My Week in Books -10 December ’17

 

New arrivals

The Optickal Illusion by Rachel Halliburton (ARC, review copy courtesy of Duckworth)

It is 1797 and in Georgian London, nothing is certain anymore: the future of the monarchy is in question, the city is aflame with conspiracies, and the French could invade any day. Amidst this feverish atmosphere, the American painter Benjamin West is visited by a dubious duo comprised of a blundering father and vibrant daughter, the Provises, who claim they have a secret that has obsessed painters for centuries: the Venetian techniques of master painter Titian.

West was once the most celebrated painter in London, but he hasn’t produced anything of note in years, so against his better judgment he agrees to let the intriguing Ann Jemima Provis visit his studio and demonstrate the techniques from the document. What unravels reveals more than West has ever understood—about himself, the treachery of the art world, and the seductive promise of greatness.

Elmet by Fiona Mozley (ebook, NetGalley)

Daniel is heading north. He is looking for someone. The simplicity of his early life with Daddy and Cathy has turned sour and fearful. They lived apart in the house that Daddy built for them with his bare hands. They foraged and hunted. When they were younger, Daniel and Cathy had gone to school. But they were not like the other children then, and they were even less like them now. Sometimes Daddy disappeared, and would return with a rage in his eyes. But when he was at home he was at peace. He told them that the little copse in Elmet was theirs alone. But that wasn’t true. Local men, greedy and watchful, began to circle like vultures. All the while, the terrible violence in Daddy grew.

Artefacts & Other Stories by Rebecca Burns (ebook, review copy courtesy of the author)

That dandelion. A flash of stubborn yellow in a dark box of space. It had promised sunshine but had tasted sour. Artefacts. A dandelion. A mayfly. A family, bereft. Items and mementos of a life, lived hard and with love, or long, empty, bitter. In these sharply drawn and unflinching short stories, Rebecca Burns unpicks the connection between the lives we live and what we leave behind.

 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (ebook)

It’s 1947.  In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.  Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

The Fourteenth Letter by Claire Evans (ebook)

A mysterious keepsake, a murdered bride, a legacy of secrets…

One balmy June evening in 1881, Phoebe Stanbury stands before the guests at her engagement party: this is her moment, when she will join the renowned Raycraft family and ascend to polite society. As she takes her fiancé’s hand, a stranger holding a knife steps forward and ends the poor girl’s life. Amid the chaos, he turns to her aristocratic groom and mouths: ‘I promised I would save you.’ The following morning, just a few miles away, timid young legal clerk William Lamb meets a reclusive client. He finds the old man terrified and in desperate need of aid: William must keep safe a small casket of yellowing papers, and deliver an enigmatic message: The Finder knows.

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole (hardcover, prize courtesy of Trapeze Books)

William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after months of psychological assessment following allegations of a shocking assault. A veteran of the force, Fawkes thinks he’s seen it all. That is, until his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene and leads him to a career-defining cadaver: the dismembered parts of six victims sewn together like a puppet – a corpse that becomes known in the press as the “ragdoll.”

Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them. The final name on the list is Fawkes. Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him – and his past – than anyone realises.

Traitor (Mercia Blakewood #3) by David Hingley (hardcover, review copy courtesy of Allison & Busby)

February 1665. With winter passing, Mercia Blakewood is at last headed back to England from America, hoping to leave behind the shadow that death and heartache have cast. She expects a welcome from the King considering her earlier, mostly successful, mission at his behalf, but the reception is not exactly warm. Mercia faces more manipulation and must accept a clandestine and uncomfortable role at the heart of the royal court posing as a mistress to find a spy and traitor.

Daughters of India by Jill McGivering (paperback, review copy courtesy of Allison & Busby)

Isabel, born into the British Raj, and Asha, a young Hindu girl, both consider India their home. Through mischance and accident their stories intersect and circumstances will bring them from the bustling city of Delhi to the shores of the Andaman Islands, from glittering colonial parties to the squalor and desperation of a notorious prison; and into the lives of men on opposing sides of the fight for self-government. As the shadow of the Second World War falls across India, Isabel, caught up in growing political violence, has to make impossible choices – fighting for her love for India, for the man she yearns for, and for her childhood Indian friend, in the face of loyalty to her own country.

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (ebook)

Andre Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

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On What Cathy Read Next last week

Blog posts

Monday – I published my review of Death at Glacier Lake by Pam Stucky, an entertaining murder mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie.

Tuesday – My list of the Top Ten Bookish Settings I’d Love to Visit were all based on one book, an old favourite and treasured possession – An Edwardian Christmas by John S. Goodall.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just finished reading, what I’m reading now and what I’ll be reading next.

Thursday – I took part in the blog tour for The Tide Between Us by publishing my Q&A with the author, Olive Collins. Thursday is fast becoming the day where I review books that have been far too long in my review pile. This time it was Fortune’s Wheel by debut author, Carolyn Hughes. I really enjoyed this fascinating story set in a small Hampshire village in the aftermath of The Black Death.

Friday – I shared my review of the latest film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, comparing it with the original book which I also read recently.

Saturday –I published my review of Keep Me Safe by Daniela Sacerdoti, a novel I enjoyed but didn’t love.

Sunday – In the footsteps of the fabulous Cleo Loves Books, I shared my Reading Bingo for 2017 and was delighted that I managed to fill all the squares again.

Challenge updates

• Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge – 153 out of 156 books read, 3 more than last week
• Classics Club Challenge – 5 out of 50 books reviewed, same as last week
• NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2017 (Gold) – 45 ARCs reviewed out of 50, 1 more than last week
• From Page to Screen 2016/7– 7 book/film comparisons out of 12 completed, same as last week
• From Page to Screen 2017/18 – 2 book/film comparisons out of 3 completed, 1 more than last week

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On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

• Review: Corpus (Tom Wilde #1) by Rory Clements
• Blog Tour/Q&A: Blackmail, Sex & Lies by Kathryn McMaster
• Review: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
• Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Books of 2017
• Review: The Last Train by Michael Pronko