General Chat

Reviews please for Ice cream girls and either Happenstance or Book of Fires and any others from the list that you read.

From Greenfingers

Light on Snow By Anita Shreve

from the moment Nicky and her father find an abandoned baby in the snow, their lives gently change, for they are both somehow both taken and shaken by the experience. living as they do as far as they could from local people, so they could block out the past, the arrival of the mother on their doorstep puts their relationship into a new place. I found that the relationship between Nicky and her father was sweet, and he was totally oblivious of the fact that Nicky missed a mother figure, or maybe he did realise but blocked it out. He denies her but not cruelly of TV and all the modern things of life. Naturally the babys mother gets prosecuted, but not before she has left an indelible mark on their lives. I loved the book, encompassing as it does alll the emotions that you could think of, but the father and daughter get closer still and know that the baby will be alright. As a fan of Anitas books I was not disappointed.

The icecream Girls

This is an unusual book in that it deals with the seduction and maniputaltion by an adult male on two misfit teenagers, both very vulnerable. They initiallly have no knowledge of each other and keep their affair with Marcus the teacher to themselves, both believing that he will marry them , even though he does have a wife. I have to say I got confused at times as to which girl was which, as the book goes backwards and forwards in time,, for me there was too much of that and it spoilt what could have been a good story line. The ending only confirmed what I had suspected that the wife had a hand in Marcus death. Overall it was not a book that I enjoyed, and I had hoped too

Greaders Review The Distant Hours
An excellent book. Good character descriptions. A mystery to solve, what happened to cause the youngest of the 3 eccentric Blythe sisters to go mad? I found that I didn’t want to put it down yet i didn’t want it to end. Lots of secrets including a murder. I big book and I was amazed that it only took her 10 months to write. It is a book that I will possibly re-read.


Greaders review Light on Snow by Anita Shreve.
A very good read as her books usually are, although I kept looking for a twist but there wasn’t one really. I did like the relationship between father and daughter, although sometimes it was hard to tell who was the adult and who the child. A baby found in the snow, whose was it and why was it left? A tenacious policeman keen to solve the story, but one with a heart. I won’t say more as I don’t want to give the plot away if somebody wants to read it.
And what was really annoying was, when I thought I still had at least 20 pages left to read, it finished. The rest of the book was a forerunner of another book. I felt a bit cheated.


Greaders Review The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale.
Not my favourite book but an interesting one. There was a bit too much technical stuff in it for me. However I found the social history of the eighteenth century in London interesting. I am not sure I liked her style of writing but all in all, worth reading.


Greaders Review the Ice cream girls by Dorothy Koomson

I was totally gripped by the time I had read the first few pages. A real page turner that I was unable to put down.
The portrayal of psychological, mental and physical abuse was so well done it was almost too painful to read.
The characters were beautifully portrayed and were all very believable. And I just loved Conrad, his character was so true to life. What a little charmer. And of course I found Marcus unbelievably cruel as I was supposed to.
I thought Evan’s reaction to the revelation of Serena’s past was very believable, his response of hurt and anger was very true to life and just how somebody would behave.
I did have a few problems at first with sorting out who was narrating what. It is unusual to have a first person novel written from two view points I think. But I was well done and once I got going I got it sorted out OK. In fact after a while I realised that Serina and Poppy actually did ‘speak’ with different voices.
All that and murder too, and who really was responsible?
It must have been quite a daunting book to write as she bears so much responsibility to those who suffer the same situations. I hope people will be helped by the book, either by somebody realising that somebody they know needs their help or by a sufferer realising that they don’t have to suffer.
I liked her paraphrase of the quote in the notes. ‘evil continues to prosper when ordinary people do and say nothing’.


Greaders review Times Legacy by Barbara Erskine.

I always enjoy time slip novels and this one was very good, slipping easily between the 21st century and the life of a female vicar and 25AD and life in Glastonbury where the Druids trained. Conflict in 25AD is between the family of Gaius and Lydia who have fled from Damascus to Glastonbury to escape the evil younger brother and in the 21st century is caused by the doubts forced on Abi by the revelations that she is able to ‘see’ things that have happened having been given a crystal by her mother. Further interest in 25AD is aroused by a gentle stranger to Glastonbury, who is he could He really have travelled to Glastonbury as myths would have. And in the 21st century why is there so much antagonism from Kier who was Abi’s boss. Then there is the perceived parallel with the 21st century to 25AD with the younger brother Justin who does not get along with his brother, who Abi is staying with. Twists and turns, convolutions, BE is so good at it.
A powerful book that really made me think and question if the myths and legends were actual truths Christian values intertwined with Druid and pagan ways. An interesting concept that the Druid (Pagan) gods were the equivalent of Christian angels and that therefore the two ‘religions’ are not exclusive of each other. It was easy to believe that the time slip could have happened and that Yeshua (Jesus) really did visit Glastonbury. (Well we don’t know for sure either way.)
Can crystals be programmed and then read? Maybe, think crystals in radios.
One thing I found hard to believe in was the supposition that Abi was a direct descendant of Mora from 25AD.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down, wanted it to finish, yet go on for ever.

