I’ve always been intrigued by the story of how ‘Frankenstein’ came into existence – the stormy summer of 1816 on the shores of Lake Geneva where Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori gathered to share their storytelling and pass the time. The rest, as they say, is history…
Except that Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley’s step-sister, was also there that summer and is often forgotten in the light of the bigger, badder and much more infamous characters around her. I only really knew about her from reading Jeanette Winterson’s ‘Frankissstein’, a reimagining of that crazy summer and a whole lot more (sexbots!) I’m always here for stories about women whose voices have been lost to history, so I approached this book with enthusiasm.
I love Jeanette Winterson’s writing – it’s always engaging, thought-provoking and beautifully-written, and ‘Night Side of the River’ is no exception.
This is a collection of short stories, billed as ‘Ghost Stories’ but actually so much more than a bunch of unconnected tales. Instead, Winterson divides her collection into four sections: Devices, Places, People and Visitations. There’s also mini-essay sections where Jeanette Winterson herself puts forward ideas about ghosts or personal perspectives – I particularly loved the introduction where Winterson explores the human fascination with ghosts and their place in different cultures.
This is a book I should have read and reviewed before now – apologies to the publisher and NetGalley for my lateness, but thank you for the review copy.
This is a beautiful piece of historical fiction set in Oxford during the First World War. Peggy and Maude are twin sisters who work in the bookbindery at Oxford University Press, very much part of the ‘town’. Despite this, Peggy is an avid reader, living with her sister on a barge stuffed with the bindery’s rejected books, and dreams of becoming part of the ‘gown’ side of Oxford – a scholar at the prestigious university where woman aren’t even given the degrees they earn. When war breaks out, the sisters’ lives change forever as the men of the town join the military and Oxford fills with refugees from Belgium and those injured in the fighting. Peggy might finally get her chance at her dream, but at what cost?
Happy publication day to ‘The Good Liars’ – 17th August, 2023.
I loved the sound of this one – a 1920s tale of guilt and ghosts, mystery and murder. Thank you to the lovely people at HQ Stories for my review copy of this book.
This book centres on the Stilwell family of Darkacre Hall – Maurice, his wife Ida, his brother Leonard and long-time family friend Victor. When a policeman arrives at the house following up new information about the disappearance of a boy in 1914, the family (along with new servant, Sarah Hove) find themselves under scrutiny. Events conspire to make the meeting even more prolonged and intense, leading the family to re-evaluate the past and their relationships.
Although I’ve been a long-time fan of Margaret Atwood’s novels, I hadn’t really read much of her poetry before this. Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook version (narrated by Atwood herself) – I did also buy the hardback version as I think I take things in differently through reading and listening. I can recommend both formats though!
This collection of poetry was published in 2020, a year after Atwood lost her long-term partner to dementia, and the poems do understandably focus on loss, grief and ageing. However, the poems were written between 2008 and 2019 and so do also have a wider scope of Atwood’s interests and concerns, among them the environment, attitudes to female bodies and the nature of memory.
Although some of the poetry is bleak, it is not without hope and the trademark flashes of dry wit for which Atwood is famous, such as in ‘Everyone Else’s Sex Life’ – and I like to think you can hear this in Atwood’s deadpan, drawling delivery of the poems.
There are some very powerful poems in the collection and I was glad to have had the hardback book to fall back upon to read the lines again and think further about them – I am not sure the audiobook, while slow paced in its narration, really gives readers the time to absorb the poetry. For this reason, I think repeated listening would be necessary.
Particularly poignant for me was the longer poem, ‘Songs for Murdered Sisters’. This was written for the baritone singer Joshua Hopkins ‘in honour of his own murdered sister’ (as we only find out in the acknowledgements at the end of the book). This poem moves – in clearly delineated sections – from the sense of absence and grief through anger to remembrance and acceptance. It’s a striking poem that stood out to me on first listen and one I’ve gone back to.
I can’t even pretend to have absorbed and fully understood all the poetry in this collection yet. I think it is one that I will need to return to many times, yet I can say that I found the first reading very engaging, thought-provoking and moving. I’m not a crier, but definitely had a lump in my throat for some of the poems!
As other reviewers have commented, the narration by Atwood is quite flat and without much emphasis. I don’t see this necessarily as a negative – I have heard Atwood read her work before so kind of expected the monotone delivery. Instead, I think her reading of the poems allows listeners to build their own interpretations of the words – and the poetry is strong enough that it packs a punch even without the narrator giving us clues through the reading.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry or who shares Atwood’s concerns – and actually many of the themes are universal. What I would say is that the poetry collection is absolutely 5-star-excellent. However, I’m not wholly convinced that the audiobook is quite the right format for the poetry so I’d recommend it ideally in conjunction with a printed copy – for me, the audiobook is a 4 star presentation of 5 star material.
If you would like a copy of this excellent poetry collection (or its audio version), please use my affiliate links below – thank you for supporting my blog with any purchases.
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.
