Reviews |
PEOPLE, POLITICS AND PRESSURE
GROUPS
Memoirs of a Lobbyist
The London School of Economics & LSE Alumni
Newsletter
Review from TOM EASTON, LOBSTER MAGAZINE:
“These tales from the Westminster journalist
turned successful lobbyist fill in parts of
our history necessary to grasp and digest if
we are ever to
have genuinely ‘new politics’ in
this sceptr’d isle.
Butler offers insight into the media world
of Lord Beaverbrook – the Rupert Murdoch
of his day in this country – and the political
world of Hugh Gaitskell and his SDP followers
20 years after his death. As the founding brain
behind lobbies for tobacco and the motor industry,
and a pioneer of the development of expert parliamentary
committees, Butler tells us much about the real
world of business, science and politics.
Butler also took on local government reform
and offered what aid he could to communities
devastated by the loss of traditional employment,
and to others at home and abroad needing support
and encouragement. Along the way he has fascinating
stories to tell about John Addey, James Sherwood,
Joseph Godson, the Gang of Four and many more.
He also had experiences of the intelligence
services worth reading.
This is not an academic work, though academics
could learn much from it. Nor is it just a collection
of anecdotes from a long and fascinating working
life. It is well-written British political life
intelligently observed and reflectively considered.”
Review from IAIN DALE, Tory blogger, publisher
and host of LBC’s nightly political programme
Almost exactly twenty years ago I started
a new job working for Charles Barker, the big
PR company. The public affairs division was
called Charles Barker Watney & Powell. One
of the mainstays of the company had been a man
called Arthur Butler. He retired and was succeeded
by Corinne de Souza. When Corinne left, they
recruited me to replace her. I met Corinne seven
years later when she became a customer of Politico's
and she became a good friend. A few years ago
Corinne started PicNic Publishing, which has
recently published Arthur Butler's autobiography.
With me so far?
Arthur Butler could seriously lay claim to
being one of the first professional lobbyists
in Britain and this is his story. He really
is from the old school of public affairs consultancy.
The book is littered with anecdotes of encounters
with many of the famous political names of the
1970s and 80s. Butler started life as a journalist,
but like many who came after him, he was persuaded
the enter the 'dark side'. He joined a company
called Partnerplan and proved highly successful
in recruiting clients and persuading politicians
to do what they wanted. He gives a fascinating
insight into local government lobbying in the
early 1970s and also the operation of All Party
Groups. Indeed, the book is laced with anecdotes
from various lobbying campaigns Butler has been
involved with right up to the present day. In
the mid 1970s Butler joined Charles Barker Watney
& Powell and became joint Managing Director
alongside the redoubtable Evie Soames, who was
to recruit me to the company in late 1989. He
stayed 15 years. I stayed three months. I hated
it. I was bored out of my mind and hated the
'dating agency' side of the job. Vauxhall Motors
were a client and I was deputed to arrange for
them to meet Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson.
They were delighted to have their picture taken
shaking his hand. The trouble was, they had
absolutely nothing to say to him. I was used
to running campaigns, not acting as a political
pimp, so I quit. Clearly Arthur Butler found
the whole political consultancy world rather
more rewarding in terms of job satisfaction
than I ever did.
This book really is a good read, if sometimes
over detailed and somewhat lengthy. But it hasn't
received the attention it undoubtedly deserves.
If you're active in the world of political consultancy
now, or have been over the last twenty years,
it's a book you should definitely put on your
Christmas wish list. I highly recommend it.
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The
White Kudu
Review from Dr Sarvajit Mukerji, Dept of English,
University of Allahabad
The White Kudu is a book worth returning
to. Multi-layered and richly nuanced, it narrates
the story of a fractured land –South Africa,
and the fierce passions it is capable of arousing.
The intriguing word in the title, Kudu
refers to a species of curly antlered deer native
to the Karoo, the region where the land and
the sands merge, on the margins
of the Kalahari. ‘The white Kudu’
is a myth of the San people, the original inhabitants
of the inhospitable Kalahari. The story of the
white kudu yearling, who fell in love with a
star maiden but lacked the will to follow her
into her own land, haunts the two geologists
who come into Abelshoop at the behest of the
Lefika Mining Company and leave behind a trail
of destruction, both on the land that they dig
and trench and the on lives of the women they
love and leave.
Abelshoop, ‘with none of the cosiness
of a village’, Pniel, ‘where Joshua
wrestled with the Angel’, Wonderfontein,
where the wonderful Radcliffe sisters live –
names we give to places we love. Overshadowing
them all the Witkopje, with its dazzling white
quartz rock face painted with the kudu. The
land is almost a character in the novel with
the different characters representing various
attitudes to it. Adam Vermeulen, the patriarch
of Pniel can see the writing on the wall. It
is time to sell off the land he has inherited
from his forefathers. He knows that the white
farmers have no chance in the land claims, and
that henceforth he and his children must live
as exiles on the land of their birth. He sees
in the Lefika Mining Company a chance to do
something for impoverished Abelshoop, for a
mine would bring jobs and prosperity to the
region. His son Abraham sees this as a betrayal
both of his rights ‘to work the land’
as the legitimate heir of Pniel, and the interests
of the white farmers who have their back to
the wall. When his wife Esther is seduced by
Hunter, Lefika’s geologist, his world
explodes. For Lefika the land exists for exploitation
to the hilt. It is a financial proposition for
enriching the company while making the right,
politically correct noises and gestures. Abelshoop
may benefit, but that is merely a side effect,
often called the ‘top down’ model
in corporate parlance. White men, all. Yet the
land belongs only to herself, irrespective of
the people who love or wrestle with her, inscrutable
and searingly beautiful, hiding within her womb
the treasures and secrets that that men crave.
Hendrik’s link with the land is perhaps
the oldest off all – he is of the San
people. His ancestor, Kara/Tuma lies buried
in the sands, the foetal position symbolically
linking birth with death. Yet there is no possessiveness
in Hendrik. In the skies above dwells the star
maiden, the bird that flies there, is his ‘little
sister ‘and on the land dances the white
kudu, linking the ‘real’ and the
‘dream’ in one simple melody. Even
his willed death is a celebration. With his
death ends the wisdom of a people who knew how
to live with and not on the land. Now their
history and wisdom lingering on tantalizingly
in the scattered rock painting in the desert
have to be reconstructed by sensitive archaeologists
like Sharon Shackleton. But she and Joshua Hunter
must shed their selves and enter into new avatars
before they can even attempt it.
That they can even glimpse this vanished
world is a saving grace for the novel that otherwise
veers dangerously towards a certain essentialism
– the white men with their obsession to
have and to hold, versus the ‘golden’
Bushmen, Hendrik, Klaas or Janine, non-acquisitive
and wisely passive.
