JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. It is the same every year. Across the city, when children wake to see ferns of white stretched across their windows, or walk to school to hear ice crackling underfoot, the whispers begin: the Emporium is open! Christmas is coming, and the goose is getting fat…

It is 1917, and London has spent years in the shadow of the First World War. In the heart of Mayfair, though, there is a place of hope. A place where children’s dreams can come true, where the impossible becomes possible – that place is Papa Jack’s Toy Emporium.

For years Papa Jack has created and sold his famous magical toys: hobby horses, patchwork dogs and bears that seem alive, toy boxes bigger on the inside than out, ‘instant trees’ that sprout from boxes, tin soldiers that can fight battles on their own. Now his sons, Kaspar and Emil, are just old enough to join the family trade. Into this family comes a young Cathy Wray – homeless and vulnerable. The Emporium takes her in, makes her one of its own. But Cathy is about to discover that while all toy shops are places of wonder, only one is truly magical…

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale is an enchanting, rich, emotional novel that is both historical fiction and a family saga.

Kaspar and Emil are two brothers who rival each other in their ability to design magnificent toys for their buyers. Their father, Papa Jack, spends a lot of his time in his workshop and doesn’t seem to venture down to the store very often. Both brothers compete with each other in their designs, and their ability to run the store.

Additionally, Kaspar and Emil compete for the affections of Cathy, a runaway teenager. She arrives at the Emporium at the beginning of Winter, and she captures the attention of both brothers. Over the coming months, both fall in love with her. Cathy is enchanted by the store and the brothers and all of their creations, and soon she chooses between the brothers.

“Around her, every aisle was garlanded in lights. High above, the Emporium dome was swirling with pinpoints of white, like a constantly falling snow. The arches that opened each aisle were wreathed in holly leaves of crepe paper and card; plump red berries of paper mache hung from every leaf.”

The Toymakers reminds me of The Night Circus, so if you liked that novel then you’ll most certainly love this one. It’s filled with wonder, imagination and magic, with rich characters that leap off the page and a story that encompasses decades.

The Toymakers takes us from 1917 to 1953, documenting the ups and downs of The Emporium and the magic within it. A major turning point in the novel is when Kaspar leaves for war and comes back a broken man many years later. His relationship with Cathy devolves, and his connection with his brother Emil appears to sever.

“It was the first frost of winter this morning. We don’t turn folk away, not on first frost.”

This is a novel for grown ups — adults who loved toys as a kid and loved the wonder of the unknown. This is for anyone who fell in love with gadgets or figurines or games, and who loved spending their pocket money in toy shops. The Toymakers is probably too advanced for a child to read, but the plot is friendly enough to young eyes in case they do decide they want to give it a try.

The writing is poetic and lyrical, flowing between paragraphs and allowing the reader to settle into the story easily. The Toymakers takes us on an enjoyable ride, not just within the walls of the shop but within London as well. Robert Drinsdale has packed so much into one book — this book moves through time quite quickly and so we follow Cathy through most of her life.

“The patchwork rabbit was a dainty thing. It had a key in its side that was slowly winding down and it hopped along, as rabbits do, until it found a few scraps of fabric left on the workshop floor. At these it bent down and started to eat.”

I did feel that Papa Jack could’ve been a much stronger character. Considering that this was his Emporium and he was known for his marvellous creations, he felt a little dry in the book and he didn’t seem to inspire or intrigue me at all. I found him quite mundane, actually.

Set in London in the 1900s, I recommend The Toymakers to those of you who love magic and all the possibilities of our imagination. This is as much a character-driven story as a plot-driven story; we experience the highs and lows of the Emporium family and the layered relationship between Emil and Kaspar. There is also a surprising twist at the end of the book that I rather enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Toymakers
Robert Dinsdale
March 2018
Penguin Random House Australia

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

Physician Bess Codman has returned to her family’s Nantucket compound, Cliff House, for the first time in four years. Her great-grandparents built Cliff House almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Though she’s purposefully avoided the island, Bess must now pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave.

