This book has been on bestseller lists for a long time so I finally decided to read it, and it is excellent. The story is a cold case mystery covering 70 years, involving a missing boy. The setting is mostly Cornwall with some London interludes, and the story telling switches between 1933 and 2003. The plot progresses in stages, so the slow reveal produces different stages of suspicion. The ending also includes some resolved sub-plots which are a bit predictable, but overall this is a very entertaining read.
Category: Location / Setting
Crimes Against My Brother by David Adam Richards
Another is a series of DAR books about the Mirimachi River area of New Brunswick, and like the others, this latest book is angst-filled. Friendships are countered by rumour, lies and deceit to create a vicious and manipulative environment. One of the chief characteristics in this story is that key people make incredibly bad decisions. So overall, a nasty story but compelling.
The Hesitation Cut by Giles Blunt
GB is a well-known Canadian mystery writer for the Detective John Cardinal series of books set in Algonquin Bay. The Hesitation Cut is entirely different, an extraordinary book from a psychological point-of-view: a story about obsession and an honest depiction of how prolonged despair can lead to suicide. Not a fun book but a worthwhile read.
Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger
This book was on the CBC Canada Reads Long List. It is a fascinating story of a man who literally falls out of the sky onto a car in a parking lot, and the aftermath on a family in a London suburb. This seems an unlikely premise for a story but suspend disbelief and you will enjoy this book. KP previously wrote the very satisfying Mistress of Nothing, and I enjoyed listening to her talk at the Calgary Writer’s Fest in October 2014.
Circling The Sun by Paula McClain
McClain is an excellent writer (The Paris Wife) and Circling The Sun is also a very good book – a fictionalized account of Beryl Markham’s life in Kenya in the 1920-30s. Beryl interacts with the characters from Out Of Africa – Karen Blixen, Denys Finch-Hatton, etc. The book is unabashedly romantic in the treatment of complicated human relationships and the mystery of Africa.
The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart
Urquhart writes exquisite books: The Underpainter, The Stone Carvers, A Map of Glass, etc. This great new book is mainly set in the SW of Ireland (County Kerry) in the 1940-50s. The characters are vivid: two Irish brothers, an Englishwoman who eventually moves to Ireland, and a Canadian mural painter. A beautiful part of the book describes a prolonged fog delay in Gander Airport which allows detailed contemplation of a mural. There is much discussion about art and love, and even a bike race in the beauty of Ireland. This is one of my best reads of 2015.
Restlessness – Aretha Van Herk
This is a fascinating and intriguing book, the dialog between a woman and the man she has contracted to kill her, essentially an assisted suicide. The book takes place in and around the Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary, and the conversation includes a treatise on travelling and hotels.
84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff
A series of letters written over 20 years (1949-1969) between a book buyer in NY and a London book shop is the basis of this short book. Despite the brevity of the letters, much is revealed about the writers and the context is explained wonderfully: love of literature, post-war rationing in England; and most interesting, the evolution of a relationship between people who never meet in person. Thanks Sarah for this recommendation.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro writes impeccable books about life in England: e.g. Remains of the Day and my favourite, Never Let Me Go. This intriguing story takes place in post-Arthur Britain, with Britons and Saxons and a knight (Sir Gawain) and ogres, pixies and a dragon. There is something “off”, a forgetfulness or loss of memory, that drives the story in a fascinating way. Two principal characters, Axl and Beatrice, are delightful; overall, an excellent book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22522805-the-buried-giant
What David Read 