Finely Tuned

'The Sing of the Shore' by Lucy Wood

It's been a good year for new publications and I've reeled a number of great sounding newbies onto my 'Would Like to Read' list recently.  One that caught my eye was the 'The Sing of the Shore', a collection of Cornwall-set short stories by Lucy Wood.  As you probably know by now, I love a good short story, and, thanks to my local library, I got a chance to try these.

Wood's book of 13 connected tales explores themes of curiosity, fear and isolation in a rural Cornwall dominated by the whims of holidaymakers and the forces of nature.  Characters' lives play out to the unceasing soundtrack of the waves crashing against the county's famously rugged and beautiful coastline.  For some, the sea offers escape from the monotony of family life.  For others, its a source of obsession.  Nosey children explore empty holiday homes, while adults find they won't - or can't - leave, even when the opportunity presents itself.  Friends let each other down, while enemies do the unthinkable.  Whether born-and-bred or retirees, all are held by the siren call of the sea as it ceaselessly gnaws at the shore and the psyche alike...

Feathered Fiends?

Earlier this week, I finished 'The Story Keeper', the second novel by Anna Mazzola. If you want moody Gothic with a heroine coming to terms with herself and her past, you've come to the right place!

September 1857: Audrey Hart escapes a miserable home life to the Isle of Skye, pursing her dream of becoming a folklorist.  As well as stories of fairies and magic, she comes to seek the truth about herself, as this is where her mother died in tragic circumstances.  Audrey enters the employ of the reclusive Miss Buchanan and struggles to earn the trust of the local people, scarred by the unkindnesses of the Buchanan family.  Everything changes when Audrey finds the body of a young, local girl washed up on the shore.  While she suddenly gains acceptance in the community, she also finds herself part of something more sinister.  Can the mythical Sluagh, the spirits of the dead in the form of flocks of black birds, really be abducting the young women of Skye, or is something more Earth-bound - and more terrible - at work?

Carmilla Cameleon

Like most normal people, the minute the days start getting sunnier and warmer, I get an incredible yearning to read horror novels.  As such, I recently read 'Carmilla' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, one of the unholy trio of classic 19th century vampire novels in my collection. (The others are Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (1897) and Dr John Polidori's sideswipe at Lord Byron, 'The Vampyre' (1819).)

Published in 1872, 'Carmilla' is the story of a young aristocrat named Laura and the mysterious Carmilla.  Living in a remote castle with her father and two governesses, Laura feels the bite of her isolation keenly and longs for more contact with those of her own age.  Her prayers seem to have been answered when her father offers refuge to a young woman, Carmilla, involved in a dramatic carriage accident nearby.  But the dream soon becomes a nightmare as Carmilla proves an idiosyncratic house guest, prone to passions and melancholies and unexplained nocturnal absences...

As you know, I often struggle with 'classic' books and, even though I hate to admit it, my blood often runs cold when I think about reading them.  'Carmilla' surprised me because I found it highly readable, a page turner even, and I really wanted to keep reading it right until the end.

The classic vampire is an aristocratic male, so I was curious about a story with a female revenant.  It's interesting that whether villain or villainess the overall structure of the vampire tale and a number of traditional features are pretty much the same.  For example, when Carmilla is at her most obsessive about Laura, there is a definite sexual energy and her femininity and animal magnetism save her on a number of occasions.  She's also charming, aristocratic and able to appear in animal form.  There are predictive dreams, mysterious deaths, a historic back story and an expert in vampires who helps sort everything out.  Basically, there's everything you'd expect.

Overall, I'd say that this book is worth a read, although, like any vampire tale, it's teeth are probably blunter because variations on the story have stolen its originality over the past 150 years ago.  As well as the female vampire, I think it is Laura who makes the difference.  Her honesty, naivety and vulnerability made it hard not to root for her and hope things turn out well.  It's a compliment to the writer that I didn't think her a sap!

