The Doctor, The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister

by Glyn Pope



DOCTOR LATYMER arrives on a council estate in Leicester, England, full of hope after dreadful experiences of the war. He happily settles into life on the estate trying to forget the nightmare images in his memory. The young doctor quickly becomes the local miracle worker when he cures the attention seeking hypochondriac Reginald, and takes the time to befriend a sad little boy who has lost his Mother. However, when food poisoning strikes the estate residents, Doctor Latymer sets out to right injustices that he doesn't fully understand. He tangles with Sir Brian Britley, the Plutocrat, and Sir Henry Norrington, the Mendacious Minister for the British Government. In the process, he unravels the delicate balance between rich and poor, and the struggling economy still reliant on rationing and the black market. Doctor Latymer's story is written in authentic British English, adding to the richness that brings the local characters to life as the reader is whisked back to 1948 post-war Britain. (Book blurb)

Being an English woman who grew up post war during the late 1950's, and reached my teens in the 1970's, I could relate to much of what was written in this delightful book, although it is set in the 1940's post war period.

I lived on the edge of a new housing estate that linked with a UK government council estate. There was an adult class divide during this time period, and Pope captures it so well in his storyline.

The doctor has a humble side that comes across so well, I fell for his character straight away. I enjoyed following how he came across class barriers, and was overwhelmed by those he met in higher circles. The more his character developed, and the events that changed his life, made his convictions for right and wrong stronger. I was hooked, and had to find out more about his new career and those he met along the way. The characters all fall into place and each one comes alive in one's mind. I could see the women with their cardigans and pinafores draped over a large bosom, gossiping on the doorstep. Men with cigarettes hanging from the corner of their mouths, children with socks rumpled around their ankles, yet the author describes none of these things. He shares the characteristics and surroundings so well that everything falls into place and allows your imagination to do the rest.

This is not a book that will only interest the British reader, it is a great fiction story with an historic background. If you enjoy a light hearted book with meaning and tenderness, corruption and victory, this is one I recommend for your shelf.


Reviewed by Glynis Smy

Published by Cactus Rain Publishing and available here.

A Clash Of Innocents

by Sue Guiney

I can’t praise this book highly enough. I absolutely loved it.

My knowledge of Cambodia was limited when I started to read ‘A Clash Of Innocents’; I was aware of some of its dark history in the time of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields but only in a very sketchy way. Reading ‘A Clash Of Innocents’ really brought the country alive for me. It is set in 2007 and so is very much an evocation of present-day Cambodia, but there is enough sensitively placed historical detail to show how the past is still impacting on the present.

Delicately placed within this richly detailed setting is the story of an American woman, Deborah, who has made her life in Cambodia in an attempt to escape demons from another place and another time. She is joined at the orphanage she runs by a younger American woman Amanda who, if anything, is running from even darker demons.

When I finished reading this book I was left feeling that I was really going to miss the characters. They are all so beautifully drawn and real that I genuinely felt like I was saying goodbye to friends. From Amanda and Deborah, with their complex relationship and connections, to the very individual young Cambodian residents of the orphanage to the dazzling Australian Kyle, all are achingly real and deeply engaging.

This novel has everything – history, romance, tragedy, mystery. The plot has multiple layers and strands and feels perfectly balanced. At the close of the story Sue Guiney resists the temptation to tie all the ends up too tightly. There are questions left unanswered, but overall a very satisfying ending.

Please add this book to your wish list. It is wonderful.

Thanks to Sue Guiney for providing a review copy of the book.

It is published by Ward Wood and you can buy a copy here.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt

The Birth Machine

By Elizabeth Baines

This novel immediately takes the reader into a world of vivid detail and thought-provoking imagery. The writing is full of well-observed, deliciously minute detail. In the opening chapters I particularly like the description of the Professor, ‘The candyfloss tuft on his head, his gob-stopper eyeballs, lips like a twist of half-blown bubble gum’. And, in a beautifully evocative phrase, ‘The fat around the meat became pocked with rows of deep holes, each hole somehow shocking and filled with pink light’.

The novel traces the story of Zelda, about to give birth in an environment which is trying to restrict and regiment her. Elizabeth Baines uses a very clever juxtaposition of ideas to illustrate and enrich the story; life and death, fecundity and sterility, natural and synthetic. The themes of fascination with birds, the natural world and food also run through the story.

She plays with time and the succession of events, and uses this to maximise the impact of the contrasting ideas. At one point, where present story and back story meet, she contrasts the concepts of increasing the dosage of drugs in childbirth with strengthening the spell with magic and herbs in a childhood memory to great effect.

The story of Zelda’s experience of giving birth has fragments of a half-forgotten fairy tale woven in and a mystery lost in the past runs through it increasing the tension of the narrative.

There’s plenty here to keep you reading - suspense, mystery and the sheer beauty and skill of the writing.

There’s also a very interesting author’s note at the end which explains about the publication history of the book. I’m not going to say too much about that though because I think anyone reading this novel should just come to it as it is and then read the author’s note and reflect on its implications afterwards.

I highly recommend this novel both for the intelligent handling of the themes and the pleasure of the reading experience.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt

This book was kindly provided to Bookersatz for review by the author. Book published by Salt and available here.

Love In The Time Of Dragons

By Katie MacAlister

This book was a pleasure to read, but it’s quite hard to describe. It’s a tale with fantastical and historical themes, but also with one foot in a world that seems very real and characters that feel very contemporary.

A lot of its success is dependent on the strength and likability of the two main characters.

