The Mitfords : letters between six sisters ed by Charlotte Mosley

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Genre - Non Fiction


The Mitford sisters were notorious for beauty & scandal. Diana married Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists & one of the most hated men of the 20th century. Unity had a passion for Hitler, lived in Germany during the 1930s & was so distraught at the outbreak of WWII that she attempted suicide. Jessica was a Communist, running away with a young man to the Spanish Civil War & spent much of her life in America. Nancy was a novelist with a waspish sense of humour who lived in France & was unhappily in love with a man who would never marry her. Pamela loved the country life but became increasingly eccentric in later life. Deborah married the Duke of Devonshire, and turned Chatsworth into one of the most popular stately homes in Britain. The letters between the sisters span almost the whole 20th century & are a fascinating look at life for the upper classes. The relationships between the sisters go through good & bad times. Jessica refused to speak to Diana for decades because of her disgust at her politics. Nancy informed against Diana during WWII which led to her being interned & separated from her children. After the death of their mother in 1963, Deborah became the centre of the correspondence, and she is the most likeable & stable of the sisters. Happy in her marriage & with the great work of transforming Chatsworth, she is the link between the sisters as they grow older.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

The far traveler by Nancy Marie Brown

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Genre - Non Fiction


This book combines history, archaeology & the storytelling of the sagas to tell the story of Gudrid, an Icelandic Viking woman who sailed to Vinland – America - in the 11th century. Gudrid’s story is told in two of the Icelandic sagas, stories combining myth and history. They were written down 200 years after the Viking Age, but they represent the oral stories handed down since that time. In this book, Brown retells the sagas & also shows how archaeology has proven some of the stories to be true. The Vikings are known to have reached the coast of America hundreds of years before Columbus. Evidence has been found of a settlement there, founded by Eirik the Red. It was abandoned only a few years later, but stories of Vinland (Vine Land) were told in Greenland and Iceland long after. Gudrid was a great traveler. She went on a pilgrimage to Rome as well as traveling in Europe & America. The book tells the story of Gudrid by bringing in details of the lives of other Viking women known about from history & saga. It brings to life the harsh conditions of life in the far north, and the struggle for survival which led people to explore the outer limits of their world.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

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Genre - Fiction

Picoult has written another absorbing moral dilemma, this time it's about a condemned inmate's desire to be an organ donor. Itinerant carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for the murder of a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her policeman stepfather. Eleven years later, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers. Should Claire and her mother, June accept the heart from this man? Should the State allow him to choose the manner of his execution to enable organ donation? The complex plot includes debates about capital punishment, organ donation, mother-daughter relationships and religion.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

The suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

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Genre - True Crime

This absorbing book is an examination of one of the most famous murder cases of the 19th century. Three year old Saville Kent was found horribly murdered in the outdoor privy of Road Hill House in June 1860. Jonathan Whicher, one of the first plain clothes detectives at Scotland Yard, is sent down two weeks after the murder, to help the local police. Whicher becomes convinced that one of the family is responsible for Saville’s death. The case exposed the Kents to intrusive publicity, and the family’s history was laid bare. Samuel Kent’s first wife had died, some said of madness, some said because he was having an affair with the governess. When Samuel then married the governess, and started a second family, the older children were said to feel neglected and jealous. Saville was the favoured child of this second marriage. Had one of his half-siblings murdered him out of spite & jealousy? Had Saville seen his father in bed with the nursemaid and been killed to keep him quiet? Had a jealous neighbour or disgruntled former servant taken their revenge on Samuel by murdering his beloved child? All these theories were canvassed in the press, and Jonathan Whicher’s investigation reached an inconclusive end. His career was damaged by his failure to bring the culprit to trial, although he was confident he knew who the murderer was. Five years later, the murderer was brought to trial after a dramatic confession. But was this the truth? Summerscale’s recreation of the crime is masterly. She shows the influence of the murder on the sensation fiction of Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon which was so popular in the 1860s. The case exposed middle-class society’s secrets and flaws.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

An expert in murder by Nicola Upson

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Genre - Mystery


The writer becomes the detective in this first novel by Nicola Upson. Josephine Tey was one of the best writers of detective fiction in the Golden Age. In this novel, she becomes a character, a suspect, and maybe even the next intended victim. Tey also wrote plays under the pseudonym Gordon Daviot, and had a great success in the 1930s with Richard of Bordeaux, her play about Richard II. On the train to London from Edinburgh for the final week of the play's run, Josephine meets a young fan, Elspeth Simmons, and is horrified when, on arrival at Kings Cross, Elspeth is murdered. There are hints that Josephine’s play had something to do with the murder. Was Josephine the intended victim? Detective Inspector Archie Penrose of Scotland Yard, a friend of Josephine’s, investigates. The novel gives a wonderful picture of London theatre life in the 30s, all the backstage gossip, the artifice behind the on-stage glamour. There were almost too many characters with too many hints of possible connections & motives. I enjoyed Archie Penrose, with his obvious echoes of Tey’s fictional detective, Alan Grant, but there was a little too much flitting from one character to another. I would have liked more emphasis on the police investigation. This is an enjoyable novel with a great deal of atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to the next novel in the series.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Murder on the Apricot Coast by Marion Halligan

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Genre - Mystery


Cassandra Travers has married the Colonel (from Halligan’s previous book, The Apricot Colonel) and it looks as though they will live happily ever after. When the daughter of one of Al’s friends is found dead after a drug overdose, it’s shocking, but doesn’t seem mysterious. Except that Fern’s parents were sure she wasn’t on drugs, and then, someone starts chasing Fern’s laptop which contains the manuscript of a shocking expose of child prostitution & illegal immigration. When Cassandra & Al take possession of the laptop, they begin to investigate. Halligan has written a novel filled with lovely domestic detail about Cassandra’s life in Canberra & at Al’s spectacular house on the coast. She writes lusciously about food, as always. I could almost taste the prawns on black bread. Cassandra’s job as an editor leads to lots of delicious, thinly veiled literary gossip & opinions that add to the enjoyment. The mystery element isn’t particularly mysterious, but I read these books for the pleasure of the seductive detail of Cassandra’s life & work.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters