If You Find Me, Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me  is compelling and original. It was one of the last proofs I got before I stopped working at Waterstones. It is a teen novel, which would usually have me running a mile, but this one has something different.

It is the story of Carey (aged 14/15) and her little sister Janessa (6), who live in a camper van in the woods with their drug-addicted mother. They have lived there almost as long as Carey can remember and since before Janessa was born. Their mother often disappears for weeks at a time, it is during one of these disappearances, when they are running low on supplies, that we meet the sisters. 'Then strangers arrive and everything changes'

 

It is a brilliant, story of surviving, coping, and family. New ways of life being reconciled with old secrets. The characterisation is really subtle and well done. When you read it (because you are going to, aren't you?) you'll notice that Delaney is really well drawn, and not a cliche as she could have been!

Thank you very much Indigo books for the proof. 

I am reading Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw now. I didn't realise until I was a couple of pages in, but its the play 'My Fair Lady' is based on, so I have Audrey Hepburn walking around in my head.

My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell

This was an absolute pleasure! Funny, entertaining and completely bonkers. It had me stifling laughter in public places (unsuccessfully) and wanting to go bug hunting in a warm country.

The book is Durrell chatting and reminiscing about his life living in Corfu with his family when he was a boy. You meet his brilliantly eccentric family, and their friends (a mix of equally intriguing settlers and locals) and an amazing array of wildlife, magpies, terrapins, toads, scorpions, water snakes....
Durrell spends his time out watching (and often catching and keeping) the wildlife. He has an insatiable curiosity and a passion for any creature, no matter how repulsive to the rest of his family.

There is so much life in this book and reading it is like being on holiday. Gorgeous.

No-one to thank this time as its not a proof! Borrowed it off me dad...

The President's Hat, Antoine Laurain

If you read the last post you might remember I started 'Is That a Fish in Your Ear?' by David Bellos. It is a really engaging book and I'm about half way through. I have put that one aside for now though (new job, don't have any thinking/concentration power left over) for something a bit lighter.

The President's Hat was just what I wanted, warm, light hearted and thoughtful. It reads like a succession of short stories. The novel is set in France in the 1980's and follows President Francois Mitterrand's hat as it is picked up by a fellow diner at a restaurant. The hat is no ordinary hat, it is lost and picked up by a succession of people who all have their lives changed in some way. It is well written and the links and crossovers between the different 'owners' of the hat are beautifully crafted.

Thanks for the proof Gallic Books.

Im now reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell and so am spending my spare time with a boisterous family and living on the island of Corfu. Sunny!