‘Frankissstein’ by Jeanette Winterson

The shortlist for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 was recently announced. As humorous books are definitely my thing, I was quite heartened to see many of my own reading choices on there.

With this in mind, I thought it would be timely to revisit some of these funny and joyous novels, starting with ‘Frankissstein’ by Jeanette Winterson.

My Review

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this and was actually in two minds about requesting it for review – although I like Jeanette Winterson’s writing and am intrigued by Mary Shelley as a writer, I was less sure about the modernisation of ‘Frankenstein’ as a story about artificial intelligence and the future of extending human consciousness after death. I thought it might be a lot about medical morality and a bit unbelievable.

I was wrong to doubt Winterson. She has created a fascinating novel which is actually hard to describe in a way that does it justice. Partly it’s a kind of revisiting of ‘Frankenstein’ in the modern day with a trans doctor grappling with the implications of extending life (in some form, maybe brain activity separate from bodily function) while also encountering advances made in robotics and artificial intelligence. Entertwined with this is the story of Mary Shelley and her life, especially the period in which she was writing the original ‘Frankenstein’ novel.

However, this dual narrative description doesn’t really cover the intricacies of the book where fictional characters start to collide with historical ones, big ideas are explored and the reader is left with plenty of food for thought. What makes this book quite astounding though is the extent of what Winterson has crammed in: Brexit digs, literary references, humour (Ron Lord is grotesquely, hilariously awful), scientific theory, ideas about gender and identity, vivid description and comments on modern society and attitudes to change. I still don’t think I’ve managed to cover everything from this extraordinary book, and I’m also very aware that I’ll continue to make connections and think about this novel long after I have put it down.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a thought-provoking read that also manages to be wildly entertaining and full of wry humour. The ideas presented might be big and scary and complex, but the way they are written is just brilliant.

I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Header photo with thanks to Laura Chouette for sharing their work on Unsplash.

3rd September: My Picks

Everyone in the book world knows that 3rd September is going to be absolutely massive for new releases. Over 600 books are published that day and – it is far to say – some great books are going to fall by the wayside because of the overwhelming supply.

I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a number of these titles and will be featuring them on my blog in the coming few weeks. Now would be a great time to follow me here or on Twitter if you’re interested in any of my top picks:

‘Longhand’ by Andy Hamilton

This hand-written novel by comedian Andy Hamilton is published by the excellent crowdfunded publisher Unbound. It is a funny, quirky and ultimately very moving letter from a man to a woman that he is being forced to leave. I cannot praise this one highly enough and will be joining a blog tour for it through Random Things Through My Letterbox.

‘The Watcher’ by Kate Medina

Another blog tour for Random Things Through My Letterbox – this book is a very tense and graphic police procedural. It is part of a series featuring psychologist Dr Jessie Flynn and DI ‘Marilyn’ Simmons (a man – don’t be confused by the nickname!) However, it can also be read as a stand alone novel and is just great – though terrifying and stomach-churning in places!

‘The Gran Tour’ by Ben Aitken

A warm and surprising book that I just loved – this is about Aitken’s travels on various coach tours with (mainly) the older generation. In the vein of Bill Bryson’s travel writing, this is an affectionate look at the lessons learnt from the various coach trips and the lively fellow travellers. It’s gentle and funny and sweet and highly recommended.

‘The Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osman

There has been a lot of hype around Osman’s debut novel, set in a retirement community. It is a clever and funny novel and will easily hit the bestseller lists.

‘A Girl Made of Air’ by Nydia Hetherington

This one is still on my TBR, but it looks to be a gorgeous story of circus life with all the contrasting highs and seediness that entails. It was publicised as being ideal for fans of Angela Carter, so I can’t wait to read this one.

‘Shakespearean: On Life and Language in Times of Disruption’ by Robert McCrum

A personal account of what Shakespeare has meant to this writer and journalist, plus musings on what ‘Shakespearean’ has come to mean as a concept.

All of the above were provided to me either by NetGalley or Random Things Tours in exchange for an honest review.

