Life must be filled up

Another family saga from Adèle Geras: A Hidden Life. Rich Constance upsets her relations by secretly changing her will shortly before she dies. She successfully sets out to cause trouble and the fallout affects everyone in the family. I enjoyed this but didn't warm to the characters. The most interesting part of the story is what disinherited Lou finds out about her grandfather, who was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp as a child. I finished this and another Robert Goddard in double quick time and will now start the treat I have been saving for a cold, miserable Easter: The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. I’m also of course looking forward to this .

Facing the Light by Adèle Geras. The only book I’d previously read by her was Made in Heaven (see here). I enjoyed it but I think this one is better. I’m at the same time racing through to see if I’ve guessed right about the family’s dark secrets, and not wanting to finish it. What I like about Adèle Geras’s writing is that she has the true novelist’s eye for detail (just like Dickens!) and doesn't fob the reader off with generalisations. So you will never find a woman described merely as ‘smartly dressed’ or ‘scruffy’; her outfit will be itemised. Similarly, there are no ‘borders of gay flowers’ (© E M Brent-Dyer) but borders of hollyhocks, delphiniums and so on. If a house is full of flowers, they are not just bowls of roses but bowls of a particular variety, such as ‘Buff Beauty’. And there are lots of descriptions of houses and their interiors. There is a paragraph about the kitchen in this book which I read twice, for the sheer pleasure of it. This all sounds rather chick-litty and I suppose it is in a way but it’s a cracking read and vastly superior to most. Just needs more about shoes, Adèle…