This is the story of two twin brothers, Marion and Shiva, who are adopted and growing up in Ethiopia in the 1960s-80s as their country faces many political upheavals. Their adoptive parents are both doctors and the twins grow up surrounded by hospitals and patients, and often with medicines and treatments extremely limited. They both [...]
This was very enjoyable; a huge Australian family epic where the reader joins the family throughout each generation beginning with Paddy and Fee and then their children, particularly Meggie, and then Meggie’s children after that. I love books that let you stay with the characters for such a long time and that you get to [...]
This novels details the threat to our world from aliens; beginning by fireballs falling from the sky into the oceans, then ships mysteriously sinking, then strange creatures coming from the ocean and kidnapping people, and finally the rising of our oceans likely to bring about our destruction. This is the battle of aliens to stake [...]
This is the story of Teddy’s life; beginning when he was born in Africa to his mother Clara, the discovery that he is not her husband Hugo’s son so therefore not heir to the Ransome fortune, him being then sent away to England and effectively erased from Hugo’s life and separated from his mother. The [...]
This is the story of a family where each member is struggling to cope with a crisis that threatens to break them apart. The crisis is that Isabelle, the young daughter, suddenly stops speaking and the patience and care of her parents and the help of several therapists cannot encourage her to begin speaking again. [...]
I found this to be a book of nonsense! I can see from the quotes of reviews on the sleeve of the book that O’Neill and his books are highly regarded – perhaps something passed me by, but I found the book annoying and ridiculous. It is set in Victorian England and is the story [...]
This is a gentle read to a degree, being set in the 1800s when books weren’t full of blood and guts and there were rules to follow in polite society, but it also has quite a lot of suspense and a great plot. Robert Audley is introduced to his rich uncle’s new wife but discovers [...]
This book begins in a very dramatic fashion with Alice attempting suicide, and the reader is then led through Alice’s life to discover what has led up to this decision. I found the book (as described on the sleeve) un-put-down-able and couldn’t stop reading it. The tension is built up beautifully as Alice is a [...]
Daniel Sempere is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and allowed to pick out a book that he will be responsible for and take care of; he chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Daniel is entranced by this book and keen to know more about the author, but constantly faces dead [...]
I am full of admiration for the plot of this book, it is so clever and original – ten people are invited to an island and then one by one they are killed off! They are all brought to the island under false pretences and then slowly realise that they have all been tricked, yet [...]