Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller

Historical fiction is my favourite of all genres. It's probably also why I love classic books so much. Even if they were contemporary stories when written a hundred years ago, they are now historical fiction to me.

I'm not sure why I love being immersed in a time so far removed from our own, except I do love learning about times and places and peoples I would otherwise know little about. I love the imaginative journey, based on factual information, that my favourite historical fiction writers take me on. I also love the sense of continuity I get by seeing that even though our worlds may look and sound different, that people still go through the same emotional journeys regardless of the the historical era.

It comforts me to know that I'm not the first person to feel sad, scared, excited, hopeless, fearful, depressed, out of my depth, deliriously happy or just plain flat. Reading how other people, in other times, have survived and learnt to navigate a graceful way (or not) through their emotional stories, helps me to find ways to do the same in our more modern world.

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller is a Napoleonic era story all about people running from their pasts; that thing so many of us have tried to do as some point. The hope that moving away or moving on or changing one's surroundings will help us find a better version of ourselves or escape an older unpalatable truth.

However, as we all learn eventually, you cannot run from your past or who your really are, it will always come back to haunt you, one way or the other, until you face it square on, accept it, deal with it, learn from it and incorporate this into a newer, evolved you.

It seems that everyone in Now We Shall Be Entirely Free has a secret and something to hide. Shadowy figures dictate/guide the behaviour of our lone gunman as well as the family of siblings that we later find on an island off the coast of Scotland. Our protagonist is riddled with guilt and doubt and we're not quite sure, as the reader, where the truth lies.

The ending doesn't necessarily clear anything or everything up either. We learn about the truth of the matter that drives the story, but many things are left unresolved. Who was the unknown General that directed Calley to track down and kill Lacroix? And to what purpose? What was his motive? Was it a way for Miller to show us that Calley was not, and never would, be a free agent or free from his past. Was he making a comment on the importance of childhood in nurturing emotionally healthy adults?

We also explore the impact of war on not only the ones doing the soldiering but on innocent civilians as well. The civilians of little Spanish villages and those in England left to live with their returned traumatised soldiers. No-one leaves a war zone unscarred. Except perhaps those shadowy power-hungry figures behind the scenes pulling the strings. 

This story felt more straightforward than Miller's previous books, but there were still plenty of Miller's trademark twist and turns and unexpected insights. Miller writes a tense cat and mouse chase mixed with some romantic ideals and psychological insights. I enjoy the suspense, the little insights into human behaviour, the quiet moments between people that feel very authentic, but I do wish he would give us a little more resolution. But perhaps that's life. Nothing is ever resolved to our satisfaction. We all have memories we'd rather forget, yet finding a way to live with them can finally bring us a sense of peace. There's always things left unsaid, undone, but we continue on, searching for peace and freedom and a sense of belonging in this crazy, chaotic world we find ourselves living in.

However, if anyone would like to discuss the ending with me in the comments below, please do! One day I think it meant one thing; the next day another. I'd love to hear what you think.

And if you haven't read any Andrew Miller before, and you love great storytelling with an historical fiction setting, then this is your guy.

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty

I picked Midwinter Break from my TBR pile to read for Cathy @746Books #ReadIreland18 month. It is a staff pick at work thanks to one of my colleagues, so I was looking forward to it. But I failed to engage.

There was lots to like about the story. I enjoyed the time that Stella and Gerry had wandering around Amsterdam. I enjoyed their cute couple moments - the kiss in the lift, the little in-jokes and intimacies that can only occur over time and with love. It was sad seeing this obvious once-love being destroyed by Gerry's alcoholism.

He wasn't an abusive, violent drunk. There was no need to be scared of Gerry or to fear him. He was a bumbling, deceptive, in-denial drunk. He was sloppy and mocking and selfish.

