Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro

First published in Great Britain in 2005.

Before I start, let me say that this was a very difficult review to write without giving away any spoilers, so apologies for the lack of plot detail.

Never Let Me Go is a book that I don't read often, but really enjoy when I do.  It's not the easiest read and is another 'makes you think' story.  I went to see the film with my mum and bought the book the next day.  I knew that although I liked the film, it was one of those that the book improves on a lot (like every film adaptation, I know, but this film in particular had a lot of 'staring-into-the-distance' that I knew would come across better in my mind while reading).

So then, the plot.  Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are three friends who grew up together at a boarding school in the English countryside called Hailsham.  Their childhood seems very idyllic but there is a huge secret that their school is hiding.  A secret that will change everything they think they know.  As they grow up they learn their fate and must come to terms with it

The story is set in an alternate England in the 1990s.  It is a sort of dystopian past which is so well put together that it seems real, even reading it today.  Part of this is in the small details which generally are the same as our reality - there are recognisable cars, jobs, streets, houses - and yet over all of these is an uncomfortable difference.

Kathy is the main character and we meet her as a 31 year old carer.  The story is told from her point of view as she recounts her school days, from the teacher who mysteriously left after a dramatic lesson, to the art classes that were so important.  The book is very well written, with the reader never totally sure what is going on until it is made explicit.  By only getting Kathy's point of view we are put in the classrooms with her, and make the discoveries as she does.  Kathy is a strong character who thinks a lot about her own humanity and that of the people around her, and often seems older than she is.

Kathy has a lot of love for her friends.  Ruth is carefree and accepting of her life.  Tommy, on the other hand, wants answers and struggles with his feelings a lot.  The three are tied together in a love triangle for most of the book but is not an annoying one.

Overall I would recommend this book if you like thought-provoking stories with a twist.  This is not a book you will only read once.  At times it can be a bit slow-going and there is a lot of description, which seems unnecessary, but stick with it and let's have a discussion.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce

First published in Great Britain in 2012.

You know that saying - 'never judge a book by it's cover'?  Well, I was on a bus one day and it stopped at a stop which had this book advertised on the side of it.  I got off the bus, went into a bookshop and bought the book.  I did have a quick flick through and read the blurb, but essentially I was drawn to this one because of the cover.  It worked.  The book is wonderful.

Harold Fry is a elderly man who is retired and lives with his wife Maureen on the south coast of England.  One ordinary morning he receives a postcard from Berwick-Upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in the country.  The postcard is from Queenie Hennessy, an old friend, telling Harold she is dying from cancer and saying goodbye.  This comes as a complete shock to Harold, who struggles to write a reply.  When he has done so, he leaves to post the letter...and carries on walking.  His journey with no map, waterproof or mobile phone and wearing only boating shoes takes him the length of the country.
Along the way he meets lots of different people who all help him somehow, whilst Maureen is left at home wondering what has happened to her husband.

Joyce writes in quite a simplistic style, which lends itself very well to Harold's way of thinking - to him, he has to walk so that Queenie lives.   The chapter in which he meets a silver-haired gentlemen is so full of emotion that I get a lump in my throat every time I read it.

Harold is a kind, gentle man who finds it difficult to express his feelings to his wife, but easy to talk to strangers. At one point other people join in his walk (think of the running scene in Forrest Gump), but he refuses to get caught up in the publicity.
As well as Harold's journey, we also see Maureen's side of the story.  From her worrying to her confused acceptance, it's obvious that she loves Harold above all else but doesn't quite know what to do outside of her country garden.

The story is quintessentially English, with the plot taking us through some of England's best known cities and places.  The geography doesn't overpower the story but rather shows the affinity that the characters have for the country.  My copy has a map of Harold's journey at the end, which I kept flipping to as I read so I could place where I was up to.

This book made me smile, cry, and smile again.  It gave me a faith in people doing the right thing and made me want to help people.  It's not the most fast-paced of books but it's a great one for reading on a train, a bus, or while dreaming about travelling.

The Shadow Of The Wind

The Shadow Of The Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

First published in Great Britain in 2004.

This book is brilliant.  It is one of those books that you don't want to finish because you are enjoying reading it so much, but it's a complete page turner at the same time.  My friend Ella told me to read it when I told her I was reading The Book Thief at the time.  The copy I bought includes a 'Shadow of the Wind tour of Barcelona', which is a great little extra and has made me want to go there again and follow the story.

In brief, and without giving anything away, the story is that of Daniel, who lives in Barcelona with his bookshop-owner father.  When he is ten, his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  There, Daniel is told to choose one book that he must look after for the rest of his life.  He chooses 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax and soon learns that this is the last of Carax's books still in existence - the others have been burnt and destroyed by a strange man.  From then on finds himself trying to find out the truth about Carax's life and death.  Along the way he meets many people who are all strangely interested in, and connected to, the book he chose.  From tracking down Carax's old friends and finding out secrets, to running from the law, this story is a serious page-turner.

Barcelona is a character as well as the setting, and the descriptive language is so detailed that you feel you are walking the streets with Daniel.  The language in the book is at times so magical; an example - 'in my schoolboy reveries, we were always two fugitives riding on the spine of a book, eager to escape into worlds of fiction and secondhand dreams'.  I love the image that brings to my mind, and to me this is how a book should make the reader feel.

Character wise, Daniel starts off briefly as a ten year old, grows into a teenager and then into a man.  He is very well developed; we feel his emotions change particularly in his love life, from lust and intimidation to desperation.  He reflects the reader's confusion at times, and our want to discover the hidden secrets of Carax's life.

Daniel's father is a wise old man, who tries to be the best father he can.  He seems to be replaced by Fermin as Daniel grows up and keeps secrets from him, which was sad to read.
Fermin was my favourite character in this story.  He got a great introduction and progressed from an old homeless man to a passionate and practical friend.  Fermin is a guide to both Daniel and the reader.

The other characters, including Nuria, Bea, Clara, Fumero and Miquel are all linked in ways that are slowly uncovered.  Just when you think you have them all understood the plot twists in a way you never saw coming.

The Shadow Of The Wind is a thriller, a mystery, a love story and a literary adventure.  Now go and read it.

My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult

First published in Great Britain in 2004.

I was introduced to Jodi Picoult by my mum.  We would read the same book and then talk for days about it and what we would have done in the situation.  My Sister's Keeper was the first of Picoult's books I read and has stayed my favourite of hers.

It tells the story of a mother Sara, whose daughter Kate is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia when she is just two.  Sara and her husband Brian decide to create a baby perfectly matched with Kate, to provide much-needed bone marrow.  This is Anna.  Then, when Anna is thirteen, she decides she no longer wants to help her sister and sues her parents for the rights to her own body.
This decision and consequences of it, both obvious and secondary, form the plot of the book.

It is told from each person's perspective, including Anna and Kate's brother Jesse, Anna's lawyer Campbell and her guardian ad litem Julia.  As a reader you get the whole story from all sides, which makes it quite difficult at times to choose who you agree with.

As characters go, these are really thought through, and ones who stay with you long after the last page.  Anna is, at times, a sterotypical teenager - she gets angry and has arguments, but is obviously mature for her age, due mostly to the situation with her sister she has been in since birth.  At times I forgot how young she was, but then she would do something like offer to polish Campbell's doorknobs to help pay him to be her lawyer, and it was obvious.

Sara and Brian provide the opposing sides of the argument from a parental perspective, and we also get to see how Anna's decision, in a less obvious way, affects Jesse.  Through it all Kate is trying to keep everybody happy and stay out of the arguments, and I did find myself wishing she would stick up for Anna more at times - especially later in the book.

The courtroom and law talk can get a bit full-on, and it's clear that lots of research has gone into the case, but Campbell and Julia keep it as layman friendly as possible, without being patronising.

As a bit of a side not, don't watch the film first (preferably don't watch it at all).  I saw it after reading the book, and it just made me angry.

Overall I would highly recommend this if you want a book that leaves you asking yourself 'what would I do?'
All of Picoult's books are like this, so they can get a bit samey if you read them soon after each other.  Others of hers I would recommend are Nineteen Minutes and Keeping Faith.

The Painted Garden

The Painted Garden
by Noel Streatfeild

First published in 1949.

This was one of my favourite books growing up and I re-read it at least once a year.  The Painted Shoes is also known as Movie Shoes, and is part of Noel Streatfeild's 'Shoes' series, which started with Ballet Shoes.  These books are essentially all pretty similar - they usually include several children in a family who each have a different talent or personality trait, and have to help each other to overcome some difficulty or achieve their dreams.  The Painted Garden is my favourite, as it incorporates film-making and travel, which I found exciting when I was younger and still find interesting now.

The Winters family from London are made up of the Mum, Dad, oldest daughter Rachel, middle child Jane and youngest son Tim.  Rachel is a ballet dancer, Tim plays the piano but Jane is descibed as plain, with no talent.  This makes her somewhat sullen and angry towards her siblings, as people often ask what she does.

The family get the opportunity to go to California when they are left some money, and the story follows them as they travel across the ocean and then across America.  While they are in California, Jane is discovered by a film director and producer, who cast her as Mary in their film of 'The Secret Garden'.
The story tells of Jane going to filming, costume fittings and school on set, as well as the characters she meets whilst doing so, including other child actors.  At the same time, Tim finds himself a piano and some Italian friends.

I particularly like Rachel's part, as Streatfeild brings in Posy and Pauline Fossil from Ballet Shoes to help her get to dancing lessons in California.  Having read Ballet Shoes I thought this was a clever way to let readers know what happened to the Fossil girls after their book finished.

Apart from Jane, the characters in this story are developed just enough for us to care about, but essentially they are there to help Jane grow and find what she is good at.  Although she becomes friendlier with the other children in the film, she never completely loses her 'black-doggishness', which for me is what makes her unique.  I think the story could have been too soppy and cheesy, but she keeps it from going too far.

It might not be the best-known of Streatfeild's work, but it's definitely worth a read if you want a behind-the-scenes look at a film set in the fourties.  It's a true classic of my childhood and will be on my bookcase for many years yet.