However, I have also spent my own hard-earned pennies pre-ordering the following which I have heard great things about:

‘More than a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran

I would literally read a shopping list written by this woman – she is hilarious while tackling some really big issues for women. I love her and cannot wait to read this.

‘A Tomb with a View’ by Peter Ross

I’ve heard really good things about this book which tells the stories behind graveyards and considers the ways in which we remember the dead. I love history and this promises some really interesting tales from our past.

On Twitter, the lovely @EHawkes13 has a thread of many of 3rd September books – worth keeping an eye on!

Header photo with thanks to Jaredd Craig for sharing their work on Unsplash.

‘Midnight at Malabar House’ by Vaseem Khan – and other ideas!

Also due out on 20th August is the brilliant ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ by Vaseem Khan – the final book in my week of 20th August releases.

I really hope this book marks the start of a new series by Vaseem Khan. It's a great story and one book featuring the indefatigable and charming Inspector Wadia is simply not enough!

The story opens on New Year's Eve, 1949 in Bombay.  As the clock ticks over into a new decade of Indian independence, Inspector Wadia is called in to investigate the murder of an important British diplomat, Sir James Herriot.  Initially, it seems that Inspector Persis Wadia has been called precisely because no-one has any faith in her to actually solve the crime (she is India's first female police officer), or in the bunch of misfits she works with at Malabar House.  However, she is determined to prove her worth and unwilling to give in until she has uncovered the truth.

It's this determination that makes the pioneering Inspector Wadia such an interesting character.  She really has the odds stacked against her, but uses her intelligence, humour and sheer bloody-mindedness to take on an extremely politically sensitive case - Khan does not skimp on the history of India and Empire that have led to this precarious situation so there is plenty of explanation for those of us less well-versed in the politics.  However, the book is far from being simply a history lesson - in Persis Wadia, we are treated to a very human and realistic character grappling admirably with a situation way beyond her control.  We see her own struggles - including her strained relationship with her father and a rather sweet and inept flirtation with another investigator - and like her all the more for it.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes historical crime fiction with plenty of heart.  The setting is interesting, the characters are engaging and the plot is well-constructed.  You - like me - will end the book wondering what is next for Inspector Wadia and very much looking forward to finding out.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

You can see the week’s previous reviews here:

‘Lost Cause’ by Rachel Lynch

‘A Little London Scandal’ by Miranda Emmerson

‘The Killings at Kingfisher Hill’ by Sophie Hannah

‘Knife Edge’ by Simon Mayo

‘The Quickening’ by Rhiannon Ward

‘Eight Detectives’ by Alex Pavesi

As I’d already reviewed ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ on this blog – above is a copy of my previous review – as a bonus, I thought I’d suggest a few other books that you’d like if ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ sounds like your kind of thing!

Feature: Set in India in the past

‘Midnight at Malabar House’ is set in India in 1950. For another excellent historical crime series, I can highly recommend the Captain Wyndham and Surrender-not Banerjee series by Abir Mukherjee set in the India of the 1920s. It’s definitely worth starting with ‘The Rising Man’ as the first book in this 4 book series – ‘Death in the East’ (Book 4) was published this year and my review (no spoilers) is here.

Feature: Pioneering female detectives

Persis Wadia in ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ is India’s first police detective and pioneering women is definitely a trope I love in my crime fiction!

I can highly recommend ‘Evil Things’ by Katja Ivar – her heroine, Inspector Hella Mauzer, is the first woman to be accepted into Helsinki’s Homicide Unit in 1940s Finland. The review is here.

https://thequickandtheread.net/the-ghost-tree-by-mrc-kasasian/Another woman in a man’s policing world is Inspector Betty Church. In MRC Kasasian’s funny and fairly cosy historical crime series, Betty is the only woman in a dead-end police job in Sackwater, Suffolk. Like Persis in ‘Midnight at Malabar House’, Betty has been sidelined because of her gender and has to deal with the collection of misfits she has been assigned to work with. This humorous series starts with ‘Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire’ – a review of the latest book in the series (‘The Ghost Tree’) can be found here.

