General Chat

Hi Greaders. Please give your two suggestions for July/August, title and synopsis please thank you. Vote will be Wednesday 23rd.

Ann
Glos

Greader suggestions July, August 2008
Ursula Under by Ingrid Hill
A dangerous rescue attempt in Michigan has captured the attention of the entire country. A two year old girl has fallen down a mine shaft. Ursula Wong is from a poor family and referred to by one member of the TV audience as ‘half-breed trailer trash’, not worth all the expense.
But Ursula is the last of her family line, and her story explodes into a gorgeous saga of culture, history and heredity. Ursula’s forebears include a second-century-BC Chinese alchemist; an orphaned consort to a Swedish queen; and her great great grandfather, Jake Maki, a miner who died in a cave-in aged twenty nine.
Ursula’s fate echoes those of her ancestors, many of whom so narrowly escaped not being born that any given individual’s life comes to seem a miracle.

Tell it to the Skies by Erica James
Suddenly in the middle of a crowded Venice street, Lydia glimpses a face that takes her back to England, back to her childhood and to a dreadful secret she believed she had banished to the past….
As children, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they’d never even met. It was a cruel and loveless new world for them, and it forced Lydia to grow up fast. She learned to keep secrets and to trust sparingly, and through it all she was shadowed by guilt and grief.
Then, as an adult, the beautiful city of Venice gave Lydia peace, fulfilment and even love. But in a single moment, a stranger’s face forces her to revisit the past she has been hiding from for the last twenty eight years…..

Hi Ann I was going to PM you earlier but computer had a hissy fit, I am going to take a leave of absence from greaders for a month or so, as I am just not getting time to read at the moment. :-)

Michelle

Greaders suggestions July/Aug 08

English Passengers – Matthew Kneale

From the write up on the cover:
It is set in 1857, a Reverend sets out on a trip to Tasmania looking for the Garden of Eden, a fellow traveller is a sinister Dr.
Unbeknown to either of them, they are travelling on a ship that is a Manx smuggling ship outwitting the British customs.
This book is noted for the period of unrest in the Tasmanian Isle yet is shows humour and wit intermingled.

Behind the scenes of the Museum – Kate Atkinson

Not much of a write up about it…just that it is set around a family in North of England, it shows life’s little intrigues with tears as well as laughter.
Back cover credits of having been a joy to read by many newspaper reviews, but none say much about the story. It is a 1st novel by this author.

Gill

OK Michelle, please rejoin again when you have time.

thanks Gill

Ann
Glos

I think I shall have more time for this months reading :)) Been a busy last couple of months.

Following the Wake by Gemma O'Connor

The fallout from Evangeline Walter's murder touched everyone who knew her, as if her venom had insidiously leached into their lives and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had a genuine affection for her, was not immune, and neither was Smiler O'Dowd, who loved her. But of all those who had contact with her, none suffered more than the wife and son of V. J. Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat? Ten years on, the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was a little boy of eight ...-The fallout from Evangeline Walter's murder touched everyone who knew her, as if her venom had insidiously leeched into their lives and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had a genuine affection for her, was not immune; and neither was Smiler O'Dowd, who loved her. But of all those who had contact with her, none suffered more than the wife and son of VJ Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat?Ten years on, the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was a little boy of eight.



Constance by Rosie Thomas

The new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Iris and Ruby. Connie Thorne was a foundling, a child left by her mother for strangers to find. Forty years on, without ever being able to discover her true identity, she has put all her energy into creating a flawless shell for herself. As a child, she was musical, her sister Jeanette was deaf. One of them was dark, the other sunny. Yet they both fell in love with the same man. And her feelings for Bill, Jeanette's husband, are the one part of herself that Connie can never reshape. When she hears the news that her sister is dying, the last thing Connie wants is to leave her Bali home and return to London. But with the bitterness of betrayal still between them, Connie and Jeanette have to learn to forgive each other. Surrounded by family, can Constance make her peace with who she really is -- and who she loves?

x Jill

..

Hi

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

A village girl's dreams of marriage end on the death of her father. Cast on the mercy of relatives in fabled Isfahan, she and her mother are reduced to servitude until she reveals a talent for designing carpets - an invaluable skill in seventeenth century Iran. Hope is short lived, for a disastrous, headstrong act results in the girl's disgrace. Caught between forces she can barely comprehend, she faces a life lived at the whim of others - unless she is prepared to risk everything and choose a future based on her own strength and will.
The Blood of Flowers tells an unforgettable story, a tale of sensuality, of the treachery of friendship, of the power of love and of the fragile possibility of finding happiness against all odds.

