Review of 'Where Dragonflies Hover'* by Anne Marie Brear

Although I've read my fair share of historical novels in the past, I have to say that I actually haven't read very many based in the war years, which seems a little odd to think about now. It's such a massive part of recent British history, and, despite learning about it fairly intensely at school, I've read so few fictional interpretations of time abroad and at home during the two periods of World War.

Where the Dragonflies Hover is set in three time periods, but thankfully you're not jarred as you move from one to the other. In the modern day, our protagonist Lexi, a young woman, is a part owner in her own solicitor firm with a rocky marriage at home. Her husband Dylan is working all hours as a doctor to finance their lives, and the lack of time spent together is really starting to drive a wedge between the pair. Lexi falls in love with an old mansion up for sale, and sees this as the chance to make everything right again - they could move in together, create a family and fall in love all over again by restoring the old place. Dylan however has other plans. He's got the opportunity to move to London with a much better job and wants Lexi to come with him. Ultimately their dreams are clashing, and they can't see eye to eye. Is there anything that can change this?

When Lexi looks at the mansion she finds an old diary from a woman called Allie. Allie is writing during World War Two about her experiences as a nurse who fell in love with an officer in the First World War. This seems like the oldest tale in the book, but it's one that I've actually never read. Unfortunately for Allie her love is one that is forbidden to her as a nurse and eventually a matron, but in the heat of war lines are blurred and acts are forgiven. However, will society ever be able to accept the great love between this pair even if it is an nontraditional one?

I loved the interweaving of all three time periods in this novel, and the fact that the two love stories were told side by side without being basically the same story in different time periods. Allie and Lexi do face seriously different challenges, and I loved both of their stories. 

Have you read it? What did you think?

Review of "The Bone Clocks" by David Mitchell

I remember when this book came out, news about it was all over Twitter. But, I'd never heard of the author (whoops) and was still living under a contemporary literary rock because I was so bogged down with all the books I was having to read for my literature degree. Now that I'm free, when this popped up on my suggested Kindle reads I figured I had to give it a go. So, what's all the hype about? Well, in terms of structure, consider it the book version of the film 'Inception' - there are layers and layers of narrative that you have to work though to understand precisely what is going on. And it took me pretty much forever to work out what a bone clock is.

The basic premise is this: there are a handful of people out there in the world who don't formally 'die' when death meets them, rather they go through a process of a variance of reincarnation, re-emrging as a child who has just died. They are often moral beings, and are locked in a war with a group called the Atemporals, who are giving the gift of remaining the same age, but to do so have to suck the life out of young children. The key to this war? A simple woman by the name of Holly Sykes.

Was that enough to tickle your fancy? I absolutely loved this book and totally got lost in it. Let me know what you think if you've read it!

Steph x

Review of "All the Light we Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

People always seem to remember where they were when they found out an important event had happened: were you on the toilet when you found out about the birth of a royal Prince? Or at a fancy dinner when 9/11 happened? I'll always remember what I was reading when this year's terror attacks on Paris occurred: this book. As Paris was reeling from the aftermath of a bombing in 2015, I was reading about the terror of Parisians during World War Two, when the threat of a German bombing could very much become a reality. It was then that I realised how terribly little we've learnt in the last 70 years. Violence answers nothing and we often fail to think of the extent of the terror it induces, which is why I think it is so important that Doerr's female protagonist is blind. Anyone would be absolutely terrified if their world was under threat from war, and I mean this in the strongest sense of the word, but just imagine the dear you would be ensconced in if your world was being attacked and you were clueless to the visible effects of it.  

Marie Laure is a young girl when her eyesight deteriorates to the extent that she becomes entirely blind. Determined to allow his daughter to have some independence and quality of life,  her papa creates an accurate wooden model of the part of Paris they live in for her that they study together so that she can begin to navigate the streets. He is the keyholder and locksmith for the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, a place which is rumoured to hold a cursed diamond, one so unique that few have set eyes on it. When Paris begins to come under threat during the war, Papa realises that it is no longer safe for him and Marie Laure to remain there, and they must flee. But the curator of the museum has realised this too, and sends out three replicas of the priceless diamond, as well as a real one with his most trusted employees. No man knows whether he has the real one, but if he has, trouble may befall him ....

