review by Babs Simpson live on show 12th July 2012
As a foundling who has spent all her life in institutions, Sophie is well trained to survive life as a scholar in an ancient boarding scool. No amount of homework, however, can prepare her for meeting and falling hopelessly in love with Lucas. Wealthy, Jewish and an exotic contrast to the rough-edged boys she has grown up with, he draws her into a tangle of forbidden passion which seems doomed to end in disgrace.
But Sophie's other, surer love affair is wth education. She succumbs to the glamour of learning and the beauty of the place in which she finds it, but she also learns other, tougher lessons in the world beyond the school's high walls, about class, families, mother-love and of the havoc they can wreak.
This is a truly memorable book. Sophie is an engaging, difficult but sympthetic heroine and the writing is of such quality that all the characters are vividly drawn and totally believable. I love Patrick Gale's books and cannot wait to read more. Very satisfying and worth-while.
Showing posts sorted by date for query Patrick Gale. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Patrick Gale. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
book show 30th July
Guests this week are Lesley Jones & Brian Lowen Books on review are:
Kate Atkinson - 'when will there be good news' & 'case histories'
Patrick Gale - Whole Day through
Val McDermid - Wire in the blood
Julian Stockwin – the Admirals Daughter
Also, we need some more brave readers who are willing to come on the show and talk about the books they have read, or send us a review so we can read it out for them.
Plus, don’t forget to go in Bourdeaux's and add your favourite book to our survey.
One general review:
This is the first Patrick Gale I've read and I'm not overly impressed: it's not a terrible or even a bad novel, just a very bland. Lesley Jones agreed with this.
Reviews on The Admirals Daughter: one reviewer said 'there was to much shenanigans on shore' but Brian disagreed, said sailors have to come off the ship sometime!
Great reviews for 'Wire in the Blood', one reviewer said that even if you don't like the series you would enjoy the book, but do the police never swear? According to Brian they don't in this book - lets ask a man/woman in blue next time!
Reviews for Kate Atkinson: For both the books the criticism was the number of different characters, especially case histories.
Kate Atkinson - 'when will there be good news' & 'case histories'
Patrick Gale - Whole Day through
Val McDermid - Wire in the blood
Julian Stockwin – the Admirals Daughter
Also, we need some more brave readers who are willing to come on the show and talk about the books they have read, or send us a review so we can read it out for them.
Plus, don’t forget to go in Bourdeaux's and add your favourite book to our survey.
One general review:
This is the first Patrick Gale I've read and I'm not overly impressed: it's not a terrible or even a bad novel, just a very bland. Lesley Jones agreed with this.
Reviews on The Admirals Daughter: one reviewer said 'there was to much shenanigans on shore' but Brian disagreed, said sailors have to come off the ship sometime!
Great reviews for 'Wire in the Blood', one reviewer said that even if you don't like the series you would enjoy the book, but do the police never swear? According to Brian they don't in this book - lets ask a man/woman in blue next time!
Reviews for Kate Atkinson: For both the books the criticism was the number of different characters, especially case histories.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Patrick Gale - Friendly Fire
It is the 1970’s Sophie, the main character, is 14ys old when the story begins. Sophie has been an orphan since being a toddler, she can’t remember anything about her parents, she just remembers books being read to her. She has lived in an orphanage most of her life and has refused offers of fostering as she was quite happy where she was with Margaret & Kieran (who run the orphanage) and her ‘extended family’ and more particular, Wilf. Wilf is older than Sophie but hey have formed a brother sister relationship and watch out for each other.
Sophie is very clever and wins a charity scholarship at a local old, established, boarding school. They don’t take many female students, they are referred to as ‘daughters’. She falls in love with the place when she visits in the summer and can’t wait to start the term and fits in very quickly as Sophie is used to living in an institution. The females have separate dorms with a ‘nurse’ to oversee that there are no guests unless approved by Nurse. Sophie doesn’t make friends so easily with other girls but finds that Kimiko (with whom she shares a room) forms an attachment with her & eventually they become good friends.
On her first day there Sophie sees, secretly through a window, & falls in love with, Lucas, who is dressed in ladys clothes & jiving with the other boys. Sophie & Lucas, who is gay & from a wealthy Jewish family, become good friends. She finds herself being invited back for Sunday Lunches to their house and sees less of her ‘family’ at the orphanage. Lucas has to chaperone Charlie Somborne Abbott who’s also wealthy & gay, and when introduced to Sophie the three of them become inseperable. They are invited to the Somborne Abbotts one weekend where Charlies snobby mother refers to Sophie & Lucas as ‘the bastard & the jew’. Its about life at Winchester Boarding College, the love attraction that develops between male pupils and male pupils with male staff .
