‘Ape House’ by Sara Gruen

Isabel Duncan is a scientist working with the Bonobo apes at the Great Ape Language Lab in Kansas.  When the lab is blown up in a deliberate explosion, Isabel is injured and the apes are ‘liberated’….right into the hands of a ruthless programme maker who is determined that the apes shall be the stars of a new reality tv show.  Reporter John Thigpen was originally supposed to be writing a piece about the work at the lab, but after the explosion the story turns into something else entirely…

I read Sara Gruen’s debut novel, Water for Elephants, almost three years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  So much so in fact that I thought her follow-up was almost certainly going to be a let-down, but I am happy to say that I was wrong.  I was hooked on this book from page one.  The main characters – Isabel, her friend and co-worker Celia, John, and his wife Amanda were all skilfully drawn and well developed, and I felt as though I really knew these people.  More than that, the apes themselves were such distinctive characters too.

The writing flowed well, and moved the story along.  I was eager throughout to find out what was going to happen next.  I cannot comment on the accuracy of the description of the Bonobos and their ability to communicate with humans and each other; however Gruen has clearly done her homework in this regard (indeed, most of the conversations with the apes in this story are based on the real conversations of Bonobos.

Overall, this was a lovely book – part satire, part love story to the beauty of great apes, with plenty of comedic moments, and lots of drama.  Highly recommended.

(Author’s website can be found here.)

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‘The Drought’ by Steven Scaffardi

Dan Hilles has a problem.  Since splitting up with his girlfriend Stacey, he just can’t seem to get any….you know what.  Yes, as the days turn into weeks, he realises he is experiencing a sexual drought.  Fortunately, he has his three best friends, Rob, Ollie and Jack, to help him find the girl who will finally end the dry spell.  But try as they might, Dan just can’t seem to seal the deal, and he finds himself in all manner of embarrassing, dangerous, and (for the reader anyway) hilarious situations.  So will he find the girl he’s looking for – I mean, just how long can a drought last?!

This book is described as lad-lit, but that shouldn’t put off female readers.  I chuckled my way through it from beginning to end, and it did make me laugh out loud on occasion, which is something that doesn’t happen very often!

The writing flowed well, as Dan lurched from one unfortunate situation to another.  I also liked the main characters.  The book is narrated by Dan – a regular guy who likes hanging out with his mates – and through his eyes, we really get to know his friends and colleagues.  The only character I wasn’t keen on was Jack, but he still provided some comical moments.

Admittedly, I guessed fairly early on where the story was heading (although the ending still had a nice subtle twist to it), but that didn’t really matter, because the journey to get there was so much fun.  An enjoyable read, that I would definitely recommend.

(I would like to thank the author for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.   Under no circumstances did this affect my opinion or review of the novel.  Steven Scaffardi’s website can be found here.)

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‘Arlington Park’ by Rachel Cusk

This book takes place over the course of one ordinary day, in Arlington Park, a private housing estate just outside London.  The viewpoint switches between four or five female characters as they go through their daily routines, and captures their thoughts.

Unfortunately, I found this book quite disappointing.  There isn’t really a plot to speak of; this is very much a character driven story.  This in itself would not be a problem, except for the fact that there wasn’t a single likeable character amongst the entire cast in this book!  The  book is populated by women who have nice houses in a nice area, are at least fairly well off financially, and have happy and healthy children.  Now while I fully accept that having all of these things does not preclude someone from being unhappy or depressed, I would have thought that at least one of the characters might have been quite contented with her life.  But unfortunately, all of the women in this book just seemed to be unhappy – and more irritatingly, they seemed determined to remain so.    I ended up feeling frustrated with them, and wanting to point out how fortunate they were.

There’s no doubt that Rachel Cusk can write beautifully – the scenes from a school literary club were extremely believeable, as were the few pages describing the park (of Arlington Park) just after school had broken up for the day.  Cusk captures the minutiae of a mundane or ordinary day very well, and at these points, I did find myself nodding in recognition at some of the observations she made.  The characters were also well fleshed out.  I just didn’t like any of them! 

