The Raven's Book Bunker

18/08/2024

This sequel to 'The Maid' doesn't disappoint! Dear, dutiful, neuro-diverse Molly Gray, now promoted to Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel but still innocently looking for the best in everyone and willing to believe each person she encounters is a 'good egg' until events prove otherwise, finds herself at the centre of yet another murder mystery. This time the victim is a famous author who drops dead on the hotel's tearoom floor just as he's about to make an important announcement to his adoring fans. Molly and trainee maid Lily have been serving the tea that J D Grimthorpe, author of numerous murder mysteries including bestseller 'The Maid In the Mansion' has just drunk - are they going to find themselves under suspicion?
The nice thing about The Mystery Guest is that the narrative switches back and forth between past and present, and we get to learn more about Molly's childhood with her beloved late Gran, whilst discovering that there is indeed a connection between her and the Grimthorpe household. Oh, and Molly also discovers that she has a close relative who's been keeping an eye on her all this time ... but I won't spoil the surprise. Just read and enjoy!

17/08/2024

Second time of reading, and I understood and liked it better this time. Drawing on her own experience of growing up in Domenica, Jean Rhys imagines what the life of Mr Rochester's first wife from 'Jane Eyre' might have been like, both before and during her marriage. This is not a pastiche, but an independent story written in a very different style from that of Charlotte Bronte - immersive and confusing at times, with streams of consciousness continually questioning and rewriting both Bertha's and Rochester's perception of 1830s West Indian life. At times I felt as though I were drowning in the lush tropical undergrowth so vividly described, and the question of whether Bertha (whose first name in this narrative is Antoinette) was really the victim of hereditary insanity, caused by the inbreeding of white West Indian families, or of manipulation, abuse and cruelty, is left unresolved. This was one of the books that first put me on to the idea of re-interpreting a well-known story from a minor character's point of view, and for that I will always be grateful to Jean Rhys to whom 'Wide Sargasso Sea' brought late-flowering success as a writer.

08/08/2024

An enjoyable but not particularly thrilling read, in which Janice, a professional cleaner with a variety of clients, makes a mental collection of all their backstories whilst having reasons for not wishing to share her own. There are some great characters - notably cranky, defensive Mrs B, who entertains Janice with the story of a former mistress of the late King Edward VIII, and whose toxic son and daughter-in-law are trying to remove from her home so that it can be redeveloped; Euan, the bus driver whom Janice decides 'looks like a Geography teacher' and rather fancies; and loveable, opinionated fox-terrier Decius, property of Mrs B's aforementioned son. Janice's husband Mike is a nasty, manipulative piece of work and it's great to see him get his comeuppance, but Janice herself comes across as a wishy-washy, dithering sort of person who doesn't seem to fit her slowly revealed backstory, and the narrative is at times clunky and pedantic, with too many lengthy explanations. I much preferred Sally Page's second novel, The Book of Beginnings, which I'd read first ... she obviously gets into her stride with that one!

03/08/2024

Something a little different! Set in 1905, The Housekeepers features a motley cast of characters, all of whom have worked or are currently working below stairs at a grand house in Park Lane, London. Led by erstwhile housekeeper Mrs King and her her tough, wily criminal underworld aunt Mrs Bone, they hatch a plan to pull off a daring robbery and strip the De Vries residence of its contents during a summer ball. As the narrative proceeds, were learn that both Mrs Bone and Mrs King have an unacknowledged connection with the nouveau-riche De Vries family, and personal reasons for wanting to deprive recently orphaned Miss De Vries of her home and fortune.
But Miss De Vries has plans of her own, and a very pressing reason for hosting what she hopes will be a grand society ball while still in mourning for the generous father who made her his sole beneficiary ... or did he?
Cracking stuff, and I love the fact that all the conspirators are women, determined to run rings round the men whatever their social class! Will definitely look out for more from Alex Hay.

