Dancing with the Enemy

Set on Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1940 when the German army takes over the island, the story is told from the perspective of Dr Hugh Jackson who decides to remain on the island to tend to his patients, teenager, Tom Gaskell, who with two friends attempts to escape from the island and ends up being a prisoner of the Germans, and Xanthe Maxwell, a young doctor from Australia who visits Jersey in 2019. Xanthe becomes interested in the history of Jersey during the Second World War when she reads Dr Jackson's diary and meets Bob Blampied who lived in Jersey during the German occupation.

Dancing with the Enemy by Diane Armstrong shows the affects of German occupation of this small island on the citizens of Jersey and how they struggled to survive. It shows how people react in different ways to extreme stress - some risking all to help others while some protect themslves by reporting neighbours to the enemy or working with them. It is a study of survival, loss and of hope. 

While learning of this period of Jersey's history, Xanthe finds family connections to the island and also decides, with the assistance of Daniel, how she wants to approach the next stage of her life.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is a story of the affects of German occupation on the neighbouring island of Guernsey.

The Woman in the Library

Australian author, Hannah Tigone, is writing a crime novel set in the Boston Public Library. Due to COVID-19 restrictions she is unable to travel to America so an American agrees to read her draft chapters and send any background information that might be required.

The story that Hannah is writing concerns four strangers - Freddie, Marigold, Whit and Cain - who are sitting at the same table in the library when a woman's scream resonates throughout the reading room. Some time later a woman is found dead in an adjoining room.

Freddie, an Australian author on a writing scholarship, decides to base her next book on the events surrounding the scream they heard in the library. Cain is also an author and they soon bond as they discuss writing. Whit is a law student who would rather be a writer while Marigold is a psychology student. The murder forms a bond between the four strangers as they try to find out what really happened, especially as members of the group become suspects.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a stand alone crime novel by the author of the Rowland Sinclair series. This book is a story within a story but is also the reverse of a locked room senario - this time the crime occurred in an open room in a busy building. As the story unfolds we learn more about the main characters, especially their back story. This is a fast paced crime novel with many twists and turns until the perpetrator of the crime is revealed.

Memorial

Memorial by Bryan Washington is another novel nominated for the James Tait Black Award to be announced in August 2022.

Mike is an over-weight Japanese American chef who works in a Mexican restaurant. His partner, Benson, is a black American with HIV who works in after school care. They have been together, on and off, for four years. Both men have issues with their familes, especially with their fathers. They are also not sure where their relationship is heading.

When Mike discovers that his father is dying in Osaka he decides to go and see him and support him until the inevitable happens. Meanwhile Mitsuko, Mike's mother, arrives from Tokyo and stays with Benson while Mike is away. When Mike returns and announces that he plans to return to Japan to continue to run the family business for a while, he and Benson must decide whether Benson will go with him.

The story is told in three parts - part one and three from Benson's perspective and part two providing Mike's viewpoint. Narrative, without quotation marks is used for much of the book which is OK once you get used to it. There is also a great deal of profanity which does become monotonous.

Gradually we learn about the lives of these two men and about their insecurities. The issues with their disfunctional families are also revealed as the two men gradually decide how they want to live their lives. Attitudes to race as well as to sexual preference is also a theme in the book.

The Murder Rule

The Murder Rule is a stand alone novel by Dervla McTiernan whose first three books were set in Ireland featuring the detective Cormac Reilly.  

The Murder Rule is set in the USA with the main character being Hanna Rokeby who has been accepted as a volunteer on the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia. The project investigates the cases of prisoners who insist that they have been wrongfully convicted and have spent many years in gaol. 

Hanna is primarily interested in the case of Michael Dandridge gaoled for the rape and murder of a young mother. Many years earlier she had read her mother's diary in which she described a relationship she had with Tom Spencer in 1994. She also described how she was raped by Toms' friend Mike Dandridge. Hanna therefore becomes involved at the Innocence Project not to clear Mike but to ensure that he remains in prison.

The chapters in the novel, recounting events fom Hannah's perspective as well as others involved in the investigation in 2019, are initially interspersed with sections of Hanna's mother's diary. As the story evolves it becomes obvious that all is not as it at first appears. Who is telling the truth? What part of the story can really be believed?

