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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

The past lingers on: Ever Rest, Old Bones and This Other Island

18/7/2021

10 Comments

 
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.


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.


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.

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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.

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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.
For anyone in a book group, or considering starting one, check out the offer by clicking on the image.

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Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
10 Comments
Colleen Chesebro link
18/7/2021 08:14:24 pm

Ohhh... another powerful glimpse into some fascinating characters. I empathize with the abandoned child. By the way, I can't wait to find out what happens to Matty. <3

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/7/2021 02:05:22 pm

Thanks, Colleen. Poor Gloria's totally in denial.

Reply
Charli Mills
18/7/2021 11:01:15 pm

Ever Rest might be a good pick for one of my classes to read. I've downloaded it onto my Kindle and will read it to see. I find rich resources in your reviews, Anne.

How interesting to put a character n the hot seat with a book club read.I can feel her meltdown coming on. Of course, my mind id wondering what is next for us to experience with Matty. I'm glad you are finding those pockets of writing to return to.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/7/2021 02:07:05 pm

I'm sure Roz would be thrilled if you used it for your teaching. And I'm thrilled that you've got this teaching post.

Reply
Norah Colvin
19/7/2021 12:02:29 pm

I like the sound of Ever Rest, Anne. Sounds intriguing.
Sadly, I know all too well the type of meltdown that Gloria is experiencing. Could be an interesting book group.
I, too, am looking forward to hearing more of Matty's journey. :)

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/7/2021 02:08:57 pm

Thanks, Norah. This scene foreshadows a bigger meltdown to come.

Reply
Rebecca Glaessner link
20/7/2021 06:55:02 am

Wow Anne, I feel Gloria's frustration, how oblivious the rest of the group are to the novel's themes, to her own situation. That feeling of being disconnected and misunderstood is a tough one to battle. Sometimes I fear the battle is a lifelong one, though there are the rare occasions where it begins to feel a little easier, especially as we choose each step on our own path and choose where we find inspiration and take influence from. Your talent for characters always blows me away Anne.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
20/7/2021 02:12:06 pm

Thanks, Rebecca, that's very generous. I think with this character she's partly responsible for the disconnection, although that's doo mych to show up in 99 words.

Reply
Robbie Cheadle
22/7/2021 10:43:01 am

This is a very interesting piece, Anne. Thanks for the two reviews, both books sound very good. Ever Rest, in particular, caught my attention.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
3/8/2021 05:45:00 pm

Glad you liked it, Robbie, and apologies for my belated reply.

Reply



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