I read a lot of non-fiction books this year – regular visitors to the blog will know that I love history, popular culture, books about books, feminism and biography in particular.
So while I cannot possibly say I’ve read a huge variety of the fabulous non-fiction books published this year, I have found some real gems. In true ‘Top of the Pops’ style (yes, I am of that vintage!), here’s my countdown of the best in 2020’s non-fiction books from number 10 to 1…
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10 – ‘The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders’ by Ben Aitken
If someone had told me that one of my favourite books of the year would be about a young man going on Shearings coach tours, I’m not sure I’d have believed you! Still, this is a witty, warm and wise story about Aitken’s travels with the older generation and is more focused on interesting people-watching than any real travel narrative. You can read my full review here.
I also read Aitken’s ‘A Chip Shop in Poznan’, an engaging tale of his year in Poland just as Brexit-fever took hold of Britain.
9 – ‘Practically Perfect: Life Lessons from Mary Poppins’ by Katy Brand
Having been raised on the glorious 1964 film of ‘Mary Poppins’, this book was a fabulously comfortable and engaging read. Brand is clearly a Poppins-obsessive and it is something I both recognise and respect! This book is packed with nostalgia, interesting facts and witty analysis. You can read my review here.
If this one floats your boat, Brand’s book about Dirty Dancing is also well worth a read (‘I Carried a Watermelon’).
8 – ‘Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere’ by Sarah Perry
This is a brilliant re-evaluation of the stereotype of the Essex girl and a celebration of ‘profane and opinionated women’ through history. As a Southend-born and long-term Chelmsford resident, this one struck a chord with me. You can read my full review here.
7 – ‘This is Shakespeare’ by Emma Smith
I love a book about Shakespeare and I’ve read a lot! What I loved about this one was the fact that it contained so many new things that I hadn’t really thought about before, even for the plays that I consider that I know really well. You can read my review here.
If this is your thing, I can also recommend Kathryn Harkup’s ‘Death by Shakespeare’, a fascinating look at the deaths in Shakespeare from a scientific perspective. Dark but absolutely engrossing! (review here)
6 – ‘How Love Actually Ruined Christmas (or Colourful Narcotics)’ by Gary Raymond
A late entry into my favourites list but this one is hilarious! I am really not a fan of the film ‘Love Actually’ at all and I really enjoyed Raymond’s scene-by-scene evisceration of it. Thoughtfully-written and genuinely enlightening…and did I mention very, very funny?! You can read my full review here.
5 – ‘Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen’ by Greg Jenner
This is a thoroughly enjoyable jaunt through the culture of celebrity. Jenner, who was historian for the BBC’s excellent ‘Horrible Histories’ TV series, is an engaging guide and brings together stories that are funny, interesting and also occasionally tragic. You can read my review here.
If you like the look of this, I can also recommend Jenner’s first book, ‘A Million Years in A Day’, a book focusing on the history of the things we do every day.
4 – ‘Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights’ by Helen Lewis
This is a history of feminism, but with a difference – it focused on the lesser-known figures and events so that it really feels fresh and engaging. You can read my full review here.
3 – ‘A Curious History of Sex’ by Kate Lister
I supported this book on the crowd-funded publishing site, Unbound, after following Dr Kate Lister on Twitter for a while. Her take on social (sexual) history is funny, feminist and always interesting. The book itself is eye-opening and fascinating, plus Lister donated a proportion of her profits to a sex worker charity. You can read my full review here.
2 – ‘More Than A Woman’ by Caitlin Moran
Moran’s books are always worth a read, but this take on what it means to be a middle-aged woman is brilliant. She is funny and confessional, relatable and quick with her razor-sharp observations. My review can be read here.
Moran’s earlier book, ‘How to be a Woman’, about being a younger woman, is also eminently readable:
1 – ‘A Tomb With a View’ by Peter Ross
OK, so a book ostensibly about graveyards and death might be a bit of an odd choice for my non-fiction book of the year, but hear me out! This is the book that I have talked about to people more than any other this year and it is an absolute treasure.
More than anything, it celebrates life and the people associated with graveyards and burial grounds and ossuaries: the historians, the mourners and the grave-tenders and those who carry out burial rites, as well as the departed. It is strangely comforting and absolutely compelling. Although sometimes sad, it isn’t depressing at all.
This is a brilliant book and one I strongly recommend. You can read my full review here.
I wanted to read this as soon as I heard about it! I was born in Essex myself (in Southend-on-Sea) and have had rather negative experiences of the ‘Essex Girl’ stereotype, so any discussion of this was absolutely welcome – and probably well overdue.
Having grown up with the Essex Girl jokes – white stilettos, Sharon and Tracy, blonde hair, ha ha bloody ha – I was intrigued by this book. No-one I knew fitted the stereotype that I was constantly being faced with, yet it endured.
Sarah Perry, author of ‘The Essex Serpent’, has written this book for – as she puts it on the cover – ‘profane and opinionated women everywhere’. She attempts to reclaim the ‘Essex Girl’ as a type – someone who is strong-minded, unconventional and unafraid to be herself. In this book, Essex isn’t a geographical location, it’s a state of mind.
