Recommended Books

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Books recommended by Frances Kennedy

(Posted Thursday August 7, 2008)



The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. An interesting insight into Afghanistan. As was A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner.

The Coroners Lunch by Colin Cotterill…a really quirky crime story with some laugh out loud moments. I hope he writes some more.

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. A saga, which I did not expect to enjoy, about one man’s involvement with the Cherokee nation. Quite slow but worth the plod.

Dissolution by C.J.Samson. The first in a series of historical novels written by an historian who also wrote Winter in Madrid (Spanish Civil War). I am now reading the second in the series called Dark Fire. So far, as good as Dissolution and Winter in Madrid. Disssolution deals with the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry 8th and starts just after the execution of Anne Bolyne.

What was Lost by Catherine O’Flynne…an unusual story with an unusual setting and characters. A compelling read. Again some gems of humour.

I have recently re-read The Man of Property by John Galsworthy, this is like taking a warm bath on a cold winters night! A real joy. The Forsyte Saga is now being reprinted but my precious copy was published in 1922 and cost 6d.

Also I have re read The Warden by Anthony Trollop, another warm bath of beautiful prose and comfort.

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Blood River by Tim Butcher

(Posted Thursday May 1, 2008)



The author’s journey through the Congo is adventurous, dangerous and at times very moving. Just about everyone advises him not to go – but he goes anyway, and finds a country wracked by corruption and violence. Not a place you’d want to visit, but an excellent read.

Review by Rawdon Parslow

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Cargo Fever by Will Buckingham

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



What a wonderfully unexpected book! A fantastical story full of comedy and adventure and a story-line that can rightly be described as exotic. By the end one almost knows too much about Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands and their robust inhabitants. Great and serious fun!

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In the Dark by Deborah Moggach

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



A wonderfully well written book about life on the home front during the First World War. Deborah Moggach has a real gift for character and this is a very memorable story.

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Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



This book was published a few years ago and made no impact. I chanced upon it a month ago and read it in 36 hours. Although it is part family saga and part mystery story set in good old Alabama it is shot through with a very inciteful take on racism and rural violence. And it is an absolute page turner.

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The House on Moon Lake by Francesca Duranti

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



Published in 1984 and well out of print, this mysterious little book is well worth hunting down. It tells the story of an Italian translator who is himself hunting down a mysterious little book and the life of the man who wrote it. I can only describe it as beguiling and delightful.

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The Rain Before it Falls by Jonathan Coe

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



In a change from his recent takes on contemporary personal politics, this is a tragic love story told in recollection and strongly set in the West Midlands. Coe captures the times (contemporary to between the wars) brilliantly, but more importantly captures the ‘pangs of disprized love’.

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The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley

(Posted Tuesday January 8, 2008)



Her short stories are terrific and this novel does not disappoint. A story of families and their fragility, it portrays the caustic uncertainty of those who do not quite know what to do with their lives.

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