General Chat

Kingdom of Shadows - Barbara Erskine Barbara Erskine's classic bestseller, the successor to Lady of Hay, at last available as a HarperCollins paperback. In a childless and unhappy marriage, Clare Royland is rich and beautiful -- but lonely. And fueling her feelings of isolation is a strange, growing fascination with an ancestress from the distant past. Troubled by haunting inexplicable dreams that terrify -- but also powerfully compel -- her, Clare is forced to look back through the centuries for answers. In 1306, Scotland is at war. Isobel, Countess of Buchan, faces fear and the prospect of untimely death as the fighting surrounds her. But passionate and headstrong, her trials escalate when she is persecuted for her part in crowning Robert the Bruce, her lover. Duncairn, Isobel's home and Clare's beloved heritage, becomes a battleground for passions that span the centuries. As husband Paul's recklessness threatens their security, Clare must fight to save Duncairn, and to save herself from the powers of Isobel... If you like historical novels, this is a must. Without a doubt, one of my favourites. Phillipa Gregory - The Other Boelyn Girl. Title pretty much tells you what its about. I read this last month and loved it. Classic - Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger. Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with 'cynical adolescent'. Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his 16-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins: 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two haemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.' His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive), capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation. --Amazon.com A must read for everyone.

Anyone else with suggestions for October? Ann glos

Like lots of those already. May I suggest my previous two from before: The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Perfume by Patrick Susskind 'He is abandoned on the filthy streets as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in Paris. Yet there is one odour he cannot capture. It is exquisite, magical: the scent of a young virgin. And to get it he must kill. And kill. And kill.....' Daisy

Afternoon - sorry but im gonna suggest the same two from last month as i just havent had time to look at anything else The Divide by Nicholas Evans Ive read all of his other books and i find them very hard to put down. The story line of this one is more of a thriller type and it looks at how a family can be cut apart by tragedy, and how a young girl can become so distant and different from her upbringing Ps I love You by Cecelia Ahern recommended this last time, but im desperate for a reason to read it again. The story of a woman left alone after the sudden death of her husband. This tells the story of how she manages to cope with the first year and the surprises her husband has planned for her. A real tear jerker and very life affirming The Classic The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell Sorry to all for recommending another Orwell - but if you love politics then this is the one for you. Just love Orwell lol

Here are my choices for this month The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory Into a Tudor court on the brink of treason comes Hannah, a young Jewish girl on the run from the Inquisition. Sworn into the service of handsome Robert Dedley, he sends her as a Holy Fool to spy on Princess Mary Tudor, the forgotten heir to King Edwars's throne. Instead of the tyrant of popular legend, Hannah finds a woman waiting for her chance and only wanting the best for the kingdom - while her sister Elizabeth waits to take advantage of any mistakes, and longs for her death. Caught in the lifelong enmity between the rival daughters of henry VIII, torn between her infatuation with Dudley and duty to her family, thrilled by her own rare gifts, but scared of the unknown, Hannah must find a safe way through dangerous times. Times in which she is both key witness and key player, when the wrong religion is a death sentence, science and magic are one, and true love can mean death The Victory Snapshot - Barrie Roberts When a retired local government officer is killed by a karate chop while strolling in a West Midland park, the police drag their heels and supress information. The dead man's sole relative, an Australian historian, arrives in Britain in reponse to a peculiar letter from her grandfather and consults the old man's solicitor. Chris Tyroll, off-beat anarchist lawyer, defends anyone, from Irish travellers to Nazi bootboys. He takes up her case and together they are sucked into a mystery which involves another killing, government agents, a private security force, burglaries, frame ups and fire bombs. As the action moves from a Black Country town into the hills of Wales, Tyroll and his client are threatened by escalating violence and aided by strange friends, while the lawyer and the lady develop a new relationship before they succeed in unravelling the secrets of a a faded photograph anbd revealing the consequences of a long-forgotten crime. Classic Madame Bovary: A Story of Provincial Life - Gustave Flaubert

Here are my suggestions ... The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Byrne This work was set in Berlin, 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But, Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than what meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfolds from heaven, where 'life is a perpetual yesterday' and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Classic - A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute Jean Paget has survived World War II as a prisoner of the Japanese in Malaya. After the war she comes into an inheritance that enables her to return to Malaya to repay the villagers who helped her to survive. But her return visit changes her life again, when she discovers that an Australian soldier she thought had died has survived. She goes to Australia in search of him and of the town he described to her. Jean sets out to apply the same determination that helped her to survive the war, to turning the community into 'a town like Alice'. She finds both her soldier and romance. Maz. XX

My suggestions are: Margaret Attwood The Blind Assassin '10 days after the war ended my sister laurau drove a car off a bridge' More than 50 years on Iris Chase is remebering Laura's mysterious death. And so begins an extraordinary and compelling story of 2 sisters and their secrets. set against a panoramic backdrop of 20th century history, an epic tale of memory,intrigue and betrayal. Joyce Storey The House in South Road follows her pre-war life in Bristol, an era of corset and choclate factories of service and glamerous silent movies. With a brilliant eye for the comic in the tragic, Joyce unfolds her experiences at school, her first job, her first love and a mismatched marrieage and motherhood. The ordinary story of an extraordinary working-class woman's life. F Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby Ann Glos

Hi folks My choices are The Conjuror’s Bird – Martin Davies (I have included this one before, hope it is OK to add it again) Renowned naturalist Joseph Banks is about to set sail with Captain Cook on a voyage of discovery to the other side of the world. He will encounter many wonders, but none as captivating as the elusive woman with the green eyes who haunts the wood near his home Two centuries later, John ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald stumbles on a portrait of a woman with curiously striking eyes. Who is she? Fitz has lost too much, the convictions of his youth, the belief that he would die a famous man – and Gabby, the love of his life. But out of the blue, a call from Gabby has brought it all rushing back, and plunged him into a mystery that at once repels and irresistibly intrigues him Now, Fitz is in a dangerous race to solve the puzzle of the Conjuror’s Bird. And the woman in the portrait holds the key ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teacher Man – Frank McCourt In Teacher Man Frank turns his attention to subjects closest to his heart: teaching – why it’s so important, why it’s undervalued – and storytelling. He tells of his own coming of age as a teacher, a storyteller and, ultimately, a writer. Alternatively humble and mischievous, downtrodden and rebellious, he instinctively identifies with the underdog. From every one of these captivating pages it is clear that from the very start he seized his students’ attention by telling great stories. And here he does it again, for us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No apologies for including one of my course books as the classic this month ;-)) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson It is when Mr Utterson, a dry London lawyer, peruses the last will of his old friend Henry Jekyll that his suspicions are aroused. What is the relationship between upright, respectable Dr Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde? Who murdered the distinguished MP, Sir Danvers? So begins Stevenson’s spine-tingling horror story, the story of Dr Jekyll’s infernal alter ego, and of a hunt throughout the nocturnal streets of London that culminates in some dreadful revelations.

Please choose 2 ordinary and one classic to read in October. vote will be pm on Sunday 8th. Ann Glos