The Book of Summer unravels the power and secrets of Cliff House as told through the voices of Ruby Packard, a bright-eyed and idealistic newlywed on the eve of WWII, the home’s definitive guestbook, and Bess herself. Bess’s grandmother always said it was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother’s words in ways she never contemplated.

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable explores friendships, relationships, and one family’s connection to Nantucket’s Cliff House – and its secrets.

Bess Codman has just split from her husband and she has come home to move her mother Cissy out of Cliff House, which is now on the edge of its land and will soon collapse into the sea. Bess’ mother is stubborn and difficult, and the two women spend a lot of time together over the course of the novel.

Cissy and Bess are very different characters. Bess is reasonable, relatable, and level-headed. Cissy is a bull in a china shop and a dominant personality within the town. She wants to keep Cliff House and she has no problem fighting for it.

“Beth is pissed off. She can’t even track down the woman, as Cissy is about as reliable with her phone as Palmer Bradlee. Bells calls her mother repeatedly, but the kitchen counter never picks up.”

Their relationship is not perfect, and they both grow over the course of the novel and they learn to listen to each other.

Nantucket is a really lovely setting for the book; it feels enclosed and homely, but it doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

The book alternates between past and present, and we come to meet the people who have lived in Cliff House around the time of WWII. The dual storylines help drive the book and really drew me into the separate plots. I was definitely more interested in the past than the present, as truthfully, I found Cissy a little insufferable and I found the budding romance between Bess and her ex-boyfriend quite predictable.

“Evan’s voice has always been so persuasive. Deep, powerful, as if coming from his lungs, or his heart. And those earnest brown eyes, like precious heirlooms she left behind. Bless it, Bess is falling for his old schtick.”

The Book of Summer is dialogue-driven and quite slow-paced. I have to admit I didn’t fall in love with many of the characters, but I did like reading about newlywed Ruby’s story from the time of WWII. At times she came across as naive and gullible, but she also had heart and drive. I also loved Ruby’s friend Hattie Rutter, who is bright, wild, fun and a total spark. She’s a modern woman who has no interest in settling down.

All of the characters are flawed, which does make them more relatable. At times, their thoughts and actions are questionable, and you have to remind yourself that WWII was a very different time and certain actions were not considered acceptable back then.

“The photographs were, no surprise, exactly where she’d left them. Ruby removed the stack and flicked past the ones of Hattie, two of Mother unawares, and on down the the bottom of the pile. And there they were, same as before. All those pretty boys.”

I’d recommend this to readers who love historical fiction, but also small-town settings and stories from the war.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Summer
Michelle Gable
January 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Fallow by Daniel Shand

Two brothers elude a press witching by hiding out in the remote wilds of highland Scotland. As they travel, they move from one disturbing scenario to the next, eventually involving themselves with a bizarre religious cult. The power between the brothers begins to shift, and we realise there is more to their history.

One of them is a murderer. But it’s the other you have to watch out for…

Fallow is a darkly comic novel about the evolving relationship between two brothers — Paul and Mikey — and the terrible crime that both of them were involved in when they were young boys. This is a tense psychological thriller, deliberately making the reader feel uneasy and anxious about what is to come.

“My main concern that morning had been the tube of newspaper jammed into Sam’s armpit. I wasn’t able to make out the title but if it was a tabloid then Mikey was almost certainly somewhere inside.”

The cover of Fallow is incredibly striking, with orange and brown colours and a single image of a stag in an open field. It’s an inviting book, and I was intrigued. Fallow is under three hundred pages, so it doesn’t take too long to read the entire thing — in fact, I imagine some readers would be able to get through it in one sitting.

Fallow explores unreliable narration, manipulation and control. Paul lies and twists his explanation of events in order to control Mikey. In some parts of the novel, Micky commits horrific acts because he thinks he needs to, even though he doesn’t. Paul has lied to him and made Mikey fearful, to the point where Mikey has committed a crime for no reason.