It’s only a short book, but it covers an awful lot of ground – the historical roots of this brand of womanhood (witchcraft – Essex did more than its fair share of witch-burning), some inspirational historical women (some from Essex, some with the mindset) and Perry’s own experiences of growing up in the county are all explored. It’s engagingly written and I really loved the feminist reclaiming of the stereotype – Perry sets up Essex womanhood (geographical or metaphorical) as something to take pride in, to celebrate.
‘It has become a habit to conceive of women – both historically and currently – not by their achievements, but by the restraints placed upon them; to study the locked door, and fail to see the windows broken from inside.’
– Sarah Perry, ‘Essex Girls’
I found Perry’s arguments interesting and convincing – it is definitely a thought-provoking read and introduced me to some characters from history who were fascinating and ground-breaking in their own ways.
The added bonus for me was the focus on the Essex landscape in which I grew up – St John’s Hospital, Widford, Moulsham and Wood Street all feature and reminded me of my life in Chelmsford as a child and teenager.
Even without the familiarity with Essex, there is plenty to enjoy here as Perry unpicks the Essex Girl stereotype and reassembles it into something much more positive – and much more inspiring! She – quite rightly – shows us that there are many models of ‘Essex Girl’ and the common ground between them – the strength, the authenticity, the outspokenness – is what should be celebrated.
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I read a lot of non-fiction which tends to fall into several sub-categories – Victorians, social history, historical biography, women’s history, feminism.
For today’s post, I wanted to talk about some of the best in non-fiction books specifically about women and their lives – from historical perspectives to the modern day. These are the my top 5 picks from an awful lot of books so I hope you find something that catches your eye!
‘How Was It For You?’ by Virginia Nicholson
I love social history and anything with a feminist perspective, but I’ll admit that I knew very little about the 1960s before reading this book.
I think I’d bought into the vague modern notion of the ‘Swinging Sixties’, a time when societal expectations changed after the restrictive 1950s, a time of permissiveness and free love and hippies and Biba. The sixties as revolutionary but in a good way.
Nicholson goes some way to explode this myth about the decade often recalled with a sense of nostalgia by those who experienced it (my dad being a prime example!) She reveals the truth behind the ‘free love’ headline: this was not a great time for women. From illegal abortions to sexism at all levels of society, the 1960s were not always kind to the sisterhood. While seeming to be an age of opportunity and freedom (the pill, the opening of the job market to women, recreational drugs, the possibility of finding your ‘tribe’ of mods/rockers/hippies, and an exciting shift in popular music), the reality was that gender equality was not part of the deal.
Despite this overall message, the book is not pessimistic or depressing. Nicholson cleverly charts the decade chronologically, interspersing an account of the historical events with interviews with a range of women who lived through the 1960s. These range from the mother of a thalidomide baby to a campaigning feminist to a women who experienced teen pregnancy to Patricia Quinn (Magenta in ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ and a personal heroine of mine!) These women show that the sixties were an era of contradictions and complexities, of great change, of fun but also huge challenges.
The scope of the book is mind-boggling. It manages to cover personal stories from the interviewees and also the big news events of the day. In a fast paced narrative, we are whisked through huge cultural revolutions and major news stories: Beatlemania, Profumo, Playboy bunny girls, LSD, groupies, Mary Whitehouse, racism, Lady Chatterley, the moon landings, Carnaby Street, feminism…the list goes on.
There is so much packed into the book, yet the flow of the text never seems forced or unnatural; it is an absolutely engrossing read.
I recommend this to anyone interested in social history, feminism or women’s lives. Whether you remember the sixties or not, there is so much to learn from this engaging and thought provoking book.
‘Difficult Women’ by Helen Lewis
Thanks to Jen Theodore for sharing their work on Unsplash.
This is a book that I’ve talked about before on this blog, but it bears repeating. I have told everyone who will listen about this one!
I thought I was pretty good on my history of women’s rights and feminism, but found plenty in this eye-opening, thought-provoking and engaging book that was new to me. In the book, Lewis charts key moments in women’s history through 11 ‘fights’ – key moments in history when the titular ‘Difficult Women’ have stood up and made change happen in society.
These changes range from divorce laws protecting women’s rights to have access to their children and property, the availability of safe and legal abortions, gaining votes for women after World War 1, establishing refuges for victims of domestic violence, achieving equal access to education and the changing roles of the female workforce. Each of these struggles is a separate chapter, with Lewis introducing us to some of the ‘difficult women’ who led the various movements.
What I loved about this book was that the stories told weren’t the usual ones. For every Pankhurst in the chapter on votes for women, there were a whole host of lesser known but still fascinating women who played important roles in achieving the women’s vote in 1918. I felt that I’d learnt about a whole new cast of feminists and so many different perspectives on feminist ideology.
Lewis doesn’t try to convince us that these women were perfect – she tackles head on some of the contradictions of feminism and the internal disagreements, for example not shying away from Marie Stopes interest in eugenics or the suffragettes willingness to do violent and terrible things to achieve their aims.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in women’s history or changing place in society. The book isn’t – and doesn’t claim to be – an exhaustive history of feminism, but it is lively and entertaining, well-researched and engrossing. The topics covered are fascinating and Lewis is a witty, perceptive and clear-sighted guide through some tricky subjects.
