The Three Musketeers - a good old-fashioned swashbuckling romp!

And now we come to the letter D, which led me to The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, a book I bought in a charity shop a few years ago as part of a previous reading challenge, but then ran out of time to read, and has been gathering dust ever since. This classic romp, set in France between 1625 and 1628, follows the exploits of D'Artagnan, an eager young man from Gascony who heads to Paris in the hope of joining the Musketeers of the Guard, an elite corps serving the King. Although he isn't able to join them right away, he is mentored by their captain, M. De Treville, and then befriended by the three most formidable musketeers in the corps, Porthos, Aramis and Athos. He soon becomes embroiled in the politics of the royal court, falling in love with Constance, one of the Queen's most trusted companions, who persuades him to help her get the Queen out of a sticky situation involving her affair with the (very English) Duke of Buckingham. This brings him up against the formidable Cardinal Richelieu, who is very much working against the Queen and is hungry for power. Blinded by love and honour, D'Artagnan keeps ending up in duels and the three musketeers save him on many occasions. Their friendship is the centre of the book, and we start to find out more about each individual, culminating with the revelation that the Cardinal's most formidable spy, known as Milady (Lady de Winter), was once married to one of them. Milady is definitely one of literatures greatest female villains - devious, beguiling and incredibly deadly. It is only by working together that the musketeers can defeat her, and some semblance of order returned to the kingdom. This is such a romp, with endless action and sword fights, sneaky political machinations and love interest to boot. While it is lengthy and the language is definitely "of the time" (this was written in 1844), it is still highly enjoyable. As there is so much going on, and many characters to get your head around, it did get a little confusing at times, but not to the extent where you really get lost. There is also a little bit too much duelling and I wanted to shake D'Artagnan for getting himself into yet another brawl ... will he never learn? However, despite these minor irritations, this is a book that rewards the reader with twists and turns and the last 100 pages are especially good. Even if you have seen one of the many films based on these characters - and I have - this book will still hold surprises and keep you entertained right to the end.

My STAR rating: 4 STARS.

Length: 576 print pages.

Price I paid: £2.50.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio, ebook.

My Name is Leon - utterly fabulous!

And now onto the letter W, which brought me, by chance, to Kit De Waal and after a short search on Audible, I selected My Name is Leon. This is the story of a year in the life of a boy called Leon, and begins just before he turns nine, when his baby brother Jake is born. Although the two boys have different fathers, Leon is besotted with Jake and, as their mother Carol is a bit of a mess both physically and psychologically, it is Leon who ends up trying to take care of them all. Needless to say, he cannot manage it for long, and when the authorities find out what's going on, the boys are taken into foster care by the wonderful, no-nonsense, Maureen. Leon believes this will only be temporary, but then the unthinkable happens - Jake is adopted, leaving Leon behind. He doesn't know what to do with himself, and becomes anxious and angry. Luckily, he is given a bike, and this at least allows him to get out of the house and expend some energy. Soon he discovers an allotment and finds two very different father figures, and he begins to spend more and more time there. But Leon misses his family, and decides that the only thing to do is to find Jake, then go to their Mum and be a family once again. Set in the early eighties, this story is interwoven with race riots, a royal wedding and the parlous state of social care. The characters are glorious and the story is heartbreaking, funny and uplifting without ever being mawkish. The dialogue is excellent and the journey of Leon is totally believable. You cannot help but root for him. I know this is a book that that will stay with me for along time and I have to admit, I was very sad when it came to an end. And coming soo, there's to be a BBC adaptation of this wonderful book, featuring Lenny Henry, who narrated my audio edition with real heart and skill, barring a slightly dodgy Irish accent for one of the characters - but I can forgive him that as the rest was so good! With Sir Lenny on board, I am expecting great things!!!!

My STAR rating: FIVE (no surprise there!)

Length: 272 print pages.

Price I paid: £5.84

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

The Rose Code - Bletchley Park drama!

