Library Loot: the Anne Perry novels

My friends know that I’m a crime novel “tragic”. Once I find an author I like reading and whose plots I find interesting and believable, I will read everything they write, and am most miffed if they stop writing or have the temerity to die, leaving me with no upcoming novels.

Imagine my surprise then, on a recent marauding of my favourite lending library, to discover a new author. Actually she’s not a new author as she has many books to her credit, it’s just that somehow she’d passed me by previously.

So like a glutton at a buffet I’ve been devouring book after book by her, either from the library or on Kindle. Luckily also my Brisbane friend had a collection on her shelves when I visited recently so I powered through as many as I could.

Anne Perry writes mainly four series of novels, all so far with a crime theme, or at least an element thereof. Three are situated in the Victorian era and with an interest in history and family history I’ve found this particularly interesting. Her words have really brought home just how horrendous and difficult were the lives of London’s poor in those days. It reminds me of a book I read by Jack London called People of the Abyss.

Not all of her plots are believable, and as with the TV series, Midsomer Murders, I do sometimes wonder how one family (even with a policeman included) can get itself into so much bother. Still I find it all too easy to jump on the magic carpet and suspend belief for a few hours.

Each of her series has key protagonists and in each case strong women play pivotal roles.

The Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series

Thomas Pitt is a detective with the Police and later Special Branch. His wife Charlotte, bred to Society, has taken a significant step downwards socially to marry him. This is believable because of her strong character and forthright views, so when she involves herself in some (many!) of his cases it’s sort of credible. Charlotte, along with sister Emily and great aunt-in-law Vespasia, become Pitt’s eyes and ears in a social strata he is not familiar with.

I do find it somewhat incredible that he would share the full details of his cases with Charlotte and that rather than the events is what stretches my belief the most. The lack of general confidentiality pushes the boundaries but doesn’t stop my engagement with the stories. Occasionally the plots get somewhat confusing but as yet this hasn’t spoiled my enjoyment of the books.

The William Monk series

In her other series about William Monk, a former policeman and private investigator, now member of London’s Water Police, he is also assisted by his wife Hester who runs a charity clinic for prostitutes. This series is darker with more harsh realities unrelieved by excursions into London Society and in many ways I enjoy this series more for this very reason.

World War I series

There are also five books set in World War I, with members of the Reavley family as the main characters. I think the author manages to reveal the sheer harshness of life in the trenches and the mental and physical dangers the men faced.  A thread between the books is a story of treason and an alternate approach to the resolution of the conflict but one which leaves the ordinary man with no choices.  She also manages to make it very clear how the war would impact life in England afterwards. All of these books have been very interesting and I found it easy to care about the characters.

Christmas novels

Anne Perry also has a series of Christmas novels and as yet I’ve only read one of them.  It too has a crime theme but of a lighter note.

In my view the author’s strengths are her characterisations and her ability to help us really understand or know the Victorian era, as well as WWI. Very occasionally there are lapses where she “tells” rather than “shows”, but they are minor down-points. I have gained a new respect and understanding for the poor of London (and no doubt other major cities): their lives really were marginal and infinitely difficult.

Recommendation: If you like crime or mystery, and you haven’t tried this author it would be well worth reading a few to see if you like them.

Magic Carpet factor: An average 3 ½ to 4 stars from me, for taking me back in time and really engaging with the characters.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

Thoughts of Maria by Gregory Heath

A few weeks ago I received a copy of the e-book Thoughts of Maria by Gregory Heath. Thanks to a computer glitch it’s taken me a while to get to the review.

Synopsis: There are four main protagonists in the story who tell interleaving stories about a phase in their lives. Gerry was divorced by his wife Rachel; Maria, a young Filipina living on Manila’s dumps with her family; and Gerry and Rachel’s son Callum. The story focuses on Gerry’s decision to find a mail-order bride from Asia and the impact that has on each of the characters.

Review: The approach of revealing each character’s thoughts and aims by telling their story in interweaving chapters is interesting. The strength of this strategy is that is shows how little each of the characters really know of each other and their motivations.

I found Gerry and Maria engaging and though each had their own aspirations for the relationship, there were hidden undercurrents especially Maria not revealing her family’s dire straits. While understandable given the family’s absolute poverty, this has potential for undermining the couple’s relationship but time may have made it possible for Maria to reveal the truth. Both Gerry and Maria seem committed to making the relationship work. Gerry and Maria convinced me of their belief in family and the willingness to commit, but the behaviour of the other characters left me with the expectation that their new-found happiness might be destroyed.

Gerry’s son Callum on the other hand is a nasty piece of work….weak, conniving and generally unstable. His self-destructive behaviour leaves a potential bombshell for Gerry and Maria.