And then, because of this, Paul has yet another thing that he can hold over Mikey. It’s a twisted relationship because Mikey feels guilty, but also confused. And over the course of the novel, he starts feeling indebted to Paul, even though he doesn’t need to.

“Mikey reached over and got him by the head and neck and I pulled his legs out from beneath him and we held his body and pushed and carried him out into the deeper water…we held the body until the water held it by itself.”

The strengths are Daniel’s writing. The prose flows so well and the imagery is beautiful. Just one sentence can say so much about the relationship between these two brothers; Daniel Shand has a real talent for using as few words as possible to convey the most meaning.

There are a few things about this novel that I know some readers won’t like. The pace is deliberately slow, to draw out the characterisation and to force the reader to anticipate what’s coming next. The plot is also a little stagnant, so there are a few times in the book where I was wondering where the story is going and why certain events were important to the overall plot.

But, the writing is beautiful and the two main characters are incredibly well-crafted and three-dimensional. Daniel Shand has done an excellent job of characterisation through actions, attitudes and dialogue.

I recommend Fallow to literary fiction lovers. Yes, there’s a fair bit of crime in the book. But it’s not your average crime or thriller novel. It’s a slow build, and it’s more character driven than plot driven. Some of you might be wondering what the point of it all is, but the ending to this novel is just extraordinary. It was surprising but also satisfying. This is a novel you have to stick with until the end.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fallow
Daniel Shand
January 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina, a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night and hides money from his new wife. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.

The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not?

When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husband’s mysterious behavior and save her own life?

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain is as heartbreaking as it is emotionally captivating. Steeped in history, this novel is beautifully written and so difficult to put down — I devoured it in one sitting because I was desperate to get to the end. There are so many twists in the plot, and each one was just as unpredictable and as thrilling as the last.

Diane has written such three-dimensional, wondrous characters. They’re all flawed, but likeable, and I loved reading about them. At times, Tess felt really immature and a little clueless, but given that this book is set in 1944 and Tess is only twenty-three, you can forgive her for being a little slow at times. She certainly makes some decisions that could’ve been better thought through.

“We were trapped, both of us. In early May, six weeks after I lost Andrew, Ruth insisted I return to church with the family. I’d spent the past month and a half in a fog. Dr. Poole described something for my ‘melancholia’ and it kept me numb.”

Each and every character in the book, whether they appear in five chapters or fifteen, are well thought out and very well crafted. Diane has captured their dialogue and body language really well, showing us things about their personality through their actions and not telling us simply in the prose.

The Stolen Marriage is filled with plenty of secrets and betrayals, but it also illustrates true love and the importance of sacrifice for the one you love. Tess leaves Vincent because of a terrible mistake and she wants to spare him the pain, and whilst it’s probably not the wisest decision, it does illustrate her love for him.

“In my room, I struggled to write the letter to Vincent. I cried so hard as I wrote it that I could barely catch my breath. The letter had to be cut-and-dried. A little mean. I wanted to make him angry enough to forget me.”

Diane has captured what life was like in the deep American South in the 1940s, highlighting the gender and race issues of the time and prejudice against women working or a black person dating a white person. Diane has also captured the polio epidemic very accurately, illustrating the widespread fear but also the initial ignorance about how one catches it and how it is transmitted.

Ultimately, this novel is about two characters attempting to pull themselves out of a difficult and complex situation. For one, it’s torture. For the other, it’s salvation. The novel is paced really well and the storyline and setting is really interesting. I read a lot of historical fiction novels and yet I felt like The Stolen Marriage was really unique and something I hadn’t come across before.

“I woke to the sound of muffled voices on the other side of the bedroom door. It had to be nearly five o’clock, the room filled with a dusky twilight.
“She doesn’t play bridge and I’m hardly going to put everyone in the bridge club through the agony of tutoring her,” Ruth said.
I couldn’t hear Henry’s response, though his voice sounded calm.
“She looks foreign,” Ruth said. “Like a Gypsy. Is she Italian or…?”