It was interesting to see how the major event in their marriage - Stella being shot whilst pregnant - was a turning point for all of them, in such different ways. After she had recovered, and the baby survived as well, they made the decision together to leave Ireland for the safer option of Scotland. However, at the time of the shooting, Stella vowed and said a prayer,

Spare the child in my womb and I will devote the rest of my life to YOU.

She viewed the survival of her son as a miracle that had to be atoned - a spiritual debt that had to be repaid - by good deeds, to improve the world through kindness and justice and equality.

Gerry simply saw Stella's survival and the birth of Michael as the miracle,

To him her presence was as important as the world. And the stars around it. If she was an instance of the goodness in this world then passing through by her side was miracle enough.

The tragedy being that he was just pissing all that goodness away.

Normally I don't mind jumps between various times and events, but it felt clumsy here. I kept losing my way. And the very worse thing that can happen to me when reading a book happened at the half way mark - I realised I was bored.

I skimmed through the last half hoping for my very own bookish miracle, but it failed to recapture my imagination.

Sad, but true.

#begorrathon18
#ReadIreland18

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

His Bloody Project has been shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It was a surprise inclusion to my mind. Historical crime fiction?

But, as it turned out, I loved it.

It's a psychological thriller as opposed to a detective story. The crime - victims and perpetrator - are presented straight up. The unfolding story reveals the how and why of the crime. It's a page-turner - easy to read and thoroughly entertaining.

However it's not a reread.

For me a book is reread if it touches a deep emotional chord that needs more exploring and prodding or if it contains layers of meaning that will take several reads to unpack.

His Bloody Project doesn't fit either of these reread categories for me.

Burnet has set this book up as true story. A part of his own family history that he unearthed during some genealogical research.

He plays around with this idea right from the start with the title page - His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrea: A NOVEL, edited and introduced by Graeme Macrae Burnet.

The tension between what's real and what's not continues throughout the reading of Macrae's journal, the medical reports (citing real doctors) and the trial proceedings. Metafiction at it's best!

I normally only read cosy crime, so I thought this story might be outside my comfort zone. But His Bloody Project is really a delicious piece of creative writing decidedly sitting inside the historical fiction genre. Burnet delves into the mind of someone charged with a heinous crime. It's a psychological study about sanity, reason and motivation, set in the Scottish Highlands.

I'm glad this book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize otherwise I would never have read it. The bloody fingerprints on the cover would have been enough to put me off for good!

Maybe the Booker shouldn't have to be about shortlisting the well-known, much loved authors who consistently write interesting books that we will all read regardless. Maybe book prizes, like the Booker can be about bringing to light some unknown, newer writers who deserve a much wider audience.

I've just realised this is the issue that has been bugging me around Bob Dylan winning the the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Nobel Prize is designed to go to

an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Alfred Nobel, 'produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction'. (wikipedia)

I have no problems with another American winning the prize, or a poet/songsmith instead of an author. I can even accept that another privileged white guy wins again - that's the world we live in after all!

But one of the reasons I've enjoyed reading the Nobels over the years (very spasmodically I confess) is the insight into other cultures, the chance to discover new authors that I would never have come across otherwise and for lesser known, but important and culturally significant writers to become more widely known and appreciated.

That kind of diversity is a very good thing any way you look at it.

Bob Dylan is already well known, well regarded and well awarded for his cultural and creative efforts. He will not be forgotten by history.

It feels like this was the easy choice, a nostalgic choice and I will always be left wondering who missed out.

Brona's Salon

Brona's Salon is a new meme which aims to gather a group of like-minded bookish people 'under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.'

(wikipedia)

I will provide a few prompts to inspire our conversation.
However please feel free to discuss your current read or join in the conversation in any way that you see fit.

Amusement, refinement and knowledge will surely follow!

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. 

How did you find out about this book?

The Shadow (wo)man Booker group read and reviewed this book.

It was one that was generally enjoyed, with some reservations about it being worthy enough for a literary award. 

Why are you reading it now? 

I'm trying to read half the Booker shortlist before the big announcement next week. 

