Holy Fools, Joanne Harris

I like Harris' novels. They are guilty pleasures and though she over uses rhetorical questions, they are always a comforting and compelling read.

Holy Fools is partly narrated by the protagonist, Juliette, and her antagonist and ex-lover Guy LeMerle. Juliette has been living in a relaxed convent on an island off the French coast, she's left her travelling performer life behind and has found a safe place to bring up her daughter. The Abbess of the convent dies at the beginning of the novel, her replacement brings LeMerle, posing as a Priest, who starts to put in place an elaborate, vengeful plan. Juliette tries to protect herself, her daughter and her friends from LeMerle's plan and the ensuing hysteria.

The relationship between Juliette and Guy is beautifully complex, as is the portrayal of good and evil / right and wrong, collective hysteria and human fallibility. As with all Harris's novels this one has a great sense of place and atmosphere. Religion, ambition, escape, deceit and relationships all play a part.

The Mist in the Mirror, Susan Hill

I loved this, the atmosphere and sense of place she evokes is so British, wintry, cosy and sometimes bleak that it almost satisfied a homesickness.

Mist in the Mirror is a story within a story, the narrator is given a manuscript by an acquaintance, which tells the story of a man returned to the UK, after being sent abroad as a child. He plans to research his hero, an explorer who he has modelled his life on, and in so doing begins to ask questions about his own family and Yorkshire roots, none of which he can remember.

The novel is definitely a ghost story, and is creepy in the vein of Edgar Allen Poe or Oliver Onions. It is a mystery, and one which is not really solved. There is no big reveal where all the ends are tied up, rather we are given drops of information and end with a feeling of the 'true' events, but not a finished story. I love this in literature, you're given freer reign and it feels more honest or real somehow.

The Irish Sea, Carlos Maleno

I'm fascinated be Maleno, just from the blurb on the back of the book which mentions he is a slaes broker for an international produce company, which seems like such an unlikely job for someone who writes such strange and inventive short stories.

History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund

I enjoyed half of this book, it conveys an excellent sense of place but the characters are lacking somehow. The narrator becomes interesting in the second half of the novel, when we are let into more of her personality and thoughts, before that she seems a detached and sometimes callous narrator. It's as if the story arc for her is the wrong way around. The first half of the novel seems redundant, as if it should have been told in snapshots during the second half of the novel, rather than in full in the beginning.

The Descent of Man, Grayson Perry

Masculinity, it's effect on both the world and individuals and the way this all needs to change is the subject of Descent of Man. As usual Perry is engaging, funny and well informed, the argument is clearly illustrated and is sympathetic, though also cuts quite deep. He offers examples of his own behaviour and also ideas for how to change the cycle.
I had thought of masculinity and the way it affects personal relationships and work, essentially the ways it affects me directly, but Perry opens that up to include the whole way the world works. He puts forward the argument that the processes of international politics and war are direct results of a masculine way of looking at things, with all its associated competition, repression of emotion and insecurity.
Cut through with humour and illustrations.

Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt

I had been putting off reading this; I expected to be thoroughly depressed as McCourt describes his desperately poor Irish Catholic childhood. It is an eye opener, both to that level of poverty and to catholic guilt in the head of a boy, but I was completely surprised at how addictive it is. McCourt's voice is distinctive, and feels very raw, as if his childhood self is narrating through him.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee

This follows on from Cider with Rosie, Lee's description of growing up in a village in the 1920s. Here Lee leaves his home and walks to London, and then through Spain. Lee has a casual, compelling way of writing and is a brilliant observer and travelling partner. As with Cider with Rosie it's a fascinating peek into life for people at that time, both fellow travellers and local people.