Rachel is equally flawed, dissatisfied with her life and envious of Gerry’s new relationship. Her bitterness and viciousness combined with Callum’s bombshell have the potential to completely destroy Gerry and Maria’s marriage despite their best efforts.

Gerry’s father, Arthur, makes a brief appearance which reveals where Gerry has learned his family values.

I prefer a longer novel and this one was quite short, but honestly, by the end, I didn’t really want to know of might become the car-crash of their lives. The characters were certainly believable but the weakness and nastiness of Callum and Rachel meant that it wasn’t a book I enjoyed. The open ending left the reader with their own options for what would happen next.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of the book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Magic carpet factor: I gave this book three stars because of the believability of the characters. Without that it would probably have been 2½.

Because I’m Small Now and You Love Me by Gina London

Last week I read an e-book called Because I’m Small Now and You Love Me: The World According to my Four Year Old by CNN reporter Gina London.

Synopsis: This is the story of a small girl, her funny sayings and the family’s life in Paris France, USA and Arezzo, Italy.

 Review: They say never to compete with children and animals and the author wisely avoided this dilemma. Instead she has turned it on its head, using her daughter’s humorous comments and world-view to tell a delightful tale of life in three countries. Her professional skills  leavened with some maternal cynicism as well as pride, make it an enjoyable and amusing read, though perhaps not one which would appeal to those with an aversion to children. Personally I found it enchanting.

Lulu is a bright child who knows her mind and leads her parents something of a merry dance..challenging but rewarding and adaptable! Parents and grandparents may well find themselves thinking “why didn’t I write something like that?”…probably because, unlike the author, many of us simply think it’s cute on the day, and don’t record the saying or the context. There are elements of familiarity here and it could easily have turned saccharine but for the spicy dollop of cultural differences quite unlike other versions of “my life in Tuscany/Paris”.

This is a fairly light book which is easily read but it reminds us just how adaptable children can be…Halloween visits at midnight anyone? And as someone who can’t manage to roll their “r’s” I can empathise with Gina’s dilemma.

 Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Library Thing on the understanding that I would write an honest review.

Magic Carpet Factor: 3.5

The Chemistry of Tears: Peter Carey

Peter Carey’s The Chemistry of Tears made me think I should have called this blog Bewildered by Books, not Bewitched. While I could (mostly) follow the plot quite easily there were times when I had no idea what the characters thought they were doing and especially what was the point of the whole book and story.

The book has two story lines, one historical and one modern-day, interlinked by a complex piece of aesthetic machinery, an automaton in the shape and character of a swan.

The modern story concerns Catherine (aka Cat) who is an horologist who works for Swinburne Museum. Catherine discovers by chance that her long-term lover had just died and much of her behaviour through the book is supposedly dictated by her grief. Catherine is a self-obsessed, selfish and personally indulgent character who I didn’t find at all likeable. Her alcohol and drug abuse, breach of museum protocols and boundless disregard for the safety of the pieces entrusted to her seem completely unjustifiable in terms of grief, which the average reader will have coped with without Catherine’s level of self-indulgence.

The other characters in the modern world are no more endearing: her “kindly” yet manipulative boss, her manic assistant, her lover’s children. None of these characters rang true for me and the only bit of the story which stood up was the need to please the “loots and suits” in terms of the income-generating capacity of the swan automaton.

As part of her boss’s grief therapy for Cat, he assigns her the task of bringing back to life a large automaton of a swan, crafted in the mid-19^th century. Among the assets are a pile of books written by the man, Henry Brandling who had commissioned the swan (well a duck actually). Henry’s story seems no more surreal than Catherine’s despite his presence in the Black Forest among a small group of enormously skilled, English-speaking German craftsmen and a child genius.

Henry’s motivation for contracting the automaton is to find something which will keep his child alive against the odds of illness, and his hope that this might also restore him in his wife’s credit. As bizarre as the craftsman Sumper appears, he is no less so than much of the rest of the story.

If the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is supposed to link to the theme of machinery, then I also found that self-indulgent. As shocking as it undoubtedly was, to place that as the rationale for Cat’s assistant’s behaviour again seems self-indulgent. Placed against the human horrors of war, death and genocide that has characterised the past 160 years since the automaton was hypothetically constructed, this seems utterly disproportionate.

Ultimately we are left with the conclusion that Henry did manage to get his amazing automaton (how else would it have come to the Swinburne), but without any idea of whether he succeeded in his goal of saving his son, for me the crux of the story.

It may well be that I prefer a simple, logical story line but either way this book was a flop from my point of view. I wanted to tell them all to just “get a grip” and grow up. I honestly felt this book had been a waste of my time reading it.

Magic carpet factor: 2½

Travelling to Infinity: My life with Stephen by Jane Hawking

While at the library recently I picked up Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking. I often borrow books from the library that I might not otherwise read and this is one of them.

