Muthamma Prasad and Ann Hamilton
Guest (and practically my co-host): Ann Hamilton, writer;photographer and member of Society of
Women Writers' and Jounalists www.swwj.co.uk among other things
Books
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other.
The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's,
a form of autism. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings.
He loves lists, patterns and the truth.He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched.
He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's
dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.
Marshmallows for Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson
After Kendra Tamale returns to England from Australia, she rents a room from Kyle, a single
father of two, and looks forward to an uncomplicated life.
Kyle's young twins, Summer and Jaxon, have other ideas and quickly adopt Kendra as their new
mother - mainly because she lets them eat marshmallows for breakfast. Even though Kendra is
hiding a painful secret that makes her keep everyone - particularly children - at arm's length,
life improves for her as she becomes a part of their family.
Then Kendra bumps into the man who shares her awful secret and everything falls apart -
especially when the kids are taken away by their mother. The only way to fix things is to
confess all about her past, but that's something she swore never to do...
My Best-Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson
Best friends Kamryn Matika and Adele Brannon thought nothing could come between them - until
Adele did the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn's fiance, Nate. Worse still, she got pregnant
and had his child. When Kamryn discovered the truth about their betrayal she vowed never to
see any of them again.
Two years later, Kamryn receives a letter from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital.
Adele is dying and begs Kamryn to adopt her daughter, Tegan. With a great job and a hectic
social life, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five-year-old to disrupt things. Especially not
one who reminds her of Nate. But with no one else to take care of Tegan and Adele fading fast,
does she have any other choice?
So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and,
ultimately, a better understanding of herself.
Double Fault by Lionel Shriver
'Love me, love my game', says twenty-three year-old Willy Novinsky. Ever since she picked up a
racquet at the age of four, tennis has been Willy's one love, until the day she meets Eric
Oberdorf. She's a middle-ranked professional tennis player and he's a Princeton graduate who
took up playing tennis at the age of eighteen. Low-ranked but untested, Eric, too, aims to
make his mark on the international tennis circuit. Willy beholds compatibility spiced with
friendly rivalry, and discovers her first passion outside a tennis court. They marry. Married
life starts well, but animated shop talk and blissful love-making soon give way to full-tilt
competition over who can rise to the top first. Driven and gifted, Willy maintains the lead
until she severs her knee ligaments in a devastating spill. As Willy recuperates, her ranking
plummets whilst her husband's climbs, until he is eventually playing in the US Open. Anguished
at falling short of her lifelong dream and resentful of her husband's success, Willy slides
irresistibly toward the first quiet tragedy of her young life.
No! I dont want to join a Book Club by Virginia Ironside
"Certainly not!" said Marie Sharp, when a friend suggests she join a bookclub when she turns
sixty.
"Bookclub people always seem to have to wade through Captain Corelli's Mandolin or, groan,
The God of Small Things. They feel they've forever got to poke their brain with a pointed
stick to keep it working. But either you've got a lively brain or you haven't. And anyway,
I don't want to be young and stimulated any more. Those oldies who spend their lives bicycling
across Mongolia at eighty and para-gliding at ninety, aren't brilliant specimens of old age.
No, they're just tragic failures who haven't come to terms with ageing. I want to start doing
old things, not young things."
Too young to get whisked away by a Stannah Stairlift, or to enjoy the luxury of a Walk-In Bath
(but not so much that she doesn't enjoy comfortable shoes), Marie, is all the same, getting on
in years - and she's thrilled about it! She's a bit pre-occupied about whether to give up sex
- "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" - but there are compensations, like falling in love all over again - but
this time with her baby grandson, Gene.
Curmudgeonly, acute, and funny, this fictionalised diary is what happens when grumpy old
women meet Bridget Jones.
Next week, whilst I'm enjoying the joys of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the lovely Ann
Hamilton will be covering for me. Be sure to tune in and I'll be back on Friday 31st August.
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