If I Ever Fall by SD Robertson

Is holding on harder than letting go?

The prologue of this novel opens with the most unsettling words to ever come out of anyone's mouth:

"I don't know who I am."

Not only that, this anonymous character has no idea where they are, what has happened to them and why they are struggling to come to in a strange room with a strange person. Then, before we have the chance to work out who this person is and what they might be doing there, we start Chapter one which is set in 2017 and takes the form of a letter.

What intrigued me about this book was that for a while I thought I was reading a thriller. All the ingredients for a mystery are there - a person who appears to be trapped somewhere suffering from 'retrograde amnesia', another character writing a letter in which they are surrounded by odd coincidences yet obviously hiding a secret and a third story line following another character who is suffering from depression and also has a backstory to reveal.

Of course you'll know from the blurb, it isn't a thriller, there isn't a crime to solve but the reader does have to concentrate as we alternate between the three different narratives and timelines and try to work out how these three seemingly separate story lines all in fact fit together. There may not be a crime to solve but there definitely is a little bit of a mystery and there definitely is a sense of threat for each protagonist. There are also a few twists, a few shocks and a few moments of revelation. Each character has a demon to confront and their safety (emotional or physical) to fight for.

I liked the three different narratives. Each is very different - first person, third person and the form of a letter. The letters from Maria to Sam help reveal a lot of information and fill in some of the gaps as the reader begins to piece together the main events and the relationships between the characters. Maria answers a lot of our questions for us which even if occasionally a little contrived, is actually helpful as the other two sections remain more allusive and ambiguous. The letter form encourages Maria to be more honest as it is often more confessional in style and so this helps the reader build a relationship with her and empathise with her struggle.

Dan's storyline reads very easily. It is an authentic voice of a journalist who is coming to terms with the breakdown of his marriage and his faltering relationship with his daughter. There are lots of hints about what might have happened to the family which I liked.

"They'd been so good together. Under normal circumstances, he was sure they'd still be happily married. But what they'd been through was enough to tear apart even the strongest of unions." 

Both Dan and Maria's sections explore different responses to grief, different responses to parenting and different responses to making a marriage survive after a tragedy. Neither is right, neither is wrong, neither is more likeable or more pitiable. They offer different insights and ultimately compound the sense of sadness, hopelessness and despair of the novel.

I liked the sections about "John" the most. They are very cleverly written and Robertson recreates the sense of confusion, frustration and fear really effectively as "John" struggles to remember who he is and what has happened to him. The presentation of a sluggish mind that drifts between reality, dreams and flashbacks is really well written and I liked the tension and suspense that these passages created. The mysterious appearance of the girl in red is intriguing and the repetition of words like "it's not safe here," "you have to open your eyes," and "John's" sense of anxiety create a great atmosphere of unease.

The marketing campaign for this book has involved tissues and the warning that this is a bit of a tear jerker. I didn't need any tissues but I did feel a sense of sadness and I did feel sympathy for Maria and Dan. The novel tackles a difficult subject and does it with sensitivity. There is a promise of hope at the end of the story which I welcomed and felt it was a fitting finale to the protagonists' journeys.

As the blurb on Goodreads recommends, this is a book for fans of Amanda Prowse, Kathryn Hughes and JoJo Moyes. I enjoyed discovering a new author and I will definitely read Robertson's first novel "Time To Say Goodbye".

"If I Ever Fall" is published on the 9th February by Avon.

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)


S D Robertson 

Former journalist S.D. Robertson quit his role as a local newspaper editor to pursue a lifelong ambition of becoming a novelist. 

An English graduate from the University of Manchester, he’s also worked as a holiday rep, door-to-door salesman, train cleaner, kitchen porter and mobile phone network engineer. 

Over the years Stuart has spent time in France, Holland and Australia, but home these days is back in the UK. He lives in a village near Manchester with his wife and daughter. There’s also his cat, Bernard, who likes to distract him from writing – usually by breaking things.

www.sdrobertsonauthor.com
Twitter: @SDRauthor

"Stasi Wolf" by David Young

This is the sequel to "Stasi Child" which if I'm honest, was perhaps not a book I would have normally picked up to read but I did and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's exciting when you stumble across something that is not in your normal genre then end up buying it for half a dozen friends! As I said in my review for "Stasi Child" (which you can read here: Bibliomaniac's review of Stasi Child ) I was surprised this was Young's first novel but then, that meant there would be many future instalments and without having to wait too long - here it is!

