Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively (Author)
Penelope Lively’s Booker Prize-winning novel Moon Tiger follows the life of Claudia Hampton. The book starts with Claudia as an elderly lady in a London hospital room. Claudia, a bestselling historian, whose life has spanned World War Two, imagines writing a history of the world. Instead, Moon Tiger charts Claudia’s personal history, from her fraught relationships with her mother and brother, a distant relationship with her daughter and the story of her one great love, Tom, a tank commander she met while reporting in wartime Egypt.
The intricacies of Claudia’s life and the devastating impact of the war are beautifully and powerfully depicted. This is a book that elicits strong emotions, Claudia’s joys are infectious, but her pain is also keenly felt. The writing is wonderfully immersive and sophisticated but never confusing and does not shy away from depicting the horrors of war in all its ugliness. This is expertly contrasted with tender scenes with Tom, which are given particular care and meticulous attention to detail, as if Claudia has made an almost painful effort to cement them in her memory. Claudia might not necessarily make for the most likeable narrator, condescendingly impatient are the words that come to mind when thinking of her character, but she is a very compelling narrator, with a fierceness and strength of character that commands respect.
A Single Thread, Tracy Chevalier (Author)
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier is set in the 1930s during the tense period between the two World Wars and explores the life of Violet Speedwell. After losing her brother and her fiancé in the First World War, Violet is now considered a “surplus woman”. What exactly is a surplus woman? The term almost sounded comical to me when I first read it but turns out it has rather tragic origins. It’s a term used after the First World War: huge numbers of young men died in the fighting, resulting in a gender imbalance in the population. This left many women without marriage prospects, at a time when marriage would be one of the main ways for women to secure economic stability. The stigma of being a surplus woman is sharply depicted, as Violet’s status is usually met with pity and condescension.
But our protagonist is made of stern stuff as she finds the courage to leave her overbearing mother and start a new life in Winchester. Violet is a quiet yet determined character; the kind who sparks empathy in her readers, making it a delight to see her put her life back together and learn to enjoy her independence in her new home.
She finds community and support with a group of borderers, women who embroider kneelers for Winchester Cathedral, and descriptions of the craft are detailed and interesting while her fulfilment in the creative endeavour is tenderly portrayed. The vivid, carefully considered writing brings the setting and characters to life, and while the pacing is gentle it is also engaging, pulling readers along with a comforting sense of warmth.
The Autumn of the Ace,
Louis de Bernières (Author)
Louis de Bernières’s ‘The Autumn of the Ace’ is the final book in a trilogy spanning the two World Wars. The story follows war hero Daniel Pitt and his family after the Second World War. Daniel Pitt was an RAF fighter in the First World War and an espionage agent for the SOE in the Second. But now he’s facing personal conflicts, as his marriage breaks down beyond repair and his relationship with his son, Bertie, remains fraught. After his brother Archie's death, Daniel is ready to find new perspectives. He first travels to Peshawar to bury Archie in the place he loved best and then finds himself in Canada. But as he avoids his friends and family, can he find a way to let go of the past?
Daniel Pitt is a wonderfully engaging character, someone who has lived through the horrors of war and still comes out a decent person with a strong moral compass and goes on to lead a colourful and interesting life. All the characters are well drawn and given space on the page and importance in Daniel’s life. And as an added plus point, part of the book is set in Sri Lanka.