28/07/2024

Cecelia Ahern always writes so vividly and compassionately when it comes to characters who are 'different' - whether neuro-diverse, eccentric, psychic, or otherwise watching the world from the 'outside'. 'A Thousand Different Ways' introduces us to Alice Kelly, a troubled young girl with a neglectful, bi-polar mother, who at the age of eight suddenly develops the ability to see people's auras - not just the vague shimmer that quite a few of us can see surrounding a person's head from time to time, but vivid, moving, changing colours reflecting their mood, circumstances and character.
Alice's mother Lily, for example, exudes a deep, self-pitying blue; a colour absorbed by her younger brother Ollie, who takes it out into the world with him, carrying a massive chip on his shoulder that leads him to a life of petty crime. Her older brother Hugh has a loving, caring pink aura, and it is to him that Alice confides her 'gift', which at times feels more like a curse, causing her to behave in an erratic and unpredictable manner and leading to her exclusion from mainstream schooling.
As an adult Alice wears dark glasses and gloves in order to try and distance herself from the relentless onslaught of other people's dramas and emotions. Forced to care for her mother for several years when Hugh marries and goes away and Ollie is sent to prison, she finally escapes Ireland and goes to London to start a new life; there she learns how to generate a protective shield around herself, and begins to live recklessly, even to the point of using her 'gift' to exploit others and gain promotion at work.
But then, one day, she encounters a man who appears to have no aura at all ...
Told entirely from Alice's point of view but featuring some other beautifully rounded characters, 'In A Thousand Different Ways' is by turns challenging, heart breaking and life-affirming. It leaves the reader inspired to think more deeply about all the energies swirling around us, their effect upon us, and the ultimate journey of the soul.

22/07/2024

This one is really clever! It delves into the background stories of eight people who end up staying at a backpackers' hostel on Venice Beach, LA - every one of whom has a secret, unbeknownst to the others. There's Tommy, fleeing the aftermath of a family tragedy back in the UK, earning his keep as part-time receptionist; Savannah, working as an exotic dancer whilst hiding from her abusive TV-evangelist father; former nurse Nicole and her sometimes unpredictable friend Eric, chasing a legacy; Matty and Declan, two Irish lads on the run from the Garda; Ruth, awkward, downtrodden and obsessed with a local celebrity with whom she's travelled all the way from Australia to meet; and mysterious, handsome Jake, whose face is vaguely familiar to many, and who's trying desperately to reinvent himself after a disastrous public fall from grace.
The narrative moves back and forth from the present to the past as the reader catches up with each character's history piecemeal, and of course there are cliff hangers aplenty as we leave one character's story to be filled in on another, and complications as friendships made and decisions taken cause them to overlap. It all comes together in a clever and satisfactory way at the end - but who will be the winners and who will be the losers? Who will evade justice, who will get their just desserts? And as things get increasingly dangerous, how many of the eight will survive? A gripping read, I loved it!

14/07/2024

I'd already read Hilary Mantel's memoir 'Giving Up The Ghost', so I knew about her challenging childhood and youthful years - the poor health, the disturbing psychic awareness, the father who retreated into the spare room, tacitly allowing the lodger to take his place in the marital bed, the Catholic indoctrination and consequent guilt, etc. These short stories make full use of those experiences, each visiting a different scenario and delving beneath the surface events with Mantel's trademark surgical precision whilst evoking the accompanying sights, sounds, tastes, smells and textures so vividly that the reader's own five senses are aroused by proxy. My own lingering impression is one of the colours, dirty brown, sickly yellow, ox-blood red, and the textures, foggy, gloopy, woolly, that permeate Mantel's memories of childhood in 1950s Northern England. Powerful and disturbing stuff.

13/07/2024

Charming YA novel about an Irish teen witch coming into her powers. Maeve Chambers, school rebel aged 16, is given the punishment of cleaning out a room in the school's basement - there she discovers a pack of Tarot cards, and sets herself the task of learning how to read them.
Maeve soon realises she has a natural talent for Tarot reading, and an affinity with the cards that begins to feel a little scary - especially when she discovers the mysterious 'Housekeeper' card, which doesn't seem to exist in any other known pack and appears and disappears at will.
Who, or what, is the Housekeeper? And how is she linked with a series of unsettling events happening in Maeve's community, and more particularly with the disappearance of her former best friend Lily?
A very enjoyable read, and also a good introduction to the basics of modern Wicca (white witchcraft)!

10/07/2024

Gosh, this one has more twists and turns than a conger eel! DCI Julia Day loves her job - she's thorough, successful, has a keen detective's instinct for a hidden clue, and she always does things by the book. Except that this investigation, involving a missing girl who apparently disappeared into a blind alley and never came out, is about to get messy, and Julia is guarding a family secret that she'd do anything to keep from coming out ... even if it involves planting evidence.
Told mainly from Julia's perspective, with regular inserts from Lewis, grieving father, and Emma, suspicious mother, this brilliant thriller mixes up timelines, plays trompe-l'oeil with real and imaginary characters, plants red herrings all over the place and leaves the reader thoroughly wrong-footed, right up until the (thoroughly satisfactory) ending. Strongly recommended!

