Book of the Month - The Mistletoe Bride - January 2015

The Book

A collection of short stories inspired by haunting English and French folk tales and also rooted in mythology and the landscapes of Sussex, Brittany and Languedoc. The collection is book ended by two differing versions of the myth of 'The Mistletoe Bride' - see more about the legend of the mistletoe bough.

Will this prove to a timeless treasure and a suitably spooky storybook for the winter season?

The Author 

Kate Mosse was born in Chichester and educated at Oxford University. She initially worked in publishing before becoming a full time writer in 1992 and to set up the Women's Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize). She has since written a trilogy of timeslip novels set in the Languedoc region of France (inspired by a home she bought in the area in Carcassonne).

Mosse has also written non-fiction and a play, Syrinx (published in the "The Mistletoe Bride" collection) and is an executive director the Chichester Festival Theatre. She was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2013.

Her books have sold millions of copies in over 40 countries worldwide.

More Information

Kate Mosse's website is http://www.katemosse.co.uk and you can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/katemosse

Book of the Month - A Pleasure and A Calling - December 2014

The Book 

This is billed as a darkly comic social satire which centres around the life of Mr Heming.

To all intents and purposes, Mr Heming is a mild mannered, polite, discreet estate agent. But underneath the surface he has a dark side and keeps the keys to all the properties he has ever dealt with.

Will the novel keep true to its premise and keep us on the edge of our seats in suspense as we delve deeper his world in small town England?

The Author

Phil Hogan was born in Yorkshire and now lives in Hertfordshire. He is married with four children and has been a journalist and columnist on The Observer for over 20 years. He is also the author of three previous novels and a book of collected columns about family life. 

More Information 

Phil Hogan tweets at: https://twitter.com/philhogan555. Read an interview with the author at: http://simonduringer.com/portfolio/phil-hogan/

Book of the Month - Wars of the Roses: Stormbird - November 2014

The Book

Stormbird is the first in a new trilogy of historical fiction books (the second 'Trinity' was published in 2014) set in the 1400s and featuring Derry Brewer, master spymaster and the intrigue surrounding the Houses of York and Lancaster.

Will we all be drawn to this tale of intrigue and war? Or will be captivated by the strong female characterisation of Margaret of Anjou?

The Author

Conn Iggulden writes mainly historical fiction and has written the 'Emperor' and 'Conqueror' series of books. He has also co-authored "The Dangerous Book for Boys".

Iggulden was previously a teacher and was Head of English at Haydon School, where one of his pupils was the BBC TV presenter, Fearne Cotton.

More Information 

View the author's website at http://www.conniggulden.com. Watch Iggulden interviewed on YouTube talking about Stormbird.and read an interview with him published by the Huffington Post.

Book of the Month - The Brave - October 2014

The Book 

Set in both America and England, this is the story of Tommy, who is captivated by the world of cowboys and Indians on the big screen. When his mum marries a famous Hollywood actor and star of Tommy's favourite Western, Tommy is enthralled. But quickly he comes to realise that all the Hollywood glamour is not as it seems.

The Author

Nicholas Evans is a well established author who was born and grew up in Worcestershire. He was educated at Bromsgrove School and then studied law at Oxford University, before working in journalism and TV production including working on the current affairs programme 'Weekend World' and arts documentaries.

In 1993, after meeting a blacksmith from South-West England who told him about horse whisperers - people who have the gift of healing traumatized horses - he started work on his first novel, 'The Horse Whisperer' (published in 1995) with great success. This book became a bestseller in 20 countries and was adapted to a popular movie starring, directed and produced by Robert Redford.

Evans' has subsequently written a number of other American inspired novels including 'The Loop', 'The Smoke Jumper' and 'The Divide'. 


More Information

Read more about the author at http://www.nicholasevans.com/. To get further inspiration you can also listen to songs inspired by the book written by Nicholas Evans' wife, Charlotte Gordon Cumming.