The random letter picker has become adept at picking out the more uncommon letters, so it was no surprise when Q was drawn from the "reading bag of destiny"! After a random search on Audible, I plumped for The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, writer of historical fiction. This is the story of three very different women who find themselves being recruited to Bletchley Park in 1940. Osla is an outgoing society girl and paramour of the dashing Prince Philip of Greece (yes, that Prince Philip!). Mab comes from the East End and is trying to reinvent herself after her poverty stricken upbringing and devastating trauma in her teens. And finally there is Beth, a shy local girl with a domineering mother who is adept at crosswords. The three women room together and, although they are completely different and have specific roles to perform for the war effort - translating decoded messages; working the codebreaking machine; being a cryptanalyst - they form a remarkable bond that few outside of such a secret set up as Bletchley could understand. The story revolves around their loves, their work, the war and how the relationship between the three women forms and splinters over time. And when, towards the end of the war, Beth is carted away to an asylum, they go their separate ways. That is, until 1947, just prior to Prince Philip's marriage to Princess Elizabeth, when Beth sends Osla and Mab a message to come and rescue her as a matter of national security. There is much to like about this story - for instance, it's great to see these women front and centre of the codebreaking activities Bletchley Park is famous for. The story also unfolds in a pleasing way and there are some shocks and surprises along the journey too. However, I wasn't totally convinced about using Prince Philip as a "character", particularly a romantic character. In addition, the characters felt like unreal extreme versions of people to get the plot moving forward. Plus, there were Americanisms used throughout, which jarred as a UK reader. However, saying all of that, it was still an enjoyable read and it did feature some interesting history around what happened at Bletchley - the work and the lives of those involved. As long as you suspend your disbelief at times, and let yourself be carried along by the yarn, you will not be disappointed. Plus, the revelation of "who done it" will keep you guessing up to the point of the big reveal - which is always pleasing!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 592 print pages.

Price I paid: £5.84

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Rabbit, Run - Not for the faint hearted

When the letter U was picked from the alphabet bag of destiny, there was only one author in mind - John Updike, and his "Rabbit" series, a quarter of books that my husband has recommended to me for many years. The first book in the series is Rabbit, Run, which is set in 1959, where we meet one time high school sports star, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. Now aged 26, Harry feels trapped in a job he doesn't enjoy, and whose home life is no great shakes - he has a two year old son, and his fragile wife is an alcoholic with another baby on the way. He cannot help but reflect on his former glory, and seems to be overwhelmed by a feeling of "how did it come to this"? And so, it is no great surprise when he decides to leave it all behind and heads off on a thousand mile journey to a better life. But he can't even do this right - he only gets a few miles before stopping and then shacks up with a woman he has only just met. And soon, of course, the inevitable happens, and this existence becomes as humdrum as his previous one. Rabbit, Run is a character study of a man searching for something better, something he thinks he deserves, but who doesn't really have the get up and go to actually find it. I found it incredibly difficult to like Harry, or indeed have any empathy for him (maybe I'm a bit hard), and kept wondering why any woman would think being with him was the best they could do. He is selfish, self-obsessed and a terrible husband and father. While I can admire the writing of John Updike, I just couldn't warm to the subject matter of this book. Bleak is putting it mildly! I didn't think that I would want to spend any more time with this character, but I have come to realise that Harry has stayed with me (I finished this book a month ago), and despite my reservations, I am kind of curious to know what he will do next. Definitely not a book for the faint hearted, and if you like a book with plenty of plot (which I do), then this might not be the one for you. However, if you are looking for a slice of life in 1950s America populated by flawed human beings (aren't we all), then give this one a go!

My STAR rating: 3 STARS

Length: 288 print pages.

Price I paid: Free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

The Pirate's Daughter - thirty years of hurt!