The greatest triumph of the novel is that
it has the vision to look beyond the suffering
of persons and peoples in a fractured land,
towards healing – amazing, in a first
novel. But perhaps one must experience the state
of suffering before one can get even a glimpse
of the way out –in sharing or transcendence
or faith or whatever. And then comes the promised
rejuvenating rain, for the exiled, longing kudu
can go home at last.
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The Tailor's Needle
Review from Ann Northfield, Historical Novels
Review
Set in India in the 1930s, this novel follows
the fortunes of Sir Saraswati and his three
children, Yogendra, Maneka and Sita, who have
all been brought up in Western style of education
by British governesses. The novel examines pre-independence
India, the feeling of different people towards
the British, and the movement towards autonomy.
It slyly pokes fun at many aspects of British
and Indian culture with a gently sarcastic style,
as Sir Saraswati struggles to reconcile his
admiration for the British with the ideals of
Gandhi and the development of independent India.
The novel also looks at the role and status
of women, contrasting the feisty and strong-willed
Maneka with her more traditional mother and
sister. The concept of caste and its role in
the new India that is emerging is also considered.
The title refers to the belief of Sir Saraswati
that his children should be like the needle
of a tailor, passing through all kinds of cloth
without discriminating, and this is a central
metaphor throughout the book. The style is interesting
and quite different. The dialogue is rather
stilted, yet somehow this seems to suit the
characters and the time well. It is something
that the reader can adjut to quickly and it
does not affect the enjoyment. This is an unusual
novel that carries the flavour of its time and
setting. Anyone who enjoys books about India
would find this worth a read.
Review from Gisela Hoyle
Many new voices have come out of India recently,
but the voice of Lakshmi Raj Sharma stands out
nonetheless. The Tailor’s
Needle is a novel on a grand scale
seldom seen in modern writing: lyrical landscapes,
a philosophical narrator, wayward daughters,
a liberation struggle and political intrigue
all form part of an elegant plot, which moves
swiftly from family saga to comedy of manners,
from gothic horror to murderous intrigue.
Sir Saraswati, named for the goddess of learning,
the arts and creativity, struggles to find an
appropriate balance between his admiration for
the liberal ideals of British intellectual culture
and his clear understanding of the greed and
corruption of British Indian politics as he
protects the province of Kashinagar and its
royal family from annexation by the British
empire and supervises his children’s education
by English governesses. In a world of colliding
cultures, he believes that education ‘should
free one from prejudices. It should make one
capable of independent thinking and prepare
one for life ahead. It should make one adapt
to his world without being difficult with others
or miserable himself. It should make one positive
and sociable. It should make one what he called
‘the tailor’s needle.’’
(p20)
His son, Yogendra, is eager to absorb this philosophy,
while at the same time unable to escape from
his father impressive shadow. His sister, Maneka
is more rebellious and independent, but gets
herself involved in fairly archetypal princess
problems all the same – remaining trapped
in a world not that different from Jane Austen’s:
of arranged marriages as opposed to love matches,
of suitability in suitors, of feminine accomplishments.
The novel is, after all a final adieu to the
great Indian Raj novel, honouring traditions
now faded and, for many modern readers probably
thankfully, consigned to the pages of history.
Sir Saraswati wore his tweed coat and grey
worsted trousers. Summer evenings in Dehradun
tended to be chilly in those days. Fans were
never used and fridges were unheard of . . .
when an unknown friendly person invites you
and you are on your way to meeting him and knowing
him, there is an inexplicable joy in your visit
(p120).
But the novel is anything but nostalgic for
the colonial past, which was problematic in
itself and has left behind it many more. And
though the language in the novel is often seemingly
naive in this way, the reader is warned early
on not to take the language lightly:
The British were sometimes casual when they
wrote to the natives of India. When they wrote
to their colonised subjects, they seemed to
imagine that history was speaking through them.
The Englishman often got into a fitful expressiveness
in which the language was more important than
what it was meant to convey, becoming rhetorical
and even artificial at such moments. The same
Englishman, however, could use his language
very naturally when he spoke for himself, in
his true voice. But it was his
language, which he had the right to use anyway
he liked. It was only the Indian who had to
be careful in its use (p14).
So underneath the lyricism there is a constant
awareness that the narration is in the language
of a conqueror, who is both arrogant and smug.
Beneath the genteel and graceful world of the
Ranbakshi family is the fragility of power within
the empire, beneath the ludicrous figure of
the viceroy Mortimer Edmund Griffin-Tiffin and
his ugly dominating mother is the sinister truth
that such people still populate the upper class
of England, and beneath the elaborate horror
of Nadir Palace lies the truth of abusive relationships
and paranoid obsessions. And the apparent naiveté
is deeply ironic, through all the experience
of the novel runs the concern with justice and
freedom: from imperialism, from overbearing
parents, from caste rules and from prejudice.
What The White Tiger
does with brilliant savagery, The
Tailor’s Needle does with
elegance and wit: presenting complex and authentic
experiences of another world with thoughtful
compassion and with humour.
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The
Ghosts of Eden
Review from Anne Widdecombe MP
'This deeply moving book will leave you thoughtful
for long after you have read it.' Anne Widdecombe
MP
full
review from Anne Widdecombe in thebrowser.com
>>
Review from Andrew Crofts
Green Shoots in Publishing Landscape
Due to visit Uganda for the first time, I wanted
to do some background reading. On Amazon I typed
in the word “Uganda” and the great
machine suggested a number of titles that I
had not heard of. I did a little more googling
on each title that looked possible and made
a selection. I did not have particularly high
hopes, which is why it was all the more wonderful
to find I had accidentally ordered a masterpiece...
Continue
reading: http://andrewcrofts.blogspot.com/
Review from Jackie Bailey
The Waverton Good Read Award
Last year I raved about The Ghosts of Eden.
It is a wonderful book about twin boys growing
up in Uganda. The author, Andrew Sharp, is a
medical doctor and so it is packed with all
those intelligent observations about life that
doctors seem to acquire in abundance. The book
ended up on my top ten of 2009 list...
Continue
reading: http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/?p=5186
Review from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
'The delight is in the detail of this book.
It brought to me pictures of Uganda and that
feeling you always had there of life beyond
this life, whispering, beckoning, interfering.
Reality and myths reinforce each other as the
title suggests and you are left feeling the
vulnerability of humanity.'
Review from Lesley Mason, The Book Bag
Ghosts grips the reader subtly, by force of
personality: the personality of the main players,
and also of the place itself. A stunningly haunting
debut…
Superb debut novel from a writer and medical
doctor with an experience of sub-Saharan Africa
that is put to hauntingly lyrical and occasionally
violent use in a tale of childhood, loss and
adult love.
full
review in the www.thebookbag.co.uk
Review from Jackie Bailey, Farm Lane Books Blog
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants
to read about African culture, without battling
with symbolism or the endless horrors of war.
It is a beautifully written story, and I think
it has just become my favourite book with an
African setting.
July 2nd 2009: I would like to ensure I’ve
read all the best books published in 2009 before
the year ends, so I thought this half way point
would be a great point to compare notes and
make sure all the best books are in my sights.
Here is the list of my favourite books from
2009 so far:
http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/?p=1983
Review by student union magazine TheFoxxHunt
This novel is most definitely an intriguing
one. For those of you who like reading specific
genres, be prepared to be amazed as this story
fits in all the various genres.
www.thefoxxhunt.com
Reader comments from The People’s Book
Prize:
A beautifully written book. Sensitively observed.
A must read for anyone who loves Africa.
A gripping story with an excellent beginning,
and continuing with authentic medical and spiritual
insights. Brilliant!
Reflects the author's background in Africa,
and deals sensitively with issues raised.
Evocative, thoughtful, moving - the author gives
us the true Uganda not the Amin one.
This book richly deserves a wider audience
Captivating book and difficult to put down.
It clarified and informed beautifully on the
spiritual world of traditional African tribal
beliefs, whilst illuminating the life of ex-pat
families. Lovely use of language.
Having lived in Uganda and been to boarding
school myself I found it so emotive. A beautifully
written, unique book
I loved this book. I was gripped from the opening
pages. Fantastic imagery and insights - I felt
like I really got inside the characters.
Memorable exploration of the emotional and spiritual
worlds of traditional Africa and colonialists:
different on the surface but driven by the same
uncertainties. Against this background one man
returns to Africa, falls in love, and is forced
to face his past. In doing so he painfully reaches
a new awareness of his own deeper self and is
able to mature beyond his previous emotional
limitations. Moving but not sentimental, a story
referenced to the past but very relevant and
fitting to the 21st century.
Fantastic story.
A rich and evocative read with sensitive insight
into the developing minds of young children
in a clash of worlds. Tribal and colonial, missionary
and ex-pat, boarding school and kraal communities
are mixed together in the commonalities of love,
disappointment and loss in a way that convinces
and intrigues.
Really enjoyable read.
The synopsis given is for the prologue only!
The book is SO much more. It's divided into
three sections: the story of two African brothers
growing up, the story of Michael as a missionary
boy, and the story of Michael returning as an
MD to Uganda. My favourite was the first part
with beautiful insights into the African mindset,
such as their concept of time. A worthwhile
read.
Drawn in from the very first chapter!
Excellent book. One you can read again and again
Beautifully written characters with a captivating
story. Read during every spare moment!
Wonderfully interesting book.
amazing book! love it!
Magical language. Wonderfully drawn characters.
Fascinating narrative that stops you from putting
down this book before you've read it from cover
to cover.
Evocative writing, an absorbing novel which
touches the emotions.
Brilliantly written. Fascinating insights. Loved
it.
I could picture the sights, sounds and smells
of Africa through this beautifully written book.
The main characters came to life though the
narrative and I was truly sorry when my journey
with them ended.
A 'must read' by an author who knows his subject!
A great read. We lived in Uganda for a number
of years and the book had us remembering those
wide skies of the highlands and we could almost
hear the music of Africa.
Fabulous insights into Africa and a wonderful
mixture of emotions.
Great book. Humorous, interesting and very evocative.
Reading the book was like going on an amazing
journey, and I found it difficult to put the
book down.
Wonderfully evocative story with human and family
drama lived out in Africa. The hold of family
and Africa itself tells a powerful human story
I loved this book! The author perfectly captures
the minds of the two boys, and to be able to
do this convincingly with two completely different
cultures is an outstanding achievement. It is
my favourite book with an African setting! I
really hope it wins.
It made me laugh and cry and so much rang true
with my experiences of Africa.
http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/?p=1681
*New*
The Ghosts of Eden website >>
GHOSTS
OF EDEN launch party in Zimbabwe >> |
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Empires
Apart: America and Russia from the Viking to
Iraq
by Brian Landers
Peter Wilby, New Statesman
“The tales of torture, reckless bombing
and murder of unarmed civilians in Iraq contained
in the latest WikiLeaks documents led not to
soul-searching in America, but to complaints
about the comfort they may give to present and
future enemies. Americans have never been good
at self-criticism, a point illustrated by US
censorship of a fascinating book I am currently
reading, Empires Apart. The author, Brian Landers
- hardly a loony lefty, but a former senior
Home Office civil servant who has also worked
for several multinationals, including Penguin
Books - argues that America's development has
remarkably close parallels with Russia's. Both
built an internal empire, partly based on ethnic
cleansing, before they created an external one,
Russia's being presented as an extension of
socialism, America's as an extension of freedom
and democracy. Both opted to create client states
rather than to rule directly in the conventional
imperial manner.
“Landers notes that Americans have a
habit of wiping inconvenient events out of history.
Bloody Sunday, 1905, when the Russian tsar's
troops fired on demonstrators in St Petersburg,
killing about a hundred, is quite widely known.
An equivalent event 16 years later in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, when the National Guard sprayed black
protesters with machine-guns, killing (according
to modern research) about 300, is almost forgotten.
All this is succinctly explained in Landers's
introduction, which provides the framework for
the book. Distributors of the recent US edition,
published by Pegasus, initially refused to handle
it because of its "anti-American sentiments".
They reluctantly agreed only when the introduction
was deleted.”
Matthew Bell, The Independent on Sunday:
‘ ................ Anecdotes of British
culture being rebranded for the American market
are legion – The Madness of George III
became 'The Madness of King George' in case
thickies wondered what happened to Parts I and
II. But it still came as a shock to the historian
Brian Landers when a vital swathe of his book
'Empires Apart', a comparison of America and
Russia, was cut for the US version, to avoid
hurting American sensibilities. "It's not
anti-American," he tells me, "but
they didn't like the parallels I drew with Russia.
Funnily enough there's a bit where I compare
the way the two countries treat dissidents:
in Russia they put them in mental asylums or
shoot them; in America they just don't publish
them."
ENDORSEMENTS FOR EMPIRES APART
LOBSTER 57
Moscow on the Hudson?
John McFall
Is America an empire? Tsarist Russia and its
Soviet successor were certainly seen as such
through western eyes. That America is not shows
the heavily ideologised world through which
we frame history. In a bold sweep of historical
comparison of the two world titans, Mr Landers
attempts, in his first major work, to correct
such ideological distortions in an agnostic,
sardonic and wonderfully written treatment of
his subject. Juxtaposing Russia’s avowedly
imperialist history with anti-imperialist America
he demonstrates the ‘continuity of empire’
in each nation’s seemingly incongruous
histories in a convincing, skilful presentation
of their similarities yet fundamental differences.
This is a great book. Topical, thoroughly enjoyable,
and packed with information and interpretative
controversy. Read
more >>
DOUGLAS BOARD Chair, Refugee Council
(review first published in the monthly magazine
of the British America Project)
**Amazon tells me that people who bought this
also bought ‘The Bourne Identity Ultimate
DVD Boxset’. I rather think not ... I
am sure a number of BAP Fellows will be interested
in this book. In his foreword, Andreas Whittam
Smith lauds this ‘piercing account’
of American history which explores a comparison
between American and Russian expansion through
the centuries. Brian Landers’ thesis is
challenging, a story of two surprisingly similar
manifest destinies. See www.empiresapart.com
for more. I’m particularly delighted to
recommend this since Brian is only in the process
of ‘coming out’ as a writer, wrapped
inside a commercial finance director. Some years
ago he was both brave and foolish enough to
let me recruit him as finance director of the
prison service, so he really does know the meaning
of the word ‘challenging’.
A note by Andreas Whittam Smith, founding
editor, The Independent:
Brian Landers has written a piercing account
of American history from its colonial beginnings
to its present role as an unacknowledged empire
that bestrides the world. Concerned as he is
to expose the myths that nations create about
themselves, he bases his analysis upon a revealing
comparison of American and Russian expansion
through the centuries. This technique forces
the observer to recognise similarities, identity
differences and question why both similarities
and differences exist. In a sense, then, the
reader gets two books for the price of one,
Russian history as well as American.
The parallels are striking. In the very same
decade, the 1860s, Russia emancipated its serfs
and the US freed its slaves. The ideology of
corporate capitalism emerged at the same time
as Marxism. Both nations marched towards the
Pacific from their ancestral lands, from the
Thirteen Colonies in the one case and from Muscovy
in the other. Both reached the ocean by conquest
of nomadic tribes - or as Americans like to
say, by ‘settlement’ or ‘colonisation’
or, occasionally, by ‘annexation’.
And finally, to take a question, was there really
any difference between the Monroe Doctrine that
America used to justify its interventions in
Latin America and in the Caribbean and the concept
of ‘Pan-Slavism” that Russia prayed
in aid when exercising its designs on the Balkans?
This approach leads to a major theme of Mr
Landers’ work, that the US is and always
has been an imperialist power. Americans act
like imperialists, he writes, but don’t
talk like imperialists. It isn’t even
an established ‘fact’ that there
is or ever has been an American Empire. What
is a fact, however, is that since the US marines
invaded Libya in 1805, American troops on average
have intervened somewhere abroad more than once
a year.
Mr Landers is not a conventional historian.
His skills are derived from a business career
as well as from the academy. This unusual combination
produces rare insight. He also has a way with
aphorisms. ‘Russia is an inferiority complex
trying to find itself. America is a superiority
complex trying to sell itself.’ That is
what ‘Empires Apart’ seeks to demonstrate.
Tim Waterstone, founder, Waterstone’s
Bookshops, writes:
'A most enjoyable and intelligent book. Brian
Landers constructs a tightly argued analysis,
and never loses a beguiling narrative drive.'
Mark Ellingham, founder, Rough Guides, writes:
'The American and Russian Empires deserve
a Rough Guide – and Brian Landers’
book is that, and more.'
Sir Roger Martin, founder, Index Books and
Quality Books Direct, writes:
'Simply staggering in vision, depth, development
of ideas and detailed research. And it's also
very readable and approachable. The analysis
along the way is very revealing and a challenge
to accepted thinking.'
Brian has recently launched the Empires Apart
website: www.empiresapart.com
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Kill
Grief
Review from Karen Baston, University of London
Caroline Rance’s novel is a tale of
addition set in Chester in 1756. It is also
a mystery which allows its story to unfold via
flashbacks and cleverly placed clues and references.
The first few pages are deceptively simple.
You think you are reading something to set the
stage while you are enjoying some excellent
descriptive passages. But later on you realise
that returning to those first few pages and
re-reading them would be a very good idea indeed.
Click
here to read on this review ( full review PAGE
49)
Review from Anne Brooke, The Bookbag
“Mary Helsall began work as a nurse
in Chester in 1756, but she was rather impatient
and caring for others didn't come naturally
to her. Her solution was gin and oblivion -
and a volatile relationship with a hospital
porter, but it was only when a diseased beggar
came to the hospital for treatment that it became
clear that Mary had secrets to hide.
This debut novel is by a very talented author
indeed. The front cover bears the legend jolts
the reader into Hogarth's world with a vengeance
- and this exactly encapsulates the breadth
of the novel. In many ways it was a disturbing
read (not one to be read late at night!), due
to the very vivid descriptive scenes. Admittedly,
the horror and squalor of the environment was
one of the many strengths of this wonderful
novel, but I personally could only manage to
read it a few chapters at a time - it's certainly
not a novel for a squeamish reader.
Interspersed in the main storyline, we have
alternate, brief chapters which give us glimpses
of Mary's former lifestyle. Based in a coastal
village nearby, she and her husband were involved
with the local smuggling ring, and this is fundamental
to our understanding of the situation in which
they now find themselves. These chapters are
brief, and give minimal detail - almost a snapshot
of their former life. Information is fed to
us slowly, but consistently, and so we build
up a well rounded portrait of their earlier
life.
But these scenes aren't as evocative and 'real'
as the scenes which unfold in Chester. The city
truly comes alive, with scenes, smells, tastes
all being virtually palpable. The city becomes
a character in its own right, and Rance's descriptive
scenes are excellent - we literally feel as
if we're walking the rows with Mary - I jumped
when she was accosted! The more detailed scenes
which unfolded in the hospital and jail were
simply stunning. A few words managed to paint
a very vivid and frightening portrait of these
institutions, their inmates and gaolers - indeed
theses terms would apply equally well to either
of the institutions.
As the central protagonist, Mary is wonderful.
Initially overwhelmed by the city, she gradually
grows in boldness and stature. She's an extremely
complex character, and I was often surprised
at her actions. Emboldened by her increasing
reliance on gin (the 'kill-grief' of the title),
she becomes progressively more devious in her
fight for survival, and towards the conclusion
of the novel, she is a very different character
to the almost timid girl of the outset.
Her relationships, past and present with the
other characters - male and female - also add
to the enigma. In her native village she was
envied, and indeed, on her arrival in Chester,
appeared almost as a slightly aloof character.
Females envy her, males are drawn to her. What
is the secret behind her relationship with the
hospital benefactors… why does she turn
to the porter for comfort… how much of
her earlier life can we believe, or was some
of it mere fantasies… so many meaty dilemmas
to ponder in this wonderful book.
The other characters are very well depicted.
The lecherous surgeons, the domineering matron,
the weak porter, and the enigmatic Hartingshall:
all play vital roles in both the development
of the plot, and Mary's difficult journey. Sympathies
abound for many of the characters - even the
dislikeable ones.
Overall, this was a wonderful novel. The plot
was well developed, and progressed at a good
pace - quick enough to keep the reader turning
the pages, but slow enough to keep us guessing.
The characters were magnificent, encouraging
us to sympathise with their ghastly lifestyle,
and simultaneously back away from the squalor
they represented. There was no part of this
novel which I can fault - it was simply a great
read, and I do hope the author writes more in
this vein - well done Ms Rance!
I'd like to thank the author for sending a
copy to The Bookbag.
If this book appeals then you might also enjoy
The Journal of Dora Damage by Belinda
Starling.”
Review from Anne Brooke, Vulpes Libris
“From the very first sentence, this
book wraps you round in a coat of darkness,
tension, low-life street horror and kick-ass
descriptive poetry strong enough to obliterate
several countries and still have time for a
gin or two.
I loved it.
After all, any first page in a novel that
has this paragraph in it gets my vote:
Cursing drivers, bellowing poultry hawkers,
beer-fuelled brawlers – the city seemed
made of gaping mouths. Stumps of teeth as rotten
as taters, gums mashed by scurvy, noses crumpled
by the pox. Mary squeezed round a horde of men
outside a tavern, their armpits level with her
nostrils. Beyond their oniony heat and the blast
of ale fumes, the air chilled her face.
Really, what’s not to love? It’s
heaven. Kill-Grief tells the story
of Mary Helsall, who arrives in Chester in 1756,
carrying her own bitter secrets but determined
to carve an independent future for herself,
despite the variety of men who lay claim to
her, body and soul. Frankly, this is how historical
novels should be written – with the setting
so densely and sharply described that it becomes
a character in itself. For it’s the quality,
intensity and sheer poetry of the writing that
captures the reader and doesn’t allow
them to leave until the very end. In fact this
key aspect of the novel reminds me of the writing
of DH Lawrence – and, like his work, it’s
best to savour the experience of reading rather
than rush through it.
But let me turn to Mary. It’s great
to find a strong female character who fits into
her world and historical setting perfectly well
(ie it’s not a case of a modern gal transported
into a period piece, which is always irritating)
but who still possesses her own independent
thought processes that don’t jar with
the age she lives in. That said, she’s
not an overly likeable character, but really
that suits me just fine as I don’t like
overly likeable people. Either in fiction or
real-life. She has reality and depth and an
overwhelming sense of being more than the sum
of her parts, and that’s really all I
want in my novel characters. And she’s
strong enough to carry both the velvet weight
of description – seen of course all through
her eyes – and the mysteries and tension
of the plot. There is one small part of the
novel, however, that doesn’t quite ring
true; Mary’s relationship with Anthony,
the porter at the hospital where she works,
seems to start far too early for the character,
her story and the traumatic emotional history
she carries with her and which we only discover
more about later on. I personally think it would
have been better for Mary not to have fallen
so instantly in love with him – it just
isn’t her, not after what she’s
been through and the things she knows she has
to face. It would have been more believable
and more solid for the friendship/relationship
with Anthony to have been allowed more room
in the novel to breathe and find its own pace.
What we have now seems a little forced.
Which brings me to the men in the novel. Kill-Grief
is primarily a novel about Mary Helsall and
Chester. Those are its main purposes. And it’s
brilliant at both. But there are three key secondary
male characters who are also a part of the whole:
Selwyn, Mary’s imprisoned husband; the
porter Anthony; and Bryce Warbreck, the shadowy
man in Mary’s past who changes everything.
Of the three of them, it’s Selwyn who
seems most alive and real, even though he doesn’t
appear very often within the book. I was wondering
why this should be, and I think part of the
reason is this: Selwyn is in prison in terrible
circumstances and it is in describing these
conditions that Rance’s gritty poetic
writing style truly comes into its own. The
grimmer the setting and the more desperate the
people, the more grounded they become under
her pen. There is an inextricable link between
character and how character is described that
hits the reader right between the eyes and is
impossible to ignore. As a result, the rather
less desperate (though of course not actually
happy) characters of Anthony and Warbreck perhaps
lose something in the telling. In addition,
in the case of Anthony, his reality is weakened
somewhat by his too-quick introduction as Mary’s
new love interest and I do also think that this
is not a novel about love. It’s a novel
about women and the survival of women. Mary
is far more vital than any of the men around
her, and rightly so. It does here remind me
(though the genres are hugely different!) of
the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series of fantasy
novels where Thursday’s relationship with
her husband (whose name I cannot even remember
– a point in itself I feel …) just
gets in the way of her story and character.
I do wonder what would have happened –
and just how even more powerful the character
of Mary might have been – if Anthony didn’t
in fact exist, and Mary’s story was one
of slowly removing herself from the influence
of both Selwyn and Warbreck alone. Something
in my head keeps telling me that the wonderful
Mary is in fact at her essence a woman who has
learnt and is learning to survive without love
and on her own, even in those historical times.
An interesting thought anyway.
Incidentally, I couldn’t review this
novel without saying that it’s a delight
to be in the presence of so much appropriate
vomit. I do think the appearance of sickness
in the modern novel is a thesis just waiting
to be written – and if anyone out there
would like to tackle that multi-colour subject,
then this novel is the one to start with. Here,
as Mary is a nurse, the vomit is entirely to
be expected, and in her struggle with her –
and Anthony’s – gin addiction, it
also perfectly naturally makes its appearance
known. And more power to its gut is what I say.
There should be more of it – though I
do appreciate this is an entirely personal view.
So my overall opinion is that, despite very
very minor reservations here and there, this
novel is a five-star class act. It’s an
astonishment (though sadly not an entire surprise
in these difficult publication times) to me
why it hasn’t been picked up by a more
mainstream publisher, and huge applause to Picnic
Publishing for choosing it. It’s dark
and rich and bitter, and you won’t regret
the read. When Rance publishes her next, I’ll
be first in the queue.”
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Something
Hidden
Charfield rail crash mystery
Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 07:00
Gerry Brooke delves into a new fictionalised
account of a mystery that had never been solved
–the identity of two children who died
in a horrific rail crash 80 years ago
The tragedy happened one foggy October morning
in 1928.
The mail express train from Leeds to Bristol
was due to pass through the South Gloucestershire
village of Charfield at about 5.30am
On board the steam train – hurtling along
at more than 60mph – more than 50 passengers
were either dozing or sleeping.
The signalman accepted the train down from Berkeley
junction but moved another signal to danger
to halt it until a freight train on the same
line had reversed into sidings.
But in the thick fog both driver and fireman
on the express read the distant signal as clear.
The goods train driver had almost cleared the
line when he saw the mail train bearing down
on him at full speed.
There was no stopping the tragedy. Read
more >>
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™
Programme, November 2009:
'Something Hidden' had me gripped from the
very beginning. I think the fact that it is
based on true events made it all the more fascinating
than if it had been a work of complete fiction.
It raised many questions for me, and the main
one is still unanswered. So was it a complete
cover-up, or was it a series of unfortunate
coincidences? Was bribery involved, or was more
made of the case than should have been? Of course,
the BIG question - whodunit? - is a matter of
conjecture, however, the author gives their
own take on this. It's beautifully written,
easy to read, and totally absorbing. It is also
very sad, in that these children were never
claimed by anyone, and it reflects badly on
society at the time I feel. Thoroughly recommended.
The train crash, the child victims and a baffling
80-year mystery
By Sarah Freeman in the Yorkshire Post
It's a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie.
In the early hours of October 13, 1928, the
Leeds to Bristol night mail train was making
its way quietly towards its destination.
The fog that night was thick and as the train,
with 50 passengers on board, passed through
Gloucestershire the driver and his fireman didn't
see the warning signal ahead.
Within a matter of seconds, a routine journey
had turned into a national disaster. Ploughing
into a freight train, one coach was thrown across
a bridge and when the gas cylinders used to
fuel the lights exploded on impact, the 40ft
high flames could be seen from miles around.
Emergency services arrived quickly on the
scene, but for many of the passengers it was
already too late – 12 of those who died
were so badly burnt their families accepted
the railway company's offer of a mass grave.
For those involved in the rescue operation,
the scene was grim, and when the bodies of two
young children were discovered among the wreckage
they knew someone would have the unenviable
job of telling their relatives their worst nightmare
had come true.
However, no one ever did come forward. One
witness described the pair as well-dressed.
Another told police officers they thought the
boy was about 10 years-old; the girl, they said,
looked a little younger and they had assumed
they were brother and sister.
Despite high profile appeals, the pair were
never identified and as the years passed the
case passed into folklore.
"It's an intriguing tale," says
Nick Blackstock, author of Something Hidden,
a fictional account of the crash and its aftermath.
"I first came across the story when reading
the memoirs of the coroner who carried out the
inquests and I always thought it would make
a fascinating basis for a novel."
In the months which followed the crash, various
theories were put forward as to the identity
of the two children and some even doubted the
bodies had existed at all.
Nick admits trying to get to the truth of
what happened 80 years ago is impossible and
his novel, which suggests their deaths were
part of a cover-up of the very highest order,
was completed with a large helping of artistic
licence.
"At the time of the crash it was still
very much the era of the Empire when many wealthy
parents lived and worked abroad while their
children were educated here," says Nick,
who lives in Keighley. "At first, people
thought that was the case with these two children,
but no mother or father ever returned demanding
to know where their children were.
"There were suggestions part of their
school uniform had been found. Apparently, it
bore the motto Luce Magistra which is the one
used by Queen Ethelburga's near York, but the
school always denied any connection to the children.
"The mystery generated an avalanche of
letters to newspapers and it was from these
the truly off-the wall suggestions emerged.
One suggested the remains which were found were
in fact those of two ventriloquist dummies and
another claimed they were not children, but
jockeys.
"For years afterwards a lady in black
was also seen visiting the Charfield cemetery
laying flowers at the memorial to the two unknowns,
but of course no one thought to ask who she
was. Rumour had it a Gloucester solicitor also
had crucial information about the crash, but
like all good mysteries he died without ever
telling anyone what he knew."
Having studied history at university, Nick
has always had a fascination with the past and
his first book Beast was inspired by the true
story of a wolf that terrorised southern France
in the 18th century. Something Hidden may be
set in a different time and place, but it's
fuelled by the same sense of mystery.
"There's always a worry when you're writing
about historical riddles that before you've
finished the final draft someone will come forward
and reveal the truth," says Nick. "Thankfully,
no one seems to be able to throw any real light
on either of the mysteries I've written about
and for that I am very, very grateful."
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/The-train-crash-the-child.5523137.jp |
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Entropy
Review from Alice Palmer, Illinois Politician
“Entropy just arrived and
I have been reading it ever since. You are a
helluva writer, Lady. As well as your keen sense
of the ironies, foibles and contradictions of
human lives, particularly those of Black folk,
there is a wicked sense of humor underlying
it all.”
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Too
Little Too Late -
the politics of climate change
Paul Hampton, LABOUR RESEARCH writes:
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE: THE POLITICS OF CLIMATE
CHANGE: Labour MP Colin Challen is one of the
few politicians with a credible record on climate
change. This book offers a Westminster-eye view
of the government's approach, written from the
perspective of a loyal dissenter. It is particularly
scathing about the reliance on market mechanisms
to solve climate change. The author argues that
higher prices will not necessarily reduce emissions.
Last year, the rise in prices drove firms to
explore oil sands and other difficult-to-reach
reserves, and reignited demand for coal. Similarly,
Challen has no faith in emissions trading, the
centrepiece of national and international efforts
to control emissions.
He argues that it is the private ownership of
energy utilities that makes it harder to tackle
climate change in the UK, and urges a renewed
discussion about public ownership.
Early in the book, the author poses the question:
Where does the power to change things really
lie? However, Challen's answer - largely a cross-party
consensus in Parliament and individual personal
carbon allowances - appears to forget the valid
arguments put at the beginning of the book of
why it's "too little, too late".
A labour movement based campaign would be a
far more serious proposition for saving the
planet.
Labout
Research Department www.lrd.org.uk
Review from 20SustainableBuilding, February
2009:
'Labour MP Colin Challen, who retires at the
next general election to spend more time saving
the planet from climate change, has written
a very pessimistic new book on his experiences
as a politician in trying to bring some urgency,
rationality and sustainability to energy policy.
Despite its pessimism, Too Little, Too Late
is well worth reading.
Early on Challen writes wryly: “climate
change means that politicians have to submit
their long cherished beliefs to a challenging
examination.” The author himself, however,
is personally blameless, as he has long lived
a life bounded by beliefs that many others will
have to take on if we are not to meet ecological
disaster.
Launching his book at a parliamentary event,
he re-iterated that “there is insufficient
political understanding of the problem, and
the solution.” Recalling a curtailed meeting
he had with an anonymous Labour minister, he
said the ministerial message was “don’t
frighten the horses.” Challen himself
argues that elected politicians need to level
with the electorate, and “prick the hubris”
of political parties whose polices make things
worse. The key for Challen is human behavioural
change, not treaties or financial instruments
– such as carbon credits – so beloved
of policy makers and shakers. And why, he asks
plaintively, can’t the same money made
available to recapitalise the banks be made
available for sustainable technologies?
Challen former US vice president Al Gore’s
question, to a climate change rally in July
2008: “Am I the only one,” he asked,
“who finds it strange that our government
so often adopts a so-called solution that has
absolutely nothing to do with the problem it
is supposed to address?”
The elected President Obama luckily is asking
the right questions (see story page 8). Challen
bravely asks many awkward questions in his book,
which is an antidote to the deniers of climate
crisis. Read it.'
Picnic Publishing, Hove, £9.99
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Black
President
Judith Ehrlich, Director, "Most Dangerous
Man in America, Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon
Papers"
“I couldn't put it down... Schmidt tells
a fascinating story that mixes history with
conspiracy theory and sheer fantasy to deliver
a jaw-dropping and extremely entertaining read.”
Vin Diesel - Actor
"He (Schmidt) super-empowered me. The
book (Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices)
changed my life."
Kevin Smith - Writer/Director, Clerks,
Chasing Amy, Dogma, etc.
"Without Rick's book (Feature Filmmaking…),
Clerks would have been an idea that never made
it past this page."
John Lasseter - Writer/Director, Toy Story,
Cars, etc.
"Rick Schmidt shows filmmakers
how to use these new tools (as discussed in
Extreme DV) to realize their visions."
TOTAL POLITICS December 2008, Issue 6
Keith Simpson MP,
Opposition frontbench spokesman,
Foreign Affairs, writes:
Black President Rick Schmidt Picnic, £9.99
Review by Keith Simpson, MP for Mid Norfolk
This novel took several years to come to
fruition. The author says he wrote the first
draft pre-9/11 and he has now published it at
a significantly opportune moment in the history
of the US Presidency. Schmidt's novel is in
the finest tradition of 'faction' blending historical
figures and events with those of his imagination.
He uses as his vehicle for the plot JFK's well
known promiscuity, and the novel opens with
the President's seduction of a devout, married,
African-American woman. Within two and a half
years of the couples only tryst, JFK is assassinated.
The son born of their union rises from poverty
to attain America's highest political office.
The novel is quite cleverly written and Schmidt
skilfully blends fact and fi ction with guest
appearances from Marilyn Monroe, J Edgar Hoover
and Martin Luther King. MPs will have from the
18 December until 12 January for their Christmas
recess, which, in between their family and constituency
duties, provides opportunities to relax or stretch
the 'little grey cells' with some improving
reading.
AMAZON.CO.UK:
Could'nt get a publisher in the United States....go
figure ., 4 Dec 2008 By russell clarke "stipesdoppleganger"
(halifax, west yorks)
My copy of Black President came with a note
from the U.K. publishers( "Pic Nic")
stating that this book couldn't get a publisher
in the United States which when you consider
what has happened recently is both highly amusing
and a damming indictment of any publishing houses
who turned this excellent novel down,. I mean,
talk about not knowing which way the wind is
blowing.
Taking in the assassinations of JFK ,Martin
Luther King and Robert Kennedy as well the Vietnam
War and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade
Centre the narrative skips all over the place
but is centred mainly on the result of a brief
carnal assignation between John Kennedy and
Sarah Little the attractive black niece of a
Whitehouse worker who just happens to catch
the Presidents permanently roving eye. She find
she is pregnant but have the resulting twins
Jackson and John actually been fathered by her
husband or the President? Black President gives
us little new in way of historical or political
insight basically re-treading old ground as
regards conspiracy theories ( though many of
these are now widely accepted as being at least
based on some empirical fact) but it does say
what it has to say in an entertaining pacy manner.
Indeed would say the last third of the book
dealing with pure fiction rather than historical
events given one persons twist from 2008 onwards
is rather cursorily dealt with .It feels rushed.
And it ends up relying overly on coincidences
that beggar belief. At least one character is
entirely superfluous and seems to be included
to egg the reader into thinking ..see this isn't
so far fetched after all. He believes so why
can't you?
This book , I suspect, will not be academic
or erudite for many readers .It deals with events
in a rather gossipy tabloid manner , revelling
in salacious details but I thoroughly enjoyed
this romp through the last 40 years of American
history . Other than the fact the book ends
up with a black president taking over in 2012
it's more soap opera than serious political
tome but it's a bloody good soap opera with
some of the best characters America has produced
over the last forty years.
Red, Black and Blue, 1 Dec 2008 By S. Wolfchild
"~*Kitty Cat Ink*~" (between worlds...)
This was requested by accident as I mistakenly
thought it to be a biography on the real President-elect:
It isn't. It's actually a yarn spun by Rick
Schmidt, a screen and guidebook writer now trying
his hand at novel writing, plucking some real
people and actual events from U.S. history weaving
them into something like make-believe.
Let's cut to the chase: I do not recommend
this. Why? Because it's basically like a bunch
of tabloids strung together with t.v. news reports-sex,
violence and an endless stream of assasinations.
I also question the ethics of using real identities;
how would any surviving relatives/decendents
of those people used here feel about what might
be a mockery made of someone in their bloodline?
Ironically, there's a danger of the reader hating
some of these 'characters' based on fiction,
which is just as bad as hating someone different
to you because you've been brainwashed into
it, which the novel touches on. If Mr Scmidt
could've made the effort to make all of the
characters fictional, even if they ended up
being transparent, alluding to their real counterparts,
at least that would've been fair.
It claims to be 'the hottest political thriller
of the decade' but instead it's a cold, political
non-starter with a made-for-t.v.-movie feel.
Its superfluous details burden it and even with
just 55 mercifully short chapters, it drags.
Basically, a black beauty is seduced by JFK,
knocked up with his twin boys and their unfolding
story runs alongside the politcs and conveyer
belt of presidents from 1961-2012.
It's a bit like a history tour, diary-ish and
meandering, but there's little here that folks
aren't already at least vaguely aware of. It
feels like it's flogging a dead horse instead
of taking the lessons and leaving the past behind.
Here, we learn very little if anything. The
whole thing seems like a pointless exercise.
It's not for anyone under 17, I'd say, as it
contains plenty of strong language and it's
graphic in places. It lacks that 'I must have
this book to read over and over again' allure,
which makes one thankful for libraries.
It's not the worst book ever, the story does
set up some interesting juxtapositions and evokes
some degree if fascination at times, about the
paths people choose and the lives they unltimately
create for themselves. For the most part though,
I couldn't care enough about any of these characters.
I'll end on this positive: Fannie Flagg or Dan
Brown he is not, but Rick Schmidt certainly
has talent as a writer and perhaps he'll do
better in future.
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Earth
Inc
Stephen Merchant - The Office,
Extras
Endorsing Michael Bollen's Earth Inc, Stephen
Merchant said: 'Earth Inc is a funny,
charming, inventive comic novel. Michael Bollen's
warmth, sharp wit and eye for satirical detail
reminded me of Douglas Adams. Quite possibly
the best work of fiction since The Bible'.
