Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

A quick rundown… 24 hours in the life of Miss Pettigrew that change her life.

Strengths: Very uplifting, restores faith in the human spirit.

Weaknesses: Too short!

Why I read it: Given to me in the 2010 Library Thing Secret Santa.

Pages: 234

Published: 1938

Publisher: Persephone Books

Setting: London

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

If you liked this, try: there is a movie of this book. Watson’s writings also have the charming feel of Enid Blyton.

Miss Pettigrew was a present from a Secret Santa who knows that I like books that are part of a series or set (examples: Morland Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Popular Penguins, Vintage 21). This eagle-eyed Santa noticed that I didn’t have any of the books published by the charming Persephone Books and soon rectified this. I had heard of the movie of the same name, but didn’t realise that like most good ideas, it was originally a book. And what a charming book this is. It’s kind of like Enid Blyton for grown-ups. There’s little sketches every so often of the action and the writing is so warming and pleasing, you’d think you had stepped into a warm bath.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is 24 hours in the life of Miss Pettigrew, an out of work governess who is almost penniless and on the brink of being evicted from her lodgings. Given an address from the employment office, she makes her way to the flat of Delysia LaFosse, who is looking for a governess. When Delysia opens the door, Miss Pettigrew is thrust into a world she has only dreamed of. A world where she is loved for what she is, opinions are listened to and respected and where happiness is not an optional extra. Delysia’s life is spiralling out of control and Miss Pettigrew’s words of advice and wisdom help her to discover what she really wants. Miss Pettigrew is also responsible for reuniting an estranged couple and there is a hint of romance for her.

This book is simply told and brims over with goodness. I don’t mean it’s goody-goody; I mean that it restores your faith in the human spirit. The gaining of confidence in Miss Pettigrew is beautiful to read, from her first evening gown and hairdo to the first twinkle of interest from the opposite sex. It’s heart-warming to see and the happy ending is also just perfect. Almost a fairy tale!

Don’t think that it’s all sweetness and light though. There are some fairly heavy issues discussed, from drug use to promiscuity to alcohol. I’m sure this would have been even more daring back in 1938 when the book was first published. It’s a fairly quick read, but one that leaves you pondering long after. Thank you Secret Santa!

The Understudy by David Nicholls

A quick rundown… Stephen C. McQueen is an unlucky guy – unlucky in love, unlucky in living and unlucky to be the understudy of one of the hottest British actors. Things turn for the worse when he falls in love with that actor’s wife.

Strengths: Funny in parts.

Weaknesses: Stephen is a helpless, awkward kind of character.

Why I read it: Loved both Starter for Ten and One Day.

Pages: 406

Published: 2005

Publisher: Hodder

Setting: England

Rating: 7 out of 10

If you liked this, try: Nick Hornby’s novels

I read The Understudy not long after Starter for Ten. (Both these books arrived damaged from Australia Post in transit and got absolutely saturated with some kind of liquid, hopefully water). However, I digress. The problem with reading these two books in such quick succession was that The Understudy lost the quirky charm I felt for Brian in Starter for Ten because Stephen in this book is of a very similar mould.

I could probably cut and paste from my other review in the description of Stephen, but I won’t for you, the reader because I’d like you to stay awake for the next few minutes. Stephen is an actor who hasn’t made the big time – yet. (Naturally, he believes it’s right around the next corner). Despite his previous claims to fame as a squirrel and a dead body, Stephen is currently understudying England’s hottest actor, Josh, in a play on the West End. Stephen is cringeworthy most of the time, with bad jokes and an awkward manner with his ex-wife, her new husband, daughter and pretty much everyone. While it was plausible in 18 year old Brian of Starter for Ten, the loser, hopeless style of Stephen is harder to take as an adult. He’s a bit dorky and a bit lame with the slapstick events that seem to unfold all around him).

Despite Stephen’s misgivings, he manages to fall in love with Josh’s wife, Nora. And she seems to like him back. Nora is a much more spikier character – she has an interesting history and a lot more spine than Stephen. Josh is your typical ‘sexiest male’ actor – he likes the ladies and they like him. While we get to know the character of Stephen all too well, we don’t learn so much about the other characters.

I found the plot fairly interesting (not many books are set around a play) but the ending could be summarised as meh. It doesn’t really do anywhere or lead to any promise. You’re not left wondering about the characters and what will happen next, which I think is fairly important for a book to rate as ‘good’. Unfortunately it’s not One Day, not even close. What a pity.

What Women Want by Fanny Blake

In a nutshell… three older women dealing with a range of problems – will their friendship hold them together?

Strengths: Well written characters with backbone.

Weaknesses: The three stories don’t come together until the very end.

Why I read it: Given to me for review by PR (thank you).

