Our Mutual Friend - well worth the effort

So, my quest to read more Charles Dickens found me embroilled in Our Mutual Friend - which I read as an ebook. It felt like a bit of an epic and has taken me a while to read, but it's not because I wasn't enjoying it - it's just a long and involved book. As usual, Charlie throws in a few too many characters for my own personal preference, but for once, I could see how they all mattered and linked and contributed to the story. The central theme of the tale is money - and how it affects people (mostly in a negative way) - but also, about the strength of the human spirit and how love can overcome. We open pretty much with the finding of a dead body - identified as John Harmon, a young man who has returned to London to claim his inheritance. According to his father's will, John was set to marry Bella Wilfer - a bit of a spoilt girl, obsessed with money and status. Instead, the money goes to a working class couple called The Boffins, who, feeling slightly guilty for their good fortune, take Bella under their wing. Bella slowly changes her opinion about money when she sees how it affects Mr Boffin, who turns from a generous open-hearted man to a distrustful, miserly one. She grows to respect Mr Boffin's new secretary, Mr John Rokesmith, whose affections she had previously spurned due to his lack of status. Will she overcome her attachment to money and the place in "society" that it will bring? Alongside this story is the one of Lizzie Hexam - daughter of the riverman who found the body. She is noticed by a young barrister, Eugene Wrayburn, who affects to be bored with everything, but his interest in life is sparked by Lizzie. Unfortunately, she has also attracted the attention of a schoolmaster who becomes obsessed and dangerous to know.

This is a complex story and is the last book to be completed by Charles Dickens. It is an epic with big themes that we can all relate to - life, death, love, friendship, loyalty and making money. I feel very happy to recommend this you - especially if you like to see the baddies get their come-uppance from time to time!

My star rating: FOUR

Length: 832 pages (told you it was long!)
Price I paid: free.
Formats available: print, audio CD, audio download, ebook.

Sweet Tooth with a sour undercurrent

There is much to admire in Sweet Tooth, by Ian McEwan, which I read in audio format with the wonderful Juliet Stephenson narrating. Serena Frome is the central character whose life gets going at university in Cambridge when she starts an affair with a much older man who also happens to be a lecturer and ex-secret service. He starts to teach her the ways of the world, but is really grooming her for a life in MI5. She is heartbroken when he breaks off with her, but decides to take the job at MI5 even though it's not exactly exciting, being primarily an admin post. It is the early 70's and the cold war is in full swing.

Early on, she is attracted to Max, who leads her on somewhat and gives her hope of a relationship when really there is none. She gets the message when he tells her he is engaged, but then is surprised when he puts her forward for a special operation known as Sweet Tooth to which she seems ideally suited. She is a compulsive reader of novels, and is sent undercover to help fund the work of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. But she steps over the line when she falls in love with her target. He seems to reciprocate, but in the world of espionage, can she trust anyone?

This is a really good read and bowls along at a good lick. There are some very intimate passages, but they are written well and won't make you squirm too much. I felt for Serena, but also wanted to give her a good talking to. She was so passive at times, and at the whim of the men around her that I wanted to shake her. It has an odd ending - I was initially disappointed, but on reflection, I am much happier. I have absolutely no problem with recommending this book to anyone looking for a taste of romance with a bit of mild espionage thrown in for good measure.

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99
Formats available: Print, unabridged audio (CD and download); Ebook.

A bawdy spin on Sherlock Holmes

Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbevilles, by Kim Newman - which I read in audio - is not for the faint-hearted reader. It gives us the flipside of some of those well-known Sherlock Holmes adventures, but from the viewpoint of his arch-enemy - Professor James Moriarty. The book has been written in the style of the memoir of one of the people closest to Moriarty - Colonel "Basher" Moran, who fits a similar space in the criminal world as Dr Watson does in the crime detecting world. Basher gives his views on everything, and I mean everything - and pretty much all of them are shocking to the modern mind .. well, to this modern mind anyway. His views on women and anyone who isn't English are jaw-droppingly scandalous. He is pretty much an irredeemable character ... until you put him in the company of Professor Moriarty, who has no feeling for anyone else and is totally without a moral compass. With all this going on - how could I possibly enjoy this book? Well, I have to say, I did. Kim Newman breathes new life into stories we thought we knew backwards. This is not a celebration of the criminal world, being almost totally devoid of glamour and pretty much a guaranteed short life, but it is compelling and not without its lighter side. Whilst I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, for those who are happy to take it for what it is - an outrageous, grimy, funny, violent and fast-paced adventure into the underbelly of the Victorian era - then it's a cracking read.

