First up I have to thank one of my regular visitors for recommending the Bruno books by Martin Walker. I had posted about Montebalno and the books by Camilleri and rejoiced in the food descriptions contained therein which are totally mouthwatering and asked for recommendations as most British and US Crime books seem to feature bacon sandwiches and hamburgers. I was delighted to see that this author had written sixteen and thought Oh goodie that will keep me busy for a while.
Well, not really as I have now read the lot and am reduced to waiting for the next one. I will be writing about them further at a later date as I LOVED them.
A couple of disappointing reads I am sorry to say. Not ghastly or awful in any way, just somewhat lacking.
The first title is Only Happiness Here by Gabrielle Carey. It is a "biography" of Elizabeth von Arnim, one of my favourite writers and there has not been a story of her life for some time so I was keen to read it. I had to order it from Australia though it is now on Amazon. On the back of the paperback is written "intrigued by von Arnim's extraordinary life, Gabrielle Carey sets off on a literary and philosophical journey to learn about this bold and witty author. More than a biography, Only Happiness Here is also a personal investigation into our perennial obsession with finding joy"
My heart sank and did not rise for some time.
The biographical details in this publication are easily looked up and found elsewhere, there is very little real insight into EVA but there is an awful lot of confessional type writing by Gabrielle Carey linking her failed relationships, her depression and her ups and downs with Elizabeth. I found these links tenuous and rather contrived and while I do not doubt that the author admires EVA immensely this all got rather tedious in the end. I found myself skipping through these passages as I was really not interested in her innermost thoughts which added little to the narrative.
I did hesitate before deciding to write this review as I dislike being negative but if you like EVA I do not think this will add any extra enjoyment to the reading of her books.
The second slight disappointment is Princess Mary by Elisabeth Beresford, a biography of the only daughter of George V and Queen Mary. Well researched and well written it enjoyed it in a rather tepid kind of way and as this is a period of history that I am always interested in, I was trying to work out why I felt the lack.
In the end I came to the conclusion that Princess Mary, a thoroughly nice woman, who worked hard and was popular with everyone, led a perfectly ordinary life. Now, there is nothing wrong with this. Gosh wouldn't it be nice sometimes if things were ordinary? But, sadly, this does not make for an interesting biography which is a shame. I remember reading a biography of the author Richmal Crompton and my reaction was the same. She had led a quite unexciting life. OK she wrote all the William books and a lot of excellent adult titles too, but seemed to lack any kind of personality – or at least there was none in this particular work.
But I ended the week on a brilliant note as I read the latest book by Jane Casey The killing Kind. Jane is the creator of the Maeve Kerrigan books which I love. This is a stand alone title and had me pinned to the sofa all yesterday morning. It is simply excellent and enthralling and exciting and I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy. The Killing Kind is due to be published on 27 May so not long to wait.
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