Book Review: Bridge of Clay (Literary Fiction)

Book Bingo 2019 #3 'Literary Fiction'

Book Bingo is a reading challenge is hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

 

Bridge of Clay 

by

Markus Zusak

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publication date: 9th October 2018

Pages: 592

RRP: $32.99

Format Read: uncorrected paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 Bridge of Clay is about a boy who is caught in the current - of destroying everything he has, to become all he needs to be. He's a boy in search of greatness, as a cure for memory and tragedy. He builds a bridge to save his family, but also to save himself. It's an attempt to transcend humanness, to make a single, glorious moment:

A miracle and nothing less.

Markus Zusak makes his long-awaited return with a profoundly heartfelt and inventive novel about a family held together by stories, and a young life caught in the current: a boy in search of greatness, as a cure for a painful past.

 

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak was ten years in the making so I was expecting big things from this story and I wasn’t disappointed.

The story opens with Matthew, the oldest Dunbar boy, bringing home the old TW, the typewriter of a Grandmother they never knew.

Let me tell you about our brother.

The fourth Dunbar boy named Clay.

Everything happened to him.

We were all of us changed through him.

This is Clay’s story as told by Matthew in an omniscient point of view. Whilst Matthew insists this is Clay’s story it is in fact a story of the Dunbar family and how they came to be. This is Penelope Lesciuszko’s story, Michael Dunbar’s story and also their combined story with the lead up of what was to come and what it is now; a family of ramshackle tragedy.

Zusak’s short sentences read like poetry and you often need to stop and take in the meaning behind the words.

Both parents were readers, for their mother it was The Iliad and the Odyssey, for their father it was the Quarryman. The books are mentioned often and have great significance in the parents’ lives and that of the Dunbar boys. They were also great storytellers passing down to the boys not only their love of books but the stories of their own lives.

As much as you would think a story of five boys bringing themselves up would be rambunctious and unruly it is in fact tender, loving and intimate. That’s not to say the boys don’t bicker, fight and sometimes drink too much.

The story jumps around in time however the authors phrasing at the start of each new chapter makes it easy to tell exactly where you are in time.

This is a story of love, heartbreak, togetherness, family, despair, life, death, forgiveness and reconciliation. A family saga without all the unnecessary words.

I cried all the way through the second half of the book. Some 300 pages read through blurry tear filled eyes. Maybe being the mother of four sons brought a deeper connection. A felt I knew these boys and all their different personalities.

I think I’ve just read my best book of 2019. I’m not sure anything can top Bridge of Clay. Even before I’d finished the book I wanted to go back and read all those beautiful words again.

My Rating   5/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*This review is: 

Book 'B' in the AtoZ challenge 

and part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge

#bookbingo2019 

 

Photo credit: Goodreads

Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief , which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into more than forty languages – establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.

To date, Zusak has held the number one position at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in countries across South America, Europe and Asia.

His books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry (also titled Getting the Girl ), The Messenger (or I am the Messenger ) and The Book Thief have been awarded numerous honours ranging from literary prizes to readers choice awards to prizes voted on by booksellers.

In a statement about his latest novel, Zusak said:"Clay Dunbar builds a bridge for a multitude of reasons:for his brothers and to honour his parents...but it's also an attempt at greatness. He builds a bridge to save himself, and to make a single beautiful moment: a miracle and nothing less."

Markus Zusak grew up in Sydney, Australia and still lives there with his wife and two children.

 

Book Review: Death of an Old Girl (Cozy Crime/Mystery)

Death of an Old Girl

by

Elizabeth Lemarchand

Series: Pollard & Toye #1

Publisher: Sapere Books 

Publication date: 20th September 2018

Pages: 283

Format Read: Ebook

Source: Courtesy of Publisher

How do you solve a village murder when everyone is under suspicion…?

 
1966, Rural England

Shockwaves are sent through the sleepy village of Trill when a woman’s body is discovered in a local school.

Beatrice Baynes – interfering, overbearing and spiteful – was not well liked. But no one expects a body to be found on their doorstep… And how did the annual festival at Meldon School turn from a light-hearted celebration to a gruesome crime scene?

With the local constabulary completely stumped, Scotland Yard’s  Detective Chief Inspector Pollard and Detective Sergeant Toye are called in to investigate.

But the further Pollard & Toye delve into their inquiries, the more complicated the case becomes…  

 

Death of an Old Girl is the first cozy mystery in the Pollard and Toye crime series; an intricate police procedural set in rural England. Originally published in 1967 it has been rereleased by Sapere Books.

The story is set during the Meldon Girls School’s annual festival and Old Girls reunion. A time of year when previous students (old girls) come together, reunite and catch up on the latest school developments.

After the weekend-long festivities are over and the school is about to be closed for the summer the body of an Old Girl is found hidden in the art room.

DCI pollard and DS Toye from Scotland Yard are called in to help with the investigation. Pollard clearly sees this as a chance to impress his superiors.

