April has been a very strange month for most of us, most people being on lock down so a lot of time on our hands. I know many of you have lost your reading mojo due the anxiety of being away from family and friends. but maybe one of my April reads will give you some inspiration to pick up a book. For those who are working thank you fir all you do, my daughter and husband are frontline workers so I understand how difficult your jobs can be. Here is my monthly round up and top reads for April.
I Am Dust by Louise Beech. This book simply blew me away with it’s haunting and ethereal prose. Dust is a musical, last performed twenty years ago but the run was cut short after the lead actress, Morgan Miller was murdered. Now it is being brought back to much excitement. Chloe is a usher at the theatre, she dreamed of a life on the stage after seeing the original production age ten. As a teenager Chloe, her friend Jess and Ryan were part of a youth theatre group and now Jess has turned bring memories of a forgotten summer. Part ghost story, part romance and part psychological thriller this is a stunning read.
Strangers by C.L Taylor. C.L Taylor is one of my favourite thriller writers, and her books are so addictive I read them in one sitting. In this book we start with a murder and three suspects, and then the book goes back a week to see how three complete strangers found themselves at this point. Alice is the manager of a clothes store, Ursula has lost her boyfriend and is coping with the grief by shoplifting and Gareth is a security guard and is the carer fro his mum who is suffering from dementia. This book really played with my mind as I tried to work out how these three, very different people could find themselves implicit in a murder. Dark and complex this is a book I couldn’t put down.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Maggie O’Farrell is one of the nations favourite authors, and one of mine, so it is always exciting when she releases a new book. Hamnet is a very different book from her, but one she says she has always wanted to write. Hamnet is the son of Shakespeare, and the inspiration for his play Hamlet. With Shakespeare living in London, his wife Agnes is back in Stratford with their three children, Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet. The twins have a special bond, and when both become unwell with a fever Hamnet wants to swap places with Judith so she wont die. This book is about that special bond, the devastating loss of a child and Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife. Beautifully written and rich in detail this is a stunning read
The Book of Longings by Su Monk Kidd. Best known for her book The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd’s new book is about Ana, the imagined life of Jesus. Ana is a strong willed, intelligent young woman who enjoys writing about the women forgotten in the Scriptures. At a time where women were the property of men, Ana finds herself betrothed to a much older man as part of a business transaction. On the same day she meets him, she also meets Jesus. After her betrothal doesn’t go ahead, and her father tries to sell her as a concubine she gives up her privileged lifestyle to marry Jesus and live with his family. Through Ana we see the incredible events of this period and learn of the lives of some the incredible women whose stories have been forgotten. This is a thought provoking, and ambitious book, with a story told with compassion, I absolutely loved it.
The reviews of all the books I read in April are available to read on my blog. I hope you will drop in on my blog in May where I will be reviewing My Lies, Your Lies by Susan Lewis, Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald and Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten.
I loved Hamnet as well. I’m wondering if I should read that Sue Monk Kid book.