~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recent Posts

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "The Prisoner of Heaven"& Graham Joyce's"Some Kind of Fairy Tale"

I started my journey with Carlos Ruiz Zafon in "The Shadow of the Wind"...and picked myself up and flung myself into " The Angel's Game" as soon as it was released...both novels are epic in every sense of the word. So you can imagine my glee when "The Prisoner of Heaven" came out a few months ago and took me straight back to 1957 Barcelona and the Sempere & Sons bookshop....this is the story of Fermin now and how it all ties in with Daniel Sempere.
Just buy it...Read it and pray that Mr. Zafon is almost done with the next one...

I love me some good,mind engrossing tales of enchantement and I found that and more in Graham Joyce's novel: "Some Kind of Fairy Tale".
Tara Martin disappears in the woods of Outwoods...and only reappears 20 years later,at Christmas, showing up at her parents doorstep thinking that only 6 months had gone by. Oh Boy! This is good...as it says on the back of the book :
"Some Kind of Fairy Tale" is a very English story. A story of woods and clearings, a story of folk tales and family histories...a story of enchantments that lie behind the evryday.."
I haven't read something this good in this genre since:"The Stolen Child" by Keith Donohue.

Must buy, must read....

Sleuthing in Saudi Arabia and some rip roaring summer reads...

I am a HUGE fan of Zoe Ferraris' novels, having read all 3 and desperate for more.She now lives in San Francisco after having lived in Saudi Arabia with her then Palestinian/Saudi husband and his extended family.
Her novels pick up all the idiosyncrasies and give you a clear and mesmerising insight into modern day Saudi Arabia and is a refreshing new arena for clean cut and absorbing police investigations...CSI SA...and what a refreshing change from their US counterparts in Vegas,NYC and LA.

"Kingdom of Strangers" is her 3rd novel set in Jeddah,Saudi Arabia ...and a riveting read. This is a tale of sleuthing and serial killers,that takes the reader from desolate deserts,to downtown police stations in Jeddah. Zoe navigates us through,alleys and shopping malls, her characters are intriguing and so multi faceted within the constrictions of a non too liberal country.Who would have imagined that Saudi Arabia would become a new playground for literary,modern day (crime)novels and create such a buzz?
Zoe's first novel: "The Night of the Mi'raj" and in "City of Veils", her 2nd introduce you to the main characters Nayir,the Bedouin tracker and Katya Hijazi who works in forensics and is desperate to be allowed into the men only world of police investigation.
Highly entertaining...I can't recommend them enough.

Keija Parssinen was born in Saudi Arabia and lived there for 12 years:a 3rd generation expat.
In her debut novel "The Ruins of Us", based I believe in or around Dammam...Keija tells a tale of love in epic proportions that bound a fiery Texan beauty to her Saudi billionaire student boyfriend. She agrees to marry him and return to the Kingdom with him,despite his family's objection...and how,many years later with 2 grown children,Rosalie discovers that her husband Abdullah has taken a second wife....Chaos ensues, hearts are torn and divided and their son Faisal faces a dilemma that could ultimately destroy their family.
A beautiful and absorbing read.