The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory

Several years ago at a Grand Designs exhibition I was given a goody bag. Assuming it to be loaded with advertising bumph I was ridiculously excited to find a copy of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' amidst the recycling. Not having read any historical fiction I was looking forward to reading it but lent it to a friend to take on holiday. I never saw that copy again but hopefully someone came across it, enjoyed it and passed it on.


Recently I acquired another copy. And this time I did get it back when I lent it to someone. The machinations of the Tudor court and the palpable air of paranoid claustrophobia that infects many of the scenes was absorbing. Dramatic license has been taken to create a compelling story based around historical facts, motivations ascribed to push the story along, and gaps filled in by maybes and what ifs, causing some questions about its historic accuracy. But it is a novel after all, not a history book and Philippa Gregory creates a world rich in gilded assignations, entrapment and entitlement, where days are passed with poetry and games and girls are commodities to be traded for land and prestige. A world where, despite knowing Anne's destiny, you will it to be different.


Reading the book left me with a desire to research the Tudors. I've satisfied the initial urge looking up the main protagonists on wiki but plan to read some of the source material used for the book. It made me aware how limited my historical knowledge is. Several times during reading 'The Other Boleyn Girl' I had to ask my youngest daughter to recite the rhyme about Henry VIII's wives to place various people (sad, I know). For some reason it won't lodge in my brain and I tie myself in knots with it. I thinks it's because, by my befuddled reasoning, I always think Henry had 8 wives.


I hope the book was found. It was left in St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury, Dorset, a beautiful 14th century building on a high hilltop overlooking the fleet and its flock of swans.


I hope people feel free to comment on this book whether the left copy was found or not.

'The Other Boleyn Girl' was the fourth release by 'Books in the Wild'.

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

'Never Let Me Go', a quiet unassuming story, tackles issues of ethics and morality in a way that leaches into your brain and gently gnaws away. I read it recently for a book club where opinions were greatly divided, some thinking it could have been written on the back of a stamp, others fascinated by the world it portrayed. I fell into the fascinated camp, caught up in how this turn of events could become a normal part of life, accepted and unchallenged by the population at large. There are no big bangs or fast paced action but several weeks after reading it I'm still mulling it over in my mind and the questions it raises over what it means to be human.

The story develops with a slow drip feed of revelations, the ground gently prepared for shocking facts so that they become absorbed into normality. This is the way it is. This is how it will always be. Everything is fine. It is a world of acceptance, of making the best of what you have, not railing against what you haven't. Simple things are unbearably precious and possessions are few. There is tenderness, love and carefully reined in hope, but little questioning or rebellion as the characters grow up and discover their place in the world.

The world of 'Never Let Me Go' appears bare of the communication technology so prevalent today. The world Ishiguro portrays is ours, but ours which has taken a slightly different course. It follows the advancement of different technology, where the science of Dolly the sheep is exploited to the nth degree, rather than limited to acres of beefburger meat in a lab. As I read the book, I wondered if the acceptance of their destiny would have been so complete if communication technology had infiltrated this world. Would it have provided a rallying point or pricked the consciousness of mankind? Or would it have been the same - atrocities occur, are normalised and ignored. People accept their lot and carry on as best they can, focussing on what is immediately important.

The story is an ancient one that has tracked throughout our history. That of segregation and the perceived right of some to treat others as lesser beings, as commodities. The fact that the humanity of the Hailsham students is doubted by 'normal' people is chilling. Who are the more humane? Those who do their 'duty' with dignity, or those that look in revulsion at their very means of survival and deny them a soul?

Only after finishing the book did the true horror hit home. The placid narration of the memoir lulls you into a false acceptance, and the holes in Kathy's knowledge allow things to go unchallenged by the reader. It is only after having read it that my brain started filling in the gaps and started worrying at what had been left unsaid, raising far more questions than it answered. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, it became appallingly obvious that technology had exceeded humanity.

Tell me what you thought of the book. I'd be really interested to know.

'Never Let Me Go' was the fifth release for 'Books in the Wild'.

No Time For Goodbye - Linwood Barclay

Every year for Christmas Santa fills my stocking with a pile of books. They're often ones with a Book Club sticker and aren't always ones I'd choose for myself but who's going to argue with Santa? This book, 'No Time For Goodbye', came from such a haul. It's a private eye thriller that slips into a Sam Spade tone, or at least my version based on a childhood memory of Humphrey Bogart in 'The Maltese Falcon'.


I enjoyed the book. It was a fast read and kept me entertained. One slight niggle, I felt too much was given away by the italicised narrative told by an anonymous, shadowy figure. For me it gave too much away, unravelling the story and dispelling tension before the main characters got a chance to work things out. Through this extra narrative I always felt I was one step ahead of Terry and his search for the truth, a place I'm not sure I wanted to be. I'm really looking forward to hearing what other people thought of the device, and whether it added or removed the thrill of the thriller.


I'm also looking forward to hearing from people as I have no idea if anyone picked it up. I managed to walk away after leaving it on a table at Weymouth Sealife Centre. Getting brave.


Please feel free to comment on this book. It doesn't have to be a 'wild' copy you've read. 

'No Time for Goodbye' is the third release of 'Books in the Wild'.