Category: 20 Books of Summer

#BookReview The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn

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About the Book

1951 – Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison – but can captivity lead to freedom?

2018 – When marine scientist Rachel Parker is forced to take shelter on an isolated island off the Cornish Coast during a research posting, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel is determined to find the intended recipient.

Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.

Format: Paperback (384 pages) Publisher: Orion
Publication date: 6th February 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is an accomplished dual time story in which I was equally engaged by both the past and present day stories, something that doesn’t always happen in such books. I also liked the setting of the Scilly Isles, one I haven’t come across before in a work of fiction.

The chapters that gradually reveal Esther’s story shine a light on the lack of understanding about post-natal depression. Indeed it is regarded as a form of madness. The way in which Esther’s despair manifests itself is treated not with kindness but with crude measures of control, and she is effectively duped into travelling to the island of Little Embers by her husband. Is he doing so to rid himself of a “problem” or because he believes, perhaps misguidedly, it is the best way to help her?

As it happens, Dr Richard Creswell, the psychiatrist in charge of the hospital (which is actually just a large but remote house) is more enlightened than many of his peers. Ahead of his time, he believes in what today we would call talking therapies and the healing power of nature. This enlightened attitude is also apparent in his treatment of the other patients under his care, all of whom are struggling with the after effects – both mental and physical – of their experiences during the war. As one of them confides to Esther, ‘People like us have to find a way to live with our sorrow, for it can never be banished forever’ and touchingly the patients do become a kind of family for one another.

I liked the way the small, remote island of Little Embers initially appears bleak, mirroring Esther’s troubled state of mind when she first arrives, but begins to show its beauty as the process of her recovery begins. ‘The tranche of shifting grey-blue sea lay like a hammered metal sheet… pockmarked with islets and swarming with seabirds hovering on currents of warmer air.’ But what never leaves her is her sadness at being parted from her five-year old son, Teddy. She finds solace in her daily meetings with Dr Creswell that begin as counselling sessions but develop into conversations about a shared love of music and literature.

In the modern day storyline, Rachel’s discovery of a cache of letters, written but never sent, reveal an abiding love of the kind she has never experienced herself. Moving from place to place, she has never formed – or wanted to form – any lasting attachments, unwilling to be tied down to any one person. Like Esther, it’s the Scilly Isles (in this case the main island of St. Mary’s) and its spirit of community – and one particular member of that community – that starts to make her think there is nothing to be feared from setting down roots.

The identity of the writer of the letters and the intended recipient are not hard to guess but I don’t think the author intended it to be so. The different threads come together in a very satisfying way revealing a moving story of two people whose moral principles kept them apart for decades. You may need some tissues handy at the end.

In three words: Emotional, moving, intimate

Try something similar: The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford

About the Author

Kayte Nunn is the internationally bestselling author of seven novels including The Botanist’s Daughter (awarded the 2020 Winston Graham Award), The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, The Silk House, The Last Reunion and The Only Child. Kayte’s novels are available worldwide in English, and have been translated into ten languages. Born in Singapore, raised in the US and the UK, she now lives in Northern NSW, Australia.

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#BookReview In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins

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About the Book

Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has begun work as the acting coroner of Teifi Valley with solicitor’s clerk John Davies as his assistant.

When a faceless body is found on an isolated beach, Harry must lead the inquest. But his dogged pursuit of the truth begins to ruffle feathers. Especially when he decides to work alongside a local doctor with a dubious reputation and experimental theories considered either radical or dangerous. Refusing to accept easy answers might not only jeopardise Harry’s chance to be elected coroner permanently but could, it seems, implicate his own family in a crime.

Format: Paperback (470 pages) Publisher: The Dome Press
Publication date: 2nd May 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

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My Review

In Two Minds is the second book in the author’s ‘Teifi Valley Coroner’ historical crime series set in 19th century Wales. I read the first book, None So Blind, back in 2018 and the third book, Those Who Know, in 2020 but, strangely, missed out this one. Having said that, I do have a history of reading books in a series out of order. A fourth book, Not One of Us, is on my wishlist. The books were originally published by The Dome Press but have since been republished by Canelo with new covers.

It was a delight to be reunited with Harry and John as they embark on another investigation together. Alongside this, both of them are preoccupied with their current situations. Harry fears his visual impairment may frustrate his ambition of becoming elected as Coroner for the district leaving him with the prospect of taking over the running of his family’s estate. Not only does he have little interest in this but it goes against his egalitarian instincts, instincts that even as a child saw him spend time with the household servants and learn Welsh, much to his father’s disapproval as English was regarded as the language of the gentry. ‘I could not abide the thought of being a useless dilettante who was dependent on the labout of others.’ Ironically, his visual impairment means he is now often dependent on others, for example to read even personal correspondence.

Meanwhile John is wondering if there’s any future in his current position as Harry’s temporary assistant or if, despite his humble beginnings, he should pursue his ambition of becoming a solicitor. John has come to enjoy being involved in investigations. ‘Excitement. That’s what was keeping me there, in the teeth of hostile looks and the prospect of unemployment. Excitement. I hadn’t realised how bored I was with being a clerk until Harry walked in… looking for an assistant.’

Sadly, Harry is unaware of John’s concerns whilst John is unaware of how much Harry has come to value his support and assistance. The dual narrator structure allows us to experience these doubts and worries, although I found myself thinking, for goodness sakes, just talk to each other!

Discovering the identity of the faceless body found on the beach, the circumstances of its being there, the cause of death and possible motives for what may be murder rather than accidental death throws up more and more challenges for Harry and John, especially when Harry is forced to return home when his father becomes ill leaving John in charge of the investigation. As things become more complex, I had some sympathy with John’s frustrated observation, ‘I wasn’t sure if things were getting clearer or more confused.’ But we’re in safe hands because everything is revealed in the end, albeit the result of some connections that only the very observant may have guessed.

In Two Minds is another cleverly constructed historical crime mystery with two engaging leading characters and convincing period detail. And, as with the previous book, there is a fascinating historical backdrop to the story, namely the large-scale emigration of Welsh people to America, something I wasn’t aware of before reading this book. It’s just one of the reasons I love historical fiction!

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, engaging

Try something similar: Down A Dark River by Karen Odden

About the Author

Alis  grew up on a dairy farm in Ceredigion. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had she might have been published sooner. As it was, three years reading English at Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience and she has spent the subsequent three decades variously working in a burger restaurant, bringing up two sons, working with homeless people, and – having trained as a speech and langauge therapist – helping teachers and families to understand their autistic children. And writing. Always. Nonfiction (autism related), plays (commissioned for production in heritage locations) and, of course, novels.

Initially fascinated by the medieval period, Alis began her crime and mystery career at Pan Macmillan with Testament, a novel set in a fictitious medieval university city. Part of Testament’s narrative takes place in the fourteenth century and part in the twenty-first which taught Alis that she is far more passionate about writing historical fiction than contemporary.

So she fast-forwarded four centuries from fourteenth South East England to nineteenth century West Wales to write a book based on Wales’s best kept historical secret: the Rebecca Riots. And then she fell in love – both with nineteenth century west Wales and her characters – and the result is the Teifi Valley Coroner crime series featuring visually impaired investigator, Harry Probert-Lloyd, and his chippy assistant, John Davies.

As a side-effect of setting her series in Ceredigion, instead of making research trips to sunny climes like more foresighted writers, she just drives across Wales to see her family. Now living with her partner on the Welsh/English border, Alis is a Welsh speaker, collects rucksacks and can’t resist an interesting fact. (Photo/bio: Author website)

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