Lord of the Flies - William Golding

A plane crashes on an uninhabited island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast.

In this, his first novel, William Golding gave the traditional adventure story an ironic, devastating twist. The boys' delicate sense of order fades, and their childish ears are transformed into something deeper and more primitive. Their games take on a horrible significance, and before long the well behaved party of schoolboys has turned into a tribe of faceless, murderous savages. 

Published by: Faber & Faber - Fiction

Year: 2012 - Kindle Edition

Pages: 201

ISBN: 978-0571273577 


I first read this book 35+ years ago for O'level English.  At the time I really didn't get this novel at all.  35 years on all I could remember of it was that following a plane crash a number of little boys were left on a deserted island with the only other inhabitants being pigs and at some stage there was a pig's head on a stick that was known as the Lord of the Flies.  When I started out on this challenge, of revisiting books I had read at school, I knew this one would be my nemesis so I decided to take the bull by the horn so to speak and make it my second revisited book.  

Overall it was exactly as I had expected a lot of little boys running round on a deserted island.  It started off pretty well the plane had crashed and initially they had to establish how many of them there were and they came up with a plan of who would be responsible for what jobs, i.e. collecting wood for a fire and looking for food.  They soon established that there were pigs on the island that could provide them with a source of food and built themselves shelters to protect themselves.  But soon two characters especially became adversaries and tensions grew.  'Lord of the Flies'  is a pigs head that is left on a stick and is referred to maybe twice within the book  and not until about chapter 8 and really didn't have much relevance to the story. What I hadn't remembered was how much bullying and violence was included within it which ultimately lead to murder.  The rivalry between Ralph and Jack reaches a climax and leaves Ralph running for his life.  Had the Navy not seen the smoke of their fire and come to the island on a rescue mission Ralph too would of met his demise. 

Second time around I now get that it is supposed to teach you, independence, team work, leadership skills etc....  but there is a certain amount of bullying and violence and ultimately a murder contained within the pages of this novel.

I had thought that perhaps this was now off the list of acceptable reading material for our young people especially as we are constantly telling them that violence is not the answer, but Jenny over at  the  Urban Cottage tells me she is only in her 20's but remembers reading this at school.  I am glad that my own teenagers were not subjected to this particular read.  I still don't think that most 14-16 year olds would have this novel high on their list of must reads and from my distant memory of being a teenage girl it was definitely more for the male brain than the female.  Certainly my daughter would have been more concerned with where she would plug in her straighteners than keeping the camp fire going.  

I can now say that I have re-visited 'Lord of the Flies' it wasn't as bad as I had remembered and I can now say that I understand it's meaning but I don't think it is one I will be keeping on the bookshelf to read again in another 35 years.  

Have any of you read this novel? If so what were your thoughts?

Meanwhile happy reading time one and all.

Mx

Things We Never Say - Sheila O'Flanagan

Abbey Anderson is the last person to go looking for change. Yes it's tough that she barely sees her mother these days - but in San Francisco she has great friends, a steady relationship and a job she enjoys. If she has regrets, she's dealing with them.

When Abbey is contacted out of the blue by Irish lawyer Ryan Gilligan she learns in an instant everything she believed about her roots is a lie. She must travel to Dublin to find out more - but she's scarcely off the plane when she's plunged into a new crisis. One that will change everything not just for Abbey but for the family in Ireland who had no idea that she even existed.

Now Abbey has to make a choice that will affect everyone she knows. How can she be sure she makes the right one? Who can she trust to advise her? And can life ever be quite the same again.?

Published by: Headline Review - Fiction

Year: 2013 Hardback

Pages: 504

ISBN: 978-0-7553-7843-2

How would you feel if you were suddenly contacted out of the blue and informed that you have inherited a house in Ireland.   Well this is what happened to Abbey Anderson.  Her mother was adopted as a baby and never knew her birth parents.  All these years later Abbey's natural grandfather dies and much to the shock of his children he leaves the house and contents to his illegitimate daughter. He never got over the guilt that he got a young Irish catholic girl pregnant at the age of sixteen and she was sent to a Magdalene laundry. Having read in the newspapers and seen the news reports on the laundries his guilt surfaces once more. With this in mind he makes changes to his will that will change Abbey and her mother's lives forever but at the same time causing a family rift between his other children who knew nothing of the existence of an older sister.   The family contest the will and try and use emotional blackmail to get Abbey and her mother to sign everything over to them.  To make things even harder Abbey's mother lives in a convent and has not seen the outside world for many years and would not see the necessity of having such a large amount of money.

