The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
This is the story of Lucrezia who becomes the Duchess of Ferrara in 1561 that relays an absorbing sequence of events and experiences during the Italian Renaissance. It's a battle for survival and the treachery and beauteous splendour of the era is truly evocative.
The novel opens with immediate danger for the protagonist as the reader is brought into the suspicious scene, made to realise that Lucrezia knows 'with a peculiar clarity, as if some coloured glass has been put in front of her eyes, or perhaps removed from them, that [her husband] intends to kill her.' From this point onwards, we are watching for the double-edged hypocrisy of her husband at the banquet table, her actions and reactions to those she does not trust around her and we become eager to know who Lucrezia is and whether she will come to overcome all that is against her.
Chapters follow that are packed with details of her upbringing, her relationships with her parents and siblings and more importantly with her maids. The backstory is beautiful and vivid throughout. I was engrossed with the history of it all. In particular the detailed explanations of the tavola painting which Lucrezia did; painting on tempera wood. which included layers of acrylic paint and allowed for hidden painted scenes on top of each other.
Robert Browning's My Last Duchess' poem is of course central to most of this story and you might almost consider this novel to be a literary narrative version of that poem.
The suspense is mesmerisingly languorous and the drama unfolds with an almost predictable precision.
Not my favourite Maggie O'Farrell novel but still a cracking read and one that was difficult to put down.
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
A Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller
A Guardian Book of the Year
A Reese's Bookclub Pick
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The Summer Before by Dianne C. Braley
The descriptions of Boston and the immersion for the reader into the streets and setting of this novel are wonderful. I have never visited Massachusetts but was able to truly imagine the place and all its feelings. This seems to be exactly how Dianne C. Braley has set out to evoke emotion in her readers and the story moves between time periods and seasons but the place remains loyal.
The novel is in 1st person and gives the personal narrative of Madeline who is troubled by memories from her past and her relationships with Summer, a sister-like friend of hers who was abused as a child by her father (Trigger warning). No details are conveyed but the emotion of Madeline's guilt as an adult are conveyed as she realises her younger self may have ignored or helped Summer dismiss the way she was treated as okay. Of course this haunts the protagonist and Braley's premise for the novel is that she too is likely to be an indirect victim with sufferings too.
"A gripping exploration of trauma, guilt, and the unyielding strength of friendship." Anna David, NYT bestselling author
"The Summer Before gives readers a shocking and raw look at the devastation that is left in the wake of childhood trauma and abuse. When one woman takes a closer look at the complex details that caused her relationships to implode, she can finally face her existence built on a lifetime of lies and shame. With powerful writing, Braley gets everything right, from the smallest detail of the Jaws Bridge in Martha's Vineyard to exactly how guilt can bring you to your knees and not let you back up until you are ready to face the truth. A unique point of view on a gut-wrenching topic makes this book hard to put down and will stay with you long after you have read the last page."-Addison McKnight, Author of An Imperfect Plan and The Vineyard Remains
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The Premonition by banana Yoshimoto
Goodreads Review
Originally published in 2015, this novel by Japanese author よしもと ばなな Banana Yoshimoto is one I'm glad to have come across. The style is prosaic and reflective, causing me to compare it to some of Elena Ferrante's writing. This feels interesting to me since banana yoshimoto's biographical accolades include awards like the Scanno Literary Prize in 1993, the Fendissime Literary Prize in 1996, the Maschera d'Argento Prize in 1999, and the Capri Award in 2011. Although obviously the Japanese and Neopolitan cultures are stark differences not to be dismissed, I suspect it is the minimalism and narrative sketching of (urban) settings plus its fascination with family origin and relationships that has given me these thoughts.
"Also of note! She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."
The title The Premonition is suggestive of a haunting and ghost-like narrative. Characters' translucence make them all the more intriguing as the protagonist and 1st person narrator Yayoi starts to doubt her position within her family. She starts to worry about something she cannot remember from her childhood. Anxiety about her aunt, who seems to be frequently disappearing, also prompts Yayoi's movements away from her mother, father and brother at home to help find and ground her aunt, Yukino.
Translated by Asa Yoneda, this is a short, coming-of-age novel with a young 19 year old voice but overall the novel is mature, deep and mysterious.
"... [a] heartfelt story of a young woman who must confront her childhood and learn both the pain and the peace of knowing the truth."
