~Goodbye, Paris Anstey Harris Grace Atherton appears to be quite content with her life. She owns a little shop in Kent, England where she sells the violins and cellos that she makes herself. She’s also in a long term relationship with David although we learn almost immediately that things aren’t quite what they seem. When he heroically pulls a woman off the track in the Metro the subsequent spotlight fractures their quiet life and ultimately leads to a revelation that upends the apple cart for Grace. A broken heart ensues and she is helped in her attempts to mend it by the eccentric Mr. Williams and the surly teenager, Nadia. It’s a pleasant and entertaining read and I will admit to having whiled away an afternoon in its company and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Throughout its entirety however, I kept imagining the Hallmark movie it might be made into. Yes, it’s that kind of book. Neat, tidy, wrapped in a bow. Having said that, it does have its pluses. It really is nicely written; smart and not too overwrought. And if you’re a music lover all the talk of how Grace makes her instruments and the world of music she has immersed herself in is engaging. Overall the storyline has enough going for it that it doesn’t slide into tired and trite. If you’re looking for a light read to escape the world for a few hours this might just be your book. It helps that parts of the story take place in France and Italy. Nothing like a little armchair travelling to lift the mood.
~Radium Girls Kate Moore It was Marie Curie, of course, who discovered and then isolated radium in 1898. In the early 1900’s it was believed that radium healed a variety of ailments and energized the body so it found its way into a number of tonics and potions designed to heal a variety of ailments. Another radium trait was that it would glow in the dark. In 1916 in New Jersey, a factory opened which produced watches with glow-in-the-dark dials, not just for the public but for the military as well. The novelty of such an item ensured that the watches were a huge success and so dozens of women were hired to paint the numbers on the faces. It was a reasonably high paying job enabling the girls to buy nice clothes which in turn offered up a certain glamour and high regard from the public. Added to this was the sheer novelty of the radium sticking to their hair and clothes so that they themselves would glow in the dark. They became known as the Radium Girls. But what started out as fun and games quickly took a tragic turn when, after a few years, the girls began getting horribly sick. Because of the delicate task of painting the numbers of the watches, the girls were instructed to point the brush by putting it in their mouths, which they would do multiple times with each number. What nobody knew at this point was that radium acts like calcium inside the body, depositing itself into the girl’s bones causing necrosis and bone cancer. In 1922 Molly Maggia was the first girl to die, although at the time her official cause of death was syphilis (years later her body was exhumed and the diagnosis was corrected, much to the relief of her family). Many girls followed with a variety of ailments, initially involving teeth falling out and gums not heeling, followed by jaw bones collapsing, and limping due to leg bones shortening. All of it involved a lot of pain and suffering and outlays of thousands of dollars in doctors bills over a span of a couple of decades. From this point the story becomes one of a corporation trying to cover up facts and deny that it was the radium killing the girls. Yep, that old chestnut. Trust me, it will make your blood boil. In all fairness it did take a lot of time and effort for a variety of dentists and doctors to begin to piece together the puzzle. And once they did, proof was even harder to find, made even more difficult by the company lawyers who were hired to lie, obfuscate and bully. It’s not a pretty story but it deserves to be heard. You do need something of a strong stomach to see it through, however. There’s plenty of talk of jawbones literally falling out of mouths, pus and pain. I found my shocked hand flying to my open mouth on more than one occasion.
~The Dinner List Rebecca Serle Sabrina has a list of the five people, living or dead, she’d like to have dinner with and best friend Jessica has made it happen for Sabrina’s thirtieth birthday. The guests include Sabrina’s ex-boyfriend, father and an old college professor as well as Audrey Hepburn. The book flits back and forth between the dinner conversation and Sabrina’s relationship with her boyfriend, Tobias, as it plays out over the years. That is essentially what this book is about: the analysis of a relationship. The premise and construction of the book in order to do this was clever and interesting. Most of what happens between Sabrina and Tobias throughout their twenties feels authentic and overall the book is solidly written. My disappointment lies with the general execution. Given the interesting concept I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had a bit more heft and gravitas to it. A little deeper, a little edgier or maybe just quirkier with a bit more bite. But then maybe that would have removed it from the light read category and put it somewhere else entirely.
~The Music Shop Rachel Joyce In 1980’s England, Frank owns a music shop and has a gift for being able to give people just the music they need, even if they didn’t know they needed it themselves. Frank also has another quirky trait. He refuses to sell anything but vinyl in his shop. No CD’s allowed. Not the best business decision to make in a store that’s generally struggling but Frank believes in the sanctity of vinyl and it’s a decision he is determined to adhere to. One day a mysterious woman in a green coat faints outside the music shop. Her name is Ilsa, she is German and she unwittingly changes the course of events for Frank and the band of misfits who inhabit his world. The present day happenings are interspersed with chapters where Frank’s mum teaches him all about music and composers, ranging from Vivaldi to the Sex Pistols. She was a rubbish mum in most regards but this was the legacy she left him. Frank in turn passionately teaches Ilsa everything he knows, describing what she should listen for in the music and explaining how the silences have as much to say as the musical notes. Now, I am no deep connoisseur of music and my only entanglement with playing an instrument was the recorder at age 10, but it was all the animated and heartfelt talk about music that I really enjoyed about this book. These are the bits of the book that really sing and where Frank comes alive. On a side note, I was on chapter 27 entitled Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, before I realised that all the chapters were named after songs, because music might not be my thing but I am a huge Smith’s fan. This is a heartwarming, uplifting story about ordinary people with ordinary lives struggling to make all the pieces fit together, succeeding at times, failing at others. It’s a joy to read, has an ending that’s a bit daft but works so well and quite frankly is a book that, wait for it…hits all the right notes.
~The Girl Who Smiled Beads Clemantine Wamariya When war comes knocking on the door of her grandmother’s house where Clemantine Wamariya has been sent for safety, Clemantine’s grandmother tells her and her sister Claire to run. And run they do…for six years across six African countries, experiencing wretched conditions in refugee camps, fleeing when violence arrives once again, enduring brutal treatment, lack of food and harsh conditions. Finally, at the age of twelve, Clemantine finds herself in the US where a new type of survival begins. One that means processing all that she has experienced and trying to fit it into a shiny new world that is completely alien to her. By her own admission Clemantine is something of a prickly pear and hints of acerbity and bitterness wind their way through all of her words, which I think is what I enjoyed about it the most. She makes no apologies for her feelings, just throws her internal struggle out into the world in all its rawness. Clemantine hates to draw pity and sympathy for her plight and mistrusts everyone who doles it out too freely, wondering what they want in return. Consequently she can be impatient with those people who really do mean well but are frequently clumsy when they try to connect with her. Having said that, Clemantine is not ungrateful for her new life it’s just that the very act of sifting through the remnants of such atrocities brings all her anger to the forefront and the courage needed to do so is palpable. Clemantine has a lot of powerful things to say about war and life and clawing your way back to a sense of humanity after the world has stripped it from you. A must read.
