Twenties' Girl

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Lara Lington is a sweet girl trying to make it as an entrepreneur in the headhunting business. She has set up a partnership with her best friend, who unfortunately leaves her for a sudden vacation in Goa. To make things worse, she is also in denial over her break-up with Josh, which leaves her parents worried as they all prepare to attend the funeral of 105-year-old Great Aunt Sadie.

At the funeral, Lara sees the ghost of Sadie, who appears as a Twenties Flapper. Sadie is upset that her favourite necklace is lost, and will not rest until it is found. She enlists Lara for help, and thus begins a strange but ultimately deep friendship between the two.

This novel is written in typical Sophie Kinsella style, and I absolutely loved Sadie! Lara was also more likable than Becky Bloomwood, in that she truly wanted to believe the best of everyone. Except for her infatuation with ex-boyfriend Josh, she seemed to have her head screwed right throughout the story.

I would have rated it 3.5 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.com - very close but not quite up to a 4. Unfortunately it dragged a bit in the middle, and the ending rushed together towards a convenient, happy conclusion. I would have liked certain parts to last longer, especially when Sadie reconciles with her past (sort of, trying not to give the plot away here). It would have been nice to know more about her life, but I suppose going in that direction would require a bittersweet tone in the narrative, whereas Kinsella was probably playing it safe by sticking to her usual witty lighthearted dialogue.

I also wish the plot could have expanded more on the other characters, especially the relationship between Lara's father and her uncle. There was a nice sweet twist at the end involving Lara's mum though.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

I read the e-book, but realised when I got to the penultimate chapter that a hardcopy was sitting in the bookshelf downstairs all this while. Oh well...

Since this was an e-book, and written as a collection of twelve cases (such that I wasn't compelled to read the whole book in one go), it has taken me a long time to finish it. So much so that I cannot remember the plot of all the cases. What I did enjoy is the logic and deductive skills employed by the main protagonist, and having seen the recent movie, it was quite fun to picture the detective and his companion as they were in the film. Some of the cases had a very dark and sinister setting, while others were mere anecdotes of wit and cunning. All of them, though, portrayed Holmes' strong powers of observation. As he said to dear Watson in one of the first cases, "You climb the stairs everyday, but you fail to observe how many strps there are."

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The Museum of Innocence

Author: Orhan Pamuk

This is my first Orhan Pamuk novel, and also his first since winning the Nobel Prize in 2006. It is a story of two lovers in 1970's Istanbul, or rather one lover's obsession with the other. This obsession ultimately manifests itself as a museum, hence the title.

Kemal is a wealthy, westernised Turk, about to become engaged to the equally sophisticated Sibel, when he meets Fusun, a poor distant cousin, in a boutique. Taken by Fusun's beauty, he offers to tutor her in Maths in preparation for her university entrance exam. Soon Kemal and Fusun are entangled in a secret relationship and constantly getting tangled between the sheets at his mother's Merhamet Apartments, surrounded by trinkets and collectibles that had outlived their use. As his engagement with Sibel draws near, Kemal truly believes that he will be able to continue his relationship with both women, and so he invites Fusun and her family to his engagement party. Unfortunately Fusun finds out from some of the party guests that Kemal and Sibel had already consummated their relationship long before their engagement - although it was only when Sibel was 'absolutely sure that there would be in the end a wedding did she give herself to him'.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Frustrated, Fusun deserts Kemal, who plunges into depression. Sibel attempts to cheer him up, but eventually she leaves him too, breaking off the engagement. Kemal then sets off in search of his lost love.
When he finally finds her again, Fusun is living with her parents in Cukurcuma and married to a film director wannabe. The husband sees Kemal as a potential financier for his dream art film, in which Fusun is to be the star. Seeing this as a means to stay in contact with Fusun, and possibly ultimately win her back, Kemal plays along and starts to spend the next 8 years with Fusun's family, having most of his suppers in the small house in Cukurcuma. As a means to preserve the memories of the time spent there, Kemal starts collecting small artefacts from Fusun's household, particularly items that Fusun has come in contact with. This growing collection is later displayed in Kemal's museum.

