Tag: historical fiction

#BookReview Charity by Madeline Dewhurst @EyeandLightning

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CharityAbout the Book

Edith, an elderly widow with a large house in an Islington garden square, needs a carer. Lauren, a nail technician born in the East End, needs somewhere to live. A rent-free room in lieu of pay seems the obvious solution, even though the pair have nothing in common. Or do they?

Why is Lauren so fascinated by Edith’s childhood in colonial Kenya? Is Paul, the handsome lodger in the basement, the honest broker he appears? And how does Charity, a Kenyan girl brutally tortured during the Mau Mau rebellion, fit into the equation?

Format: Paperback (304 pages) Publisher: Lightning Books
Publication date: 26 April 2021 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find Charity on Goodreads

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Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

Lauren and Edith are two women who could not be more different in age or background. Edith, now an elderly widow and increasingly frail, grew up in Kenya and married a British soldier. Lauren is a young Londoner with an ambition to qualify as a beauty technician and open her own nail salon. In the meantime, she’s supplementing her income by taking on the role of live-in housekeeper and companion to Edith. However, as hinted at early in the book, there is a connection between them but one of which Edith is unaware.

Although rather set in her ways and a stickler for doing things correctly, Edith demonstrates a trusting and generous attitude towards others. For example, her first impression of Lauren is that she has ‘a delightful smile, open and spontaneous’. However, there are mysteries about Edith’s past including the reason for her estrangement from her daughter, Joanna, or why her sleep is frequently disturbed by nightmares involving a girl called Mary. On the other hand, Lauren’s behaviour towards her new employer, although kindly at times, is less laudable. For reasons the reader will discover, she justifies her actions by the belief she is entitled to benefit from Edith’s relative good fortune.

The author gives herself the difficult job of presenting Edith and Lauren in such a way that the reader can understand, if not forgive, the worst elements of their characters. I think she largely succeeds. Both characters come to life on the page, whether that’s through Edith’s precise and grammatically correct way of speaking (what Lauren would call ‘posh’) or Lauren’s more colloquial style.

The book includes flashbacks to 1950s East Africa during the period of the Mau Mau uprising, told partly from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old girl, Charity. Many of her experiences are shocking and hard to read. Equally disturbing are the reactionary views expressed by Edith’s family and future husband about the indigenous people of Kenya. Even if one man’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist, references to native Kenyans as ‘savages’ who need to be rehabilitated into responsible citizens were upsetting to read. Unpleasant contemporary parallels came to mind, such as China’s treatment of the Uighur people. Although I had heard of the Mau Mau uprising, I knew very little detail about it. Charity has rectified that omission.

The book is an assured and impressive debut that reveals the truth about a shocking period in Britain’s colonial history. And what starts as an exploration of the dynamics of an intergenerational relationship progresses to something much darker and more complicated; a story of guilt, betrayal, manipulation and revenge.

My thanks to Simon Edge at Eye & Lightning Books for my digital review copy. To read more reviews, follow the blog tour which starts today (see tour banner at the bottom of this post).

In three words: Insightful, authentic, powerful

Try something similar: A Lifetime of Men by Ciahnan Darrell

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Madeline DewhurstAbout the Author

Madeline Dewhurst studied English at Queen’s University Belfast and went on to complete an MA in Research and a PhD at Queen Mary, University of London.  She also has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She is an academic in English and Creative Writing at the Open University.

Her previous writing includes fiction, journalism and drama. Charity, which was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, is her first novel. She now lives in Kent. (Photo credit: Facebook author page)

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Charity Blog Tour

#BookReview Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders by David Stafford @AllisonandBusby

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders by David Stafford, the second book in the historical crime series featuring barrister, Arthur Skelton. My thanks to Christina at Allison & Busby for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

Skelton's Guide to Suitcase MurdersAbout the Book

A woman’s dismembered corpse is discovered in a suitcase, and police quickly identify her husband, Doctor Ibrahim Aziz, as their chief suspect. Incriminating evidence is discovered at his home and his wife was rumoured to be having an affair, giving him clear motive.

With his reputation for winning hopeless cases, barrister Arthur Skelton is asked to represent the accused. Though Aziz’s guilt does not seem to be in doubt, a question of diplomacy and misplaced larvae soon lead Skelton to suspect there may be more to the victim’s death.

