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The Raven's Book Bunker, Brighton (2025)

23/09/2025

A fast-paced read with plenty of red herrings, 'The New Neighbours' is presented from several different characters' perspectives, but mostly from that of newly-separated, forty-something Lena, whose teenage son is dividing his time between her mother's house and his father's flat. When middle-aged couple Henry and Marielle move in next door, Lena initially welcomes the chance to make some new friends. But curiosity about the new neighbours quickly turns to suspicion when she overhears them discussing a nefarious plan, the details of which remain obscure. Gaining admission to their house with the old neighbour's key, she finds a series of press cuttings that seem to relate to her own past, and in particular to two of the colleagues she encountered during her days as a student midwife.
I didn't find the ending sufficiently convincing, after such an extensive build-up, it all seemed too hastily tidied up for my liking and I was looking for a final twist that didn't come. But still an enjoyable and immersive read.

17/09/2025

Heart breaking and beautifully written story of a lonely, sensitive 9 year old boy who is unhappy at having to leave his comfortable home in Berlin because of his father's promotion, and feels comfort when he finally makes a new friend - a boy of his own age who lives on the other side of the high wire fence outside his new home, and unaccountably always seems to be wearing striped pyjamas.
Of course we discover as the story unfolds that the father's new position is Commandant of Auschwitz, and everything else follows from that. But Bruno's innocence and hopeful and friendly attitude to life is all the more heart rending given the context, and the tragic ending is no doubt familiar to many due to the popularity of the film.
If you weren't already aware, John Boyne has written a sequel to this story, 'All The Broken Places', which follows the life of Bruno's sister Gretel, from the immediate post-war years up to her life as a ninety-something widow in a well-heeled part of London. That also is a must-read.
I don't know how Boyne does it, his writing is so versatile, but he seems to get under the skin of every character he creates, young or old, male or female, and make them utterly believable in all their complexity. One of the best writers around today, in my opinion.

14/09/2025

Fascinating, riveting but chilling read about the experience of Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins' (fictional) sister, Alice.
Returning in 1645 to her home village of Manningtree in Essex as a pregnant widow, Alice is at first bemused and then appalled by her younger brother Matthew's obsession with identifying and questioning 'witches' - most of them women she'd known as a girl, who may have been a little eccentric but she knows were certainly not capable of casting spells to kill their neighbours' cattle or children, as is claimed. But Matthew has seemingly risen high in the esteem of the local authorities during her absence, and is given more and more leeway to carry out his searches across Essex and into Suffolk.
It seems to Alice that many of the peculiarities and behaviours of the accused women mirror that of their late mother, who suffered much from anxiety and obsessional behaviours; but when she tries to point this out to her brother, he becomes angry. She knows she has touched a nerve, however, and seeks answers from her mother-in-law Bridget, who was also her mother's old servant, realising only belatedly that this has put Bridget in danger.
When Alice loses the baby she is carrying, her brother forces her to accompany him on his travels and to take part in the 'watching' and interrogation of his victims - a role she tries to carry out with as much kindness as is possible under the circumstances, but which nevertheless fills her with guilt and despair.
Will she be able to get to the bottom of this frightening obsession of Matthew's without putting herself in danger? And will she, as she finds herself ever more closely watched by him and his underlings, be able to escape his clutches and make a new life for herself?
The author states that according to her research, Matthew Hopkins was one of six children, four of whom (all boys) have been identified by name - the other two could easily have been sisters, hence her appropriation of Alice as a believable character. This is a cracker of a debut novel from Beth Underdown, and I'll certainly be looking out for more from her.