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson
Goodreads Review
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The Cockroach by Ian McEwan
If this weren't so funny in places, it would be sad, but it's not, it's utterly brilliant. One of my favourite novelists, Ian McEwan has yet again, with powerful magnitude , written a marvel of a satire about Brexit of all things. This novel is quick and clever. It switches the Kafkaesque horror of Metamorphoses in which protagonist Gregor Samsa wakes to find himself transformed into an insect of abhorrence the other way round so that in McEwan's marvellous text his protagonist Jim Sams "clever but by no means profound" and a cockroach in the opening chapter wakes to find he is "a gigantic creature" who ends up being the Prime Minister of England. If you were a Remain voter back in 2016, you must read this!
In The Guardian's review published back in 2019, Sam Leith asks questions such as: "Was the EU referendum dreamed up by a cabal of nefarious, lie-spewing insects?" The story is absurd but strong like Jonathan Swift's was in Gulliver's Travels. It talks of 'reversalism', later malapropped by the satirical American president of Archie Tupper to be 'revengalism', in such a hilarious manner that you have to laugh at how ridiculous things have been and become. Reversalism is the government's idea that "The country will reverse the flow of money, so that you pay a salary to be allowed to work, and “earn” the money to pay your salary by going shopping, where the shops pay you to take away goods. The theory is that full employment and national renewal will result."
There is a wondrous witty mix of political, economic and societal satire throughout with much insight into how Britain and other countries like France, Germany and the US have been run in recent times.
It is a weird and strange way for Ian McEwan to have commented on his chosen themes but I do love his bravery and audacity to write such a book!
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
No paragraphs here ... like dreams and fevers, this novel was weird and unsettling for me! This is a novel in translation, originally written in Spanish in 2014 by Argentinian author Samantha Schweblin and translated to English by Megan McDowell and published by Riverhead Books. Psychological fiction at its best, I'd say! This novel had been likened to a drama play rather than a straightforward conventional novel format, since there are voices, but the reader doesn't know for certain who they are and when they are speaking and even to whom they are speaking. The amalgamation of disparate stories and retold experiences builds towards what is assumed will be a tragic end, but elements of the stories do overlap play with your memory as you read. I do wonder whether this text would be better enjoyed in its original language, since it is truly strange and difficult to read. I found myself trapped with my page-turning and reading of the pages, but not really learning anything more as I read. In fact I can only describe it as being engrossed in some sort of "fever dream"! Its mesmerising narrative is addictive and like addiction, a little toxic. Throughout, there is mention of toxins and worms which one of the voices is desperate to escape. There is a horse's head and frequent references to a hospital-like setting. Some of the themes are illness, mother-child relationships and fear with one of the main characters Amanda eventually articulating her fear for her daughter Nina's health related to some horrific incidents that are hinted as having occurred in their small town.
To conclude, this novel is original, hypnotic and a little nightmarish to read!
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
Goodreads Review
If you love a novel that gradually catches hold of each thread of your existence, tugging you taut with emotion and self-reflection, you must read NYT bestselling author Claire Lombardo's second book 'Same As It Ever Was'. The narrative is divided into three parts: Lost in the Supermarket, Via Chicago and World of Fools and follows the fifty-seven year old female protagonist Julia Ames.
Julia Ames deserves a whole paragraph to herself since she is a complex character with multiple layers to her existence, all of which she herself finds troubling and a challenge to embrace. We gradually learn of what she remembers about the way she was treated as a child, the difficulties of relationships she experienced growing up including her own role in those connections, her position in society, her observations of others around her, the way her husband makes her feel in their current relationship, her children and the responsibility she puts upon herself with regard to them, her role as a mother, wife, daughter and friend and so much more. Ultimately, the novel represents her journey towards acceptance of her own worth in the world, which is sad to encounter in many parts of the novel. Julia has often been seen as an unlikeable middle aged female. Her words and actions make it hard to like her and she's also a pretty unreliable narrator, dragging out the negativity from every memory and experience that she relays. Once she learns to appreciate herself and her own role in the relationships she can and can't escape from, she becomes a character that you don't want to leave.
This novel is long but needs to be because Lombardo covers so many relevant topics related to marriage, motherhood, daughterhood, parenting, society, relationships, self-worth, decision-making, midlife challenges, friendship, how to see others and even growing up. I don't really know where to stop since this novel is brimming with things to talk about! Definitely a great choice for book clubs.
