I just loved this book. It’s 1911 and Peggy Battenberg works in the Moonrise Bookstore in New York. But Peggy is no ordinary shop girl. She’s an heiress belonging to one of the countries richest Jewish families. Then one day, while making martinis for an eminent – if rather salacious author – and his agent, Peggy is dragged away by her Uncle David to spend the summer in New York’s illustrious and hedonistic Coney Island with her extended family. But this will be far from a jolly holiday. They will be accompanied by her younger sister Lydia’s betrothed – Henry Taul – and his mother so they can all ‘bond’. And so the mystery and murder begin. Peggy meets and falls for impoverished artist Stefan, who shows his Futurist paintings at a tiny Gallery inside Dreamland. Stefan is Serbian and therefore hated by everyone who believes him to be an anarchist and trouble-maker. Dreamland is one of three funfairs on Coney Island and probably the most famous. It really existed. Look it up. I read about it first in Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things. Peggy is the most wonderful hero. Naive to the point of simplicity, her eyes are opened during this ‘holiday’ to just how unfair life can be when you are not rich or entitled. Let alone an ‘alien’. I don’t think she realises that even though her family are fabulously wealthy that they will always be persona non grata amongst old money because they are Jewish. I enjoyed The Blue – my first book by Nancy Bilyeau – but this one was way more exciting and the character of Peggy will stay with me forever.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read along with my fellow Pigeons.
Historical fiction
Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
Beautiful, heartfelt, sad, uplifting – everything I expect from my favourite author in the world ever – Alice Hoffman. I don’t really know what else to say. Just read it. And then read her other works if you haven’t already.
The Foundling by Stacey Halls
I loved this book more than I can say. If I could give it 10 stars I would. I was so engrossed in the story and couldn’t wait for the next stave to be delivered (I was reading through Pigeonhole). At one point I wanted to buy the book so I could read to the end only to discover it had not yet been published. In fact I am still so full of the tale of Bess, Alexandra and Clara/Charlotte that I am struggling to read another book yet. I cannot imagine what it must have been like having to place your new born baby in The Foundling hospital because you were too poor to look after her. But then to save for years to reclaim her only to find that she had already been claimed by someone pretending to be you. Poor Bess. Alexandra’s plight was different. Having myself been brought up by a mother who didn’t leave the house for over 35 years due to agoraphobia (though it was more complicated than just that) I sometimes got mad with Alexandra because I know how damaging it is to instil fear into your child. I understand she couldn’t go out but not to allow her ‘daughter’ to go to the park with Doctor Mead and Eliza and then normalise it isn’t fair. Anyway I could go on. The story is wonderful and the characters rich. Occasionally it was a teeny bit far fetched but hey this is fiction, not real life.
Many thanks to the Pigeonhole for giving me the opportunity to read alongside my fellow Pigeons and the author. We love you all.
The Crown Agent by Stephen O’Rourke
Dr Mungo Lyon, an Edinburgh surgeon, is barred from practice following his (minor) involvement in the Burke and Hare case. However, when he is caught up in a strange adventure that takes him to Glasgow and Jamaica, his skill as a surgeon is not the only skill he will need. He will need to use his intelligence and keep his wits about him as he is chased, shot at, accused of murder and taken prisoner on a ship bound for the other side of the world. Never knowing who he can trust and who is a villain, Mungo finds himself trying to solve the case almost single-handed. There are many surprises along the way and even the possibility of a romance. Murder, smuggling and treason – they are all here in this rip-roaring tale of adventure and derring-do.
Many thanks to the Pigeonhole, the author and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
From Spain during the Civil War to Chile, then exile in Venezuela and back to Chile, this beautiful novel covers a period of history that most of us no nothing about. It follows the lives of Victor Dalmau and his wife Roser from youth to old age. It’s a sweeping epic of a novel with a host of likeable and not so likeable fictional characters. The politicians such as Franco, Salvador Allende and Pinochet are all real, as is the poet Pablo Neruda. Having loved The House of the Spirits I looked forward to a touch of magical realism (my favourite genre), but there was none. I would have given it five stars but for two reasons. Firstly (as others have pointed out) it reads at times like a history lesson and secondly it’s a bit like a joke without a punchline. There are no surprises or twists and turns as in the books I usually read. It is linear going from point A to point B in chronological order. The writing is beautiful and the story engaging but for me it doesn’t follow the introduction, conflict, crescendo, resolution, happy-ever-after-ending of the type of stories I am used to. It kind of meanders from one place and time to another until everyone is old or dead, just with a lot of drama and bloodshed along the way. It is probably why I never read non-fiction.
However, don’t let that put you off. It’s a beautiful story and well worth reading.
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
This is just so good. Alice Hoffman is still probably my favourite author of all time. The story is set during the the second world war and follows the lives of three young women – Lea, Ettie and Marianne and the two brothers Julien and Victor. There is also another main character in the form of Ava – a golem (from Jewish folklore) – created from earth and clay by Ettie (daughter of a rabbi) at the behest of Lea’s mother Hanni. Knowing that as Jews they would soon be taken by the Nazis and sent to a death camp, Hanni asks Ettie if her father would create a golem to protect 12 year old Lea. Ettie knows her father will not do it but says she can do it herself in spite of being a woman. So Ava is created. Lea escapes to Paris (from Berlin) with Ava and stays with Julien and Victor’s family. Marianne is their housekeeper but Victor is secretly in love with her though she is not Jewish and is five years older than him. And so their lives become entwined forever. Some of what they have to endure, carry out and be party to is heartbreaking, yet the strength of the human spirit is also uplifting. For some people – those who do not like magical realism or anything supernatural – this may not be for them. But for me Ava is the star of the show and her transformation is wonderful. I totally forgot that she a a mythical creature from folklore. Just accept it and see the beauty in the story.
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
I had no idea this is YA and still don’t really know why – other than the main characters are all late teens/early twenties. I loved this book. In fact I loved it so much that I am struggling to read anything else now. The story is so real (of course much of it is based on fact apart from the individual stories). How little do we know about life in Spain under Franco. And yes I cried at the end. I cried for Miguel and Paco Lobo as much as for Ana and Daniel and Julia and especially for Puri. I know some people think it was sentimental and schmaltzy, but I thought it was moving and beautifully written.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
