The Break by Marian Keyes

Book Review

"We were so tightly bonded and our sundering has been shocking and brutal. His departure was too sudden; the wrench was ragged and rough."

The Break is released in the UK today (7th September 2017). It is written by Marian Keyes and published by Penguin Michael Joseph.

Regular readers of Reading, Writing, Booking (all three of you) may be surprised to see me review an author who is so often classified as Chick-Lit (unfairly I think). Marian Keyes doesn't often write about mysterious murders, which are usually my thing, but I'm actually a big fan of Keyes' work and used to read her books a lot when I was younger.
My tastes have changed a bit over the years and I don't reach for them as much as I used to but I still get excited when there is a new Marian Keyes novel out.

The Break is her latest book, out today. After a slow start I found myself hooked to the story of two people and their 'break' from marriage. Keyes really understands the dynamics of couples and she writes in such an honest and often hilarious way.

Also, Marian Keyes herself is bloody amazing, she does these hilarious YouTube videos and has written and spoken really honestly about her struggles with depression.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Book Review

“The rest of us become narrow and mean when we live falsely. I'm sick to death of living falsely. I've been doing it for years.”

The Paying Guests is written by Sarah Waters and published by Virago.

I’ve never read any Sarah Waters before but I’ve heard good things. Unfortunately, though there is some excellent writing and interesting characters, I felt The Paying Guests dragged on much too long and ran out of steam.

Classic Literature: Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Book Review

"And at home by the fire, whenever you look up there shall I be - and whenever I look up, there will be you."

I thought I'd break up the new release reviews with a classic; Thomas Hardy's tale of beautiful and willful Bathsheba Everdene, Far from the Madding Crowd.

Firstly, I must apologise for the edition I have, which features a very sixties Julie Christie on the cover. If you follow me on Instagram you'll have probably seen this book before as I was reading it last summer. I admitted then that I generally hate books with film adaptation covers, but I kind of like this one, I just love her totally un-authentic hair!

I'll stop rambling about Julie Christie and her fringe and focus on the story.
Far from the Madding Crowd is one of those classic books that, even though I'd never read it before, I knew the plot. Somehow it had got lodged in my head, through general common-knowledge osmosis.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Book Review

Spellbinding, Enchanting, Magical. These are just a few words that have been used to describe Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child (Headline Review/Tinderpress). It does have a definite fairy tale quality, something deliberately included by the author as it is based on an old fairy story, yet there is also a seam of harsh realism running throughout the book.

It's the story of Mabel and Jack, a middle-aged couple in the 1920s who have moved to an Alaskan homestead for a new life. But they can't escape their sadness over the baby they lost and their life in the wilderness threatens to be too much for them to handle.
In a brief moment of happiness in their hard life they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow is gone but a mysterious human child is roaming their land. Is she real? And can she help them find the new start that they're looking for?