Annabel Gaskell

Americans abroad. A “trailing spouse” tells of her expatriate life in Sao Paulo where her banker husband has been sent to work. Told with dead-pan humour at first, her eyes open to the world outside her bubble. Leanly told. Excellent. More on my blog here: https://annabookbel.net/review-assortment-jhumpa-lahiri-ian-mackenzie-somerset-maugham

Chinaski by Frances Vick is a novel about a 90s rock band that so nearly made it, but were halted in their tracks when charismatic lead singer Carl dies. This happens right at the the start of this gripping story which spares no punches about the hard work required to make it in those pre-Youtube days. The story of the band and what happened next is told through the eyes of Carl's friends and colleagues – the band member, the ex-girlfriend and their manager in particular, and they each have a different tale to tell...

For those that enjoy books about rock ‘n' roll, this is a must, especially with the Marshall amp on the front!
Read my full review at http://shinynewbooks.co.uk/fiction-04/chinaski-by-frances-vick/

Take one big happy family; add some horses, a big country manor in Cornwall, plus doses of first love which doesn't go easily. Shake it up and relocate to London; mix with rock'n'roll and serve with love again. This is the essential recipe for Eva Rice's new novel, a thick and satisfying feel-good read.
It's the story of Lucy and Tara, third and sixth of eight children in the Jupp family. Pa is a country vicar, Ma died some years ago. Lucy is a beauty who loves old buildings (Pevsner is her bible), whereas Tara can sing but prefers horses. Sneaking a ride on their neighbour's steeds and becoming friends with poor little rich girl Matilda, the daughter of the Manor, will change Tara and Lucy's lives forever, ending up with Tara becoming a pop star at seventeen in the ready-to-swing London of the early 1960s.
Lucy and Tara are strong young women who want to experience life in full. Lucy's relationship with her husband may be troubled, but Tara's coming of age and first real romance with photographer Digby, (obviously based on David Bailey) is fun. Matilda continues to feature too, becoming a mainstay in their lives.
This is a big-hearted novel about achieving your dreams, and while it may not spring any big surprises, the characters are rounded and compelling to read about. My only quibble was that it ended just as the 60s were about to really take off, and I'd have loved to read more.

A super debut with a flawed yet professional lead in DCS Frankie Sheehan of the Dublin Garda. The plot increases in complexity and throws in many surprises as Frankie and her team work to find the killer. Full review on my blog here: https://annabookbel.net/reading-wales-ireland-dewithon-begorrathon

Set in the 50s and 60s, Jacobs' second novel is an affectionate tribute to the South London of his youth, in the Jewish community in Brixton. The story of ‘Benny the Fixer' Pomeranski and his group of friends is full of period detail and local colour, including gangsters, boxing, jazz and the rag trade. The writing is almost biographical in parts, but springs to life in the dialogue, and Benny's outpourings onto the pages of his journals, discovered by his son Simon after his death. A very enjoyable novel with a great protagonist. Full review at Shiny New Books here: https://shinynewbooks.co.uk/pomeranski-by-gerald-jacobs

Lily, an epileptic, goes in search of her younger brother after her mother dies, moving down to London from the small Yorkshire seaside town. Wonderfully written, especially in how he portrays Lily's fits. Reviewed in full on my blog here together with thoughts about the film. https://annabookbel.net/electricity-by-ray-robinson-electricity-film-agyness-deyn

DNF! I got lost in the mists with this one. The Life of Elves, which preceded this book was focused upon a short period in the elven timeline and was super - this one needed to be similarly focused but was too nebulous and I never felt I understood the elves and their animal shape-shifting let alone the tea ceremonies, amongst other Japanese influences.

The Third Magpie is a dystopian romance set in an insular post-Brexit England, now called New Albany, that is approaching Atwood's Gilead in some of its strictures. Sons are revered, young women are once again chattels, to be married off in the most advantageous deals, and those foreigners remaining in New Albany are treated as second class citizens, tagged and subject to even stricter rules. Finn, an Irishman, married Sophie before the new rules came in and opted to stay to be with the love of his life, but accepting the Draconian rules he has to live under is hard, even though Sophie is the daughter of a high up government minister. Sophie and Finn muddle along, she a nurse, he an English teacher, but when the new governor of their region employs Finn to give his manipulative teenaged daughter extra lessons, events are set off that will make surviving in this environment a nightmare for the couple, and will place their lives in jeopardy.

Despite being 525 pages long, I did find this an engaging read, wanting to find out what would happen to Finn and Sophie, but particularly Finn. Clements mixes an awful lot into the plot - parallels between New Albany and the marriage market in Jane Austen's world feature strongly in Finn's extracurricular lessons with the awful Cat; then of course there is the ghettoisation of foreigners and the SS-like treatment meted out to them, not to forget Sophie's privileged status and inserts from Finn's pre-New Albany life.

