East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

I did enjoy this but did not find it as captivating as I had expected to, both from reviews read and from the fact that it won the UK Romantic Novel of 2009 award. It was an enjoyable read though maybe my opinion was clouded because a favourite author of mine did not win the award.
In 1928, three young women leave the United Kingdom  to start what they hope will be new lives in India.  The first protagonist we meet is Viva Holloway who wishes to return to India having spent some of her childhood there. She has very confused memories of the past  and hopes that sorting these out will give her peace of mind and freedom from her demons. She is twenty eight and finds herself working her passage to India as chaperone to the other three protagonists of the story, all at least ten years or so her junior.
Rose, niave and anxious about her future is travelling to India to marry her fiancé Captain Jack Chandler in Bombay, a man she barely knows. She is accompanied by her best friend Victoria ‘Tor’ Sowerby who was to be her bridesmaid. While Rose is moving to India for love, Tor hopes to find love whilst there. So that she does not have to return home to England and her over powering mother.
Full of hope and excitement these young women are far from prepared for all that lies ahead of them in India. All looking for that fairy tale ending the girls all become close friends as they mature into stronger individuals.
The young man Guy who is the third young person whom Viva chaperones on the journey, turns out to be a most unpleasant and confused young man due to mental health issues, that were not properly understood. He actually turns out to aggravate a lot of the problems they later have in India.
For me the novel was more a historical novel of suspense than strongly romantic, the story is rather dramatic at times as it is set in the period of violence caused by the coming of the end of British rule in India. Viv, Rose, Tor and Guy are all trying to cope with their own personal problems and battles for independence, amidst the background of a country fighting for the very same thing.

In all this was a vividly descriptive and enjoyable read.
Julia Gregson
'East of the Sun' has been published in Italy as ' Matrimonio a Bombay'/ 'Marriage in Bombay'.  Although in Italian this video depicts a delighful picture of the story.

Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards Jones

 
I am really not at all sure why I bothered to read this as within in a few pages I just knew it was going to be rubbish. However I do not give up easily and kept going in the hope that it might improve or even be funny!
After all it must have made its way on to my wish list of titles due to having read 'Hotel Babylon' and 'Tuscany for Beginners', both of which I found funny and enjoyable. In theory this book was a good idea as only trying to do what was previously a success for the hotel industry, even becoming a TV programme, but for the airline industry a disappointing failure.
I am far from a prude but the antics that some of the airline crews get up to left me feeling rather disgusted! I am sure that some of the material used in the writing of this book would also make the majority of men and women that currently work for the airline industry, somewhat embarrassed. At times it almost seemed as if the anonymous people in this collection of supposedly true stories were proud of themselves. I just cannot think why.
Maybe it is another case of me picking the wrong book at the wrong time as I am due to fly myself in 48hours and would maybe have been better off not knowing about some of the horror stories that go on behind the scenes of the ultimate travel service industry.
I would not recommend this to anyone unless maybe you are thinking of entering the industry yourself, it will certainly help you decide one way or the other, depends if you are game for a lifestyle of debauchery or not.
Of course I may well have taken the book far too seriously and it is really written tongue in cheek!
If this is not an overly exaggerated account of life in the skies then traveller beware.
My reviews for the other two titles can be found here
'Hotel Babylon' http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4686747
'Tuscany for Beginners'  http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3658412

When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson

                                                


This the third mystery novel of Kate Atkinson’s that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. She draws you into the story very cleverly and I was quickly engrossed in the lives of the at first seemingly unrelated characters. Though of course having read her work before I knew that by a series of coincidences the mystery would gradually become clear and all link together seamlessly. Maybe rather a lot of coincidences to be completely believable but this is reading for pleasure and it is how Kate Atkinson’s novels work.
Once again the characters of Jackson Brodie and Louise Monroe appear as they have done in her previous two mystery novels. Although it does not matter if you have not read the first two, for me it was a pleasure to reconnect with these protagonists. I found every one of the characters appealing and it was intriguing as to how all the overlapping connections between them were eventually going to be resolved. She certainly kept me guessing and entertained right to the very end.
Thirty years ago a terrible crime was committed in Devon for which a man was convicted. The novel starts with this vignette that sets the scene for the mystery that follows when the man convicted of the crime is released from prison. Switching to Edinburgh thirty years on a mother and baby go missing,  but the only person who seems concerned at first is the child's Nanny, sixteen year old Reggie Chase, a character with an intriguing background.
If you are looking to loose yourself in a suspense mystery with great characters then this can be recommended.
In case you are interested I have included links to Bookcrossing entries for her previous two mystery novels
Case Histories http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3147510
One Good Turn http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5880955
Kate Atkinson’s Website http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

My Original Review.        Josephs Reviews Blog

I was really chuffed a few days ago when I was contacted by another Book Blogger Joseph, asking if he could share my review with his readers!

It would be much appreciated if you felt able to pop across there and leave a comment.

Thankyou friends.

Kazuo Ishiguro Kräków (Poland) 29 October 2005
Born	November 8, 1954 (age 55) Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Writing period	1981-present
Notablework(s)	The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go