Love, Nina
by Nina Stibbe
There was this lady who used to come into our bookshop in Truro with her children. She normally had a massive rucksack with her and never wanted a bag, sometimes we'd see them all with cycling helmets and waterproof jackets. She was a friend of one of my colleagues. She was very chatty, very funny, you got the feeling she was probably a little scatty, she loved books (she told me she used to work in publishing). She had huge eyes and a Roman nose. Then I stopped seeing her in the shop. Then about a month ago, I read about this book being published which was a series of letters from a young lady working as a nanny in London to her sister. It had a good review, so I requested a copy. Blow me down with a feather, if the young lady on the front cover didn't bear a very close resemblance to the aforementioned customer (I never found out her name before this). Of course, it turns out she is the one and same.
My colleagues had said this is a good book to dip in and out of, but I had to read it all. It was very funny. When she was 20, Nina worked as live-in nanny to Sam (10) and Will Frears (9), sons of Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the London Review of Books, and Stephen Frears, director of films such as The Queen and High Fidelity. They all lived in a large house in a very literary part of London. Alan Bennett lived next door, Claire Tomalin just round the corner, Jonathan Miller up the road. But Nina was never fazed by any of this, indeed you get the impression that she didn't know who any of these people were at the time. Alan often pops over for dinner (food is mentioned in nearly every letter - Nina seemed to do most of the cooking, some a success, some not) and the conversations they have over dinner are hilarious. They all get on brilliantly, especially Nina with Sam and Will. She often mentions Sam's 'illness' and trouble with his eyes, and having to take him to Great Ormond Street Hospital. We never find out what is actually wrong with him. On researching, I found that Sam actually suffers from a rare condition called Riley-Day Syndrome - he wasn't expected to live beyond the age of 5. The condition affects the nervous system. He is going blind and cannot feel pain. But when he was 10 in this book, you wouldn't have noticed anything different, from the way the family and Nina are with him. The boys are very mature for their age, and their sense of humour is hilarious. Swearing appeared to be allowed by all in the household - funny and shocking at the same time.
All the letters are one-sided, from Nina to her sister Victoria. Nina openly admits that she never kept any of her sister's replies, not for any other reason other than not wanting to keep more paper than necessary in the house and having a good clearout.
She talks about becoming a mature student and studying English Literature at Thames Poly, and a little about her boyfriend Nunny. You feel that perhaps it's not a serious relationship, they hardly seem to see each other, and Nunny sounds like he's having fun with other girls when he's away. You feel the relationship is doomed. You get to find out in the Afterword at the end what happened between them.
There's possibly more letters coming in the future, and even a novel by Nina. Watch this space.
Tinder
by Sally Gardner
The setting is Breitenfeld in November 1642, the midst of the Thirty Years War. Otto Hundebiss is an 18-yr-old soldier fighting for the Imperial Army who are soon to lose the battle against the Swedes. He is wounded - a bullet in his side and a sword in the shoulder - and he is suddenly facing Death himself. But it is not yet Otto's time. Instead he is confronted by a half-man half beast who cleans his wounds and gives him a gift of dice which, when rolled, will tell him which way to travel.
On his journey he meets with the beautiful flame-haired Safire and falls in love. But their meeting is short-lived. She is being tracked by huntsmen and runs off alone through the forest. He vows to find her again, and his travels take him to a ghostly castle where he uncovers truths he should not hear and beasts that will follow him for the rest of his journey. He acquires a magical tinderbox which he cannot dispose of, but which he will find to be of more use than he at first imagined.
This is a beautifully told rendition of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Tinderbox, which I haven't read but will now seek out. Sally's mastery of the language of a fairy story is excellent. It is so wonderful to escape into such a world, such a refreshing change from other novels around at the moment, but yet the story itself contains the same pieces as a modern one - love, jealousy, war, death, sorrow.
The copy I read was a proof sent by the publisher with a few sketches by the illustrator David Roberts (whose brilliant drawings can be seen in the Dirty Bertie books, The Tales of Terror series by Chris Priestley, and many many others). The final edition will contain over 100 black and white images, so I may have to buy that one too.
Half Bad
by Sally Green
When I first read the publicity blurb for this title I incorrectly assumed a few things :
a) the main character was female;
b) it was set in America;
c) it was going to be a witch version of Twilight.