09/09/2025

I first read this reworking of the Theseus legend as a teenager, and then again in my early twenties - both times, in the first flush of feminist fervour, I took exception to the vivid portrayal of casual misogyny and sexual exploitation of women, even though it undoubtedly carries historical accuracy. This time, older, wiser and a Pagan, I was able to appreciate the depiction of the 'Old Religion' of the Earth Mother presented alongside (and wondered why Renault never got round to setting a book in this context, with a female protagonist - she would have done it so well - was she afraid that rewriting Classical myth from a female point of view would carry less credence? That could well have been the case in the late 1950s/early 1960s, though of course it's practically been done to death now ....)
Of course, in the original legend Theseus is a cad and a bounder, thirsty for power and cruelly abandoning Ariadne, the Cretan princess he's promised to marry, on the island of Naxos. Renault writes him subjectively as a much more sympathetic character, and gives him a rather chilling but understandable reason for leaving Ariadne behind (one that I didn't fully understand on my earlier readings, being unfamiliar with the Rites of Dionysus).
What really stood out for me this time, though, was the power of the Gods in Renault's writing, particularly Poseidon, Theseus' putative Divine father, the Earth-Shaker who manifests in the earthquake, the tsunami, and in his sacred animals, the Horse and the Bull. None of today's feminist reconstructions of Classical myth seem to treat the Gods with such seriousness and respect, often reducing them to the level of capricious, spoilt children. I realised that it was this numinous quality that drew me to Renault's writing in the first place, as a youngster, and I appreciate it even more in later life, and was really pleased to have rediscovered 'The King Must Die' in a local charity shop and give it the appreciative reading it deserves!

23/08/2025

Well, following all the recent Polari Prize controversy, I thought I'd better start getting acquainted with John Boyne's writing, so went along to my local Library and what should I find but 'The Echo Chamber' - which, as synchronicity would have it, is all about the toxicity of social media!
The truly awful Cleverley family - celebrity TV interviewer George, his wife Beverly, 'author' of numerous chick-lit novels that are actually the work of paid ghost writers, and their three children, neuro-diverse, uniform-obsessed Nelson (the only likeable one of the whole clan), Twitter-obsessed nepo baby Elizabeth, and teenage Achilles who despite his extreme youth has already embarked on a career as a blackmailer of older men - encounter a series of real-world challenges for which they are woefully ill-prepared, and their individual and collective downfalls are a joy to witness, happening as they do in slow-motion for the delight of the reader. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments, as Boyne ruthlessly mocks the tyranny of a Woke, virtue-signalling, all-pervading social media in which one's every comment, word or even 'like' could trigger outrage, ostracism, or the ultimate punishment, cancellation.
'I'm starting to feel that nowadays there's no-one more bigoted than a liberal,' wails George at one point; 'The right-wingers, at least they have their own hatred, and don't try to dress it up as anything other than the intolerant, narrow-minded, self-serving bu****it that it is. You know where you are with the Right. But the Left? My God, disagree with them for a moment, even dare to ask a question or deviate from the company line, and they're on you like flies on s**t. They won't stand for even an iota of disagreement, pleading for kindness while masking their own intolerance in sanctimony.'
Can't argue with that for a moment, and now that poor John Boyne has himself been the victim of just such a sanctimonious pile-on in a truly Wildean case of Life imitating Art, I'm determined to read a lot more of his stuff and hope that the whole fiasco brings him a host of new readers and fans!

11/08/2025

Lovely heart-warming tale about an unlikely group of friends who decide to attend local Public Health Funerals (funerals carried by the local authority for individuals who die alone, in poverty and with no next of kin). The group consists of kindly part-time librarian George, his much younger work colleague Roxy, local funeral director Edwin and his colleague Niall, generous florist Elena, and belatedly, fledgling reporter Briony. Together they decide not only to attend and witness these lonely funerals, but also to find out as much as they can about the deceased and their lives, in order to add a personal touch.
Of course they all also have their own lives and journeys, and George, Roxy and Briony in particular are also lonely people, with problems to deal with and relationships to iron out.
Cleverly interwoven into the narrative are snippets from the earlier lives of each deceased individual whose funeral is witnessed by the Light A Candle Society, and it all adds up to a beautiful and uplifting story of community, friendship and kindness. The perfect pick-me-up for anyone who needs reminding that the world isn't all doom and gloom!

