"Strangers in Time" by David Baldacci

An audio book

London, 1944. Charlie, 13, lives with his grandmother - his parents are dead. He's not been to school for a year though his grandmother doesn't know that. He's a petty thief. He meets by chance Mr Oliver, who owns a bookshop. His wife, who he met an university, died a year before, leaving an unfinished novel. His father was a maths prof. He's an air raid warden - he's won the George medal.

Molly Wakefield, 15, was evacuated out in 1939. She came from a good home. She wants to be a doctor. When she returns, only the maid is there. She learns that her mother has been in a Cornish sanitarium for 4 years. Her father has disappeared. She feels she's being watched. She meets Charlie.

When Charlie and friends Lonzo and Eddie try to break into the bookshop, a policeman interferes. Eddie and the policeman die.

Charlie and Molly lie to each other about their parents, before coming clean. Charlie's grandmother dies. Mr Oliver hints to Charlie and Molly that he works for MI5 and might be able to find Molly's father. Charlie breaks into the bookshop and finds a coding machine and German text. There are books with cut-out pages. Molly's house is bombed. Molly and Charlie move in with Mr Oliver - they're the children he never had. Lonzo is arrested and reveals Charlie as an accomplice. Charlie flees, gets a job as a telegram boy. Molly gets a job as a nurse. The police nearly kill Lonzo. They dump him at a bombsite and he ends up in Molly's hospital, then dies. The police responsible are sentenced. Molly learns that Oliver's wife killed herself in Cornwall. Oliver learns that Molly's father killed 3 British soldiers.

Oliver's wife used to be a spy. She became a double agent and so did Oliver. The doctor at the sanitarium invites Molly down and tells Oliver that he has info about his wife. Oliver, Molly and Charlie drive down. Molly sees her mother lobotomised. The doctor says he talked to Oliver's wife not long before she jumped. Molly decides to work at the sanitarium. They see Molly's father about to drive her mother away. His father said that the police didn't arrest the soldiers who assaulted Molly's wife, so he'd taken the law into his own hands. The doctor saves Molly's mother. She dies 3 days later. Molly's father is chased and dies. Oliver dies in another raid.

At the end, Molly is 51, divorced, with 2 children. She's a psychologist. She finishes Oliver's wife's book. She's in regular contact with Charlie.

There's a lot of info-dumping, which I didn't mind - little of the info was new to me, but it would be to many others, especially Americans, and the details are interesting. The dialogue sounded authentic - though "sidewalk" is used. The trouble is, it's all very slow, with little emotional uncertainty - from the start, Charlie has a heart of gold, etc..

Other reviews

• goodreads
• pleasereadittome (The pacing falters, and plotlines — some compelling, others unnecessarily convoluted — collide more than cohere.)

"The Wish" by Heather Morris

An audio book. The author says this is her first non-historical novel, and that she followed the dictum that you should know about what you know.

15 y.o. Jessie is terminal - a bone marrow transplant from her brother failed and another can't be found. Her social worker, Kelly, in in her late 20s. Jessie has a young brother Sam. Mandy, her mother, is calm. Her father Dean, a lawyer, is excitable. He and Jessie shared an interest in athletics. Stress has widened the difference between Jessie's parents. They live apart.

Alex, 29, grew up without parents (mum died at 7; dad not known), and wasn't impressed by social workers. He's a computer games writer, working in a company combining live video with computer graphics. He lives with his dog Max. [So Alex and Kelly will become friends. My guess is that Alex's missing father will turn out to be a suitable donor]

For her dying wish, Jessie wants a personalised interactive movie so that her family can remember her in her favourite places. Alex's company wants to help. He is called in - his colleagues have kids and find the thought of dying children too much. He and Kelly get off on the wrong foot, as do Jessie (with her mates) and Alex. [Wouldn't Jessie and friends have been in awe of a games writer? Wouldn't Kelly's looks have defused Alex's wariness of social workers? Wouldn't Jessie (with Kelly's help) have prepared a better proposal?]. Alex later returns, apologises, says it might be a lot of work but he'll try. He wonders how long he has to complete the task. He enlists help from colleague Steve and becomes less of a loner.

Jessie thinks that Dean is stuck in the anger phase of grief. Dean tells Alex to go away. Jessie's room-mate Amy has gone into remission and leaves. Alex take Jessie on a surprise balloon ride. The balloon dips over a lone dolphin. Jessie moves back home because nothing can be done. 3 weeks left. Alex is threatened with the sack. His colleagues help. Jessie's friends get the company boss to let the colleagues help. Alex shows him a spin-off product Alex's written in his spare time. The boss invites him to 75% of the profits. Alex is found to be a possible donor. He donates, but after 3 months Jessie's body is rejecting it. She has days to live. She makes Alex promise to befriend Kelly. A year later, Kelly and Alex are a happy couple.

