After being impressed with William Boyd's "Ordinary Thunderstorms", I thought a spy thriller might be a good read. What I had not expected was a thoughtful story that alternates between 1939 when Eva is recruited into a shadowy propaganda organisation, and her subsequent adventures, and present day of Oxford where her daughter, unaware of her mother's past, is drawn into danger as the past catches up. Well written, carefully plotted with two wonderful main characters, I enjoyed "Restless" immensely. One of those books that you were sorry when it was over.
Nick Hornby has always been one of my favourite authors, so I was surprised that I had missed reviews of his latest novel that was published in 2007. And it was even out of print when I was looking on Amazon. Although fairly lightweight, I thought "Slam" was as brilliant and witty as his previous books. Written in the first person by sixteen year old Sam, Hornby really does get us inside the head of this teenage boy. Only having read the reviews after finishing the story did I then realise it was written primarily for teenagers, mainly as a warning about teenage pregnancy and fatherhood. Glad I had waited, as I might have been put off reading what was a highly enjoyable story.
If there was a book that was the opposite of "Slam", it would be "According to Queeney". It tells of some of the experiences of Samuel Johnson, his "friends" (if you can call them that) and dependents over the last twenty years of his life. It certainly conjures up a picture of Georgian London from 1764 onwards, and occasionally the author finds some interest in the squabbles and gossip between the characters. One of the quotes on the cover suggests that they thought nobody could pull off such an idea but Bainbridge does. I have to disagree.
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