Book Review: THE BELL IN THE LAKE and THE REINDEER HUNTERS by Lars Mytting

 

Every now and then you stumble across a book that just takes your breath away, and THE BELL IN THE LAKE and its sequel THE REINDEER HUNTERS fell into that category for me! I loved everything about this story, even though it also broke my heart into a million pieces.

 

Set in a small remote village in Norway in the late 1800’s, we get to meet the unforgettable characters that will soon worm their way into our hearts and minds. Astrid Hekne, the beautiful and clever daughter of a local landholder, who yearns to get out of the confines of her village and a different life. Kai Schweigaard, the young pastor who has just been posted to the village and has ambitious plans for the town, hoping that his progressive ideas will elevate his status and give him a ticket to grander locations. And Gerhard Schoenauer, the young German architect who has been sent to draw up plans of the church before it gets sold, dismantled and moved all the way to Germany. Butangen’s stave church features like a character itself, with its myth about the “sister bells” and its strong connection to the community, so it’s little wonder that its fate is strongly tied to that of its parishioners.

 

With a strong sense of place and time and a setting so vivid that I thought I was in Norway, the book took me on one unforgettable journey I only came out of reluctantly, dazed and completely emotionally wrung out. Mytting tells his tale so convincingly that his characters came to life for me, and I remember them as flesh and blood people whose fate touched me in ways only few fictional characters can. A heads up: have some tissues ready because I cried floods of tears!

 

Despite being 400 pages long, the story came to an end way too soon, but the good news was that there is a sequel! THE REINDEER HUNTERS takes the story up where THE BELL IN THE LAKE ended, with a new, younger generation of Butangen residents now in the forefront of the novel. Myttings trilogy (I can’t wait for the third instalment, which hasn’t been released yet) is deeply steeped in history and folklore, making it an interesting as well as educational read. Be prepared to spend hours googling “stave churches” after reading it. I was also fascinated by the details about midwifery and the knowledge of the midwives in the late 1900’s, with so many challenges to overcome, distance and poverty amongst them. Mytting’s keen observations of human behaviour fill his novels with tales of love & hate, jealousy & forgiveness, kindness and compassion and greed and the dynamics of a small remote community steeped in tradition and folklore. Here the progressive ideas of a young pastor may not be kindly received by all, and the ideas of the church often clash against more traditional views.

 

There is so much more I could say about these wonderful novels but I will leave it at that and urge you to pick them up for yourself. You will be rewarded with a story that will stay with you for a long time, and some magnificent armchair travel to Norway (which makes me want to go out and buy a ticket right now to explore it for myself). I can’t wait for the release of the third book in the trilogy to find out more about the fate of the sister bells and the sisters’ weaving depicting Skrapanatta.

Book Review: THE HALF MOON by Mary Beth Keane

 

Title: THE HALF MOON

Author:  Mary Beth Keane

Read: February 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

 

Book Description:

 

Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat.

His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.

Award-winning author Mary Beth Keane’s new novel takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.

 

My musings:

 

This is my first book by Mary Beth Keane, and I absolutely loved the way she portrays the ups and downs of a marriage scarred by loss and thwarted aspirations. Jess and Malcolm once were the perfect couple – young, in love and full of hope they embarked on fulfilling their dreams. Jess threw herself into her law degree, whilst Malcolm still manages the Half Moon, the bar he once wants to own himself. Things are going well until one of their shared dreams falls through: that of starting their own family. After the loss of their infant daughter, their reality becomes endless rounds of fertility treatments and disappointments. When Malcolm makes a rash decision against Jess’ advice, the strain on the marriage proves too much and Jess leaves him.

 

Now, Malcolm is running the bar on his own, battening down the hatches just before a raging blizzard hits town. With the bar closed for a few days, Malcolm knows he won’t be able to pay his bills and faces the loss of his business, making him question every decision he has ever made ….

 

Keane is an astute observer of human relationships and her description of the couple’s marriage rang true and deeply touched my heartstrings. Here are two people who loved another, unmoored by tragedy. Will they find their way back to one another? Or is it already too late? The NOW part of the story plays out over just a week, but we get to find out all the details of what brought Jess and Malcolm to their present situations – I dare you not to shed a tear or two here!

 

THE HALF MOON was a touching, thought provoking, well written and wonderfully observed study of a marriage and what really matters in life, as well as one of overcoming adversity. I became so deeply engrossed in the audiobook that I just wanted to keep listening until I could find out how this story would play out. My first favourite read of the year – I now must go back and read the author’s other books!

Update: I have since read ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane and have found the same keen observations about human relationships as in THE HALF MOON. However, as a personal preference I much prefer novels that play out over a shorter time period to those who span whole lives, so THE HALF MOON remains my favourite.

Book Review: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? by Nicci French

 

Title: HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER?

Author:  Nicci French

Read: March 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

A nerve-tingling and atmospheric thriller from master of suspense Nicci French about two families shattered by tragedy and the secrets that have been waiting decades to be revealed.

 

On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, just before Christmas 1990, his wife Charlotte vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes Charlotte is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. When Charlotte’s coat is found by the river, they fear the worst.

 

Then the body of the Salters’ neighbor, Duncan Ackerley, is found floating in the river by his son Morgan and Etty. The police investigate and conclude that Duncan and Charlotte were having an affair before he killed her and committed suicide.

 

Thirty years later, Morgan Ackerley, a successful documentarian, has returned to Glensted with his older brother Greg to make podcast based on their shared tragedy with the Salters. Alec, stricken with dementia, is entering an elder care facility while Etty helps put his affairs in order. But as the Ackerleys ask to interview the Salters, the entire town gets caught up in the unresolved cases. Allegations are made, secrets are revealed, and a suspicious fire leads to a murder. With the podcast making national news, London sends Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor to Glensted to take over the investigation.