Once again, I had a momentarily flicker of trepidation about reading a police procedural novel set in East Germany in 1975 but do you know what, even though the historical and political setting is still very much part of the novel, this is actually a story about women, motherhood and missing children. It is as gripping and as harrowing as any contemporary detective or psychological thriller and I found it incredibly fast paced and readable. I became carried away in the personal lives of the central protagonists as much as the more complex story arc regarding the Stasi and communism.

It's great to see the return of Karin Muller as Young takes us back to 1975, picking up a few months after the events from "Stasi Child". Things have changed for Muller; she is divorced and sidelined from the Murder Squad but it is not long before she finds herself working on a case that requires all her skill if she is to solve a crime that is intriguing, complicated and distressing.

Transferred to Halle-Neustadt, a new town which is the pride of the communist state, Muller needs to solve the mystery of a pair of missing infant twins. But the Stasi have forbidden them from publicising the disappearances and their restrictions threaten Muller's chances of ever uncovering the truth in the race against time to find the tiny, vulnerable victims.

Not only has Muller had to transfer to a town she doesn't really want to go to, she is also under the added pressure of surveillance:

"If you ever want to rise above the rank of Oberleutnant then you are going to have to say yes occasionally. You're going to have to take on jobs you might not particularly want to go......There can be no errors of judgement like last time. Your performance will be monitored closely - and as you can imagine, not solely by the People's Police."

Young's research is meticulous and the detail that has gone in to recreating the atmosphere, setting, physical and emotional details is massively impressive. The reader is so fully transported to this moment in time and completely buys into the whole setting. The characters are intimidating, fearsome and convincing. The issues and restrictions that affect the police work are well integrated into the story and the attitudes towards the communist state and the Stasi well captured through dialogue and the relationships between the characters. For me, someone who does not read a lot of fiction set in this political and social context, I was able to visualise, understand and follow this aspect of the novel which just goes to illustrate the strength of Young's writing.

In contrast to Muller's narrative and the police investigation, there is another voice interspersed between the chapters which is set in 1965. These were definitely my favourite sections. I loved the voice of Franziska and the unnerving behaviour of her partner Hansi. I am hugely impressed with Young's ability to capture such a chilling voice and weave such an unsettling story. This truly rivals passages from any contemporary thriller.

"Hansi gives me these little pills to prevent it. He's so clever. He works at the chemical factory ......And he does some work for the Ministry too - he's quite important. Sometimes he gets me to help with his official Ministry business. You know, if I see anything that doesn't look quite right. If anyone's acting oddly, and might need the authorities to help them."

As was "Stasi Child", this second instalment is also claustrophobic, graphic at times, dark, harrowing, distressing and yet compelling. There is a lot to keep track of, a lot of different threads from several different characters but Young manages them all competently and has produced a novel full of drama. There is quite a lot of switching backwards and forwards through time - relatively close periods of time - which did require concentration and at times I was a little worried about losing my place but I didn't.

I think what I enjoyed most about this crime novel was that as Young continues his series, we are learning more about the central protagonist Muller. She is a feisty, strong, intelligent woman and it was great to see more of her but also discover more about her backstory. It was also interesting to see her personal life actually becoming part of the central plot. I liked the fact that this book is a real mash up of historical drama, political drama, police procedural, crime and also include a very human angle exploring the emotional side of the characters and themes such as loss, grief, love and motherhood.

In the acknowledgements Young says his aim was to tell a cracking story. He does. It's a cracking story and an action packed read.

He says he tried to make his East German world authentic and honest. He does. I would agree that you might have to suspend belief a little bit but on the whole the novel is convincing.

Young also wanted to explore the backstory of Karin Muller as "it is the essence of the book. How the past impinges on, and defines, the present." I would say for me this was the most successful aspect of the novel and the bit I enjoyed the most.

His choice of East Germany in 1975 is really interesting. As Young says, it is the product of World War Two and "stood at the edge of two conflicting systems: capitalist and communist...."  This lends itself to lots of potential about conflict, the past and the present and the unique bearing this has on the characters and the events in the novel.

I would recommend "Stasi Wolf". I think it is probably necessary to read "Stasi Child" first but they are both engaging and fast paced reads so it will not be difficult to catch up. I am eagerly awaiting the third and final instalment which is due in 2018 as it will be fascinating to see what happens to Muller now her life has changed yet again.

"Stasi Wolf" is published on 9th February 2017 by Zaffre.

My review of "Stasi Child" can be found here:

Bibliomaniac's Review of Stasi Child



DAVID YOUNG

David Young was born near Hull and – after dropping out of a Bristol University science degree - studied Humanities at Bristol Polytechnic specialising in Modern History. Temporary jobs cleaning ferry toilets and driving a butcher's van were followed by a career in journalism with provincial newspapers, a London news agency, and the BBC’s international newsrooms where he led news teams for the World Service radio and World TV.

David was a student on the inaugural Crime Thriller MA at City University – winning the course prize in 2014 for his debut novel Stasi Child – and now writes full-time in his garden shed. In his spare time, he’s a keen supporter of Hull City AFC.

Follow David on Twitter: 
@djy_writer
Or visit his blogspot on his novels:
Stasi Child Website

For more recommendations and reviews please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

Bibliomaniac's Book Club: Louise Beech

BIBLIOMANIAC'S BOOK CLUB: 
Louise Beech 

 "How to be Brave" 

Both Louise Beech's books have staggeringly high ratings on Goodreads and Amazon and the reviews are absolutely oozing with praise for her writing and storytelling. As novels that have affected so many people so deeply, they would be perfect choices for Book Group, particularly as they explore such great universal themes of family, history and love. Here's some ideas for running a book group session of both of the books including some questions from the author herself! 

But first, here's a bit of information about what both books are about.

"How To Be Brave" 

When nine-year-old Rose is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, Natalie must use her imagination to keep her daughter alive. They begin dreaming about and seeing a man in a brown suit who feels hauntingly familiar, a man who has something for them. Through the magic of storytelling, Natalie and Rose are transported to the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, to a lifeboat, where an ancestor survived for fifty days before being rescued. Poignant, beautifully written and tenderly told, How To Be Brave weaves together the contemporary story of a mother battling to save her child’s life with an extraordinary true account of bravery and a fight for survival in the Second World War. A simply unforgettable debut that celebrates the power of words, the redemptive energy of a mother’s love … and what it really means to be brave.

"The Mountain in my Shoe" 

A missing boy. A missing book. A missing husband. A woman who must find them all to find herself. On the night Bernadette finally has the courage to tell her domineering husband that she’s leaving, he doesn’t come home. Neither does Conor, the little boy she’s befriended for the past five years. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers. With the help of Conor’s foster mum, Bernadette must face her own past, her husband’s secrets and a future she never dared imagine in order to find them all. Exquisitely written and deeply touching, The Mountain in My Shoe is both a gripping psychological thriller and a powerful and emotive examination of the meaning of family … and just how far we’re willing to go for the people we love.

A GOOD BOOK GROUP GUIDE: HOW TO BE BRAVE

Props to start a discussion:
a toy row boat
a map of the sea
a medical leaflet about diabetes 
a shark (a plastic toy version will do this time!!) 
a brown leather note book
a medal / bravery award 

Snacks to accompany this title:
sea salt crisps
water biscuits and cheese
a stiff drink 

Questions I’d Love To Ask Readers At A Book Group about How to be Brave by Louise Beech 

• How did it feel reading something you know was inspired by a real-life experience – two actually?
• Did you learn anything about Type 1 Diabetes that you might not otherwise have known?
• Did the ghostly element work for you?
• How did you find the ending?
• What did you enjoy most?

Here are some quotes from the book for you to chat about:

"Yes I know, [she's not just any child] she's your child"

"How much should a child go through?"

"Being sad is how you start to be brave." & "You have to know how to be sad to know how to be happy and if you know both of those things you'll know how to be brave." 

