be read separately, but do follow a chronological order, so the reader can become familiar with the characters and develop a loyalty to the series. Each book will have a new introduction in order to help bring these books to a new audience.

I first blogged this review on Stephanie Jane in October 2015.

It's been months since I read any of Sjowall and Wahloo's Martin Beck series. Dave had bought this seventh story, The Abominable Man, through his Amazon account so I got to share it via Family Library. As the novel was first published some forty years ago, I am including The Abominable Man as my 1970s read for the 2015-16 Goodreads / Bookcrossing Decade Challenge.

The tense thriller had me gripped from the start and I couldn't put it down so read the whole book in an afternoon. This is one of the strongest storylines so far and I liked how Sjowall and Wahloo wove in biting criticism of the Swedish social system at the time without interrupting their narrative flow. The whole drama takes place in less than a day which is remarkably fast for this series, yet none of the intricate and careful plotting had been sacrificed. The large cast of characters, some new and some already known, are all realistically portrayed and I loved the sense of world-weariness that pervades every page. This is a thrilling thriller, but viewed through eyes that have already seen too much which gives it a distinctive voice. Many authors have since emulated Sjowall and Wahloo - in fact I have read uncannily similar plots in other books - but I would say that the Swedish series are still the best. And, other than the lack of technological gizmos, haven't dated at all.

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Books by Sjowall and Wahloo / Crime fiction / Books from Sweden

Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

Published by Borough Press on the 4th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

A young woman spends her days watching the neighbours through their windows. She is a refugee, who has seen the failure of the Arab Spring in her homeland and who has been traumatized into silence by her brutal journey from Syria to Britain. 

As an outsider, a mute voyeur, she sees everything, she hears everything: the love, the fighting, the families, the secrets, the lies, the sex, the shame.  Slowly drawn into the community that surrounds her, she begins to come to terms with all she has lost. After a brutal attack on the local mosque, she realises she is the only witness to the truth behind the violence. But will she finally speak of all she's seen? 

Rear Window meets Exit West, this beautifully written novel tells the powerful story of one woman’s trauma and her gradual healing.

Silence Is A Sense is the second of Layla AlAmmar's novels that I have read, the first being The Pact We Made which also spoke for an unheard woman although one in very different circumstances. I am so glad to have now had this opportunity, through NetGalley, to read another of her works, because Silence Is A Sense is an incredible creation. It's one of those books that kept me utterly glued to its pages - I read almost all of it in one (very long!) sitting - and I was entranced by its shifting layers, concealing and revealing truths about our mute voyeur herself, about her immediate community, and about wider British society, especially our selfish expectations of traumatised immigrants and ways in which we react to disability.

I found myself frequently wincing at magazine editor, Josie's, exhortations that The Voiceless should steer clear of political commentary in her articles because readers only wanted her personal story of loss, or details of her traumatic journey. We want to see grateful, nonthreatening refugee images that allow us to feel good about ourselves because 'our country' has taken these needy people in, whether or not we individually contributed to that effort. We don't want those same refugees to voice uncomfortable truths about less-than-hospitable treatment here or, indeed, British-made bombs having driven them from their homes in the first place.

I particularly loved AlAmmar's portrayals of the people in the tower blocks surrounding our narrator. She picks out the distinctive aspects of their lives as seen through one window across a courtyard, seeing both the humorous and the poignant. This one estate has a microcosm of modern British society from a juice-obsessed fitness fanatic to a young girl just discovering her sexuality, from an abusive husband to a noisy cook. Silence Is A Sense is a wonderful slice-of-life novel as well as a story with deeper messages. It kept me thinking in the hours immediately after I had finished it and aspects keep occurring to me still, several days after finishing, as I make more connections . I think this book would benefit from multiple readings, with each one allowing me to focus on a particular layer, developing my understanding as I do so.


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Books by Layla AlAmmar / Contemporary fiction / Books from Kuwait

Nightmares by Dan Sihota

Nightmares by Dan Sihota

Self published in the UK in September 2015.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository

A collection of stories which chill the senses with tales of vivid imagery. Prepare to be drawn into worlds of dark innermost secrets, bleak violence, and ancient lore.

I first blogged this review on Stephanie Jane in October 2015.

Nightmares author, Dan Sihota, politely contacted me through Goodreads to ask if I would be interested in reading and reviewing his book. The short story collection is independently published and consists of nine tales which Sihota describes as 'modern horror'. This means no vampires, but instead spooky tales that incorporate mysticism, spirits and supernatural happenings.