Meanwhile in Germany, orphaned Werner is beginning to see the effects of the changing times. A boy with a keen interest in mechanics, he becomes a whizz with radios, only to have the number of broadcasts available seriously lessened due to censorship. When his sister Jutta starts listening to prohibited frequencies he smashes the radio he created for them, causing an unshakeable rift in their sibling bond. Soon Werner's skill means he must go away to a school for gifted boys, but when he gets there he realises it perhaps is not so much of a godsend as he originally thought. Boys are pitted against one another, and to be the weakest one could mean death. Werner must balance his time between learning greater mechanical skill for radio repair and trying to survive the brutal physical challenges he is faced with. But what is the point of these tests? is it something a whole lot more sinister than he'd ever hoped?

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of Elizabeth is Missing

I think we're all a bit guilty of getting aggravated in our busy modern lives at people that can't quite keep up, but this book has thrown a whole new light onto my perspective. To say it tugged on the heartstrings is a bit of an understatement. I have read novels before which deal with the issue of dementia, but never from the perspective of the person suffering themselves. Getting into the mindset of Maud was incredibly eye opening, and you can rest assured that once you've read this, you won't roll your eyes at an elderly relative when they forget your name again!

Maud can't quite seem to keep a hold on all of her thoughts. They seem to come and go before she can grab a hold of them or verbalise them. So, she starts to write ideas down on notes. When she continues to come across ones she has written stating that "Elizabeth is missing", she becomes increasingly concerned about the whereabouts of her dear friend Elizabeth. With her daughter Helen, granddaughter Katy and Elizabeth's son Peter ignoring her concern she becomes more and more desperate to discover what happened.

However, old memories mingle with new, and Maud begins to think more and more about the disappearance of her sister Sukey. As she reminisces over her teenage years growing up in post-war Britain, the reader is introduced to the idea that there may be more than one mystery contained in this novel ...

I have read a few good reviews of Emma Healey's Elizabeth is Missing from fellow book bloggers, so I was expecting to be impressed. I was not disappointed either. The narrative of this text was so impressive and believable that I came away feeling as though I had an understanding of what it is to be so utterly lost inside one's own head, and how terrifying that can be. As well as mixing non-sense with sense in Maud's life, Healey effortlessly combined past with present through Maud's recollection of the mystery surrounding her sister's disappearance. 

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x 

Review of The Boxer, Reinhard Kleist

Theodor Adorno once said that “writing poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric”. By this, he implied that the horrors that occurred in this death camp, amongst others, could not and should not be talked about. The Holocaust is a topic which is almost taboo in literature, which makes it incredibly hard for authors to find a successful way to write about it. This makes graphic novels an appealing literary platform as they offer artists the chance to express their impression of the effects of the Holocaust without limiting them quite as much.

The Boxer follows the biographically accurate story of Hertzko Haft (later Harry Haft). Hertzko was a Jew who had the unfortunate destiny to live in Belchatow, Poland during World War Two. As the war developed Hertsko tragically took his brother’s place in a ghetto registration which took him to a concentration camp. The book outlines his struggles in the camp. One of the best aspects of this graphic novel, in my opinion, is the way in which the prisoners are drawn. Kleist sketches these figures in a way in which reminds me of the idea that these men and women were “the living dead”. He presents them as skeletal figures: they are consigned to the world of the dead, but ought to be alive. This is an innovative way to explain the horrific starvation method of torture employed by the camp’s guards. I feel as though it went some way to express these inhumane living conditions.