In many ways, Carmilla's changeable personality made me think of the complexities of growing up and being a teen, so perhaps this is something teenaged readers might relate to in particular.

'Carmilla' is ripe for a new TV adaptation.  We've seen Dracula and other vampires revived so many times on screen, it would be interesting to see what the female of the species has been up to all this time.  The New Year slot seems to have become the home of gothic dramas, so perhaps 'Carmilla' will turn up there in a few years time.  One thing I am sure of - she's far from dead and gone.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Hello folks!  After the Christmas break, New Year, a stomach bug and a stinking cold, here I am, back at the blog after what feels like far too long.  I have three books to talk about, so let's get cracking!

The first book I finished was a collection of short stories by one of my favourite authors; 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' by Daphne Du Maurier.

'The Rendezvous and
Other Stories' by
Daphne Du Maurier
(Virago Press, 2006)

'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' includes fourteen tales of deep secrets, dark passions and dubious motives, exploring the flawed characters and gothic themes for which Du Maurier is most famous.  A bored husband plans his escape; a faithful wife see what she wants to see; an arrogant author believes his own hype; a theatre actress plays politics to preserve her career; a happily married woman kills herself for no apparent reason.  Du Maurier has cast her sharp eye over those around her and used their shades of grey to bring her characters to life.

I really enjoyed 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' and feel it's the best collection of Du Maurier's work that I've read so far.  It begins with the most heart-wrenching story, 'No Motive', the tale of a happily married and pregnant woman who, for no obvious reason, shoots herself one morning.  This story goes for the jugular and will stay with me for a long time.

This collection includes a range of stories from throughout Du Maurier's writing career, so, while they're all excellent, some feel less confident and comfortable with the dark side of human nature and these are often the ones I liked the least.  For example, 'The Fairytale', the story of a gambler's wife and how he makes amends, showed an optimism that felt at odds with the hard-nosed pessimism of many of its companions.  This mix does give the book added appeal, however, as it should make it of interest to writers interested in exploring how Du Maurier's own style developed.

Overall, I was engrossed by 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' and would thoroughly recommend it to fans of short fiction and the gothic genre.  I don't need to recommend it to Du Maurier fans as they've probably already read and enjoyed it!  I hope you do too.

Murder on the Hackney Express

Despite my fervent list making, I can be quite disorganised sometimes.  To prove my point, this is a review of a book Waterstones sent me three years ago...  Sorry about that, won't make a habit of it.  Promise.

'Mr Briggs' Hat' by Kate
Colquhoun (Little, Brown, 2011)

'Mr Briggs' Hat' by Kate Colquhoun is a work of true crime recounting the story of Britain's first railway murder.  In July 1864, the death of elderly banker Thomas Briggs on his train journey home sends shockwaves through Victorian society.  Until now, the age of steam has been largely embraced, but with the arrival of an empty but blood-soaked carriage at Hackney station, new and horrific possibilities emerge to send accepted complacencies off the rails.  The sensationalist press is soon reporting all the gory details, lapped up by readers around the world.  While the respectable classes squirm at the thought of a vicious maniac on the loose, the papers speculate on one oddity of the case.  In the deserted carriage are found the victim's walking stick and leather bag, plus a crushed hat, which didn't belong to Mr Briggs.  Who is the owner of the mysterious headgear?  And, brute or bystander, can he help police with their enquiries?

Hats off to Ms Colquhoun for the indepth research she must've done to write this book.  The first two thirds are incredibly absorbing, helping the reader understand the context of this tragic story and how it helped and hindered the police at the time.  This case is an interesting point on the journey towards modern crime investigation, showing how processes and techniques have evolved over the past 150 years.

When we reach the courtroom, however, through no fault of the author, the narrative runs a little out of steam.  It's impossible to recount this part of the story without repeating what's gone before, which unfortunately makes the book temporarily falter.  Suspense is soon regained, though, and I soon found it was me slowing things down as I dreaded turning the next page in fear of the inevitable societal vengeance.

