Archive | June 2020

The Light Keeper by Cole Morton

Jun14

Beautiful

The Light Keeper by Cole Morton is the most beautifully written novel that has soothed my soul. Once in a while a book comes along that has a serenely beautiful air that pervades the whole novel and I just sink into it and let the book wash over me. The Light Keeper is not a book to rush through, it is one to be savoured. There is power and understanding in the words that Cole Morton has used.

The book is a study of life and love and loss – a life that has been and a love that does not end; a life that is yet to be and a desperation that does not leave; and a love that has died but the embers remain. This is a tale that demands an emotional response on many levels.

Deep grief is found within the pages. “The white noise of grief has never stopped, only become part of the music of his life.” When life is snatched away and hope is gone, grief and love remain. “He wants to leave but she is still here.” When we are being sunk by our grief, we sometimes fear moving on in case we lose our memories and ties with our loved one.

One character mourns what she did not have – her mother died when she was just three years old but the sense of loss remains.

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Friend Or Foe by Michael Morpurgo

Jun11

The Dilemma

Friend Or Foe by Michael Morpurgo is a powerful children’s historical novel just perfect for ages eight and over.

The novel is set during World War II and follows two evacuees to the West Country. The boys find themselves on a farm. “They were no longer going away, they were arriving.” Life is all about perspective. The boys turned a negative into a positive.

The boys are brave. “He’d promised himself he’d be brave when he said goodbye.” Bravery is ‘doing it afraid.’

Within the novel there is a moral dilemma. The boys have a choice to do the right thing but the right thing is not always easy. It is not always a black and white issue but a murky grey one. They have to be guided by their conscience.

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The Sailor From Casablanca by Charline Malaval

Jun11

Uncovering The Truth

The Sailor From Casablanca by Charline Malaval is a marvellous dual timeline novel – 1940 France and Casablanca and 2005 in Casablanca. The tale follows a sailor, full of life and vigour, and a young woman’s search for the truth about her grandfather after finding some wartime letters.

War is a terrible thing. It alters people beyond recognition – bodies return but minds are left behind. “The war [WWI] buried him alive” – not physically but mentally. The war to end all wars returned a generation of men who were shadows of themselves. “It wasn’t that we were brave in the trenches; we simply had no choice.”

Young men in the 1930’s failed to see another war looming as they signed up for the French navy. War is not glamorous. War changes boys into men, and men into heroes. In war there is always the choice to be made – to do your duty or to dessert. This dilemma is explored throughout the novel in an attempt to uncover the truth.

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In The Heart Of The Garden by Leah Fleming

Jun10

Through The Ages

In The Heart Of The Garden by Leah Fleming is a marvellous epic tale of a garden through nearly a thousand years.

The reader is there at the start as the land is cultivated and two families meet. We journey down the years and through the generations sharing the births and deaths, the smiles and tears of those who tend the garden. The whole tale hangs together with the present day owner, an octogenarian named Iris. Her story is interwoven with the stories from the past.

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