The novel then moves on to follow Hertzko’s struggle with his own morality. He is forced to commit some atrocious acts in order to survive his ordeal at the death camps. This raises the question as to whether the holocaust made monsters out of both its perpetrators and victims. This question becomes most potent when (not really a spoiler – it is in the title!) Hertzko is forced to box other dying prisoners to entertain the guards: if he doesn’t kill them, the guards will kill him. Thus, Hertkzo “Harry” Haft’s boxing career is born. The rest of the book narrates his journey to America where he once again enters the ring and finds out that the post-war world of boxing is not all it’s cracked up to be …

I have to say, I was slightly disappointed by this graphic novel. Perhaps my expectations were too coloured by the fact that I recently read Spiegelman’s Maus. This novel also follows the true story of a man who struggled through World War II as a Jew living in Nazi-occupied territory. However, I feel as though Spiegelman made better use of the medium of a graphic novel, employing clever symbolism and ideas throughout.

Still, if you want to read an inspiring true story about how one man made his way through the death camps of World War II to freedom, then have a look at The Boxer. It’s a quick, easy read and has some incredibly poignant and thought-provoking images in it. 

The relationship between women and male power in Shakespeare’s Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare’s plays, written during or shortly after Queen Elizabeth’s reign arguable present women in a relatively positive light. Although they do fall into the three stereotypical types of woman (the mother, the virgin and the whore), they use these roles to their advantage in order to subvert the whims and wills of men. At a time in which women were commonly understood to be subservient to men – although there was a female monarch at this time many people were upset at her lack of a husband to guide her – Shakespeare offers up outspoken, strong-headed, powerful women in the three aforementioned plays.

Firstly, in Othello a contrast is set up between the seemingly shy, subservient Desdemona and her loud, boisterous counterpart Emilia. Desdemona is a rather passive creature throughout the play; often she is only spoken about without being given the chance to air her opinions on things herself. Moreover, she is physically and verbally abused without being able to give a reasonable response to this because of her lack of understanding regarding the irrational (and foolish) actions of her husband. However, even this passive character is introduced to the audience as one who has denied the wishes of her father in staying at home and instead pursued her love affair with a “Moor”. This defiance would have been viewed as being very serious, as, indeed, it is by Brabantio who takes the issue to the Duke. In this way Shakespeare allows his most traditionally “feminine” character to subvert masculine demands for power. Furthermore, Emilia is used to highlight far more explicitly the power women have over men as she not only is responsible for Iago’s plan working so swiftly and smoothly by handing him Othello’s handkerchief, but also reveals his treachery to Othello at the end and thus causes his downfall. It has been argued by critics that Iago’s sole downfall in this play is the fact that he underestimates Emilia’s love for Desdemona: this is what ruins him. Thus she is the real puppet-master at the end of the play which reveals man’s subservience to the power of women.

Secondly, in Antony and Cleopatra the rivalry between Antony and Caesar would be the main plot strand of the play if Cleopatra was not quite so powerful. Antony’s extreme attraction to her, which even leads him to turn his ships around during a naval battle to follow her, makes the whole war almost laughable because it exposes just how controlled men are by their lovers: he is putty in Cleopatra’s hands. Her use of messengers to endlessly find out exactly what Antony is doing at any given time again shows just how much she is controlling him; he cannot do anything without being watched by her. Moreover, she manipulates the progress of the plot in the play: she ensured that Antony was not with his wife to look after his part of the Empire, she made the ships turn around, she directly caused Antony’s suicide, she even dictates Caesar’s actions once Antony is dead and finally she decides when and how she will die. Her aversion of Caesar’s plots highlight the fact that even arguably the most powerful man in the world cannot control a woman: she can always do this herself, even if it means going to extremes.

