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From the Publisher’s Desk: The Girls

30th August 2016 by Gemma 3 Comments

Who has not heard of this book? Written by Emma Cline, her debut novel The Girls has been dubbed as the book to read this summer, and even the UK cover starkly reflects the idea of summertime — sun-streaked hair, loose summer dresses, and bright blue skies. One of the ladies from a book club I’m part of actually took it along as one of her beach reads!

Unfortunately, if your definition of a beach read does not involve cults and murders, then you might prefer to not bring this book along. On top of this, if your idea of a holiday read does not involve a lot of introspection and analysing and should, instead, contain quick-paced plotting, then I might suggest scheduling The Girls for another time.

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From the Publisher’s Desk: This Must Be The Place

17th May 2016 by Gemma 2 Comments

This Must Be The Place is the seventh novel by Irish author Maggie O’Farrell. Her novels are renown for their delicate exploration of relationships, whether it be familial or romantic, and her elegant prose adds more to the charm, making her novels well-loved by readers.

Unfortunately, I have been living under a rock — I have never read a Maggie O’Farrell novel before this one. The big initial sell of This Must Be The Place for me was that it involved travelling, and I was only too happy to delve into a book that contains my other favourite activity. The fascinating premise supplemented my interest: it purports to be a book that “crosses continents and time zones [..]” and “at its heart, [..] an extraordinary portrait of a marriage, the forces that hold it together, and the pressures that drive it apart.”

The primary characters are Daniel Sullivan, an American linguistics living in a remote corner of Donegal, Ireland, and his wife, Claudette Wells, a famous ex-actress who had disappeared from the public eye at the height of her popularity, and is since determined to live a hermitic life with her children. The novel details their present lives, their lives in their youth before they met, how their marriage came to be, and the challenge of keeping it together compounded by past history and personal demons.

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From the Publisher’s Desk: Eligible

18th April 2016 by Gemma 2 Comments

I am a massive Pride and Prejudice fan. I first read it when I was 10 or 11, then read Jane Eyre after that, so both are very close to my heart. I have re-read the former more though, and although I cannot count myself a Janeite (I did not even know of The Austen Project until recently), I had resolved to start acquiring multiple editions of the Austen novel.

As I may have already mentioned on another post about a Jane Eyre retelling, I am very apprehensive of them because of another modern adaptation of a classic that I have read which turned out to be thoroughly unpleasant. But I cannot not read this book; no, I had to read it despite any misgivings.

Eligible is the fourth Austen novel in The Austen Project by The Borough Press. This time it is Curtis Sittenfeld who has been commissioned to adapt the story, and she is known for writing women’s literature (or chick lit, as it’s been called). Her most popular book appears to be Prep, followed by American Wife and Sisterland. She was born in Cincinnati, and a graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop¹.

I am not familiar with any of Sittenfeld’s other books, but those two aforementioned facts about her feature heavily in Eligible….

From the Publisher’s Desk: Shtum

6th April 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Jem Lester is a former journalist and secondary school English and Media Studies teacher. Shtum is his first novel, and is a result of his experience of being a parent to a severely autistic son, also named Jonah¹. It is marketed as “perfect for fans of David Nicholls, and anyone who loved The Shock of the Fall, The Rosie Project, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time². A friend who has read it sang praises about it, and even said it made her cry.

Everything in that previous paragraph actually made me feel disinclined to read this book. The only David Nicholls novel I’ve read is Us, and I wasn’t a big fan. I quite enjoyed The Rosie Project, but it was not heartbreaking, nor did I feel like shedding tears at any part of that book. I have not read The Shock of the Fall or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time so I have a half-informed impression. Most of all, I know autism can be heartrending, and it is not a topic that I think of lightly. But read it I must, and with a reluctant heart, I soldiered on.

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From the Publisher’s Desk: Jane Steele

21st March 2016 by Gemma 6 Comments

It has been years since I last read Jane Eyre, although, in my mind’s eye, I can still recall the cover of the copy I left (and misplaced) back home. I can barely remember the specifics of the story; all I remember are the bones: Jane being treated unkindly by her Aunt and cousin, being sent to a girls’ school and still being maltreated there, and then finding a job as a governess, and subsequently falling in love with the master of the house, Mr. Rochester. I loved Jane for having her own mind, and my little tween heart beat rapidly at the love story that developed between her and Mr. Rochester.

Jane Steele, written by Lyndsay Faye, is marketed as “a Gothic re-imagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer”. It was making its rounds on Instagram more than a month before its release, and praises and excitement abound on every post. I grabbed at the chance to have an advanced copy of it*, despite having been severely burned by another classic retelling. I was well ready to write off and avoid all retellings after that painful experience.

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