I found this book a bit frustrating. Kemal's obsession with Fusun seems highly superficial. Despite Kemal's assertions of Fusun's kindness and wisdom, there is hardly any evidence of such behaviour in their interactions. Instead she comes across as a bit of a bimbo, whose loftiest aspirations is to become a movie star. Even when she dies in the end, I did not feel sorry for either of them, as the circumstances that lead to the accident were a direct result of what I find extremely childish behaviour - walking off in a tantrum and then insisting on driving, all because she was protected from mixing with the film crowd so many years ago. And it was not even something that she really wanted anymore!

What I do like about the book is the wonderfully descriptive writing of the scenes and sounds of 1970's and early 80's Istanbul, the glimpses of a society trying to find its place and identity as a modern, forward-looking nation - a society that appears almost embarassed of its traditions and culture. The book is almost self-deprecating in this respect, and sometimes I suspect it is also this self-depreciation that intentionally chooses to depict Kemal and Fusun's otherwise shallow relationship as one of the greatest love stories.

Read other reviews here.http://www.themuseumofinnocence.com/

The White Queen

Author: Philippa Gregory

This is Book Two of my 2010 Global Reading Challenge. After 'The Virgin's Lover', I was almost ready to give up reading Philippa Gregory, but am glad that I changed my mind to pick up this book.

This is the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the widowed mother of two boys who sets her heart upon the young King of the House of York. It is a story based on historical facts interwoven with magical folklore, and paints the White Queen as an ambitious woman whose ambitions stem from her devotion and duty as a wife, sister, daughter and mother.

The book starts with the legend of Melusina, a water goddess who marries a mortal man but later leaves him when he breaks his promise to her.

The tragedy of Melusina, whatever language tells it, whatever tune it sings, is that a man will always promise more than he can do to a woman he cannot understand.

With this as the introduction, I was lead to believe that Elizabeth Woodville was somehow jilted or betrayed by her husband, but this was not the case. Twice, Elizabeth outlived her husbands, and although King Edward was not a saint, he loved her dearly and hardly gave her cause for concern as to where his affections lay. There were only two occasions where Elizabeth had doubts of his commitment: after their secret marriage was ridiculed by her brother Anthony, and during the birth of one of her children when the King kept a mistress. The mistress, however, admitted to Elizabeth later that the King only ever really loved the Queen.

The story of Melusina is told in bits and pieces, scattered throughout the main story of Queen Elizabeth and the Wars of the Roses (or the Cousins' War), as a homage to the queen's ancestry. Through her mother, Jacquetta, Elizabeth Woodville is a descendant of the water goddess, whose sons become the Dukes of Burgundy and daughters inherit the Sight. It is this mystical link also that is played up through Jacquetta and Elizabeth's characters where they dabble in some spells, allegedly whistling up storms, mists and rain to help them in their cause.

I found this book interesting to read mainly because I don't know much about the Wars of the Roses, and even less about Elizabeth Woodville. She was depicted as a woman of great beauty - and fertile too, giving King Edward three princes and six princesses in addition to her two older boys. Sadly two of her royal children died in early childhood, and the two remaining princes are famous for mysteriously disappearing while they were held in the Tower of London under the 'protection' of their usurping uncle, Richard III. Gregory puts her own spin to this mystery, which I find quite plausible.

Typical of historical fiction about royal families, the book is rife with plots, traitors and battles. There is less scandal than The Other Boleyn Girl (or at least not as outrageously depicted) and not as saccharine sweet as The Constant Princess. There are enough events and interesting characters to keep me interested right till the cliffhanger ending, and I am keen to find out how she wraps it up in the other two books of this series. As Elizabeth says to herself,

As if I think we can ever be an ordinary family. We are Plantagenets. How could we be ordinary?