The story is about how all their lives unfold. How Sophie draws away from Wilf eventually, even after their relationship has gone from friend to lover, as she realises that his life is taking a completely different path than hers, she loves education & being around educated people.
It was a book that I would pick up & read if I had spare time but I didn’t make spare time to read it. I didn’t rush to get back to it.
One comment I read from someone else who reviewed it was that ‘they found it hard to believe that a low-class girl like Sophie could be so at ease with all the members of the upper classes that she comes into contact with’. And I hadn’t thought of that but its quite true.
Another reviewers comment: ‘it's rather too twee, safe and lacking what PG's fans have come to love about him, his acerbic wit and brittle observation,
Nostalgia moment for me was when they cooked a ‘Vesta Dried Meal’ (I do so remember them).
The author admits to being completely gay by the age of 12 and went to Winchester college so a lot of his own experiences have been drawn on in this book. Patrick Gale also wrote ‘Notes From an Exhibition’
Sophie is very clever and wins a charity scholarship at a local old, established, boarding school. They don’t take many female students, they are referred to as ‘daughters’. She falls in love with the place when she visits in the summer and can’t wait to start the term and fits in very quickly as Sophie is used to living in an institution. The females have separate dorms with a ‘nurse’ to oversee that there are no guests unless approved by Nurse. Sophie doesn’t make friends so easily with other girls but finds that Kimiko (with whom she shares a room) forms an attachment with her & eventually they become good friends.
On her first day there Sophie sees, secretly through a window, & falls in love with, Lucas, who is dressed in ladys clothes & jiving with the other boys. Sophie & Lucas, who is gay & from a wealthy Jewish family, become good friends. She finds herself being invited back for Sunday Lunches to their house and sees less of her ‘family’ at the orphanage. Lucas has to chaperone Charlie Somborne Abbott who’s also wealthy & gay, and when introduced to Sophie the three of them become inseperable. They are invited to the Somborne Abbotts one weekend where Charlies snobby mother refers to Sophie & Lucas as ‘the bastard & the jew’. Its about life at Winchester Boarding College, the love attraction that develops between male pupils and male pupils with male staff .
The story is about how all their lives unfold. How Sophie draws away from Wilf eventually, even after their relationship has gone from friend to lover, as she realises that his life is taking a completely different path than hers, she loves education & being around educated people.
It was a book that I would pick up & read if I had spare time but I didn’t make spare time to read it. I didn’t rush to get back to it.
One comment I read from someone else who reviewed it was that ‘they found it hard to believe that a low-class girl like Sophie could be so at ease with all the members of the upper classes that she comes into contact with’. And I hadn’t thought of that but its quite true.
Another reviewers comment: ‘it's rather too twee, safe and lacking what PG's fans have come to love about him, his acerbic wit and brittle observation,
Nostalgia moment for me was when they cooked a ‘Vesta Dried Meal’ (I do so remember them).
The author admits to being completely gay by the age of 12 and went to Winchester college so a lot of his own experiences have been drawn on in this book. Patrick Gale also wrote ‘Notes From an Exhibition’
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Patrick Gale - Friendly Fire
Review by showhost on feb 26th Feb
It is the 1970’s Sophie, the main character, is 14ys old when the story begins. Sophie has been an orphan since being a toddler, she can’t remember anything about her parents, she just remembers books being read to her. She has lived in an orphanage most of her life and has refused offers of fostering as she was quite happy where she was with Margaret & Kieran and her ‘extended family’ and more particular, Wilf. Wilf is older than Sophie but hey have formed a brother sister relationship and watch out for each other.
Sophie is very clever and wins a charity scholarship at a local old, established, boarding school. They don’t take many female students, they are referred to as ‘daughters’. She falls in love with the place when she visits in the summer and can’t wait to start the term and fits in very quickly as Sophie is used to living in an institution. The females have separate dorms with a ‘nurse’ to oversee that there are no guests unless approved by Nurse. Sophie doesn’t make friends so easily with other girls but finds that Kimiko (with whom she shares a room) forms an attachment with her & eventually they become good friends.
