Arcanum Fabulas by Bam Barrow
The book I’d like to talk about first is the fabulous debut by Bam Barrow. A writer after my own heart, he has had several stories published in Grinning Skull Press and Punk Noir magazines and is a champion of occult fiction and folk horror. I was honoured to write the blurb, which really says it all: it combines pitch black urban grit with the poetry of the Gothic. He catapults the reader to each scene, taking them through his deliciously noir and nightmarish worlds. Revenge from beyond the grave; the crawling ‘existential dread’ provoked by terrifying entities; crime and conspiracy; the cynicism of a soldier in the Great War, who realises ‘there shouldn’t be suffering anymore’ but knows his ‘sympathy with the enemy won’t last long.’ Sharply observant; darkly ironic and always fearless, Barrow will have you in his grip from the first page to the last. And ‘don’t forget to bring your own baggage with you. ‘ If you haven’t yet discovered the work of this writer, I encourage you to do so!
In Search of Lost Glitter by Sarah Nicholson
From one extreme to the other, another excellent book I’ve just read is Sarah Nicholson’s In Search of Lost Glitter. I’m not usually a sentimental type, but I have met the author and I knew her style would deal with her grief at the loss of her husband with wit and sensitivity, and also in dealing with her own illness. She writes with a gentle touch, revealing strength, dignity and courage. She has an amazing visual eye for detail, and it is the detail that she calls the ‘glitter’, the tiny seemingly insignificant fragments of details that sit somewhere at the corner of your eye, that catch the light to stir up the most significant memories. She writes it all in a series of true stories, in a journal form, and it is unputdownable. I think she must be quite a force of nature and she should be incredibly proud of her achievements. I definitely recommend this book as it will speak to everyone.
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
Not a local author or someone I know this time, but I read this on the campsite and it is another book I couldn’t stop reading. It’s such a captivating book – full of hints of the supernatural, magical realism and fairy tale, combined with murder, mystery and the reality of a fractured memory and the effects of withdrawal. It’s eerie, it has a seriously sinister psychopath and a flawed heroine. A weird cabin in the woods – I was actually in one when I read it so maybe the experience was enhanced even more. It’s a debut and it’s great. A psychological thriller to get lost in.
Life in Dirt by James Jenkins
Another local author, Jenkins has co-founded Urban Pigs Press with Bam Barrow and already published two books of a trilogy (check out Parochial Pigs and Sun Bleached Scarecrows) featuring violently amusing characters in a Guy Ritchie/Tarantino-esque mash up, charging through urban gangland, holding nothing back. You wouldn’t want to meet his characters on a dark night I can tell you, although you will laugh ironically whilst they remain safely confined within his pages. In Life In Dirt, he has produced his first short story collection and he’ll blow your mind and shock your sensibilities from the off. Pulp Fiction, Hannibal, Once Upon a Teen in Hollywood, Ganster No.1: some of my favourite films and Jenkins can match anything in this genre. Roll on the films! Get out of your comfort zone with this one.
Love Beyond Love by Russel Webb
I first met Russell at the Foreword Fiction book event before Christmas, and we purchased a copy of each others’ book. Russ is the nicest guy ever and his debut has something in common with Sarah Nicholson’s as it details his love story – there is no other word for it – charting his meeting with his wife, Sharon, right through to the moment he lost her. It is tender and romantic and beautifully written. Again, not the usual book I’d pick up, but an incredible read, where he hits back at grief with humour and proves that love never really dies. I think writing this book has allowed him to go forward with a lighter heart and it send a positive and heart-warming message to any reader. I look forward to his net book, which I think he plans to be stories from his life as a firefighter? You can catch Russell Webb in the locality of Suffolk giving talks about his book and his writing. I do fear, however, what he might make of my book, which is perhaps not so gentle…
Really good, actually by Monica Heisey
To be honest I haven’t finished this one yet, because I am reading it with the book club I run, so a full review will probably follow. It was the one being promoted as all the rage in Waterstones, so I thought we’d take a look. It charts the newly single life of a young divorced woman in Toronto. It’s been touted as the new Bridget Jones, but I didn’t catch on to it in that way. Perhaps I’m too old, but when I was newly divorced (albeit a bit older than the protagonist, ) I didn’t feel much like her. Perhaps I wasn’t as broken, or sad for the marriage to end, although she isn’t being put through the copious amounts of hell I endured, and I’m a Gen X not a millennial, I’ve never done Tinder and I don’t mind being on my own, so I didn’t really relate. As I got into it a bit more, I have been quite enjoying some of her sardonic and self-deprecating wit, her use of lists and her out-of-control behaviour, and I will be interested to see what the other readers thought of it. It’s thoroughly modern and if you give it a go, stick with it. I do hope the heroine finds some peace with her perceived but not actual failure.
and finally…
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
This is an amazing book! It’s really clever, funny, but very very poignant. It centres around an extraordinary Chemist, Elizabeth Gott in the early 60’s when women were supposed to know there place and confine their hopes and dreams to domestic wedded bliss. Zott definitely does not know her place. She finds and then lose the love of her life, is a single mother and TV star in an age of disapproval, and fights her corner for every injustice she encounters, including those engineered by other women who are threatened by her, that will have you spitting blood, especially as a woman. She’s uncompromising and I loved her. Thank you to all Elizabeth Zotts of the world for making the future a better deal. Take that and read it!
That’s all for now, folks.
Virginia Betts 