05/08/2025

There are a lot of retellings of the Classical myths and histories from a female point of view around at the moment - some of them better than others, and this is definitely one of the best. It's right up there with Pat Barker's 'Silence of the Girls' in my opinion.
Set in a 'Lupanar' in Pompei - literally a 'Wolf Den' but colloquially a brothel - it spares no reader's sensibilities in describing the humiliations, degradations and dangers suffered by the women enslaved there. The main character is Timarete, renamed Amara, formerly a doctor's daughter in Greece but sold first into concubinage and then into slavery following her father's death and the family debts that accumulated subsequently. She and Dido, a young girl trafficked from Carthage, were both born free unlike their fellow prostitutes, and consequently find the life harder to adjust to - especially as their pimp, the brothel owner Felix, is a cruel and brutal master. However Amara is determined to use her skills and education to carve out a path away from prostitution, even if it means having to court the favour of a rich man.
There are many twists and turns to Amara's story, and at one point I thought the ending was going to be much more tragic than it is - that's not to say that it's entirely happy either, but part of the story's credibility lies in its illustration that for those in enslavement, compromises must be made in the struggle to gain a better life.
The author's research has obviously been meticulous, and anyone familiar with the excavation of Pompeii will recognise some of the artifacts, graffiti and locations that appear in this very immersive story. I devoured the whole thing in under three days!

01/08/2025

A love story and a history lesson all in one! In 1970s Cyprus, in the years leading up to partition, Greek boy Kostas and Turkish girl Defne start a clandestine affair, meeting secretly in the Happy Fig Cafe - a venue run jointly by a Greek and a Turk with a secret of their own.
In 2010s London, Kostas and Defne's daughter Ada suffers a mental health crisis following her mother's death, and in the garden of her London home a fig tree, grown from a cutting of the original tree after which the Happy Fig Cafe was named, lies buried against the winter cold.
It's only when her aunt Meryam comes to visit that Ada finally hears the story of her parents' doomed love, long separation and final reuniting years later; but alongside it, the privileged reader is allowed to see the bigger picture. Half of the narrative is told by the fig tree herself, allowing us insight into the history of Cyprus, the life cycle of trees, and the hidden tragedy that, unbeknownst to Ada, underpins Kostas the Defne's life together. It's a wonderful read.

23/07/2025

Lovely account of the author's exploration of the South Downs Way between Lewes to Wilmington taking in the sacred sites and exploring their history and meaning, with special reference to Druid tradition. Starting and ending at the Lewes Tump and circling the Long Man (or could it be a Long Woman?) of Wilmington, we share the thoughts, reminiscences and visions of the Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids as he encounters and re-encounters the sacred land, guarded on one side by the sea and on the other by the bony shoulder of the South Downs.
There are also beautiful examples of Druid ceremonies to mark birthing/naming, marriage/handfasting and death/parting, which show how modern practitioners continue the sacred traditions of the Old Ways of the indigenous Celts, honouring the land, the four elements, and the animal and bird life that shares our time and space on this beautiful planet. A hopeful and inspiring read.

16/07/2025

The Potter family, like most, boast two grandfathers - 'Poppa' George Potter, and 'Opa' Heinrich 'Henry' Muller, a German national who came to England as a refugee during WWII. Everyone knows that George and Henry are old friends and go back a long way, but there's more to it than that - unbeknownst to their children and grandchildren, they are also lovers. Their affair began back in the early 1960s, following the death of Henry's wife Clara but very much under the nose of George's wife Eileen, who later comes to accept the situation, remaining married to George and good friends with Henry.
'Radcliffe Road' is George's retelling of how this situation came about. Writing during his last few weeks of life in order to contribute his story to a time capsule his care home is putting together, George reveals the secrecy he and Henry had to maintain over decades, the painful process of finally coming out to their joint family and the whole history of their 50+ years together.
It's a moving and at times heart breaking story, but underscored by the resilience of 'the love that dares not speak its name' - especially back in the 1960s when homosexuality had yet to be legalised. The characters are beautifully and vividly drawn, and we get to know and love all of them - including brave Eileen, survivor of childhood abuse along with her waspish sister Beryl, both of whom will be instantly recognisable to readers of a certain age.
It's a fictional narrative that nevertheless has a ring of truth about it, as this will have been the experience of many gay men during the last half of the twentieth century. I really enjoyed it!