‘The Trouble with Women’ by Jacky Fleming
This is a book that seems to be a light read – it’s mainly illustrations – but the weight of the messages is immense!
I have a background in studying feminist literature and admit I was intrigued when I saw this book with it’s woman in a bubble (actually the Domestic Sphere – capitalisation essential – as we soon find out) on the cover and ironic title.
It’s an absolute gem! Lovely illustrations accompany an acerbic narrative of female history; traditional ideas about women aren’t criticised directly, but more shown to be ludicrous through the wording and illustrations (I especially loved the idea that women couldn’t stand up without corsets, alongside illustrated lolling women!) Men are Geniuses (with a capital letter, obviously), while women aren’t suited to anything that might damage their marriage prospects (including, but not limited to, art, science, writing, riding bicycles).
This book is an obvious choice for anyone interested in women’s history and feminism., and is one I’ll be sharing with my daughter when she is old enough.
However, it has much wider appeal than us card-carrying feminists! Indeed, this book should also be read by anyone who thinks that the fight for equality is over; there’s plenty of food for thought here about the messages we are still given about women’s role in history.
‘Moranifesto’ by Caitlin Moran
Regular visitors to the blog may have already spotted my love for Caitlin Moran who – I think – has one of the most original, funny and relatable voices in modern journalism.
She writes regularly for ‘The Times’ and ‘The Sunday Times’ but also has a number of books (both fiction and non-fiction) under her belt. Her new book, ‘More Than A Woman’ has just been released, but I’d like to point you towards ‘Moranifesto’ as being the book that perfectly encapsulates her quirky and humorous take on life.
Although I really don’t agree with her on some things (for example, her Beatles obsession), on the important things we are aligned. She writes engagingly and persuasively, whether it is about feminism, the Paralympics, the need for libraries or the wonderousness of Benedict Cumberbatch!
Although her writing is fundamentally feminist, she covers a massive amount of ground on some extremely wide-ranging topics and is always readable. She is also notoriously ‘over-sharey’ so there’s some hilarious and eye-opening content.
The other thing that’s great about this book is that Moran is a thinker. Although a lot of her musings may seem amusing or dealing with trivialities, she absolutely nails society’s problems (often to do with inequality and injustices) and offers a hopeful way forward – her ‘Moranifesto’.
I wish they’d put her in charge now!
‘Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners‘ by Therese ONeill
Those who know me know that I love funny books and anything about Victorians. This is both and yet gives an engaging social history on how women lived in the Victorian era.
I do tend towards a romantic view of the Victorian era whilst also knowing that this is ridiculous – the statistics on child mortality, life expectancy and poverty should dispel that myth. However, I was keen to know about the reality of being a Victorian woman which is why I picked up this book.
The key thing to note is that this is about being a Victorian lady – a very small percentage of the population, as most women did not have the disposable income or time to meet the exacting standards of the etiquette guides (that ONeill uses as the basis for her fascinating book).
The book includes some really interesting social history on women’s clothing, bathing options, treatments for ‘hysteria’ (a condition only experienced by white, upper class women!) and contraception, among other things.
It is also really very funny and so makes my list easily!
Here are some others from my (to be honest – terrifyingly huge) TBR…
‘The Five’ by Hallie Rubenhold
‘Rise Up, Women!’ by Diane Atkinson
‘Bloody Brilliant Women’ by Cathy Newman
‘She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India 1600-1900’ by Katie Hickman
‘Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars’ by Francesca Wade
‘Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World’ by Lyndall Gordon
‘Maiden Voyages’ by Sian Evans
Header photo with thanks to Gabrielle Rocha Rios for sharing their work on Unsplash.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Andy Hamilton’s book ‘Longhand’. This was published on 3rd September by Unbound. The tour is organised by Random Things Tours.
From the publisher
‘From beginning to end, a joy to read. A tale of mingled tragedy and comedy, disaster and triumph … A handwritten love letter to a woman we never meet, that’s also a love letter to humanity’ NEIL GAIMAN
The new novel from comedy legend Andy Hamilton, whose writing credits include Outnumbered and Drop the Dead Donkey, Longhand reimagines the life of immortal Greek hero Heracles, who is currently residing in contemporary Scotland with his girlfriend Bess.
Written entirely in Andy’s own longhand, complete with crossings out and edits Malcolm George Galbraith is a large, somewhat clumsy, Scotsman. He’s being forced to leave the woman he loves behind and needs to explain why.
So he leaves her a handwritten note on the kitchen table (well, more a 300-page letter than a note).
In it, Malcolm decides to start from the beginning and tell the whole story of his long life, something he’s never dared do before.
Because Malcolm isn’t what he seems: he’s had other names and lived in other places. A lot of other places. As it gathers pace, Malcolm’s story combines tragedy, comedy, mystery, a touch of leprosy, several murders, a massacre, a ritual sacrifice, an insane tyrant, two great romances, a landslide, a fire, and a talking fish.
‘A glorious comic novel, a brilliant satire, an artwork and a historical document. Never has the word “readable” meant more. Never has the word “manuscript” been more literal. Hand-written, rib-tickling, spine-tingling and heart-wringing. Uniquely brilliant’ STEPHEN FRY
My Review
I honestly did not know what to expect from this novel and started it with only three pieces of information:
Andy Hamilton is funny – he co-created ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’ and ‘Outnumbered’ and has appeared on numerous other funny TV panel shows so his comedy pedigree isn’t in question.
