A Review By Frances Smith

The subtitle of this book is “A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain” and it is a fascinating read.  Lovers of trains and railways will be in turn enchanted and incensed, students of politics will be dismayed and other readers will just be fascinated.  Although obviously a railway enthusiast, Engel is no anorak, and this history of the development of the railway system in Britain and its slow demise is a fascinating and enjoyable book.  Thoroughly to be recommended for Father’s Day, but also to anyone who uses the rail network or who is interested in British social history, it is every bit as easy to read as a good novel!

A Review By Frances Smith

Juliet, the heroine of the story, is an investigative journalist who comes to a lovely old farmhouse in the Cotswolds to interview the members of a “New Age” group called “The Wheel of Love”.  Juliet has been alerted to the existence of the group by her sister, Zoe, who seems to have become completely involved with them.  Her journalist’s nose tingling, and worried about her sister, Juliet sets off convinced she will find a group of wierdos and expecting to be able to extricate Zoe quite easily from the bizarre group.  Juliet is completely disarmed by the first person she meets, Don McAllister, father of the leader of the group, Craig McAllister.  Don assures her that everyone at the farm is mad but quite harmless.  As the story continues and the cast of characters grows, Juliet is pulled deeper into the morass of passions that constitute “The Wheel of Love”.  She finds it harder and harder to keep her objectivity and forges friendships and alliances, even, perhaps making enemies without realising it.

 This is a gripping read, if sometimes a trifle long-winded.  But I did want to get to the end to find out who were the ‘goodies’ and the ‘baddies’, as it were, and to know what would happen to Juliet and her sister, but occasionally tighter editing may have helped. Then again, how many books are well-edited these days? The book is written and published by one of our own customers so we are very pleased to be able to support it. Do buy a copy! And see www.scskillman.co.uk

A Review By Frances Smith

Cornelia Funke is a wonderful children’s author whose work links the modern world seamlessly with the world of fairy tales. In “Reckless”, there is a fantasy world behind the mirror (Alice in Wonderland), Ogres, dragons elves and dwarves (Lord of the Rings) good and bad witches and fairies (The Wizard of OZ) and a world which owes much to CS Lewis.  There is also a sleeping Princess, a gingerbread house and references to many other traditional fairy tales.  From this rich mixture, Cornelia Funke weaves her own, completely original fairytale.

 Jacob has been entering a parallel world through a mirror for many years, in search of his father. He has always left behind his younger brother, Will and their mother, neither of whom know of the mirror’s mysterious properties.  After his mother’s death, Will finds the mirror and follows Jacob through into the dangerous parallel world.  He brings with him his girlfriend Clara, a medical student.  Will unfortunately falls into a magical trap, from which the people of the mirror kingdom are convinced there is no escape.  Jacob has other ideas and leads Will, Clara and Fox (who has never been to our world) on a dangerous quest to find the fairy who can release Will from the spell.  It is a race against time through the strange fantasy world of monsters and magic, with the emphasis on the redeeming virtues of trust, friendship and love sustaining our heroes in the face of duplicity and evil.

 I could not put this book down and would recommend it to all lovers of fantasy and magic from Harry Potter to the Lord of the rings and, of course, Inkheart.

Jennet Mallow is born in Yorkshire in the 1920s but her interest in art and creativity alienates her from her family, her father who is a priest, her conventional sister, and her mother. Jennet moves to London in search of a more exciting life and finds it in her new environment and in the handsome and enigmatic figure of the painter David Heaton. When Jennet falls pregnant, her parents more or less force the two to marry.

In the post-war austerity of the 1940s, the young couple struggle to make ends meet and Jennet finds that her home life is gradually eroding everything she has fought to achieve. Aware that David is becoming increasingly reliant on drink and tired of the dank and drab bed-sit in which they live, Jennet suggests they move to Spain. There, the bright blue skies, warm air and sunlit beaches give the couple and their children a new lease of life.

Jennet begins to paint again and an agent takes an interest in her work. But as Jennet’s own career begins to take off, her relationship with David sours and the two enter a destructive spiral with tragic consequences. Such is the outline of the book provided by the publisher. But it does not do it justice.

The novel, which appears most of the time as almost autobiographical, is imbued with the spirit and freshness and colour and light of painting. The process of painting and its results. It is suffused with magical descriptions and sometimes it is almost stream of consciousness stuff. You can’t fail to be captivated.

But whilst you do constantly want to know about Jennett and what happens to her, there are times when she strikes you as a cold fish, for instance staying on a prolonged holiday when her father is seriously ill, and you wonder then whether this is quite realistic or, if it is, whether you should care for her at all. Still, let us grant artists a certain leeway and enjoy this real attempt to get inside their mind.