Book Reviews: 17 January
OUT NOW
NELSON, NAVY & NATION: THE ROYAL NAVY AND THE BRITISH PEOPLE, 1688-1815 , edited by Quintin Colville and James Davey (Conway, £20; offer price, £17)Accompanying the National Maritime Museum’s new gallery of 18th-century naval life, this book charts the rise of the Royal Navy from the arrival of William of Orange to the defeat of the French at Trafalgar.
Its chapters explore the creation of the Royal Navy, life on board ship and the popular culture that propelled Nelson to celebrity status. Superbly illustrated with pictures and artefacts from the gallery, it is a rare combination of historical analysis and artwork.
Of particular interest is the suggestion that the rise of the Royal Navy occurred in parallel to that of Britain – with the navy now at its smallest since the 17th century, could this be a warning for our future?
Stephen Coulson
TAG by Barry Heard (Scribe, £12.99; offer price, £8.54) A well-researched novel portraying the horrors of the Gallipoli campaign and the French front during the First World War, told through the eyes of Australian soldier Tag Wardell. After a slow start building up the backstory of the protagonist and his extraordinary gift with animals, the book picks up speed as it unfl inchingly depicts the battlefields and the slaughter.
The subject matter is not easy reading, but Heard’s writing is clear and engaging, conveying much detail about the role of horses in battle and the treatment of injured servicemen.
Matthew Leopold
PICK OF THE OLDIE FROM THE LAST YEARS edited by Sonali Chapman (Oldie Publications Ltd, £9.99; offer price, £9.49)Since Richard Ingrams and his friends conceived The Oldie in a pub 21 years ago, it has attracted the country’s wittiest writers and cartoonists. Beautifully edited, this bumper selection of some of the most original contributions includes pieces by Auberon Waugh, Ruth Rendell, Miles Kington, Joanna Lumley and Jeremy Paxman.
My favourites are Nicholas Wollaston’s hilarious account of how two of his friends were killed and eaten by crocodiles on opposite sides of the world, The Lady’s Sam Taylor recounting a holiday offer she should have refused, Richard Ingrams on Yehudi Menuhin and Colin Clark recalling his delicious encounter with Marilyn Monroe.
Elegant, exuberant and world-weary, it contains gems to appeal to every taste.
Rebecca Wallersteiner
BELOVED STRANGERS by Maria Chaudhuri (Bloomsbury Circus, £14.99; offer price, £12.99)Maria is a young girl from Dhaka, who moves to New England for university. She meets a mysterious man and discovers the trials and tribulations of growing up, leaving home and meeting people who are not what they initially seem to be. A vivid portrayal of life in two very different parts of the world, this debut novel keeps the reader enthralled.
Natasha Howe
BOOK OF THE WEEK
LABOR DAY by Joyce Maynard (HarperCollins, £9.25; offer price, £7.59)This well-observed coming-of-age novel, narrated by Henry - a young man reminiscing over his eventful 13th year, is a fine example of captivating storytelling.
Set over a hot Labor Day weekend in small-town America, Henry and his agoraphobic, emotionally fragile single mother Adele, bite off a little more than they can chew after an everyday visit to Pricemart ends with them harbouring Frank. An escaped convict.
Over the next few days Frank and Adele become lovers, exchange life stories and swap notes on their traumatic pasts; creating a tender picture of a serendipitous meeting between two misfits connecting in a world they both fear. ‘Rejoining society’, Frank admits, would be the worst punishment for both of them.
Watched in quiet bemusement by Henry, the story is carried forward by his astute observations of adult behaviour. With his confusion and his fantasies about girls and sex, he emerges as a vulnerable figure trapped by the reckless behaviour of grown-ups.
Sensitively documenting Henry’s inner world, the author paints an intimate portrait of male puberty and angst, while his teenage curiosity – the novel’s voice of reason – holds the reader’s interest throughout.
This gripping tale comes to the big screen in February, with a film adaptation starring Kate Winslet.