Review by student union magazine TheFoxxHunt
This book is an amazing piece of work that
is, if I think about it, a ‘feel good’
book. It may not seem so, but admit it, it’s
a guilty pleasure. Even the dedication page
at the end is funny. This man has provided us
with a rare gem of genius comedy that everyone
should read.
www.thefoxxhunt.com
Michael Bollen, gets interviewed:
www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/2836
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Politics
and Paranoia
Paul Foot, John Pilger
Praise for Robin Ramsay's Lobster Magazine
'Now that the British media, like mainstream
politics, has become an echo chamber, one of
the rays of light is a journal produced from
Hull called Lobster. It is journalism
at its best: curious, analytical, reliable,
wry and indispensable' - John Pilger
'Lobster is one of the most important
magazines to be launched in the post Second
World war period in Britain. It has covered
a long string of stories boycotted by the other
media. How has a magazine with no resources
been able to do this? By understanding the sinister
side of our intelligence services - out of control
and careless of the consequences of its excesses'
- Paul Foot
FREE Press July-August 2008 7
POLITICS AND PARANOIA, Robin Ramsay
By Granville Williams
If you have read Lobster some of the material
in this book will be familiar to you but it
is still a good read. It is a collection of
talks given by Robin Ramsay to a wide array
of organisations - Dallas 63, Chesterfield Labour
Party, Leeds Stop The War, North West CPBF,
Newcastle University history department and
many others.
In his introduction Ramsay describes the
genesis of Lobster, which he set up with Stephen
Dorril, in 1983 (the pair parted company in
the 90s but Ramsey continued to publish). One
of the reasons the magazine became an essential
read was that in 1985-86 Dorril made contact
with Colin Wallace, a former psychological operations
officer in the British Army, who was jailed
in Lewes prison for a manslaughter he didn't
commit, and with British Army Captain Fred Holroyd.
Through these sources Lobster uncovered events
in Northern Ireland and also plots to defame
and ultimately overthrow Harold Wilson's Labour
Government. This material was incorporated into
Smear! Wilson and the Secret State, a book co-authored
by the Lobster duo and published in 1991. During
the later 80s and into the 90s the North West
CPBF had close links with Lobster. Ramsay and
Dorril spoke at public meetings we organised
on The Secret State and were joined by Holroyd
and Wallace at a CPBF conference on Northern
Ireland and the intelligence services.
In the essay from which Politics and Paranoia
takes its title Ramsay writes: "There are
clandestine influences - conspiracies - at work
in society. Not the ridiculous, world-controlling
conspiracies like the Freemasons, or the Illuminati,
or President Truman meets the aliens, but more
mundane things like intelligence agencies manipulating
domestic and international politics, companies
buying Government policies by making anonymous
donations to the Tory party and so forth."
It is worth adding New Labour too, which he
deals with in one section of the book describing
how the party has collapsed into its present
"neo-conservative vacuity".
I recommend the book - buy it and you will
be supporting small independent publishing too. |
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Jasmine's
Tortoise
James Brewer, Lloyd's List
'POOR Iraq: its mineral riches have long made
it the plaything of the superpowers.
'In the abstract, it might be difficult in
this harsh world to be especially sympathetic,
but it is moving even unto anger to be given
an insight into how the power game has wrecked
and ruined families and whole communities.
'This is what Corinne Souza has achieved mercilessly
in her forceful "faction" novel Jasmine’s
Tortoise, which weaves the unfolding political
crisis of Iraq into the warp of world politics
(warp, in both senses, being just the right
word).
'Her book shows how intelligence-gathering
combined with personal greed reached deep into
political life in the UK and in the other major
powers, and has continued to do so well after
the Cold War ended.
'In her book, establishment dirty tricks and
cover-ups are threaded skilfully through all
400 pages, which span 37 years, as the author
scatters clues that eventually lead to an Agatha
Christie-style denouement.
'The book begins with the deep involvement
of British, American, Soviet, French and other
intelligence agencies in Iraq, a country that
used to be a fairly amicable melting pot even
under the ruthless rule of Saddam Hussein.
'The better-off families from many ethnicities,
including the Jewish and Christian communities,
and Sunnis and Shias, lived in friendship at
least, and often in harmony, enjoying trips
to the races together and grand balls by the
Tigris.
'As Souza writes of one spooky protagonist:
“His job was to involve others. And betray
them if necessary. Even those to whom he was
profoundly attached.” Thus even children
are cruelly groomed as "sleepers"
for activation, and sometimes blackmail, later
in their lives.
'Into the whole network feed the freemasons
and the Vatican, right up to the Holy Father
himself. Everyone is informing on, and deceiving,
everyone.
'Some shrewd remarks escape the lips of this
devious crew. At a socialite “spies party”
in 1965 in Baghdad, the French ambassador forewarns:
“America is out of its depth in Iraq.”
'Lloyd’s underwriters of old could be
trusted, it is suggested, to agree readily to
give cover for shipments of arms to Iraq, for
other dubious deals laundered through an international
construction contractor, and for sanctions-busting.
'Spies consort with spies and — James
Bond-style — shamelessly use bedroom traps,
not least in the case of one General Nico Stollen,
a charming and know-all agent of the KGB who
“makes a welcome addition to London society”.
'Poisoning the Kurdish water supply and murdering
a British defence minister is all part of the
pattern of Souza’s book.
'We can feel for some of the innocents caught
up in the system and have a shred of understanding
for some of the operatives.
'But this is an exposure of deep-rooted hypocrisy
and is so close to the type of people we know
and are expected to respect that it will send
shudders of fear and shame down the spine of
any decent person."
Review from Lloyd's
List, the Leading Maritime and Transport
News Portal
G. H. Fraser-sampson
It is fashionable amongst reviewers to refer
to a first novel as a "promising debut",
but "Jasmine's Tortoise" is much,
much more than that.
Corinne Souza handles her subject matter with
style and assurance, born it seems of deep knowledge
and personal experience. The story ranges across
continents and generations and is set against
a political backdrop of impressive accuracy.
The sheer scope and scale of it is breathtaking.
The writing is of the highest order (how refreshing
to find a contemporary novelist who knows how
to use a semi-colon, and employs words of more
than two syllables) and calls to mind both John
Le Carre and C.P.Snow. It will be interesting
to see how Souza's style develops into a truly
unique voice (which one has little doubt will
happen) in future books. Descriptive writing,
characterisation and plot are all of the highest
order.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to
anyone. In turns touching and awful, the story
grips you. Yet this is much more than just a
good story. It crosses over into the territory
of a serious literary novel.
Eliza Drake
I got hooked on Jasmine's Tortoise It was
a fascinating insight into a world I hardly
knew. A very good period feel with amazing echoes
of LeCarre and Graham Greene at times. Once
I had got over the shock of the legion of main
players at the start I really enjoyed it.
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