Synopsis: This is the biography/memoir of Jane Hawking, wife for 25 years of Stephen Hawking the famed physicist. It traces not only their lives but that of their families as well as his remarkable scientific discoveries and the impact of his degenerative illness, motor neuron disease, on himself, his wife, family and colleagues.

 My thoughts:

I was intrigued by this story and astonished that a woman as young as Jane married and took on the responsibilities associated with a brilliant but increasingly ill man. The rigours of their lives and the physical and emotional hardships were perhaps made more difficult, rather than less, with a husband who was a scientific genius. Everyday people would have most of the same strains but presumably not the added pressure of a brain which far outstripped anyone else’s. Jane’s persistence and determination and her family’s support are remarkable. The sheer generosity of Stephen Hawking’s students and colleagues is also amazing.

Throughout the story, I was increasingly annoyed with Stephen Hawking’s selfish disregard of his wife’s needs and lack of recognition of her academic ability which is evident throughout the memoir. While not reaching Stephen’s standard of genius, it’s plain that Jane is no slouch intellectually. However she sacrifices a great deal for her husband’s well-being both physically and intellectually. He appears not to have reciprocated her generosity or regard.

While the details of the science, and sometimes her own linguistic endeavours, were often lost on me (or I didn’t bother to try to keep on top of them), the life story was intriguing.

While it could be argued that she has “puffed herself up” this is not how it strikes me, rather the opposite if anything. As the book neared its conclusion I was increasingly irritated with Stephen Hawking’s lack of respect and regard for his wife and her significant contributions to his achievements. His fame seems to reflect this grandiose view of himself, which is perhaps the real reason why he becomes besotted by his nurse. After all, in traditional terms nurses are accustomed to deferring to the supposed greater intellect of the medicos, a phenomenon which is perhaps less common today. And yes, Jane does have a relationship with a “family friend”, initially platonic and later physical, who continues to help the whole family, at great sacrifice to himself. Who could blame her struggling with the depths of despair.

Frankly I wondered why Jane Hawking continued to denigrate her own abilities and remain in the marriage. Stephen Hawking’s elitist perspectives were increasingly infuriating to me as he appeared to intimidate, if not bully, his wife and family. As the famed scientist his needs were held to be greater than those of the rest of the family. Personally I agreed with the local minister who assured Jane that irrespective of intelligence or genius, each member of a family has equal rights if not always equal needs.

Magic carpet factor: 3.75 

Aggravation factor (with him!) 4.75

 

Mosaic by Diane Armstrong

Yesterday, 27^th January, marks Holocaust Memorial Day.  It’s not a day that’s marked officially in Australia being overtaken by Australia Day or as Australia’s Indigenous people refer to it, Survival Day on 26^th January.

Despite the lack of official recognition here it’s likely there are many people who remember this day with great sadness. Last week my blog post on The Voyage of Their Life talked about how some of the refugees and displaced people made their way to Australia in the aftermath of World War II. Among them were many Jewish people who had experienced the horrors and privation of the war.

I tend to read every book by authors I like, so this week I downloaded the e-book of another of Diane Armstrong’s books, one called Mosaic. Then yesterday Armstrong was featured in this weekend’s Weekend Australian magazine. Strange how these things run in cycles.

Synopsis: Mosaic is the story of Diane Armstrong’s Polish Jewish family back to the late 19^th century and her great-grandparents and up to her life in Australia. It is essentially a family history of five generations told against the backdrop of war and terror. As a child Diane was called Denusia Baldinger but as the dogs of war came closer with their snapping teeth, her father moved them further east in Poland preferring to take his chances with the Russians than the Germany SS. In a wild throw of the dice he changed their names to the more Polish-sounding name of Boguslawski and their small nuclear family pretended to be Catholic. Although the villagers were suspicious, the family were saved from being denounced to the Gestapo by the support of the local Catholic parish priest who had “known” they were Jewish but continued to support them. Diane tells ultimately how over 60 of their immediate family were shot or gassed during the war.

 My thoughts:  Those of us who live in the safety and sometimes tolerant society of Australia, can not have the slightest real idea of what anyone experienced during the war, let alone what the persecuted Jewish people suffered. It’s one thing to know the facts, read about it and see vision on TV or movies or photographs. It’s quite another to get one’s head around how anyone could do any of these things to other human beings. Nor are these actions the sole preserve of the military but rather also ordinary people, sometimes former neighbours and friends. Mind boggling! We are a horribly flawed species who seem to find it reasonable to persecute those who we perceive as different for religious or economic reasons.

The author talks honestly (as far as I can tell) about her various family members, warts and all, including her own parents. If you believe it’s inappropriate to speak ill of the dead then you may not like this book but what she reveals of her family are people who have their own human frailties and quirks. It’s quite obvious she doesn’t have a lot of time for one of her more selfish aunts who did survive the holocaust yet seems to have learnt little from it. Armstrong also reflects in a very insightful way on the impact of these horrors on family dynamics: the secrets never mentioned, the non-verbal fears of living in hiding for years, the conflict between family members. These psychological scars continue to the present day and generations.

