My Book Reviews for September 2024
My Book Reviews for September 2024
My Book Reviews for September 2024 comprise a witchy thriller, a guide to writing self-analysis, a podcaster mystery and some NetGalley early reads.
The Witches of Santo Stefano by Wendy Webb
Family history research leads Cassandra, a resident of Wharton by Lake Superior, to discover an alarming anomaly on her late great-grandmother Violetta’s birth certificate. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Cassandra travels to Italy, Violetta’s homeland.
As well as showing Cassandra’s present-day search for the truth, the story is also told from the viewpoints of several of her forebears. These older timelines reminded me of The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, not only due to the number of ancestors and generations to keep track of, but also because of the beautiful touches of magical realism.
I’ve read several of Wendy Webb’s ghostly suspense novels (and reviewed The Stroke of Winter and The End of Temperance Dare), but this moved into different territory with a sweeping tale of enchantments, cures, curses and suspected witchcraft. The writing was of Wendy Webb’s usual high standard and came with the bonus of sumptuous descriptions of Italian architecture, customs and food.
A delight from start to finish.
This is an independent review of an early NetGalley copy. I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.
The Writing Mirror: Analyse your writing for self-discovery by Dr Stephanie Carty
This workbook offers writers the opportunity to analyse their own writing for clues to their inner self.
Part One looks at how we write, considering our attitudes to, among other things, perfectionism, prevarication, motivation and achievement.
Part Two puts what we write under the microscope, notably examining several aspects of repetition. Do we have key themes we constantly refer to? Do many of our characters depict similar strengths, weaknesses, emotions, yearnings? Do they follow similar story arcs? Do we veer towards the same elements of description for several characters, for example in repeated use of visual/audio/olfactory imagery? Are there particular topics we always avoid writing about? Why is that? Lack of knowledge or interest, or due to self-censorship or self-protection?
Part Three asks what importance (or not) we attach to the time we spend writing. How do we view our writing output? Do we compare ourselves with other writers and, if so, how?
This is a very readable book with plenty of space to work through exercises and make notes. My favourite section was Part Two as I found the questions asked worked as a useful starting point for self-editing my work.
Heather Critchlow has hit upon a winning formula with her "Un"-titled Cal Lovett mysteries.
Cal is a podcaster who is called in by families to investigate the long-ago murder or disappearance of loved ones. Chapters take three viewpoints:
· Cal conducting his present-day enquiries;
· the victim in the months leading up to their disappearance/murder;
· Cal's podcast episodes.
In this third outing for the series, Cal looks into the case of Arran, a lad from a Scottish farming family who disappeared at the start of his second term at Edinburgh University. (Be warned: what happens to him at uni is horrible.)
The series also has an overarching story arc where Cal is driven to investigate these cases because of the disappearance of his sister decades earlier. This backstory comes further to the fore in each novel and is primed to stay centre stage in book four.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
(I have previously reviewed Unsolved and Unburied.)
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore
When girls at her boarding school start having fatal ‘accidents’, Charley finds herself haunted by their spirits, who demand she solves their murders. These grisly but mostly good-humoured apparitions are reminiscent of the gruesome ghosts in An American Werewolf in London, one of the few popular horror films not name checked in this book.
This slapstick slasher is ideal for readers and movie fans who enjoy a horror spoof with plenty of blood, guts and gore.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Summarised from the blurb: Twelve year old Phoebe loses her parents in a house fire and goes to live with her uncle and aunt in Wales. She meets Gwyneth, who wanders the forest. Nobody else believes that Gwyneth is real, but with her help, Phoebe begins to see the woods as a place of magic and wonder. Something happened there long ago, but will revealing it put her in grave danger? With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
A Postcard from Puffin Island by Christie Barlow
Verity chances upon an old postcard trapped in her mailbox. It was meant for her late grandmother and came from Verity’s childhood haunt of Puffin Island. As she’s looking for a new adventure after the end of a relationship, Verity heads straight for the island to try to find out about the postcard’s author and unravel his cryptic message.
Christie Barlow does a great job of creating her new series setting and introducing likeable characters in this emotional tale. It will be a sure-fire hit for this talented author.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
The novel blends history, folklore and feminist parable with literary in-jokes and more than a nod to Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain.
There were lots of elements that attracted me to this book: eve of WW1 setting; exploration of misogyny; creeping horror; use of German vocabulary (including plays on words); and allusions to classic German literature. However, with its levels of complexity, this is a novel I would prefer studying and writing essays about rather than as a bedtime read. Without doubt, it's a quality text and possibly a future classic.
Taken from the blurb: In September 1913, Mieczysław Wojnicz, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen. Every day, its residents gather to drink the hallucinogenic local liqueur and to discuss the great issues of the day: Will there be war? Do devils exist? Are women inherently inferior? As stories of shocking events in the nearby highlands reach the men, a sense of dread builds. Someone – or something – seems to be watching them and attempting to infiltrate their world. Little does Mieczysław realize, as he attempts to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.