Although much has been written about the Magdalene Laundries it is not referred to in this novel apart from the fact that this is where Abbey's mother is born.  The novel relates more to the internal wranglings of a family in turmoil.  They had no idea of an older sibling but why would they this had all happened before their parents were married.  The fact that their father had harbored such guilt at abandoning his sixteen year old sweetheart was totally unknown to them or even their mother.  With the help of Ryan Gilligan, an Irish Lawyer, Abbey and her mother have big decisions to make as to whether they accept the terms of her late fathers will or whether they do as the family has requested and sign everything over to them.  

I did think at first this was going to be a big romantic story with Abbey and Ryan eventually getting together, and whether that is the case of not I shall not reveal here. But it definitely showed just how families can tear each other a part when there is property and money involved.  

Although this was the first Sheila O'Flanagan novel I have read I thoroughly enjoyed it and found I couldn't put it down staying up reading to the wee small hours to finish another chapter, not a good thing when you get up as early as I do.  

This is my fourth book from my 'Yet to be read' shelf challenge, and It's definitely one I would recommend you to read, especially if you are off on your travels, it would make for a great traveling companion read. 

Mx

Book of the month - January 2014

I have read some really good books over the last month and found myself with a difficult choice as to which book I would call my book of the month,




I absolutely loved reading To Kill A Mocking Bird and wished this had been one I got to read in school in place of some of the others I did, and I would recommend any of you to read it if you never have.








This said I was fully engrossed in The Secret Keeper it was definitely one I could not put down. The way in which Kate Morton had written her novel in four parts each one inextricably linked to the other was shear brilliance.  There will definitely be more Kate Morton's residing on my book shelf/Kindle in the future.






I decided in the end that I just couldn't separate the two and I am therefore going to have a joint book of the month which is a first for me.

Happy reading one and all.

Mx

The House We Grew Up In - Lisa Jewell

Meet the Bird family.

All four children have an idyllic childhood: a picture-book cottage in a country village, a warm, cosy kitchen filled with love and laughter, sun-drenched afternoons in a rambling garden.

But one Easter weekend a tragedy strikes the Bird family that is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear them apart. 

The years pass and the children become adults and begin to develop their own separate lives. Soon it's almost as though they've never been a family at all.

Almost. But not quite.

Because something has happened that will call them home, back to the house they grew up in - and to what really happened that Easter weekend all those years ago. 

Published by: Century - Fiction

Pages:422

Year: 2013 - Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-8460-5924-7

Lorelei Bird is what can only be described as one of life's hoarders.  It started with the children's pictures from school but soon extended to anything she thought might come in useful at some time in the future.  By the time the children return to their childhood home they can barely  make it through the front door.  This lovely novel by Lisa Jewell tells the story of the complicated lives of the Bird family from their childhood memories of living with a mother who could not bare to throw the smallest of pieces of silver paper away, to tragic loss within the family and what precipitated such an event to the children becoming adults and the trials and tribulations of their adult lives.  

A very good read. Easy to pick up from where you left off great as a travel companion.

This is my third read from 'My Yet to be Read' bookshelf challenge from my 2014 challenges. I  have to read 13 out of 26 books, that were still in residence on the shelf at Christmas 2013, by the end of June 2014. 

So my challenges continue, I am now back to reading my next book from my books I read at school challenge and you will get to see which book I have chosen to read next, next time.

Till then have a good week one and all whatever lives path you are taking.

Mx

Heaven by Water - Justin Cartwright

David Cross is surrounded by secrets. When his wife Nancy was alive he kept secrets from her, and now that she is dead he must hide his new happiness from his children, Lucy and Ed. But they too have their troubles: Ed's marriage is in trouble, Lucy is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, and both worry that their father will find a new partner. 