The other thing that bothered me about the book was the significance attached to the smallest things.  For example, one wife spots a smear of butter accidentally left on the work surface by her husband.  The author likens it to a small mark of (the husband’s masculinity).  Well, it could be, I suppose.  Or it could just be that the husband accidentally left some butter there.  It felt as though there had to be some deep significance to everything that the characters saw, however trivial, however small.

Overall, while I can certainly appreciate the writing, and the attention to detail, this book just didn’t work for me.  It was too miserable, and the characters just ended up being unsympathetic and unlikeable.

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‘Fairytale of New York’ by Miranda Dickinson

Rosie Duncan is a from the West Midlands, England, but now runs a florists – Kowalski’s – in New York City.  There she has a tight circle of friends – kooky Marnie and laddish Ed, who work at Kowalski’s; and Celia, a journalist who is probably Rosie’s closet confidante.  From early on in the story, we learn that a shocking event in Rosie’s past has brought her to New York (although we don’t learn at first what the event is) and stops her from pursuing any kind of relationship or letting herself be vulnerable to the possibility.  But then things happen to make Rosie reconsider her life- first in the form of Nate Amie, a charming publisher with relationship issues of his own, and second in the form of a person from Rosie’s past who brings all her painful memories to the surface…

Rosie narrates the story, and this is the kind of book where a first person narrative works very well.  She was an instantly likeable character and I really wanted things to work out for her.  I also really liked her relationship with Marnie, Ed and Celia, all of whom were well drawn.

The story flowed well, and I genuinely did not know how things would end up – but I knew what I wanted to happen, and I wasn’t disappointed (I’m not saying anymore though – you’ll have to read it yourself to find out!).

New York City is one of my favourite places, with an atmosphere and buzz that is all its own, and I really felt that it was described perfectly.  Miranda Dickinson is open about the fact that she has never been there – which makes it all the amazing that it has been captured so well here.  I also really liked Kowalski’s – the kind of shop I love, where the customers are genuinely important, the atmosphere is friendly and personal – and good coffee is always readily available.  I liked the descriptions of the floristry work itself, and learning about the various customers who frequented the shop.  Mr Kowalski, the former owner of the store, is not a present character in the story, but he is ever present as Rosie recalls his anecdotes and sage advice.

Overall this is a lovely, comforting read, which is perfect for curling up with on the sofa, with coffee and cake to hand.  Definitely recommended.

(Author’s website can be found here.)

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‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry

I’m not really sure how to write this review…this is an absolutely wonderful book, and I really want to try and do it justice.

Set in Mumbai in the 1970s when India has been declared in a State of Emergency by the Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, it tells the story of four people who are brought together, and the effect that the relationships between them have on their lives.  Dina Dalal is a widow, fiercely independent and determined to support herself, rather than rely on her brother’s financial help, or get remarried.

Ishvar and Omprakash (Om) are tailors from a low caste, who seek work in Mumbai and find themselves working for Dina.

Maneck is a young man, brought up in a loving family in the mountains, who comes to the city to attend college and needs a room to rent.

All of them are from very different backgrounds, but are thrown together as they try to make lives for themselves during what is a very difficult period in India.

The first half of the book centres on the histories of the characters and tells how they came to find themselves in their respective situations.  The second half concentrates more on the bond between the four of them, and the trials that they face as individuals and as a group.

There is also much in the book about life in India at the time, and how difficult it was for so many citizens.

I adored this book.  Each character was so beautifully drawn that I felt that I really knew them, and I certainly came to care very much about them.  The descriptions of some of the horrors that took place were gut wrenching and very distressing to read about – all the more so, because I was aware that such things really did happen.  It certainly made me realise how lucky I am to have the freedoms and privileges that most of the time we all take for granted.  This is a tale of a population which has been failed by it’s government – and when the rulers of a land can’t abide by their own rules, how can anyone else be expected to?  I could only read with trepidation as some of the characters seemed to be drawn along a road that could only lead to heartache.

