It’s been wonderful to read beyond my usual literary fiction to sample books from crime, novels, romantic fiction, poetry and memoir. So here goes: a bit of this and a bit of that, all enjoyed. Let me know what you think.
Nudge the Morning is a collection of short poems by Pat Lee, an Adelaide poet. Her poems evoke the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world in Australia in the UK, especially at the change of seasons. My favourites were the poems which gave glimpses of people in public places in which Lee captures in a few lines the poignancy of their lives. This is an uplifting collection of short poems which encourages reflection and gratitude.
Title: Nudge the Morning
Author: Pat Lee
Publisher: Ginninderra Press
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 112
ISBD: 9781760413118
This is a rich find for lovers of crime fiction. Magdalan Nabb published a series of crime novels in the 1980s set in Florence. She was an English author who lived in Italy and managed to convey her delight with the country in her writing. Death of an Englishman introduces Salvatore Guamaccia (The Marshal) and his team who pursue the mystery of an Englishman’s murder with the assistance of Scotland Yard. The real pleasure of the book is in its loving depiction of Florence and its people as the city rushes towards the holiday period around Christmas and the interest of the Italian system of policing with all its entertaining complexities.
Title: Death of an Englishman
Title: Death of an Englishman
Author: Magdalen Nabb
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication Date: 2013 (originally published 1981)
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781616952990
Don’t be put off by the cover of this book or the distressing subject of childhood sexual assault. Eggshell Skull is well worth reading. It is the memoir of several years in the life of a new law graduate who works for a judge on the Queensland circuit court. To her horror, most cases involve child abuse and most perpetrators go free. The book begins with a fascinating account of the law and how it operates in such cases seen through the response of the new lawyer and her colleagues. Slowly a personal element intrudes and builds to a thrilling courtroom scene. I read this book well into the night.
Title: Eggshell Skull
Title: Eggshell Skull
Author: Bri Lee
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 368
ISBN: 9781760295776
Fiona McIntosh is an Australian-based author with a huge fan base. At a recent author talk, she gave equal emphasis to the historical and romance elements of her work. Nightingale is set during the first world war. At its centre is a romance between a nurse and a soldier. Its locations range from Gallipoli and a hospital ship to London, the English countryside and Istanbul. The book is well researched and half its pleasure comes from learning something new. The other half derives from the thwarted love which drives the plot, the kind of uncomplicated love readers enjoy so much. One for the beach.
Title: Nightingale
Title: Nightingale
Author: Fiona McIntosh
Publisher: Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 383
ISBN: 9781760893859