ED: THE SEVEN SKINS OF ESTHER WILDING by HOLLY RINGLAND
This is the very moving story of a family struggling with the loss of a beloved member.
Esther Wildings older sister had left their Tasmanian home to study in Copenhagen. Here she becomes very reclusive and is last seen walking along the beach towards the sea. Esther reluctantly travels to Denmark and further afield following the trail of stories her sister had left behind: seven fairy tails about mermaids, swans and women and verses that were tattooed on her body.
Ed really enjoyed the book, the author’s previous novel being The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
HELEN: THE ART OF BREAKING ICE by RACHEL MEAD
This novel is the fictionalized account of Nel Law, the first Australian woman and visual artist to set foot in Antarctica at Mawson Station 8th February 1961.
In 1960 the legendary icebreaker Magga Dan set sail for Antarctica and hiding on board was Nel, the wife of expedition leader Phil Law. Though a talented artist, Nel was defined by her role as “the explorer’s wife”. But with the outstanding polar landscapes and the abundance of penguins her artistic talents begin to flourish. She experiences misogyny from the all-male crew and her presence on the expedition threatens the foundation of the patriarchal world of polar exploration and puts a huge strain on her own marriage.
A very interesting story.
ROSEMARY W: THE FROZEN RIVER by ARIEL LAWHON
ROSEMARY S
The book tells the fictionalized story of a real late 18th century midwife, Martha Ballard who kept a record of every birth and death she witnessed along with other crimes which happened in the community.
In1789, she is summoned to the local tavern to examine a body which was found in the Kennebec River in Maine. The river is frozen from November to April each year.
When local physician declares the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own, based on other information she already knew.
This fascinating book is not really a crime thriller but more accurately described as historical fiction.
JUDY A: TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD by EOWEN IVEY
This is an epistolary novel told from 3 points of view.
Firstly, in 1885, Colonel Allen Forester receives a commission to navigate Alaska’s hitherto impassable Wolverine River, accompanied by a small group of men. The river is key to opening up Alaska’s huge reserves of gold, but previous attempts have ended in tragedy. We learn about the journey from his diary entries.
The second point of view comes from the diary entries of Allen’s wife Sophie who is pregnant and back at the army barracks in Vancouver. She is a budding photographer and ornithologist. Her battles lie with a boring and critical lot of army wives in that restricted environment.
The third point of view comes from correspondence in the current time between Colonel Forrester’s 70-year-old grandson Walt and Josh, the 30-year-old creator of the museum in the town of Alpine, near the Wolverine River. The letters start out very formally but over time they become good friends as they discuss their enjoyment of the contents of the diaries.
Judy described the writing as ‘beautiful’ and thoroughly recommended the book.
KERRIE: THE MUSEUM OF WHALES YOU WILL NEVER SEE by KENDRA GREENE
Kerrie is soon to travel to Iceland and so has been reading about the 265 weird and wonderful museums that can be found in this country. They range from small backyard ones to the more traditional and show what the local people want to see and value.
The book was well written and an informal way of look at things we see in museums.
BEV: STRANGE SHORES by ARNALDUR INDRIDASON
This is the 9th book in the Detective Erlendur series. Every year he takes his holidays in the area he lived in as a child and where, many years before, his young brother died in a blizzard. His body has never been found. While he is searching, he learns of a young woman who went missing 25 years ago in the same area and is determined to find out what happened to her. He interviews people still alive from that time and he finally finds the answer.
All the time he is still looking for clues to the whereabouts of his brother’s remains.
Bev has read and enjoyed several books in this series.
JUDY J: CITY OF THIEVES by DAVID BENIOFF
Set in Leningrad in January 1942 when the German army had surrounded the city deciding to wait it out and starve the citizens and remaining Russian soldiers. The desperate result was the death of 2 million Russian soldiers and civilians!
Lev, a young Russian Jew is arrested for looting and Koyla is captured having deserted his Russian Army post. Expecting to be shot on the spot, instead they are given an outrageous task to complete and save their lives. They must find a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet Colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake.
They are forced to go behind enemy lines, show immense courage and ingenuity and learn to trust each other.
It was not an easy or enjoyable read, with extensive descriptions of brutality, desperate survival measures, violence and the young men’s continual talk of sex!
TERESA: THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by DAVID WROBLEWSKI
Written in 2008 and set in the coldest imaginable winter in Wisconsin, Minnesota, it’s the saddest story of love, murder and survival.
Edgar is born a mute and with his brother Claude, they grow up on their family’s farm breeding dogs. Edgar has a particularly close relationship with the dogs. Claude was never as keen with the dog breeding business and leaves the farm to join the Navy during the Korean War.
After his father is killed Edgar runs away with his dogs, learning to survive in the wilderness until the day he is forced to return hoping to prove his suspicions of who murdered his father.