10/07/2025

Five stars for this because (a) it's a jolly good story, and (b) it's so rare to find a depiction of OCD, either in books or in films, that goes beyond the 'germ-phobic neatness freak' trope to tackle the crippling anxiety and overriding need to feel safe that lies at the root of the repetitive rituals and bizarre behaviour. I was convinced that Fisher must either be a sufferer herself, or have a close family member with OCD, but no, she says in the Acknowledgements that both she and her children are neurotypical - which makes her depiction of Jonathan 'Joe-Nathan' Clarke all the more amazing.
Joe, aged 23, lives with his mother Janet, who encourages him to engage with life and is often heard to repeat that her son 'doesn't have a mean bone in his body.' He finds work at the Compass Store - so named because it has a helpful compass mosaic embedded in the floor pointing out the different directions - as a shelf-stacker, a tidy, repetitive job that he enjoys. His boss, Hugo, is kind, understanding and helpful, as are his colleagues, middle-aged, motherly Pip and sweary, abrasive Chloe. But other colleagues, such as 'Mean Charlie' and his sidekick Owen, are not so understanding, and Joe often finds himself the butt of jokes that he does not understand but knows are not kindly meant.
However, as long as he can keep to his morning routine, greet the trees on the way to work and put his satchel in his locker, fasten his tabard and stow his lunchbox safely in the fridge without having to talk to anyone, Joe can enjoy his day, and look forward to finishing it off with a few episodes of 'Friends' to relax with before bed. Sometimes, of course, a 'new thing' might crop up and have to be dealt with, but 'he was buoyed and drew reassurance about dealing with the new thing by the consistency of his normal life; it was a bedrock and a safety net; a reliable place that was there like the bass note in a song.'
The one day a new thing happens that blows everything else out of the water - his mother dies unexpectedly, and Joe is left to continue his life without the one who has guided, comforted and protected him since childhood. His colleagues and two kind neighbours who have promised Janet to keep an eye on him in the event of her death all step into the breach and try to help - and in addition, Janet has left two books, one filled with notes about daily household tasks and one containing various nuggets of advice about life in general, to help her son should he ever have to manage without her.
Gradually, a new routine is established with the help of these written guidelines and an alarm clock to parcel out the time at weekends; and when 'Mean Charlie' turns out to be not so mean after all, but rather to be the victim of an alcoholic, abusive father, Joe is determined to make a friend of him against all the odds, and show him that he has 'no mean bones'.
It's a tender, heart breaking, life-affirming story that will have any reader rooting for Joe, but especially one who, like me, also suffers from OCD. Although I'm much more high-functioning than poor Joe, there's so much about him that I can identify with - not least this lovely description of the effects of alcohol on the OCD brain: 'He suddenly realised that although the cups were not lined up and there were sheets of paper that were not cleanly stacked, and the pen was half on and half off the table, he did not care. Okay, he cared a bit. That pen could easily fall. He moved it so that it was fully on the table with no part of it hanging over the edge. But it wasn't straight, and he didn't care at all, when he usually would. A lot. Joe felt free from himself. And even though he loved himself, it was nice to be free.'
Cheers, Joe! I'm so glad you get your happy ending.

05/07/2025

A very interesting series of glimpses into the Buddhist way of tackling some of life's biggest challenges - chronic illness, imprisonment, sexual and physical abuse, racism, memories of the Holocaust - and the paths various teachers and leaders not born into Buddhism have taken to discover their spiritual home. Several different Buddhist paths and practises are highlighted, emphasising the importance of being able to free oneself from harmful thought patterns such as anger, vengeance and self-pity while at the same time giving space to and acknowledging those feelings as and when they arise. None of the individuals featured claim to have perfected this practise, and their honesty and courage is both admirable and inspiring to read.
I was already familiar with some aspects of Buddhism, as my father practised it for a time during my childhood - he discovered it whilst stationed in Tibet after WWII, waiting to be demobbed and struggling to cope with the horrors he'd encountered during his time in Burma. But as a spiritual path it's a tad too cerebral for me. Since childhood I've longed for Divine encounter, and although it can be argued that enlightenment and a sense of the oneness of all creation is in essence the same thing, I need to approach it in a different way.
However, as Jesus says in the Christian scriptures, 'there are many rooms in my Father's house', and I love to hear the testimony of anyone whose religion has brought them spiritual fulfilment, inner peace, and an attitude of kindness to all creation.

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