I am not particularly a horror fan so appreciated the lack of gratuitous gore although one story, Torture, was too relentlessly sadistic for me so I did speed-read it! Sihota writes diverse characters from different cultures and his stories are set in Britain, India and America. I liked The Bus Journey and The Field best - two very different tales, but with interesting settings, characters and final flourishes that were satisfying. I think tighter editing could help with creating a stronger sense of atmosphere. The prose does tend to ramble and divert at times which, in the build-up, can work well as a wave heightening and then releasing tension. However, I did find it distracting when stories reached their climax and would have preferred sharper focus. As in a genuine nightmare, several tales stop suddenly - almost like a waking up - which is an interesting device and works well.

I am pleased to have read Nightmares and am happy to recommend it, in October, as a good Halloween collection. Just maybe not as a book for bedtime! 

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Books by Dan Sihota / Horror fiction / Books from England

The Beasts They Turned Away by Ryan Dennis

The Beasts They Turned Away by Ryan Dennis

Published by Epoque Press on the 11th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher 

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

Iosac Mulgannon is a man called to stand. Losing a grip on his mental and physical health, he is burdened with looking after a mute child whom the local villagers view as cursed. The aging farmer stubbornly refuses to succumb in the face of adversity and will do anything, at any cost, to keep hold of his farm and the child. This dark and lyrical debut novel confronts a claustrophobic rural community caught up in the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world.

I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to read The Beasts They Turned Away, an astounding novel by Ryan Dennis which vividly portrays Iosac Mulgannon's grim, just-scraping-by existence on his long-neglected farm. For the opening scene where Iosac dumps a dead cow's corpse I knew this was going to be a uniquely powerful novel and I remained utterly engrossed by every page. That said, The Beasts They Turned Away is bleak. It does have its lighter scenes - mainly depicting three perpetually drunken ex-farmers in the pub - but I couldn't say it is an enjoyable read! From having initially been horrified by Iosac's apparent callousness towards his animals, I grew to feel pity for his predicament, made so much worse by his stubbornness in clinging to the life he has always known despite everything, from the farm buildings to his own mental health, obviously irreparably collapsing around him. Dennis gradually allows us insights into why Iosac has ended up so isolated so I could understand his brusque ways. The mute child is an eerie character and I did wonder, at first, whether the boy actually existed outside of Iosac's mind. He does and his silent presence gives the whole story a deeply unsettling atmosphere. That Iosac is always doing his very best, for the boy and for his farm, is what makes The Beasts They Turned Away such a poignant read. If only he made just a little more money, or was twenty years younger and fitter, then there might be genuine hope for his future. Instead, I felt I always knew this story would not end well. 

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Books by Ryan Dennis / Contemporary fiction / Books from Ireland

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

Published by Canongate on the 11th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, How Beautiful We Were tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations are made – and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest only. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. But their fight will come at a steep price . . . one which generation after generation will have to pay.

Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

How Beautiful We Were is an environmental novel exploring how an American oil company's irresponsible practices and lack of care causes the gradual death of a small African village, Kosawa, from pollution. It'a David and Goliath story of a powerless people attempting to establish their right to Not have their farmlands regularly flooded by leaking oil pipes and Not to have their river used as a dumping ground for industrial waste. In the face of commercial and political greed through, and with the distant decision makers unaffected personally, Kosawa's Sisyphean struggle will take generations to be resolved.

Having already read a couple of early reviews, I was prepared for the change of pace that occurs after about a fifth of the novel. It's a realistic reflection of the changes of mindset in Kosawa, but I did find the device to be a little disconcerting as a reader. I wondered if a stronger Part 1 and Part 2 distinction would help? The leaders of Kosawa realise that the swift favourable response they had been led to expect from Pexton, the oil company, is just the first in many obstacles and the whole process will be stacked in favour of money, not lives.

Mbue tells her story from several increasingly desperate perspectives which I liked as it allowed me to hear a whole chorus of Kosawan voices. The primarily agricultural village would already have been struggling against modernity, but being sold out so others can profit appears to be the final straw. What Mbue effectively puts across here is  for how long these people must suffer in isolation. Kosawa is a single fictional community, but its story is being repeated for real in hundreds, probably thousands, of impoverished communities across the globe right now. It's all very well for us in the rich countries to tut and sigh and maybe donate a tenner towards a school bus to alleviate our consciences. However, until we stop expecting people with far less than ourselves to pay the price for our luxuries, How Beautiful We Were is a story that will continue to ring uncomfortably true.


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Books by Imbolo Mbue / Historical fiction / Books from Cameroon

Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan

Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan

Published in Croatian as Okrutno ljeto by Dvostruka Duga in Croatia in 2014. English language translation by Bernard Jan and Claudette Cruz published on the 28th February 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

All he wants to do is skate. But they have other plans for him.

