Clare Maurice recommends
The majority of my choices seem to be “autobiographical/biographical” which only emerged when I completed my selection. I do love a good thriller too – Mick Herron and his Slow Horses at Slough House have kept me turning the pages and I have loved the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin.
Sweet Caress
William Boyd
I am a huge fan of William Boyd’s writings so it was difficult to choose. I was absorbed by the memoir of Amory Clay, a photojournalist who chronicles the seminal moments of the 20th century. The book is full of her photographs such that it is hard to believe that she is a creation of William Boyd’s imagination and does not really exist!
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
A Russian aristocrat returns to Moscow voluntarily after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. He is charged as a “social parasite” but instead of being shot he is placed under house arrest in the Hotel Metropol. This novel chronicles his life in the Hotel where he now has to work, having been an honoured guest, the people he meets and the child to whom he becomes guardian. The finale was unexpected by me.
The Mountains Sing
Nguyen Phan Que Mai
This novel is set in Viet Nam and tells the story of the Tran family from the French colonial period, through the Communist Viet Minh’s rise to power, the Vietnam war to the present day. The voice of the grandmother, Dieu Lan, the family matriarch is the loudest and the tale of her resilience is eye-popping
The Cut Out Girl
Bart van Es
We all know the story of Anne Frank through her diary. This is the story of another Jewish girl known as Lien, from the Hague who was a “hideaway” child. Lien was sent to stay initially with a non-Jewish couple Jans and Henk van Es, the author’s grandparents. Lien survived the war and this is an account of her life.
The Promise
Ann Weisgarber
My work has taken me to Texas on many occasions, mostly to Houston. I was invited to stay in Galveston, the setting for this novel. The heroine finds herself reluctantly on Galveston Island, marrying a recently widowed farmer in order to avoid destitution. The sweltering weather and remoteness of Galveston are the backdrop to tense relationships culminating in a description of the Storm of 1900 which devastated Galveston.
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Regency Britain
Ian Mortimer
I have always loved history and the way Ian Mortimer approaches his subject by theme rather than chronologically is fascinating. The period is 1789-1830 and the themes include Landscape, Where to Stay and Entertainment.