I think this is an excellent book which transforms the wartime horrors for the Jewish people from a scale that most of us can barely imagine, to a personalised family story which enable us to see at a micro level how these events impacted families and individuals. Some survived because of foresight, courage, or just plain luck, depending on where they lived and worked. Others died because they were geographically trapped or sold out, often from sheer greed and envy.

Don’t read this book if you’re looking for a chilled-out evening curled up on your lounge. Do read it if you want to learn more about the lives of one set of Australian Jewish immigrants and what they and their families experienced prior to arriving on our shores.

I give it 4 ½ stars for magic carpet factor.

This is review 3 in my Australian Women Writers 2013 Challenge.

The Voyage of Their Life by Diane Armstrong

The Voyage of Their Life is a fascinating book written by Australian author Diane Armstrong who was a passenger on this voyage. It is predominantly a memoir but one drawing on the experiences of many of the hundreds of post-war emigrants on this traumatic voyage of the SS Derna to Australia in 1948. Having grown up with quite a number of “New Australians”, as we called them then, I’ve had a great interest in migration ever since. However this is not just a book about the actual voyage, rather Armstrong tells what brought them to make the momentous decision to migrate to a far corner of the earth, the randomness of getting a passage, and also what happened to them in the decades following.

Inevitably with so many passengers there are times when the cast of characters becomes bewildering but this doesn’t detract greatly from the book. Armstrong segues neatly from one person’s story to another for a connected person.  Virtually all of the passengers had suffered great traumas during the war years and I have no wish to get into the relative merits of each. Armstrong herself mostly manages to remain objective throughout though her own Jewish perspective is clearly stated and occasionally her sympathies are more obvious than at other points in the book.  The horror stories told by so many of the passengers were shocking but those relating to the younger children are particularly horrendous. My father’s oft-quoted phrase of “man’s inhumanity to man” remained in mind from beginning to end.

The voyage itself was a nightmare and a scandal. Greed and irresponsibility would be my synopsis of the effects and consequences of the journey, especially the greed of the Derna’s owner who cut corners and left people with disgusting daily living conditions. The irresponsibility of a doctor who paid minimal if any attention to the sick patients. The greed of not providing sufficient food or water for an old semi-derelict boat tottering its way across vast oceans. The irresponsibility of the man given charge over the migrants to ensure they were looked after. The greed of those who stole the passengers’ precious belongings either during the voyage or on arrival is just mind-boggling. If you have lost family and loved ones do your possessions mean less, or are they more important because they are the only physical memories you have? The greed and emotional betrayal by family who had sponsored their relatives often just to work as slave labour on their farms or in businesses. The sheer courage of the passengers in working beyond all these betrayals is remarkable.

I couldn’t help but reflect on the huge difference between the way these immigrants were treated in comparison with the government assisted passengers to Australia in the 19^th century, when their well-being was pivotal and the process was generally well-managed with an emphasis on health.

Armstrong manages to trace many of the passengers in the current day to get their stories, as one link leads to another. It was a strange experience to recognise the name of one of the people I used to work with, who had been a passenger on this voyage. I wondered how successful Armstrong’s quest would have been without the added advantage of Australia’s ethnic broadcaster SBS to “spread the word”.

Most of the voyagers settled in Australia but for some their destination was New Zealand. Some worked hard to reacquire their professional qualifications so they could establish themselves and their families in their new country. Others worked incredibly hard at jobs that took no account of their prior experience and training. Some enthusiastically took on their new loyalty and citizenship while others seemed to feel lost between two worlds – the old and the new. The heaviest burden fell on the children to bridge that gap and fulfil their parents’ expectations.

The main flaw in the book is that it is mostly anecdotal, almost inevitably. The pre-migration lives of the emigrants would have been nigh impossible to check in primary records or documents, though Armstrong has had assistance from one of the agencies sending out the emigrants. The Australian government’s records are available, but mostly not online, and it’s not clear to what extent these were used in the research for the book, apart from one rather contentious character. (if you wish to find what’s available you can search http://www.naa.gov.au and use the search term “Derna”)

This is not the first time I’ve read this book and it certainly won’t be the last. Armstrong has provided an invaluable insight into the experiences of some of our post-war immigrants, a lasting legacy to an important part of her own life. Without them we’d likely still be living in an homogenous Anglo-Celtic Australia – just think of all the wonderful varieties of food we’d have missed out on, apart from anything else. Not to mention their contribution to the nation’s economy, culture and history.

I give it 4 ½ stars for magic carpet factor.

This is review 2 in my Australian Women Writers 2013 Challenge.