The story is actually set in various parts of Britain, and follows Nathan, whose father, Marcus, is a Black Witch but his mother was a White Witch. As you can surmise from the names, the Black Witches are bad through and through, think nothing of deceit and murder, whereas White Witches do nothing but good and perform good and helpful spells. So Nathan is half good, half bad. When Nathan's mother dies, his grandmother brings him up, along with his half brother Arran and his two half sisters Deborah and Jessica. Because of the atrocious acts Nathan's father has carried out during his life, the Council of Witches and their Hunters are tracking down Nathan to try to 'turn' him, and give up the whereabouts of his father. He is taken from his grandmother, kept in a cage and trained to be a fighter, but he manages to escape. He is offered help by various characters, and in so doing, learns much about his mother and father and ultimately about his own character. However, not everyone gives favours freely, and there is one sacrifice he is not willing to make.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I finished it in just a couple of sittings. The pace is fast, there is plenty of action, the characters are exciting, and you never knew who to trust. I highly recommend it.
Knightley & Son
by Rohan Gavin
Hot off my reading The Ultimate Truth by Kevin Brooks, comes the first in another detective drama series for 10-12yr olds, but this one has a different feel to it, slightly younger, more comical. It feels like you're reading about the mind of a young Sherlock Holmes - thoughtful, pragmatic, sensible.
Darkus Knightley's father, a private investigator of all things unexplained, has been in a coma for four years. When he suddenly wakes uttering non-sensical words, Darkus works with him to piece together clues that may link that case to one that is affecting his own family. The mysterious bestselling book 'The Code' seems to be having an ill-effect on some of those that read it. What is 'The Code', and who are the people calling themselves 'The Combination'? The eccentric tweed-wearing father and son duo put their clever and intuitive brains together to unlock the mystery.
The Chronicles of Narmo
by Caitlin Moran
Most people will have heard of Caitlin Moran, columnist in The Times and author of 'How To Be A Woman' and 'Moranthology'. She's very funny. So when I found out that she'd written a book at aged 15, I was interested to read it. Funnily enough, it's like a young Caitlin Moran. The book is semi-autobiographical. It's about a young girl living with her parents and siblings in Wolverhampton, and how they are home-schooled (in the loosest sense of the word). No education is mentioned, just amusing anecdotes on days out, visits from local education personnel, Grandma Bat, and Christmas. Even though the book is very short and a quick wizz through of a read, there are some corking one-liners and you'll find yourself giggling on most pages. Hard to believe that a 15-yr-old wrote it. She's very mature in her immaturity! I love her thoughts on boys, in that they just lose their socks and get through all the milk.
I read online that Caitlin won a Dillons Young Readers contest for an essay on 'Why I Like Books'. I'd love to read that!
The Ultimate Truth
by Kevin Brooks
I've read a couple of Kevin Brooks's young adult books and this is completely different from, say, The Bunker Diary (very teen). The Ultimate Truth is the start of a new series of fiction for younger readers (11-12yrs). It's for fans of Alex Rider and Itch. This first book follows the hero of the series, Travis Delaney, as he recovers from the death of his parents in a car accident. His parents used to run a detective agency, and Travis starts to investigate the missing person case his parents were looking into before their death. He finds himself in more trouble than he cared for as he faces the MI5, CIA, and another mysterious group calling themselves Omega. He starts to realise that maybe the car accident wasn't just 'an accident' after all.
The Girl With All The Gifts
by M.R. Carey
I read a profile on the author in the book trade Bookseller magazine recently, and in it it talked about his new book. I was intrigued. I requested the book. I was hooked from start to finish. It's just brilliant. Think 'The Passage' mixed with 'The Walking Dead' and you have an idea of its premise. But it still manages to be different from those and other 'zombie' or 'turned' type books.
The girl of the title is Melanie, a young girl who is an orphan, and who has a high IQ and just loves to learn. But Melanie is different from other girls - she is locked in a cell every day and let out for school lessons, but only after she has been strapped into a wheelchair so she cannot move her limbs or head. Her teacher, Miss Justineau, is only allowed into the classroom after she has been doused with a special chemical that completely obliterates her human scent. That way, she knows she is safe from Melanie and all the other children strapped into wheelchairs in her classroom.
All proceedings are monitored by Sergeant Parks, a hateful man with a short temper who thinks nothing of using his fists to get his own way. Then there is Dr Caroline Caldwell, who is determined to find out more about the workings of the brain of these children, and thinks nothing of using a scalpel on any of them to further her scientific investigations. But soon, the routine of their daily lives is to be blown out of all proportions. They will all be fighting to survive in a frightening world of hungries and junkers, with not a friendly face in sight.
A gripping and action-packed story.
