Review: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

There is nothing so enjoyable as escaping into some high quality historical fiction don't you think? Year of Wonders by Australian author Geraldine Brooks is absorbing, human, full of drama, and I loved it. 

Geraldine Brooks, who has also worked as a foreign correspondent for publications like The Wall Street Journal,  starts all of her fiction with a kernel of historical fact. Here, the voluntary quarantining of a Derbyshire village, Eyam, in 1666 that is beset by plague.  The novel, through the narrative voice of a young maid at the local rectory, explores the villagers response to this immense crisis. 

The premise; what happens to a village where more people have died of plague than still remain, was always going to be ripe for good story telling potential. But Brooks really lets rip and through her amazing eye for detail and imagination brings the village to life, from the people, to the muddied streets to the sickening manifestation of the bubonic plague itself.  And she weaves the whole story together in 300 pages.  As a complete aside, I have recently read another novel by a former journalist, Snowdrops by AD Miller, a more different story to Year of Wonders I can't imagine, but my point is, that I really liked how Miller crafted his narrative arc too.  In both cases the novels begin at almost the end, and then describes how the heck the narrator got there. 

Anna Frith, the rectory maid and narrator of Years of Wonders is a beautifully balanced character.  From the beginning we learn that her life was devastated in the year before the plague, when her husband was killed in a mining accident.  We also quickly learn that Anna's two young children fall early victims to the plague.  This is Anna's story and how she manages to hang on through the devastation and create some sort of life for herself. 

A central theme to the story is exploring human responses to the unknown.  In 1666, there was no science to explain the plague, so no one understood why this hideous disease had come to the village, how it was spread, or how it chose its victims.  Fear, suspicion and prejudice, combined with grief and trauma make for a devastating mix in the village, as everyone is forced to confront their own death.

Anna also bears witness to the unmasking of many of the villagers.  Brooks fully explores the theme of crisis revealing an individual's true, core character.  And there are plenty of surprises to this end right up until the conclusion of the novel.  Brooks makes her point very well, that there are so many layers to a person, and sometimes it is only when everything is taken away true nature is revealed.

In more recent times Brooks has written the much acclaimed Caleb's Crossing.  Year of Wonders is the first novel I have read by her and I can't wait to read the others.  Her writing is exquisite and sensitive, and she evokes a magical sense of place.  If you like historical fiction then I would encourage you to give Year of Wonders a go.

Review: Nemesis by Philip Roth

Before this, I had not read a thing by the much acclaimed Philip Roth, but have wanted to give his work a go for some time.  So while browsing at a recent book sale, here in Australia, the lovely yellow tones of this hardcover definitely called to me and I added it to the pile.

Nemesis is set in a Newark community in the summer of 1944.  War is raging in Europe and the Pacific, and a polio epidemic has broken out in the US.  The story focuses on Eugene "Bucky" Cantor's response to the polio outbreak.  Bucky is 23, and a dedicated physical education instructor running a summertime recreation program for the local kids.  Unlike all of  his friends he is at home during wartime because of extreme shortsightedness, which prevented him from signing up.

This is Bucky's story, and explores how the horror of the polio outbreak, that apparently randomly strikes down children and young people in their prime, literally devastates his life forever.

I appreciated Roth's writing; the reading is effortless, and he maintains good tension from beginning to end.  I felt like every word had been carefully selected and used to maximum effect.  There are subtle touches too that demonstrate the precision he wields with his words.  For instance, throughout much of the narrative, Bucky is referred to as Mr Cantor, which signifies how he sees himself, as responsible for, and an example to his young charges.

The novel realistically evokes what it must be like when an incurable disease breaks out in a community.  Roth describes what happens when fear and ignorance take hold and uncontrolled emotions erupt from normally rational people. 

There is a clear singular message from the novel, and that is how an individual is ultimately shaped by the meaning they attribute to events in their life.  Bucky was an ordinary, earnest young man of his generation, determined to do the best he could for his community and his loved ones, but his attempts to grapple with uncontrollable events destroyed his future.

My understanding is that the idea of events shaping lives, is a theme that has emerged in Philip Roth's more recent work.  I found it interesting, well written and very serious.  To be honest I am usually looking for a bit more humour or wit in a novel, but there was certainly no place for either here.  I was moved by Bucky's story and I daresay the echo of it will remain with me for some time. 

I would love to know what others think of Philip Roth's work?  What are your favourites by him?

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jen over at Crazy For Books. The question to get bloggers chatting this week is not about books, but:

Do you have any pets?

My Answer: Yes, a ginger tabby, Meeka.

Happy reading and have a good weekend.

Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Snowdrops is the debut novel by British journalist A.D. Miller and it has been long listed for this year's Man Booker prize.  It is an absorbing read about modern Moscow, told from the point of view of a British lawyer who made Moscow his home for four years.

I can see why this novel has received acclaim.  It is very well written, with an economical sharp style, and the narrative is exquisitely structured.  The story is told in the first person by Nick, the lawyer, as a written confession, to his, soon to be bride, about his time in Moscow.  He begins the account by describing his reaction to coming across a human corpse that has been revealed with the spring/summer thaw.  The title of the novel "snowdrops" is the Russian slang for such a body that has been hidden by the winter freeze only to be discovered, much later in the year, when the temperature rises.

This is the sort of novel that is deceptively simple, but reveals more and more on later reflection.  I felt that Miller captured well the free fall, and cast adrift feeling that often accompanies living away from your home country for extended periods of time.   Like many, I have been in that situation myself, but certainly did not live anywhere quite so, apparently hedonistic and corrupt, as Moscow.  Miller paints an alarmingly disturbing and depressing portrait of life in modern Russia.  The most frightening element is that Nick who is in his late thirties during his time in Moscow, and initially seems no more apathetic or self centred than the next person, becomes involved in a sequence of tawdry and ultimately murderous events.

The novel is about moral free fall, and it is very cleverly done, so that like Nick, the reader is seduced, step by step, into thinking that each new slip or dodgy element is really not so bad, or, it is at the very least, understandable.  It is not until the conclusion of the novel, once you have put it down, that the full implications of Nick's complicity and self delusion is made horrifically clear. 

I can't wholeheartedly say I enjoyed the novel although I admire it greatly.  There is no, even tiny, glimmer of hope in this story.  It is a tale of moral bankruptcy, with the associated economic and societal elements.  I found it shocking and depressing.  Don't get me wrong either, the novel is not off putting in a violent or gratuitous way, it is more subtle and unusual than that.  I will be sure to read any future novels by Miller, as I appreciate his writing style.  He really knows how to craft a story, leaving all but the necessary out. No doubt his journalism background helps with that.

Review of The City and the City by China Mieville

The City and the City opens like thousands of other crime novels; a young woman's body is found dumped, and we are introduced to the law enforcement who have been assigned to discover what happened and who is responsible for the death.  The head of the investigation is Inspector Tyedor Borlu of the Beszel Extreme Crime Squad.

From that point, the novel gradually opens out into something quite unlike any crime novel I have read, or indeed any crime novel one could imagine.  To start with, Beszel, which is described as being on the outskirts of Eastern Europe, is no ordinary city.  What the reader slowly and teasingly learns is that Beszel shares space with an entire other city, Ul Qoma.  The cities don't so much co exist, it is far more complicated than that, and learning how this extraordinary state of affairs effects general life for the citizens of both cities is one of the real joys of this novel so I will not say more.

The joy of Mieville's writing is the precision and detail of his ideas.  I have also recently read The Scar, by Mieville and found this true for that novel also.  His novels are awe-inspiring in their conception and meticulous follow through.  The writing is first rate, and I think certainly fits that mercurial description of literary; you have to work a little, there is no spoon feeding.  It is probably contentious to put the description literary to science fiction or fantasy but I certainly believe the work of Mieville fits that bill.

This is not a novel that is driven by strong characterisation or aiming for the usual type of emotional engagement from the reader.  It is an intellectual exercise, and one, I found to be breath-taking and fascinating.  I guess too, my enjoyment of this book surprises me as I would have thought I needed a strong connection to character to see me through a novel.  I have learned that is not the case.  I do have an emotional response toMieville's work, and it is simply, a jaw dropping "wow!"

The cityscapes that Mieville creates in The City and the City, will remain with me, and not just because they are so original and brilliantly realised.  It is because he has used this setting to construct a complex and powerful metaphor of modern life.  While there may not be a lot of emotional engagement with any one particular character, the whole sweep of the The City and the City evokes a strong sense of the disparity and contradictions that exist in our modern world, and that struck me at a human level.  It is clever and captivating writing, and I look forward to reading more.

Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King

I really enjoyed this Stephen King novel, first published in 1992.  A number of you have posted recently, and favourably, about various King novels and I realised I hadn't read any, although, I grew up really enjoying some of the movie and mini-series versions of his fiction.  This morning, I was at my local markets, and found  this lovely, hard covered, second hand copy of  Dolores Claiborne.  I'll admit it, it was partly the cover that got me in; eclipse, strange lighting and an old lady on a rocking chair.  I abandoned (temporarily) the fascinating, although more challenging, China Mieville novel I have been reading, and spent a wonderful afternoon completely immersed in the struggles of Dolores.

Firstly, to read a Stephen King novel in an afternoon it is clearly not one of his door-stoppers.  At less than 250 pages, I found it concise, engaging and thoroughly satisfying.  And for me a great introduction to Stephen King.

The story is told in a continuous chapterless narrative by Dolores as she makes a statement, at the local police station, pertaining to the sudden death of her elderly employer.  Dolores describes events, not only leading up to the death of the old lady for whom she has kept house for thirty years, but dark secrets from her own past, that shaped not only her life, but the lives of her children.  I am not going to say more because much of the enjoyment is in the surprising and wonderful plotting, except to say that the story takes place on a little island off the Maine coast where Dolores has lived all her life.  And I really admired King's ability to create two, sympathetic, strong and completely believable female characters, who pretty much carry this story.  The novel is a wonderful mixture of sensitive human drama and, what I assume to be, some of King's signature spine tingling effects and creepiness.  I loved it.

I will definitely be giving more of Stephen King's  novels a go.  Has anyone read Dolores Claiborne?  And what are others' favourites by King?

Review: Lilian's Story by Kate Grenville

I enjoyed this novel by Australian author Kate Grenville, after a bit of a bumpy start.  Lilian's Story was first published in 1985 and is a real favourite amongst Australian readers.  I was prepared to dislike it because I often find it difficult to fully engage with some of the, overcoming of childhood adversity or "triumph of the human spirit"  type stories.  And while Lilian's story certainly fits that bill, its effect completely snuck up on me, and far from contrived, I found it genuinely moving and surprising.

 The novel, told by Lilian in the first person, begins with her childhood, where the reader experiences the isolation and strength she must employ to withstand her father's cruelty and abuse, and her mother's disengagement.  Lilian eats excessively to try and create a barrier between herself and her father. 

I won't relay more of the plot details, except to say the book is divided into three parts: "A Girl", "A Young Lady" and "A Woman" which take the reader through the shaping of this woman from a bullied, but resourceful child, to someone trying to find her place in the world and realise her dreams.

Grenville uses a number of literary devices.  The chapters within the parts of the book, are very short, sometimes only a page long, this increases the pace of the narrative.  The brief chapters also seem to correspond to a life remembered in chards, and like memory, certain details stand out  with brilliant clarity and significance.  The meaning of events to Lilian is conveyed consistently and effectively.   The dialogue in the story was italicized, not enclosed with quotation marks.  While I am sure this was done to add to the remembered, first person, feel of the narrative, it mostly just annoyed me.

Lilian's story is peopled by some wonderful characters.  Her younger brother John is an interesting character, and their relationship, plagued by the influence of their abusive father, is poignantly portrayed as it endures into adulthood. 

Themes relating to mental illness and societal reactions to mental illness in the first half of the twentieth century play a major role in Lilian's life and story.  While the story is set in an earlier era, the issues around mental illness and its misconceptions still seem relevant today.  Where Grenville succeeds, is in creating a story that celebrates everyone's unique story.  She invites the reader to consider and remember that behind every face there is a story.  Like that wonderful REM song "Everybody Hurts", and some people have experienced such a degree of trauma in their lives, that to cope they may no longer fit an image of what others consider normal or acceptable.  For me this is what Lilian's story is about and where it shines.

Lilian's Story reminds me a great deal of Sebastian Barry's "The Secret Scripture" in its themes.  The Secret Scripture was one of my favourite reads of last year (in the top two), and while Lilian's Story did not hit the same heights for me, it is none the less impressive and memorable.