Michael Daniels is seventeen and dreams to enter professional skateboarding contests. But beneath New Manhattan, a city under the oppressive shadow of climate change, exists another world altogether—secret laboratories which threaten society as he knows it.

Those with power will get what they want. No price is too high, even if it means making someone special or robbing them of their dignity, freedom . . . or life.

The price is too high for Michael, though. He has endured his stepfather’s abuse and mind games for almost as long as he remembers. Until one day he takes matters into his own hands, ruining the lives of those he loves most. And his skateboarding friends, Alien and Victor, are his only hope for freedom.

When there is no hope left, friendship is what remains.

Cruel Summer is a very different novel to the books I have previously read by Bernard Jan so it was interesting for me to see how well he can adapt his poetic writing style to different genres. I would primarily identify Cruel Summer as a young adult novel because it centres on a teenage skateboarding community, but the narrative also encompasses shades of dystopian science fiction and crime fiction, going to some dark psychological places at times. This fluidity did mean I found it difficult initially to really get into the story and I was several chapters in before I felt I had a proper grip on the storyline. The juxtaposition between the novel's futuristic apects and its retro setting confused me at first although I did love Jan's nods to the trends and fashions of the late 1990s - X-Files and The Celestine Prophecy being ones that particularly brought back memories for me.

The relationships and loyalties between Michael and his friends are an important part of Cruel Summer. Their conversations allow readers to gain insights into how these skateboarding fanatics view their environment. Michael is the traumatised boy at the centre and Cruel Summer is very much his coming of age story, but I felt the eponymous summer was equally as decisive for his absent sister, Rebecca, and his closest friends, Victor and Alien, each dealing with their own crises. The New York setting is vital too and I loved that Cruel Summer is one of those novels where its location almost becomes a character in its own right. That kind of authentic grounding is important to me as a reader and I certainly appreciated it here. 

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Books by Bernard Jan / Young adult fiction / Books from Croatia

The Miner by Natsume Soseki

The Miner by Natsume Sōseki

Published in Japanese in Japan in 1908. English language translation by Jay Rubin published by Aardvark Bureau in 2015.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository / Waterstones

The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well-known novel of Japanese writer Natsume Soseki. An absurdist tale written in 1908, it was in many ways a precursor to the work of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.

Translated by Jay Rubin, and with an introduction from Haruki Murakami, this is bound to appeal to fans of Japanese literature.

Olivia of Olivia's Catastrophe blogged her review of Kokoro by Natsume Soseki recently which reminded me I had never transferred over this review of The Miner. I first blogged this review on Stephanie Jane in October 2015.

In my ignorance of classic Japanese literature I didn't realise that Soseki is one of their lauded authors although apparently The Miner, an experimental work, is often excluded from his collected writings. I think this is a shame. It is certainly an odd novel, but I enjoyed reading it especially as its unusual structure was unpredictable.

The eponymous miner talks to the reader in the first person throughout the novel. He describes what he sees and the people he meets, while also explaining his own thoughts and feelings. This is a very introverted book. We never learn the Miner's name. A young man, he has walked from Tokyo to a forest where he meets a man procuring men to work in a copper mine. Much of the book is about the sheer pain of long distance walking. Soseki also examines the point of life, honour in suicide, human dignity, and degradation caused by harsh labour. His portrayals of the miners en masse are frequently shocking to read although he also finds hope in a claustrophobic underground scene that is particularly moving to read. 

The Miner could perhaps be considered as a coming of age tale. It reads more as a memoir than a novel and I was intrigued by both the premise and its unfolding. I think the story style is probably of niche interest and I would recommend it to quietly adventurous readers.

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Books by Natsume Soseki / Contemporary fiction / Books from Japan

The Khan by Saima Mir

The Khan by Saima Mir

Published by Point Blank on the 4th March 2021.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com

The Book Depository / Waterstones

Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.

Jia Khan has always lived like this.

Successful London lawyer Jia Khan is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father, Akbar Khan, led the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule – the old way – was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.

Now, with her father murdered, Jia must return to take his place. The police have always relied on the Khan to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a bloody power struggle has broken out among warring communities and nobody is safe.

Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost.

I recognised Saima Mir's name as one of the essayists who contributed to It's Not About The Burqa which I read last year. I appreciated her thoughts and writing style in that nonfiction work so, when I spotted The Khan on NetGalley, I was interested to discover how she would turn her hand to fiction. This atmospheric novel is set within a Pukhtun-Yorkshire criminal syndicate family at a time when the elder patriarchs, led by the notorious Akbar Khan, are seeing their power diminishing. There are echoes of The Sopranos (which is given a nod at one point) in the way that Skbar Khan's influence reaches across his city, and the interloping Eastern European gang reminded me strongly of Children Of Our Age by A M Bakalar.