06/07/2024

This book was recommended by a good friend, and I'm so glad she brought it to my attention!
Margery Benson, a forty-something spinster in post-war Britain, has always been fascinated by Beetles - and by one beetle in particular, the mythical Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, attested by several travellers but not yet discovered, named and catalogued.
One day in 1950, Margery has a watershed moment that leads her to quit her job as a domestic science teacher and prepare to travel to the other side of the world - to New Caledonia, in fact, which involves sailing first to Australia - to find the Golden Beetle. She knows she will need an assistant on such a monumental endeavour, and places an advertisement in the newspaper.
The assistant she finally ends up with is, it's safe to say, not her first choice - Enid Pretty, young, bottle-blonde, ditsy, flirtatious and chatty, with no experience, no suitable clothes and no passport, somehow charms her way onto the boat and into Margery's life - to Margery's initial dismay and annoyance. And Enid, it is hinted, has a dark secret, and a very good reason for wanting to travel as far away from post-War Britain as possible.
The story of how these two mismatched women come to love and appreciate one another, and the incredible adventures, dangers, physical hardships and revelations they share, then unfolds in fascinating detail - some of their exploits seemed to me to be quite impossible on first reading, but Rachel Joyce has done her research, and intrepid female explorers have indeed done incredible things! The ending is sad, but fitting in a real-life way, and the author's account, added at the end, of how exactly the book came to be written is almost as amazing as the novel itself! Highly recommended.

30/06/2024

A good fast-paced read with plenty of twists and red herrings. Connie, caring for her elderly mother with dementia, is initially pleased when handyman Paul turns up at the house, send by a local charity to sort out the overgrown garden. He is both handsome and obliging, and offers to do a few extra odd jobs around the house while he's at it. But as time goes by, and Paul is still at her mother's every day, finding more and more renovating and decorating jobs to do, she begins to get suspicious. Her mother has already taken a shine to him and refuses to send him away - what can Connie do?
But if Paul is not what he seems to be, neither is Connie. And as she slowly discovers more and more alarming facts about him, he's been researching her too. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues, which becomes deadlier and more urgent when a tragedy occurs. An inheritance is at stake, and others are gradually drawn into the race to uncover the truth - or should that be truths, since Paul and Connie, as it turns out, are not the only ones hiding secrets?
This is exactly the kind of thriller I like, though I did find the ending rather unsatisfactory - it wasn't the one I was hoping for! And I do seem to be getting rather cantankerous lately about editorial gaffs in traditionally published books by successful authors - for instance, your mother's cousin's daughter is just your second cousin, not your 'second cousin once removed'; and it would be impossible to fiddle about inside the mouth of a deceased person when viewing the body at an undertakers, as the mouth is always glued shut! Still, it's a four-star read for me.

28/06/2024

I'll give this psychological thriller four stars out of five because I found it unputdownable, a really addictive read - but I do have a couple of reservations about it.
Pregnant Helen and her husband Daniel live in a beautiful Georgian house bordering Greenwich Park, inherited from Helen's late parents. Her elder brother Rory has inherited the family business (their father was a well-known architect), he and his wife Serena (also pregnant) live nearby, and Daniel works with Rory. Younger brother Charlie, the black sheep of the family, lives over the River in Hackney, and has an on-off relationship with journalist girlfriend Katie. The narrative is presented mainly from Helen's perspective, with occasional contributions from Katie and Serena, and there's a good feminist theme. The final character in the cast is young Rachel, a gobby and confident 'free spirit' who turns up at Helen's ante-natal class and insists on befriending her - a friendship which moves too fast for Helen's liking and somehow ends with Rachel staying at Helen and Daniel's home for an unspecified 'few days' that gradually morph into weeks ...
All of this has something to do with an incident ten years ago, when Helen, Daniel, Rory and Serena were all at Cambridge together. Exactly what that incident was, and what it has to do with Rachel, is darkly hinted at throughout the narrative and spectacularly revealed at the end - by which time a tragedy has taken place.
It is, as I said, an addictive read with spot-on revelations about social privilege, dysfunctional family dynamics and historic guilt - but I found the ending with its long, retrospective explanation a bit too prosaic, and there were also a couple of editorial gaffes which would be forgivable in a self-published novel but not in a traditionally published and much-lauded debut: in one section presented from Serena's perspective, there's a slip from first into third person; there's a slip the opposite way in one of the mysterious italicised third person narratives featuring an anonymous character whose identity has not yet been revealed.
It is however a splendid debut, and I hope we'll have more from Katherine Faulkner!

