Reviews by Jenny (66)

Jenny 2024-02-19 Covenant of Water

Epic family saga is tender and perceptive - wonderful read.

Covenant of Water

From the first sentence to the last, this amazing story holds your attention. It made me laugh and made me cry. There is grief and tragedy for the family who live with an inherited 'condition' that curses them with a predisposition for drowning. But also plenty warmth and humour. The author's deep insights into the problems of colonialism from an Indian perspective were illuminating and enhanced my understanding of African colonialism. The author is an Ethiopian born Indian now a professor of medicine at an American university. He has also written and been interviewed on medical and healthcare issues that I am now keen to investigate. Highly recommended enchanting read.

Jenny 2024-02-07 Seeing Other People

Relationship from a man's point of view.

Seeing Other People

I really enjoyed the way this book explores complex family relationships but from a man's point of view for a change - so many of this genre have women authors. This is the story of a man who makes a mistake and how he finds his way back to happiness. Mike Gayle (of The Museum of Ordinary People) is an interesting and prolific writer and I look forward to reading more of him - his gentle humour and self-deprecation are similar to novels by Stephen Boykey Sidley who is another male voice in this genre.

Jenny 2024-02-07 Maureen Fry

a bit thin...

Maureen Fry

After Harold Fry and Queenie, both of which were wonderfully rich in terms of characterisation, I found Maureen Fry a bit thin and disappointing. It felt like the author was just finishing off her 3 book contract and she does not give Maureen the nuanced depth that I had expected after the other 2.

Jenny 2024-01-10 A Calling for Charlie Barnes

Satire on the American Dream

A Calling for Charlie Barnes

This very funny and insightful story follows the life of Charlie Barnes who is a prototypical loser with 5 wives, 4 children and over 40 jobs - his nickname is 'Steady Boy'. He has tried to be an ethical financial advisor, and an inventor of a frisbee toupe. - nothing he tries works. and when he believes he is dying of cancer he attempts to mend his relationships, with all kind of unexpected results. A great read.

Jenny 2023-11-08 A House for Alice

Returning to Benin

A House for Alice

This is the story of Alice who after living in England for 50 years, wants to return to her homeland of Nigeria to die. Her difficult husband has been killed in a fire giving her the freedom to leave. However her 3 adult children are understandably concerned about having her so far away. Also she needs to build a house on the land she owns in Benin City. (Benin just keeps coming up in the books I am reading). They try to help her while at the same time dealing with all types of complications in their own lives. I loved this, but am sorry I didn't first read its precursor 'Ordinary People' - not to be confused with either 'Normal People' or 'Museum of Ordinary People' - as I think that the prior story of the daughter Melissa would have enriched this one. Also there are references to British politics, events and the realities of growing up black in Britain that were unfamiliar to me. But the story keeps moving and I found it an engaging and really interesting read.

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