LINEN PRESS Book Reviews
Shooting Stars are the Flying Fish of the Night
Lynn Michell and Stefan Gregory
‘I recognise many of the mistakes I myself have made. If you dream or plan to sail off into the blue, you will learn from this book. A great read for those who are going or want to go over the horizon!’
Sir Chay Blyth
‘Shooting Stars are the Flying Fish of the Night should be compulsory reading for anyone intending to make their first extended offshore trip under sail, especially if the boat is also new to them. It is also an endearing human story of three members of a family, father, mother and son battling to survive both physically and emotionally. It tells of Lynn’s anquish in having allowed their chronically ill son, Louis, to accompany them and Louis’s unfailing loyalty to both his parents. Few families put themselves through such a test and then have the courage to commit it all nakedly to paper.’
Chris Hawes, Director of Yacht Fractions
Nothing is Heavy
Vicki Jarrett
‘Jarrett’s novel for all its onslaught of events, isn’t heavy either. Its dialogue is fresh – ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ ‘Small chips and a pickled egg.’ – and its women characters display a feisty, Thelma-and-Louise-ish survivors’ charm. Despite its overload of life-crushing disasters and shorthand assessment of parenting, this is an oddly exuberant and salty book. And that’s even before the chips.’
Elsbeth Lindner, BookOxygen
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‘Nothing Is Heavy was brilliant fun to read. It was funny one paragraph, then thoughtful, sad one chapter, ridiculous the next. A fast-paced novel, with moments of clever writing, I’m excited by this debut novel. I put the book down last night with a smile on my face, and I liked that. Not often do I get such a feeling a peace from a novel, and nor did I expect one from a story so bizarre. Realistic and likeable characters, a great setting, a crazy plot; Jarrett has offered a very enjoyable read.’
Bethany Anderson, Subtle Melodrama
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‘[Jarrett's] dynamic and often comical storytelling ensures we keep turning the pages.’
Alastair Mabbott, Herald Scotland
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‘With a Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize shortlisting already under her belt for the novel, which has also been praised by the likes of Janice Galloway and Sophie Hannah, the omens are good for one of the Capital’s newest literary talents who isn’t quite done with chippies or the Tollcross netherworld as fictional subject matter. “They’re exciting in-between sort of places,” she says, “and that’s what interests me as a writer.” ‘
Jarrett is interviewed in the Scotsman
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‘A blackly comic and compelling read.’
Jade Skinner, Dundee University Review of the Arts
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THE MAKING OF HER
By Susie Nott-Bower
‘Readers old enough to remember Barbara Raskin’s ground-breaking 1987 novel Hot Flashes will take comfort in a novel that focuses not on thirty-somethings not on thirty-somethings not on thirty-somethings but the travails, physical and emotional, of fifty-year-old women. The novel’s combination of commitment and readability are reminiscent of Elizabeth Buchan and Anna Quindlen.’
Elsbeth Lindner, BookOxygen
‘A truly intelligent, incisive page-turner with so much to say about women’s lives – a sharp, satisfying treat of a read!’
Kate Harrison, Novelist
Click here for Readers’ Reviews. . .
WHITE LIES
By Lynn Michell
‘A debut novel which possesses and is possessed by a rare authority of voice… It is the mother’s voice that sings White Lies into unforgettability. Hers and Eve’s. Their thoughts and writing ring like music.’
Tom Adair, The Scotsman
‘An anatomist of the human heart.’
Wanda Whitely, HarperCollins
‘Gripping… with a bombshell of an ending.’
Michele Hanson, The Guardian
‘Moving, memorable and totally absorbing. Captures perfectly the trials of a middle-aged woman trying to care for and build a relationship with her distant father, now in his dotage, through the writing down of his memories.’
Sophie Radice, Guardian & Observer columnist
‘A naturally gifted writer and not afraid of ambitious projects as this one is. It has great filmic potential.’
Christopher Rush, Author of “Will”
‘…a fine job capturing the time and transporting the reader there whilst exploring the reactions, feelings and fears of those who lived through the early stages of the Emergency. A first class read.’
Martyn Day, Lawyer for former Mau Mau insurgents against the British Government
‘Credible and touching. Dramatic and tragic.’
The Torch
‘I read it all in one sitting – something that is increasingly rare these days – and I was most impressed by many parts of it, particularly the wonderful evocation of Africa not just as a place but as a milieu, strangely seductive and yet riddled with all the inherent contradictions of the White Man’s Burden and the White Man’s Guilt. You are an extremely accomplished writer and there are passages of extraordinary vividness and beauty. A lot of the writing is very strong, and the characters for the most part spoke to me very convincingly. There are many strong elements – the post-war ennui, racial tensions, and the terrible sense of waste, senselessness, that permeated, at all levels, the ‘quiet tragedy’ – the loveless marriage, impossible love triangle, broken parent-child bonds, and of course the political situation that is so effectively infused with the personal lives of the characters. I love the sense, by the daughter, of unease at her father’s painting of a golden era of colonialism, the spaces, the gaps that he is unwilling or unable to discuss.’
Edwin Hawkes, Makepeace Towle
BLUE EYES
By Hema Macherla
‘Dramatically pitched and packed with incident from the start when its teenage heroine, Anjali, is held in captivity to be burned on her husband’s funeral pyre.’
Tom Adair, The Scotsman
‘Compelling, charming and utterly convincing from the very first page. Hema Macherla is a writer to watch.’
Lesley Horton, Crime Writer
‘A stunning novel about irrational traditions and conflicts, and the courage to overcome all odds. A must read for all.’
Smita Singh, Chairperson VAANI, Asian Writers and Artists
‘An inspiration… this book has touched a chord among women not only from India but from the West and Europe…’
The Hindu
‘Plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader hooked.’
Maggie Hamand, Novelist
‘Blue Eyes is a novel about courage, about following your heart and being true to yourself when everything is set against you. It’s evocative, thought-provoking and enriched with unforgettable characters.’
Pam McIlroy, Blogger
Click here for Readers’ Reviews. . .
BREEZE FROM THE RIVER MANJEERA
By Hema Macherla
‘What a wonderful novel. It is a beautiful love story with a strong theme. There are some beautiful descriptions and the characters are strong.’
Lesley Horton, Crime Novelist
‘I really enjoyed reading Hema Macherla’s novel. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader hooked.’
Maggie Hamand, Novelist
‘Hema Macherla is a talented writer, an observer of life and human relationships, culture and customs. As a poet, writer, novelist and critic, I believe it is one of the best novels I have ever read.’
Y. Vidyasagar, Poet & Writer
UNDER AN EMERALD SKY
By Olukemi Amala
‘Took me to places of mystery, self enquiry, tears and much laughter. A thinking woman’s novel with the light touch of literary magic.’
Glasgow Women’s Library,(www.womenslibrary.org.uk/2011/04/under-an-emerald-sky)
‘Filled with Nigerian dialect and street talk…(the) story moved me to tears of both sadness and delight.’
The F Word, (www.thefword.org.uk/reviews/2011/05/under_an_emerald_sky)
‘A rare and compelling novel…This remarkable book tells of the past, of present adaptations, of old and new attitudes towards issues of oppression and power.’
Dr. Harbrinder Dhillon-Stevens, Lecturer, Psychotherapist, Writer
JAMES WITH A SILENT C
By Kerry McPhail
‘Utterly beautiful and utterly devastating. Kerry McPhail’s poetic tribute is testimony to the ferocious allure of life.’
Giles Broadbent, Editor, The Wharf
‘Kerry has written a wonderful book that tells an astonishing story… a fitting tribute to a remarkable man and the woman he loved. It presents a breathtaking account of Jim’s path into addiction, the tragedy of his life as an addict and his recovery and redemption. It will provide comfort, hope and inspiration to everyone who reads it.’
Professor William Rosenberg, Peter Scheuer Chair in Liver Diseases,
University College London Division of Medicine
Click here for Readers’ Reviews. . .
THE MISSING
By Juliet Bates
‘A deliciously descriptive book that questions the notion of memories and the idea of believing what you want to believe.’
Lucy Brown, Secluded Charm, (http://secludedcharm.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-review-missing-by-juliet-bates.html)
‘Totally absorbing….a beautifully written and constructed book.’
Alison Bacon, Between The Lines, (http://debutnovelist.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/small-but-perfectly/)
‘This is the kind of novel I love. The writing is exquisite and conveys the dream-like sense of ‘lost’ people wandering Europe with sad tells to tell which may or may not be true…a brilliant novel.’
Sally Zigmond, The Elephant In The Living Room, (http://
THE DEVICE THE DEVIL AND ME
By Stephanie Taylor
‘WOW! Stephanie Taylor really knocked my socks off with her novel! She has talent in spades and certainly made me cry.’
Deborah J Miller, Writer
‘An accomplished and impeccably penned narrative. Stephanie Taylor is a brilliant tour-guide through difficult and challenging human territory.’
Christopher Rush, Author of ‘Will’
‘This is a spellbinding book. A brilliant book, written with superbly accomplished skill and expressiveness, it is completely believable and authentic. It has heart, love and clarity, laced in and through, interlocked with dark apposite humour flashing out at just the right times like a harmonious symphony. There is not a wrong or discordant note throughout. Comic writing, which is passionate, truthful and spot on accurate.’
Carol Norris, The Eildon Tree
CHILDHOODS HILL
By Marjorie Wilson
‘Luminous, episodic, sensual, rather like memory itself.’
Susan Mansfield, The Scotsman
‘I have greatly enjoyed Childhood’s Hill, as lovely a read as I can remember, many beautiful touches and wonderful descriptive passages. Some I could read over and over again.’
Maurice Fleming, Former Editor of Scots Magazine
‘Very, very, very good.’
Hugh Andrews, Birlinn Books
‘At the age of 96, Marjorie Wilson wonders if, in Childhood’s Hill, her recollections of growing up ‘in a time long ago’, she has ever moved on. If not moving on means producing reflections as enchanting as these, then long may she stay rooted in the past. Despite the years that have gone by since she grew up in Edinburgh and the countryside of Midlothian her recall is crystal sharp, not least that of her mother’s busy restaurant, where men lolled on high stools eating hot pies and gravy, and the racehorse-riding grandfather who died crashing into a lamp-post. To it all she brings a light, wry touch and a serene wisdom.’
Review, This England