Undeliverable Male

'The Lost Letters of William Woolf' by Helen Cullen

There's a growing trend in publishing for charming and uplifting tales of ordinary people experiencing extraordinary things.  These stories are becoming bestsellers, so it's not surprising that publishers are on the lookout for the next 'Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' or 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine'.  One such hopeful is the debut novel of Helen Cullen, 'The Lost Letters of William Woolf'.

William Woolf is one of 30 'letter detectives' at the Royal Mail 'Dead Letters' depot in East London.  Every day, sackfuls of lost letters find their way to the depot thanks to smudged ink, missing labels and illegible handwriting.  The detectives try to solve their mysteries and get them back on their way, but too often the search proves fruitless and the only place the letters can go is the industrial shredder.  As William worries about his failing marriage and stalled writing ambitions, he becomes obsessed with a series of letters sent to 'My Great Love'.  Written by a young woman to the soulmate she has yet to meet, William is struck by the hope and yearning of her words and dares to wonder if they were meant for him all along...

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...

The Princess's Direst

I bet you thought it was safe here.  I bet you thought that it would be easy to hide on a little book blog like this.  Well, I'm sorry folks.  You thought that only the cinema was dominated by Star Wars incarnations, but, like the many-tentacled Sarlacc, I'm afraid the popular space adventure's long, elasticated reach has made it into this little corner of the internet too.  I have finished reading 'The Princess Diarist' by the late Carrie Fisher.

'The Princess Diarist' is sub-titled 'A sort of memoir...' and that's a fairly accurate description.  Unlike her other autobiographical work, it's dedicated to her relationship with the character of Princess Leia, Fisher's on-set affair with Harrison Ford and the unexpected impact of the worldwide phenomenon that Star Wars became and continues to be.  The book's name comes from it's inspiration; a collection of journals that the 19-year-old Fisher wrote while filming the original Star Wars film in 1976.  'The Princess Diarist' is Fisher's reflection on her most famous role, how actor and character became almost indistinguishable in the popular imagination and the highs and lows that come with having such a huge hit so early in your career.