I recommend this to historical fiction readers, but also readers who love adult fiction. Yes, it’s embedded in history, but it’s a fantastic storyline filled with all different types of characters and friendships. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I was going to, that’s for sure!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Stolen Marriage
Diane Chamberlain
December 2017
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Cull by Tony Park

One mission… countless enemies.

Former mercenary Sonja Kurtz is hired by business tycoon Julianne Clyde-Smith to head an elite squad. Their aim: to take down Africa’s top poaching kingpins and stop at nothing to save its endangered wildlife.

But as the body count rises, it becomes harder for Sonja to stay under the radar as she is targeted by an underworld syndicate known as The Scorpions.

When her love interest, safari guide and private investigator Hudson Brand, is employed to look into the death of an alleged poacher at the hands of Sonja’s team, she is forced to ask herself if Julianne’s crusade has gone too far.

From South Africa’s Kruger National Park to the Serengeti of Tanzania, Sonja realises she is fighting a war on numerous fronts, against enemies known and unknown.

So who can Sonja really trust?

The Cull is a heart-racing thriller from former army officer and bestselling author Tony Park — this is his 14th novel and once again he’s transported a real-life ‘wildlife war’ onto the pages of a novel.

This is the third novel with protagonist Sonja Kurtz, although I haven’t read the first two (The Delta and An Empty Coast) and I was able to read this book just fine, so The Cull definitely works as a standalone novel.

Sonja is resourceful, intelligent, observant and equipped to handle everything that she comes across in the African wilderness. She’s in Africa training women in an Anti-Poaching unit and they are ambushed by well-armed poachers. Two women in the team end up dead.

“Paterson watched the others. The TANAPA ranger, a young man, looked shaken. Ezekial, the preacher’s son, deliberately avoided eye contact with him and strode away. Tema walked with the fluid gait and cold stare of a leopard slinking through the long grass.”

Afterwards, wealthy businesswoman Julianne Clyde-Smith meets with Sonja and offers her a job — she wants to take down the poaching kingpins that are overtaking the African wildlife. She wants to find out who is at the top of these organisations and destroy them from the source. But once Sonja accepts the job and employs an exclusive team to help her, she realises that there’s a lot more to this job than Julianne let on. The team are suddenly entangled in a dangerous and deadly war between them and a poaching mob named The Scorpions.

“This wasn’t Sonja’s fight but her people were under fire. She could see Ezekiel lying on the ground, frantically pulling clubs from Julianne Clyde-Smith’s golf bag.”

Sonja is a fantastic protagonist. She’s really skilled and trustworthy, and she leads her team with strength and determination. At the same time, Sonja is a bit flawed. She can be a bit awkward, and she’s in a sort-of relationship with Hudson Brand and she really loves him but doesn’t act accordingly sometimes. She jumps to conclusions and makes assumptions and for a while it’s hard for the relationship to stay stable.

“Sonja sighed. She really had made a mess of this. She regretted bringing Mario onto the team, and what had gone on between them, but she was sure he would be enough of a gentleman not to put her on the spot. She had made this bed and would have to lie in it, with both of these handsome dark-haired men.”

There are plenty of sub plots throughout the novel to keep the reader engaged and entertained. The side characters are just an intriguing as Sonja, and I really enjoyed reading this book. It’d be a great Father’s Day gift, especially if your dad reads crime or thriller novels like James Patterson.

“Hudson left his camera and made for a stone pillar supporting the terrace roof and ducked behind it. Three men, each wearing a balaclava and armed with an AK-47, burst out into the restraint terrace. ‘Everybody down.’
People screamed.
The man who had given the order pointed his rifle at a family.”

Finally, Tony Park does a fantastic job of describing the African wildlife. His prose is rich with detailed description and imagery, and the reader can easily imagine everything that’s happening even if he/she has never been to Africa before.

I’d recommend The Cull to lovers of crime, thriller and adventure novels. It’s heavily embedded in African wildlife and the politics of poaching in the wilderness, so you’d have to be interested in reading about that or this may not be the book for you.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Cull
Tony Park
October 2017
Pan Macmillan Publishers

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