THE VIRGIN’S LOVER
BY PHILIPPA GREGORY
RATING 
It wasn’t as good as The Other Boleyn Girl. I think it’s due to my immutable feelings regarding Eliza. I might be old fashioned in my censure of her sexual hypocrisy but what did you expect from one who reputedly ‘engages in shibboleth’? I’m such a prude I admit. Still, it’s a good, solid historical yarn; something one expects really from the reigning queen of historical fiction.
ENGLAND, ENGLAND
BY JULIAN BARNES
RATING
Kingy Thingy. Ha ha ha! Robin Hood, a bloody fascist. Ha ha! The book illustrates the inevitable results of simulacrums, at once dangerous and demystifying. England is miniaturized in the Isle of Wight by an overbearing Sir Jack who gets his kicks from acting like a baby – in a perverse, gawdawful manner. The house cynic blackmails, takes over management, falls for a replica of none other than Dr. Johnson, and loses her job over the Hood and Merrie Men fiasco. An apt adjective would be ‘wicked’.
RASPUTIN: THE SAINT WHO SINNED
BY BRIAN MOYNAHAN
RATING
It reads like a morality play with an inveterately immoral protagonist and a circus troupe of shambling, dissembling, idiotic supporting players. Rasputin is a phenomenon; one could compare him with aother messenger sent from heaven, Joan of Arc, but she was the violated whereas Rasputin is the violator. The last of the Romanovs are a pathetic, tragicomic and curious ensemble. Sometimes their belief in him is such that it can be labelled only as phenomenal. A morbid footnote in his history: he MIGHT have been violated by his necrophiliac murderer.
THE LAMBS OF LONDON
BY PETER ACKROYD
RATING 
The Lambs are mere effigies at the fore while the machinations of a disconsolate son against his portentous father unfold in the secrecy of a London bookshop. As in DAN LENO, the suspense here is similarly negligible. The reader grasps the extent of Ireland’s genius and his desperate plot very easily. Perhaps this was written on the sideline while Acroyd worked on his biography of the bard?
MADAME BOVARY
BY GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
RATING 
Madame Bovary, the seminal bored wife of literature, is the eponymous heroine of Flaubert’s vitriolic classic. Her determination to find her Romantic hero-lover leads to a poisonous end. She embarks rather shabbily on her treachery but it transforms into depravity by the time she’s through.
44 SCOTLAND STREET
BY ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
RATING 
Many of the themes and characters are redolent of The Sunday Philosophy Club. Although this was written as a serialisation for a newspaper the story flows with mustered dignity. Some memorable characters include Bertie, the 5 year old saxophonist, and Cyril, the dog who winks. Smith’s prose is predictably infused with sympathy for the flawed individuals who people the book. Light reading that enables one to ponder about the philosophy involved in daily life.
WEIGHT
BY JEANETTE WINTERSON
RATING 
She retells the myths of the noble titan Atlas and the hero Herakles in this one. As with her other novels she infuses her own life story with the story she tells. It’s entertaining to read the colloquial conversations of the main characters. Herakles surprisingly decides to question the logic behind his 12 labours but doesn’t sustain this disturbing train of thought. Meanwhile Atlas decides not to suffer in noble tragedy: he lays down the weight of the Kosmos and walks away. I almost cried.
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE
BY DODIE SMITH
RATING
Nevermind a twee Romola Garai on the cover- this is a classic not to be denigrated to the lower echelons of a teenage literary canon. The ubiquitous Dalmatians slip from the memory reserved for Dodie Smith once you’ve read the book. The protagonist is refreshingly mature and unassuming. Her family of English eccentrics are addictive and the Yankee neighbours, deliberately sensitive and broad-minded. It’s a minor family saga narrated with nuance by a level headed young woman.
OSCAR AND LUCINDA
BY PETER CAREY
RATING
The movie deceived me. *cries* That bitch, Miriam Chadwick, gets Lucinda’s fortune after all! Hmm, why can’t the good guys get all the fun… Enough musing. The book is an exercise in intelligent writing and deft characterisation. The narrator is unfazed by his ancestors’ follies and foibles; what he wants to do is set the record straight.
REBECCA
BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER
RATING
The book is a definite crowd pleaser, a generic stalwart. It’s an unputdownable murder mystery with a dash of titillating, old fashioned romance. I love the parlous atmosphere she conjures in swift paragraphs, the laconic Maxim de Winter (his Englishness, his fancy name and his bloody self-righteousness!), the tremulous new bride, courageous by the end… Comfort reading at its best.
THE GODS WERE ASTRONAUTS!
BY ERICH VON DANIKEN
RATING 
In the vein of spasmodic investigative writing blown out of proportion by Dan Brown’s meretricious bestseller; von Daniken’s sophistry is legendary in the realm of pop-science, cosmogony, whatever. Approach this one with perspicacity.
THE MASTER
BY COLM TOIBIN
RATING
Hallmarks of Henry James’s fiction are reflected with erudition in Toibin’s rendering of the author’s life. We witness his interactions with esteemed, intellectual and artistic society, his failed attempts at intimacy and friendship, the difficult relationships with his father and eldest brother, the resulting guilt… The reader is invited to observe quietly and occasionally draw conclusions but mostly relish the whiff of suggestion with its infinitesimal possibilities. Quite like reading a James book.
