Various Pets Alive and Dead - Marina Lewycka

This is a great book. It is a story told from three perspectives, a Mother and two of her children. On the surface it is a story about their lives over the same time period with a lot of reflections and reminiscing about their past living in a commune. There is also an underlying mystery that the characters still think about and touch upon.

It is a wonderful mix of characters and everyday circumstances with them coming together in very amusing situations. Lewycka always finds a way to bring slightly extravagant characters into slightly surreal situations in the most believable way. The characters are recognisable but not stereotypes, there is a fantastic range of perspectives. The chapters are short and change between characters which again keeps the book and plot moving at pace in the same way that McCall-Smith does with his Scotland Street series.

When you actually stop and think about it the book is about far more than just the lives of a group of people though. It is a look at socialism, society, politics, education and economics. Love is a key theme in the novel and it is explored in so many ways from family, monogomy, lust and even unrequited fascination. I giggled at the philosophy that cheesecake is better then men. It is not a love story, however romance or even a lack thereof, plays a part in the story of each character. One of the characters has Down's syndrome and her story is handled really well. One of the things that I liked was that as a character she was presented as being as flawed as the others. I have read books in the past where the author has seemed afraid to say anything that could be construed as negative in anyway which can feel unrealistic and two dimensional. I think the beauty of having a few different threads is that you find not only characters you can relate to, but also characteristics that you associate with.

Lewycka describes the financial crisis in a simple and effortless way without patronising or talking down to anybody. The use of the Fibonacci number is fascinating and so nicely incorporated. It is used in a similar way to the talk of adhesives in "We are made of glue". The end of this book is perfect and the final chapter is a lovely little twist and while it sums up so may threads beautifully it leaves a few questions open a little, which is a great touch as it leaves the reader thinking.

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

I received this book as a gift. It is quite long but that should not put anybody off. It is well written and flows nicely. It is a grail story primarily following two female characters 800 years apart. I find that using a split narrative is risky, if it is done incorrectly it is confusing and stalls the story, it breaks the readers interest in the current story. In this book however it works incredibly well, it gives a series of mini cliff hangers and as a reader you keep reading to see what happens next to each character. The split also allows both stories to be told in "real time" and as equally important rather than looking back from a current day perspective. The split  also means that it is more than just another historic novel and the way the two stories are connected is interesting in it's own right. The sense of risk and danger in both threads makes an exciting read.

One of the most striking features of the book is how female dominated it is. Both main characters are female and  neither  are “shrinking violets”. Both are shown to be strong and wilful, they are not shown as perfect, the portrayal is very human both with realistic personality traits. This is balanced by other female characters being controlling and manipulating. This stops it being a story of women being wronged my men.

I think the intrigue in part is carried by the fact that it starts with the discovery of 800 year old skeletons. This creates a mystery as to who in the past thread met this end. It becomes a mystery as well as a current day thriller.

Although this book is centred around religion as a theme it is not a book about religion, it is a book about people and how they respond to circumstances, responsibility, power and to each other.

The whole thing is beautifully written with stunning descriptions of the areas. The surroundings and architecture come alive in the writing as does a feeling of unease. This is created in some ways by the juxtaposition of elaborate description of the scenery with fast moving plot and adventure.

The use of older and regional language is well incorporated, it does not detract from the pace and flow of the story but adds to authenticate the old thread. It helps give a sense of the time being written about. I didn't use the glossary a lot as all of the words were in context but it was reassuring to have it there if required.

Overall I found it a fun and interesting read, I loved the two threads and the complex main characters and I would recommend it.