‘Longhand’ is written in…well, longhand. The whole book is handwritten, mercifully by someone (Hamilton himself) who has beautiful and easy-to-read writing.
It’s published by Unbound, the crowdfunded publisher known for some quirky and brilliant books.
So far, so good! What I wasn’t prepared for was the sheer scale and range of this book – geographically, narratively, emotionally… wow, it’s unexpected!
The book purports to be a letter written by a man called Malcolm Galbraith to his partner of twenty years, Bess. He is being forced to leave her and this is his farewell note in which he explains why.
And this is where the story gets really strange. Malcolm isn’t the mild-mannered Scotsman that Bess has known and loved. He actually has a past in which he lived in other places and other times, had other names and identities, and the 350-odd pages of this novel can barely contain it all!
In his chequered past, there are murders, a sacrificial cow, two romances, tyrannical rulers, a massacre, a landslide, a court battle… the reader can start to see that this is no ordinary life. Malcolm has faced great tragedies in his time and only now is he prepared to lay his life story out before (one of) the love(s) of his life, Bess.
I’ll admit that this book has much more emotional depth than I was expecting. Malcolm is being forced to leave and the poignancy of this situation is evident throughout – it is only at the point of leaving that he can share his hidden secrets. And it’s a huge risk – his story is bizarre and incredible, but will it also be unbelievable for Bess?
It’s so hard to review this without giving away the key ideas behind the story which I really don’t want to do because it totally knocked me for six and I think all readers should feel that same incredulity and uncertainty!
However, what can be said is that Malcolm’s story, set in the distant past as it is, reveals a lot about modern society. Through elements which seem disparate from 21st century Britain, we get glimpses of some really big and important ideas. Brexit Britain. The cult of selfishness. Abuse of power. Love’s small intimacies. Death and grief. Family relationships. Not learning from history’s mistakes. The strength of the NHS. Malcolm has experienced it all and has moments of profound wisdom.
Malcolm’s story also has moments of immense tragedy, which I also didn’t really see coming. For something that is ostensibly a funny book, it is very moving. I actually read this book in one sitting because I really needed to see how it ended!
And yes, it is also very funny.
The real joys in the novel are the everyday observations, the juxtaposition of the epic story with Malcolm’s asides about fixing the boiler, the presentation of some lovely comic characters. Without giving anything away, watch out for the football match and Billy’s Dad, the dodgy lawyer, the talking fish and – even more surreally – Elvis.
I’ve admitted that I picked this book up armed with only the three pieces of information at the start of this review. However, I finished reading it (at way after midnight!) with the sense that I’d read something really quite special. It’s way beyond a funny, entertaining read – yes, it ticks those boxes but it is also wise and thought-provoking.
This book really is one that will stay with me for a long time. You should read it!
And if you still aren’t convinced, you only need to look in the back of this book for the sponsors who put their own hard-earned cash into making this book a reality. The people who had faith in this story and in Andy Hamilton include Brenda Blethyn, Rory Bremner, Richard Osman and Neil Gaiman – an impressive roll-call of supporters in anyone’s books.
About the Author
Andy Hamilton is a comedy writer, performer and director. He regularly appears on the BBC TV panel shows Have I Got News for You and on Radio 4’s News Quiz and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. His television writing credits include Outnumbered, Drop the Dead Donkey, Not the Nine O’Clock News, Trevor’s World of Sport, Ballot Monkeys, Power Monkeys and many others. He also co-created the movie What We Did On Our Holiday. For twenty years he has played Satan in the Radio 4 comedy Old Harry’s Game, which he also writes.
Another 3rd September publication. Don’t forget to follow my blog to see all the reviews of new books this week.
I’m an English teacher and Shakespeare obsessive so I was very pleased to receive a free copy of this book pre-publication from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I was particularly intrigued about this book as I had read about Robert McCrum’s stroke and the part that he had credited Shakespeare with in his recovery (being the fragments of language that made sense to him in the aftermath of his medical crisis).
McCrum is a very knowledgeable and interesting guide to Shakespeare and – possibly more engagingly – what ‘Shakespearean’ has come to mean in the centuries following the death of the bard. This book is part memoir of McCrum’s own experiences with Shakespeare as part of his own Shakespeare Club who attend various performances. However, it also contains so much more than this – snippets of Shakespeare’s biography, historical context, information about the reception of the plays in different places and times, bits of critical analysis and commentary – the book is packed with information and supported with extensive endnotes and a bibliography.
Personally, I particularly enjoyed the bits about the plays I know best – which tended to be the tragedies and comedies. I appreciated the fact that the book was comprehensive, but found the history play sections a bit more of a challenge. I also found the structure of the book a little difficult in places – when it worked, it was like a fascinating chat with someone really interesting as it went off on interesting tangents and picked up related thoughts well. However, when it was less successful it came across as a little unstructured and random.