Death of an Old Girl is a slow paced and lengthy police procedural as Pollard and Toye piece together snippets of information from numerous interviews to develop an intricate time line.

There are a few good twists as Pollard digs deeper, murder isn’t the only crime being committed. He also uncovers one family’s long held secret and an eavesdropping busy body causes the perfect crime to come asunder.

I found Pollard’s sexist remarks a little grating but I suppose they were probably par for the course in the era the story was set.

The language of the characters came across as more 1930’s than the late 1960’s and it did take me a while to work out when the story was set. Also the old English slang was hard for me to understand so I was a bit lost there.

A classic cozy mystery from a master of the genre! Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, M C Beaton, Sophie Hannah and Faith Martin.

My rating  3.5/5  ⭐⭐⭐½

 

*This review is: Letter 'D' in the AtoZ challenge 

 

Elizabeth Lemarchand was born in 1906. She became a teacher at The Godophin School in Salisbury. Her first book Death of an Old Girl was published in 1967. Elizabeth passed away in 2000 at the age of 93.

Coming soon

Elizabeth wrote 17 books throughout her life in the acclaimed Pollard and Toye detective series. Sapere Books is delighted to be reissuing the series beginning in 2018.

 

 

Book Review: The Christmas Lights (Romance)

The Christmas Lights

by 

Karen Swan 

I had grand plans to finish all my Christmas themed books before Christmas but time got away from me and now here I am at the end of January reviewing my first Christmas read.

I have more Christmas books to read and I will get them all done before Easter (that's my new plan). And so a late New Years resolution has been made; this year I will have all my Christmas themed books read and reviewed by 25th December.

 

Publisher:  Pan Macmillan

Publication Date: 30th October 2018

Pages: 467

RRP: $29.99

Format Read: Trade paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

Set on the scenic fjords of Norway, The Christmas Lights by bestselling author Karen Swan is a moving Christmas tale of love and heartbreak.

December 2018, and free-spirited Influencers Bo Loxley and her partner Zac are living a life of wanderlust, travelling the globe and sharing their adventures with their millions of fans. Booked to spend Christmas in the Norwegian fjords, they set up home in a remote farm owned by enigmatic mountain guide Anders and his fierce grandmother Signy. Surrounded by snowy peaks and frozen falls, everything should be perfect. But the camera can lie and with every new post, the ‘perfect’ life Zac and Bo are portraying is diverging from the truth. Something Bo can’t explain is wrong at the very heart of their lives and Anders is the only person who’ll listen.
June 1936, and fourteen-year old Signy is sent with her sister and village friends to the summer pastures to work as milkmaids, protecting the herd that will sustain the farm through the long, winter months. But miles from home and away from the safety of their families, threat begins to lurk in friendly faces . . .

The Christmas Lights is narrated in dual time lines and moves from present day, with Instagram influencers Bo, Zac and their photographer come manager, Lenny, back to 1936 with Signy, a 14 year old milk maid, in the highlands of Norway.

Signy’s story is told over one summer, a coming of age story, and the lead up to the events that would shape the rest of Signy’s life.

Bo and Zac move from the heat of the South Pacific to their next adventure, a month on a cliff farm in Norway. The farm is owned by an elderly Signy and her Grandson Anders.

Bo and Anders are the main characters although you would think it would be Bo and Zac’s story as they are the Instagram couple. We do get Bo and Zac’s story from Bo’s point of view. Bo is running from a past tragedy believing this wandering life is exactly what she wants, although it is starting to wear thin. The fame means they never have a ‘real’ moment to themselves, everything is staged. Their whole life is out there for everyone to see. With Lenny always behind the camera, sometimes Bo feels like the third wheel.

Anders is enigmatic and detached. Is it their lifestyle he hates or has he hidden demons he wants kept locked away?

The story is fast paced and energetic but the underlying details are slow to surface, dispatched sparingly to keep the reader eager for more.

Swan knows how to create atmosphere. The cold was chilling. I felt it like it was real even though it is summer as I read and an astounding 38 . Swan has the knack of throwing her readers out into the chill air over and over so there is no way you can forget how bitterly cold it is.

I really enjoyed this Christmas themed romance with added mystery and suspense. I liked the insight into the world of Instagram influencers and the price of all that fame. With mentions of online trolls and people being jealous and mean spirited with cruel remarks and jibes.

The beautiful setting of the cliff farms of Norway with views of waterfalls and the spellbinding Northern Lights is all brought to life on the page.

Highly Recommended.

My Rating  5/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

*This review is: 

  Letter 'C' in the AtoZ challenge 

photo credit - Goodreads

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest in Sussex, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs. 

Her books include Christmas at Tiffany's, Summer at Tiffany's, The Perfect Present, Christmas in the Snow, The Summer Without You, The Paris Secret, and Christmas Under the Stars.  

How did your Christmas reading go? Do you still have a pile of Christmas themed books yet to be read?