Book Reviews: May 2019

The Doll Factory by Elisabeth Mcneal
Pan Picador £12.99
Iris, a hopeful young artist, working long hours with her sister in a doll factory, meets pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost and, risking scandal, becomes his model in return for painting lessons. Echoes of John Fowles’ The Collector appear in the novel as Silas, a young taxidermist meets and becomes obsessed with her. The vivid depiction of Victorian London and the visceral sense of menace that engulfs, make this debut novel a most gripping and absorbing read.

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
Penguin £8.99
The accomplished and always intriguing novelist Claire Fuller also deals with obsession in this her third excellent novel. The narrator Frances Jellico, first encountered in the novel in old age, becomes entangled in the lives of a decadent and mysterious couple that she meets while researching in a dilapidated English country house one scorching summer in the late 60’s. Frances, innocent and inexperienced falls under their spell with devastating consequences.
A compulsive page-turner. Fuller creates an atmosphere of simmering menace with all the assurance of a latter-day Daphne du Maurier' The Times

Deadland by William Shaw
Quercus £16.99
Following on from the first book in his new series featuring DS Alexandra Cupidi, William Shaw treats us to an ingenious and intriguing thriller where our heroine faces the strangest murder investigation of her career. A severed limb, hidden inside a modern sculpture in Margate's Turner Contemporary. This weird occurrence eventually linked with the mysterious disappearance of two teenage boys, makes for a taut and  engrossing tale that keeps the reader totally involved. William Shaw just gets better and better.
'If you're not a fan yet, why not?' VAL MCDERMID

The Middler by Kirsty Applebaum
Nosy Crow £6.99
An interesting take on the dystopian children’s novel. Eleven year old Maggie is a 'middler' - the often forgotten middle child in a family where her older brother is a hero and her younger brother Trig is the lovable centre of attention. She lives protected from the outside world where a war rages and dangerous 'wanderers' roam. An encounter with wanderer Uma changes her view of this world, and she finds herself caught up in uncertainty and deception. Wryly humorous with some exciting twists.

Mini Rabbit Not Lost by John Bond
HarperCollins £6.99
Such a sweet book, with distinctive and humorous illustrations in pleasing woodland colours by a new local author and illustrator. Little rabbit is keen to find berries to make his cake but his hunt gets him – not lost, oh no, but… Cleverly depicts the stubborn determination of a small child intent on a mission and trying hard not to be scared as things go wrong.

Kind by Alison Green
Scholastic £12.99
An inspiring picture book about the many ways that children can be kind, this is a wonderful charity venture endorsed by Axel Scheffler, one of the 38 illustrators who have contributed to this lovely book. £1 from each copy goes to the Three Peas charity, which gives vital help to refugees from war-torn countries. And it’s great fun trying to guess/recognise the illustrators (solution at the back of the book).