Stoke book chat July
The Lady Vanishes by Sandy Alison, with Bryan Seymour, Sally Eeles, and Marc Wright
In 1997 Marion Barter, teacher, mother and friend, resigns from her job with the intention of travelling. At first her family hears from her, but contact gradually wanes; then when Marion fails to turn up for her daughter’s wedding alarm bells ring for her family. Marion is never seen again, and this book details the winding investigation sparked by creators of the global hit podcast ‘The Lady Vanishes’. This investigation spans nine decades and three continents and reveals a mystery stranger-than-fiction.
Jenny Pattrick’s latest book is a little different from her usual historical fiction. The story is based in a small town on the Kapiti Coast, just after a Tsunami has devastated the area. While those with more resources have already evacuated, a small group of misfits, and those who deliberately decide to defy the government’s edict to retreat, are left behind. This odd group turns out to be very resourceful. Our reader really enjoyed this one, and especially the New Zealand references.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This novel tells a story of love, race and identity centred around a young man and woman from Nigeria who face difficult choices and challenges in the countries they come to call home. A young woman from Nigeria leaves behind her home and her first love to start a new life in America, only to find her dreams are not all she expected. As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze, the son of a professor hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous undocumented life in London. (Publisher)
The Shattering by Karen Healey
Set in a small town on the west coast of New Zealand, where three teens are united by their older brothers having ostensibly committed suicide over the last 10 years. As the three friends start exploring their siblings’ deaths, they discover a sinister under current to their seemingly perfect town. Is there a price for an easy life in the perfect town of Summerton? Our ready found the exploration of aspects of witchcraft interesting.
The Stable Boy of Auschwitz by Henry H. Oster
In this harrowing but very interesting book, Henry Oster tells his story of surviving three Nazi concentration camps. While at Auschwitz Henry volunteered to work in the stables responsible for breeding horses for the war effort. The horses became a lifeline – each day at the stables was a day he avoided the gas chambers and caring for the horses also became a passion and comfort. The details of what Henry survived are incredible. The book includes interesting photographs.
Set in the 1960s in Western Australia, in a fictional town near Perth, with the Vietnam War in the background. Early in the morning Charlie wakes to find Jasper Jones knocking on his window asking for help. Charlie is fascinated by Jasper’s rebellious lifestyle and follows Jasper to a clearing where the body of a young girl is suspended. Jasper persuades Charlie that, being aboriginal, he’ll be blamed for her murder, and together they hide the body. It is very well written and a great story, especially for teens, because it deals with life changes.
The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson (Tea Ladies Mystery; 1)
A cosy mystery set in the fashion industry in the 1960s Sydney.
‘After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in danger… When there is a murder in the building, the tea ladies draw on their wider network and put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping.’(Publisher)
The Lamplighter’s Bookshop by Sophie Austin
Set in Yorkshire in the late 1800s, Evelyn and her mother are forced to go and live with Evelyn’s aunt in York due to her late father’s gambling debts. Evelyn answers an advertisement for a bookshop assistant, and it is at the Lamplighter’s bookshop that she meets the enigmatic Willian Morton. The characters are heartwarming, and the ending is not predictable. A great read!
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Prince Harry’s autobiography. Our reader commented on how Prince Harry’s identity was decided by his birth order as second son – an heir and a spare. Harry was profoundly affected by Diana’s death. Our reader found it a very honest account, and came away thinking that being an ordinary person isn’t a bad thing!
The Dalai Lama’s Book of Transformation, 2000
The Dalai Lama was born in Tibet, but travelled to India because of politics, and has been in India for 65 years. The transformation referred to has three components or levels: transformation of the self, higher transformation, and final transformation of the mind. The first level involves training in breathing (Pita), the second involves moving from anger to altruism (loving people). Interestingly, the moment you are kind then you have that quality happening within the self. To be kind we need wisdom / insight, which transforms the self. To summarise: be healthy physically and kind mentally.
Murder in the Gulag: the Life and Death of Alexei Navalny, by John Sweeney
"2:19pm, Moscow time, 16 February 2024. The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District announces that Alexei Navalny is dead. The news sends shockwaves around the world ... Award-winning journalist John Sweeney goes behind the headlines to reveal what really happened to the Russian opposition leader in the freezing Polar Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia. The book is less a whodunnit - Russian President Vladimir Putin's machinery of repression killed Navalny - than a howdunnit.” Publisher.
Our reader found this book a little difficult to get into.
The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly
This heart-warming novel, set during the Second World War, stars two young women Isabelle and Sylva. The two sisters inherit their mother’s dressmaking business, when she dies, and in different ways the business becomes a lifeline for both women as well as the means to their reconciling their differences with each other. The background of the war and clothes rationing is interesting, and the author draws on her extensive knowledge of the topic and her fascination with the cultural history of clothing. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