First impressions? 

Entertaining historical fiction with a metafiction touch - is this a memoir or not? 

What is real? What is fiction?
Is there such a thing as fictional true crime?

Metafiction seems to be a literary device that lots of writers are playing with right now.

I'm thinking of Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien with her book within the book, Elena Ferrante's ambiguous 'is it memoir is it real' Neapolitan tetraology, Michelle de Kretser's Springtime: A Ghost Story with its discussion mid-story about the nature of ghost stories, Kent Haruf's use of the same fictional town in all his stories and the referencing of his previous books in Our Souls At Night and Alain de Botton's use of footnotes to address issues brought up in his narrative in The Course of Love.

And that's just some of the books I've read this year that can be classified as metafiction!

Wikipedia describes metafiction as -

A story about a writer who creates a story.
A story that features itself as a narrative or as a physical object.
A story containing another work of fiction within itself.
Narrative footnotes which continue the story while commenting on it.
A story that reframes or suggests a radically different reading of another story.
A story addressing the specific conventions of story, such as title, character conventions, paragraphing or plots.
A novel where the narrator intentionally exposes him or herself as the author of the story.
A story in which the authors refers to elements of the story as both fact and fiction.
A book in which the book itself seeks interaction with the reader.
 A story in which the readers of the story itself force the author to change the story.
A story in which the characters are aware that they are in a story.
A story in which the characters make reference to the author or his previous work.

Have you read any metafiction books recently?

Which character do you relate to so far?

I'm not sure if relate is the right word, but I certainly feel empathy for Roddy's sister Jetta.

She has no rights, no protection but all the care and responsibility of looking after her family.

Are you happy to continue?

So far.

I can see Burnet building a case whereby the bullying, mean, officious Mackenzie Broad family got what they deserved (by being murdered), but it seems too neat and too obvious.
Is Roddy a reliable narrator?
The Macrae stoicism and acceptance of fate as being their lot in life feels a trifle overdone.
I'm enjoying the details of Scottish croft life - as bleak and as hard as it was.

Despite the topic, this is a fun psychological thriller read, but I can feel a bit of a drag creeping in.
I hope Burnet doesn't get bogged down or lose his way.

Where do you think the story will go? 

We know that Roddy killed the Mackenzie Broad's from the start. 

He didn't hide or deny what happened.

But is he covering for someone - his father? his sister?

I can see that his advocate is leaning towards an insanity plea - is this a ploy? Or a real concern about Roddy's mental state.
His journal currently presents a logical, thoughtful, intelligent man.

Death of a Gossip: A Hamish Macbeth Murder Mystery by M C Beaton

Until a few weeks ago I never knew that the BBC TV series from the late 90's that I loved and adored, Hamish Macbeth, was actually loosely based on a series of books by the Scottish crime writer M.C. Beaton.

Hamish was played by the very lovely, very Scottish actor Robert Carlyle. He played the laid-back, slightly subversive, bumbling romantic, Hamish to a tee.

When I recently spotted book #1 in the Hamish Macbeth series in my bookshop, I knew I had to have it!

Death of a Gossip is the first of 29 books. It was first published in 1985 whilst the latest book, Death of a Policeman, was just published this year.

This is a very easy, very gentle crime story set in the fictional far northwest town of Lochdubh.

Once I got over the fact (disappointment) that the characters in the TV series were not also in the books and that Hamish had a 'large slavering guard dog of indeterminate breed called Towser'  and not a westie called 'Wee Jock' I was swept along in this dour Scottish seaside murder mystery.

There would have been many times in my reading life, when I would have put this book down in disgust.
Stereotypical characters (especially the secondary ones) & bland writing usually turn me off big time, but I'm going through a reading slump right now and everything feels like a struggle.

Death of a Gossip won me over precisely because of how easy, uncomplicated & light-hearted it was.
And for me, it was also mixed in with a healthy dollop of nostaglia for the TV show.