Aided by his loyal clerk Edgar, Skelton soon finds himself seeking justice for both victim and defendant. But can he uncover the truth before an innocent man is put on trial and condemned to the gallows?

Format: Hardcover (352 pages)      Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication date: 22nd April 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

Find Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders (Arthur Skelton #2) on Goodreads

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Publisher | Hive | Amazon UK
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My Review

It was an absolute pleasure to be reunited with barrister Arthur Skelton and his trusty clerk – and friend – Edgar Hobbes. I loved the scenes where Arthur and Edgar discuss the briefs that have been sent to him. By the way, if you want to discover the inspiration for the character of Arthur, read David’s blog post on how Arthur came to be. I should say at this point that it’s not necessary to have read the first book to enjoy this second one.

Having said that, for fans of the series Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders sees the return of characters from the first book, including Arthur’s cousin, Alan, and his sister, Norah, who travel the country with their caravan spreading the word of God at meetings. Often they gather useful nuggets of information for Arthur’s cases along the way, relayed to him in Alan’s chatty letters.

Another returning characters is Rose Critchlow who helped Arthur with his previous case and is now working as an articled clerk in the solicitors who provide most of Arthur’s work. Once again, Rose makes a valuable contribution, one that leads to an important discovery and provides an insight into the emerging science of forensic entomology (the lifecycles of creepy crawlies) at the same time. Amongst her other attributes, the reader learns, are superb navigational skills. ‘Rose knew the way. Of course she did. Five minutes with a map and Rose would be able to take you straight to the green-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu or the lost kingdom of She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.‘ I was particularly delighted to come across the latter reference having already decided on my ‘Try Something Similar’ suggestion below.

As in the first book, the reader gets an insight into Skelton’s domestic life with wife, Mila, and children, Lawrence and Elizabeth. I particularly enjoyed the episode in which Arthur is entrusted with the Christmas shopping list, including purchasing gifts for the children and hits the busy streets of London. ‘He’d been told by many people that, if you value your health and sanity, you should never venture into a toyshop at Christmas time. Climb the Matterhorn by all means, take the waters in Moscow during a cholera epidemic, but stay away from toyshops.’ Does Arthur return with exactly what was specified on the list? Come on, he’s a man isn’t he?

Arthur’s wife, Mila, is a wonderful character and definitely nothing like the ‘She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed’ of John Mortimer’s Rumpole series. Mila is an avid reader of the newspapers, teaches archery to local girls and has lately developed a rather grand ambition, keen to outdo her acquaintance, Cissy Pemberton.  Mila and Arthur have a touching relationship such that I found it hard to forgive the author for putting Arthur through the mill when there is a a sudden turn of events.

Alongside Arthur’s attempts to find the evidence needed to achieve the acquittal of his client, Doctor Aziz, are entertaining interludes where the reader witnesses Arthur’s court appearances in other cases in which he has been instructed. He frequently ponders on the small things that can turn a case and influence a jury.

The book is also enlivened by references to real life figures such as the renowned pathologist, Sir Bernard Spilsbury. And I especially enjoyed Arthur and Edgar’s memorable encounter with a star of stage and screen in their favourite eating place, Kembles. By the way, it’s here that Edgar, seeking to reduce his portly stature for reasons he is initially reluctant to reveal, eschews the delights of veal and ham pie for an egg salad that Arthur describes as looking like ‘the sort of thing that Mr Gandhi might have eaten as a form of protest‘.

Do Arthur and Edgar get to the bottom of the (suit)case? What do you think…?

Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders is another delightful addition to the series. I loved its combination of period detail, ingenious mystery and amiable humour, and I’m already looking forward to Arthur’s next guide to dastardly deeds.

In three words: Engaging, lively, clever

Try something similar: Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer

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David StaffordAbout the Author

David Stafford began his career in theatre. He has written countless dramas, comedies and documentaries including two TV films with Alexei Sayle, Dread Poets Society with Benjamin Zephaniah, and, with his wife, Caroline, a string of radio plays and comedies including The Brothers, The Day The Planes Came and The Year They Invented Sex as well as five biographies of musicians and showbusiness personalities. Fings Ain’t Wot They Use T’Be – The Life of Lionel Bart was chosen as Radio 4 Book of the Week and made into a BBC Four TV documentary.

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