The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
A widow living alone on the New South Wales coast is utterly convinced there is a tiger who pads through her house at night time. She hears the animal breathing, and even phones one of her sons, waking him from sleep, to confide her fears. So when Frida turns up at her door one morning, announcing that she has been sent from the government to help care for Ruth, the elderly woman is at first insistent that she needs no help, but secretly grateful for the assistance. As the days and weeks pass, however, the sense of foreboding grows, overshadowing even the unseen tiger who continues to creep around on the periphery of Ruth’s fears. The author does a brilliant job of conveying the moments of confusion that permeate Ruth’s days and the way in which Frida seems to anticipate her every need, even before Ruth herself has realized what it is she needs. A beautifully written poignant tale, this is a powerful debut from a very talented writer.
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Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
There are quite a few novels out at the moment which deal with the upsetting reality of Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia. This beautifully written novel takes the unusual step of having Maud as the narrator, and while she knows that hers is not the most reliable of accounts, she is absolutely adamant that she has not totally lost the plot. Maud’s best friend is missing, and Maud doesn’t trust Elizabeth’s shifty son one bit. Maud’s daughter Helen tries her best to reassure her mother, but then decades-old anxieties about her sister come bubbling to the surface and only serve to confuse Maud more. The descriptions of the many, many post-it notes that surround Maud in her daily struggle to get things right is one of the most poignant features of the book, but the pathos never overwhelms, and the author’s double construct of an enigma wrapped in a mystery is very effective. It’s a brilliant debut from a talented young author, and I for one will be very keen to see what she does next.
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Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
The Dinner, with its unspeakably awful characters, was one of those books that lent itself to much discussion, debate and analysis, albeit not a book you could truthfully say you enjoyed. And now, with his second novel, Dutch actor and writer Herman Koch has done it again – given us a book that will make readers cringe, sigh, shudder and possibly throw it to the other side of the room. This reader found it strangely compulsive in its awfulness. Marc Schlosser is a doctor who has built up a practice catering for the rich and famous. However, he finds other people’s bodies and bodily habits so distasteful that he has trouble restraining himself from reacting violently. He and his wife are so smugly assured of their utter superiority that you just know there are going to be repercussions. Their friendship with an actor who has hit the Hollywood big-time and his more reserved wife results in the Schlossers being invited to join the celebrity at his summer house – hence the title. A very fitting summer read, but by no means a comfortable one.
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Cop Town by Karin Slaughter
Having previously dipped in and out of 1970s police procedure in one of her contemporary crime fiction novels, accomplished author Karin Slaughter has now set an entire, and very readable, novel in the strife-ridden Atlanta Police Department of 1974. For new girl on the job, Kate Murphy, the judgments are flowing fast and furious. Deemed too pretty to be a cop, and disappointingly not Irish enough for the male-dominated ranks, she could file half a dozen sexual harassment suits if such things had only existed at the time. The women in the ranks aren’t much more welcoming, and Kate has to fight hard to prove her worth. Her partner Maggie, who followed a brother and uncle on to the force, is not having any easier a time of it, and with a cop killer stalking the ranks and ratcheting up the uniformed bodies, every cop in the department is under pressure. Slaughter brilliantly depicts the sexism, racism and casual bullying that dominates this previously all-male and all-white environment. The mystery at the heart of the novel also makes for a compelling read.
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Contact Information
Darina Molloy, Castlebar Central Library, John Moore Rd, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Email: dmolloy@mayococo.ie Phone: +353 (0)94 9047953
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