THE MOUNTAIN IN MY SHOE by Louise Beech

❤❤❤❤❤

Available now

Description
On the night Bernadette finally has the courage to tell her domineering husband that she’s leaving, he doesn’t come home. Neither does Conor, the little boy she’s befriended for the past five years. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers. With the help of Conor’s foster mother, Bernadette must face her own past, her husband’s secrets and a future she never dared imagine in order to find them all.

My view
Louise is a gifted story teller, she shines in The Mountain In My Shoe.
Her novels were brought to my attention by a dear friend at WORD AFTER WORD 
Claire wrote a beautiful review

A must read

THE THERAPIST by Nial Giacomelli

Fairlight Modern
Available now

Description

A strange epidemic is sweeping the globe. Little by little, each victim becomes transparent, their heart beating behind a visible rib cage, an intricate network of nerves left hanging in mid-air. Finally, the victims disappear entirely, never to be seen again. In this bittersweet and hauntingly surreal tale, a couple struggle to connect while the epidemic creeps nearer. ‘I dreamt we were at sea,’ she says.

My thoughts soon

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS in this strange world by Elif Shafak

Bloomsbury Publishing
Publishing date December 3, 2019
Turkish Literature

Description

In the pulsating moments after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened awareness. While the Turkish sun rises above her and her friends asleep soundly nearby, she contemplates her mortal existence before eternal rest.

Tequila Leila's memories bring us back to her childhood in the provinces, a highly oppressive milieu where a loving mother is no match for a strict, unforgiving father. Escaping to Istanbul, Leila makes her way into the sordid industry of sex trafficking, finding a home in the city's historic Street of Brothels. This is a dark, violent world, but Leila is tough and open to beauty, light, and the essential bonds of friendship.

In Tequila Leila's death, the secrets and wonders of modern Istanbul come to life, painted vividly by the captivating tales of how Leila came to know and be loved by her friends. As her epic journey to the afterlife comes to an end, it is they who bring her story to a buoyant and breathtaking conclusion.

My view 

Elif Shafak's latest novel takes the reader to Istambul. 
The protagonists Leila and her friends face the consequences of living under a male dominated society. 
Five.women struggling to free themselves from a patriarchal society. 

I found the premise of the story interesting. 10 minutes 38 seconds refers to the time the brain continues to function after death. I believe we all heard of "life flashing by at the moment of death"

The novel begins with Leila, her body in a rubbish bin, Leila has been murdered, With her memories intact she remembers her very birth in a town far from Istambul, Van a small muslim town where patriarchy is the norm, as in many small towns surrounding Turkey. As the story progresses, each chapter is a minute less from 10 minutes 38 seconds.

Leila shares this novel in equal parts with Humeyra, Zaynap, Jameelah and Nalan, four women we will meet along with Leila. I liked how every woman was an equal with her story throughout the novel, five women friends.

Istambul can be unforgiving to girls lost in it's immensity, it's diversity of religion, extraordinary wealth and poverty. Lila will find her new home in Istambul's red district. A business licenced by the city. 

Girls arriving from small towns surrounding Turkey are most vulnerable to sex traffickers, some survive through prostitution some die at the hands of such men.

This novel takes place in Turkey, sex trafficking takes place around the world.

The author Elif Shafak's novels have been banned in Turkey, for exposing the true face of this country who thrives to modernize itself yet still remains for the most part a patriarchal society in many ways. The author now lives in London where she is active in women's rights.

A must read. A well written story.


Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for this arc

THE INDUSTRY OF SOULS by Martin Booth

Personal Copy

Description

The Industry of Souls is the story of Alexander Bayliss, a British citizen who was wrongfully arrested for espionage by the KGB in the 1950s and sentenced to twenty-five years of hard labor in the work camps of Siberia. Eventually freed in the 1970s, he decides not to return to the West--a world he barely remembers and to which he no longer belongs--and instead finds his way to a small Russian village where he becomes a much beloved schoolmaster.

Now, on the day of his eightieth birthday, communism has evaporated and Russia is changed. This moving story alternates between this momentous day to his harrowing past in the camp and his life in the village. And in the end, he is presented with a choice, perhaps for the first time in his life

My thought to come

WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH 2019

Author, Tatiana Tolstaya
Translator, Anya Migdal
Book 1

5.5

Tolstaya's characters--seekers all--are daydreaming children, lonely adults, dislocated foreigners in unfamiliar lands. Whether contemplating the strategic complexities of delivering telegrams in Leningrad or the meditative melancholy of holiday aspic, vibrant inner lives and the grim elements of existence are registered in equally sharp detail in a starkly bleak but sympathetic vision of life on earth. 

A unique collection from one of the first women in years to rank among Russia's most important writers.

My view

Tatyana Tolstaya who counts among her heritage Tolstoy, is a rambunctious, acerbic and erudite author.

I encourage readers to become acquainted with this author.

Her stories will have you laugh and think. She delivers an interesting look into the new Russia of today in prose which would have certainly send her to the gulag under the USSR.

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Author Alina Bronsky

Translator Tim Mohr

Book 2

5.5

My view

Alina Bronsky one of my favorite Russian author, among a few others.

we all have heard of Chernobyl's catastrophe.

A dozen individuals with diverse afflictions decide to return to their homes, regardless of radiation present in their home town, after all who wants to end the last days of their lives in some strange place? Life resumes rapidly as in any small town, to the delight of the reader.

Reade

Author Linda Stift

Transator Jamie Bulloch

Book 3

Madness lurks behind the pretty façade of everyday life.


An elderly lady offers a young woman a piece of cake. She accepts. The lady resembles the Austrian Empress Elisabeth and lives with her servant in an apartment full of bizarre souvenirs. More invitations follow. A seemingly harmless visit to the museum turns into a meticulously planned raid to steal a royal cocaine syringe. Without realizing, the young woman has become the lady’s accomplice. Does she realize she is losing control?


My view

Oh, I loved this tale so exquisitely executed (  pun intended ) without a single drop of blood being spilled...
I absolutely loved this mystery novel.
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