Category: Other 5 out of 5s

Meg Rosoff’s — Bride’s Farewell *****

Pell has witnessed her mother suffer from financial hardship with too many children. With last minute nerves on her wedding day, she escapes on her horse and heads to the Salisbury Fair to begin a new life.

But as she journeys further, thoughts of her family and her abandoned lover keep pulling her back.

Elena Ferrante’s — My brilliant friend *****

From childhood, Elena and Lina are friends. Throughout the 1950s, they know nothing of Naples—the city they live in beyond the impoverished suburb they inhabit. Elena struggles to be first in class, but realizes she will always be second to Lina. When they reach adolescence, their lives take different directions, but will either of them be able to escape into a different life from the reality of their deprived mothers?

This is a compelling step into the Italian mentality of the times, from the limited lives of women to the overbearing macho mentality of the men who frequently react with violence.

Ariel Lawhon’s—Code name Helene

Nancy is a freelance Australian journalist based in Paris in the late 1930s. In between assignments, she wiles away her time with her French friend, Stephanie who soon introduces her to handsome, playboy, Henri. But Nancy’s life is set on a different course when she witnesses the whipping and humiliation of a Berlin Jew. She cannot forget the German torturer’s face nor the mesmerized crowd when Hitler gave a speech.

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Sarah Penner’s—The lost apothecary*****

Alone in London, Caroline is mudlarking when she uncovers an eighteen century vial. From its markings, she believes it belonged to an apothecary in Bear Lane and she is determined to uncover its secrets, but there is more at stake than she first realizes—breaking and entering, murder, and even the police suspect Caroline of attempting to poison her unfaithful husband.

Can she uncover details of the mysterious owner of the apothecary who not only catered to women’s ailments, but supplied poisons to women with grudges against men’s behaviour? Who was this pharmacist from long ago? What made her enter this dangerous trade? And who was the young girl who was spotted near the River Thames with her?