show 10th June

Well hello anybody out there who may be listening and welcome to all grannies around the world, isn’t it special to be a Gran. I loved my Gran, I used to go and stay over and be spoilt and stay up late. Do you have any fond memories of your Gran?

You’re listening to The Bookshow on Radio Scilly 107.9fm with myself Linda (Grandma) Thomas and my guests - this week we have a new guest – Nigel Young (airport Nigel) and Corinna Christopher.
Books being reviewed are:
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
Nation by Terry Pratchet .

Glass Room by Simon Mawer
Strange Corinna, it has 2 completely different bookcovers. One with part of a man & womans face, the other is an abstract painting of a man…?? Wonder why they do that?
After reading some reviews it reminds me of Hotel by Arthur Hailey.

Terry Pratchet – Nation
I have to say Nigel that I have never read a book by this author, I don’t read sci/fi or fantasy (I love the films based on Lord of the Ring but I think I would have struggled to read them) but this is a deviation from his 'Discworld'. I would recommend Margaret Attwoods 'Oryx & Crake' as it has a similar theme to this book and also has humour.

William Boyd – Ordinary Thunderstorms
I’m intrigued to know what you thought of this book Corinna. When I first read the reviews I thought, wow, I really want to read this book but then the negative ones made me wonder if I really did.

Simon Mawer - The Girl who fell from the Sky

reviewed live on bookshow by Brian Lowen on 29th august 2013

Marian Sutro is half French and half British, and as she speaks fluent French she is recruited  by the British Secret Service to go undercover in France during the second world war.

The story takes us through all her training in a remote house in Scotland before she is finally accepted as being suitable to be an agent working with the Resistance in France.

She soon finds herself parachuting into south-west France, having been trained in sabotage, how to perform under interrogation and how to kill.

Her real destination, however is occupied Paris, where she must seek out an old family friend, Clement Pelleteir, a nuclear Physicist, whose expertise is in urgent need back in England.

She makes contact with the local resistance group and arranges drops of supplies from England. She eventually gets to Paris and finds Clement and also Yvette, with whom she trained back in England. The group that she was part of in Paris have all been captured, so Marian tries to arrange for her to escape back to England with Clement, who has agreed to go.

The story gives a good idea what life must have been like in occupied Paris with very little food to eat and always looking behind you to check if you were being followed. You are not able to trust anyone and Marian has to use her training in how to kill.  Life was much easier in the countryside where at least you had reasonable food, but all life’s little luxuries had disappeared.

A good story, but it did not grip me as much as similar stories by other authors on this subject, ie Ken Follett and Leslie Thomas.

Simon Mawer - The Glass Room

Review by Corinna Christopher on show 10th June.
This is a remarkable book which has everything you would want in a novel and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2009.

It commences in 1928 with a young couple, Viktor and Liesel who encounter a brilliant architect who they commission to design a special house for them. It is set on a hillside in their hometown in Czechoslovakia and becomes a masterpiece of modern living known as the Landauer House since their family are responsible for building the famous Landauer cars. The incredible design incorporates a glass room with folding walls one made of onyx that fills the space with light and optimism. It is there in this abode that Viktor and Liesel start and fullfill a perfect life of harmony and opulence and where they host many artistic and musical events.

All however begins to unravel with the onset of war and a passionate affair that Viktor has in Vienna with the beautiful Kata. Liesel remains unaware of this for some time and is supported by her very good friend Hana with whom she has a close relationship.

In due course Hana and her child come to live with the Landauer family to act as the nanny for their two children and this of course causes many difficulties and torn emotions. The political crisis worsens and they flee first to Switzerland and then ultimately to America. Hana is left behind because her husband is a Jew and Kata and her child are also not allowed to emigrate.

The fabulous Glass Room is abandoned, subsequently neglected and taken over by German scientists who are measuring rounded-up citizens to determine whether there any specific factors to identify Jews and thus eliminate them.
Hana who is keeping an eye on the house has a relationship with the head man in an effort to keep her husband safe.

When the Germans leave the Glass Room, a new group of officials take over and run a physiotherapy centre. Later it is decided to restore the house and to open it to the public as an architectural gem.

The Landauer family have a new life in America where their children are brought up. Viktor dies in an accident and after the family is found by Czech officials many years later Liesel returns for a very emotional meeting with her house and Hana who is still around.

There is much that I have left out in the plot and some of it is very harrowing and sad,,,,, but the characters are all very real and there is history and drama on every page. “ All around them is the Glass Room, a place of balance and reason, an ageless place held in a rectilinear frame that handles light like a substance and volume like a tangible material and denies the very existence of time” --Quote from last page.

The style of writing is masterful with short chapters, good headings and a flowing text - always one is drawn to the next page and a difficult book to put down. Excellent. The author now lives in Italy after a career of teaching.

review by Corinna