Reviews by Jenny (66)

Jenny 2026-01-07 Mother Mary

Phenomenal writing

Mother Mary

I loved this memoir of Roy's family in India, which is sensitively portrayed in beautiful prose. It reveals her complicated relationship with her mother with courageous honesty and empathy, highlighting the 'mother wounds' we all seem to carry. Arundhati is an awe-inspiring woman who is uncompromising in her political activism and feminist ideals. I wonder is this might be because she never learnt to seek approval from anyone especially not her mother. I also enjoyed learning about the architect Laurie Baker who designed Mrs Roy's school and many other socially responsible and sustainable projects in India.

Jenny 2026-01-07 What We Can Know

Difficult but rewarding read

What We Can Know

The narrator of the first half of the story is an academic in 2119 who is left in what remains of Britain after cataclysmic climate and political upheavals. He is researching a love poem written in 2014 that is now lost. This is Ian McEwan as his most obscure - it is difficult as well as uncomfortable reading. The second half is much easier. Here the narrator is the women the poem was written for and is set back in our current times. Here he brings all the confusing threads of the narrative together to a convincing conclusion. 'What we can know' highlights what we cannot know.

Jenny 2026-01-07 Time Shelter

Fascinating Concept

Time Shelter

I found the main idea of the novel fascinating - that providing an environment which represents a happy time in a person's past can be a healing experience for them. I since discovered (see Link on this book) that research has confirmed this thesis. The first part of the book provides these experiences on a personal level wo willing patients and I enjoyed this part. However once the movement gets bigger to incorporate pocket societies and late even countries, I found it too political and heavy going to plod through. This may be a result of my very poor understanding of esp E European history and culture. Also I found the translation quite laboured.

Jenny 2025-12-03 Alfie & Me

Beautiful and Uplifting

Alfie & Me

This is a beautiful book which tells of the rescue and care of a baby owl which the author and his wife were privileged to enjoy during Covid lockdown in rural USA. It is filled with philosophical asides ranging from Plato through world religions to modern rock music. I loved this book for its gentle satire eg 'the aberration in the White House', 'billionaires stroking their rockets'. What also resonated for me was the purity of connection one can have with an animal, especially a wild one, and also his criticism of the Abrahamic faiths which endorse man's dominion over nature for his capitalist greed. A very special read that will stay with me.

Jenny 2025-12-03 Twist

Gripping and Disturbing

Twist

This is a novel set on a repair vessel at sea that fixes breaks on undersea internet cabling and its strange chief engineer and diver, John Conway. Its central theme is connection and the vulnerability of this and also human connection. It is enthralling but also disturbing in the insights its highlights to our fragile connections. It has been compared with Conrad's Heart of Darkness which I also found unsettling. An excellent read and highly recommended.

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