I found it difficult to warm to Jia Khan because she is a particularly aloof and self-contained woman. I appreciated her difficulties in reconciling the contradictions of her life such as the way in which her British legal training clashed with her father's ideas of loyalty and honour, and how her talents were dismissed out of hand by the men surrounding her. Akbar Khan was perhaps the most interesting character for me in this context because, despite his very traditional views in other areas of life, he still groomed his daughter to succeed him as Khan, rather than automatically overlooking her in favour of her younger brother. I wondered if this would still have been the case if her eldest brother had survived.

The Khan has a good sense of its northern English roots which I felt gave this novel its depth. The family relationships are convincingly complex and I loved the idea of Jia being unaware of her son's existence. Mir flips a lot of conventional gender tropes during her story. I would have liked more showing because I felt so much telling often excessively slowed the narrative pace. That said though, The Khan is a good debut and I look forward to reading more from Mir in the future.

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Books by Saima Mir / Thrillers / Books from England

Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh

Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh

Published by Penguin on the 3rd September 2020.

How I got this book:

Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon UK / Amazon.com / Hive UK

The Book Depository / Waterstones

The Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in August 1791, and culminated a dozen years later in the proclamation of the world's first independent black state. After the abolition of slavery in 1793, Toussaint Louverture, himself a former slave, became the leader of the colony's black population, the commander of its republican army and eventually its governor. During the course of his extraordinary life he confronted some of the dominant forces of his age - slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism and racial hierarchy. Treacherously seized by Napoleon's invading army in 1802, this charismatic figure ended his days, in Wordsworth's phrase, 'the most unhappy man of men', imprisoned in a fortress in France.

Black Spartacus draws on a wealth of archival material, much of it overlooked by previous biographers, to follow every step of Louverture's singular journey, from his triumphs against French, Spanish and British troops to his skilful regional diplomacy, his Machiavellian dealings with successive French colonial administrators and his bold promulgation of an autonomous Constitution. Sudhir Hazareesingh shows that Louverture developed his unique vision and leadership not solely in response to imported Enlightenment ideals and revolutionary events in Europe and the Americas, but through a hybrid heritage of fraternal slave organisations, Caribbean mysticism and African political traditions. Above all, Hazareesingh retrieves Louverture's rousing voice and force of personality, making this the most engaging, as well as the most complete, biography to date.

After his death in the French fortress, Louverture became a figure of legend, a beacon for slaves across the Atlantic and for generations of European republicans and progressive figures in the Americas. He inspired the anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass, the most eminent nineteenth-century African-American; his emancipatory struggle was hailed by those who defied imperial and colonial rule well into the twentieth. In the modern era, his life informed the French poet Aimé Césaire's seminal idea of négritude and has been celebrated in a remarkable range of plays, songs, novels and statues. Here, in all its drama, is the epic story of the world's first black superhero.

I didn't think I'd ever heard the name Toussaint Louverture before picking out this meticulously researched biography by Sudhir Hazareesingh, however my partner recognised it as the title of a Courtney Pine composition which we then listened to. Hazareesingh's final chapter describes instances of how Toussaint's legacy has been reimagined in art, music and literature across the globe so it was great to be able to add one more example to this list. This reinforced even more to me though how limited my knowledge of global history is. The Haitian Revolution, or Saint Domingue as it was in the 1790s, was equally as ground-breaking and, well, revolutionary as the French one, yet 'official' white-centric history has pushed the one into relative obscurity while celebrating the other.

Black Spartacus is an excellently detailed biography of Toussaint in which Hazareesingh draws together information from the man's own surviving writings as well as many letters and reports about him. He explores not only what Toussaint achieved on Saint Domingue, but how he went about uniting his country into a truly multicultural society, albeit temporarily. Events take place primarily on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola so Black Spartacus followed on nicely from another recent history read, Conquistadores by Fernando Cervantes, in educating me about Caribbean history. I felt I got a much fuller understanding of the protagonists and their motivations from Black Spartacus however. The book is written in a scholarly style, but I didn't notice it ever getting too dry. I would have liked English translations of the several brief French and Kreyol quotes that are included. My French is adequate for literal translations, but especially in the cases where Toussaint was flaunting his verbal dexterity, I know I sometimes missed out on understanding the full references. That aside though, I very much appreciated this opportunity to learn about Toussaint as the accomplished statesman he undoubtedly was, and to see glimpses of the private man behind the legend. Black Spartacus is an intense book to read, but I found it very rewarding.

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Books by Sudhir Hazareesingh / Biography and memoir / Books from Mauritius