The premise of Ned Kelly’s son fighting at Gallipoli, being rescued from the carnage by a Turkish youth whose life he had saved, and eventually being absorbed into the complicated community of a small remote Turkish village was always going to have its dangers.
Review: The Children Act by Ian McEwan
It’s Ian McEwan’s own fault that you expect so much from his new novel, The Children Act. His books are always enjoyable, some, like The Child in Time and Amsterdam, have gone on to win prestigious awards. Others like Atonement have been adapted into successful movies able to attract stellar casts. He never shies away from the controversial and then goes about dissecting the subject with a brisk deftness.
The Children Act (the title comes from the legislation which governs the treatment of juveniles in the British judiciary system), is a subject ripe for his skilled touch. It centers on Fiona Maye, a successful High Court judge who is hearing an urgent case involving Adam, a 17-year old boy Jehovah’s Witness who, for religious reasons, is refusing medical treatment that could save his life, a decision that is supported by his
Review: The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
Ruth lives alone in an isolated beachside house she and her late husband, Harold, had bought for their retirement. Her two sons are both a long-distance phone call away, one in New Zealand the other in Hong Kong. Near enough to maintain an appropriate level of interest and care.
One night Ruth awakens to the presence of a tiger in her house, “a vibrancy of breath that suggested enormity and intent.” The unsettling orange presence that leaves her aware of how vulnerable her solicitude makes her but also thrilled at the potential danger.
At the same time a stranger arrives at her door. Frida Young is a large woman whose hair colour changes with her moods. She has been assigned to Ruth by the Government to provide her with daily assistance around the home in what her son Jeffrey believes is a
Review The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman’s accidental novel. Unplanned, it was originally to be a short story for his wife, Amanda, with, he says, the ‘’fantastic’’ that identifies much of his previous work dialled down and more of what she liked . . . ‘’me,…
In search of the real Jack Reacher
A confession. I was prepared to dismiss, sight unseen, Tom Cruise as the celluloid Jack Reacher and had loudly lamented the casting to friends. It’s not that I particularly dislike Tom Cruise, it’s just that he always plays, well, Tom Cruise. The persona he has given himself as a superstar actor always outplays the character. So, to cast him as Jack Reacher, the peripatetic hero of Lee Child’s bestselling series, seemed cruel and unusual punishment to many of his fans.
No doubt, a multitude of others won’t give a hoot. The movie Jack Reacher, based on Child’s ninth novel, One Shot released in 2005, is a classic shoot-em-up thriller that fans of the Mission Impossible franchise will no doubt love.
Reacher, is a retired US military policeman who operates “off the map”. He has no fixed address, no phone, no car (although he is adept at “borrowing” other people’s), no luggage and no visible means of support. When he needs new clothes he buys them in low budget stores although in the movie that means a well-fitting, trendy jacket that even the elderly check-out-chicken admires with a twinkly smile.
Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse
To be absolutely honest, when I began reading The Lighthouse (long-listed for the Booker so part of my own personal Bookathon), I found it hard to really care much about what life had in store for such a sad sack as Futh. By the brilliantly executed last chapters I was…