Feature: A good murder mystery (but not too gory!)

I do like a gritty crime novel and modern forensics, but sometimes a slightly gentler approach is desirable, as in ‘Midnight at Malabar House’.

If you like your crime novels without forensic detail, then the following books and series may be of interest. Cosy crime isn’t a genre I read often, but I can personally recommend these!

  • The Holmes and Hudson series by Martin Davies – starting with ‘Mrs Hudson and the Spirit’s Curse’, this series draws on the premise that Mrs Hudson is the true brains behind Baker Street’s famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. A gentle and funny series set in Victorian London.
  • Jessica Fellowes’ series beginning with ‘The Mitford Murders’ – a series of Golden Age-style murder mysteries in which the investigations are connected to the Mitford sisters in 1920s England.
  • The Laetitia Rodd mysteries by Kate Saunders – starting with ‘The Secrets of Wishtide’, this series features a genteel Victorian lady detective who finds herself in reduced circumstances after her husband’s death.

Feature: Police procedural with a female lead

Much grittier than the cosy crime novels above, these writers can be relied upon to deliver brilliant police procedurals with a strong female detective. These are contemporary novels:

  • Deborah Masson’s series about DI Eve Hunter, starting with ‘Hold Your Tongue’.
  • Carla Kovach’s series about Detective Gina Harte starting with ‘The Next Girl’.
  • Isabelle Grey’s series about DI Grace Fisher starting with ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’. These have the bonus (for me) of being set in Essex – my birthplace!

I hope you have enjoyed my recommendations – please do let me know in the comments if you can add any more.

‘Eight Detectives’ by Alex Pavesi

My next new release for 20th August is ‘Eight Detectives’ by Alex Pavesi. This is a seriously impressive and clever debut novel that plays around with our expectations of detective fiction.

This book offers a range of short stories all held together with an extended interview between a fictional writer and editor about the nature of murder mysteries. The stories explore some of the main permutations of classic crime that people will be familiar with from writers like the great Agatha Christie, but the plots and devices are then discussed and dissected.

The stories are framed by the discussion between Julia Hart, a book editor, who has travelled to an island in the Mediterranean to interview a writer, Grant McAllister, with a view to republishing his 30 year old book, ‘The White Murders’. Each of the 7 stories in this book is presented and discussed by Julia and Grant, the latter sharing his mathematical analysis of detective fiction – sets and subsets of victims and detectives and killers which allow for unlimited combinations in the imagination of the crime writer.

It is a really clever idea and I liked the stories and the analysis generally. I thought it was an interesting premise for a book and it opened my eyes to some of the ‘formulas’ used by writers I admire very much – I’d never really thought of it in these terms before. However, I did feel like some of the stories were so open that there weren’t really enough clues for the reader which did undermine my investment in the stories a little – I don’t know whether this would be an issue with all short stories, but I really like character development and lots of red herrings to think about!

I can see that lots of people will read and love this – it is clever and engaging. Personally, I like a bit more emotional investment in my detective stories that I didn’t always find here – I’m not sure if it was the short story element or the mathematical approach that stopped me from engaging fully.

Overall, I would say that this is definitely worth a read for fans of detective fiction as it is unusual and surprising. It is inventive and will keep you guessing from beginning to end.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like buy this book, the link is below. I may earn commission on this at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Samantha Hurley from Burst

‘The Quickening’ by Rhiannon Ward

The fifth book in our week of 20th August releases is ‘The Quickening’ by Rhiannon Ward and it is an absolutely glorious piece of historical fiction.

I had scheduled this post for later in the week, but you absolutely need to know about this now – publication day!

Well, this is rather fabulous! I came to this book expecting a bit of intrigue, a gothic feel and a solid historical tale. It delivered all that and a lot more.

The main narrative takes place in 1925 and is told by Louisa Drew, a war widow who has remarried and is heavily pregnant. In need of money, she takes a commission at the crumbling Clewer Hall in Sussex which is shortly to be sold; her job is to photograph the house and its contents for auction.

