Charmaine —
The Echoes by Evie Wyld
I’m reading The Echoes by Evie Wyld. Hannah has left Australia to live in London where she is in a relationship with Max. Max has died — we don’t know how but he speaks to the reader as a ghost. This would not usually appeal to me but I find myself anticipating Max’s observations on Hannah’s grief. But there is much more going on as chapters alternate between ‘before’ and ‘after’, as we learn about Hannah’s past. It’s about secrets, relationships, grief, healing and it’s funny, insightful and smart. I love Evie Wyld’s writing and this one is highly recommended by me.
David —
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
This is an ambitious piece of writing; painting in the details of the last years of East Germany, while telling an extraordinary love story. Changing the usual dark greys we often associate with East Berlin to full colour, with four seasons, peopled with the whole gamut of recognisable characters we know from anywhere. How can a love affair between a teenage girl and a married man in his fifties be anything but doomed? Sure, it gets very dark at times, but intense needs are being met on both sides. Nothing is perfect, nothing is all bad; Erpenbeck shows these truths of states and systems and of people in love with equal originality and power.
Almost nothing in this book leads to easy conclusions. No certainties about the evils of communism or the superiority of democracy. No one proving to be a simple hero, no one a total villain. But get this book and sit down for a powerful ride, that will worm its way into your thoughts long after you put it down.
Rachel —
Unruly by David Mitchell
English history holds a particular fascination for many of us, not least because England’s history is inextricably bound up with its Crown. Whatever one’s views are of the English monarchy, they will never be the same after reading this fastidiously researched but irreverently narrated book by David Mitchell. Like many actor/comedians, Mitchell began his career in the Footlights Club when he was studying History at Cambridge. His acerbic wit, which is well known to viewers of Would I Lie to You, sears through every page of this very funny book that traces the English kings and queens from the era he describes as ‘the mists of time’ until Elizabeth I.
Fascinating and page-turning, this is not like any history book I have ever read. Far from academic, it is nevertheless accurate. Be warned: if you don’t like bad words this may not be for you. For me, the profanities made it even funnier. But more importantly, the amount of research that Mitchell has done is eye-watering. Mitchell explains that after 1603, ‘the great era of English kingship is over’. No spoilers though – Mitchell himself explains his reasons for this view in his eloquent and inimitable style.