Book Reviews

Vicky Burt

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award for her 2011 debut Pao, Kerry Young returns with Gloria, which is based in Sixties Jamaica and begins with a rape.

After escaping from the countryside where she grew up, and the crime she committed, 16-year-old Gloria and her younger sister Marcia arrive in Kingston to start a new life.

With no education, and desperate for money, Gloria is forced into prostitution. As she’s introduced to the city’s criminal underworld, her past becomes ever-present, shaping not only her life, but affecting her young daughter Esther’s.

But it’s brothel owner and female rights activist Sybil who inspires Gloria to prevent Esther’s life mirroring her own.

Embittered by the men who did her wrong, and strengthened by those who showed her support when she was most vulnerable, Gloria finds a voice to campaign for equal rights for Jamaica’s women.

Gloria is a brilliant, observant, sometimes complex read, but with clear and simple messages, it speaks to the feminist and equal rights campaigner in all of us.

Sign of the Cross

Thomas Mogford (Bloomsbury, £12.99)

Roddy Brooks

Spike Sanguinetti swaps the Gibraltar courtroom for a fast-paced thriller as he bids to prove his art-mad uncle did not kill his wife and then commit suicide.

Sanguinetti, hardly cast in the all-action mould as he trades in his legal brief for the instincts of an amateur detective, struggles to unravel the mystery unfolding on the island of Malta.

Centuries of sieges have turned the former British colony into a land populated by a mix of Europeans and Africans trying to find their own personal salvation.

Thomas Mogford’s second Sanguinetti thriller continues the excellent work of this London-based journalist and writer. As the hero peels back the layers of Malta’s melting pot of a society, he delves further into the complicated world of the Knights of St John, which will leave the reader eagerly anticipating the next instalment.

Expect there to be many more adventures for the lawyer who has an aptitude for sleuthing.

The View on the Way Down

Rebecca Wait (Picador, £5.99)

Keeley Bolger

Sensitive and deftly handled, The View On The Way Down reads like the latest tome from a polished old hand. It’s not. Instead, it is 25-year-old Oxford graduate Rebecca Wait’s first published novel.

In it, Wait meditates on the aftershock of the suicide of a promising young man, Kit, and the different ways in which his family address their grief.

Kit’s younger brother Jamie flees from the family. Youngest child Emma retreats into religion for an answer. Mum Rose fusses over Emma, while dad Joe stakes out in his shed.

Such a delicate subject matter as suicide – and the parts the family played in Kit’s life – could have been rendered crass by less mindful hands, so it is a credit to Wait that she treats it with such care and insight. With a first book as strong as this, Wait has a fruitful novel-writing career ahead of her.

Poison

Sarah Pinborough (Gollancz, £9.99)

Philip Robinson

If you think you’ve read the tale of Snow White, think again... Critically acclaimed author Sarah Pinborough’s re-imagining of the classic fairytale will enchant you.

Poison follows the renowned story’s darker side, much like the recent film adaptations, and introduces clever twists and references to other fairytales within the plot.

At first glance, you would think this is aimed at the youth market, but don’t be fooled.

There is little left to the imagination when some of the more adult subjects of life, death and sexuality are explored, however this doesn’t distract from the story.

Will the wicked step-mother prevail in her quest to be the most beautiful in all the land or will the huntsman and a merry band of dwarfs stand in her way?

Expect the unexpected when turning the page as Pinborough uses her own winning brand of magic to entice the reader.

Foinavon: The Story of the Grand National’s Biggest Upset

David Owen (Bloomsbury, £18.99)

James Cleary

A LOVINGLY crafted tribute to the victorious 1967 Grand National winner, David Owen’s book is about much more than the world-famous steeplechase.

The background, development and undistinguished race record of Foinavon are noted, as are some of the horse’s many quirks – plus the first meeting with a nanny goat called Susie. The uncertainty that put the Grand National in jeopardy pre-Red Rum is noted, with Owen’s narrative interspersing historical detail and first-hand recollections, while there are consistent reminders of the murkier side of the racing industry.

Of course, the real drama lies in how the 100-1 shot defied the odds, strolling through to land national hunt racing’s greatest prize after a melee eight fences out, becoming part of Aintree folklore in the process – the ultimate ‘tortoise and the hare’ story. It is how the writer describes the occasion – and Foinavon’s subsequent rise to notoriety – that readers will relish.