Further Questions:

• Did you find Rose authentic and believable for her age?
• What did you think about the relationship between Colin and Ken?
• What do you think Louise is saying about storytelling in her novel?
• Is there a book that has particular significance to you? (fiction or non fiction) Why?
• Is there a time when you've used stories to help you cope or to help someone else cope?
• Colin is a kind of guardian angel for Natalie and Rose. Has there ever been a time in your life when you've felt you've had someone watching over you or trying to get in touch with you?

If you like "How to be Brave" try:

• Love Anthony by Lisa Genoa
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
• Panic Room (film) 

And here are some questions from Louise herself about "The Mountain in my Shoe". 

• Did the three POVs work okay for you?
• Did they come together smoothly enough?
• Who was your favourite character?
• What did you think about a Lifebook being one of the voices?
• Did it make you think about possibly doing voluntary work?

BIOGRAPHICAL INFO ABOUT LOUISE BEECH:

I’ve been writing since I could physically hold a pen, and before that I made stories up in my head. As a child, I used to fill notepads with full-length novels, including a proper contents page, foreword and diagrams. I told anyone who would listen that one day I was going to be a world-famous novelist. There’s never been anything else I’ve wanted to do. It’s the only thing I feel confident about, and love. Writing is my safe place. My happy place. It’s where I escape, go for adventure, find therapy and healing. That’s my favourite part first and foremost. The second thing I love about writing is the readers. I’ve had so many lovely messages and met so many readers who say my words have touched them in some way. And it makes all the work worth it. Because even though I love it, it’s the hardest thing to do. Which is why I think you must love it to keep going. 

It took me almost ten years, and four novels, four plays, fifty short stories, multiple newspaper columns, millions of rejections, the odd competition shortlist, and a few tears to get a book deal. When How to be Brave lost a big competition in 2014 I saw on Twitter that Karen Sullivan was starting her own independent publishing company, Orenda Books. I followed her and cheekily asked if she’d look at the novel. She did. And after about ten weeks she said yes. I’ll never forget that moment as long as I live. She then published my second book, The Mountain in my Shoe, this year. An my third novel, Maria in the Moon, will be released in September 2017.

I’m always writing, and am working on book four too.

You can follow Louise on Twitter @LouiseWrites and visit her website louisebeech.co.uk 

Don't forget to follow Bibliomaniac's Book Club on Facebook and Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) for more guides for book group and great recommendations.

"A Deadly Thaw" by Sarah Ward

Autumn 2004
In Bampton, Derbyshire, Lena Fisher is arrested for suffocating her husband, Andrew.

Spring 2016
A year after Lena's release from prison, Andrew is found dead in a disused mortuary.

Who was the man Lena killed twelve years ago, and who committed the second murder? When Lena disappears, her sister, Kat, sets out to follow a trail of clues delivered by a mysterious teenage boy. Kat must uncover the truth - before there's another death . . .

Ward had me hooked immediately.

Ward packs a punch with her opening line as "A Deadly Thaw" starts with a Lena and an anonymous man in bed together. I was as hooked by Ward's description of the "white incandescent light" from the man's mobile phone as they lay in the dark, and the "distended" shadow thrown against the wall that Lena soon realises is a second device. A discovery which makes her pick up her pillow, place it over his head and push.

What really intrigued me about this novel was that by the fourth page, we have witnessed a murder, realised it happened in 2004 and we are now in 2016, found out who did the murder and that they have served a prison sentence then a second body has turned up -a body of the man they thought had been murdered over a decade ago....... Starting the book with a murder scene when the victim is anonymous is not that usual for a crime novel, but starting the book with the knowledge that not only had this murder already been solved and the perpetrator has even served their time, this man was supposed to already be dead - now, this really is an intriguing point from which to start a novel.

And, not only has the perpetrator been found guilty and served her time, we then find out she was the victim's wife. Why did Lena want to kill her husband? And if it wasn't her husband who was it? Why did she lie?

"We're looking at a miscarriage of justice here if his wife served time for his murder. Who gave the positive ID?"
"His wife Lena."

Oooohhhhh such an exciting way to start a book!

I had not only been caught with the 'hook' of this book, I had been attached to the line, cast far into the air and then sunk to the bottom of the murky water completely immersed in the mystery and left lurching forward through the pages to grab on to the clues and hints that Ward laid before me.

Then Lena goes missing. What happens when your apparent lead protagonist -who has already committed one murder and whose husband has just turned up dead 12 years after he has already been murdered and buried- then disappears?