Book of the month - Americanah - September 2014

The Book 

This is a story about a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who emigrates to the US for university but who eventually decides to return to Nigeria, where her old flame, Obinze, is now a big shot. Through Ifemelu and Obinze's stories we learn about identity, love and race.

In many ways the novel holds up a mirror to society - whether Nigerian, British or American. Will we be capivated by the way this story is woven together?

The Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a prominent, successful Nigerian writer who is already acclaimed for her novels "Purple Hibiscus" and "Half of a Yellow Sun".

Adichie was born in Enugu in Nigeria and educated at the University of Nigeria, where her father was Professor Statistics and her mother was the university's first female registrar. Adichie then continued her studies in communications and political science the US at Drexel Univeristy in Philadephia before transferring to study at Eastern Connecticut State University since her sister was working as a doctor in nearby Coventry, Connecticut. Adichie subsequently gained a Masters in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in Arts in African Studies from Yale University.

Adichie initially published a collection of poems in 1997 and a play in 1998. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, received worldwide critical acclaim and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2005). Her second book received the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Anisfield Wolf Book Award.

In 2010 she was listed in "The New Yorker's '20 Under 40' Fiction" Issue. Likewise in April 2014 she was named as one of 39 writers under the age of 40 at the Hay Festival.

She has been called " 'the most prominent' of a procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [that] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature".

More Information 

Read more about Adichie at: http://chimamanda.com/

Book of the month - 12 Years a Slave - August 2014

The Book 

A true story, this memoir was originally published in 1853, a year after Northup regained his freedom. The memoir tells of his experiences being shipped to New Orleans and purchased and held as a slave for 12 years in the Red River area of Louisiana, until he was able to regain his freedom on 3 January 1853. 

After publication, the book was not popular for several years, before a copy was found in a local bookshop in the States and then gradually building up to prominence through a PBS TV series in the 1980s and a new film adaptation in 2013.

The Author 

Solomon Northup was an American abolotionist, the son of a freed slave and born in New York.

Following the book's publications, Northup lectured on behalf of the abolotionist movement before disappearing from the historical record.

More Information 

The memoir was turned into a highly acclaimed Oscar winning 'Best Picture' film in 2014. Read more about the film on Wikipedia and IMDb

Book of the Month - Burial Rites - July 2014

The Book 

This is the fictionalised true story of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland on 12 January 1830.

Agnes is a servant on a remote farmstead in northern Iceland. She is condemned to death for murdering her employer and lover, Natan.

As time moves slowly through the depths of a bitter Icelandic winter into spring and as her death gets ever closer, the tragedy of Agnes life becomes ever clearer to the family where she is to spend her last days and to the priest who is to minister for her soul and we the readers, come to have an insight into the haunting land of Iceland and into the life of Agnes.  

The Author

Hannah Kent is a young Australian author and 'Burial Rites' is her first novel. She studied creative writing at Flinders University and as part of her studies, decided to explore the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, having been on an exchange visit to Iceland over 10 years previously and hearing her story for the first time. Kent is also the co-founder and deputy editor of an Australian literary journal 'Kill Your Darlings'. In 2011 she won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award.

More Information 

If interested, you read the latest news about Hannah Kent on her blog at: http://hannahkentauthor.com/

Book of the Month - The Cuckoo's Calling - June 2014

The Book

Introducing a new private eye, Cormoran Strike and his sidekick Robin Ellacott this is a thriller about the mysterious death of a young model-actress, Lula Landry. It is a very modern tale set in the world of the paparazzi, the film and entertainment business and featuring London as a brilliant vibrant backdrop.

This book was initially published with little fanfare and only 1,500 copies of the printed book were sold since its release in April 2013 along with a further 7000 copies of the ebook, audiobook and library editions (according to Wikipedia). After the book was revealed on 14 July 2013 to have been written by J K Rowling the book surged from 4,709th to 1st in the bestseller lists on Amazon. What does this tell us about the reading public, publishers and the publishing industry? Will our subsequent knowledge about Rowling's authorship cloud our appreciation for the story regardless of the author? Can author and story always be separated or do they come as a joint package?