Elizabeth Fitzherbert
COFFEE TABLE BOOK
5,000 YEARS OF TILES by Hans van Lemmen (British Museum, £25; offer price, £22)
A book on 5,000 years of tiles from all over the world could be very long, if not several volumes, but Van Lemmen, the president of the Tile and Architectural Ceramic Society, attempts it in just under 300 pages. Starting with ancient Egypt, China and the fine Iznik tiles of the Islamic world, the book then moves swiftly to the English Medieval period and the Renaissance in northern and southern Europe.
The majority of the book is about the far more accessible 19th century, citing examples of handmade products in an industrial age. A good starting point for tile lovers, which is well illustrated with brief explanations on tile making, history and culture.
Hugh St Clair
PAPERBACKS
THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult (Hodder & Stoughton, £7.99; offer price, £7.59) Take one 21-something with a gift for baking, add a tragic backstory and a complicated romance (our heroine’s lover has a wife and twins) and you might think you’ve got all the ingredients for a bestselling potboiler.
But this being a Jodi Picoult novel, all of the aforementioned only serve to frame the harrowing narrative of an Auschwitz survivor whose gift for spinning tales is all that stands between her and death.
It’s a mix that leaves little room for subtlety or disbelief – but Picoult is an expert at keeping you turning the pages. Stephanie Cross
THE FORGOTTEN SEAMSTRESS by Liz Trenow (Avon, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
Caroline finds a beautiful old quilt and pieces together its history with the help of journalist friend Ben. The story of Maria, a seamstress who falls in love with the Prince of Wales in 1914, unfolds. This rich tale weaves together a royal scandal, the rediscovery of lost family histories and some very strong female characters. Completely captivating. Rebecca Maxted
SECRETS OF THE SEA HOUSE by Elisabeth Gifford (Atlantic Books, £7.99; offer price, £7.59)
A couple moves into a house in the Hebrides and discovers the remains of a child’s skeleton with its legs fused together: a mermaid child. Gifford’s impeccable writing makes this book impossible to put down. A poignant story of loss, love and hope.
NH
3 GREAT BOOKS: SET IN THE CARIBBEAN
- WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
- TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson
- BETROTHAL IN ST DOMINGO by Heinrich von Kleist
ALSO ON THE SHELF
BEFORE WE MET by Lucie Whitehouse (Bloomsbury, £12.99; offer price, £11.69) From a small seed of doubt, layer upon layer of paranoia and suspicion make this novel a compulsive read. This is a thriller that plays on deep human vulnerabilities and emotions, carrying the reader from chapter to chapter.
ML
AUDIO BOOK OF THE WEEK
BOBBY ON THE BEAT: The True Story Of A 1950s Policewoman by Pamela Rhodes, read by Anne Dover (Soundings, £57; offer price, £57)An engaging memoir by one of the country’s first policewomen. Rhodes takes on everything, from rampaging bulls to ladies of the night – not to mention her colleagues’ sexism.
JC
1914: WE WILL REMEMBER
The anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War has prompted a battalion of books on the subject, says Stephen Coulson
Harry ’s War by Harry Drinkwater (Ebury Press, £20; offer price, £18)
The First World War generated a profusion of diaries and memories – unfortunately most of them are now out of print. Only recently discovered, this is the war diary of Harry Drinkwater, who enlisted in the 15th (Birmingham Pals) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1914.
A detailed account of life in the trenches at the Somme and Flanders, made all the more moving by its matter-of-fact style.
Wounded: From Battlefield To Blighty, 1914-1918 by Emily Mayhew (Bodley Head, £20; offer price, £18)
The Royal Army Medical Corps had learnt many lessons from the Boer War, but what happened in 1914 proved that there was much to learn about how to treat mass casualties with injuries caused by modern warfare.
These accounts of wounded soldiers, and of the stretcher-bearers, medical officers and orderlies that did their best to save lives under appalling conditions, are a fascinating read.
The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan (Profile Books, £25; offer price, £19)
Who was to blame for the Great War? MacMillan grapples with this question for more than 600 pages but is unable to come up with a clear answer. Anecdotes abound, but there is no attempt at critical analysis.
Parallels with contemporary events do not explore the differences and appear somewhat clumsy. This book is an interesting summary of the early 20th century, but lacking as a history.
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