“The Ice Cream Girls” by Dorothy Koomson

I can’t say I enjoyed this story as the subject matter was both sad and scary; thank-heavens I have never been in this situation.

It was, however, riveting and I read several parts of it more than once to fully understand something I thought I had missed.

Poppy and Serena were very well drawn, I thought, and their different approaches to their relationship with Marcus were well described. I thought that Poppy’s family’s withdrawal from her to preserve their own feelings was very sad because it meant she had no family support.

I did think Poppy’s prison sentence was overly long (but I don’t know anything about sentencing.) And I did like the way that many of the same scenes were described from both Serena’s and Poppy’s point of view.

If you haven’t read this it is worth doing so. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone so I will just finish by saying that, when the culprit is finally revealed, it’s a shame that no-one else will ever find out. Or did I miss something else??

"Happenstance" by Carol Shields.

My stepmother, a librarian, gave me this novel many years ago so I have read it more than once.

I think this is a brilliant piece of work. I have an edition where, because the two stories were originally published separately, the wife's story begins at one end of the book and the husband's sort begins at the other end of the book and you have to turn the book upside down, if you see what I mean.

My stepmother told me that your view of the characters might change depending on whose story you read first, and she was right. This time I read Jack's story first and I found Brenda shallow and irritating. When in the past I have read Brenda's story first I have always found her to be a bit of a champion!

So the novel is a story of relationships, between husbands and wives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, parents and children. The action is centred around Brenda's going away for a few days to a crafting convention as she has recently become a professional quilter. She is fairly naive and her husband Jack, equally naive, finds the children's personalities and his own relationships with others called into focus while Brenda is away.

It is amazing how so many people live within a social circle and yet none has any real idea of the others. I particularly like Jack and Bernie going to the same tacky restaurant for 20 years yet not really knowing each other, and Brenda sallying forth through the snow wrapped in one of her quilts because her new - and far too expensive raincoat - has vanished.

It's a clever story on many levels but well worth reading. I suppose on reflection it sums up people's self-absorption.

By the way, you might be amused to hear that, this week, "Water for Elephants" and "The Queens Fool" have finally arrived at my library for me. I think I ordered them in May. Clearly they are embarrassed because I didn't have to pay the reservation fee! I have nearly finished reading "Water for Elephants."

Thanks Helen I look forward to your review for water for Elephants

Better make sure this goes up the board as I wont be here to keep nudging it tomorrow.

I managed to find this book Happenstance through a friend who had visitors who left it behind. Now I know why!! An English Translation of a
book which was written in Afrikaans.

So I chose it as my book for this month.
I read it during the night when for one reason or another I could not sleep.

For me a good read asks the question "What did you think"?

To be honest I found this a very boring book and several times I was tempted to close it for good!



I can hear you asking"why was it boring?"

Well for a start the story in itself this dull. Little happens in it, and what does occur doesn't amount to much.

Some of it seems pretty random, too--and while I sometimes can appreciate an author who can bend reality to the mundane, Winterbach shows more taste than for this story. Happenstance.

I guess the title of this book Happenstance could be taken as an open disclaimer to the original?? But I could not be bothered enough to find out!

Maybe the translation does not do this book justice.
The narrator spends a lot of time talking about words that are no longer widely used--if at all--in Afrikaans.

Could this be a narrator's day-job: assist a linguist who wishes to compile a dictionary of "lost" words in Afrikaans. ????

I enjoy learning new words should they be weird, esoteric etc;
when I come across them, I try to use them in daily speech or writing but got nothing at all from this book, in fact I wish that I had never started it!!!


The narrator brings up some of the themes that the words evoke for her, and then uses them in situations that she finds herself in. When this happens the translation fails to convey any weight.
It could be that Winterbach's narrator actually starts to employ these lost words in her narrative (the character is a writer, after all), and to give them life in her present. Unfortunately, I have no idea if this is the case, because--bingo--this is an English translation.

If this is the case--and the translation loses some of the meaning in the original--then the book suffers greatly for it. Because the fact is that the story that Winterbach tells is lackluster and difficult to attend to. Throughout, her narrator ponders a complicated relationship with her family; various paramours; the why and how behind the mysterious theft of some sea shells that she collected over the years; her infatuation with her boss; and the where and the how behind all of the big questions in life, such as, How did life begin? Altogether, Winterbach tells a story about an ordinary person going through some ordinary difficulties, and the resulting story is so ordinary that I felt like I was watching a tv documentary about a next door neighbor.

No wonder the visitors left it behind!!!

Bridget in Spain :-\

Bridget, that really made me laugh. Thank you for a great critique and I am glad that I didn't choose to read it.

(I apologise if you were not expecting to make people laugh, but the critique was really good...... and really funny.

Bridget, it doesn't sound as if your book was the same as mine at all!! Who is Winterbach? The translator? About as bad as the book I got from the library last time that was in a different language!