25/06/2024

'There is a flat roof in northwest London that can't be seen from the road ... On this roof is a garden of rare and unusual plants: tropical and arid, prostrate and fastigiate, exotic and exclusive....Only one person has access to the garden, via a hatch in their kitchen ceiling... That person is Eustacia Amelia Rose, Professor of Botany. Field of expertise: botanical toxicology. In layman's terms, the study of poisonous plants. That person is me.'
This is our first introduction to the wonderful character of Prof Eustacia Rose - forty-something, neuro-diverse, le***an, still grieving the loss of her beloved father one year ago, and the loss of her only love over twenty years ago. Oh, and she's also been dismissed from her job at the University, accused of deliberately allowing the laboratory for which she was responsible to become contaminated, and is under a restraining order regarding the colleague she believes to be responsible for this miscarriage of justice. A colleague who also seduced the woman she was in love with twenty years ago. A colleague whom she now spies, through the telescope she keeps in her secret roof-garden, in the flat of the beautiful and mysterious young woman who lives opposite.
And thus is launched a roller-coaster of a crime thriller, involving kidnap, poison, secret phone calls, a seemingly uncrackable code, and of course a murder. As she becomes helplessly involved, to the point of becoming a suspect herself, can Professor Rose solve the crime in time to prove her innocence? And can she save her all but destroyed 'secret garden'?
I absolutely loved this, and am thrilled to discover that it's the first of a series, and that we'll be hearing more from Prof. Eustacia Rose - one of the most intriguing fictional characters I've come across in a long time, a worthy rival to Sherlock Holmes himself!

23/06/2024

I vividly remember, back in 1980 (yes I'm that old) reading Dale Spender's ground-breaking book 'Man Made Language', which argued that the English language favoured the experiences and perspectives of men over those of women. It was a real wake-up call for me and to many other women at the time, and led to the birth of some new, feminist words and phrases, such as 'herstory' and 'andro-centric'. 'The Dictionary of Lost Words' takes up the concept of man-made language and takes it back in time - to 1887, to be precise, 30 years into the 70 year process that was the production of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Using real, historical characters to flesh out the story of fictional Esme Nicoll, whose father is one of the OED Editors, the narrative follows Esme's quest, begun at the age of six, to acquire her own collection of words - initially by pilfering any precious slips that fall to the floor in the vicinity of the table under which she hides whilst her father works.
Motherless, curious and intelligent, as Esme grows to womanhood her preoccupation with words and their meanings takes on a new and radical turn when she decides to collect and document those that are NOT being included in the Dictionary on the grounds of vulgarity, obscenity, or because they are used only by women. Her weekly trips to the local market with her maid and confidante Lizzie - a wonderful character in her own right - introduce her to a whole different class of women whose colourful language is a revelation, and her friendship with semi-respectable actress Tilda and her brother Bill bring fresh experiences that are to shape the course of Esme's life.
The Suffrage movement with its divide between 'Suffragists' and 'Suffragettes' and the horrors of WWI are integral both to Esme's personal story and to the development of her word collection.
It's a wonderful story, beautifully written, by turns inspiring, infuriating and heart breaking. And it makes a point that is just as relevant today as it was back in 1887, or 1980 - that, to misquote the Suffragette slogan, 'Words, not Deeds' can sometimes be the force that shapes history. Or indeed herstory ...