As is often the case with first novels, there are many different themes competing for attention as the author feels compelled to use all their ideas, and consequently, it sometimes lost pace. I felt there was a 350-400 page novel trying to get out from under the complexity; for me some streamlining would have generated more suspense - but I read far more thrillers than romances.

At first glance I thought this book was going to try to convince me to become a vegetarian, but it turned out to be something more thought-provoking! Using the report of a worldwide review of food and food production from EAT-Lancet and the ‘Planetary Health Diet' plan it came up with, Dr Coburn takes a long and hard look at how the food we eat affects the environment, urging us to eat better and most importantly to reduce the carbon footprint of what we eat, and to eat sustainably. Yes, eating less red meat, more wholegrains and more fruit and veg is an important part of that, but the problems are far wider ranging than cow burps and farts and manure run-off. Apart from clearing land to grow crops, there's how we process them too and ultra-processing is another big factor in poor diets. There is much to glean from this important book - read my full review on my blog here: https://annabookbel.net/enough-by-dr-cassandra-coburn

The book begins very early one morning with Dana Russo contemplating suicide. This year on the ‘Day' she is closer than ever, she has her gun out, when her phone rings and won't give up. She holsters the weapon and answers, it's her boss Bill. Dana is a police detective; they've found a dead body, and Mikey who should have been on call is at the hospital with his son. It's going to be a very long day.

The owner of a general store between the two towns in the bush has been found stabbed to death. They already have a suspect, a man found in the store with bloody hands. He's given his name, but otherwise hasn't spoken, it looks like a burglary gone wrong.

Soon, the police team discover that the suspect had disappeared fifteen years previously – just vanished into thin air, no trace of him anywhere. They have 24hrs before the state will insist he gets lawyered up to get him to talk, to find out where's been, what he's been doing, why he came back and was in Jensen's store, and if he murdered Lou Cassavetes.

If anyone can get him talking, Dana will be able to build that trust with some authority and prevent the suspect from clamming up. None of the team know that first thing that morning Dana was ready to take her own life. Can she remain mentally strong enough to last the day? Dana is able to gradually get a few words out of the suspect despite his obvious terror of being around people. They begin to unpick the hermit's home and work life before he took himself off-grid. As more information comes to light, a terrible picture begins to emerge, and it really begins to take a toll on Dana. Alongside the murder is the mystery of what has taken Dana to her own dark place...

The majority of this novel takes place in the police station during the rest of this Day, following the short sessions that Dana has with the suspect, her boss behind the glass; Luce, Rainer and Mikey doing the admin, phones and legwork, finding out more about the murder victim and his relationship with his wife too. In 375 slowburn pages, with a detective who is as damaged as her suspect, Hermit takes its time to reach the shocking conclusion. I was never less than gripped by the narrative, which cleverly reveals it secrets as the clock ticks on. It was amazing to see how much they manage to fit into one day between them, but it did start very early. It was most refreshing to see the close-knit team of detectives working together so well – something that reminded me of my current TV binge – Unforgotten – led by the wonderful Nicola Walker as DCI Cassie Stuart who, by the end of the third series, is nearly as damaged as Dana Russo. It will be really interesting to see if White brings this team back for another investigation. If he does, I'll happily read it.

This psychodrama had two great selling points that immediately made me keen to read it. Firstly its timeline is the late 1960s, and secondly it's set against the backdrop of a nuclear power station.

The novel opens with a mystery, that will be explained fully as the story progresses. Frank received a suspended sentence for violently protecting a girl. However, the nuclear research labs where he worked don't want him back, especially after he was maimed in revenge, his face knifed leaving a terrible scar. Friends tell his wife Gail to leave him, but she can't.

The Authority organise a transfer. It's midsummer, and Frank and Gail find themselves on the road to Suffolk where a new nuclear power station has recently been built. A bungalow in the ‘Atomics' village built for the workers awaits. It'll be their new start, and Gail is hoping for a baby. They soon meet their neighbours, Judy, Maynard and their kids. Maynard is an engineering manager at the plant: Frank takes an instant dislike to him. Gail takes an instant like to Judy and the two will become close friends as the summer goes on. When Frank discovers that Maynard is embarking on an affair with Alice, a local young woman who is a nurse at the plant, it starts to bubble up in him again. Frank must protect Alice at all costs.

We see Frank's descent into mental illness and anger, his desire to commit violence barely suppressed, his longing for danger increasing daily. Frank was damaged early after his mother's suicide, he's haunted by the person who maimed him too. This was the 1960s, and PTSD wasn't really recognised then. Gail is preoccupied with her own concerns, and spending more time with Judy. We're never quite sure whether Gail is at risk from Frank either, and that also adds to the tension. Without the nuclear setting this novel would still have been a compulsive piece of domestic noir, but the addition of the power station, Frank's unhealthy obsession with his work and the dynamics of being stuck in the sterile ‘Atomics' village all add to the sense of horror that builds up.