For me, the best thing about this book was the exciting premise and the unusual starting point. It felt a bit different and also shows us that Ward is a writer that can create, manage and successfully pull off a multilayered plot. She is able to write a story which encourages you to become engaged with several characters and then able to pull all the various different strands together in a dramatic finale. It is an accomplished piece of work.

I liked the title of the novel. I think the image of things being frozen and gradually thawing out to reveal their true shape, history, characteristics is really fitting for the storyline. I also think it captured the atmosphere and pace of the book. Lots of of things are revealed early on in the plot and then the  police and Lena's sister, Kat, gradually begin to chip away at the 'ice'; gradually start to uncover the clues, the secrets, the lies until they can begin to piece things together. The last quarter of the book increases in pace and dramatic tension, racing along to its conclusion as the 'thaw' finally lifts.

Ward's characterisation is very good. I liked all the little hints that nothing was as it seems. The reader is kept guessing about Lena Fisher throughout the entire novel and I liked the way we weren't sure whether she had actually committed murder in 2004 or whether she was covering for someone, whether she was guilty or whether she was a victim, whether she was in danger or whether she was deliberately evading the police. As Ward reminds us we can never take things on face value or believe what we are told. As one of the characters mysteriously tells us:

"We're good at keeping secrets round here. You won't get far taking what everyone says at face value."

As well as an intriguing set up and the mystery surrounding Lena, Ward has also developed her detectives. I enjoyed the sub plot between Childs and Palmer and getting to see Sadler again. I felt that I engaged with them and related to them and thought the romantic tension between Childs and Palmer worked well as a point of interest, making them more relatable and accessible to the reader but also subtly highlighting the themes within the book and the events which led to Andrew Fisher's death.

I also liked Kat, Lena's sister. As a therapist she is well trained in dealing with the trauma and psychological issues of her clients but how does this prepare her to deal with her sister and the traumatic events she finds herself caught up in? Ward has created a solid character here who worked well as a bridge between Lena and the police - between the emotional side of the murder and the practical side of the investigation.

This is both a police procedural and a psychological thriller. This has a very human feel to it and the reader is able to become involved in the personal lives of the victims and the detectives. There are many points of tension and suspense and the final denouement is dramatic and very rewarding. This is Ward's second novel and I thought it was even better than her first. I will be eagerly watching out for her third as her writing feels stronger and her storyline tight and polished. It was a great read!

"A Deadly Thaw" by Sarah Ward is published on 2nd February 2017 by Faber and Faber.

For more recommendations and reviews you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Swimming Lessons" by Claire Fuller - A Reading List

Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.

Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage.

"Swimming Lessons" is a book about books; a book about art, a book about letters, a book about love. Ingrid hides her letters to Gil in various books. Each book has clearly been chosen to add pertinence and poignancy to the letter and underline the message Ingrid is trying to relay to Gil. 

Here is an overview of the eclectic and diverse collection of books referred to in"Swimming Lessons".





And a few I couldn't find cover images for:

"Swiss Bakery and Confectionery" Walter Bachmann
"Hand Crocheted Creations for the Home" Bernherd Ullmann
"Advice to a Life" Pye Henry Chavasse
"Warne's Adventure Book for Girls" (1931)
"The Last Gamble" Harold Q Masur

And finally, books I would recommend if you enjoyed "Swimming Lessons":

To read my review of "Swimming Lessons" please click here:
bibliomaniac's review of Swimming Lessons

For more posts about Claire Fuller and "Swimming Lessons" please click here:


For more about Claire Fuller please follow her on Twitter @ClaireFuller2 or via her website www.clairefuller.co.uk

For more book recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

**Author Interview** with Claire Fuller about "Swimming Lessons"

Bibliomaniac's Book Club recommends "Swimming Lessons" by Claire Fuller as the perfect Book Group choice. There are several posts on my blog to give you lots of ideas for running an evening on "Swimming Lessons" and the links are at the end of this interview. 

Claire very kindly agreed to answer some questions about "Swimming Lessons" which occurred to me as I thought about what sort of things a book group might want to discuss after reading the book. Thank you Claire for giving up your time to answer my questions with so much thought and detail. 