On her first day there Sophie sees, secretly through a window, & falls in love with, Lucas, who is dressed in ladys clothes & jiving with the other boys. Sophie & Lucas, who is gay & from a wealthy Jewish family, become good friends. She finds herself being invited back for Sunday Lunches to their house and sees less of her ‘family’ at the orphanage. Lucas has to chaperone Charlie Somborne Abbott who’s also wealthy & gay, and when introduced to Sophie the three of them become inseperable. They are invited to the Somborne Abbotts one weekend where Charlies snobby mother refers to Sophie & Lucas as ‘the bastard & the jew’. Its about life at Winchester Boarding College, the love attraction that develops between male pupils and male pupils with male staff .
The story is about how all their lives unfold. How Sophie draws away from Wilf eventually, even after their relationship has gone from friend to lover, as she realises that his life is taking a completely different path than hers, she loves education & being around educated people.
It was a book that I would pick up & read if I had spare time but I didn’t make spare time to read it. I didn’t rush to get back to it.
One comment I read from someone else who reviewed it was that ‘they found it hard to believe that a low-class girl like Sophie could be so at ease with all the members of the upper classes that she comes into contact with’. And I hadn’t thought of that but its quite true.
Another reviewers comment: ‘it's rather too twee, safe and lacking what PG's fans have come to love about him, his acerbic wit and brittle observation, life here is more 'Mallory Towers' than 'Another Country' or 'If'.
Nostalgia moment for me was when they cooked a ‘Vesta Dried Meal’ (I do so remember them).
The author admits to being completely gay by the age of 12 and went to Winchester college so a lot of his own experiences have been drawn on in this book. Patrick Gale also wrote ‘Notes From an Exhibition’
It is the 1970’s Sophie, the main character, is 14ys old when the story begins. Sophie has been an orphan since being a toddler, she can’t remember anything about her parents, she just remembers books being read to her. She has lived in an orphanage most of her life and has refused offers of fostering as she was quite happy where she was with Margaret & Kieran and her ‘extended family’ and more particular, Wilf. Wilf is older than Sophie but hey have formed a brother sister relationship and watch out for each other.
Sophie is very clever and wins a charity scholarship at a local old, established, boarding school. They don’t take many female students, they are referred to as ‘daughters’. She falls in love with the place when she visits in the summer and can’t wait to start the term and fits in very quickly as Sophie is used to living in an institution. The females have separate dorms with a ‘nurse’ to oversee that there are no guests unless approved by Nurse. Sophie doesn’t make friends so easily with other girls but finds that Kimiko (with whom she shares a room) forms an attachment with her & eventually they become good friends.
On her first day there Sophie sees, secretly through a window, & falls in love with, Lucas, who is dressed in ladys clothes & jiving with the other boys. Sophie & Lucas, who is gay & from a wealthy Jewish family, become good friends. She finds herself being invited back for Sunday Lunches to their house and sees less of her ‘family’ at the orphanage. Lucas has to chaperone Charlie Somborne Abbott who’s also wealthy & gay, and when introduced to Sophie the three of them become inseperable. They are invited to the Somborne Abbotts one weekend where Charlies snobby mother refers to Sophie & Lucas as ‘the bastard & the jew’. Its about life at Winchester Boarding College, the love attraction that develops between male pupils and male pupils with male staff .
The story is about how all their lives unfold. How Sophie draws away from Wilf eventually, even after their relationship has gone from friend to lover, as she realises that his life is taking a completely different path than hers, she loves education & being around educated people.
It was a book that I would pick up & read if I had spare time but I didn’t make spare time to read it. I didn’t rush to get back to it.
One comment I read from someone else who reviewed it was that ‘they found it hard to believe that a low-class girl like Sophie could be so at ease with all the members of the upper classes that she comes into contact with’. And I hadn’t thought of that but its quite true.
Another reviewers comment: ‘it's rather too twee, safe and lacking what PG's fans have come to love about him, his acerbic wit and brittle observation, life here is more 'Mallory Towers' than 'Another Country' or 'If'.
Nostalgia moment for me was when they cooked a ‘Vesta Dried Meal’ (I do so remember them).
The author admits to being completely gay by the age of 12 and went to Winchester college so a lot of his own experiences have been drawn on in this book. Patrick Gale also wrote ‘Notes From an Exhibition’
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