Quite a high percentage of sentences start with an "-ing" word. There are sections where such sentences alternate with sentences that don't start with an "-ing" word.

She uses "he thinks to himself". She uses "dressed in a long cotton dress" which doesn't sound right either.

Other reviews

• novelgossip (At times, the premise teeters on the edge of sentimentality, and there are moments where it feels like it could slip into something overly polished or predictable, but for the most part, it holds steady in its sincerity.)
• goodreads

"Citizen of elsewhere" by C.J. Driver (HappenStance, 2013)

A pamphlet with poems from the London Magazine, TLS, Yale Review, Oxford Poetry, etc

• "The Eye of the storm" is the kind of poem I once wished to write - short, rhyming, teasingly enigmatic.
• "What Heyst said" starts with
  "I have come, the darkness says; to which the sea replies/ In whispers which will hardly reach the burning house/ Upon the island, Remember me and be afraid"
  and ends with
  "Witness this, my wife, my sleeping son. That man/ Is lost who learns too late to love. Remember me/ Asleep and walking in my private loveless light."
  The bits in the middle aren't bad either.
• I like "Cape nowhere: Cranes"
• I didn't think much of the longest poem - the 4 page "Walking to the Paradise gardens"

I'm surprised that I can find no reviews. He had 4 novels published by Faber.

"Tomorrow someone will arrest you" by Meena Kandasamy

A 97 minute audio book of poetry. It's not performance poetry, nor is it too hard to cope with aurally, but I can't drive, mop, or weed the allotment while I'm listening, like I can while listening to a novel. I think it might be useful in such books to highlight the titles somehow (i.e indicate where poems start/end). Of course, I didn't understand many of the allusions. I liked "A wild woman on a word hunt", the essay/poem about colour and cultures (Homer, Gladstone, etc), and several other pieces. I wasn't keen on the title poem. The endnotes give the political background, explaining the intentions. Here are a few quotes -

• when a cat shuts its eyes, the world does not turn dark (it's a Tamil proverb)
• [I] dream of monsoons back home as London rains on my window
• it was suffering that let you be seen

To my surprise, I liked the book.

• Ankit Rath (Kandasamy has been known to be a radical voice and a “one-woman political movement,” and it has often been reflected in her prior works ... Kandasamy employs every technique and style at her disposal, making for an anthology that is equal parts activism and experimentation. The collection has been conveniently and aptly divided into five sections, namely “The Poet”, “Her Comrade”, “Her Lovers”, “Her Friends”, and “Her Country” ... Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You may not be the best of Kandasamy, but it is, in every way possible, the quintessential Kandasamy.)
• Shara Atashi (Kandasamy uses everything at her disposal – voice, language and form – to interweave documented reality and to prove that poetry is present in everything, even in true horror.)
• Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee (about the title poem, with background info)
• Jaideep Khanduja (For a book that purports to be a manifesto of resistance, it felt more like an overzealous cacophony—a relentless barrage of disjointed thoughts that never quite coalesced into something meaningful. ... One of the book’s most glaring weaknesses is how it handles its themes. Surveillance, oppression, identity—these are profound and important topics, but Kandasamy’s approach feels more like a lecture than an exploration. There’s no room for you, the reader, to think or reflect; ... Lines that should linger in your mind instead make you roll your eyes. For instance, the judiciary being described as “a graveyard of hope” is neither original nor impactful; it’s a platitude masquerading as profundity. ... I couldn’t help but wonder: who is the intended audience for this book? It’s too alienating for the casual reader, too heavy-handed for those seeking intellectual engagement, and too scattered for anyone looking for a compelling narrative. It’s a book that seems to exist more to make a statement about the author’s defiance than to truly connect with its readers.)
• Moumita Alam (She is straightforward without obscurity and the use of simple language and texture makes her stand out as a poet.)

"The gone and the forgotten" by Clare Whitfield

An audio book.

Croydon, 1993. Prue, 16, is staying with friend Subo. She doesn't know who her father is. Her gran, who held the family together, has recently died arguing with Prue's mum Caroline, who's in a secure unit and has previously tried suicide. Her aunt Ruth (married 3 years to Archie, from a locally rich family), who lives on a remote Shetland island, tells her she should stay with them a while over the summer, awaiting her exam results, so she does. She's hoping to find out about her father. Robbie, Archie's cranky mum, lives with them.

For a while, Prue and her mum and lived with a man and Hope was born, who her mum loved more than her. Hope was taken and found dead. Prue, 7 at the time, said that she seen Joan Gardner (a local strange women) take Hope, but she's not sure now. Joan had confessed. She learns about a local girl Evie, who went missing at 17, 20 years before. She finds photos and letters about Evie hidden in the house. Archie, an artist, asks Prue to pose. One pose is just like in an Evie photo. He gives her recreational drugs. Archie and Evie had been lovers. He was a suspect. Prue becomes friends with the pub-owner's son James. When they're about to make love Prue changes her mind, telling him (honestly) that she's a virgin. She gets to know Charlie, Evie's brother and local drug dealer (she and James smoke weed).

