Review: The Garden, by Gillian Linscott

The Garden by Gillian Linscott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Despite the title it isn't just about gardening! The garden sets the scene and is the thread that runs through the story, which progresses from 1907 to 2001, via pre-war Herefordshire, WW1, the anger of the post-war pit lockouts in the Rhondda and the struggle of the miners for decent wages. In between there is love, sorrow, passion and hatred. The early parts where the garden is being created I found fascinating, seeing how the planting was laid out to create illusions and effects - I might try some ideas on a much smaller scale in my own jungle, sorry, garden! The politics of the pit lockouts, as the mines were returned to private ownership after wartime government control, show the depths of hardship faced by the colliers, seeing armed soldiers at the pit gates, hearing the Riot Act read as they try to prevent the use of blackleg labour, fighting for their jobs and their families' futures. (Who would have thought that similar scenes would recur in the 1980s?!)

My only criticism of the book, and it's why it's only getting a 4 star not a 5 star rating, is the number of silly mistakes throughout the book, e.g. countless instances of "bur" instead of "but": the letter "r" seems especially problematical as it appears in many places where there should be the letter "t", the same applies where "m" appears instead of "in". Other silly spelling errors also appear, and these should have been picked up by the proofreader.

However, it's a great story and well-worth reading, if you can manage to ignore the errors!

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Review: Tim Vicary's Trials of Sarah Newby, book 4

Broken Alibi: Lies, Memory and Justice by Tim Vicary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've now read all four of the Sarah Newby Trials books and I love them. Sarah is a complex character, not always likeable but eminently tough and capable as a barrister, yet just as vulnerable and afraid as most of us would be when faced with something that threatens her family or her safety. The stories are complex too, this fourth book is probably the most complicated plot so far, but if you spot them the clues are there as you read through it. I became increasingly nervous as the story moved towards the final outcome - will it all end OK? No spoilers from me though, if you want to know what happens you'll have to read it yourself!

Just a wee note to the author: in each of the four I have spotted small grammatical errors and in a couple of instances some minor continuity errors and a couple of errors of fact, hence the 4* not 5* rating.

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Review: A Barnstorming Saga! The Rowan Tree by Robert W Fuller

The Rowan Tree, by Robert W Fuller

Powerful, thought-provoking, political, with a splash of romance, and the constancy of love and devotion to a cause: just the sort of book I love reading. This is, in my opinion, up there with the best. It was so absorbing that it has taken over my every spare moment this last week. As a Brit I had only a rudimentary knowledge of American politics, and found the detail fascinating and the whole very well-written. I know the author has written non-fiction before, but if this is his first fiction title I cannot wait to read his next one. I enjoyed being able to follow the whole narrative through a sixty-plus year timespan, seeing how each generation took the story forward. I could see this making a very good movie or TV mini-series. If I could give this more than 5 stars I would do!

Book Review: The Lost Library, A.M. Dean

The Lost Library by A.M. Dean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book fascinating and very enjoyable. I was totally immersed in the plot, engaged with the lead characters, and shivered whenever the bad guys appeared. The Lost Library has none of the dryness or stuffiness that often appears in novels by academics. It does give the flavour of the unique nature of academics at Oxford without making them into boring characters. It does have a wealth of background and historic detail but they are presented as an essential part of the narrative. I was able to clearly visualise the locations described and felt myself making the journey with Dr Wess, willing her to succeed. The whole concept of The Lost Library is fascinating: a superb story extremely well-told - I love the blend of history and thriller. I am looking forward to reading A.M. Dean's next book with eager anticipation.

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Finding out: Was Winnie the Pooh real?

I have been a huge fan of AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories since I was a small child, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Winnie was based on a real bear, and not, as I had always thought, a toy one.

The real Winnie was a Canadian bear, bought by Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian serving in the Army, early in the First World War, and named Winnie after his hometown, the Canadian city of Winnipeg. She was also a female bear not, as written by AA Milne, a male one!

So who was the real Winnie and how do we know about her story? Enter Lindsay Mattick, Harry's great-granddaughter, and she has written a book which tells the story, based on the war diaries kept by Harry. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear sets the record straight about the origins of one of literature's best-loved characters, and is delightfully illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear was published last week and is available on Amazon in hardback and Kindle formats.