Pages: 432

Published: 2011

Publisher: Blue Door

Setting: London, England

Rating: 8 out of 10

If you liked this, try: Someone Like You by Cathy Kelly

 

I was asked to review this book by a PR company in England, who kindly sent the book to me all the way to Australia. On the back, this looked like the type of book I read for my chick lit fix – three women, all friends who each have different problems but get through it. The cover also had a quote from one of my favourite writers, Penny Vincenzi (as an aside, her new book is released in Australia in September). However, the women in this book were older than your usual chick lit (perhaps I should call it mummy lit?) – late 40s or early 50s. Never mind, it was still interesting even though I’m nowhere near that stage of my life!

Although this book subscribed to the usual setting of three friends, very different in nature but who have a strong bond, there were differences that made the book stronger for me. Each of the women has a strong career, something I usually find lacking in chick lit. (Kate is a GP, Bea works in publishing and Ellen runs an art gallery). Even though they are of similar ages, each is facing a different problem: Bea, newly divorced, is looking for love while controlling a teenage son; Kate is worried that her husband is becoming increasingly distant; and Ellen has found love in the shape of Oliver – but how will her children react? Each of these stories is told with gentleness and humour. The strength of the trio’s friendship is exemplified by Bea’s determination to find out exactly what Oliver is hiding in order to protect Ellen. Although Bea’s detective work is intense and well-researched (she is a publisher after all), the climax where Ellen finds out about Oliver is not that powerful. The epilogue is probably more powerful as it again demonstrates the strength of their friendship and doesn’t tie up everything neatly, making this book more true to life.

This was a light read, easy to pick up and put down (I tested this to the nth degree, as I was on call 24/7 while reading this book). The characters are engaging and strong (I’d love to see Bea in her own book) and defies many of the chick lit stereotypes. There’s no Manolos and cocktails, these women really could be the friends of a real person. Enjoyable.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

(This is what the Australian book cover looks like – I’ve already passed my book on, so no photograph).

The Distant Hours was a Christmas present I was really looking forward to. I loved both The Shifting Fog (The House at Riverton) and The Forgotten Garden – both were multilayered stories combining present day, history and a touch of the Gothic.

The Distant Hours doesn’t disappoint on that front – we have modern day Edie who finds that her mother was sent as an evacuee from London to Milderhurst Castle, where she was looked after by the Blythe sisters – Persephone (Percy), Seraphina (Saffy) and Juniper, who is known to be a bit ‘odd’. The Blythe girls’ claim to fame is that their father wrote the all-time favourite children’s book, The True History of the Mud Man. Like any good castle, Milderhurst comes with a tragic past. Edie can’t work out why her mother is so reluctant to talk about her time there and why she reacted so to a long lost letter.

Fortunately, Edie works for a publisher and becomes entangled in the lives of the three sisters, trying to work out what happened during the war years. This is told by past recollections of Meredith (Edie’s mother), Percy, Saffy and Juniper. The story unfortunately ends in a cliché.

I didn’t feel this book was Gothic at all – was it because I read it in the middle of summer? Is it because I’m getting used to Morton’s format? (Current day moves to past moves to secret moves to solving in the present day). I felt like there were many unexplored themes (Juniper’s mental illness is poorly portrayed, changes in heartbeat do not cause madness) and many loose ends. The characters didn’t feel fully fleshed nor did the castle – I feel like a have a simple sketch in my mind, rather than a perfect picture. Saying this though, the book needs a damn good edit. There are far too many adjectives to make sense of sometimes and I found myself rereading sentences to work out what they meant until the penny dropped, ‘Oh! She means the sky is grey today!’ I found myself falling asleep over this book, which occurs rarely!

I really wanted to like this, but I feel there’s better examples of the historical/Gothic genre. Look to Morton’s other books, The Shadow of the Wind or Daphne du Maurier (such as Jamaica Inn).

Read it if: you received it as a Christmas present or you haven’t read the other books I’ve mentioned above.

6 out of 10.

The Marx Sisters by Barry Maitland

 

The Marx Sisters is the first of the Brock/Kolla mysteries and one of the more difficult for me to track down. I finally located a copy in Kinokuniya, Sydney but discovered more recently that most of the series is available as e-books.

If you’re familiar with the series (I only have two more books to read), you’ll know that they can be read out of order without problems (except keeping up with who Kathy is seeing). Being familiar with the more recent books in the series though, I could sense that this book was a little grittier, a little more rough around the edges but I liked that. It was a bit more graphic, a few more swear words but that didn’t bother me at all.

What was different about this book was that it was split into two parts – one for each murder of the sisters (dubbed the ‘Marx’ sisters due to their beliefs). Kathy isn’t working directly with Brock at this time, but Brock joins her investigation as an elderly lady is murdered at home in Jerusalem Lane, ‘a little piece of Dickensian London’ where the developers are about to rear their heads. Meredith’s death can’t be solved, but when her sister dies as well, more secrets about the Lane and its inhabitants are revealed. The conclusion was a nice surprise too- I didn’t suspect the murderer!

I do enjoy Barry Maitland’s books and I’ll be disappointed when I’ve read them all. They’re a well written series about homicide detectives in London, not overly gory and well thought out.

8 out of 10.