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.33.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

A little light relief from Miranda

A few months ago, my Kindle seemed to be offering me a good deal. It was a pre-order for a free book by Miranda Hart. Being a bit of "what I call" a fan (sorry if you haven't heard of this comedienne), I opted in. Having slightly forgotten about this, I was pleasantly surprised recently when a new book appeared on my device. Called, "No, it's us too!", what I actually received was a book containing anecdotes from the general public, peppered with one or two from Miranda herself. Whilst this wasn't exactly what I was expecting - this pre-publicity for her own book "Is it just me?" did provide me with some chuckles. Miranda is quite accident prone and finds herself in ridiculous situations. This short book reveals that, unsurprisingly, she is not the only one. The amount of people who owned up to falling over at the most inappropriate time, or found themselves to be walking around in public whilst trailing a length of toilet roll from their shoes/trousers/skirt, is quite reassuring, and often hilarious. I was going to say that if you feel like having a giggle and want to be given the comfort of knowing that you are not the only one who regularly embarrasses themselves in front of their boss, then you could do worse that read through this collection of personal disasters for a couple of hours. However, having just checked out Amazon, I can't find this title anymore, it takes you to Miranda's book - so, this was all just a marketing ploy ... which hasn't quite worked on me as I haven't bought her book! Sorry Miranda.

My STAR rating: THREE

Length: Unknown, not available in print.
Price I paid: FREE.
Formats available in: ebook.

Revolution, plots, love and death ... how Russian!

To Kill a Tsar, by Andrew Williams, which I read in print, is a thriller set in 19th Century St Petersburg. The action begins immediately with the attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander II by a lone gunman. The attempt fails, but he is not as solitary as he at first appears. Observing from the sidelines is a young woman, who leaves speedily to report the events to her comrades in The People's Will - an organisation who are determined to improve the fate of the millions of poverty striken Russians in the only way that makes sense to them ... by killing the Tsar. They think they are acting on behalf of the silent majority and that if their mission is successful, it will trigger an uprising by "the people". By chance, Dr Frederick Hadfield, a favourite of the Anglo-Russian gentry, is drawn into this web of intrigue by falling for one of the conspirators. Whilst he opposes her chosen path of violence, he cannot bear to betray her, and so starts to lead a double life. This is a fictionalised account of actual events and features many real life characters. A fascinating time in history is brought to life, and we see both sides by following Dr Hadfield as he spends time both with the ruling classes and the impoverished people. The secret police are a scary bunch, and the conspirators are constantly under threat of discovery. It's a tough read at times, and there aren't many laughs! Even the romance is not very romantic - it feels grubby, tense and a bit forced ... this was the least successful part of the book for me. I didn't know anything about this period in Russia, and I found it really interesting. Not a gripping page-turner, but worth a punt.

My STAR rating: THREE

Length: print pages
Price I paid: £2.50 (second hand book sale)
Formats available: print, unabridged audio CD or download, multimedia CD MP3 audio, ebook.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry ... read this book!

I'm not going  to beat around the bush here ... this is a FIVE STAR read and if you only read one book this year, this should be it! The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, which I read in audio format is so good, I almost wish I hadn't read it yet so that I could enjoy it afresh for the first time. Despite its wordy title, this seems to be, on the face of it, a simple tale. Harold is retired, 65, and hardly ever leaves the house. His wife Maureen barely speaks to him and life is just an existence. When he receives bad news about an old work colleague, he writes a short letter and sets off to the nearest post box. Then, instead of posting it and coming home, he suddenly decides that he will go to visit the "Queenie" from the letter, and that he will walk there. When he tells Maureen this from a phone box, she is not impressed. He has no map, no walking shoes and 600 miles to go! Simple. However, as he walks, his mind revisits events of his past and with each passing mile we discover more about the man - his childhood, marriage, fatherhood and worklife. The people he meets along the road both inspire him and frighten him, as indeed he starts to inspire others. Why is he walking, will he get there and what will Maureen do to him when he gets home? Longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, it gets my vote. This is heart wrenching one minute and heartwarming the next. I loved it - and Jim Broadbent as the narrator ... inspired.

My STAR rating: FIVE

Length: 304 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (Audible monthly membership)
Formats available: print, unabridged audio (CD and download), ebook

An ethereal yet visceral tale of India

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, which I read in audio, is a hard book to pigeonhole. It starts in India, at a time just before the Opium Wars. A widowed villager escapes from the drudgery of her life as an opium farmer, and is drawn to the river and the sea. Meanwhile, an ex-slave ship, The Ibis, arrives into the scene carrying a motley crew, including an American who suddenly finds that he is the second mate. A local rajah falls on hard times and ends up in prison and is sentenced to be sent overseas. All these and more come together on the Ibis, sailing across the Indian Ocean. We're enveloped in the breakdown of society, scandal, race relations, romance and opium addiction - oh, and with a smattering of politics thrown in for good measure. The text utilises local Indian dialects, that were usually translated. But the language in the boat, which was a complete hotchpotch of languages, was sometimes hard to follow. There are some interesting characters and the setting is different to one I've encountered before, but I wasn't completely transported away by this book. When I first finished the book, I couldn't understand why the ending was so unsatisfactory, with lots left up in the air - but I now realise that this is book one of a trilogy. It does have an other worldly nature to it, but I really don't know if I liked it enough to continue onto book two!

My STAR rating: THREE

Length: 544 pages
Price I paid: £6.50
Formats available: Print, unabridged audio (CD or download), ebook.