Persuasion (38) - a romance that was never in doubt

I don't know whether I just wasn't in the right kind of mood for this book, but Persuasion, by Jane Austen, which I read on my Kindle didn't quite light my fire as much as I was anticipating it would. It could be that I sort of remembered the essence of the story, or maybe it was because I found myself getting confused between some of the characters, which was irritating. This is the tale of Anne Elliott, a thoroughly decent creature, who, following the early death of her mother, is, for some reason, virtually ignored by her vain father Sir Walter, and her eldest sister, Elizabeth. She has a stalwart friend, however, in Lady Russell, who lives near their home and in whom she confides. We discover that Anne was persuaded by this formidable woman to break off an engagement to a Mr Wentworth when she was just 19 years old, as the Lady didn't think it a suitable match. In the intervening years, her heart would compare any other suitor to her first beau, and they just didn't measure up. Now in her late twenties, Anne was convinced that she would never marry. When her feckless father runs into financial difficulties, he rents out their ancestral country pile and takes a house in Bath. Anne, while looking after her clingy, hypocondriac and married younger sister Mary, stays in the vicinity for a while, and finds the new tenants - Admiral and Mrs Croft - to be fine people, and she soon becomes an intimate of theirs, although she is nervous when she discovers that the Admiral is Mr Wentworth's brother-in-law. Inevitably, she and Wentworth (now a naval Captain) start to move in the same circles, and all the old feelings are stirred up once again. The remainder of the story is a bit of a will they, won't they affair, with a few twists and turns and misunderstandings. It is a romantic tale, but it didn't quite keep me gripped or in any doubt as to what was going to happen. I just wanted to shake the pair of them and get them to tell each other how they felt! Don't get me wrong, it's still a very enjoyable read, but it's no Pride and Prejudice.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 208 print pages
Price I paid: free on the Kindle.
Formats available: print, audio CD abridged, audio download unabridged, ebook.

Treasure Island (36) - yo ho ho and a botle of rum!

If you want a rip-roaring tale that's a real page turner, you could do a lot worse than turning to Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stephenson. The action starts on page one, and just keeps going all the way to the end. Our young hero, Jim Hawkins, becomes embroiled in the hunt for Captain Flint's treasure when one of his crew arrives at The Admiral Benbow (the tavern where Jim lives with his mother and ailing father). Jim is both frightened and fascinated in equal measures by this visitor, but events start to take on a darker hue when this resident pirate is handed the "black spot" by Blind Pew, and promptly drops dead. Jim and his mother have to run for their lives into the night, with Jim taking an old parchment from the dead man's belongings in payment for all the rum he has consumed without reparation. At the house of the local Squire, Jim, with his friend Dr Livesey, hands over the parchment which is revealed to be a map showing where there is a hoard of treasure on a far away island. Unable to resist the promise of such wealth, the Squire determines to get a ship and crew together and find this island - with the Doctor and Jim in tow. Unbeknownst to them, they inadvertently take on Long John Silver as ship's cook - who, together with other old shipmates of Captain Flint, bide their time, but have mutiny in their hearts. This is a great adventure story for young and old alike. And while the tale is a familiar one, it is well worth reading. Recommended - indeed, this could be the start of a run of RLS books if they all measure up to this cracker!

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 224 print pages
Price I paid: Free on Kindle.
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook.

Memoirs of a Geisha (62) - a different time, a different place

This is another cracking book, and one which truly transports you to a different time and place. Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden gives you exactly what it says on the tin. We hear a firsthand account of a young Japanese girl - Chiyo - who is taken from a small fishing village just before her mother dies, and instead of being adopted as she thinks, she becomes a maid in a house in Kyoto, with a view to becoming a geisha. The resident geisha takes a dislike to her and makes her life a misery. It looks like she will be a maid all her life - but her life turns around after a chance meeting with a man who she feels destined to be with. The change in fortune means that she does indeed become a geisha - whose job is to entertain men in a variety of ways ... not necessarily how you would think. The voice of Chiyo and then Sayuri (her geisha name) is so strong that you feel like she is just chatting to you about her life over a drink or meal. There are beautiful descriptions of the places, the kimonos, the ornaments and, of course, the other characters. The changes that take place, not only to Sayuri personally, but also to the country are vast - the action starts in 1929 and takes us through the hardships in Japan of the Second World War, and then the passage of time that eventually brings healing to all. It's a fantastic insight to a world that we might think we know. It feels like a very truthful tale and is fascinating and well worth the effort.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 435 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.00.
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook