Godmother: The Secret Story of Cinderella

*
Lillian lives in a seedy flat in New York and works in a bookstore.  She recalls her previous life as a fairy and how being chosen to be Cinderella's Fairy Godmother was her undoing.  Lil is banished from the magical land and forced to live as a human where she grows old and has to hide her beautiful white feathered wings.  Flashbacks of her previous life show how the rather vain and selfish Lillian seeks to get her own wish rather than ensuring Cinderella and the Prince fulfil their destinies. Now Lil is lonely, miserable and desperate to return to her fairy friends, she sees her chance to redeem herself through helping her bookstore boss, George find true love with the quirky Veronica.
What starts as an interesting premise disintegrates as the story develops and the reader is left with the dilemma of deciding whether it's a fairytale ending or a serious case of undiagnosed mental health issues brought on by guilt and trauma in Lillian's youth.
Lillian is pretty unlikeable at any stage in the book and everyone else is so thinly characterised to be completely insignificant.  There's also one particular image quite early on that was just eeeuch!
So I think it's pretty clear that I didn't like this book.
Godmother came as an Amazon recommendation and as I love twists on traditional fairy tales, I assumed this would have been just right for me...unfortunately, not. I just didn't get it.

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

***
Charming politican Paddy De Courcy is finally getting married.  This announcement throws several women into turmoil as Paddy isn't all he first appears.  The book charts the history of Lola, Grace, Marnie and Alicia's relationship with him and how he affected their lives.  All four women write from their divergent viewpoints.
Lola is a dippy stylist who thought she'd met the love of her life.  When she finds out about his forthcoming wedding to Alicia, she goes into meltdown and is convinced by her band of devoted friends to drop out and recover in a small cottage in a village filled with Irish stereotypes (a bit like the old TV show Ballykissangel).  Here she gets a fling with a surfer dude and has her Friday nights taken over by a bunch of cross-dressers.  As she grows used to life without Paddy she starts to remember what her relationship was really about and that love wasn't what kept her bound to him.
Grace is a journalist with an odd family, a beloved aging Auntie with cancer, a fantastic bloke and an alcoholic twin sister, Marnie.  Grace is frantically trying to keep all the balls in the air but a guilty secret is making it really difficult.  Marnie is a deluded drinker who had the perfect life but throws it away with her empty vodka bottles.  The sisters know Paddy from way back when he was Marnie's first love and he's proven to be an impossible act to follow.  Alicia is the lucky lady who's going to marry Paddy, but does she know what's she's letting herself in for?
I ought to say I have a good history with Marian Keyes, I relied on her earlier books as my major holiday reads and loved them.  However, in the past few years her novels seem to have become thicker and thicker and as I haven't had a pure beach holiday for such a long time, I have missed most of her later books and so got this from a friend to do a bit of a catch up!
Sadly, I didn't think this was great... (dare I say it?) it just seemed a bit boring, lacked humour and was way too long, it could have easily lost 300 pages.
I know Keyes can do the "darker" stuff, particularly addiction as some of her earlier stuff touched on, but alcoholism, depression, sex trafficking, domestic violence and the machinations of politicians aren't what I want in my chick lit.  She does cover the horrendous themes sensitively, but it just didn't sit right with the pretty, fluffy cover.
The Marnie sections were almost indulgent in their misery and I didn't care enough about her to wallow in all the gloom and self pity; Grace was almost as bad in that she inspired little empathy.  The only flashes of humour came from Lola and due to the other aspects of the book, the silly situations she finds herself in managed to feel a bit forced.  The abbreviated, text talk writing of Lola's sections were also annoying to read...yes, they were in character, but I'd have preferred it to be done differently.
I still think Marian Keyes is brilliant...she's a witty and clever lady, but this isn't (in my opinion) her best.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

***
Iris James is the new postmaster of Franklin; she spends her time watching the townspeople and keeping their secrets.  Emma Fitch is newly wed to the local doctor and moves to the Cape Cod town, she is desperate to find her niche and have someone to look after her.  Frankie Bard is a journalist, covering the war in London, reporting back to America via radio.  The war is far removed from the town, but it affects all three women.