I also liked the chapter titles too, words mostly related to nuclear physics, such as Uranium, Reactor, Containment, Nucleus, Chain Reaction, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and so on; and they cleverly reflect the events in each chapter in a way. The Atomics is cycling journalist Maunders's first novel, I enjoyed it very much.

My fuller blog review is here https://annabookbel.net/the-atomics-by-paul-maunder

A new grumpy detective with baggage, but one with Maigret-like methods. Nesser's Van Veeteren is a fully realised character from this first novel, which has a cracking first act in the courtroom after an initial murder. Full review here: https://annabookbel.net/nordicfinds-sweden-week-a-new-to-me-grumpy-detective

Better than Sally Rooney for me. Acts of Desperation is the story of a doomed relationship, between the narrator and Ciaran, whom she'd spotted from afar, and daringly approached. Ciaran, half-Danish, however, is still really in love with his ex-girlfriend, Freja. Our narrator's worship of him is doomed. Full review on my blog: https://annabookbel.net/reading-the-sunday-times-young-writer-award-shortlist

If you haven't read this book yet, why not? It's near perfect. Enchanting and funny, melancholy, at one with nature, the story of a girl and her grandmother who spend the summer on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. Between the pair, all the big questions are asked and answered with wit and wisdom. Fuller review here: https://annabookbel.net/nordicfinds-finland-week-my-would-be-gateway-book

An episodic adventure for a journalist who rescues an injured hare, and starts a new unencumbered life. A much loved Finnish bestseller, it is a book that thinks it is funnier than it actually is for me. Full review here https://annabookbel.net/nordicfinds-finland-week-a-long-time-finnish-best-seller

In Off Target, Smith combines all the angst of a psychological drama about a woman desperate to have a child with the high concept baby engineering of the medical thriller to create a chilling vision of the problems it may cause. Smith's thriller is all so plausible, and her depth of research shows. As a trained scientist and frequent reader of popular science books plus all that spec and science fiction, I'd have happily hoovered up even more science, but for other readers I think she gets the balance just right. At the book's core is a scared young girl who's afraid she's a monster – something that should never happen. Eve Smith's prescient thriller is thought-provoking reading, a real page-turner too that I really enjoyed. Full review on my blog: https://annabookbel.net/off-target-by-eve-smith-blog-tour

It's always a relief when a well-known person in the media writes a book, and it's good. Former Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, who left the station earlier this year, has done just that – her debut is assured, straddling that line between commercial and literary fiction. Macmanus is Dublin born, but studied at Queen's, Belfast and it's in the NI capital that she sets her novel.

Told in a dual time-line, we begin in the ‘present' where seventeen-year-old TJ McConnell wakes up one morning to find his mother gone. Mary is nowhere to be found and she's not answering her phone. They'd argued the night before over his plans to go to New York to find his father, and this worries him.

We go back to 1990, when Mary was nine. She lived with her older brother Sean, who she is very close to, and their father who drowns his sorrows in drink. Mary has to be mother at home for their mammy had died when she was little. Jumping four years, we meet Mary and her best friend Louise, these days Sean is always off with his mates rather than going to and from school with his sister. A few chapters and a couple of years on, we discover how TJ arrived as the result of her first sexual experience, which wasn't exactly consensual, after a school event.

Mary, a promising student, having elected to keep her baby, is forced into a very different life to the one she imagined. She looks after her father, worries about Sean, who is descending into violence and drug addiction, and brings up TJ while working in a garden centre part-time and later joining the grounds team at Bedwood cemetery, where her mother is buried.

Macmanus combines TJ's coming of age story, in which he finally finds out about his father, with Mary's ongoing grief and mental torment as she loses more of those around her and her fear of losing TJ too. As is common in dual time-line novels, the past is written in the past tense, and the present in the present, and that works well. Although the plot covers nothing new, she executes it well with the right amount of drama, two main characters whom the reader immediately has sympathy for and a satisfying ending. An assured and very readable debut. Read more on my blog https://annabookbel.net/an-assured-debut-from-annie-mac

Super post-Arthurian set retelling of a 19thC murder ballad with three feisty and individual sisters. The Saxons are coming, so is Christianity - and the magic is fading. Can King Cador's daughters, with the help of Myrdhin keep the magic alive? Superbly researched, the setting is just right for this historical fantasy which has swords and sorcery, love and betrayal and much more. Full review on my blog. https://annabookbel.net/the-coming-of-christianity-and-the-beginning-of-the-death-of-magic

I read the last book of the series first, and phew - thankfully, there is no significant back story to get in the way. Super scene-setting, a dogged and likeable policeman and dark secrets. Want to read the rest now. Full review on my blog https://annabookbel.net/winterkill-dark-iceland-6-by-ragnar-jonasson

I loved this novella. A slowburn romance that starts as friendship, but grows with enforced separation, as our couple to be try to find their place in life. Simply told by the photographer narrator, and set in South London with stop and search and gang violence, Nelson uses the second person throughout - which really works. Fuller review on my blog: https://annabookbel.net/reading-the-sunday-times-young-writer-award-shortlist