She is welcomed by the residents of the Hall, although they seem ill at ease and perturbed by her pregnancy. She finds out that the Hall was the site of an infamous séance in 1896 which is to be recreated during her stay with as many of the original attendees as are still alive. As the date for the séance arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and tension begins to build about why Louisa was selected for the commission.

Some of the scenes in the novel flash back to the original séance in 1896 and the reader begins to see how the events of that night continue to reverberate down through the years.

One of the strengths of this story is just how deliciously creepy it is! The building of Clewer Hall is hugely important to the story and it is a place of decay, mysterious shadows and uncanny events. The fact that one wing has fallen into disrepair is central – it is here that Louisa feels most uncomfortable and unsure whether to blame her strange symptoms on advanced pregnancy or something more sinister.

The plotting of this book is also intricate and clever – I felt that I was in the hands of a confident and accomplished storyteller, even as I also felt that I couldn’t see how the strands of the narrative were ever going to come together. But come together they do – and it is absolutely satisfying.

The novel is filled with realistic and compelling characters, but it is especially worth mentioning Louisa Drew herself. Louisa is a really engaging narrator and we feel – in turn – frightened with her, sorry for her, awed at her bravery and empathetic for her situation. Her tragic back-story gives her depth and should make her feel like one of life’s victims,; however, she shows so much strength in her position as a pioneer of magazine photography and courage in facing the events at Clewer Hall that she is elevated in the readers’ opinion. The rest of the inhabitants of the Hall are no less developed – and there are a lot of them with complex, intertwining lives.

This book would be absolutely perfect for those who love Laura Purcell’s books or ‘The Little Stranger’ by Sarah Waters. There is the same mix of a compelling and well-crafted story with just a pinch of the supernatural!

Overall, this is a highly recommended slice of historical fiction. It has mystery, horror and – more surprisingly – a lot of heart. I loved it.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like to buy this book, the link is below – I may receive commission on any purchases but it won’t cost you any more.

Header photo with thanks to Ján Jakub Naništa for sharing their work on Unsplash.

‘Knife Edge’ by Simon Mayo

Next up and also released on 20th August is broadcaster Simon Mayo’s thriller.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, having not read Simon Mayo’s previous book for adults (‘Mad Blood Stirring’, a historical novel). However, I was pleasantly surprised by this fast-paced and twisty thriller.

The novel opens with the killing of seven IPS journalists within minutes of each other one morning in London. The action then focuses on the journalists left behind as they try to work out what their murdered colleagues were working on that could have sealed their fate. What is uncovered is surprising and interesting and far too complicated for me to explain here! Suffice it to say that there is plenty of peril and action to keep the plot moving.

This is an engaging novel, and one that will keep you reading as you definitely become invested in the outcome. The main characters are interesting, but not as developed as they could be – I didn’t really have any sense of Sam or Sophie as characters in particular. This may well be simply due to the fact that the cast of this novel is quite large so I think that Mayo has (probably quite rightly) kept the focus on plot. Some of the events and twists are also a bit incredible – however, it is a pacy and lively novel and I don’t think anyone would be disappointed at the rollercoaster of events it takes you on!

Overall, this is a book that I’d recommend. It is slightly disturbing in its capturing of 21st century Britain and the threats of both terrorism and knife crime – in this way it absolutely taps into current affairs (prior to coronavirus stealing the limelight). If you’re happy to overlook the occasionally thin characterisation, there is plenty to like here.

I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If you’d like to buy the book, the link is below. The Quick and the Read might earn commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Samantha Hurley from Burst

‘The Killings at Kingfisher Hill’ by Sophie Hannah

The third book in our week-long jaunt through books released on 20th August is the latest Hercule Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah.

I’m an avid Agatha Christie fan, but this is the first of the ‘new’ Poirot books that I’ve read by Sophie Hannah. The idea in principle is sound – take one of the world’s most famous fictional detectives and drop him into a new mystery that bears all the hallmarks of Christie’s own fiendish plots. What’s not to like?!