Tully Sullivan finds herself sucked out of her normal and everyday life into a world where everyone else is trying to convince her that, not only is she really called Ysolde de Bouchier, but also that she is in fact a dragon. Needless to say, this is not something she readily accepts.

She comes face to face with her dragon mate – Baltic, and a large part of the novel is devoted to exploring their relationship in a way that keeps you wondering about its exact nature to the end. Baltic is a great character complex and dangerous, but also immensely attractive.

Tully also has to unpick the events of the past to find out why the other dragons want to sentence her to death, and what Baltic has done to annoy everyone.

The novel has a mix of fantasy, drama, adventure and humour that works really well.

I understand that this book follows on from some others written by Katie MacAlister which feature some of the same characters, so if you are keen on this genre I would recommend checking those out as well.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt

This book was kindly provided to Bookersatz for review by the publisher.

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

Kate Morton is a young Australian writer who lives in the Brisbane hinterland. She has been a fan of fairy stories since her childhood and has used this love of fantasy in this big, fat, delicious novel. The book, a work of historical fiction, is peppered with a wonderful set of characters and places where the reader feels part of the unravelling mystery.

The story is full of tragedy, secrets and discovery. There are three story lines happening, ranging from the present to early 20th century Victorian times, and all are tied together to create a suspenseful story of a family over several generations. The transitions between these periods create great tension, for example, the heat and frangipanis of the Brisbane setting is such a strong, marked, contrast to chilly Victorian England.

Morton uses wonderful descriptions, especially of the places she grew up in. As one who has experienced many a sub-tropical summer in Brisbane, her imagery captures the heat:

‘It was one of those desperate Antipodean spells where the days seem strung together with no gaps between. Fans do little else but move the hot air around, cicadas threaten to deafen, to breathe is to exert, and there is nothing for it but to lie on one's back and wait for January and February to pass...’ (Exactly, but now we have air conditioning!)

While some of the twists in the tale aren’t too difficult to predict, half the fun is finding out if you’re right and the other half is seeing which unanticipated twists Morton will throw in.

At the centre of the tale is Nell. Nell is secure in her identity and knows what she wants in life. Everything changes though, when on her 21st birthday her father reveals he is not her real father, her family is not her real family and she was, in fact, found on the Maryborough Wharf at the age of four. Her true origin and heritage are unknown. This news devastates Nell, as it would most readers, cracking the foundation of her life.

After Nell's death, it is her granddaughter Cassandra who must uncover the mystery of the little girl lost. This mystery takes her to Cornwall, to a cottage she has inherited from Nell. Here she discovers far more than she expects. In particular, she uncovers the long guarded secrets of the Mountrachet family, and of their ward, Eliza Makepeace. Eliza is the most fascinating character in the novel. From a young age she makes up stories to scare and fascinate those around her. Later, she puts these dark fairytales to paper, and these appear in the novel itself in the Victorian segment, making for a magical setting, mystery, and a fight between good and evil.

The characters are vivid, wounded and flawed in interesting ways that feel more Gothic than depressing. The story could be described as a combination of Daphne du Maurier and The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett puts in an appearance in the story.) The places are often as vivid as the characters, whether it’s the garden and cottage in Victorian England, Nell’s home in Australia in the now very trendy Brisbane suburb of Paddington, or a flat in London.

This is the second book of Morton's. If you can, chase down her other novel, international bestseller The Shifting Fog, every bit as breathtaking as The Forgotten Garden. I may review it next.

Reviewed by L’Aussie at L’Aussie Writing

Winner!

I'm very pleased to announce that the winner of 'The Silver Locket' is Fee. Further details can be found on Debs' blog.

Thanks very much to Debs and to Margaret James for allowing Bookersatz to be involved in this.

The Silver Locket

by Margaret James

'The Silver Locket' is set around the time of the Great War. Rose Courtenay is a well brought up young lady, who’s been raised to keep her mother and suitable acquaintances company until she marries the man her parents have chosen for her, whether she is in love with him or not.

She meets Alex Durham, a man of questionable parentage, who lives nearby with his uncle in a dilapidated house, and when Alex drunkenly asks Rose to dance, she rebuffs him despite feeling a disturbing spark for him and continues to talk with her proposed fiancé. Her parents encourage her to accept Michael’s marriage proposal, but although he’s handsome and charming, she suspects it’s not her that Michael is really in love with. Then, when Rose discovers that Alex is to be married, she reacts in a way her upbringing and family cannot understand and find hard to accept.

Rose volunteers as a nurse in London and although she’s not very good, she perseveres and joins the VADs with a friend. Alex, is in the infantry and spending the war fighting in the mud-strewn trenches. He’s injured and ends up being sent to the hospital where Rose is nursing. Despite her initial misgivings, she ends up caring for him, as his scars begin to heal and he slowly gets better. The two become close, and although she knows he’s a married man, Rose can’t help wanting to make the most of what little snatched time she is able to enjoy with Alex.

However, these are troubled times, and when her friend’s sister asks for her help, Rose makes a choice that will embroil her in an incident that will change her relationship with her family, and ultimately the course of her life. With so much stacked against them, how can they ever have a hope of a future together? Especially when an old adversary is so intent on stopping Alex from being with the woman he loves.

I loved this book and although I’ve researched this era fairly well, I still learnt so much and couldn’t help being drawn into Alex and Rose’s struggle to be together for however short a time. She is a gutsy heroine, who despite everything she’s been brought up to believe, finds she has more strength than she could ever have imagined, and Alex, handsome, deep and battling his own demons, has to face many obstacles in his path.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Whether you usually read historical novels, or not, this is a romance that will keep you reading page after page.

Reviewed by Debs Carr