 

My musings:

 

It’s no secret that Nicci French are on my list of favourite writers, and I will snap up anything they write as soon as it comes out. So when I found out that HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? was available on audio, I settled in for a long and enjoyable read.

 

French are masters of characterisation and keen observers of the human psyche, a trait that made their latest book another 5-star read for me. It started off slowly, setting the scene: 15-year old Etty is the first to become alarmed when her mother fails to turn up for her husband’s 50^th birthday party. My alarm bells rang when everyone around her dismissed her fears as groundless, but when Charlotte Salter failed to appear after a few days, it became obvious that something was badly wrong here. Soon after, the body of the Salters’ neighbour and family friend is found dead in a nearby river. The police, eager to solve both cases, conclude that he must have taken his own life after feeling remorse for killing Charlotte. Case closed.

 

Thirty years later, the Salter children return to the family farm to clear out the house and organise for their father Alec, who is suffering from dementia, to go to a nursing home. Ever since their mother’s disappearance, the Salter children (now adults) have drifted apart, and even now refuse to open up about how Charlotte’s absence has affected them. It’s not until the two sons of the other victim decide to publish a podcast looking closer into the two deaths that they have to confront their past – with unexpected results.

 

HAS ANYONE SEEN CHARLOTTE SALTER? was a psychological thriller of the best kind. From the slow exploration of the two families’ grief and confusion, to the mystery surrounding Charlotte’s disappearance, this character driven tale kept me enthralled from beginning to end. In typical French fashion, nothing was as straight forward as it seemed, and there were plenty of surprises in store as we got a look into the past. I particularly loved how French describe the fallout of Charlotte’s disappearance on all her children, affecting their lives far into adulthood – especially Etty, whose personality has been totally transformed by grief.

 

As with most Nicci French novels, the story here had a deep emotional effect on me, and I still pondered the Salters’ story long after the book had concluded. Having lost my mother at a young age, I particularly related to the effect of grief on a young (and older) Etty.

 

Summary:

 

Lovers of slow burning, character driven mysteries will appreciate the way French unravel this cleverly constructed tale and their insight into the effects of crime on the victims’ families. One of my favourites so far this year!

 

Book Review: TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett

 

Title: TOM LAKE

Author:  Ann Patchett

Read: February 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

My musings:

 

Every now and then a book comes out of left field and totally steals your hear. TOM LAKE was that type of novel for me, jumping from a random book exchange find ("If I don't like it I just bring it back") to my first 5 star read of the year.

Set on a cherry orchard in those first few surreal early months of the pandemic, it tells the story of a family thrown together in lockdown, trying to make sense of the past and the present. I loved the concept of Lara telling her three grown daughters about her youth and musing about how her life was irrevocably changed by the events of one long ago summer. Tackling themes like first love, betrayal, friendship, dreams, loss and the choices we make, its underlying message is that life can turn in a heartbeat and derail the track we're on. Lara has long learned the wisdom some people never achieve: to see what's really important in the big picture and to live the moments. If there is one thing that the pandemic showed us, it's the importance of family and those little snatched joyful moments we often take for granted.

Just as Lara brings her character Emily to life, Pratchett presents us with a cast of unforgettable people who seemed as alive to me as someone I've known for years. Lara muses that she will grow too old to play Emily, and yet her fictional character spoke to me across the ages. I related as much to the younger Lara as to the mother telling her life story to her three grown daughters, trying to make them understand. Written with insight and a lot of heart, the story touched some deep sentimental core in me, making me feel warm and fuzzy one minute and sobbing my heart out the next. What a wonderful read this was! I am so sad to leave this story and am experiencing the biggest book hangover right now.

Book Review: ANNA O by Matthew Blake

 

Title: ANNA O

Author:  Matthew Blake

Read: February 2024

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep?

Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.”

Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O’”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.

As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.

Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.

Joining the ranks of Gillian Flynn, A. J. Finn, and Alex Michaelides, Matthew Blake delivers the thriller of the year: a dark, twisty, and shocking mystery about a young woman who commits a double murder while sleepwalking, and then never opens her eyes again.

My musings:

 

Even with my shiftwork induced obsession with sleep, I was surprised to find out that the average person spends 33 years of their life asleep. 33 years of ZZZZ! But would I willingly sacrifice any of those blissful moments under the doona for more productivity? The answer is no. And yet there seem to be people who can multi-task and combine sleep with some amazing / terrifying feats, such as killing someone whilst sleepwalking. This is the crime Anna O has been accused of, and yet she cannot face trial, since she has never woken from her slumber since the fateful night her two friends were murdered four years ago.

 

Dr Benedict Price is a forensic psychologist specialising in sleep disorders and related crimes. As an expert in his field, he is tasked with the tricky job of waking Anna from her slumber. Facing issues in his own personal life and the ethical dilemmas that his job brings, Benedict has some reservations about the whole project, and yet cannot resist the opportunity to be involved in such a fascinating case. But will waking Anna put them both in danger?

 

I loved the whole premise of sleep disorders, sleepwalking and crimes committed whilst fast asleep and greedily hoovered up all the little morsels of insight into some case studies the author mentions along the way – I would have loved much more of this! But whilst I felt the science behind the novel fascinating and well presented, the actual thriller part of the book seemed to stall and lack in places, especially in the later half. I felt that both Benedict as well as Anna lacked character development, and despite its twists and turns, I guessed parts of the outcome of the story long before the final reveal. So perhaps this was not the thriller of the year for me, but as an original premise it made for hours of interesting reading and intrigue and I mostly enjoyed it. If you find sleep in general fascinating, then this book should definitely be on your list!