Have you ever found anything left inside a book or have you ever left anything inside a book for someone else to find? Do you write in the margins of books?

I’d really like to find something interesting inside a book, but so far it’s just been rather dull Christmas cards and other old bookmarks. Swimming Lessons was partly inspired by something similar though – where my husband and I (before we were married and when we didn’t live together) hid notes in each other’s houses. Apparently there are still two hidden in the house we now share together, and I’m convinced they are somewhere in one of our books, but we have thousands. Occasionally I flick through a few, but eight years later I still haven’t found them. 

I like my books to be a bit dog-eared; I think it makes them look loved, so yes, I don’t have any problem with writing in the margins. 

If you were going to leave a letter in a book, which book might you choose and why? 

I like the idea of leaving a letter in a book that might or might not be discovered, probably because I would love to find one. But I’m not going to answer this with the name of a book, rather I’ll say that I would leave a letter in a library book, any library book, for someone to find. In fact I might just do that. 

What was the most recent book you bought or lent someone else and why did you choose it?

I bought my husband three books for Christmas. We do this every year – three books each, since we both love them, and there’s a lot of pleasure in choosing, but then there is the anxiety about whether he’ll like them. One genre Tim loves is American books about small-town life (if you can call that a genre). In early December I tweeted: Twitter book advice needed for husband. Likes Kent Haruf, Tom Drury, John Williams, Thomas Savage. So, small town American stories. Ideas? 

I got so many replies I ended up with a list of about twenty books to choose from. This is what I bought him: Empire Falls by Richard Russo, Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell, A Death in the family by James Agee. He’s read the last two already, and loved them. 

Oh great recommendations - might have to add them to my TBR pile!!

Can you tell me a bit about the research for the titles you reference in “Swimming Lessons”? 

Ingrid places each of her letters in one of her husband’s books, and just like her when she grabs the first book without thinking, I didn’t plan that she would do this, it just happened. I tried to reflect the content of Ingrid’s letter in each book she chose even if it was just the title of the book, but in some cases I chose books because they meant something to me – especially We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, Small Dreams of a Scorpion by Spike Milligan, and Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns. Lots of the books mentioned in Swimming Lessons I haven’t read, especially those about baking and crochet! But in one case, where I chose The Swimming Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst, I enjoyed it so much, I’ve gone on to read his other work. 

Which book from the titles referred to in “Swimming Lessons” means the most to you or has influenced you or would you recommend as a ‘must read’?

It would have to be We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I’ve read it several times and each time I find something new. This is such an amazing book – simply a great story, but also very ambiguous and subtle and I like how it makes the reader do much of the work. 

When did you last write a letter? 

If you don’t include sick notes for when my children were young and off school, it was a long time ago. I wrote a lot of letters when I was younger, to my Aunt in Australia, to my Nan, to my friends when they went off to university, and even to the girl I sat next to at school. I’m not sure which the last one would have been. I’ve kept all the ones I received though; they’re all still in a box in the loft. 

Gil says “Everyone needs a place to escape to, even If it’s only inside their head.” Do you have a place to escape to or a place to go when you need some space?

I’m lucky that I write full-time, and now my children are at university I’m at home on my own all day when my husband is at work. So physically I don’t need to go anywhere else to escape, except to close my laptop. But I suppose the books I write are also a place to escape to: I can be in a completely different location, time and inside someone else’s head when I want to be. 

Thanks Claire, I really enjoyed your answers and I am in awe of your bibliomania and your passion for books! You certainly have left me a lot of books to go and look up! And I really hope everyone puts Swimming Lessons on the top of their TBR pile - it really is a stunning read. 

Thanks again Claire for all the support and input with my posts this month about Swimming Lessons. 

Swimming Lessons is published by Fig Tree (Penguin) on 26th January 2016.

If you want to read more about Swimming Lessons then please follow the links below:
Bibliomaniac's Review of Swimming Lessons
Bibliomaniac's February Read: Swimming Lessons
Swimming Lessons: A Reading List
For more Bibliomania, follow me on Twitter @katherinsunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) 

Bibliomaniac's Book Club: February's Read **Extra**

FEBRUARY'S BIBLIOMANIA IS FOR 

CLAIRE FULLER

Here is an **EXTRA** bit of Bibliomania:

An *EXCLUSIVE* interview with Claire Fuller where she talks about both of her books.

