Maigret at Picratt's

By George's Simenon

An interesting change of tone as Maigret investigates the murder of a stripper in Montmartre. The language is more earthy and the police are tougher in their approach but the story was good 7/10

Review of the Year 2023

 Another interesting year but no totally stand out books. I read three Rushdie novels of which Shalimar the Clown was good and the Enchantress of Florence fun. His latest book Victory City, I did not enjoy so much.

On the Booker front my two favourite books did not make the shortlist(Sebastian Barry and Tan twe Eng) but the winner Prophet Song was ok but not standout.

In non fiction Technofeudalism was interesting and tied in well with Runciman's How Democracy Ends, but my favourite was probably writers and revolution about 1848 as seen through different writers eyes.

My standout book of the year. There were some good new books from Barbara Kingsolver, Zadie Smith and Sebastian Faulks but the most memorable book was a Simenon book. Not Maigret, although Maigret's Memoirs was great fun, but The Man who Watched the Trains go By. It was scary and compelling. This probably was followed by The Wide World, the first in a new trilogy by Pierre LeMaitre.

Love in a Time of Hate

 by Florian Illies

The sub-title of this book is Art and Passion in the shadow of War, 1929-1939. It is a wide ranging look at numerous artists during that period and their complicated love lives. That said the vast array of people covered is also the books weakness as it becomes impossible to keep up with who they are all as we jump in and out of stories. 6/10

The Seventh Son

 by Sebastian Faulks

Seth was the seventh son of Adam and also the name given to the hero of this book who is born to two London based people via a surrogate mother supposedly using their eggs and sperm. However, the rich entrepreneur who runs the clinic has some problems of his own regarding the dementia that is killing his father and he uses his clinic to carry out some "research" that impacts on the child born in 2031. It is a thought provoking story as we follow Seth and his parents and surrogate mother over the next 25 years with some twists and turns along the way. 8/10

Maigret's Memoirs

 by George Simenon

One of the best Maigret novels as this is Maigret writing about Simenon and filling in some of the gaps and correcting some of his minor errors, It is very funny in places but also quite poignant in others when he talks about real issues of society seen on a daily basis by the police. 10/10

As the Eagle Flies

 by Nolwenn le Blevennec

A french book about an affair. The affair started three years before the time of the book and lasted three months but then spent three years coming to an end and we get taken through it on a self absorbed retelling of the time by the narrator. 

The saving grace of the book is that it is very funny in places and made me laugh out loud. Otherwise too introspective for me. 6/10

The Fraud

 by Zadie Smith

I think this is Zadie Smith's first historical novel but it is a lot of fun. It is based around real people and events, but the main characters have been largely forgotten by history. Characters such as Dickens and Maclise also make an appearance, and we don't always see their best sides!

The story follows Mrs Touchet and her cousin Ainsworth through their colourful lives and their interaction with a celebrated legal case over the identity of Roger Tichborne and whether the claimant of an inheritance is actually him. Great larks! The story moves from London to Jamaica to Australia and my only disappointment is that the story ran out of steam about two thirds of the way through. The earlier parts of the book I really enjoyed 7/10

Technofeudalism

 by Yanis Varoufakis

A book examining the rise of the big tech companies. The argument is that the rise of cloud capital has brought about the death of capitalism as we know it and that power now lies with a few cloudalists for whom most of us work for free.
YV loves to come up with new terms-indeed, one chapter of this book is devoted to explaining why the term used in the title is important- and we have many in this book including cloud proles and cloud serfs.

I found the argument difficult to follow at times but this is a very thought provoking book that will leave me wondering about the way this will move. The most sobering part of the book was his chapter looking at China and the USA and the new cold war. The most disappointing was the last chapter which paints a utopia that we are unlikely to ever reach and left to many questions unanswered 6/10

Prophet Song

 by Paul Lynch

A dystopian vision set in present day Ireland but could be anywhere in the western world. The country descends to civil war as a far right party takes over the country and bit by bit clamps down on dissent. A depressing but captivating read as a mother tries to keep her family together after the husband is arrested.

