Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney

                                                                       

The protagonists of this novel are four thirty somethings, the outline of the story is perfectly put in the official precis.

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend, Eileen, is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

As this book is written in conversations between Alice, Eileen, Felix and Simon it was a good introduction for me to listening to a novel instead of reading! I am not sure it is something that will become a habit but it worked this time as I am currently in Quarantine in Hong Kong and was able to listen whilst pedalling away on an exercise bike.

What a complicated world we live in! The author navigates the four protagonists through the complex friendships they have with each other. She makes the reader realise how easy it is to make assumptions about relationships, that can actually do more harm than good. Obviously fans of Sally Rooney should enjoy this latest novel but also those that like to read contemporary relationship stories.

The Rose Garden by Tracey Rees

 

What a moving and beautifully told tale about the strength of female relationships in Victorian England.

Olive, Mabel, Ottilie and her mother Abigail are the main characters all living in London in 1895 and leading very different lifestyles. Their lives become intertwined and friendships formed that shock some of the Hampstead residents.

Poverty, racism, sexism, women’s rights (or rather lack of) and domestic abuse were all big problems during the Victorian era. They are all covered in this novel with plenty of detail, intrigue and drama to keep you turning the pages.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, especially if you enjoy the writing of Rachel Hore and Dinah Jeffries.

A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris

 

The third novel in the Malbry trilogy, A Narrow Door is a sequel to Gentleman and Players (2005) and Different Class (2016). This entire series has been an enthralling read, as Joanne Harris writes haunting psychological thrillers.

It was great to catch up once again with a character I felt I knew, Roy Straitley, his boys, colleagues and St Oswald’s School. Times have moved on at St Oswald’s and the traditional narrow door has opened a smidgeon and admitted not only a female head of school but also girls as pupils.

The head teacher and female protagonist Rebecca Buckfast, nee Price is the future of the school and Roy Straitley who has been a main male character in all three books, is the traditional past. Both Roy and Rebecca have dark memories buried in their pasts that torture them. The story unfolds as they reveal their stories to each other and the reader is drawn deep into the complex events of the past.

Written by an author who is skilful at keeping us guessing right up to the very last page, I recommend highly to her many fans and those that enjoy psychological thrillers.

A Beautiful Spy by Rachel Hore

 

What a lovely read this was, for me made even more interesting by the fact it is based on a true story.

Rachel Hore has written a great story built around a young woman who in the thirties in pre-war London found herself working for MI5.

The protagonist Minnie is a woman ahead of the times as independent women were far from the norm in that period. Living this lifestyle impacted on her private life and at times she struggled to continue. What a determined and brave young woman she was, dedicated to serving her country.

Recommended to anyone that wants to read an emotional adventure about a woman leading a double life.