Ann,I am so glad that my reply made you laugh!! :-D

I think that the book I found was not the one you meant
I suspect that your one Is the one about the butterfly etc which is also a film.
Well you all know that I have difficulty getting English books,,,trust me to find something on the dark side!! Oh well it made someone laugh

I no longer have the book as it had to be given back will try to recall the authors name, I think?...?

Now I will see if I can find one of the next books recommended

Bridget in Spain

OK Bridget, it did make me laugh though.

The Ice Cream Girls
This held my interest all the way through, but I was disappointed with the ending. I had guessed part-way through, but felt some proof would be found. I don’t think I could serve twenty years for something I didn’t do, then just walk away and put it behind me. After Poppy wanting her parents to believe in her for so long, she changed once she found others who loved her unconditionally.

Happenstance
This is about an ordinary family whose Mum decides to exhibit her quilt at a convention. This means that she has to leave the family for a few days and it shows how she and her husband use the time to think about themselves – their lives, and each other – also friends past and present... The book is very descriptive. In fact, a little too descriptive for me. I felt that there was too much description and not enough action.

Goodness me, how many books have the name Happenstance, or am I missing the point?? Maybe it is my age, but I hope not!!
Bridget hiding in the house because it is bl...y hot here today

I'll be back in the morning (NZ) time, my internet connection keeps dropping every 60 seconds tonight :-P

The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

I haven't been one to read historical fiction for sometime now... maybe because I do enough history in my ancestral searches and their histories. I have enjoyed them in the past, Jane Austen automatically comes to mind. This story about Agnes was intriguing, the author's knowledge/research on pyrotechnology excellent stuff. I have never given much thought to when fireworks started in Britain and the obvious delight that people had in having firework displays at parties. In NZ we are restricted re purchasing and displaying of Fireworks because of so many terrifying accidents with them. I would not have liked to live in the 1700s... I probably would have not survived long - could easily have been hung for a minor misdemeanour that I did not commit. Times haven't changed there, people still locked away/on death row etc for crimes they did not do. You read this and have to think here is a woman who has entered a field that women would not have normally ventured into. What was there for women then... maids, cooks, shop assistants, prostitution (how easily she could have fallen prey to this last occupation). Or in the right social setting they would be
either the "Miss Bennets" of this world in search of suitors etc. The story unfolds well, Agnes exemplifies a certain amount of courage (one night with mice scratching around would be enough for me) and a great deal of staying power to put up with the likes of Mrs Blight and her contradictory habits. This book is certainly different from the norms of what one expects when reading of this period in history.

A good choice and once again a change from what I normally read.

Happenstance by Carol Shields

I read the woman's story first... I found myself thinking is Brenda going to play it safe or not. She was actually very comfortable with the fact that she was out of her comfort zone if you know what I mean. Okay so we knew Verna would have her coat and we had to play along with the story until Verna finally turned up (what else did she wear - a whole week with her clothes in a suitcase.) I liked Brenda's side of things and then I was of a mind not to read his side of what went on for him during the same week. It took me awhile to get into his story but I found that what went on with him and the family was far more interesting. While Brenda was away at a
conference that she really did not seem to attend all that much, Jack was facing all sorts of crisis and was coping with them by disappearing into his own little dreamworld. He was very good at the art of procrastination and he convinced himself that his book would never make it to closure. He learnt that his father was an amateur manicurist (ha ha) - I liked that bit. During his story there were lots of little subtle goings on and you were left wondering just what did Bernie get up to if at all with Janey next door. It wasn't bodice ripping, no one got killed, no race against time (well the suicide attempt might have been) it all just flowed well and seemed believable. I think it was all the little things that happened like treking through the snow and having to tie his boot tops with string and then
having the string break, made it collectively a good story. Haven't we all had weeks like that.

Light as Snow by Anita Shreve

Funny thing about Anita Shreve, I remember Oprah raving about "The Pilot's Wife" well it didn't do a lot for me. But Shreve writes in an easy to read style and I did like this book. Writing about a family that had lost two members and them finding the baby was an interesting slant and one did wonder at the beginning were they going to ask if they could look after "Doris." I don't think the FBI would have left it that Charlotte could make her way to Nicky and her father Robert's place.. it seemed a bit too contrived. Maybe they did not think the perpetrator would return to the scene of the "crime" but I would believe they would still keep an eye on the Motel, the area where the baby was left and Robert's place since the story was in the papers. However, without that fact the story would not have unfolded like it did.I would find it hard to find Charlotte guilty of anything if I was on the jury of her trial but America has it's own style of justice. Nicky seemed to have the normal behaviour of a 12 year old girl and the father's reclusive lifestyle after losing his wife and younger daughter rang true. So yes a good, quick and easy read.

Sorry I am late, I had long ago turned my laptop off and then looked at my diary... and thought good heavens I have to do my reviews.

Well it is 12.30am here, but at least I can go to bed guilt free now.

Persie zzzzzzzzzzzz