Some of the characters were a bit unbelievable but still powerful storytelling 7/10

The Wide World

 by Pierre LeMaitre

The first in a planned trilogy of the post war years but there is a surprise appearance of characters from the previous trilogy of the interwar years!

This story revolves around the Pelletier family. The father runs a very successful soap company in Lebanon but his four children are still finding their way in life with mixed results. This is the tale of how it unfolds, which takes us from Lebanon to Saigon to Paris and in true LeMaitre style is peppered with surprises along the way. A bit gruesome in parts, along with a smattering of humour this is great storytelling 9/10

The Bee Sting

 by Paul Murray

The longest book on this years list it is set in a small town in Ireland a couple of hours from Dublin.

It tells the stories of the four members of the Barnes's family as the family faces up to various challenges such as bankruptcy, mid life crisis, marriage breakdown, male rape, bullying, transition to college life, climate change etc etc. It is very funny in places and exceedingly dark in others and I felt it ran out of steam by the end with an ending that left you guessing. I enjoyed the structure as the four members took it in turns to be central stage and tell their story. Not sure why the mother had to do this without punctuation but no doubt it made sense to some! 6/10

Things I don't want to Know

 by Deborah Levy

This book was written as a response to George Orwell's essay called why I write. In that he identifies four things he believes motivate writers to write. 
Levy's response as a woman living in the twenty first century is both thought provoking and interesting. I loved it and it was beautifully produced by Notting Hill Editions 9/10

Madame Maigret's Friend

 by Georges Simenon

A new twist, with Mme Maigret being given a central role in this mystery of what turns out to be a double murder and in which Mme Maigret's conversations on a park bench turn out to be the key to solving the crime. 8/10

Follow the Money

 by Paul Johnson

A 2023 take on the British economy, looking at where the money comes from and how it is distributed. Along the way he comments on the good and the bad of the British tax system and the failings and strengths of the various spending departments.

You may not agree with all of his analysis but it does offer food for thought. It is fairly well balanced in its swipes at politicians from all sides but it is written by somebody who rising from modest roots, has embraced the establishment of which he is now a part. As such he comes across as a bit arrogant in places but I still found it an enjoyable and stimulating read 8/10

How to Build a Boat

 by Elaine Feeney

You get the impression as you read this that Elaine Feeney may well have built a boat at some time in her past.

This book is about a lot of things other than boat building though. It is about grief, growing up on the spectrum, single parenthood, relationship breakdown, abuse and misogyny in the catholic church and more. In fact, although I enjoyed this book its weakness is that it tries to deal with too much and feels missing something as a result. Definitely an author I would read again though 6/10 

This Other Eden

 by Paul Harding

A small island community made up of black and mixed race poor is forcibly evicted from their homes in a story, based on fact, about our inability to tolerate difference. It is a sombre tale, told brilliantly with a poetry to the language that makes the darkness of the story even more painful. It took me a while to get into it but I ended up racing through the second half 8/10

All the Little Bird Hearts

 by Viktoria Lloyd Barlow

This is, I suppose, a story of three women set in a rural town not far from Lancaster. Dolly is sixteen and growing up fast. She lives with her divorced mother. There summer is disturbed when new neighbours move in next door. They are from London and looking to do some property deals in the area. Dolly becomes thick with Vita and starts spending more and more time with them. So far so normal but thrown into this mix is the fact Vita has always wanted a daughter and Dolly's mother, Sunday, is on the aspergers spectrum. The tale is told slowly and keeps and element of gentle tension throughout. 

The book focuses a lot on pronunciation and hearing it read on an audiobook worked really well. It is spliced with humour but I felt it was too long in the end with repetition that was unnecessary. An interesting ending though 6/10

A Spell of Good Things

 by Ayobami Adebayo

A story set in Nigeria detailing how the lives of two families from different parts of society are altered by external events. The stories overlap in a deadly way and from the moment the title of the book is explained it is clear the story can only end badly which is does for all concerned. Both sad and moving it is not a book I would read again. There was no redemption here, no hope. Must be in with a chance of winning! 5/10

Old God's Time

 by Sebastian Barry

Set in 1990's Dublin this is the story of a recently retired police officer dealing with grief and getting old, overshadowed throughout by child abuse in the Catholic Church and the impact on him and his immediate family.

