New Year’s Resolution number one: try and tackle my struggling bookshelves! Starting with books that have been there for a while…
Edith’s Diary by Patricia Highsmith
Edith and her family move to the suburbs of New York. Brett, her husband, has a new job in journalism, and Cliffie, their son, must learn to settle into the new neighbourhood. It goes quite well… until Brett announces he’s been having an affair and wants to leave Edith. Cliffie responds in a typically complicated teenage manner. And Edith? Her only solace is her diary, a place of freedom, wishful thinking, and imagination. Patricia Highsmith addresses the crucial issue that taunts all of us: the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, and how to achieve that version of reality. An utterly gripping book. Highly, highly recommend.
The Art of Stargazing by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
A fantastic guide to stargazing, starting with the basics and building up to the more advanced skies. Absolutely essential for those with a keen interest in astronomy. (And I can attest – this makes a perfect gift!)
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
A musician arrives in a European city to give a concert he cannot remember agreeing to perform. An experimental novel, it is much like reading a stress-dream (with close encounters with Alice in Wonderland without fantasy). Ryder, the musician, checks into a hotel, where he is immediately greeted by the loquacious concierge Gustav, who persuades him to meet with his daughter, Sophie and grandson Boris. Ryder is presented with such challenges throughout the book. He is continually being sent in the opposite direction to where he needs to be, and characters approach him, remarking that they were sad he was not present at the prestigious event the previous night but they are looking forward to the next event in his programme… which somehow he is either unavoidably delayed, or diverted. The sensation that he is constantly missing an important meeting, and running late for the next, will be a familiar one for all of us, during stressful nightmares! It’s a bold book. I read with interest the reception it had at the time of publishing, it divided readers, with delight and fascination, to a flurry of frustration. But then, isn’t that the mark of brilliant literature?
The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst
If you enjoyed Ian McEwan’s Atonement orThe Line of Beauty (also by Alan Hollinghurst) then you will love this. Country houses, poets and romance make for an enchanting story. Cecil Valance spends the weekend at his friend George’s house. Cecil’s family home is the beautiful Corley Court and he attracts the attention of George’s family as he regales them of stories of Corley, its history and beauty. Fast forward several decades and we learn of Cecil’s legacy in society, and the impact that weekend has had on everyone.
Headlong by Michael Frayn
Martin Clay believes he is onto something. A philosophy lecturer and wannabe art historian, he is invited to his neighbour’s family home where he is thrilled to discover what he thinks is a missing Bruegel under his ignorant neighbour’s nose. Hilarious and fascinating at the same time, Michael Frayn’s writing is so, so entertaining. A truly timeless literary triumph.