There are a number of other characters who are relatively minor, but all of whom were fleshed out and were entirely believable.

The writing was beautiful – so eloquent, but also very accessible.  The location and time were really brought to life.

At no point did I get bored – I just wanted to read on and learn more about the lives of these fascinating people, and the ending when it came, took my breath away.

This is a wonderfully written, warm and absorbing read – very highly recommended indeed.  (Don’t be put off by the length – you may well wish it was even longer!)

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‘Disobedience’ by Naomi Alderman

Ronit Krushka left behind her Orthodox Jewish community in London and moved to New York when she was 18.  In New York, she became a successful businesswoman, with a less than successful love life.  When her father dies, she has to go back to London and face her past.  Her wise-cracking, provocative manner shocks the community in which she grew up, but Ronit finds that she is not above being shocked by what she discovers both about herself and her former best friends Dovid and Esti…

Disobedience is a fascinating novel, which as well as being an entertaining account of three people facing their past (and their present), also offers an insight into the world of Orthodox Judaism.  In each chapter there is a short reading from the Torah, with an explanation of it’s meaning.  From there, the narrative switches between the third person, giving an objective view of what is happening, and Ronit’s first person narrative in which she describes events from her viewpoint.

The three main characters – Ronit, Dovid and Esti are all very well drawn and fully rounded characters.  Although Ronit is the only one of the three to narrate parts of the story, I felt that we got to know them all equally.  The peripheral characters were also depicted very well.  I really liked Ronit – her behaviour was sometimes deliberately outrageous or unfair – but her motives for this were explained in her own quick witted way.  I also thought Esti was a very interesting and somewhat enigmatic character.

The writing itself flowed well, weaving the different parts of the story together very well.  I enjoyed reading about the Jewish traditions and way of life, and how it was for someone who had formerly lived in that community to feel like an outsider.

Overall, an enjoyable book and an author I will definitely be keeping an eye open for in future.

(Author’s website can be found here.)

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‘Excellent Women’ by Barbara Pym

Mildred Lathbury is an ‘excellent woman’ This book is set in the 1950s, when an unmarried woman in her early 30s, like Mildred is considered middle-aged, and forever destined to be a spinster. She is a woman upon whom so many depend – particularly at her local church, where she is always called on to help out at bazaars, fetes, jumble sales and the like – due to her sensible nature and charitable mind. However, Mildred’s life is shaken up when she gets new neighbours in the form of the impetuous anthropologist Helena Napier, and her dashing husband Rockingham ‘Rocky’ Napier. The Napiers have a volatile relationship, but Mildred tries to keep from becoming involved – but it is so difficult when both of them rely on her for advice and help…

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. Certainly, it is amusing, with many wry observations on parochial life. Mildred – who is the narrator – is a likeable person, but I found myself getting frustrated at the fact that she was so obviously an intelligent and attractive woman, but she couldn’t see it for herself, because she had resigned herself to life on her own, thinking that she must not be interesting enough for anybody to marry. Maybe this was part of the point of the book.

However, it was certainly well written, and the characters were vividly brought to life. (I got the impression that if you ever met one of the characters, you would know them instantly.) Mildred herself was by far the easiest character to warm to, and as the book is told from her own self-deprecating point of view, perhaps this is only to be expected.

This is not a laugh-out-loud book, but it certainly made me smile on numerous occasions, especially when Mildred pointed out the ridiculousness of certain situations, which would normally seem so important.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing, and as this is the first book I have ever read by Barbara Pym, I would certainly be interested in reading more by this author.

(For more information on the author, please click here.)

