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A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
A Russian aristrocrat Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is exiled to remain under house arrest in the Hotel Metropol. The opening pages show us a map of Moscow c.1922, Theatre Square and the Metropol Hotel, very close to the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theatre and the Red Square. We also have the pleasure of reading a poem written in 1913 by Count Rostov, the protagonist of the story but the subsequent court records on the next pages relay to the reader Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov's threat of being shot if he is to set foot outside of the hotel, on having written such a poem, but also having been an 'unrepentant aristrocrat'.
An elegant, beautifully written narrative filled with wit and charm for the reader as the main character's story and experiences are presented in a calm, controlled and mesmerising manner.
The slow and artistic description in this novel puts the reader into a trance, offering scenes of Russian hotel exuberance, emotion-filled liaisons amidst an underlying realisation of what is feared in the outside Communist world of the time.
I have to unfortunately admit that I did find elements of the Count's character unappealing. I felt umcomfortable at the beginning when he was connected with the young girl Sofia and found it appropriate to be led around the hotel to explore secretive, hidden places with her, like the lower basement levels of the hotel. Similarly, although of course he does become her guardian and adopted father, it felt strange that he was so against her exposed clothing made by the seamstress for her musical performance. I know it may seem irrelevant to the beauty of the rest of the narrative and their relationship, but something about it didn't sit well with me. I did like the symbolism of the 'willowy' female and what she may well have been used to represent. Disliking the Count's picking up of her clothing after their evening together pushed her to rebel and revolt and throw her own clothing to the floor in petulance, until she is admonished by her own maid for being childish. I loved that this female then left the hotel room in the middle of the night at 2am to pick up her clothes from the street where she had thrown them in a rage.
The Count was exiled and imprisoned in his own home though and the expensive hotel was his own living space before the exile so I did also find it difficult to truly feel for his situation since I didn't really know what he was missing from the outside world. I understand that it may be due to my ignorance about the full history of the time and era in Russia, which I accept.
Worth a read and interesting on many levels. A slow and beautiful experience though which readers should be prepared for in choosing this novel.
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The Ghost by Robert Harris
This has been labelled as a "bullet-paced thriller" and I can see why! I read this quickly and with immense enjoyment. It is packed full of corruption, power, politics, international relations, personal relationships, all tied together under the interesting concept of ghost writing and what that entails for all who are involved.
Here's the blurb, lifted directly from the back cover:
'A body washes up on the deserted coastline of America's most exclusive holiday retreat. But it's no open-and-shut case of suicide. The death of Robert McAra is just the first piece of the jigsaw in an extraordinary plot that will shake the very foundations of international security.
For McAra was a man who knew too much. As ghostwriter to one of the most controversial men on the planet - Britain's former primer minister, holed up in a remote ocean-front house to finish his memoirs - he stumbled across secrets which cost him his life.
When a new ghostwriter is sent out to rescue the project, it could be the opportunity of a lifetime. Or the start of a deadly assignment propelled by deception and intrigue - from which there will be no escape ..."
This is good! For all you writers interested in ghostwriting, this is insightful to the job as well as being a damn good story (with such great hints towards whose political history this fictional tale tells).
There are short epigraphs at the start of each chapter, from Andrew Crofts' Ghostwriting, which I kept me engaged on a different level too. Worth a read, as are all of Robert Harris' novels!
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby
Goodreads Review
Highly recommend this unique little book all about Charles Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby.
It reads like a long essay, divided into chapters and the later chapters on both artists’ methods for productive writing were most interesting!
The famed Victorian novelist and famed modern-day musician are idolized by Hornby in this book. I loved learning even more about Dickens and starting to learn about Prince and his epic musical journey! Also, mention of Rochester and details about Dickens’ living there (which is where I grew up) was lovely to see!
A great short read.
#dickensandprince #dickens #prince #nickhornby #nickhornbybooks #readabitofeverything #readingcommunity #writingcommunity #readingandwriting
It reads like a long essay, divided into chapters and the later chapters on both artists’ methods for productive writing were most interesting!