To Heaven by Water  is a touching and hilarious portrait of a family trying to come to terms with loss in their own way.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - Fiction
Year: 2009 - Paperback
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-1-4088-0103-1

This is my second read from 'My Yet to be Read' bookshelf challenge from my 2014 challenges. I  have to read 13 out of 26 books, that were still in residence on the shelf at Christmas 2013, by the end of June 2014. 

Essentially this book is about  a grieving family all of whom are grieving in their own way for the loss of their wife and mother. Nancy was a big part of all their lives. Her husband David feels guilty because he doesn't feel he is grieving as much as his two children Ed and Lucy.  Ed has his own troubles his marriage is under strain due to not having conceived a very much wanted child. Lucy at 26 would like to have a normal settled down existence but her last boyfriend turned out to have issues with alcohol and on ending the relationship Lucy finds he is stalking her.  The story is around whether they can all come to terms with their loss and will they eventually achieve their goal of happiness. From my own point of view it was a little slow to get off the ground and a little lacking in content and didn't have me engrossed in every page. I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination and can swear with the best of them but felt that the language used was a little excessive. It was almost as if a conversation could not be had if every other word was not an expletive and this for me detracted you from the point of the story. 

As always this is just my humble opinion and there may be those of you who have read and enjoyed this and other novels by Justin Cartwright. 

Mx

The Game - Short Story from The Greatest Love Series - Amanda Prowse

It's every mother's worst nightmare.....

Gemma Peters has everything a sixteen year old could want. Two loving parents, a good school, and close friends. Maybe sometimes her parents are a little overbearing, a little too adoring. But that's the same for all teenagers, right?

Then, on the night of the school play, happy-go-lucky Gemma disappears without a trace. Where has she gone? Why has she been lying to her family? And, most importantly, will she ever come home?



Publisher: Head of Zeus - Kindle Edition
Year: 2013
Pages: 132
ISBN: (E) 978 1-781-1859-04-9

This is another of Amanda Prowse short story written for Kindle,  I like Amanda's writing, she writes about everyday issues and how they affect every day people.  In this story she writes about every parents worst nightmare 'your teenager goes missing'.  She tackles the issue of young girls being taken in by older men, who convince these young girls that they are in love with them. And, that once they have enough money they will move to the country, almost the cottage with roses around the door, when in reality they are exploiting these young women and forcing them into a way of life that no parent would want for their daughter.  I suppose you have to ask the question can you love your children too much.  I am yet to find a bad thing to say about Amanda Prowse and would recommend this short story to you.

Mx

The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton

1961: On a sweltering summer's day, while her family picnics by the stream on their Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out in her childhood tree house dreaming of the bright future she can't wait to seize. But before the idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed a shocking crime that changes everything.

2011: Now a much loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted memories and the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home and begins to piece together a secret history: a tale of three strangers from vastly different worlds - Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy who are brought together by chance in wartime London and whose lives become fiercely and fatefully entwined.

Shifting between the 1930s, the 1960s and the present, The Secret Keeper is a spellbinding story of mysteries and secrets, murder and enduring love. 

Publisher: Pan Books - Fiction
Year: 2013 - Paperback
Pages: 588
ISBN: 978-0-330-477759-8

Challenge Five of my challenges for 2014 is to work my way through my 'Yet to be read' shelf of books which had 26 books residing on it at Christmas.  I have challenged myself to read at least 13 of these by the end of June this year.  'The Secret Keeper' is the first to be read from this challenge. 

This was a fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed and couldn't put down. It was full of mystery and intrigue and a wonderful twist at the end which I had definitely not seen coming. The book is separated into four parts each part telling you the story of a character beginning with Laurel followed by Dolly, Vivien and Dorothy. Each character is inextricably linked to the other and to that of  Jimmy.  It was superbly written and I would not only read further novels by this author but definitely recommend this one to all of you.  My poor D became a bookworm widow as everytime he came to find me over the weekend you guessed it book was in hand, cup of tea and a biscuit at the ready. 

Mx