In this book, Poirot is accompanied by Inspector Catchpool, a slightly tamer substitute for the charming Hastings in the originals. Catchpool becomes our narrator for the book and – it s fair to say – is several steps behind Poirot and his ‘little grey cells’. As the reader follows Catchpool’s narration, we sometimes stay in the dark and occasionally make connections that he doesn’t.

The duo are travelling via motorcoach to Kingfisher Hill, an exclusive gated development where the Devonport family live. One of the Devonport sons has died, a woman has confessed and faced the gallows, but will the correct killer be brought to justice?

Alongside this plot, a nervy woman on the coach catches the police detective’s eye with her pronouncement that she will die if she chooses a certain seat and he is left trying to piece together the true stories behind the lies.

I wanted to love this and it did draw me along- there are lots of red herrings and shady characters in the spirit of the original books. However, I was slightly disappointed in the denouement and thought it lacked the spark that Christie’s books have.

Overall, I enjoyed this book as a light read even when I wasn’t always convinced by the plot development. It would love to read more in the series as it was lovely to return to Poirot, a firm favourite for me.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like to pre-order this book (out Thursday!) then the link is below. It is an affiliate link, so I may earn commission at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst

‘A Little London Scandal’ by Miranda Emmerson

Another book released on 20th August, this is a lovely piece of historical fiction with a mystery at its heart – right up my street!

I’d read (and loved) ‘Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars’ a while back, but picked ‘A Little London Scandal’ up without realising that it featured the same characters. It doesn’t matter too much if you haven’t read the first book, but you would be missing an absolute treat.

In this book, the sixties are swinging, but for Nik and the rent boys based around Piccadilly Circus all is not so bright. Police raids and violence threaten their livelihoods and the murder of one of them, Charlie, near an exclusive gentlemen’s club, causes them to come under some unwelcome scrutiny. When Nik is arrested for the murder, Anna Treadway, dresser at the Galaxy Theatre in Soho, steps in to prove his innocence. Her investigations take her into the heart of seedy London but also reveal corruption within high society.

This is another great read. The 1960s setting is lively and well-researched and Anna herself is an appealing protagonist (as we discovered in the first book). She is moral, motivated to help others and kind – but her softer character should absolutely not be interpreted as weakness and she is also flawed and human.

It is quite sad in places as the prejudice against gay men is depicted and the reader is shown that the 1960s were not all about free love and tolerance as they have been presented. The early pages are a little slow, but once the story really gets going then it is addictive! I raced through the majority of the book and will be keenly looking out for more titles in the series.

I would recommend this highly to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially connected to issues of gender and sexuality. I really would suggest you start with the first book though, otherwise you risk missing out on a charming novel that establishes this great protagonist.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like to buy this book, the link is below – The Quick and the Read may earn commission on this at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Jeremy Dean Bourbeau from Burst

‘Lost Cause’ by Rachel Lynch

There are so many brilliant books out this week that I’ll be sharing with you – please do follow my blog as I’ll be reviewing a new release every day this week. It seems that 20th August is a key date in publishing for new books and there are some amazing ones on the way!

First up, we have a fantastic police procedural by Rachel Lynch.

I’ve followed this series from the start and could not wait for book 8 in the DI Kelly Porter series. Set in the Lake District, this series features a tough but likeable female detective, the beautiful but inhospitable Lakes and consistently well-plotted police procedural narratives.

The series seems to become a bit darker with every book and this one does have some quite disturbing themes, including child abuse, prostitution and torture.

In this instalment, Detective Inspector Kelly Porter and her team are investigating the killing of a woman whose body is found in a bin in a tiny village. They begin to notice that there is a pattern of women disappearing in the area, particularly those who are vulnerable and potentially involved in prostitution. What starts as a murder investigation quickly becomes a race against time to discover where the women are being taken before more vanish. Thrown into the mix is a disturbed and lonely young man who frequents an abandoned churchyard and seems to know a lot about the women; it is up to Kelly to determine what his involvement is in the crimes.