20/06/2024

Another roller-coaster read from the 'Nicci French' partnership!
When wife and mother Charlotte Slater fails to turn up to her husband's 50th Birthday bash, her children are understandably worried, but no-one else - the police, neighbours, or husband Alec himself - seem to think it a matter for immediate concern. As they days go by, however, and not only does Charlotte not return to spend Christmas with her family but a close friend - a neighbour and family man - is washed up drowned, apparently by su***de, the local police are forced to fast-track their lazy and bungled investigation.
Fast-forward 30 years or so, and the Salter children, now middle aged, return to the sleepy Suffolk village where their teenage years came to such an abrupt and traumatic end to find a care home for father Alec, now suffering from dementia. Meanwhile the children of drowned neighbour Duncan Ackerley are making a podcast about the twin unsolved cases of their father's death and Charlotte's disappearance. Then another death occurs, this time an obvious grisly murder, and DI Maud O'Connor is sent down from London to investigate, and to see if there could be any link with the two cold cases.
Told from the perspectives of Etty, Charlotte's youngest child and only daughter, and Maud the intrepid investigator, this story rattles along at a cracking pace, with plenty of suspects and red herrings casually strewn in its path. The denouement is satisfactory, with the villain of the piece finally unmasked - their identity is a surprise, and I would have liked a little more insight into their character and motivation sprinkled into the narrative, but that's my only criticism of an otherwise excellent read.

12/06/2024

A riveting read, but with a couple of credibility gaps. When Adam discovers a secret, walled-off room in the new house he and his family are moving into, he's naturally intrigued. When he discovers that the old Welsh dresser contained in said room appears to have a memento carefully stored in each of its drawers - an engraved Rolex watch, a dog collar with tag, a scarf, a wallet, a cracked pair of glasses , a key on a ring and an old Motorola mobile phone - he's even more intrigued, and he and his wife Jess leave a message on the one number stored on the Motorola, asking whoever receives it to get in touch.
The move has been an ambitious one, and Adam has just lost his job - a fact he's so far failed to mention to Jess, who is happily buying things for the house, and hiring a cleaner and gardener. So the temptation to sell the Rolex is too hard to resist. This proves to be a massive mistake, however, as hidden cameras are discovered in various locations around the house, and someone DOES get in touch with increasingly threatening demands that each and every one of the articles found in the dresser be returned. From there on in, it all gets very scary, and the narrative is taut and twisty, leading us on a roller-coaster ride to a satisfying denouement.
I couldn't quite believe, however, that the Nottinghamshire police would be QUITE so uninterested in a series threatening texts, especially when coupled with Adam's report that his teenage daughter has been followed home from school, and the presence of the hidden cameras - nor could I really believe that it would take Adam quite so long to come clean to his wife about losing his job. And isn't it weird how one little mistake can loom large - someone tell the otherwise brilliant Mr Logan (and/or his editor) that a bereaved wife is a widow, not a widower!

09/06/2024

I absolutely loved this book! The fact that it's written by a fellow Brighton author and initially set in Lewes, just a 10 minute drive from my home, made it all the more special.
Endurance (Durie) Proudfoot is desperate to follow in her father's footsteps as a Bonesetter, resetting and realigning limbs, shoulders, ankles and necks in a quick and practical way without recourse to an expensive physician. She knows she has the knack, she's a big strong girl and can do the job - but this is 1758, when the 'gift' is only passed down from father to son,Durie she has a younger brother. Nevertheless, she gets in as much practice as possible as her father's unofficial assistant, studies bones in her spare time, and will not give up on her dream.
When she is sent with her pregnant sister Lucinda to London, to stay with their Aunt Ellen until Lucinda has given birth and given the illegitimate baby to the Foundling Hospital, she is set to work in Aunt Ellen's cake shop until her size and clumsiness relegate her to the kitchen. When Lucinda, recovered from the birth, decides to stay on in London and make a living on the stage, Durie stays too - at first reluctantly, but gradually, with her wise and independent spinster Aunt's encouragement, she begins to practice the skills that have lain dormant for so long, and makes a name for herself as the first female bonesetter to practice professionally. Putting half of the money she earns aside for the little nephew she cared for during those first precious months of life and then lost to the Foundling Hospital, Durie becomes quite the celebrity, recommended by wealthy patrons and written about in the newspapers.
However, jealousy from the (all-male) medical profession, and an unlucky choice in love look set to topple 'that bonesetter woman' from her rocky pedestal in the most humiliating of ways - will Durie ever find the recognition, and the love, that she so craves?
Written in nice short chapters and moving along at a cracking pace, the narrative is full of fascinating little details of 18th century life - the author's research has obviously been meticulous - and the characters, especially Durie herself, shine through as believable, loveable, fallible men and women - well, mainly women, most of the men are weak, selfish, manipulative beggars - making this a joy to read from beginning to end.

