Synopsis (from book cover):

Sarum is the towering story of five families through 100 centuries of turmoil, tyranny, passion and properity.  In a novel of extraordinary richness the whole sweep of British civilisation unfolds through the story of one place, Salisbury, from beyond recorded time to the present day.  The landscaped – as old as time itself – shapes the destinies of five families.  The Wilsons and the Shockleys, locked in a cycle of revenge and rivalry for more than 400 years.  The Masons, who pour their inspired love of stone into the creation of Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.  The Porters, descended from a young Roman Soldier in exile.  And the aristocratic Norman Godefrois, who will fall to the very bottom of the social ladder before their fortunes revive.

Book Review:

This is an epic saga that takes the reader from the dawn of civilisation as the iceage retreats right through to more recent times. The history is well researched and the story unfolds to reveal how Salisbury started, grew and developed over the years.

The characters within the story tell us of the unfolding social history of the different eras.  I was sad to leave some of the characters behind when the book moved forward to the next era.  I enjoyed reading about the building of Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.  The book inevitably covered more unpleasant topics such as the effects of the recurring plague.

The book is well worth a read, but it will take a bit of time to get through its 1344 pages.

Synopsis (from the book cover):

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of southern France, Sepulchre is the stunning new novel of obsession and revenge from the number one bestselling author of Labyrinth.

OCTOBER 1891:  Seventeen-year-old Leonie Vernier and her brother Anatole abandon the gas-lit streets of Paris for the sanctuary of the Domaine de la Cade, some miles south of the medieval city of Carcassonne.  But, in the ancient woods that surround the isolated country house, Leonie stumbles across a ruined Visigoth sepulchre – and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood.  As she peels back the layers of the past, she uncovers the existence of a unique deck of tarot cards that are rumoured to hold the power of life and death.

OCTOBER 2007:  Researching a biography of the composer Claude Debussy in the apparent tranquillity of the Pyrenean foothills.  Meredith Martin also seeks the key to her own complex legacy.  Armed with a haunting piece of piano music and a sepia photograph, she soon becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, an unquiet soul, and the strange events of one cataclysmic night more than a century ago.

As the Feast of All Saints approaches – when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest – Meredith is drawn inexorably to a secluded forest glade where the secrets of the past are far from buried…

Review:

Recently my Mum lent me Kate’s new book to read so I thought I better read this one first.  Sepulchre had been sitting on my shelf for couple of years in my pile of  ‘to read’ books.  I am glad I picked out the book to read, it was a welcome change from all the non-fiction books I have been reading recently.  Although the story itself is fictional there are themes within the book that relate to history and other interesting subjects that can be researched further in a factual context.  It is the sort of book I think is ideal for a book group because there are lots of areas for exploration and discussion.

An unplanned Tarot reading in the modern time-line leads back to the unique Tarot deck in the medieval time-line.  I found the story quite compelling as it swaps between the two time-lines, eventually drawing them together for the denouement.  The story is set in the region of the Languedoc, the history of which is described in such a way that I feel compelled to visit the area.

In passing the book mentions many topics including : Cathar; Visigoth; Albigensians; Occitan; Bousquet Tarot; Asmodeus; Temple of Solomon; Paul Foster Case; Golden mean, not to mention the mysterious Audric Baillard…

Well worth a read; a chilling story with lots of twists and turns set in a perfect location with lots of teasers for further exploration.

Synopsis (from the book cover):

Two beautiful women.  One mysterious man.  Separated by culture, class and war.

In the heat and bustle of 1950s Hong Kong, newlywed Claire Pendleton is changing from an uptight English wallflower to a beautiful, graceful bloom.  Then she meets Will, driver to wealthy Chinese couple the Chens, when she takes the job of piano teacher to their daughter.  His enigmatic presence enthrals and excites her.

A decade earlier, with war looming, Eurasian beauty Trudy Liang casts her own spell of fascination.  A social butterfly, she is a thing of mystery – and intrigue.  She knows everyone worth knowing in Hong Kong – Chinese and foreign, good and bad, rich and poor.  Including a newly arrived young Englishman – the magnetic Will Truesdale…

Review:

The novel is set in Hong Kong at the time of the Japanese invasion.  As well as being a love story it is also a historical novel.  The story switches backwards and forwards between two periods of time, 1941-42 and 1952-53.  The book describes what it was like at that time and how the invasion affected the lives of the people who lived there before, during and after the invasion.

