Books to SHOUT! about
We’ll try not to strain our voices shouting about June’s reads.
Book 1: A Daughter’s a Daughter by Mary Westmacott
This first book was a quick read. And disturbing, as it was about a mother and daughter who shared an ugly, life-changing jealousy.
So why shout?
… because the novel was written by Agatha Christie under the nom de plume* of Mary Westmacott.
Even though I knew ahead of time there wouldn’t be a murder to solve, it was all but impossible not to be on the alert from the first page to the last.
*That bit of French was for you, Hercule Poirot!
Book 2: SHOUT! by Philip Norman
If you’re a Beatles fan, you should enjoy this immensely.
The story of each lad’s childhood is fascinating. And their decision to break up becomes understandable, as details about the managers and mates come into play.
Book 3: Maigret’s Mistake by Georges Simenon
Another great detective novel.
Our intrepid police detective finally figures out who killed Lulu, but it took a while to sort through all the bad actors first. How Maigret manages to stay calm while nearly all involved question his manner of investigation – and order of interviewing suspects – is beyond me!
Books 4 & 5: … by Christopher Isherwood
Confession: When inventorying Dad’s collection of Folio Society books a few years back, I didn’t pay attention to anything but this book’s title, and listed the genre as Children’s Literature.
Mr. Norris Changes Trains is anything but a precursor to Thomas the Tank Engine!
Author Christopher Isherwood wrote both of these semi-autobiographical novels following his multi-year stay in Berlin starting in 1929. He left England to escape the fear of arrest for being gay.
Isherwood met many characters over that time, as fascism and communism began their battle for Germany. Greed, violence, and fear grew by the day.
Goodbye to Berlin introduces the wild young woman Sally Bowles. You may recognize that name from the musical Cabaret. Isherwood’s talent in describing the looks and behaviors of his cast of characters is truly impressive, even a century later
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