Synopsis for Swimming Lessons: 

Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.

Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage.

Synopsis for Our Endless Days:

1976: Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children and listening to her mother's grand piano, but her pretty life is about to change.

Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions for the end which is surely coming soon, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote European forest. There he tells Peggy the rest of the world has disappeared.

Her life is reduced to a piano which makes music but no sound, a forest where all that grows is a means of survival. And a tiny wooden hut that is Everything.

Hi Claire and welcome again to Bibliomaniac's Book Club. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions on both of your novels. It's a real privilege to be able to ask you so much about "Swimming Lessons" and "Our Endless Numbered Days". 

(These questions have been written with a book group discussion about the similarities and differences between them in mind.)

Both books are set in the past – what appeals to you about writing in another decade? Is there anything you have to take into consideration when writing in the past? Is the level of research the same for someone who might set their book in a more distant past?

With my first book I made Peggy about my age, which meant that her story had to start in the mid 1970s. Also, I wanted her and father to survive in the forest undiscovered for many years, and I don’t think that would be possible today with modern technology. So for practical reasons it needed to be set in the recent past. 

And because I don’t plan my books, I just start writing, the same thing happened with Swimming Lessons. I started writing about an old man on a windy beach with his dog, and then realised I wanted to back to his earlier life, so again I ended up in the 1970s without really planning for that to happen. 

I’m sure there’s a lot more research to be done with books set in the more distant past. 

Both books centre around the relationship between a father and a daughter – and a mother and a daughter. What appeals to you about writing about this dynamic?

Again, both those things happened without me planning them. But family dynamics are always interesting. 

Both your books have explored families that are dysfunctional. Which family did you find easier to write about? 

A difficult question! I don’t think either family was more difficult than the other. Just different. 

Both books use locations which are removed or isolated (the forest and the sea). Are there any other themes or motifs that you think appear in both books?

That was deliberate. With Our Endless Numbered Days, the location needed to be isolated, but with Swimming Lessons, it was more that I wanted to write about nature again, rather than needing where they lived to be remote. Both books perhaps use nature as a force that the characters have to work with or overcome – Peggy with the forest, and Ingrid with the sea. And both books are about disappearances. But in Our Endless Numbered Days the story stays with the disappeared, whereas in Swimming Lessons it follows the left-behind. 

Imagination, memory, communication, being lost and the truth are key themes in both books. Can you think of any examples of each of these ideas in both novels?

I'm not going to answer this one because it would probably run to a couple of pages! But it would be a great one for a book group to discuss! 

Repeated metaphors and images are also used as effectively in both titles. Can you find any examples or find your favourite image in both books?

A favourite in Our Endless Numbered Days are the lists. James makes them on bits of paper and then on the walls of the cabin, each becoming more disturbed as he unravels. And then Peggy writes a list of the things she has missed, most of which is food. You can’t beat a list in a book!

And I do like the little toy soldier in Swimming Lessons, which represents Ingrid for Flora. I took my children to the beach a lot when they were children and my son had many little plastic soldiers that he would take with him to play with and my daughter would steal to put in her beach flower gardens. We must have lost so many soldiers in the sand. I wonder if the one Flora finds is actually one of ours?

What was the main difference between writing a debut and writing a second novel?

Expectation. I wrote my second novel before Our Endless Numbered Days had been published, so I had no idea of the reception it would receive, but I did know it had been bought by an imprint of Penguin. Of course I wanted my second novel to also be bought, but no idea if it would. The first did come much easier than the second, where I went down a lot of blind alleys and had to delete a lot of writing as I went along.

Thanks so much Claire - really interesting answers and also  - as an English Teacher!- it's fascinating to hear about how much is deliberate, planned or just emerges more organically in an author's writing. 

If you would like to read more about Claire's novels then the following links will take you to my other relevant blog posts: 

Swimming Lessons: A Reading List
Bibliomaniac's Book Club: February Read "Swimming Lessons"
Bibliomaniac's Book Club: Our Endless Numbered Days

If you would like to find out more about Claire then you can follow her on Twitter @ClaireFuller2 or via her website https://clairefuller.co.uk

You can follow me @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)