Phew! Am feeling terribly virtuous because, apart from serving customers, I have got power of work done over the last three days, including a writing a review of a very difficult book. I am almost finished reading the hugely enjoyable Silkworm by J K Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith... lots of fun, you must read it... and now I have the pleasant dilemma of deciding what on earth to read next! I have so many wonderful reading copies I scarcely know where to start, but am torn between the Miles Franklin winner, Evie Wylds All The Birds Singing, or Jessie Burtons fascinating looking The Miniaturist. As for All the Birds Singing, the book should be back in stock sometime this week I hope... it took Random rather by surprise I think... we will ring those of you who have it on order as soon as it arrives. The Miniaturist There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed... On a cold winters day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman knocks at the door of a grand house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the country to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his sharp-tongued sister, Marin. Only later does Johannes appear and present her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways... Nella is at first mystified by the closed world of the Brandt household, but as she uncovers its secrets she realises the escalating dangers that await them all. Does the miniaturist hold their fate in her hands? And will she be the key to their salvation or the architect of their downfall? 09 - Promotional headline Beautiful, intoxicating and filled with heart-pounding suspense, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story about love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth. Biographical note Jessie Burton was born in south London in 1982 and studied at Oxford University and The Central School of Speech and Drama. She has appeared in several productions at the National, Bristol Old Vic, Salisbury Playhouse and the Donmar, interspersing these with PA roles in the City. She lives with her partner in East Dulwich. All The Birds Singing Winner of the 2014 Miles Franklin Award Who or what is watching Jake Whyte from the woods? Jake Whyte is the sole resident of an old farmhouse on an unnamed island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. Its just her, her untamed companion, Dog, and a flock of sheep. Which is how she wanted it to be. But something is coming for the sheep - every few nights it picks one off, leaves it in rags. It could be anything. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumours of an obscure, formidable beast. And there is Jakes unknown past, perhaps breaking into the present, a story hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, in a landscape of different colour and sound, a story held in the scars that stripe her back. Set between Australia and a remote English island, All the Birds, Singing is the story of how one womans present comes from a terrible past. It is the second novel from the award-winning author of After the Fire, A Still Small Voice.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 06:24:35 +0000