As already mentioned, this is a dark story and the sense of looming disaster is enhanced by the setting – the Lake District in January is bleak and remote and often impossible to navigate because of the snow. This further hinders the investigation and makes the story more tense, as does the problems the police have in managing the case across different policing areas. I’m not an expert in these things, but the series seems solidly researched and realistic.

I’d recommend this to those who have followed DI Kelly Porter from the beginning. It does work as a stand-alone, but you would have missed the significance of some of the issues surrounding Kelly’s personal situation and so picking up the series earlier on would be better.

This is a solid, well-plotted police procedural and will certainly keep you reading as you race to find out what happens!

I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book can be purchased using the link below – The Quick and the Read may earn commission on this, but at no extra cost to you. Excellent!

Photo by Amanda Kirsh from Burst

Blog Tour: ‘The Child Who Never Was’ by Jane Renshaw

Welcome to my first blog tour post! Today, I want to talk to you about the psychological thriller ‘The Child Who Never Was’ for damppebbles blog tours.

The Blurb:

Her child has been taken. But no-one believes her.

Sarah’s beautiful baby son Oliver has gone missing. And she will do anything – anything – to get him back.

But there’s a problem. Everyone around Sarah, even her beloved identical twin, Evie, tells her she never had a son, that he’s a figment of her imagination, that she’s not well, she needs help.

And on one level, they’re right, Sarah does need support. She has suffered massive trauma in the past and now she’s severely agoraphobic, very rarely leaves the house, avoids all contact with people.

But fragile though she is, Sarah knows deep in her heart that Oliver is real, that the love she feels for him is true.

And that can only mean one thing – someone has been planning this. And now they’ve taken her baby.

The stunning psychological thriller with an ending you won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of K.L Slater, Mark Edwards, Alex Michaelides.

My Review:

Although slightly outside my usual genres, I was intrigued by the premise and had to find out what happened! I love a story with plenty of twists and hoped that this would keep me reading – and it certainly did!

The story opens with Sarah utterly convinced that her toddler, Oliver, has gone missing. She has vivid recollections of giving birth to him, his bedroom, his speech patterns… However, everyone tells her that he never existed and that he is a figment of her imagination. Sarah has mental health challenges after an earlier trauma in her life and now rarely leaves her house, so is Oliver merely a result of this? Sarah is unconvinced and will go to extreme lengths to prove that her child has been taken.

The central characters in the novel, Sarah and Evie, are twins and they are beautifully contrasted. Evie is composed, in charge of the sisters’ architectural business and mother of her own toddler, James, while Sarah is the opposite: struggling with her mental health, bossed around by her sister and childless. It is this sense of opposition that drives the narrative on and the reader is not quite sure where their sympathies should lie for a large proportion of the book. The fact that Sarah is the focal character is especially clever as she is a notoriously unreliable narrator and so the reader is unsure what to believe.

The narrative does have plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested in this story of the two sisters, a lost child and mental health issues. The loss that Sarah feels is convincing and compelling – it is impossible not to feel for her, even as you also have to balance this with her own psychological issues. The opening scene is also – no spoilers – an absolute gem and I was desperate to know how this fitted in with the rest of the story.

Overall, this is a pacey and engaging read. It’s certainly worth clearing the diary for as you will not want to put it down until you know the truth!

About Jane Renshaw:

Jane Renshaw

As a child, Jane spent a lot of time in elaborate Lego worlds populated by tiny plastic animals and people. Crime levels were high, especially after the Dragon brothers set themselves up as vets and started murdering the animals in their ‘care’. (They got away with it by propping the victims up with Plasticine and pretending they were still alive…)

As an adult, she is still playing in imaginary worlds and putting her characters through hell – but now she can call it ‘writing’ and convince herself that she is doing something sensible. In real life, she has a PhD in genetics and copy-edits scientific and medical journals.

Jane is the author of Watch Over Me. THE CHILD WHO NEVER WAS will be her second novel published with Inkubator Books.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneRenshaw10

Website: https://www.janerenshaw.co.uk/

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3kqo1if

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/33IIk4u

Publishing Information:

Published in digital format by Inkubator Books on 16th August 2020