'Dear Lucy' | Julie Sarkissian

Now that we’re well and truly into winter, you can’t avoid hearing “I can’t believe how cold/dark/close to Christmas it’s getting”, as if it doesn’t get cold/dark/close to Christmas every year. Not that I’m exempt from this; in true British style I find it impossible not to comment on the weather on a daily basis. Well, you can take the girl out of Britain…

All the more reason to curl up with a book when it’s gloomy outside!

I just finished reading “Dear Lucy”, the debut novel from Julie Sarkissian. Coincidentally this novel deals with similar themes to “Grace Williams Says It Loud” (read my review here), such as disability, abuse and relationships. Like Henderson’s writing style, the chapters narrated by the protagonist Lucy come across with a charming innocence and naivety. However what I found most striking was the way Sarkissian intermittently contrasted these sections with short chapters in the voices of other characters.

Lucy lives on a seemingly idyllic farm with an elderly couple known as Mister and Missus. Samantha, a pregnant teenager also taken in by the couple on the agreement that they will raise the child as their own, also lives there and has an unlikely but profound friendship with Lucy. As Samantha gets closer to giving birth, she has second thoughts about giving the child up and relies on Lucy to help her keep her baby.

The pace is rather slow and wandering up until this point, though not frustratingly so. But at this point shocking events that happened on the farm in the past become apparent and put Lucy, Samantha and the baby in danger. Lucy promises to save them all and the novel picks up speed with Sarkissian building up lots of tension, particularly when Samantha is locked in a room separated from her child.

One niggle I had was that there’s no real clue as to the setting of the novel – the author doesn’t give us much of an idea of the era in which the action is taking place, or even the location. However on further thought I think this could be down to her intention to make it seem like the issues in “Dear Lucy” could happen now, or anytime, and the lack of setting description any further than the house itself is because the idyll of the farm is central to the plot development and the notion that Lucy is in a bizarre and twisted bubble with no concept or experience of anything outside.

I started off feeling ambivalent towards the novel, but as I read on it grew on me and I was willing Lucy to succeed in carrying out the promise she’d made to Samantha. By the end I was inspired and impressed by “Dear Lucy”.

Find out more about this author on the Julie Sarkissian website.

'Sweet Tooth' | Ian McEwan

Last week while I was back home I was pleased to see that my mum had taken out Sweet Tooth from the library (yep, my family are just as geeky as me when it comes to books). Of course she couldn’t read it then as I wasted no time in snapping it up!

As a fan of McEwan’s novels since reading Enduring Love at school, I had skyscraper expectations for his foray into espionage writing – and he didn’t fail to deliver. Sweet Tooth is set in 1970s England, primarily London, and is narrated by a well-educated and flighty bishop’s daughter, Serena Frome, who is in her final year of maths at Cambridge at the start of the novel. An affair with a history tutor, Tony Canning, has further-reaching effects than it initially seems, as he recruits Serena as an MI5 spy, sculpting and disciplining her before abandoning her in a lay-by and disappearing, never to be seen again by Serena. Naturally, that’s not to say he doesn’t remain a key figure in the plot.

McEwan maps out Serena’s life – new friends, work, and feelings – before revealing the secret mission that provides the novel’s title. Every detail of kisses, lunches and relationships kept me captivated as the mission is hidden from us in typical McEwan style until much later. We are constantly kept guessing as to who is really being spied on – there appear to be some covert affairs among Serena’s co-workers, and there is a suggestion that someone has broken into her flat looking for something too.

When we find out about the mission the pace quickens – Serena meets Tom Haley, the subject of her mission, and according to some reviews I’ve seen, an incarnation of the author himself. The development of the two characters’ relationship alongside Serena’s mission is thrilling and mysterious. Personally I always seem to find that it is McEwan’s ability to create shockingly realistic and mesmerising relationships between characters, conjuring up the intensity of jealousy, lust and hedonism that sets him apart from others.

It wouldn’t be a McEwan novel without a revelatory and cathartic twist at the end that changes everything and makes you see the whole story in a different way – but I’ll leave it there so I don’t ruin it for you! This is one of those books that once you’ve finished reading, you immediately want to discuss with someone else to talk about the surprising ending (I had the same feeling with Life of Pi). One of the best books I’ve read this year – I’m already looking forward to the next offering.

Rough Guide: "More Women Travel" | Miranda Davies and Natalia Jansz

Like a lot of people, I seem to have an ever-growing list of dream holiday/travelling destinations. At the minute though, my student budget is hardly accommodating! Next on my must-visit list include Croatia, Barcelona and Hong Kong.

As I'm living abroad this year too, Mum gave me a Rough Guide book called “More Women Travel”, a comprehensive collection of women’s accounts of their travels to different places across the globe. I love hearing about other people’s experiences of different countries, where they’d recommend and things to see so this was right up my street as a bit of a change from my usual reading!

Obviously some accounts are better written and more vivid and detailed than others, but on the whole I liked the balance between cultural insights and hilarious or sometimes shocking anecdotes. It’s a little out of date now, but ladies, if you want to travel and find out more first-hand about different destinations, this is great - I particularly enjoyed the accounts of Thailand and Canada. It’s got me itching to go travelling next year!

I’d love to hear your opinions on travel writing! Which destinations are top of your list?

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia www.justthetravel.com

Hong Kong www.discoverhongkong.com

Barcelona www.travelwithscott.com

Paris and some home comforts...

So I’m now back at home in Bucks for the French uni half term – it’s so lovely to be back enjoying home comforts like bubble baths and OVENS (yes really, apparently it’s normal to not have ovens in France at home, so bizarre). Looking forward to spending time with the family and catching up with some pals!

The last month has just flown by and I can’t believe we’re nearly into November! Poitiers has been its usual sleepy self but I’ve been loving the Erasmus year so far. It’s getting much easier to understand French (though speaking it is still another matter), and we’ve spent many hilarious nights at either the student bars in town or friends’ houses. There’s not as much of a ‘clubbing’ scene in Poitiers – most of them are a little bit out of the centre and the French don’t get to the club until about 2 or 3am, which is hardly conducive with our 8am lectures! We’ve only been out to clubs a couple of times, and have made it our business to try out some more after the holidays. Instead everyone goes to the main student bars in town which are open fairly late, or house parties.

Last week a few of us made a very last-minute decision to buy Jay-Z tickets and head to Paris on Thursday after lectures – it was the most manic plan ever but we had the BEST time! Two of the boys drove us all up in their cars, and we had literally organised nothing so we were calling hostels on our way up and found a great one, very central, for 30 euros each for the night. After checking in there was time for a quick change before heading to the metro station to get to the Bercy stadium, via a quick detour to the Eiffel Tower. Jay-Z was of course INSANE and we were all loving life as you can imagine! He had just the right mix of Magna Carta and older stuff, and the crowd was absolutely buzzing.

After the concert we went in search of junk food and a bar, and eventually wandered back to the hostel at about half 3. The next day we got up relatively early to cram in as much sightseeing as possible – the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower and the Jardin des Tuileries. I’ve wanted to go to the Louvre for ages but by the time we got there it was mid-afternoon and I’ll definitely be making another trip there next semester so it’s something else to look forward to!

This week, I’m glad to be chilling at home – I’ve got a couple of days’ work experience lined up and some uni work to get on with too. I was meant to include lots of Paris pictures in this post but forgot to upload them before I flew home, so I’ll be doing a photo post when I’m back in France! For now I'll leave you with this one I've nabbed courtesy of Milly...

 I haven’t forgotten my book reviews either and I’ve got a couple up my sleeve so watch this space!