Having just read Emma Smith’s excellent ‘This is Shakespeare’, I found it really thought-provoking to compare and contrast the different takes on the same material. In particular, the ideas around the end of Shakespeare’s career were striking and the extent to which he reflected this in Prospero in ‘The Tempest’. I also really enjoyed the way that McCrum wrote about the way that Shakespeare’s plays transferred to – and became highly significant in – America, mainly because this was an area I hadn’t really read about before.
Despite the little niggles, I did enjoy this and did learn some interesting new things. I would recommend this to people who are already fairly familiar with Shakespeare’s plays as McCrum does anticipate that you share his passion and have a working knowledge of the texts. This is an engaging stroll through Shakespeare’s works with an entertaining and lively guide.
You can buy your own copy of ‘Shakespearean’ using the link below – I may earn commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.
Header photo with thanks to Matt Riches for sharing their work on Unsplash.
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.
It’s fair to say that 2020 isn’t going quite as any of us expected. The silver lining in what has been a hideous and staggeringly enormous cloud has – for me – been the opportunity to read more and enjoy some brilliant books.
I set my Goodreads challenge at 100 books for the year and am already on 68, way ahead of where I expected.
Of these, I gave 10 of them five star reviews, so this seems a good time to share with you the books I couldn’t put down this year. They are certainly a quirky, diverse and interesting mix!
In chronological order of when I read them as I cannot possibly rank these books!
‘Difficult Women: A History of Feminism’ by Helen Lewis (published February 2020)
I thought I was pretty good on my history of women’s rights and feminism, but found plenty in this eye-opening, thought-provoking and engaging book that was new to me.
In the book, Lewis charts key moments in women’s history through 11 ‘fights’ – key moments in history when the titular ‘Difficult Women’ have stood up and made change happen in society. These changes range from divorce laws protecting women’s rights to have access to their children and property, the availability of safe and legal abortions, gaining votes for women after World War 1, establishing refuges for victims of domestic violence, achieving equal access to education and the changing roles of the female workforce. Each of these struggles is a separate chapter, with Lewis introducing us to some of the ‘difficult women’ who led the various movements.
What I loved about this book was that the stories told weren’t the usual ones. For every Pankhurst in the chapter on votes for women, there were a whole host of lesser known but still fascinating women who played important roles in achieving the women’s vote in 1918. I felt that I’d learnt about a whole new cast of feminists and so many different perspectives on feminist ideology. Lewis doesn’t try to convince us that these women were perfect – she tackles head on some of the contradictions of feminism and the internal disagreements, for example not shying away from Marie Stopes interest in eugenics or the suffragettes willingness to do violent and terrible things to achieve their aims.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in women’s history or changing place in society. The book isn’t – and doesn’t claim to be – an exhaustive history of feminism, but it is lively and entertaining, well-researched and engrossing. The topics covered are fascinating and Lewis is a witty, perceptive and clear-sighted guide through some tricky subjects.
‘The Switch’ by Beth O’Leary (published April 2020)
Wow, this was an absolute treat! I enjoyed O’Leary’s first novel but this one is even better. It’s not a genre I usually read, but I couldn’t resist this big-hearted, charming, touching story of a life swap between grandmother and granddaughter.
Lena Cotton is a high-flyer in London and supposedly living a dream life with her high-powered job, handsome boyfriend and trendy warehouse flat in Shoreditch. When a presentation at work goes wrong and she is told to take a two month sabbatical, she retreats to the Yorkshire village where her mother and grandmother live, each dealing in their own ways with a family tragedy. The grandmother in question, Eileen, is at the centre of village life, always organising and busy but unsuccessfully looking for love. When the two agree to swap lives for the two months of Leena’s leave, neither foresee the results of their quirky experiment.
The novel is packed with lucky coincidences and chance events that make everything perfect and neat, but that (which I thought might annoy me) was just lovely. What makes the book, however, is the cast of characters. They are a great and astutely observed bunch of people and they become like friends in a way that reminded me of the eclectic mix of family and friends surrounding Bridget Jones (another book I love). The plot was predictable in places but always charming and touching – it didn’t shy away from the subject of grief but without becoming maudlin or mawkish.
I’d highly recommend this to anyone who wants a big slice of comfort reading. Its engaging and humorous, life-affirming and reassuring that it’s never too late to find your place in the world.
‘The Graves of Whitechapel’ by Claire Evans (published June 2020)
I’ve already published this review on here and raved about this book on Twitter, but – for completeness – here it is again!
I really liked Claire Evans’ debut novel, ‘The Fourteenth Letter’, but I think this one is even stronger. It’s a twisty and tense murder mystery set on the streets of Victorian Whitechapel – what’s not to love?!
It’s 1882 and Cage Lackmann is a corrupt lawyer. Although he does some work to defend the innocent, he also fights legal cases to acquit gang members as he is in the pay of a powerful man. When one of his ‘innocent’ defendants is accused of committing a second murder, Cage is in trouble. The police want to frame him, his customers are abandoning him and he is in a race against time to get the evidence he needs. Everyone has secrets and Cage has to work out who he can trust with his own.
I loved everything about this book! I kept thinking I’d figured it all out, only for the rug to be pulled from under my feet the next second. The depiction of gritty, grimy, seedy Whitechapel is great – this is a place where loyalties can be bought and sold, everyone has a price and violence is rife. That said, this isn’t a depressing book – it’s clever and engaging and fast-paced. I read this in a day and would recommend that any lovers of historical crime do the same – clear some time in the diary and settle down for an absolute treat.
