C. Bannister

A Thought-Provoking Read, 14 April 2014

Dea Br�vig conjures up a desolate and harsh debut novel which is mirrored by the unforgiving Norwegian winters which is described so vividly that I longed to pass the young Else Dybdahl yet another jumper to keep her warm on her ferry home from the town at the end of each school day.

The story is split a past that covers the time from 1974-1976 and the present day, 2009, where Else is forced to confront those memories she had hoped were safely buried when her boyfriend returns to the island to live in his family home with his young wife and children.

We know that Else is the mother to Marianne, and Grandmother to eleven year old Liv who she lives with in the same town… Read more

The frailties of man, 13 April 2014

I fell in love with this book from the first page, the beautiful writing far outweighs the somewhat depressing underlying story of the end of the affair between Maurice Bendrix and Sarah. This tale is told from the protagonist�s viewpoint, interestingly, some years after this defining mark in his life and it is quickly apparent that Bendrix (he is a man known by his surname) is still trying to make sense of the strong feelings, of both love and hate he still harbours.

The quality of Graham Greene�s writing was simply brilliant. My copy had an introduction by Monica Ali that I was reading out of curiosity soon after receiving the book and despite already having started another… Read more

An Unhappy Family, 12 April 2014

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Programme (What's this?)

How far back do you need to go to find the seed that was planted that lead to an event? Liza Klaussmann tells us a story that starts in 1946 with two young cousins preparing for a new life following the end of the war but ends in an event some twenty-five years later.

Nick is off to Florida to meet her husband Hughes whilst Helena is off to marry Avery in Hollywood, a man summed up by her cousin as a charlatan. Along the way both women have a child each, Daisy is the daughter of Nick whilst Helena has a son Ed. Nick and Helena have the sanctuary of Nick�s family home Tiger House to meet up in the summer with their two children.

I enjoyed the structure of this book… Read more