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BOOKS Books for all seasons. Well, early spring
EMILY ROSS BOOKS
Seasons change
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As spring makes its mind up about whether to arrive or not, Emily has the perfect reads for mulchy March
Books have seasons too, you know. Certain novels read diff erently in spring than they do in winter; or they might take on diff erent characteristics if they’re devoured in front of a log fi re rather than in a hot beer garden. So in this mulchy part of the year, between winter and spring, we’ve picked some recent highlights which, we hope, are improved by this transitionary climate – books about changing perspectives, unexpected heroes and rewriting history for the better.
THE FIVE by Hallie Rubenhold Could this be one of the most important history books in recent years? We think Hallie Rubenhold’s electrifying and humane portraits of the victims of Jack The Ripper is an almighty balance-tipper, a deeply researched work that challenges our dismissive attitudes to forgotten women. There’s barely a single mention of the criminal himself, and the entirety of the book is rightly given over to these remarkable and often bracing life stories.
DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE by Deepa Anappara We were lucky enough to be visited by Deepa Anappara last year while she was on the promotional trail for her sensational début novel. This is absolutely not a factor in the book’s inclusion here, but she did bring us some delicious Indian sweets; Deepa, you know us too well. Regardless of the snacks, Djinn Patrol is astonishing: a young boy in the slums of India turns detective when kids start to go missing from school, but it’s unclear whether they are pursuing a criminal mastermind or bad djinn who lurks around the slums at night. There’s such a vivid sense of place in this novel – the air heavy with masala chai mingled with the suff ocating smog and piles of rotten rubbish – but there’s so much warmth and charm underneath, and characters who will go straight to your heart.
MOTHERWELL: A GIRLHOOD by Deborah Orr The much-missed journalist Deborah Orr’s memoir has fi nally arrived, just a few short months after her untimely death from cancer. What shines through in this moving book is what made Orr such a brilliant writer about her own life: supreme honesty and humour in all things, even the bad stuff . Motherwell is the story of Orr’s early life, her diffi cult relationship with her mother, and is also a searing portrait of working class life in 1960s Scotland.
WINTER IN SOKCHO by Elisa Shua Dusapin “Oozing with winter and fi sh, Sokcho waited.” With lines like that, we couldn’t resist this simple and elegant debut from French-Korean author Elisa Shua Dusapin. A young woman is working at a run-down hotel near the South-North Korean border out of season, and when a French comic book artist comes to stay, she starts to view her situation and surroundings through his eyes. It’s a fascinating novel about anticipation; the chilly emptiness of a seaside resort in its downtime, of growing up and wanting to be seen, and with a delicately woven comment about the reality of living close to the North Korean border in troubled times. And fi sh. Lots and lots of fi sh.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Kevin Wilson If you’re looking for a fast-paced entertaining read we would recommend this slightly deranged and surprisingly sweet novel. 28-year-old Lillian feels that her life is going nowhere, so when she gets a mysterious job off er from an old school friend she jumps at the chance for a change of pace. But the challenge is something she could not have anticipated: looking after twin children who burst into fl ames when they are upset or agitated. The twins also happen to be the children of a very high-profi le politician, and their unique ‘abilities’ must be kept very quiet. Lillian and the twins have to learn trust over the course of one summer, and fi nd a way to accept each other for who they are. It’s an atypical feel-good novel with a wholly original plot and endless wry chuckles to be had along the way.