EMMA BROWN
BY CLARE BOYLAN
RATING
Slightly interesting characters, but none held my attention for long. No, dear Bronte fans, no Rochester. The plot is as contrived as any of Bronte’s own. There is a dour clergyman who wants to marry the independant heroine, long-suffering governesses, etc. However unlike the Victorian xenophobe, Clare Boylan makes her foreigners into veritable guardian angels. I don’t think C. Bronte’s unfinished stories are worth completeing. She is too much of an unsavoury specimen to bother.
THE COFFEE TRADER
BY DAVID LISS
RATING
The Portugese Jews run off to Amsterdam to escape the tyrannies of the Inquisition but end up in much the same situation under constant surveillance courtesy of a Jewish body of authority and sanctimony: the Ma’ammad. Amsterdam is a city which I’d label ‘an elaborate scheme’. It is inveterate in its money-loving habits and entices the best and worst to play at the fairground which is the Exchange, the predecessor to our modern stock exchange. I was sorely disgusted by the deception, lack of trust and constant betrayal. Utterly engaging read though.
THE PASSION OF ARTEMISIA
BY SUSAN VREELAND
RATING
I’d call this a run-of-the-mill historical novel if it weren’t for the admiration I’ve developed for the woman whose life it’s based on: Artemisia Gentileschi, the most famous female artist in Italy. I was reduced to tears at certain points: when her daughter fails her, her father betrays her and her dearest friend is taken from her. Oh how she must have struggled to stride on with seemingly robust dignity when all the world frowned and jeered.
THE WOMAN IN WHITE
BY WILKIE COLLINS
RATING
The book is unnecessarily verbose. Yes, Victorian novels are lengthy I know. However I didn’t think the first epoch at all interesting: 200 pages of stuff and nonsense, sentimental meditations on the weaker sex, etc. I didn’t like the hero, nor did I like the weak, fluff-filled Laura Fairlie. Thank god for the magnificent, slightly decomposing Count and his icy wife. Thank god for Marian Halcombe – but of course she had to be ugly and smart and not normal looking and smart… Pfft.
THE CELESTIAL OMNIBUS
BY E.M. FORSTER
RATING
Ok, I’m at a loss for words. I’d never have guessed I’d fall for this author’s craft after my initial negative experience with A PASSAGE TO INDIA. I absolutely adored this collection of magical, mystical short stories. One doesn’t need to like the author to like his work. Lesson learnt.
A FACE IN THE DARK
BY RUSKIN BOND
RATING 
Nothing much goes on in his stories of the supernatural. Nothing to scare yourself silly with. Some had the element of the Ridiculous and there’s others that were sheer nonsense. However, as short stories go, there were a few so-so ones scattered about.
LIGHTHOUSEKEEPING
BY JEANETTE WINTERSON
RATING 
What a name: Babel Dark. He turns out to have been the inspiration for Stevenson’s Edward Hyde, according to Winterson’s story obviously. I liked Pew and the lighthouse he keeps for ever and ever. What is it about the lighthouse that speaks to the imagination, a lone structure looking out amidst the tossing sea, guiding lost souls to safety…
EDWARD II
BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
RATING
Not quite jaw-dropping but brilliant all the same. The she-wolfs of France kept at it for awhile in England didn’t they? Edward’s end- a foregone conclusion- is pathetic. His son takes up the sword (and crown) as Orestes and brings a swift end to the bloody, overreaching peers. Vengeance is necessary.
PERSONAL DAYS
ED PARK
RATING
If you’ve worked in an office environment before, you’ll be able to identify the situations in this novel. The characters might seem typical but they certainly strike a chord. Especially astute is the examination of the prospect of getting the sack. They want to get fired (to pursue something more ‘worthwhile’) but hate their boss’s guts anyway when it actually happens. That’s real life… Heh.
A CLASSICAL EDUCATION – THE STUFF YOU WISH YOU’D BEEN TAUGHT AT SCHOOL
CAROLINE TAGGART
RATING
I can’t stop myself from picking up titles such as this. It’s one of the books for people who like to bluff their way through the classics.
THE INDEPENDENCE OF MISS MARY BENNETT
COLLEEN MCCOLLOUGH
RATING 
Wondered about the ‘ever after’ in Lizzie and Darcy’s marriage? McCollough constructs quite a believable state of affairs between almost everyone’s favourite Austen couple – and you might not find it to your liking. Still, that’s about the only thing I enjoyed in what proves to be a far-fetched plot centered around the no longer plain (but of course!) Mary Bennett. If you like your Dickens, you might just be able to appreciate the barrage of coincidences found in this book.
THE VIRAGO BOOK OF GHOST STORIES
RICHARD DALBY (ED.)
RATING
Out of 31 ghost stories, I liked a mere 7. None of the stories are frightening and all are penned by female authors. I don’t know if that’s the reason behind the rather sedate ‘thrills’ on offer here. Margaret Oliphant’sTHE OPEN DOOR is the best in the collection.
THE OTHER QUEEN
PHILIPPA GREGORY
RATING
Surely, Philippa Gregory loathes Elizabeth as much as I do. Heh. Bess of Hardwick is not as likeable as the imprisoned queen but it is an easy matter to sympathise with her predicament. Overall characterizations are weak and the plot is repetitive. However, it is still a readable book what with the brave Scot, the bitchy Tudor, the indefatigable spymaster William Cecil and the Talbots trying to put up a brave front.
TOUCHÉ
AGNES CATHERINE POIRIER
RATING
We know all about the rift between England and France and why they hate each other’s guts so much yada yada, but do we really? This book is quite an interesting read, light, bright and sparkly. Thankfully, the author usually gets authoritative when it’s France and not Britain. We don’t want a French trying to prove she knows more about the ‘dour’ British than themselves.