‘A Curious History of Sex’ by Kate Lister (published February 2020)
(Mum, you can skip this review!)
I first found Dr Kate Lister on Twitter through various other historians on the site – history is one of my passions and I loved the quirky and often funny things that she posted using her ‘Whores of Yore’ account. When I found that she was writing a book – crowdfunded through the brilliant publisher Unbound – it seemed obvious that I’d sign up and support the project. Doubly so when she donated half her profits to the Basis Sex Work Project in Leeds – a charity supporting sex workers. As an early supported, my name is in the back of the book – very exciting!
(Incidentally, you can find new projects and support your own books on Unbound’s website here.)
The (long-awaited) finished book is absolutely brilliant. It is far from encyclopaedic as that was never its intention – instead, it picks up a variety of issues in short, engaging chapters. Kate Lister is very funny and her take on the history behind various sexual topics is eye-opening (sometimes eye-watering!) and absolutely engaging. These areas of focus range from medical history to cultural practices, from FGM to prostitution, from Victorian prudery (mostly a myth) to feminism and they’re all fascinating.
The fabulous hardback copy I have contains a lot of images to support Lister’s text and it’s probably sufficient to say that it is one to shelve way out of the kids’ reach!
This is an absolutely fantastic book on the history of sex and one I would recommend to anyone interested in social history. It’s well-researched and academic, but also gloriously readable.
‘Broken Silence’ by Liz Mistry (published April 2020)
Another one that I’ve already championed on this very blog, but review posted here again:
I’d not read any books by Liz Mistry before this, but I’ll certainly be looking for more! This is the second in a series featuring DS Nikki Parekh and, although there are references to the backstory, I don’t think its essential that you have read the previous novel.
After a multi-agency conference, police officer Felicity Springer leaves the venue for her drive home. As she heads through the country lanes, she sees someone trying to get her attention from inside the van in front. Felicity Springer doesn’t make it home and an investigation is launched into her disappearance. However, that proves just the tip of the iceburg and DS Nikki Parekh and her team are thrown into a complex and dangerous investigation in Bradford’s criminal underworld.
I’ll admit that this is a bit more gritty and grim than my usual reads, but it’s also compelling and very pacy – I kept planning on reading one more chapter to see what happened until I realised it was 3am and I should just finish the book! I liked the portrayal of multicultural Bradford and the diversity within the police team and Nikki herself is an interesting protagonist. Often the personal lives of the police officers can overshadow the actual crime story in this kind of novel but this never happens here – the plot is tight and twisty throughout.
I’d recommend this to anyone who likes police procedurals, especially those with a feisty female police officer in charge. Just don’t pick up this book unless you have a clear run of reading time in which to finish it because you absolutely won’t want to put it down.
‘Grave Secrets’ by Alice James (to be published September 2020)
A full review for this one will follow closer to publication date. However, let’s just say that this one is an absolute treat for those who loved the Sookie Stackhouse ‘True Blood’ books and TV series. This is a brilliantly British take on vampires and zombies with plenty of humour and a great female lead. It’s also worth me pointing out that this is outside of my usual genres but it totally won me over.
Definitely one to watch out for!
‘This is Shakespeare’ by Emma Smith (published April 2020)
This is another book I’ve talked about on the blog before, but it definitely warrants repeating here.
Professor Emma Smith is a Shakespeare expert and Oxford University lecturer who I had only encountered previously as a result of her ‘Approaching Shakespeare’ podcasts. She really knows her subject inside out, but the refreshing thing about this book is the lightness of touch. I’ve read a lot of books on Shakespeare (it comes with the English graduate and teacher territory), but few are as engaging and readable as this one without skimping on the academics.
In this book, Professor Smith takes the plays one at a time and presents a shortish essay/chapter on each. These essays are ordered roughly chronologically, although obviously we can never be entirely sure of the exact order in which the plays were produced. Each chapter addresses a play from a different or unusual perspective, so opens out some interesting thoughts about Shakespeare’s biography, sources, intentions, themes, characters…the list goes on and Professor Smith takes the essay wherever is interesting rather than having any particular set formula for her writing. This means she moves between topics fluidly and avoids labouring points.
Her approach is always rigorously academic and scrupulously referenced, yet full of humour and surprising elements – I loved her defence of Keanu Reeves’ acting in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ on the basis that it is his character rather than Keanu who is as wooden as a wardrobe! She never shies away from more controversial ideas either, such as the idea that if ‘The Tempest’ was Shakespeare’s swansong and the character of Prospero intended as parallel to Shakespeare himself (as is a commonly accepted idea), then perhaps we wouldn’t have liked Shakespeare (as a man) much. In other essays, she identifies plot holes, discusses source texts and how reactions to plays have changed over the 400 years or so since they were written. The idea isn’t that this is a definitive guide, but that the plays cannot be pinned down and explained as they continue to develop different meanings to different audiences.
I feel that I’ve written a lot about this book without really grappling with even a fraction of the fascinating ideas put forward. It certainly gave me a lot to think about in relation to the Shakespeare plays I know and love, but also a way into the ones I don’t know so well. It even made me reconsider the plays I know and really don’t love!
