2014

	City of Women – David Gillham My Rating ★★★★   4.1 A gripping debut novel, realistically written In Berlin 1943, the Eastern Front is in retreat, Goebbels is looking for ‘Total War’, Jews are being rounded up and air raids by the Tommies are creating a ruin of the city, for everybody it is now a matter of survival. Sigrid Schröder, a stenographer with husband on the Eastern Front is made to face a difficult choice whether to defend (or not) young Ericha Kohl from the hands of plain clothes SiPo (Security Police). Her choice draws her into the world of hiding Jews and others escaping the Nazi regime and will encounter a mother and her two daughters who she believes is the wife and family of her Jewish lover, a second choice, denounce (or not). City of Women seems very real, difficult choices made by ordinary women in difficult times. Although Sigrid seems to have a death wish she does not come across as reckless, but calculated, sizing up who can be trusted, who not, with this theme running and gripping the reader through to the end. The extraordinary achievement by our author is that this debut novel is written by a man, convincingly taking a woman’s story.
	Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh My Rating ★★★★   4.4 Wickedly funny from start to end If you have heard of Evelyn Waugh through the 2008 film Brideshead Revisited then while Decline and Fall is by the same author, they are not alike, not even close. This was Waugh’s first book published in 1928 and is loosely based on his time at Oxford and as a teacher in North Wales. It follows the declining fortunes of Paul Pennyfeather and is a full frontal comedy which tongue in cheek pokes fun at the establishment. It can be compared with P.G.Woodhouse, it was meant to be funny, and it is!

	Operation Massacre – Rudolfo Walsh My Rating ★★       2.3 An early example of investigative journalism Late on June 9th 1956 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a dozen men were arrested and then executed a few hours later. Martial Law was not introduced until the 10th and so it was illegal to execute the men without trial, murder in fact. But there were witnesses to the execution, several survivors, 5 men lost their lives leaving wives and 16 children behind. When Rudolfo, a journalist, hears several weeks later that there was a survivor to this relatively unreported incident he sees an opportunity for a scoop and starts to investigate. In a country run by dictatorships and a military junta, with kidnapping, disappearances and killings commonplace pursuing a possible police cover-up is difficult and dangerous for all involved.  We therefore have a strong plot, one based on an actual event. Where for me this book goes wrong is that it is too factual and that over time it becomes the mission for Rudolfo to bring down the Chief of Police, a colonel, who was responsible for ordering the executions.
	The Honorary Consul – Graham Greene My Rating ★★★★    4.3 A bungled kidnapping by a catholic priest Set around 1969 Doctor Eduardo Plarr lives in a small Argentine town near the Paraguay border at a time when kidnapping and political unrest is rife. His old school friends are planning to kidnap the American Ambassador in order to use this as leverage for the release of political prisoners, Eduardo has been told that one of them would be his father. But it wouldn't be a Graham Greene novel without a few comic turns or love thrown in. The bungled kidnap captures Charley Fortnum, the British Honorary Consul, and Eduardo is having an affair with his young wife, Clara, who he first met at Mother Sanchez' brothel. Eduardo is struggling to understand the notion of love. Graham Greene was a catholic and religious themes are common in his books. This one explores the dilemma of a struck-off priest who has joined a guerrilla action group and is faced with the possibility of having to kill the Honorary Consul. For me, the deliberations went on a touch too long, but otherwise a beautifully written book, with a good mix of dialogue and narrative. Greene mixed in a lot of research much of it based on actual events, this was his favourite book.
	The Other Typist – Suzanne Rindell My Rating ★★★★    4.2 A cleverly written debut novel from the Gatsby era An excellent debut novel that is well paced and clever, providing a window into the world of speakeasies and the familiar decadence of the Roaring Twenties, it will more than likely be turned into a film. Rose is the narrator and considers herself plain. Odalie is the new typist at the police precinct, she is well dressed, charming and intelligent but she is also streetwise and manipulative. What influence will Odalie have on Rose? Throughout the book we are wondering about Odalie's background and not everything is black and white, the opposite to Rose's orphanage background surrounded by nuns. As we read on we also wonder about Rose, she is changing under the influence of Odalie. At the conclusion there are a few questions unanswered, was this deliberately done to provide debate at the next book club? As I said, it has been cleverly written.
	Field Grey – Philip Kerr My Rating ★★★      3.4 Some Bernie Gunther fans may be disappointed I'm a Bernie Gunther fan and this was my 7th Philip Kerr novel, but where I have loved all the others, particularly the first three collected together as Berlin Noir, I was left disappointed with Field Grey. It starts and finishes well but it has a long middle. This is not a linearly written book, it is set in 1954 but the weak plot reminisces the history between Bernie and Erich Mielke who ends up being high up in the Stasi, the East German secret police. But not only do we bounce around time but we also bounce from location to location. The descriptions of various camps and prisons seems brutally real, but what I love about Bernie is his sardonic nature and his detective skills, both were depressed in this selective story of Bernie's life, mostly as a prisoner. Some of Field Grey's characters and events are real and there is a useful few pages of Author's Notes which I wish I had read first.
	The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald My Rating ★★★★    4.3 The American Roaring Twenties brought to life This is a short novel at 115 pages and this version is a bargain. It is the quintessential book that describes the decadent lifestyle of the young rich of the 1920s, a time when prohibition hardly seems effective. It is a story of love and obsession ending in tragedy for all parties. Whether you have the seen the 2013 film or not it will not spoil your enjoyment of this book and it ought to be on everyone's reading list.