I had previously read two novels by Beryl Bainbridge, only one of which (An Awfully Big Adventure) I enjoyed. The one book of hers that I really wanted to read was Injury Time. It is a very short novel that turns out to be a comedy thriller. Edward and Binny (his mistress) are throwing a dinner party for one of Edwards' work colleagues called Simpson and his wife. Not all goes to plan and later they have some unwelcome visitors. It is a light read, but the author is a great writer, and the story gathers pace through to a traumatic conclusion.
I was full of hope for The Tiger's Wife. It won this year's Orange Prize when my best loved "Goon Squad" never made the shortlist. It turns out to be the most boring novel I have ever read. So much so that after the first third, I had to skip the passages involving the interminable reminiscences of stories from the past. Whilst the book keeps to the present, and a story about Natalia, a young doctor, visiting orphanages after the Balkans conflict, it was just about tolerable. But her remembering stories from her grandfather who had recently died, not only disrupt the narrative, but in themselves are tedious fantasy. I was very glad when I came to the end.
The first novel from S J Watson, Before I Go To Sleep, is brilliant. It is described as a crime thriller, but over halfway through, we do not even know if there has been a crime. Christine wakes up every morning with no memory and every day she has to piece together who she is and what has happened in her life. To say any more about this highly original concept would spoil the story. I can only say that it is an unsettling but thrilling book as we join Christine in her search for the truth of her situation. OK, there are the occasional instances that stretch the imagination, but there were times that I read late into the night to find out just a little more. No wonder it is number one in the paperback chart.
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