This is a fantastic book about Shakespeare for everyone from the casual reader to Shakespeare fans, from those who want to know a bit more about their favourite play to those engaged in academic study. It is entertaining, surprising in places and entirely readable – not a given for books in this field usually.
‘Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity’ by Greg Jenner (published March 2020)
Greg Jenner is another historian that I was following on Twitter. He’s worked extensively on the BBC’s ‘Horrible Histories’ TV series for children and I loved his humorous, quirky takes on aspects of history. ‘Dead Famous’ is his second book, the launch of which was blighted by the start of lockdown, so I quickly bought myself a copy of the hardback.
Jenner starts with the concept of ‘celebrity’, a strange idea in itself. He tries to pin down what this means and apply it to historical figures, a process that leads him to conclude that the idea of modern celebrity can be traced to the 1700s. From this point, he introduces the reader to a range of historical celebrities, always seeking out the interesting and unusual stories. Clara the Rhino, the obsession with a ballet dancer’s ears, warring Shakespearean actors…they’re all here!
What I liked in particular is that this isn’t a chronological account; Jenner skips between stories and makes links between diverse ideas with ease and it is a joy to follow where he leads. Although some of the stories are tragic, Jenner writes with academic rigour and also humour where appropriate and there are accompanying illustrations and photos that really bring the stories to life.
Another highly recommended history book for those who want to be engaged, entertained and utterly engrossed.
‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’ by Matson Taylor (published August 2020)
Another one I’ve written about before, but this is a comic classic in the making.
This book was an absolute delight! I thought it would be a humorous ‘chick-lit’ type book (although I hate that term), but instead I got a charming coming-of-age story that made me laugh and love the main character. Evie Epworth has been compared in other reviews to the great Adrian Mole as a brilliant, naive, fictional teenage narrator and I can definitely see the similarities. However, Evie has a voice and quirks that are all her own!
Sixteen-year-old Evie lives on a farm in Yorkshire with her father and Christine, a gold-digging ‘scarlet woman’ who is making changes to Evie’s (dead) mother’s farmhouse that Evie is really not happy with. The plot follows Evie’s attempts to rid herself of Christine and also to find her own way in a world full of choices.
As mentioned already, Evie is a lovely narrator and this gives the book warmth and depth. However, the joy of the book for me was in the comic characters – the plot is hardly complex, but Evie’s 1960s Yorkshire village is brought to life by the people. Christine is gloriously awful, a vision in garish pink, while other villagers are hilarious – I have a particularly soft spot for Mrs Swithenbank and her digestive issues! The humour is somewhat broken up by the poignancy of Evie’s mum’s story being included in the story as interludes to Evie’s narrative, but this also adds depth to the novel and another reason why the terrible Christine needs to go.
I really loved this book – it made me laugh and root for Evie as she navigates her tricky teenage landscape. This is a charming novel and one that is both genuinely funny and a comforting read in turbulent times.
‘Death in the East’ by Abir Mukherjee (published November 2019)
The review is elsewhere on this site, but worth repeating:
I don’t know why it took me so long to pick up this book! Now I’ve read it – the fourth in the series featuring Captain Sam Wyndham and his Sergeant, Surrender-Not Banerjee – I’ve fallen in love with the series and shall immediately be making up for lost time with the other books. Although it would have been good to read these in order, I didn’t feel that I was disadvantaged by reading this one first – it works as a standalone, I think.
At the start of this book, Captain Sam Wyndham of the Calcutta Police is in a state – he is an opium addict who is taking himself off to an ashram in rural India in order to break his addiction through a frankly barbaric vomiting cure. It’s 1922 and the story mostly covers Wyndham’s experiences at the retreat and then afterwards in a neighbouring town where he gets embroiled in investigating a crime. However, the story is also partially set in 1905 in Whitechapel in the East End of London where a young Sam Wyndham, a new Metropolitan police officer, is involved in solving a crime that has echoes and repercussions for him later in India.
I really loved the Indian setting of this book – it seemed at once exotic and interesting, but there was also a sense of the simmering resentments around the British Raj which added a frisson of danger to the proceedings. It was interesting to see the white privilege in action in the way that Wyndham was treated very differently to Banerjee in the expat community, even though Banerjee was meant to be the main investigating officer at one point. The characters are well drawn and I cannot wait to get into the other books to find out more about Banerjee in particular as he does not feature heavily here. There’s clever plotting, peril and vibrant description – what more could you want?!
My only quibble was that I solved the murder and worked out the method well ahead of poor Captain Wyndham, but when the novel is so beautifully written as this then that really doesn’t matter.
Overall, this is an excellent historical crime novel with real depth and interest. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys this genre or who wants more insight into the British Raj in India – it certainly is an eye-opener on this front!
So there you have it – 10 great books that have really kept me entertained during the year so far. I hope that you have found some inspiration and I’d love to hear about your own five star reads of 2020.
If these books sound like they are up your street too, please do follow my blog!
Aside from ‘Dead Famous’, ‘The Curious History of Sex’ and ‘This is Shakespeare’ (which I bought with my own hard-earned pennies!), books were provided free from NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews.