The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon

Katharine McMahon’s books are quite difficult to get in Australia- very few stores seem to stock them. I was introduced to this author after seeing Confinement on the shelves at Borders in Singapore, misread the blurb (I thought it was about a hospital- ‘health’ but it was about a school ‘heath’) but really enjoyed it even though not a great deal was resolved by the end of the book. So when I started The Crimson Rooms, I really didn’t know whether it would be in the same vein or not. The short answer is yes- things seem resolved in some respects, but not in others. It could be a case of too many different plots or a trait of this author’s writing.

This book opens with Evelyn Gifford, the main character, opening her door one night to find a woman and boy standing there. The woman, Meredith, claims that Edmund is her dead brother’s son. Is she telling the truth? James died in the war (WWI) and the house has remained on tenterhooks ever since.

Evelyn is also one of the first women to graduate with a law degree and is currently working with Mr Breen and co. Recently she has undertaken her first case- reunite a woman with her children. Then her boss asks her to become involved in a murder case, which finds Evelyn investigating and finding that everything is not as it seems. To top it off, there’s a romance.

The ideas covered in the book were interesting, but I felt that there was too many plots to do justice to each. Meredith’s character floats in and out as she pleases and the ‘shocking truth’ is revealed too early in my book and then simply accepted. The love affair is potentially superfluous. The murder mystery was the most interesting and the best completed plot. While Evelyn’s championing of careers for women is important, it is too often relegated to a back role.

Will I read another book by this author? Actually, I’ve got another one on the way. They are very well written, true to time and place but I’m hoping that the next book I read (The Rose of Sebastopol) doesn’t make me think ‘so what actually happened?’

7.5 out of 10.

Blind Fury by Lynda La Plante

I must say that I don’t take a lot of notice of the titles of Lynda La Plante’s DI Anna Travis novels, as I don’t think they usually relate to the actual novel. I suppose this book (the latest in the series) does, but you wouldn’t make the link until the end.

This book is about another murder case that DI Travis is working on, the murder of three women whose bodies were all found just off a London motorway. It’s a dead case with very few leads. Enter a murderer in gaol who specifically states he can assist the case and get into the killer’s mind. An interesting plot line that makes you think of The Silence of the Lambs but it really doesn’t go very far, except for setting up another lover for Anna.

I’m getting a bit sick of Anna and her boyfriends- yes, she’s very morally upright and dedicated to her career, so how does having a fling in each book assist the plot? Isn’t it in detective fiction canon that all detectives end up sad and lonely?

This is a spoiler but Anna doesn’t break the mould. In what must be the most boring case covered in this series, leads continually come to dead ends and suspects / witnesses are revisited again and again. This is fiction- couldn’t there be a bit more liberty to make it interesting?

The last couple of chapters go through emotions and timeframes very quickly- a little too quickly in my opinion. The blurb on the back of the book also says a little too much about what happens at the end- I had a chapter to read, read the blurb again and immediately thought, ‘Oh, I know what happens now’.

Generally with this series I don’t expect high literature but gripping action. This time I didn’t even get one of them.

6.5 out of 10

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

Every time I’m in Melbourne (which is not as often as I’d like), I love to browse at Reader’s Feast in the CBD (corner of Bourke St and Swanston, downstairs from Starbucks). This store loves books. They have a fantastic range (including The Morland Dynasty, which it seems no other Australian, New Zealand or Singaporean bookshop carries) and you are welcome to browse to your heart’s content. They even send a regular catalogue by post for me to drool over.

But I digress. On my last trip, I was browsing the shelves and the cover of Brick Lane caught my eye. I had never heard of the movie or the book before. It looked interesting, so I added it to my pile and brought it back home with me.

 

Brick Lane is about Nazneen, a Bangladeshi girl who enters an arranged marriage with Chanu, an older man who lives in London. She is brought to a foreign way of life- life in a council flat and life in a foreign language. As time goes by, Nazneen meets Karim, a young man who opens up her life somewhat. But when Chanu announces his plans to return home, Nazneen is conflicted.

You would think that there would be plenty of teething problems for Nazneen, settling into a new country where she doesn’t speak the language, but the book seems to gloss over the differences in culture and marriage to a man she barely knows. A lot of the book felt disconnected with the feelings of the characters- Nazneen seems to be ambivalent to a lot of upheavals (‘how you were left to your Fate’ is a recurring theme’) and it took me several readings to understand that a character had actually died.

I felt that the first 300 pages were long and wordy- a description of daily life in the walls of Nazneen’s flat and Chanu’s ideas. When Karim enters the novel, the pace picked up a bit but again Nazneen didn’t appear to have passion or hatred for what she was doing. The last part of the book was the most exciting (Fire! Riots!) but was all too quickly over and settled back into a languid pace. While Nazneen should be applauded for her stand, I felt it took too long to get there.

My copy also had an article by the author in response to the movie release- apparently there had been protests regarding the portrayal of Nazneen and the Bangladeshi community. It left me to wonder if the movie was more daring and fast paced than the book…I may have to watch it to find out.

I’d say this is a 6.5 out of 10- just too slow for me.