The characters are well drawn and in some cases intriguing.  I found the story compelling it was difficult to put the book down.  It one of those books where just have to keep reading one more page.  The story line keeps you guessing right up until the end so I haven’t gone into the plot in too much detail so it doesn’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the book.

Humanity’s most ancient secret is about to be revealed…

In the sunburned deserts of eastern Turkey, archaeologists are unearthing a stone temple, the world’s most ancient building.  When journalist Rob Luttrell is sent to report on the dig, he is intrigued to learn that someone deliberately buried the site 10,000 years ago, Why?

Only one man knows the secret – a secret so shocking it may threaten the social structure of the world – and he is intent on destroying the evidence before it can be recovered.

Spanning the globe from the ruined castles of Ireland to the desolate wastes of Kurdistan, Tom Knox’s intense and compelling thriller weaves together genuine historical evidence, scientific insights and Biblical mysteries into an electrifying tale that grips the reader mercilessly from beginning to end.

Review:

The book is an adventure story in the style of Indiana Jones, which cleverly intertwines two plots.  One thread being based in Turkey around the site of the archaeological dig in Gobekly Tepe and the other thread starts off in the UK.  The story covers secret cults/societies, live sacrifices and the different religions that were followed around the Gobekly Tepe region, but above all it is a murder mystery.

The book has many twists and turns, just when you think you have figured it out and are one step ahead of the author, you realise you weren’t because the story reveals something quite different to what you were expecting.

I loved the historical background to the book and it worked well as a mystery story, definately a page turner for me.  So what was the Genesis Secret? For that you will have to read the book

For details on the archaeological dig that inspired the novel, please see my previous post.

Synopsis (from book cover):

Saturday, February, 2003.  Henry Prowne is a contented man – a successful neorosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown-up children.  Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window and filled with  a growing unease.  As he looks out at the night sky he is troubled by the state of the world – the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat.

Later as Perowne makes his way through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors, a minor car accident brings him inot a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence.  To Perowne’s professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him.  But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion that Henry’s earlier fears seem about to be realised.

Review:

The book as the title suggests, covers just one day of Henry Perowne’s life.  The current and recent past events of the world are laying heavily on his shoulders as he wakes unusually early to see what he initially thinks is a comet fly low through the night sky.  Ian fleshes out all the characters in the book very well and gives them all individual personality.  He describes very well the Perowne families history and what makes them bond together or not.  All the family members, although quite different in character are all successful in their different ways.

The pending war on Iraq and the anti-war march cause tension within the family due to differing view points.  The march itself is the cause of what turns out to be one of the major events of the day for the Perowne family.

I loved the style of writing and descriptive details, but in some places I found there was too much detail which slowed down the narrative to much for my liking.

The book throughout  gave a feeling of ominous foreboding  and uncertainty, but ultimately I found the book delivered a glimmer of hope.

Overall I would give the book 4 stars.

Synopsis:

Born in a village in heartland India, the son of a rickshaw puller, Balram is taken out of school by his family and put to work in a teashop. As he crushes coals and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape – of breaking away from the banks of Mother Ganga, into whose depths have seeped the remains of a hundred generations.

The White Tiger is a tale of two Indias. Balram’s journey from darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable.

Review:

The book is written in the form of Balram writing  a series of letters to the premier of China, who is due to visit the country.  The book describes modern India and refers to  the deprived areas as ‘the darkness’, where the lower classes live.  It highlights the differences between these lower classes and the landlords and how, by taking drastic action which is hinted at towards the front of the book,  Balram is able to rise from the role of servant to become an entrepreneur making money of his own.

The book is a page turner with a very easy writing style and is a very enjoyable read.  I like the way the story is presented via the series of letters.

On reflection I am not sure whether or not it would make for an interesting book group discussion.  There is certainly enough material in there to get you thinking, but maybe not enough if you have already discussed another novel set in India.  However I think I would need a second opinion on that.