There's lots I haven't mentioned including another of the main characters Helen Russo who we meet in the opening chapter and who is a core element of the text. Similarly, the male characters are all appealing for various reasons: Mark who is Julia's long standing kind and faithful husband, Pete who is Helen's wonderful husband, Ben who is Julia's much-loved son and so many more who contribute much to the plot.
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is a book-length essay, first published in 2014 and it offers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's powerful points about what everyone should be embracing from the term 'feminist'. She speaks of her upbringing in Nigeria and her culture that has shown itself to be largely unfair for her and to women and girls. She tells experiential stories such as her childhood friendship with Okuloma, who was the "first person to call [me] a feminist". In her writing, in particular after she published Purple Hyacinth, she was advised to tone down her strong female arguments but she has stood against this advice.
I love that Ngozi Adichie speaks to her Nigerian Igbo cultural traditions that say she cannot participate in the traditions of her culture because "Igbo culture privileges men, and only the male members of the extended family can attend the meetings where major family decisions are taken." She argues that "Culture does not make people. People make culture," and that "if it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture."
After all, a dictionary definition for the word Feminist is: "a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes." and Ngozi Adichie's closing words are that, "All of us, women and men, must do better."
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The White Book by Han Kang
Korean novelist Han Kang brings together grief, pain, the fragility of life and our right to a place in the world through a beautiful ice-sharp exploration of the colour white. It is poetic and lyrical with brief meditative passages, some as short as six lines long but others longer memories and musings on varied experiences that appear to be autobiographical. The main thread is the narrator's sadness, loss and counterfactual thinking regarding a baby sister who died before the narrator was born. The sense that her life would not have existed if the baby had survived causes repercussions of quiet contemplation and self-degradation.
Kang's taut and succinct writing is translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith and was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize.
Apparently, Kang incorporates descriptions of a total of 65 white objects in her narrative. They include an opening list on the first page that starts with swaddling bands, newborn gowns, salt, snow, ice, moon, rice, waves, Yulan, "laughing whitely", blank paper, white dog, white hair and shroud and the rest of the book is a sparkling kaleidoscope of whiteness referencing "rice dough", "white candles", "ghosts", "snowflakes", "Her own cold fists, which she clenched white", "a single handkerchief drift[ing] down...like a soul tentatively sounding out a place it might alight," and so many more beautiful but eerie images.
A wholly reflective and meditative piece of writing, offered to the reader in prayer-like episodes or lyrical poems. Each page is emotive and the book holds together with a surprisingly tight and accessible narrative.
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Booker Prize Winner 2024
This novel takes place on the International Space Station (ISS) with characters Roman and Anton, cosmonauts from Russia, and Shaun, Chie, Pietro and Nell who are astronauts from the United States, Japan, Italy and Great Britain respectively. It takes place over the course of one day as they traverse the orbit of the earth.
The story has minimal plot but there is a narrative structure as the characters show us their daily tasks and the occurrences of their time in space. It feels surreal since it's not anything I will ever experience myself, but I was reminded of the excellent Apple TV show For All Mankind that also presents history and fictional reality surrounding space exploration. The narrative voice offers collective viewpoints in places, suggesting what the astronauts and cosmonauts may be missing back home, like "cold stiff wind, blustery rain, autumn leaves, reddened fingers..." or "sometimes they just succumb to the uneventful humming of their sealed spacecraft." Other chapters invite us into the individual heads of one or other of the astro/cosmonauts so that the reader is offered a philosophical multicultural view of what their existences mean, what their relationships represent and why their presence in space collecting meteorological data, watching and photographing sometimes potentially tragic weather patterns and conducting scientific experiment is of such significance.
The blurb from the novel offers the questions posed by the central six protagonists: what is life without earth? and what is earth without humanity?
"...although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it come thoughts of returning home. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams."
The opening line is beautiful and worth quoting here as an exact invitation into this concise and spectacular slim novel that you must read:
"Rotating about the earth in their spacecraft they are so together, and so alone, that even their thoughts, their internal mythologies at times convene."
A beautiful description of the wonder of the world (written in the mixed genre of sci-fi, literary fiction and philosophical drama - just brilliant.) Cannot recommend it enough.
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