Teresa loved the book, having previously read it. She particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the area, and the understanding that the weather governs the life of the people who live there.
JUDY De L T: FAST ICE by CLIVE CUSTLER
This is No 18 in the NUMA Files series, National Underwater Marine Agency featuring Kurt Austin.
When a colleague goes missing while researching the icebergs in Antarctica, Austin and his assistant go to investigate. Here they discover man-made fast-growing ice that could lead to a new Ice Age. This Nazi-era plot must be stopped to save the world!
This action adventure is fast moving and easy to read.
KRIS: MISS SMILLA’S FEEL FOR SNOW by PETER HØEG
Smilla Jaspersen was born to a Greenland mother who was a hunter and a Danish physician father. Now living in Denmark she has an almost intuitive understanding of all types of snow and their characteristics.
A young boy falls to his death from the top of his apartment building. The police believe it was an accident, but Smilla is convinced it was foul play from studying his footsteps in the snow on the rooftop.
In her quest to reveal what happened, Smilla boards the specially equipped ice breaker called the Kronos enroute to a Greenland destination unknown to the captain and crew.
Kris described it as an intriguing story that she enjoyed reading.
PAMELA:
Pamela also read this book, describing as a very complicated book. People change and don’t seem to be who they were. There seemed to be no conclusion to the story.
VAL: THE ROCK BLASTER by HENNING MANKELL
The job of the rock blaster is to set the dynamite to make a tunnel for a new railway line. When it doesn’t go off, Oskar Johansson is sent in to check and is badly injured in eventual explosion. Originally thought to have died, he survived, although badly injured. But he returned to rock blasting, married, had 3 children and lived to 80 years.
The book looks at how he survived and dealt with his problems. He saw the injustice in society, he is seen as low class and dropped out of society.
Val said the book was beautifully written, and as Oskar is so positive with his life and situation, it is not a sad read. She thoroughly enjoyed it as it was totally different from his usual books. (Kurt Wallander series)
PRUE: DARK ISLAND by RAGNAR JÓNASSON
This is the 2nd book in the Dark Iceland series featuring policeman Ari Thor and takes place in Northern Iceland. Even though it is summertime, the 24-hour light is turned to darkness with the ash cloud from a recent volcano eruption.
When a man is found murdered, a young reporter leaves Reykjavik to investigate on her own, while the local police struggle with the increasingly complex case as well as their own problems.
The plot is complex, fast paced and the writing is very good.
According to Prue, Icelandic people are great storytellers and writers, and this was a very exciting book.
LESLEY: IF YOU LIVED HERE I’D KNOW YOUR NAME by HEATHER LENDE
The book is non-fiction, part memoir and part travelogue. The author lives in Haines, Alaska with her husband and 5 now grown children. She writes obituaries for the local newspaper, along with general articles, essays etc about life in a remote, small town in Alaska.
But her obituaries are not the usual few lines. She researches the deceased, and their family, writing lengthy reflections. She knows virtually everyone in the town, as the title suggests.
She gives a whole picture of what small town life is like especially the effects of the cold weather.
The community spirit is strong, all levels of politics are there but Heather remarks that since they all must get along, mostly it just works.
JOAN: “SOUTH” THE ENDANCE EXPEDITION OF ANTARTICA BY ERNEST SHACKLETON
In 1914, a party led by veteran explorer Sir Earnest Shackleton sets out to become the first to achieve the crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. As the icefield slowly thickens, trapping the ship for 8 months. Eventually the ship was crushed and sank. The party camped on the ice which drifted north for over 1000 miles. When it could no longer support them, they took to the 3 boats from the ship and made for Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others, in another boat made the sea journey to South Georgia .
From there it was an epic struggle across the mountainous interior of the island to reach the whaling station and summon help. What happened to those brave men forever stands as a testament to their strength of will and the power of human endurance.
The book is an account of the expedition taken from journals and logs of Shackleton and some of the crew, their story, as told by the man who led them.
TAM: SUNRISE OVER MERCY COURT by FIONA McCALLUM
Although the book is not set in a ‘cold landscape’ it is a heart-warming story about Howard and Elsie Manning who have been married for 59 years, have become bored with the predictability of life, coping with aching joints, dwindling finances and too frequent funerals of friends.
A new arrival in the neighbourhood unexpectedly turns their lives around.
Tam’s only criticism of the book was that much of the story is told through dialogue. She felt that sometimes this was not necessary.
PAT: BURIAL RITES by HANNAH KENT
The book is the debut novel of the author and was inspired by a true story. It tells of a young woman who has been accused of murder in Iceland in 1829 and is sent to an isolated farm to await her execution date.
Only the priest seeks to understand her. But as her death looms, the farmer’s wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they’ve heard.
Pat described the book as moving and well written. The bonus of having listened to the story was that the Icelandic names and places were read to her and correctly pronounced.
Thoroughly recommended.
March
Books written by Irish authors
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