The book constantly unsettles you from simple things like the main character's references to cheese on toast as welsh rabbit through to whole sections of the book, which are told as fact suddenly becoming dreams or the misplaced memories of the protagonist. Excellent novel 9/10

If I survive you

 by Jonathan Escoffery

A collection of stories about a Jamaican family making its way in America which hangs together fairly well. The ending had some sort of resolution but felt rushed compared to much of the rest of the story. 

The way it deals with feelings of belonging and displacement I found really good and there were also some shocks I was not expecting as well as moments of humour. 7/10

Western Lane

 by Chetna Maroo

An unusual storyline that includes a lot about squash!
It is the story of a young teenage girl who has lost her mother. She has two sisters and their father at a loss what to do with them starts taking them to the local squash court.

The story unfolds of how they deal with grief and growing up. It was beautifully told and ends on a bitter sweet but positive note 8/10

Study for Obedience

 by Sarah Bernstein

Bernstein has been listed as one of Granta's best young novelists in 2023 although her dust jacket biography says she is from Montreal. This ambiguity flows through into this book where it proves difficult to pin anything down.

The writing is superb in places but I ended the book feeling it was an exercise in style rather than a telling of tales. I found myself asking the question how much can a novel be pared down before it ceases to be. The book has little plot-a woman travels North to care for a brother and never is accepted by the locals due to certain events she believes the town blame her for. Little in the way of subplot. The location is never clarified other than North and it gets cold in winter. The two main characters are not named and we learn little of them other than mystery. There are few other characters, all anonymous and from the town.

Having said that I keep thinking it through and trying to work out what was going on and I like that. Vintage booker material :). 5/10

The House of Doors

By Tan Twan Eng

An amazing mingling of fact and fiction built around a visit by Somerset Maugham to Malaysia in the 1920's but looking back to some real events in 1910/11. 

It is a wonderful evocation of memory, of what might have been and the sadness of lost love 9/10

The Man Who Watched the Trains go By

By George Simenon

Not a Maigret but a fantastic read. Very dark. A normal guy in Holland is suddenly transformed by events in his employer's business. Edge of the seat stuff 9/10

Paris in Turmoil

 by Eric Hazan

A series of vignettes about the history and current state of the city of Paris. In Hazan's normal style it is a no holds barred account where he praises and disparages in equal measure. It is a short and very enjoyable read for anyone who loves the city and will certainly provoke discussion. 8/10

Maigret and the Old Lady

 by George Simenon

Maigret is off to the Normandy coast following the poisoning of a maid. The glass she drank was meant for her mistress. As you would expect not everything is as it seems as we learn more about the family history the true story behind the poisoning comes to light. Vintage Maigret 9/10

Chinaman

By Shehan Karunatilaka

A very funny, cricket rich book about a mystery Sri Lankan cricketer called Pradeep Matthew. 

It is told by an unreliable narrator who is 64 and drinking himself to death. This story of his attempts to find the man and tell his story against the background of civil war in Sri Lanka is great. 8/10

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

The Dead Secret

By Wilkie Collins

Set around a house by the sea in Cornwall this is a mystery about a housekeeper and her mistress and a secret they held between them. The melodrama is a tad too high and the secret is easily guessed, but it was a fun read nonetheless 7/10

The Dynamite Club

 by John Merriman

A book about late nineteenth century France and the anarchist movement told by following the story of Emile Henry who exploded two bombs in central Paris. It is a fascinating story and told in a very engaging way.
Merriman concludes that there was no Dynamite Club as such but it is easy to draw parallels between the motivations of nineteenth century anarchists and modern day terrorists. Surely, it behoves society to look at the reasons for such actions 8/10