Evie had been pregnant. Archie knew. Prue's father is her mother's father! He was a charming man. Even after, Ruth didn't hate him [really?]. Prue has sex with James. He's considerate but not exciting. She finds a canvas bag that Evie had went she disappeared. Evie and Archie have sex. Archie announces to the family that he wants to sell up. Her exam results him through - many As. She doesn't want to go back and live with her mother when she's released.

Ruth asks Prue what she actually remember on the day Holly died. Ruth tells her that she'd abandoned Holly in a field that flooded. She helps Charlie's gang by being a getaway driver! She told the gang about the money hidden in Archie's books. They broke in. Prue returns home to find Archie dead and Ruth nearly dead. Ronnie poisoned them and tells Prue that she (Ronnie) has been poisoning her. She tells Prue that she killed Evie because Prue wasn't good enough for Archie. Ronnie poisons herself and dies. A year later Joan is released.

Full of action (suicides, murders, accidents, burglaries, incest, drugs, etc) and unlikely reactions, not least by Prue. What about Subo?

Other reviews

• Adrian Atkinson (It all just seemed designed to shock. I really didn't like this book.)
• Mimi (The rest of the novel I found to be a bit broken up. It didn't have that flow and pull that I think it needed given the mystery at the heart of it. It was certainly an interesting and original story and I wouldn't describe it as predictable but the tone of it fell a bit flat for my taste.)

"Gone Before Goodbye" by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben

An audio book.

Baltimore. Maggie had a highly regarded medical mother. She has a purple heart - she'd worked as an army surgeon. She started a charity along with Trace and Mark (her husband). Now she lives with her sister Sharon, a prodigy. They're poor. Mark, a field surgeon, died on the battlefield. During grief she'd messed up an op and had her medical license revoked. She's offered $10 million by a rich Russian to do secret surgery - and have her malpractise issue resolved. She's flown to Russia to do a face-change for the man and a boob job for his wife Nadia (who has sold a kidney; who had asked for her in particular). Maggie finds on Nadia the same tattoo design as Mark had. Beth's sister's created a grief-bot for her. The bot tells her to escape. She flees in a vintage car, out of range of the comms block, sends a message for help, then crashes. She wakes in a hospital bed. She learns from Charles, FBI, that Mark and Trace had had misgiving about being funded by an immoral Russian (the same one who she operated on) and had tried to rebel. The Russian had threatened them. They'd offered the FBI info on the Russian. The FBI get her to Dubai on the pretext of doing another op. She meets Nadia there. Her tattoo's gone (it was there only to make Maggie curious). Nadia works with Charles who hints Mark might not be dead. Maggie sees Oleg, the rich Russian, stabbed. She's seeking Trace, who was last seen there. Nadia and Trace had met there. Nadia's looking for him and blames Maggie for her disappearance. Maggie flees to Heathrow.

Mark was born to a 35 y.o. mother. His father (Porkchop, a biker) was 17, and looked after him. Porkchop finds out from Barlow (an ex-biker; the go-between for the rich Russian) what's happening. He goes to Heathrow. He and Maggie fly to Bordeaux. Oleg is there (his body double was killed in Dubai) about to have a heart transplant. He insists that she does the op (which involves a device she knows about). Porkchop says he killed Trace, making him denote organ after organ.

It sacrifices believability for speed - a James Bond film without the FX. Did I keep reading? Yes, but only because I had nothing else to listen to.

Other reviews

• Marc Weingarten (a book that taps into our fascination with the follies of the impossibly rich at the same time that it ponders real questions about the ethics of social engineering via medical advances in organ regeneration. ... The book’s plot mechanics hum along with great pace and verve, even if a few of its particulars are too far-fetched to swallow.)
• syllableinthecity (While fans of fast-moving, conspiracy-driven stories might appreciate its momentum, the overcrowded cast and complex plotting detract from overall enjoyment. For this reader, the book was ultimately disappointing, and reaching the final page felt more like relief than reward.)

"Unicorn" by Angela Carter and Rosemary Hill (Profile books, 2015)

Poems by Angela Carter (about 40 pages) with essays by Rosemary Hill (about 50 pages).

I don't see much in the poems (one, a rewrite of a Dunbar poem, got into London Magazine). Promising women writers of those time struggled with their role. Ann Quin suicided at 37, Frances Chadwicke suicided at 27, and several others, Carter included, divorced early. Here are some of Hill's observations -

• she thrived on the marginal and contrary sides of life (p.48)
• not only has Carter's fame been erratic, her femimism is of a very particular sort (p.48)
• Carter, who was not always the most perceptive critic of her contemporaries (p.82)
• the climate in Carter's novels is mostly wintery (p.96)
• the themes that occupy her: types, archetypes, the mythical blonde and woman as an assemblage of parts (p.100)