Overall, 'Mr Briggs' Hat' is an intriguing glimpse into the crass media, popular neuroses and complex justice system of the Victorian era.  Just when you think everything's been written that could be written about it, someone comes up with something like this.  Hopefully when I've shortened my list a bit, I'll be able to treat myself to something else by Ms Colquhoun and see what fascinating titbits she's unearthed more recently.

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover...

I've just finished 'The Somnambulist', Essie Fox's debut novel.  When I received the review copy from New Books Magazine (http://www.newbooksmag.com/), I was very excited.  It sounded right up my street going by the blurb on the back cover and I couldn't wait to get started on it.  Unfortunately, I've found myself trapped in a classic 'don't judge a book by its cover' fable.

'The Somnambulist' tells the story of 17 year old Phoebe Turner, who lives with her hard line Christian mother Maud and her glamorous singer aunt Cissy in London's East End in the late 1800s.  When Cissy dies unexpectedly, the web of deceit in which Phoebe has been unknowingly trapped begins to unravel.  Phoebe begins a journey of personal discovery which takes her from the rowdy London music halls and bustling London docks to beautiful town houses and quiet rural Herefordshire.  But it's a difficult time for Phoebe as half truths and lies are brought into the open and she has to deal with her terrible grief at the loss of Cissy alone.

On the whole, I was really disappointed by this novel.  I will emphasise that it is a Ms Fox's first book and I really do believe that her work will improve with time and practice, but I personally felt that there were so many faults with 'The Somnambulist' that I hardly know where to begin.

'The Somnambulist' by
Essie Fox
(Orion, 2012)

For a start, the book would have benefited from a different narrative structure.  For example, the first fifty pages could've been removed entirely and the whole section told in flashback while Phoebe was at the Dinwood Court, the house of her mysterious benefactor's wife.  She spends so much of the novel repetitively going back to the early scenes at Wilton's Music Hall, it bogs the story down and relieves it of any tension generated, so to use her reflections to drip feed new information to the reader would have been more likely to make me want to keep reading.  As it is, the book feels like a train of thought, which is a shame when there are so many more interesting ways to plan and structure a story.

'The Somnambulist' is heavily influenced by Victorian literature, but there are times when I felt like the style had been given precedence over substance.  The sentences are often wordy and convoluted and it just makes the book very heavy going, especially when the information is repetitive.

The story itself is OK, but very predictable and seems a Frankenstein's Monster of 19th century literary clichés.  Within a few pages, I knew exactly what the 'big twist' was going to be and only kept going to the end because I hoped that the writer has come up with something better than I predicted.  I would've been more than happy to have a fast one pulled on me!  On top of that, it got to a stage where I started to think Ms Fox was just being cruel to Phoebe, throwing one disappointment at her after another, torturing her like a cat with a mouse.  No wonder the girl had a breakdown!

I have mixed feelings about the characters.  They neither ring true nor act as metaphors and it annoyed me to find another story with another negative portrayal of a religious person.

Also, I'm sure that the tone changes part way into the novel.  To begin with, it has a lovely voice to it that sounds exactly as though Phoebe is recounting her tale in later life.  It's chatty and cheerful and completely unlike the rest of the book!

One thing I can't fault is Ms Fox's enthusiasm for the era.  I rather like a bit of neo-gothic, pre-Raphaelite Victoriana myself and so enjoyed identifying the real-life sources of some of the things included in the story (look out for a thinly veiled PT Barnum!).

Also, despite the long-winded sentences which meant I had to read some pages two or three times, it's not actually that hard a read, particularly towards the end.  It's more the constant wailing and gnashing of teeth that makes it hard work!

New Books Magazine is for reading groups and was of great inspiration to me when I ran one myself.  The main plus of 'The Somnambulist' is that, going by other reviews I've read, it's a bit of a 'love it or hate it' book.  As such it will give people plenty to talk about at book group meetings.

This book is a holiday read at best, but I hope that future books by Ms Fox will be classics worthy of the rest of the year too.