Mrs. S

By K. Patrick

A lesbian romance set in a girls boarding school in the UK. The two main characters are an Australian women in her early twenties and the headmaster's wife, Mrs S. 

The tension is built in an incredible fashion which I really enjoyed. The sex when it arrives is explicit and breaks the tension in a way that was both a relief and disappointing. 

An honourable mention for the house mistress -a fellow  lesbian- who was a true friend and brought some light relief when needed. 8/10

Rosy & John

 by Pierre LeMaitre

A great novella featuring the french police officer Camille Verhoeven. 

Following an explosion in the middle of Paris a man hands himself in and says he has planted six other bombs due to go off at 24 hour intervals.

The pace is relentless and nail biting. Lemaitre at his best 8/10

The Enchantress of Florence

 by Salman Rushdie

A complicated tale moving from India and the Moghuls to renaissance Florence with a cast of characters who appear to move through time and have several names to boot! But, Rushdie is such a great story teller that this is an enjoyable yarn about a beautiful princess and the way her life unfolds and her son?/grandson?/none of the above? who is telling her tale to try and be recognised as a prince. We are kept guessing until the end but it was a very enjoyable journey 8/10

Greek Lessons

 by Han Kang

This is a very gentle, meditative book about a lecturer in ancient greek who is going blind, and one of his students whose life experiences have left her unable to speak. The language is beautiful in places even in translation but I was halfway through before I got drawn in to the story 6/10

The love of singular men

by Victor Heringer

A brazilian author and set in  Rio in the 1970's it is the story of a young man discovering his sexuality and love in the midst of a poor district of the city. Well written and engaging I found it hard to come into land with as it was dealing with things far outside my experience, 7/10

The Machine Stops

 by E. M. Forster

A short story set in the future. It was written in 1928 but following a pandemic and the rise of AI this seems a very prescient story where a community rarely meets in person and lives are regulated by the machine. A little bit eerie! 6/10

Maigret at the Coroner's

by Georges Simenon 

Maigret is back in America but this time on an exchange visit much like he hosted in an earlier novel, a guest from Scotland Yard. 
In the same way Maigret tried to get rid of his English guest, his American hosts try to find ways of depositing Maigret in out of the way places and so he ends up in a coroner's court where they are trying to establish the cause of death of a young woman found dead on a railway line in the middle of desert. Four airmen were with her. Maigret begins to find that human nature is the same wherever you are even if the American's go about things in a different way. In true Maigret style we never do find out the verdict of the court. Really enjoyed this one. 9/10

Why Didn't they ask Evans

By Agatha Christie

A crime that would have gone undetected after someone falls over a cliff in Wales. Enter Bobby and Frankie to solve the case. It was a bit Enid Blyton on the audio book I listened to but enjoyed the plot. 5/10

The Liar's Dictionary

By Eley Williams 

A fun novel about words. Set in the current day and the start of the previous century it is the story of a dictionary and some mischief making by one of the compilers in the earlier time period. Great larks and sent me to a dictionary on many occasions 8/10

How Democracy Ends

By David Runciman 

Spoiler alert. This book does not answer the question implicit in the title.

However, it is a thought provoking missive on where democracy has reached in the West and some of the possible paths it might take.

There are some jarring sound bite like sentences but ignore those and it was an accessible and enjoyable read 7/10

Nights of Plague

By Orhan Pamuk 

Pamuk at his best, writing about political shenanigans and religious/racial tensions. All set against the background of the plague. It is a long book but I found it compelling reading 8/10

History. A Mess.

By Sigrún Pálsdóttir

A story set partly in Oxford and partly in Iceland and involving a PhD student who makes a discovery that she discovers later may not be correct. As a consequence of decisions she makes her health suffers and we follow this journey.  Has a great twist at the end 8/10

Writers and Revolution

By Jonathan Beecher

A fascinating book looking at the 1848 revolutionary events in France through the writing of 9 different authors. Each chapter would stand alone and this led to some repetition, but that aside it was an enjoyable and engaging read 8/10

The Prime Minister

By Anthony Trollope 

The fifth book in the Palliser series and one I enjoyed. The heroine was milked of every ounce of melodrama but apart from that it was amusing and painted a more vulnerable side of Planty Palliser which worked well 8/10

Victory City

By Salman Rushdie

A story about a mythical figure who like the novelist creates a city and empire and all its inhabitants from nothing. Rushdie's imagination is amazing and this is a great tale. 7/10

Birnam Wood

By Eleanor Catton

A mystery/thriller set in New Zealand where a billionaire crosses paths with an ecological action group. It was a quick read but it never quite worked for me. The characters were all a bit too stiff and playing to stereotypes. 

Having said that I didn't see the end coming in quite the way it did. 6/10

Shalimar the Clown

By Salman Rushdie

A story spread across the globe but centred in Kashmir and the tensions of that region since partition. 

I found it a slow start but it gathered pace as the novel unfolds. The characters are large and engaging and as ever the plot comes from a fascinatingly creative mind. 8/10

Mirror of our Sorrows

By Pierre LeMaitre

The third in the interwar trilogy which sees some previous characters return as the German invasion of France in June 1940 is taking place.

After a strange encounter between a doctor and a waitress followed by a suicide we learn the history that led to this moment. 

A good read but lacked some of the punch of the earlier books. 6/10

My Friend Maigret

By George Simenon

Maigret has an English detective from Scotland Yard shadowing him and he is not too happy about it. They end up in the South of France investigating a murder of someone who claimed Maigret was a friend. Good yarn 8/10

Demon Copperhead

By Barbara Kingsolver

An ambitious book mirroring David Copperfield in a modern American setting. Damon is brought up on a trailer park and then in foster care. The story follows his life with Damon as narrator.

The writing is good but I found the constant referencing of the Dickens work a distraction. 6/10