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‘The Night Watch’ by Sarah Waters

In what was a departure for Sarah Waters after three (extremely popular) Victorian novels, this book is set during and around the time of WWII.  It tells the story of four characters – Kay; a lonely woman, tired of life and love; Viv, a young beauty who is loyal to her Soldier lover, despite her reservations; Helen, Viv’s colleague who is harbouring troubling thoughts about her relationship; and Duncan, Viv’s younger brother who has been through some troubling times.

Sarah Waters employs an unusual plot device in splitting the book into three parts which move backwards chronologically.  The first part is set in 1947, when England is recovering from war, and we watch the characters moving through their lives. The second part is set in 1944, at the height of WWII, and the first part is set in 1941. (However, each individual section moves forward and tells the events of a few weeks or months in the characters’ lives.)  The second and third parts start to fill in the blanks in their lives so that we discover how they came to find themselves in the situations they are in at the beginning (or the end) of the novel.

Every character – even the peripheral ones – is described wonderfully so that the reader really feels that they have come to know these people.  They are decent characters, but each with their very personal and believeable flaws. 1940s London is also portrayed very vividly and beautifully, with the ravaged city almost being a fifth main character.

I have always thought that Sarah Waters is a wonderful and very talented novelist – this book serves to confirm my opinion further.  I found myself anxious to know how the story turned out, and it held my attention completely. Highly recommended.

(Author’s website can be found here.)

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‘The Voice of the Violin’ by Andrea Camilleri

This is the fourth book in the Inspector Montalbano series.  As with all of the others, I enjoyed it very much, although it does slightly feel like more of the same.  The books are pretty formulaic, but that does not in any way detract from the pleasure of reading them.  

In this book, Montalbano investigates the violent murder of a beautiful woman. There appear to be many possible suspects for the murder, and as always, Montalbano manages to upset his superiors, his colleagues and even his girlfriend, the long suffering Livia, during the course of his investigations.  Things of course, are not what they initially seem, and it is up to Montalbano to find his way through the web of lies, and get to the truth of the matter.  In the meantime, there are problems in his personal life, where events do not unfold as Montalbano and Livia had hoped.

By this point in the series, the characters of Montalbano and his colleagues are all familiar to us, and therefore not a lot of time is spent on developing them (there’s no need to spend time doing this).

All in all, a very good read, with plenty of Montalbano’s trademark caustic wit and grumpiness, and lots of the lovely Sicilian foods of which he is so fond.

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Lantana (2001)

Lantana is an Australian movie, made in 2001.  Its a psychological thriller, but lacks the tension of most films in this genre.

It is about four marriages, which are all connected in some way, even though not all the members of the respective marriages realise this. It seems that each marriage has it’s secrets and problems, and when a woman goes missing, everyone involved is affected in one way or another. Anthony LaPaglia is the main character in the movie; he plays a police officer named Leon Zat, who is tasked with finding the missing woman. I found him to be an entirely unsympathetic and unlikeable character, although that is not to say that I didn’t think the character was well drawn.

This movie is actually less about finding out what happened to the missing woman, and more about exploring the relationships, and what is really going on within them.

The first 45 minutes or so of this film did drag somewhat and I thought I might get bored by it (it seemed little more than a mediocre made-for-television movie), but it did pick up and I found myself really interested in the second half of the movie.

The acting was very good all round.  Anthony LaPaglia breathed life into his role as Leon – I didn’t like the character, and it was clear that Leon didn’t always like himself either.  Geoffrey Rush and Barbara Hershey were also both extremely good in their respective roles.

I believe that the title of the movie is a reference to the plant of the same name. There is a hedge of this plant growing outside some of the characters houses – it is a very tangled plant, and my belief is that it represents the tangled relationships of the characters, although I could be entirely wrong about this.

Overall, I would give this film 3 out of 5 – slow start, but did pick up.

Year of release: 2001

Director: Ray Lawrene

Writer: Andrew Bovell

Main cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Rachael Blake, Kerry Armstrong

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