Uncategorized – Page 9 – What Cathy Read Next…

I read eleven books in September including a number of 5-star reads so it was easier than usual to pick out my favourites.

You can keep up to date with all my reading in 2019 here with links to my reviews. If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My first choice is Wicked by Design by Katy Moran, the follow-up to Hester and Crow (previous published as False Lights). Set in 1819 and continuing the alternate history premise introduced in the first book – that Wellington lost not won the Battle of Waterloo – Wicked by Design transports the reader from the rugged coastline of Cornwall to the salons of St. Petersburg. I loved every suspenseful, breathless minute of it, especially the riveting final chapters. Read my full review here.

Next up is The Mermaid’s Call by Katherine Stansfield, the third book in her ‘Cornish Mysteries’ series featuring female detectives, Shilly and Anna. The case they are engaged to investigate takes them to Morwenstow in Cornwall and the curious household of Parson Hawker (based on a real life character). I described it as ‘a story of love, secrets, betrayal and revenge, sprinkled with a hint of the supernatural and full of twists and turns’. You can read my full review here.

My next choice is The Mathematical Bridge by Jim Kelly. It’s another book that is one of a series and again it’s a historical crime mystery, this time set in World War 2 Cambridge. I loved it just as much as the first book, The Great Darkness, and thought it would be perfect for those mourning the demise of TV’s Foyle’s War or for fans of James Runcie’s ‘Grantchester Mysteries’ series. Read my review to find out more.

I think you see a pattern emerging here because my next choice is also a historical crime mystery. This time, however, it’s the first in a new series. The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis imagines that, before they became famous writers, the Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne – were female ‘detectors’ and the case of the vanished bride was their first investigation.

I thought readers familiar with the works of the Brontës would have great fun spotting allusions to their novels. However, I found plenty of other reasons to love the book. Read my full review here.

My final choice is Eight Hours From England by Anthony Quayle, one of the books in the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Wartime Classics’ series published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the start of World War 2.

The book is a fictionalised account of Anthony Quayle’s own wartime experience with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) behind enemy lines in Albania. Read my full review here.

What were your favourite books you read in September? Have you read any of my picks?

About the Book

A small village full of aspiring writers + The devil in the form of a hot-shot publisher = A refined and engaging literary fable on narcissism, vainglory and human weakness

Wild rabies runs rampant through the woods. The foxes are gaining ground, boldly making their way into the village. In Dichtersruhe, an insular yet charming haven stifled by the Swiss mountains, these omens go unnoticed by all but the new parish priest. The residents have other things on their mind: Literature. Everyone’s a writer—the nights are alive with reworked manuscripts. So when the devil turns up in a black car claiming to be a hot-shot publisher, unsatisfied authorial desires are unleashed and the village’s former harmony is shattered.

Format: Paperback (118 pp.) Publisher: World Editions
Published: 9^th May 2019 Genre: Literary Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find A Devil Comes To Town on Goodreads

My Review

This is a curious little novel. A story within a story within a story, it’s a satire on literary pretensions, literary prizes and the ends to which people will go to gain recognition of their (supposed) literary talents. Literary society is a ‘place where vainglory, fuelled by envy, grows immoderately, where even the most banal thoughts – as long as they are printed in type – are accepted as absolute truth’.

The Swiss village to which Father Cornelius is sent is a strange place. It’s isolated and the inhabitants are not well-disposed to outsiders. A macabre note is introduced by the presence of foxes infected with rabies in the forests surrounding the village. This coincides with the arrival of a curious personage, Bernard Fuchs, purporting to be a publisher from Lucerne. In a village where everyone believes themselves an author awaiting discovery, he is initially greeted like a hero and fawned over at every turn. However, Father Cornelius is firmly convinced that Fuchs is the devil in human form, although he struggles to persuade other villagers of this.

There’s playful humour about the process of writing, editing and submission. Employed to sift through piles of manuscripts, Father Cornelius imagines the response he’d really like to give: ‘Tear up the pages of your manuscript one by one…rewrite it ten times, eliminate at least a dozen adjectives on each page, take your wasted paper and toss it in the fire’.

Things turn nasty when rejection letters start to be delivered and secrets from the past seem set to be revealed. Does Father Cornelius defeat the devil? You wouldn’t expect a book about storytelling to end with everything neatly tied up and in A Devil Comes To Town it certainly doesn’t.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, World Editions.

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In three words: Quirky, playful, satire

Try something similar…The 7^th Function of Language by Laurent Binet (read my review here)

About the Author

Paolo Maurensig was born in Gorizo and lives in Udine, Italy. Now a bestselling author, he debuted in 1993 with The Luneburg Variations, translated into twenty-five languages, and selling over 2 million copies in Italy. His novels include Canone Inverso, The Guardian of Dreams and The Archangel of Chess. He plays the baroque flute, viola de gamba, and the cello. (Photo credit: Goodreads author page)

Connect with Paolo

Website ǀ Goodreads

Category: Uncategorized

My 5 Favourite September Reads