This looks like a gorgeous book, but I wouldn't usually have chosen it if it hadn't been for recommendations from people on Twitter. It's not my usual period for historical fiction and is actually set in an era that I knew very little about - Eleanor of Aquitaine's revolt against her husband and King of England, Henry Plantagenet (Henry II). The novel is beautifully translated from the original French by Ruth Diver.
The narrative covers the period of Eleanor's marriage to Henry II (after her first, to Louis VII of France, was annulled), the birth of their children and the revolt that Eleanor - supported by some of her sons - leads against Henry. The story then follows Eleanor's favourite of the sons, Richard I (the Lionheart), as he embarks on crusades in the Holy Lands.
What makes this book compelling is the fact that the narrative is delivered through monologues from the key characters; Eleanor and Richard lead the storytelling, but there are also chapters where we hear from the vanquished king Henry and others, including a poignant input from Alys, Richard's rejected fiancee. These imagined voices make the story vibrant and modern - this reads as real people exploring some pretty incredible events and emotions. The language is also striking in its beauty with some really vivid and striking imagery and snippets of songs recalled by the characters.
The character of Eleanor is a big draw for the novel. She is presented through her son's eyes as being absolutely formidable and majestic, something supported by the historical fact that she was Queen Consort to two kings and ruled Aquitaine in her own right. She is put in the impossible situation of a woman in that time period and patriarchal society, yet manages to find her own ways to gain power through her own determination and through her sons; however, we do also see her human frailty as in the scene when she is caught in the storm on board a ship, pregnant and afraid. The relationship between Eleanor and Richard is also explored in detail and seems a little claustrophobic and intense at times.
This is a highly engaging and fascinating book and I think can be enjoyed regardless of how much knowledge you already have of the time period. The voices are lively and feel authentic, linking us to these extraordinary events in history and an amazing woman at the centre of the French and English monarchy. The writing/translation is beautiful and this book is a short but sweet treat.
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Links are provided below to purchase this title from Amazon UK in hardback and on Kindle. The Quick and the Read may earn commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you.
Another book read with my English teacher hat on and one that helped me brush up my poetry knowledge. This book was published in April 2020.
As an English Literature graduate turned English teacher, I have ploughed through a fair amount of poetry in my time. It's not my favourite form (I prefer a good novel) but I do have my favourite poems and writers that I return to frequently. I hoped this book would contextualise them and perhaps give me some new avenues to explore.
I think it needs pointing out that this is a slightly odd idea for a book - a potted history of poetry that is accessible for the novice reader yet detailed enough to draw in more seasoned poetry readers (who you would expect would be the main readership for the book as people already receptive to poetry). However, I think Carey has managed this well; the book covers a vast amount of ground, managing to fit in synopses, biography and context for a range of poems and poetry movements. For me, it brought back memories of my undergraduate study - some good (it's always nice to revisit Larkin, Keats and Plath) and some less so (I hoped I'd heard the last of Piers Plowman, to be honest!)
The other strange thing about the book is that it can never be a totally objective history of poetry as it seems to promise - it's always going to include Carey's personal choices and preferences and I didn't agree with all his interpretations fully. I absolutely bow down to him as being the expert, but I do think poetry is very subjective and open to personal readings, although it was interesting to hear about his take on poems that I know very well. Carey's own preferences seemed most obvious in the amount of space allocated to individual poets - some were skimmed over in very little detail while others were explored in perhaps excessive depth (Yeats, I'm looking at you...)
Overall, I'd say this was a lovely book to use to contextualise your understanding of poets and their works - I certainly didn't realise that some of the poets were contemporaries or quite so closely linked. The biographies are interesting and Carey is a knowledgeable and lively guide through the history of poetry. It won't give you depth of understanding if you are already studying poems or poetic movements at a high level, but it's an accessible and entertaining read for those of us whose knowledge is perhaps a bit rusty!
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Links to purchase this title in hardback and on Kindle from the UK Amazon site are below. The Quick and the Read may earn a commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you.
A book read with my English teaching hat on today! This was published in May 2020.
First of all, I should say that I'm an English teacher who reads fairly obsessively about Shakespeare. I'm no expert, but I've read a lot and know some of the plays in more depth than I'd really think is healthy! I loved the idea of this book as it promised to combine Shakespeare with the medical realities of the deaths he wrote about.
Although some of the book was familiar ground for me, this would be a fabulous book for someone coming fairly fresh to the topic. It gives a lot of historical context about the Elizabethan and Jacobean worlds and also talks a lot about what Shakespeare's audiences would understand about death and illness. It covers a whole range of the fictional deaths and also relates them to the historical records (as far as can be ascertained from some pretty unreliable sources!) From the cannibalism of 'Titus Andronicus' to the suicide-by-snake of Cleopatra, from the multiple poisonings in 'Hamlet' to the faking of death in 'Romeo and Juliet' - it's all here and packed with interesting detail and speculation. It also delves into some of the less-performed plays which is really fascinating, and explores some work by Shakespeare's contemporaries.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare, the history of medicine or the Elizabethan/Jacobean period. I honestly thought there wasn't much new that anyone could tell me about 'Hamlet', but I was proved wrong! An engaging and entertaining read!
I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