No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

The house was silent. No sound of her parents getting ready for work, or her brother late for school. Were they punishing her for last night? She'd been out on a date when she should have been studying, and had a huge fight with her father. So where was everyone now? Why had her family disappeared?
Twnety five years later the mystery is no nearer to being solved and Cynthia is still haunted by unanswered questions. Were her family murdered? Abducted? If so why was she spared? And if they're alive, why did they adandon her?
Then a letter arrives, a letter which makes no sense. Soon Cynthia begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made

Cathy

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where are the rest?

Hi everyone, I am not a member although Ann has in the past tried to 'catch' me ;-0)

I must tell you about the book I am just about to finish.

BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS
by
Louis de Bernieres (a novel)

set against the background of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, the Gallipoli campaign, and the subsequent bitter struggle between the Turks, 'birds without wings' traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia- a community in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully over the centuries and in which friendships, even love, can transcend religious differences.

Among the inhabitants of this picturesque coastal town are Iskander the potter, fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmetcik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town; the two ho;y men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja; and the landlord Rustem Bey, who journeys to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. And beyond the confines of the town there is Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue if military genius and sheer bloody- mindedness reshapes the whole region in his image.

When war is declared against the Allies the young men are sent to fight. As the great world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed.
*******************************************
Now that is what the synopsis says.
Me.. I just think it is a fantastic read full of history, and all the best and very worst bits of human nature.
A great read... honestly.

Just make sure , if you have arthritis, that you beg, borrow , or buy... a paper back. My son bought me this, and it is a hard back... that is why I had to put it down so often.
It is a very *unputdownable* read.

Deanna X

Sarah Waters - Affinity.

From the dark heart of a Victorian Prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes weaves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud or a prodigy?

By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic.

Alfie.

Remember This - Alexandra Campbell
Should Lily rebuild her marriage to Tom or walk away from it? Should Tom sell his mother Maud's cottage and Boathouse, scene of many memories? Should Dora reveal the truth of Maud's marriage?
Do love, forgiveness and compromis change over 50 years. Tha answers lie at the Boathouse where waves and wildflowers ripple over the bones of a dangerous family secret.

The Stuff of Dreams - Eileen Ramsey
14 years ago an actor died in a fire and his lover was arrested. Now Abbotts House has been rebuilt and a mysterious woman has come to live there. Kate cannot leaver her tragic past behind - but nor can she remember what actually happened that night. In the peace of a Scottish village her memory begins to return - and an epic love story returns to haunt the woman who survived.

Kate

I was going to suggest "No Time for Goodbye", but that's already been nominated! So ...

East of the Sun - Julia Gregson

A sweeping epic set in 1928. Three women are travelling to India - Rose is to going marry a man she barely knows, Tor is in search of a husband and Viva, their chaperone, is travelling back to the country where she was born and where she lost her parents.


The Lollipop Shoes - Joanne Harris

Seeking refuge and anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmatre, Yanne and her daughters live peacefully, if not happily, above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped - at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l'Alba, the lady with the lollipop shoes, and everything begins to change ..."

AL

anyone seen jeanette around?

Looking forward to seeing what you vote for. I am back in the UK for the last 2 weeks of August and will pick up some books from Tesco.
Recently read one of Erica James (The Holiday) and am currently reading Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris (Chocolat) so would definitely read Lollipop Shoes.
Will email OH daughter to pick me up Sepulchre and The Forgotten Garden if they are still on at 2 4 7 at Tesco.

Rosalind

Morning Ann

Could you miss me out this time!!!

We go away 6am,on wednesday,for 3weeks.

Happy reading to you all.Helenxx

thank you Helen, that is a shame. Look forward to you rejoining next time.

Ann
glos

Hi everyone - here are my 2 suggestions....

Jigs and Reels - by Joanne Harris

Suburban witches, defiant old ladies, ageing monsters, suicidal Lottery winners, wolf men, dolphin women and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear, in these 22 short stories the miraculous go hand-in-hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive and the disturbing are never more than one step away.

The Raging Quiet - by Sherryl Jordan

Set in medieval times, this is the story of Marnie and Raver, each set apart from the community around them. Marnie because she is a newcomer having been brought to the village by her new - and much older - husband; and Raver because he is the village lunatic.

The villagers are suspicious of any newcomer, and they are especially wary of Marnie when her husband dies suddenly. She causes more consternation when she befriends Raver, but Marnie discovers that he is not mad: he is deaf. She develops a rudimentary sign language to communicate with the young man. This seals her fate: The villagers see Raver responding calmly to her hand gestures, and they try Marnie for witchcraft.

Sue

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