The Girl With All The Gifts

I enjoyed The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey which is set in England some time in the future.  A mysterious virus has infected the human race which kills millions of people and turns many in to "living dead" whose prey is any living human being.  It's a post apocalyptic story.  A small girl, Melanie, is one of several children who live in an army base and are receiving an education.  Later Melanie learns why this base was established.  She doesn't remember the world outside the building.  Every day is regimented by the soldiers at the base.  One day everything changes and Melanie discovers a wondrous and dangerous new world.  This is a gripping horror science-fiction thriller. 4/5

The Russian Court at Sea

I enjoyed The Russian Court at Sea by Frances Welch which tells the true story of the rescue of surviving Romanovs as they go in to exile.  The large contingent of people include the Tsar's mother, the Dowager Empress Marie and also the Tsar's sister Grand Duchess Xenia.  There are family members from different generations as well as bodyguards and servants.  The British battleship, HMS Marlborough, picked up the refugees from Yalta and this action saved their lives.  There is a daily account of life on board the Marlborough and well as background stories about the different people on board so the reader learns more about them, including the naval officers.  The Marlborough takes them to Malta when they are taken by another ship to England.  The book is well-researched and tells an interesting story about the history of this turbulent time. 4/5

Sheila

I very much enjoyed Sheila by Robert Wainwright which is the biography of Sheila Chisholm born in Australia in 1895 to a wealthy family.  In 1914 she and her mother sailed to England to meet "society" and were caught up in World War I.  Sheila married a Lord and had two sons and became very popular in London society and at court where she counted Edward, Prince of Wales and his younger brother Bertie amongst her friends.  Her beauty and "class" enabled her to be a part of the elite society, though she remained a down to earth person.  This woman had a fascinating life which has come to our attention in this book through the meticulous research of the author.  He was fortunate in having a lot of primary material including Sheila's unpublished memoir.  It is an interesting insight in to the society of the times and how world events affected that society.  She knew many famous people in England and the USA.  Highly recommended as a peek in to an exclusive world. 5/5

The Tea Chest

I quite enjoyed The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon which begins in Brisbane and moves to London.  Kate inherits a share in a tea shop business and decides to fulfill her dream to open a branch in London.  She is one of the woman who are drawn together to make this enterprise work.  Kate encounters a number of obstacles and sometimes questions the wisdom of leaving her family behind.  Other ladies who partner with her have had some setbacks in their work-life and love-life and are looking for a new beginning. This is a "nice" easy read for women. 31/2/5

New books for June 2014

It is my turn to host Book Club in June so I bought the new books from Dymocks on-line.  This year I went through my newspaper cuttings to produce a "long list" of 20 which was drastically reduced to six.  I hope we will enjoy them.

Sedition by Katharine Grant is set in 1794 London. Motherless Alathea Sawneyford, her charms grown disturbing as she rebels against her father, has made the city's streets her own, while Annie Cantabile is constrained, by her own disfigurement and her father, to his pianoforte workshop under the shadow of Tyburn gibbet.  Fierce and bawdy, uproarious and exquisite, Sedition takes its plot at a racing gallop: bold, beautiful and captivating, it is a narrative masterpiece.

The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell  tells the story of an explosion in a Missouri dance hall killed forty-two people in 1929. Who was to blame?  Alma Dunahew, whose scandalous younger sister was among the dead, believes the answer lies in a dangerous love affair, but no one will listen to a maid from the wrong side of the tracks. It is only decades later that her grandson hears her version of events - and must decide if it is the right one.

Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson  is set in 1971, not far from the stone-fruit capital of New South Wales, where Mr Wigg lives on what's left of the family farm. He spends his time working in the orchard, cooking and preserving his produce and, when it's on, watching the cricket. It's a full life but things are changing.

Asylum by John Harwood  tells of a young woman who wakes in a strange bed beneath coarse sheets. Doctor Maynard Straker steps into the room, and speaks. 'Have no fear, Miss Ashton. I am entirely at your service.' But this is not her name. And she should not be here - in the Asylum. So begins a gothic mystery of high suspense and terror, as a lone woman, held against her will, must delve as deeply as she can into the void of her memory to uncover the story that will free her.

The Memory Trap by Andrea Goldsmith is a novel about memory, music, friendship, family rifts and reconciliation. This is an intelligent, compelling read set in Melbourne. Nina Jameson, an international consultant on memorial projects based in London, has been happily married to Daniel for twelve years. When her life falls apart she accepts a job in her hometown of Melbourne. A rich and compelling story of marriage, music, the illusions of love and the deceits of memory, The Memory Trap's characters are real, flawed and touchingly human. 

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is set between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?  Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

The Invention of Wings

I very much enjoyed reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd which is set in America's South during the first half of the nineteenth century.  The two main characters Sarah Grimké, daughter of a wealthy plantation family and Hetty (Handful) a slave-girl the same age as Sarah.  These characters narrate the story in alternate chapters.  Sarah grows to have an abhorrence of slavery and hopes her intelligence will allow her to have a career as a lawyer.  She later learns this is a "foolish" ambition as her purpose in life is to find a suitable husband and bear children.  She is presented with Hetty as her 11th birthday present and she is naively determined to have her freed.  Hetty is sheltered as much as possible by her defiant mother, Charlotte, until one day she learns in a brutal fashion her place in this society.  The story follows both Sarah and Hetty as they grow up.  Sarah is one of 11 children and she virtually raises her youngest sibling, Angelina (Nina).  Sarah and Nina become very close with common beliefs in the abolition of slavery.  It was very interesting to learn that this story was based on real people of the time, particularly sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké who were renowned in their time for speaking out against slavery and for women's rights.  Recommended. 41/2/5

World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War

I enjoyed World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks which is set at a future time after humans have succeeded in defeating the zombies who threatened to take over the world.  When outbreaks first began governments tried to stop information getting out.  Humans bitten by zombies became infected and then turned in to zombies.  The only way to destroy them was to destroy their brain.  The story is told through oral history interviews with some survivors involved in the war.  The author says he was inspired by oral history legend Studs Terkel.  There are many different characters and they explain to the interviewer their role in the war and describe what the war was like.  It is a good science fiction horror story. 4/5

May 2014 Book Club

We had a very enjoyable evening on Monday for our May meeting.  It was a chilly night - winter on the way, but it was nice and cosy in our hostess' home.  All of our members were present this month except for one who is on her way back from overseas and due home today.  We're looking forward to hearing about her travels in South America and England.  Our thanks to our hostess who provided a delicious supper and bought some great new books, many of which I'll enjoy reading.

 

The Year of the Flood

I enjoyed The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood which is set in a mythical (or possible) future.  The story is told in flashback by two main characters Toby and Ren (both woman).  The scientists of the time work on cross-breading different animals to create new creatures e.g. Liobam (cross between lion and lamb).  We learn about Toby's life before she joins a religious "green" group, God's Gardeners, who look after their environment and grow their own produce, as food has become scarce unless you live in a "research corporation" gated community.  Ren is younger than Toby and was brought to the Gardeners by her mother who after several years decides to leave.  The reader learns about the "waterless flood" (a plague) which sweeps the earth killing most of mankind.  Who will survive?  It is an interesting post-apocolapytic story. 4/5