This is a Richard and Judy book club choice and had great reviews...I'm a sucker for all that and liked the cover, so I gave it a go.  Unfortunately, I can't say I like it.  Yes, it's well written and there were parts when Frankie was in Europe that I found compelling, but overall I was underwhelmed and glad to get to the end.
I didn't really warm to any of the main characters.  Middle-aged Iris moves to Franklin, but there's no backstory to the move.  What is so important about her getting a certificate from the doctor? What makes the relationship with Harry work, because I couldn't see any point for either of them.  Harry's convenient demise when he finally finds what he's been looking for was really annoying and felt like a cop out.  Emma seems simply needy and I can't really blame her husband for disappearing to London, although he is a bit of a sap too.  Frankie is the strongest character, and her coverage of the plight of the Jews is fascinating, but I wasn't convinced by how it changed her.  The book slips over some potentially interesting questions, such as how did Frankie get out of Europe?
All the major characters are either watching or being watched, this made the book feel claustrophobic but also strangely removed.  The idea of keeping secrets and withholding information fitted well into the wartime setting, but I couldn't really see the point.  Emma had clearly worked out that for whatever reason her husband wasn't coming back and both Frankie and Iris deciding to avoid the issue seems fairly pointless.
The idea of being the story of the edges of the photo is threaded throughout the book and I felt that as a reader I was being kept at a distance, very much at the edge and the whole thing was rather superficial.  The love stories woven through just didn't touch me and so the losses were correspondingly less affecting.
I think it's best to sum it up as a "classic book club" choice as there is lots to discuss, but not necessarily enjoy.  Parts are beautifully crafted and there was evidently huge research behind it all, but I just didn't get it.

What makes me happy. Part 1...



Books and a completely over the top pair of shoes that I love, but haven't had the occasion to wear yet!



Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers

****
Retired spinster Julia Garnet has been an uninspiring history teacher and lives a narrow life in an Ealing flat with her friend Harriet.  When Harriet dies, the unexpected void forces Miss Garnet to suddenly decide to live in Venice for several months.  The move leads to Miss Garnet meeting new people and into realising that she has been blind to people and opportunities.  The interwoven parallel apocryphal story of Tobias and the Angel Raphael share the theme of overcoming blindness and accepting change.

I thought the audiobook was excellent as Miriam Margolyes is such a fabulous reader, the characterisation was perfect. 
Julia Garnet is a clever, but rather naive lady, who has closed herself from life with few friends and little fun.  She is judgemental and blinkered, strong in her atheist and Communist views with little tolerance for others.  The move to Venice is completely out of character but the city entrances her with its plethora of churches and religious images.  The people she meets, although not necessarily what they first appear, lead her to greater awareness.  
The story unfolds very gently and Julia gradually becomes more open, realising she never appreciated Harriet when she was alive and how she has belittled people for not sharing her views.  As she widens her interests Julia is able to understand, accept and forgive others. 
Ultimately it is Harriet, with her penchant for silly hats and inappropriate shoes, who gives Miss Garnet the opportunity to make a permanent change and although I felt the ending was a bit too neat and would have like it to be more ambiguous, I really enjoyed the book. 
I wasn't sure about the Book of Tobit sections at first, mainly because I have very little biblical knowledge and don't really go for religious themed books, but as I got further into the story the links really worked for me and I wished that I was a bit less of a dunce in this area!
What really made it for me was the gorgeous setting of Venice, the descriptions were evocative and beautifully done - I was there. (Even stuck in traffic on the motorway, going to work!)
Lovely!

