Gyles Brandreth - Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - (10x10x10x10/10)

 EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!! Okay, this is the one that I've been dying to write about for weeks, because it's just insane!!

This book has to be, without doubt, every English student's dream...

In a nutshell: Oscar Wilde (genius), Arthur Conan Doyle (inventor of Sherlock Holmes - need I say more?!?), Wordsworth's grandson, murder, mystery, and oh so many euphemisms!!!!!

...Possibly the most bizarre combination of anything that I've ever read, but utterly brilliant. Brandreth writes fiction as fact, inspired by history, so it's difficult to figure out what's historical and what isn't, and this is made all the more intense through the sheer reality of Brandreth's 'Wilde'!! As a reader with prior knowledge of Wilde's style and his work (particularly The Picture of Dorian Gray) I couldn't help but fall in love with just how vibrantly Oscar's character shines through the pages; Wilde could have been sitting in the room with me. At times I had to remind myself that this  book isn't actually a 'Wilde' piece! It's very much a contemporary novel, and I take my hat off to Brandreth, in admiration of the obvious amount of research that has gone into creating these characters and their relationships! Every detail has been intricately sculpted , with an infinite care and attention that must be blatantly obvious to even those readers with no knowledge of context...

I have to admit though that I wasn't always such a fan of Wilde. It took two years of stubborn hard work (and an astoundingly persistent English teacher!!) to make me see the beauty behind Wilde's language. In turn that means that, reading this novel, I found myself identifying the famous Wilde epigrams, and quotes that have been taken word for word from Wilde's work - including an abundance of sayings from The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I have subsequently come to adore as a novel, despite the pain it caused me!! These countless epigrams are what make the book for me (mainly because I could associate each and every one with something that I've written myself, or all the time I spent learning them - some of which was actually fun!), so I have to say that it's probably a novel that would be most appreciated by readers with such contextual knowledge. Having said that though, the story itself is still a very entertaining one - though maybe not as gripping as one might expect a murder-mystery novel to be...

Nevertheless Brandreth fills his book with twists, and just the right amount of mystery to keep us reading! Nothing is revealed until the very last minute, but I'm still incredibly proud to boast that I figured it all out before the end!!!

A truly Wilde experience! It's a series too...I can't wait to find the next one!!!!!

Rox
xx

Amazon it...NOW!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oscar-Wilde-Candlelight-Murders-Mystery/dp/0719569303/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410615861&sr=1-1&keywords=oscar+wilde+and+the+candlelight+murders

Cecelia Ahern - How to Fall in Love

How to Fall in Love - (10/10)

Technically speaking I have two other reads to write about before this one. But, since I finished it at 3 o'clock this morning after 3 sleepless nights of frantic reading, I decided it deserves to jump the queue (is that how you spell that word?!?!)!!! Because I am in love. Absolutely and unequivocally so...

 

I have already written a (pretty long) post on the absolute genius of Cecelia Ahern, so I won't rehash that particular sermon to you. What I will do though is exclaim wildly that this woman has written TEN incredible, mind-bogglingly wonderful and addictive novels in TEN years, whilst raising a family simultaneously. I can't even comprehend how women manage to hold families together and work successfully at the same time, let alone do something as all-consuming as write a novel! It seems impossible. But I'm far too career focused, so that's probably why...

 It will never cease to amaze me though how brilliant writers manage to write so many stories... I believe that everyone has a novel in them, but not everyone writes their story. However, writers manage to, year after year after year, produce tireless streams of enchanting material! I'd love to know HOW!! Where does it all come from?? 

Ahern's work in particular is always so fresh and new and magical and exciting, and I believe I could sit here and say that all day! How to Fall in Love is her latest novel and it goes without saying that it is, as ever, absolutely fabulous. I was really in the mood for a soppy, 'chick-flicky' love story when I picked it up...which is probably why I didn't put it down!! But the story-line is actually quite dark and she does exceptionally well to keep the dialogue light - and quite frankly hilarious - throughout despite the heartbreaking issues that the book raises!

I will always love this woman's work, but I really want someone else to love her too!!! 

 Rox

xx

Amazon it....NOW!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Fall-Love-Cecelia-Ahern/dp/0007350511/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410532573&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+fall+in+love

Daphne Du Maurier - Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn - (6/10)

Let me start by saying that my favourite story of all time is without a doubt Charlotte Bronte's  Jane Eyre - a story that I believe everyone should read at some point in their life! I can't say with certainty specifically why I love it so much, but I have been totally entranced by the novel since I was first introduced to it at 14. Even the film adaptations get me - and I don't let myself say that often!!! I've always said though that I believe the suspense of the book was lost on me because (to save her sanity I suppose) our English teacher of the time told us the entire plot in advance. To be fair to her, trying to get some of the 14 year olds from my secondary school to read a classic like Jane Eyre is like attempting to give a cat a bath...blindfolded...whilst riding a unicycle. I expect it would be quite amusing to watch, but I wouldn't like to try it myself...

Du Maurier's Rebecca, for me, startlingly reflects Bronte's story (and is also another fabulous book recommendation!!!) and so naturally I fell instantly in love with her. However, one reason I loved this book so much was that it was like re-reading Jane Eyre without the spoilers. It was incredible. I read the entire thing in 12 hours, and then sat grinning to myself about it for another 12 - have I mentioned that I might have a slight touch of lunacy?

Having loved Rebecca then, I was quite looking forward to getting stuck into Jamaica Inn this summer, especially since I had to cancel on my St Ives holiday; I figured this was about as close to Cornwall as I was ever going to get this summer!

I've been noticing recently (mainly since I read the appalling demise of Clarice Starling in Thomas Harris' trilogy!) how women - even in this day and age - can never seem to survive on their own in film or literature, even when their creators are women!! (And presumably women who would like to see themselves as independent! Grrr!) It seems impossible for a heroin to not end up running off into the sunset with her fella! Though it's not exactly 'contemporary', with Jamaica Inn in particular, I was amazed at how misogynistic it is. Du Maurier creates a brilliantly strong character in Mary Yellan, who loses her mother, sells of her entire life, and travels alone to live with an aunt she hasn't heard from in over a decade and her abusive husband...before mercilessly tearing her apart and marrying her off to a horse thief! At least Bronte had the sense to leave Rochester totally reliant on Jane before she gets to marry him.

The misogyny of Jamaica Inn did (if you can't tell already) overshadow the 'gothic' element for me whilst I was reading it. But nevertheless the story itself is quite gripping in parts. It's definitely not as gripping as Rebecca, nor is it as absorbing in my opinion, but I do at least have respect for the way in which Du Maurier tells a story - like a dripping tap. Drip drip drip. She leaks information and drops clues that you don't know are clues until it's too late.

She's painfully slow to reveal each twist, but each twist hits you like a slap in the face.

Rox
xx

Amazon it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jamaica-Inn-VMC-Daphne-Maurier/dp/1844080390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409590005&sr=8-1&keywords=jamaica+inn