The famed Victorian novelist and famed modern-day musician are idolized by Hornby in this book. I loved learning even more about Dickens and starting to learn about Prince and his epic musical journey! Also, mention of Rochester and details about Dickens’ living there (which is where I grew up) was lovely to see!
A great short read.
#dickensandprince #dickens #prince #nickhornby #nickhornbybooks #readabitofeverything #readingcommunity #writingcommunity #readingandwriting
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
Weyward by Emilia Hart
"They call us witches. We call ourselves Weyward."
A debut novel written from three alternating female point of view perspectives who are soon revealed to have family connections, one way or another. We are first introduced to Altha in 1619 who tells us in 1st person of her entrapment and impending prosecution. The Prologue ends with her telling us 'they had come to take me to trial.'
Next, we meet Kate in 2019 who suffers domestic abuse from her husband Simon and proceeds to escape his control, travelling up the UK to seek out her great aunt Violet's 'Weyward Cottage , Crows Beck, Cumbria', which she has secretly received in inheritance. Violet is the character in the third storyline in 1942, who struggles a restrictive life under the misogynistic control of her father who favours Violet's brother Graham.
Emilia Hart has done a praise-worthy job of tying together three dramatic and propulsive storylines, each female fighting against horrendous male characters and their presumed power over women.
As the cover suggests, there are beautiful layers of description in relation to the settings, the creatures and insects that are connected with Altha, Violet and Kate and which do strongly suggest their mystical witching powers. They use nature for healing but it is something the females are trained to hold close rather than expose to others.
In reading, I felt like I knew the stories but was still drawn to continue reading since the language and use of nature description is so accessible and image-inducing. It is simple and predictable but gave me reminders of Delia Owens Where the Crawdads Sing, which I also really enjoyed but didn't love but also Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, which I did. Nevertheless, there are some great literary references, of course to Macbeth and The Brothers' Grimm Fairy Tales and Emilia Hart has mentioned her love for and inspiration from novels like The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett, Loly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Trigger warning - there are rape scenes and not very much positivity towards males since all the men, apart from the young brother are terrible. It's a mix of historical fiction, magical realism, contemporary feminism and beautiful nature writing, so it spans a number of bases and I would say is worth a read if you haven't come to it yet!
Since this is Hart's debut, I will be interested to see how her next novel reads, since she says it 'is quite different from Weyward in terms of setting and time period ... explor[es] themes if female power and resilience. Readers can expect sisterhood, the sea, and healthy sprinkling of folkloric magic.' Sounds like it may be reminiscent of Shakespeare's The Tempest?!
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
"Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era..."
I have previously read Home Front by Kristin Hannah and so I knew I would be engaged with the history and emotional detail from this story. It was even more interesting for me because of the location of the stories.
The novel opens with a short prologue setting the scene with references to land and the dust of the Texan landscape, hope as a significant central element of the American Dream, journeying and importantly the women of the Great Plains.
The story commences with sections of the story conveyed from the times of 1921, 1935, 1936 and finally the epilogue set in 1940. The narrative traces Elsa Wolcott who is demeaned to insignificance in her own family, deemed too old to marry but who connects with an Italian family and son Rafe.
When she finds she is pregnant she is disowned by her own parents, thus joining the Martinelli family and Rafe's parents Tony and Rose, become her central support.
However, a lot happens with the land, the drought, unemployment, dust storms, poverty and devastation of the land of the Great Plains and the debate about whether to move west takes over.
The story continues with turmoils faced by Elsa, now alone with her children, forced into debt by having to live in the work camp, out of work and forced to face many harsh realities of 1920s America. Her parents-in-law had decided to stay behind and protect their land, not wanting to give it up.
"Tony and Rose ... were the kind of people who expected life to be hard and had become tougher to survive... They might have come off the boat as Anthony and Rosalba, but hard work and the land had turned them into Tony and Rose. Americans. They would die of thirst and hunger before they'd give that up."
Hannah is not one of my favourite authors, but I always learn a little more social history as I read her well-researched novels and this one is an interesting read too. I enjoy reading her books for discussion at book clubs and look forward to discussing soon!
review by Christina Francis-Gilbert