Mr Darcy Presents his Wife by Helen Halstead

***
A sequel to Pride and Prejudice which begins with Elizabeth and Darcy's wedding preparations. The title really says it all, as it charts the introduction of the new Mrs Darcy into London society and the continuation of events for the other main characters.
It begins with Lady Catherine de Bourgh writing to Lizzy to let her know how she refuses to acknowledge the marriage and will do all she can to make her presentation to the Ton as difficult as possible.  Darcy also receives a similar missive from another member family and so despite their love, they are in for a potentially difficult time. 
However, the charming Mrs Darcy manages to dazzle almost everyone with her wit and is quickly on friendly terms with the very best people in society.  This creates tension between her and Darcy for not only is she in great demand from people he doesn't necessarily approve of, she becomes the unwitting muse of a inappropriately devoted playwright.  The ongoing tensions within the marriage seem to bring out the flaws in Darcy that Lizzy initially despised. 
I found this an interesting read and felt that it was one of the better attempts to continue P&P, certainly in terms of not making it a "Mr Darcy constantly beds his new wife" book, which many of the sequels are.  I'm not being over critical of those sequels, I've read many and found them good fun, but this one at least tries to fit with morality of the original.
However, although I enjoyed it whilst reading it, on reflection, I'm not sure about where the story went.  I liked the continuation of the sister's stories, particularly Kitty, who always seemed overshadowed by Lydia and the self righteous Mary.  Kitty gets her chance (however briefly) to sparkle and become a more rounded character.  Sadly, Jane and Bingley are much reduced and less interesting and although Wickham gets his comeuppance, I thought Lydia got off far too lightly and deserved a messy and undignified end! (But I'm nasty like that!)  Mrs Bennet remains an embarrassing trial, but again is sadly diminished in creating cringing horror for her daughters.  Other new characters are introduced but I felt that there were too many to find any depth and not particularly useful in themeselves to add to the story except as being a way of making the basic plot work.
Now my real grumble, I actually started to find myself annoyed by Elizabeth at points.  She became too clever, witty and attractive for her own good and I found myself disliking how she almost has her head turned.  Although she retains her slightly cynical air, it was really irritating that everyone loved her and was completely unrealistic in terms of the closed shop that Regency era society was.  Darcy's reaction is to be jealous of her new friendships and to resort to his previous overly proud and withdrawn behaviour which is understandable but goes against how the events and growing understanding of each other in the original novel had changed them and made them better people.
Overall, it's an enjoyable, light read but I was disappointed in how some of my favourite characters develop.

Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston

**
This is the story of Georgina, an American living in England whilst completing post doctorate research.  She rents a room in the house of Henry LeFoy, his teenage sister Maud and housekeeper Anna.
She's a published author specialising in historical misery.  Although her debut novel was critically well received, it appears that no-one actually enjoyed it and unfortunately she's struggling to write her next book.  Her scary editor, Livia, makes her an offer she shouldn't refuse, when publisher Dan Vassey "finds" the opening chapter of a long forgotten, never completed Jane Austen novel.  Georgina has to complete the book in double quick time for loads of cash which will allow her to stay in England.
The problem is that Georgina has never read any Austen and sees it as the antithesis of her gritty, downtrodden understanding of the nineteenth century.  She refuses to do it but circumstances, lack of money and pressure from her friends force her to reconsider.

Although I'm only giving this two stars, there was something strangely compulsive about this book and I did want to see how it all worked out, but there were just too many things that I didn't like to rate it any higher.  Firstly, I didn't like Georgina at all and if I can't warm to a lead character I tend to struggle. (That might just be me, but there it is!) I found her to be a literary snob in thinking that Austen is twee, fluffy and lacks realism.  She spends the first half of the book simply running away from anyone who is trying to make her write the book, making it a chain of events rather than a definite plot.  She is sneering about all the Austen haunts that she visits and comes across as a weak, bigoted character with major author angst. 
When she finally reads all the Austen novels (in a ridiculously short time that wouldn't allow anyone to truly appreciate them) she has a complete turnaround and tries to avoid writing the book as she realises she isn't worthy of the task!  Georgina is a self confessed procrastinator and there's even references to helpful websites (but I didn't check if they were real!)  The middle section of the book is all about the process of writing and heck, does it seem painful...this is enough to put any budding author off!  This focus on effort and process manages to kill off any interest in the story and characters for me...it became a grind for me too.
Henry gradually becomes the romantic hero, but he's so weakly written that he's practically transparent.  Maud is possibly the most interesting character and I though Livia would have been far better approaching her to write the Austen book!  But there's an over reliance on stereotyped misunderstood teenage girl for her to be a stand alone character.
The final denouncement when Georgina finally writes the much demanded book wasn't a big surprise, but did manage to tie everything together. There are several sub-plots going on throughout that relate to Austen plots, but these are unnecessary and a bit forced, as was the quirk of putting in names of Jane Austen's many characters as an in-joke.
I had this on audiobook and couldn't understand why they'd used an American reader.  Georgina was the only American character and it made the whole thing sound out of place as the attempts at an English accent were patchy at best.  The use of "Americanisms" by English character's was also annoying and should have been edited out.  Maud as a private school teenager, would never use the word "sneakers"
and there were other examples that were just wrong!
Similarly to the Mr Darcy ruined my Life book, it had a spark of potential that it didn't live up to.  For something that has so much content on the process of producing a book, I though the author needed to take on her own advice a little more.  Disappointing and a bit pointless for me.  Sorry!