Finally, in The Taming of the Shrew the main body of the play is a play within the play. It is easy to forget that the play itself is about Christopher Sly and those who are playing a trick on him, it is not about making Katherine more “womanly”. The play in which Katherine and Petruchio play a part is constructed from male fantasy. Shakespeare is merely showing his audience what men believe should happen to outspoken women, not suggesting that all women should be subdued in this manner. The only woman in the play is the hostess of the inn who disappears after line ten having subjected Sly to her power by throwing him out of the public house as though he were an animal. Indeed, Kate arguably never becomes “tamed” as she is given the longest speech in the play at the very end of the play within the play; excessive talking is one of the prerequisites for being classed as a “shrew”. Shakespeare highlights the fact that men believe they have power over women by controlling their marriages as Baptista suggests the marriage between Kate and Petruchio and pursues it until it is done. Petruchio also insists on the marriage occurring without giving any thought to Katherine’s negating his marriage proposal. However, the main reason for the marriage going ahead is that there are other people manipulating the progression of the plot in order that Bianca can be married off; Kate is the only person who can give them that power by being married off herself. in this way Kate directs the whole course of the play and therefore can be seen as the most powerful individual in it. 

Modern Literature and the World Wars; A thought upon Remembrance Day

November 11^th 1918; a date known worldwide. The immense importance of the Great War as well as the Second World War, both of which we think upon during Remembrance services on this date each year, has been endlessly portrayed in fiction throughout the 20^th and 21^st Centuries.

As these wars are a huge part of our cultural consciousness as both a nation and a world, many have become desensitised to it. There are masses of both literary works and films depicting the horrifying reality of war. Thus, the question arises: how does one go about creating a sense of empathy for those who lived and served during the two World Wars in a largely desensitised young generation of people?

The answer appears to lie in subverting the idea of a traditional narrator. When one picks up a book concerning these two wars the story is generally told by an omniscient narrator, a man on the front line, or a woman (nearly always a wife or mother) left behind.

In my opinion, there have been three key modern books which have done this in a way which allows for an empathetic understanding of these two wars for both children and adults.

The first of these is War Horse, written by Michael Morpurgo. His novel is written from the perspective of a horse (although not an entirely original idea if we remember Anna Sewell) during this horrendous time. Morpurgo removes the reader from the domestic front in that the tale is not told from the perspective of a family member, but retains the intensity of emotion within the family unit during the time of fear that was the First World War.

Indeed, the narrative perspective here allows the author to use a single narrator throughout the novel to travel various places and permit the reader to understand the war from different perspectives. It would have been impossible, without writing a clichéd spy novel, to have the reader see the war from both a German and English perspective had a person rather than a horse been used as narrator. It allows the reader to distance itself from mankind in a way that makes one realise that different nations are not different at heart. The horse has no natural racial bias, and neither should we.

Secondly, we have The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak. This book has an arguably even more inventive style than War Horse as it is narrated by death; a circumstance rarely seen in literature, if ever. The portrayal of death as an anthropomorphic figure again allows us as readers to take a step back from being part of humanity and examine the horrors which humanity has released into the world. The haunting book cover, which depicts death in the visage of the Grim Reaper holding the hand of a small girl and dancing, exposes the way in which Death interacts with both the narrative and the characters. He is not a menacing figure, but displays a playful, often humourous persona, as well as being a rather pathetic figure in that he is burdened by the sadness of the loss of everybody in the world. He has not had to bury a brother, mother, sister, or any kind of relative, but has had to carry each one out of life. Thus the reader’s empathy is heightened as not only are we saddened by the loss of each character in the novel because of the effect of the death on the living, but also because of the effect of the death on Death itself.

Finally, we have The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, written by John Boyne which is narrated from the point of view of a young boy. The extreme naivety of this German child contrasts the disgusting actions of his father and the commanders associated with him, allowing us readers to feel arguably more horrified at the actions of those men, purely because they are not innocent. The use of childlike words, for-example “Out-with” as a misunderstanding of Auschwitz, heightens the empathy we feel for this boy who is utterly clueless as he enters a gas chamber at the end of the novel. However, this novel is particularly interesting as one feels a sick sense of justice when this boy is gassed as his father, who presides over the camp, is forced to realise the effect of these camps. It seems as though nothing else could have forced this upon him.

The immense success of these texts, all of which have won awards for their staggering exposition of the two World Wars serve an important function in modern society: keeping the horrors of the war in the forefront of our memory, ensuring it never again occurs.