Adult Fiction
The Divorcees – Rowan Beaird
Set in the glamorous world of the divorce capital Reno in 1951, we meet Lois Saunders. She appears to be the typical 1950’s housewife – with picture perfect house and husband but Lois is desperate to leave this suffocating, loveless marriage so heads to Reno, Nevada for a “quickie” divorce. She stays at Golden Yarrow, a very respectable divorce “ranch”.
Here she meets women from different backgrounds, and must stay there for 6 weeks. Six weeks of fun, friendship and casinos. Lois meets Greer – a real sophistic, utterly beguiling, whose influence on her will change her life. Then the story turns into an absorbing thriller as Lois is unsure how much she can trust her new friend, and everything begins to unravel.
A real page turner and excellent depictions of 1950s America and women’s role.
Daughters of Fire – Barbara Erskine
Barbara Erskine is an incredibly popular author and I love her “time-slip” stories. This story is about two women whose history blurs into each other across the centuries. First we meet Cartimandu, (a real life Celtic Queen who is mentioned in Roman writings of the time), and learn about her early life in the Brigantes tribe. Then the story switches to present day and Dr Viv Lloyd Rees. She is an academic who is writing a book about Cartimandu and suddenly is plagued by visons of Cartimandu which only get worse as she finds an ancient brooch that probably carries a curse.
The story moves between the two time frames very easily and soon Viv’s visions begin to make her feel she may be losing her mind or she is genuinely seeing the true story of Cartimandu as she raises to be Queen, deals with loss, love, revenge and finally the invasion of Britain by the Romans. Celtic Britain is told in a very atmospheric detail and in present day there is a real feeling of danger to Viv and her friends. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Adult Non-Fiction
The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder – David Grann, as reviewed by Emilie Bioud, Keynsham Library Assistant
We are in 1740, England is at war with Spain. To make sure of their supremacy, they decide to send a fleet of 7 boats across the oceans. Their mission? Catch a Spanish Gallion which is supposed to have on board the biggest treasure of all. The promise is too big, it should make the kingdom richer, as well as the captain of the expedition and his crew. The Wager is one of the boats, but her crew gets decimated by scurvy and other diseases. The boat isn’t fit to face the cruel Cape Horn and the shipwreck is inevitable. Some of the men survive and gather on an isolated island and progressively form new groups to try to escape their desperate situation. Who will come back to tell the tale?
David Grann shares with us a fantastic story that captivated the public of the time. His research helps us to understand how the navy of the time worked, who were the men on board, what were the living condition day to day. It is gripping, I couldn’t put the book down once I started it.
Black Sheep, a story of rural racism, identity and hope – Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, as reviewed by Emilie Bioud, Keynsham Library Assistant
Sabrina is a mixed-race girl who grew up in a town of the Cotswolds in the 80s. Unfortunately for her, she is the only black girl in her school, and she is bullied everyday by the local children. She thinks she is tough; she thinks she can build herself a shell that will protect her from the bullies. Sometimes it works, but sometimes they say something that pierce through and leave her in tears. This book is so honest, so close to the raw emotion she felt at each stage of her life, it leaves you in pieces. You feel for her, for the prejudice, the comments she had to endure.
Sabrian is now an adult, she is successful in her job, happily married, has fantastic children she loves but she falls in alcoholism. You see her going down and coming back up stronger than ever. She found her solace: running, she can put her shoes on, get on those hills and feels better for it. Today she is one of the most inspirational women in the runners UK community. She is a justice activist after the events of Black Lives Matters and co-founder of the charity Black Trail Runner. She represents the saying “what doesn’t kill you make you stronger”. I felt she really found the activity that helps to manage her emotions and trauma and make her a better person for it.
Children’s Fiction
Best Friends – Jacqueline Wilson
This book was recommended to us by one of younger readers who said it was one her favourite books and hoped other children would enjoy it as much as she did. Gemma and Alice are best friends – they do everything together and it never matters that Gemma loves football while Alice prefers drawing or that Gemma is very talkative while Alice is a bit quieter. They share such lot from flopping on the sofa to pizza. But suddenly Alice announced she was moving away! Gemma was very upset – will Alice forget her? Find a new best friend? Perhaps Alice’s Grandad could come to the rescue. Read on in this delightful, touching story.
Library News
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