04/06/2024

What a wonderful book! Set in the late 1860s, it tells the story of Nell, a young village girl born with birthmarks covering most of her body, giving her a dappled 'leopard-like' appearance, who is sold by her father to a travelling circus. There she is befriended by the other 'human freaks' - Stella the bearded lady, Brunette the giantess, Peggy the dwarf - and gradually comes to enjoy the flying performance that sees her descend from the Big Top on paper wings as though dappled with stars, and gives her celebrity status.
Jasper Jupiter, who owns and runs the circus, is a veteran of the Crimean War, fired with ambition to make his show 'the greatest on Earth' and earn the patronage of Queen Victoria. His younger brother Toby, former war photographer and current assistant and dogsbody, is bound to him by a secret from their days in Crimea that is only gradually disclosed over the course of the narrative.
When Toby and Nell fall in love, and dare to plan a future for themselves and for Pearl, the little Albino girl whom Jasper buys for an exorbitant sum, Jasper becomes a dangerous enemy; despite Nell being his star attraction, already singled out by the Queen and presented at Buckingham Palace, and despite having borrowed large sums of money from an unscrupulous moneylender to build up his show to ever dizzier heights, he plots her downfall and subsequent ruin.
Will Nell and Toby ever be able to escape the circus, and Jasper's clutches? And does Nell even really want to give up performing, and go back to a simple village life?
The ending is sad, but completely believable, and the author has obviously researched Victorian life, and Victorian freak shows, meticulously. This book stands as a testament to all those poor people whose difference or deformity made them ripe for exploitation at a time when 'deformito-mania', as Punch Magazine dubbed it, was sweeping the globe; and while is it a work of fiction, many real-life 'human wonders' are named, and their histories shared, over the course of the narrative.

31/05/2024

I did enjoy this, but not as much as 'One Click' which was the book that put me on to Andrea Mara's stuff. It has a gripping start, with Marianne, who's been living in the old family home in a close-knit Irish village since the death of her father, finding sets of footprints leading up to her bedroom window every morning - only visible since it's been slowing, so she doesn't know how long it's been going on! But from there it does seem to meander all around the houses, taking in the mystery over her Danish mother's death and the details of her break-up with long-term partner Ray, an American author, at a rather plodding and pedantic pace whilst also detailing the history of a long-term feud between said partner and a taciturn single Dad well known as a trouble maker in the village.
It all gets rather tangled, but not in a majorly exciting way - the ending is a big surprise, however, and the clues as to the identity of Marianne's stalker are cleverly hidden amongst all the other shenanigans.

24/05/2024

Another pastiche from Rohase! 'The Cat In The Bag' is a fourth perspective on the sequence of events rolled out in Alice Thomas Ellis' trilogy 'The Summer House' (The Clothes In The Wardrobe, The Skeleton In The Cupboard and The Fly In The Ointment). Hopefully it also works as a stand-alone, for those who don't want to go to the trouble of reading the original ... anyway, it's out, and here it is:

The Cat In The Bag: An alternative perspective on The Summer House Trilogy by Alice Thomas Ellis

10/05/2024

Well, we all know what terrible social pressures our youngsters are under at school these days ... but 'The Getting Of Wisdom', set in a girls' boarding school in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1800s, shows that apart from the all-invasive presence of social media, not much has changed!
Laura Rambotham, aged 12, from an impoverished but just-about-genteel family headed by her widowed mother, arrives at school brimming with self-confidence, a vivid imagination, and a passionate nature. Within 6 weeks, she's all at sea, bruised, battered and humiliated by the sneers and petty tyrannies of snobbish peers and frustrated governesses alike. Will Laura be able to start afresh and carve out a place for herself in the dog-eat-dog world of teenage schoolgirls?
This book brought back many memories of my own secondary school back in the 1970s - firstly because it was one of the set text we read in class, and secondly because being a passionate, imaginative teenager myself I underwent several parallel experiences, from passionate crushes to religious mania to the bruising experience of being an outsider who never really fitted in. Henry Handel Richardson - real name Ethel Florence Lindsay Richardson - based The Getting Of Wisdom on her own schooldays, and authenticity spills from every page, making it at times an excruciating read - as I said, in essence, when it comes to teenage girls, not much has changed!
Every reader who had a rough ride at school will enjoy this story, and female readers in particular take Laura to their hearts and cheer her on.