Three short reviews of novels about how the past keeps hold of us. The first two are connected by the discovery of a body and a sleepy Shropshire village; the third novel, This Other Island, is, like Ever Rest, mostly set in London and, like Old Bones, it’s about family secrets.
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Ever Rest by Roz Morris
Childhood friends Ash and Hugo were the acclaimed rock band Ashbirds until Ash set his sights on Everest, and dragged Hugo along. His Australian girlfriend, Elza, was left behind in London, anxious for their safe return. But only Hugo survived the adventure.
Encouraged by the media, the fans can’t rest until Ash’s body is brought home. But two decades on, he hasn’t been found. Elza is in a new relationship, with a new career as a visual artist, but how can she settle where her old one is unfinished? Hugo has turned his back on music completely, immersing himself in the mountains and culture of Nepal.
Other vested interests muddy the waters. Robert, a session player with the Ashbirds, thinks he can finally find fame by reviving the band’s old songs. His ambition dovetails temporarily with that of Oliver Jared, an immensely wealthy fan.
With perfect prose, Roz Morris beckons the reader into the recording studio and guides us to the top of the highest mountain in the world. (Although I’ve been to Nepal, both settings unfamiliar to me.) And brings us down safely with a satisfying resolution that keeps us guessing until the last page.
Encouraged by the media, the fans can’t rest until Ash’s body is brought home. But two decades on, he hasn’t been found. Elza is in a new relationship, with a new career as a visual artist, but how can she settle where her old one is unfinished? Hugo has turned his back on music completely, immersing himself in the mountains and culture of Nepal.
Other vested interests muddy the waters. Robert, a session player with the Ashbirds, thinks he can finally find fame by reviving the band’s old songs. His ambition dovetails temporarily with that of Oliver Jared, an immensely wealthy fan.
With perfect prose, Roz Morris beckons the reader into the recording studio and guides us to the top of the highest mountain in the world. (Although I’ve been to Nepal, both settings unfamiliar to me.) And brings us down safely with a satisfying resolution that keeps us guessing until the last page.
Old Bones by Helen Kitson
At either side of sixty, with no health or money worries, sisters Antonia and Diana could be having a ball. Instead, they bicker through the empty hours in the house they grew up in, embracing every stereotype of spinsterhood, fretting about the village fete. Are they refugees from a Barbara Pym novel who couldn’t take the humour, or are they depressed?
They’re certainly stuck in adolescent grievances, never having recovered from lost love and betrayal. Diana blames her old school friend Naomi, the head librarian, now living a similarly empty life. Abandoned by two husbands, she’s worried the remains recently discovered in a nearby quarry could belong to Brian, who disappeared years before.
Farcical, sad, that two sixty-year-old women are still arguing over a trivial incident that occurred when they were teenagers, Diana tells us towards the end. I wondered which way the author wanted us to take the story. Was it farcical or sad?
Diana’s history proves more interesting and greater depth around this issue could have made me more engaged. Not one for me, then, but others may like it. I bought my copy from the publisher Louise Walters Books.
They’re certainly stuck in adolescent grievances, never having recovered from lost love and betrayal. Diana blames her old school friend Naomi, the head librarian, now living a similarly empty life. Abandoned by two husbands, she’s worried the remains recently discovered in a nearby quarry could belong to Brian, who disappeared years before.
Farcical, sad, that two sixty-year-old women are still arguing over a trivial incident that occurred when they were teenagers, Diana tells us towards the end. I wondered which way the author wanted us to take the story. Was it farcical or sad?
Diana’s history proves more interesting and greater depth around this issue could have made me more engaged. Not one for me, then, but others may like it. I bought my copy from the publisher Louise Walters Books.
This Other Island by Steffanie Edward
When an assault outside his London flat lands him in hospital, Joe begins to wonder. Is this a random attack or is it the man he thought he’d killed, on the boat journey from St Lucia forty years ago, intent on revenge?
Despite years of estrangement, his daughter Yvette abandons a shopping trip with her mother to rush to his bedside. When Joe asks her to find out whether his nemesis is still alive, she readily agrees. Little does she suspect that finding him will have major implications for herself, her mother and the girl she loved as a sister with whom she was fostered as a young child.
Having met the author on a residential writing course many years ago, and having read this in an earlier draft, I’m excited to see This Other Island published at last. It’s a story about migration, family and deception, and the lengths some people will go to in order to get what they want.
Despite years of estrangement, his daughter Yvette abandons a shopping trip with her mother to rush to his bedside. When Joe asks her to find out whether his nemesis is still alive, she readily agrees. Little does she suspect that finding him will have major implications for herself, her mother and the girl she loved as a sister with whom she was fostered as a young child.
Having met the author on a residential writing course many years ago, and having read this in an earlier draft, I’m excited to see This Other Island published at last. It’s a story about migration, family and deception, and the lengths some people will go to in order to get what they want.
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My debut novel, Sugar and Snails, is about the past lingering on; my recently-published third novel, Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, is also, although you won’t find those words in the blurb. (Click on either image to learn more.) Although I’m still doing lots of promotion for the latter, I’m finding pockets of time to get back to the sequel, set during the pandemic, but about much more than that.
| So when the prompt arrived to write a 99-word story about the meltdown, that’s where I went. Although I did feel I ought to have channelled Ever Rest to write a more literal story about what happens when the ice caps melt. |  |
Gloria’s book group reads Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Her book group is blinkered. Gloria sits back and watches as her friends turn themselves inside out to prove that Jeanette Winterson’s memoir isn’t about Christianity’s cruelty to kids growing up gay.
They know about her son and his soon-to-be husband. Yet they persist in picking adoption quotes. The author would have been fine if she’d had better parents. What’s the big deal?
Love didn’t hold when I was born, Randall reads. Gloria blushes as a desperate howl rises from her belly. To avoid public meltdown, she rushes to the toilets. No-one can know she’s been that abandoned child.
Her book group is blinkered. Gloria sits back and watches as her friends turn themselves inside out to prove that Jeanette Winterson’s memoir isn’t about Christianity’s cruelty to kids growing up gay.
They know about her son and his soon-to-be husband. Yet they persist in picking adoption quotes. The author would have been fine if she’d had better parents. What’s the big deal?
Love didn’t hold when I was born, Randall reads. Gloria blushes as a desperate howl rises from her belly. To avoid public meltdown, she rushes to the toilets. No-one can know she’s been that abandoned child.
For anyone in a book group, or considering starting one, check out the offer by clicking on the image.
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