The Author
 
As most informed book readers should know, Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J K Rowling. She is famously the author of the best selling book series in history, the Harry Potter fantasy series which has sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and which spawned the film franchise that has become the highest grossing film series in history.

Rowling's authorship was revealed in July 2013 and she said that "Being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience… It has been wonderful to publish without hype and expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name."

The second novel featuring Cormoran Strike, entitled "The Silkwoman" is due to be published in June 2014. Who knows whether after our June meeting we will all be ordering copies of this new book imminently? .

More Information

The author's official website is http://www.robert-galbraith.com/ which includes some questions and answers about the reason for the pseudonym.

Book of the Month - The Lowland - May 2014

The Book

This is a family saga focusing on two brothers - Subhash and Udayan - who take two very different paths in life. While Udayan becomes embroiled with communist politics and terrorism, his older brother, Subhash, moves to America to study. After Udayan's untimely death, the novel explores the consequences for the family and in particular for Udayan's widow Gauri, who agrees to marry Subhash.  

"The Lowland" was short listed for the Booker Prize and the Woman's Prize for Fiction and long listed for the National Book Award for Fiction.

The Author

Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American author. She is the author of "The Namesake" and "The Interpreter of Maladies" and won the Pulitzer Prize  for Fiction in 2000. Born in London, Lahiri moved to America with her parents when she was 2 and was brought up in Rhode Island. Her parents were originally from West Bengal, India. She now lives in Italy with her husband, a journalist for TIME America and two children.

Lahiri's writing is autobiographical and draws upon her own experiences and those of other Indian Bengali immigrants. Her stories examine the immigrant experience.

More Information

Jhumpa Lahiri's website is: http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/jhumpalahiri/

Book of the Month - Pollard - April 2014

The Book

This is another first novel (we seem to read a lot of these) which won the  Authors' Club First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize. The book is the story of Anne, a teenager who leaves her chaotic home life and finds sanctuary in the nearby woods living on the margins of society. Anne finds solace in the woods, but will we find the book as rewarding?

This book has many themes including madness vs lucidity, survival, and mankind's relationship with nature

The Author

Laura Beatty, a mother of three, lives in Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire which was one of the inspirations for the book. Laura has also published two biographies and has recently published her second novel, Darkling which tells the lives of two women separated across the centures and  weaves original seventeenth-century documents into the fabric of a modern fiction.

More Information

Unfortunately I couldn't find out much more online about Laura Beatty. However here is a link to her agents website - http://unitedagents.co.uk/laura-beatty

Book of the Month - A Cat, A Hat and a Piece of String - March 2014

The Book

"Stories are like Russian dolls; open them up and in each one you'll find another story".....These are enticing words inviting us into a collection of short stories which span locations as diverse as Africa to an old people's home and subject matter dealing with internet gaming and death.

According to the Independent on Sunday book review, "Joanne Harris creates essentially kind worlds in her fiction, where the light and the good will forever win out". What will the reaction of the discerning readers of the Ponders End Book Club be - will they find her work satisfying and kindly or will they expect something more?

The Author

Joanne Harris is an established author of over 14 novels, short story collections and a cookery book (a theme which often fills her writing). Harris was born in Barnsley to a French mother. She studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University. Before becoming a full time author, Harris was a teacher for fifteen years.

Her most renowed book is "Chocolat" (1999) which was adapted into a film starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.

More Information

Find out more about the author and her other books and interests at http://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/books/

Book of the month - The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - February 2014

The Book

The bookseller's marketing departments have gone to town with this story set in Kabul, Afghanistan comparing the writing to a cross between Maeve Binchy and Khaled Hossini who wrote The Kite Runner. The question is will this book prove just a pile of froth or is there something deeper and more enduring to savour?

The Author

Deborah Rodriguez is a storyteller first and an author second. In many ways her real life seems more intriguing than her fiction, given that she herself lived for nearly 10 years in Kabul, running a similar coffee shop and married to an Afghan.

More Information

Find out more at http://www.deborahrodriguez.com