Police corruption in a small town and the need sometimes to use unorthodox methods to find the truth are themes in this book about obtaining justice for all. Hannah must also find out who she really is and how she wants to live her life.

The murder rule in the title of the book is the concept existing in parts of America that people should be fully legally responsible for acts they didn't commit, or didn't indend to commit. This concept of felony murder results in many innocent people being sent to gaol.

Libertie

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge is one of the nominations for the James Tait Black award to be announced in August 2022.

Libertie and her mother in America as free women. The story starts during the American Civil War when families and individuals fleeing from persecution arrive in the small community where Libertie and her mother live. Libertie's mother is a doctor and has been assisting refugees for some time. Libertie's mother is also determined that Libertie should also become a doctor and that they should form a mother- daughter medical practice. However Libertie knows that this is not the life she wants to live.

The novel deals with Libertie's struggle to determine who she really is and what she really wants from life. The relationship between mother and daughter is an important theme of the book along with race relations and how people from various walks of life view people who look different or have different beliefs.

The Devil's Bargain

Harry Bristow made a mistake when as a young policeman he inadvertently accepted a bribe. He later discovered that the man that he knew as Igor entered the country illegally and changed his identity. Harry knew that if he reported what he knew he would he would not only lose his position in the police force but might also end up in prison. He therefore decided to do nothing about this information.

Some years later he recognised the man in Liverpool and set out to discover more about him. The man now called himself Peter Robinson and had just become a member of parliament. Harry is sure that Peter is a Russian spy but he is still unsure what he should do with this knowledge. Then Robinson recognised Harry and threatened him.

The Devil's Bargain by Stella Rimington is a fast moving spy thriller involving American and British intelligence services as well as members of the Russian Embassy. Manon Bradley, an analyst with the CIA, finds herself undertaking fieldwork during the investigation. Manon is just one of an interesting collection of characters who find themselves involved as Peter Robinson's story is investigated.

Matilda

As my granddaughter is taking part in a school production of the musical Matilda next week I thought it might be a good idea to read the book Madilda written by Road Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake and originally published in 1988.

Matilda lives in a family where her parents do not really want her. She is an extremely bight child who has taught herself to read and write and learn the times tables by the age of five. Her parents do not appreciate their gifted daughter. In fact her father is always telling her that she should be watching TV instead of reading. The local librarian takes pity on Matilda and ensures that she has access to all the books she wants to read.

When Matilda starts school she is in Miss Honey's class. Miss Honey immediately realises how bright Matilda is but the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, is determined that Matilda should not receive special treatment. Matilda decides to take matters into her own hands and on a number of occasions seeks revenge for her father's bullying and also for the cruelty inflicted by Miss Trunchbull on the students and staff.

During one episode of bullying displayed by the headmistress, Matilda discovers that she has special powers when she is really cross. Matilda determines to use these powers against Miss Trunchbull to obtain justice for her classmates and for her teacher, Miss Honey.

Matilda is a book about the love of reading, about bullying, about standing up for yourself and, of course, there is a little magic to help obtain justice.

Matilda the musical - Wikipedia

Dinner with the Schnabels

Simon Larson is depressed and blames his family's current situation on himself. Before the COVID-19 pandemic he was a successful architect with his own business, his family lived in a fancy house, they had two expensive cars and the children went to private schools. After he became bankrupt all this was lost and they now rented a two bedroom flat, did not have a car and the children go to the local school. Simon did not have a job and his wife, Tansy works full-time to support the family. Simon has no energy and no friends. Things have to change.

Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan is a usually amusing story about complicated family relationships. The Larsens live in a Melbourne suburb and Tansy's extended family, the Schnabels, live close by. Simon's father-in-law died during the pandemic and his mother-in-law decides to organise a gathering for family and friends to remember him once restrictions are reduced. This is depite Gloria and David divorcing many years ago and David marrying again and having another daughter who meets her extended family for the first time when comes to Melbourne for the memorial ceremony.

A friend offers to allow the family to hold the service in his back yard but first it must have a makeover and Simon has one week to do it. Of course, other family matters intervene as Simon struggles to meet the deadline. The experience of that week, however, allows Simon to re-evaluate his life and to plan for a happier future for himself and his family.