Women's reading – Cristina Sanders' blog

The Correspondent – book review

The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans

Sybil is a retired judge’s clerk, slightly cranky and opinionated, but oh! so open to change, eventually. She likes to express herself in conversation by writing, and keeps up long dialogues with friends, colleagues, family and others through correspondence – mostly hand written letters, occasionally emails. There’s something wonderful about conversations by letter; the thoughtful choice of topic, the chance to think before speaking, and the opportunity to finish each train of thought without interruption. The whole book is made up of these missives to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, all pithy and interesting, gradually outlining a hole in the heart of her story. There’s a disintegrated family at the bones of all this, things lost between her daughter, her husband, her son.

Revenge and Rabbit Holes

Revenge and Rabbit Holes by Mandy Hager

I reviewed Mandy Hager’s Strays & Waifs as part of the great Kapiti fiction theme – there are so many good reads coming from that stretch of coast. Something in the wind, perhaps. Strays was the first gutsy read in the series ‘Chasing Ghost Mysteries’, now followed by book two, Revenge and Rabbit Holes, which again, is a mix of thriller, mystery/crime plus ghost story, with a healthy dollop of Mandy Hager’s signature ‘fight for what’s right’ theme. I like a book that’s high on entertainment but still manages to have decency anchored in its body.

Writers & Lovers, Heart the Lover – book reviews

Heart the Lover, and Writers & Lovers, by Lily King

These are a pair of gorgeous stories about a woman growing up and her various boyfriends. Yes, it’s a love story, but not in the ‘trope’ sense (and God knows why anyone would read a ‘trope’). Straight away you know you’re in clever hands by the way King describes a character by the clutter in his garage: ‘…all the crap Adam has in here: old strollers, high chairs, bouncy seats, mattresses, bureaus, skis, skateboards, beach chairs, tiki torches, foosball. His ex-wife’s red minivan takes up the rest of the space.’ You know the guy already. Of her mother: “we talked on the phone, talked for hours sometimes. We’d pee and paint our nails and make food and brush our teeth.” You’re right there with the characters, in the scene. I made copious notes from these books in case someday I get to teach a writing class on character .

Vianne – book review

Vianne, by Joanne Harris

Nice bit of fanciful storytelling, bit too ‘woo woo’ for me, but hey, it’s coming up to Christmas and this will be a really good present for one of your friends. I asked my local bookseller for a recommendation for something easy and fun, but not rubbish. Not every book needs to be a lit masterpiece but every book must be well written for its audience and have a point, must delight in some way. Vianne, prequel to the splendid Chocolat, is full of entertaining and wistful romps around Marseilles, which was enough to keep me happily engaged. Read it in the hammock if your Christmas is southern hemisphere, or curled up by the fire through the dark afternoons up north.

You Are Here – book review

You Are Here, by David Nicholls

You Are Here has a flat start. We are introduced to two seemingly introverted characters, both bruised by past loves, who are now so terrified about crossing their carefully constructed boundaries that they avoid most social connection. It makes a pretty dull first couple of chapters: one for each pessimistic narrator, but it’s pretty obvious, this being a romance, that these two will be thrown together against their will, dislike each other to begin with, argue, fall out, have a major crisis and get together for a happy ever after end. And so it happens. And it’s a great read!

Ripiro Beach–book review

Ripiro Beach, by Caroline Barron

There is so much to enjoy in this book. I felt immediately I was in good hands, with a writer who had the confidence to take her time describing scenes to bring me into her space and letting me settle into the surroundings before moving on to the action. We could be in a park by an Auckland motorway, in a nightclub, or at Ripiro beach, and each scene is painted with a keen sense of observational detail. Here’s a paragraph that really is worth reading twice, just for the pleasure of the writing:

Corkscrew You – book review

Corkscrew You, by Catherine Robertson

OK, enough of the serious stuff – fancy something feel-good, easy to read and quite a bit saucy? Catherine Robertson has just launched two vineyard romances, the first in the Flora Valley series, and they are exactly what romances should be. Smoking hot (4 chillies, my friends), all the sex is consensual and, frankly, glorious. The characters are well rounded but as hand-picked as a 1980s pop band – there is the bubbly one, the smart one, the cool executive type, the strong silent one, sporty, ginger – you get the picture. They all bring different things to the party.

The Girl From London – book review

The Girl From London, by Olivia Spooner

I started this on a Tuesday night and ended up crying in a café on Thursday morning. I can’t remember when I’ve been so moved by the ending of a story. There is a book within the book. When the former ended a bit too neatly I was a slightly disbelieving, until I realised that actually, well, I’m giving no spoilers, but it’s a war story, after all. I’m not usually known for my tears.

The whole story ties in well with my current interest in stories of those who immigrated to New Zealand down the years, and why they came. Children evacuees from London bombings? I had no idea. Can you imagine sending your children out of a bomb zone, and not to the close countryside, which would be wrenching enough, but through a war-infested sea to an unknown land at the far ends of the earth? And yet people did.

Good Material – book review

Good Material, by Dolly Alderton

Andy’s long term girlfriend Jen, with whom has been living for a few years, has broken up with him. He is a scruffy English comedian (I couldn’t help but imagine Josh Widdicombe in the role), not doing so well on the circuit, not hugely ambitious. He thought himself happy with Jen in their ‘tribe of two’ and with their mutual best friends, who have forged ahead, married, started a family while he and Jen roll unburdened into their mid-thirties. The unexpected breakup knocks him sideways. Andy makes his living out of observing others and making comments on the human condition and ‘Good Material’ eventually comes out of his break up. But hell, does he have to suffer for it.

The Night She Fell–book review

The Night She Fell, by Eileen Merriman

Eileen Merriman is delightful. I shared accommodation with her at a book festival last year and we sat by the fire in the evenings drinking wine and chatting about writing, YA books, families, life. I should have locked my door.

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