The letter C was next to be drawn out of the hat, and it led me to The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezar-Thomson, a book I picked up in a charity shop many years ago but never quite got around to reading ... until now! Set in Jamaica, the story opens in 1946 when Errol Flynn washes up on the island in his yacht, Zaca. This is, of course, big news, and Ida Joseph, a local teenager, is determined to meet the "world's most handsomest man". Meanwhile, Flynn falls in love with the tropical paradise and sets up home on Navy Island, where he entertains his Hollywood friends and rekindles some of the spark that has been lacking of late. Despite the age gap, Flynn takes a shine to Ida and pays her special attention. She is convinced that they will soon marry, but Flynn's interest wanes and he moves on to other women (no big surprise there), and barely acknowledges that he has left a teenager pregnant and facing hardship. Ida fights to bring up her daughter, May, the best way she can, even leaving her on the island for years while she moves to America for work. When Flynn returns to the island, May meets him just the once and it is a strangely sad encounter. By a strange quirk of fate, Ida finally comes home as the wife of one of Flynn's closest friends. She is reunited with her daughter, and they take up residence in Flynn's old house on Navy Island. Despite the relationship often being fraught, life goes on as they try to live with the spectre of Flynn constantly haunting them. All of this is set against the backdrop of a Jamaica struggling for, and then living with the early years of independence. Whilst there was much about this book that I enjoyed, I couldn't help but feel a little squeamish about the relationship with Flynn. The two central women, Ida and her daughter May, weren't always easy to like (but then, who of us is) and I wanted to shout at them a few times for repeating mistakes or getting things so wrong in the first place. There were also many, many characters and I sometimes got confused as to who was who, but that could just be me! What was most pleasing was that the writing totally transported me to another place, one I am not familiar with. Overall, an interesting read, with a hint of "what if ..." about it. I can definitely see this as a great holiday read too.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 528 print pages.

Price I paid: £1.50 (from a charity shop).

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

The Blackwater Lightship - let go of those grudges!

And onto the letter T ... Set in Ireland in the 1990's, The Blackwater Lightship, by Colm Toibin, is a story of heartbreak and humour within the Devereaux family, as told by Helen, who became estranged from her mother Lily some ten years previous to the opening of the story. Helen is contacted by a friend of her brother Declan. Her beloved sibling is dying of AIDS and is in hospital, but this is the first Helen is hearing about his illness. So instead of departing on her own family's planned holiday to Donegal, she goes to spend time with him. But Declan wants to leave hospital and visit their grandmother, who he and Helen lived with during their childhood at a time when their own father was dying. This brings the grandmother, mother and daughter together in the same place at the same time for a decade. Into this mix are two of Declan's closest friends who also come to stay. As Declan's condition deteriorates (and no details are spared here), this proves to be a catalyst for the family who are desperate to support Declan but who cannot help but bring up grievances and deep felt hurt from the past, which lead us to the root cause of the estrangement. Whilst this could be an overly sentimental story, there is grit and edginess in the dialogue that is very convincing of a family who have held onto grudges for a long time. There are lighter moments, especially between Declan's friends and Dora, the grandmother, which are very welcome. The characters are distinct and well drawn, although I found Lily, the mother, maybe not quite so three dimensional as the others. There are beautiful passages, and emotions do run high, but overall a very satisfying read that reinforces the adage that  you shouldn't wait for a tragedy to bring healing to a broken relationship - because then it might be too late!

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 288 print pages.

Price I paid: £2.98

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download.

Paris Echo - dreamlike, with the odd nightmare thrown in!

Today I bring you the letter F, which gave me the chance to read Paris Echo, by Sebastian Faulks, a book my big sister gave me as a birthday present last year. Set in Paris, this novel brings together two characters who seem to have very little in common. There is Hannah, an American postdoctoral researcher who is looking into the lives of women living in Paris during the German Occupation of the Second World War, and Tariq, a Moroccan teenager who has run away from his home in Tangiers, who thinks he might be able to find out something about his mother's history. Tariq ends up living in Hannah's spare room and, occasionally, helps her to translate some of the narrated histories of the women Hannah is researching. To earn money, he works in a fast food restaurant, but he becomes swept up in the boulevards, Metro stations and people he meets in the city. While Hannah begins to uncover the lives of the women, it stirs up memories and feelings from a previous relationship which has affected her more deeply than she would probably admit to. Tariq is full of wonder and keen to experience pretty much everything, whereas Hannah is more reserved and thinks only of her work, at least until an old acquaintance appears on the horizon. This is an exploration of a city the author obviously loves and the people who inhabit it, both in the past and the present. Sometimes it's hard to get a grip on it and the narrative has a dreamlike quality in places, but that kind of worked for me. There are sections to do with the Occupation that are incredibly hard to read, but stick with it and you will be rewarded. This book has received quite mixed reviews and while it may not reach the heights of, say, Birdsong (one of my all time favourite books), there is still much to admire and enjoy.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 320 print pages.

Price I paid: free.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook