Hisham Matar:  The Return, Viking (Penguin Random House) UK, paperback: March 2017, 9780241966280, available as hardback 9780670923335, 14,99 GBP

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016”

“The Return” is a truly remarkable book, one of the most talked about non-fiction titles of last year, coming with highest recommendations from most critics.  

As a fan of his previous novels “In the Country of Men” and “Anatomy of a Disappearance”, I was eager to read “The Return”.  In my opinion both his previous novels should become required reading in schools, dealing with dictatorship, tyranny, totalitarian regimes and their effect and consequence  on people’s  lives.  With Erdogan in Turkey and Trump in the US trying to turn democracy into an autocracy, his memoir is a tremendous account of what could happen to any of us if democracy fails.

“The Return” is also a haunting book, I could not read it in one go it affected me so deeply.  Colm Toibin said this book will become a classic, I could not agree more.  Hisham Matar is a brilliant writer, his novels all draw from his real life experience,  the traumatic effect his father’s disappearance left on him and his family. Jaballa Matar, a Libyan diplomat living in Cairo in exile with his family, was abducted by Gaddafi’s secret police disappearing in one of the nightmare prisons, Abu Salim, the worst. The atrocities prisoners experienced there are incomprehensible.  Jaballa Matar was one of the most well-known resistence fighters, as were other family members, cousins, uncles – most of them ending in prison for up to 20 years. How they and others survived is astonishing. Hisham Matar spent his entire adult life trying to find out what happened to his father, holding on to hope to find him alive.  After the uprisings in Egypt, Tunis and finally the toppling of Gaddafi’s regime, many relatives were released from prison. But Jaballa Matar remained lost. This book is about Hisham’s return to Libya, the account of his continued, stubborn search for his father with family members, brother and mother remembering the man they lost and loved, their fate entwined with recent Libyan history.

Emily Esfahani Smith: The Power of Meaning – Crafting a Life that Matters,

Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Rider Publishing, Pub date 12. January 2017, hardback, 9781846044649

There are such a vast amount of titles on happiness flooding the book market that one almost feels obliged to be happy or certainly a failure if you are not. What drew me to this book was the title.  “The power of meaning” and its different approach in the field of positive psychology elevated this title from the rest of the pack, the emphasis lying on how to lead a meaningful life which is very different from being happy most of the time.  Emily Esfahani Smith is a journalist with a philosophy degree from Dartmouth; she also has a master in positive psychology which gives her a perfect background.

When she describes in her opening chapter on growing up in a Sufi meeting house her parents ran in Montreal, one realizes how early in life the author was exposed to religion and philosophy and the big questions we all encounter:  what values should I life by, how did the universe come to be, is there anything divine out there, what will bring me fulfillment in my life.  During her research Esfahani Smith found purpose to be one of the most fundamental basics that lead to a meaningful life which made perfect sense to me. She chose narratives of ordinary people, interviewed professionals studying these topics to manifest her research which made this book so easy and inspiring to read while gaining knowledge on how to lead a richer, more satisfying life. 

Four of the most fundamental pillars of leading a meaningful life according to her findings are belonging, purpose, storytelling (which was a big surprise to me but not anymore after I read the chapter) and transcendence.  

Her work is very accessible, inspiring, thought provoking, thoroughly researched and full of insight for those who are on a path of discovery to a meaningful life. The book comes with my unreserved recommendation.

Edithsbookpicks: M.J.Carter:The Printer’s Coffin, 978024196624, pap...

Edithsbookpicks: M.J.Carter:The Printer’s Coffin, 978024196624, pap...: M.J.Carter: The Printer’s Coffin, 978024196624, paperback, Penguin UK One of my best friends is an enthusiastic fan of MJ Carter’s Bl...

M.J.Carter: The Printer’s Coffin, 978024196624, paperback, Penguin UK

One of my best friends is an enthusiastic fan of MJ Carter’s Blake and Avery historical mysteries and her love for these novels made me read the first of the series, “The Strangler Vine” which was set in India in 1837 introducing Jeremiah Blake and Captain William Avery, both working for the East India Company, I reviewed it in my blog.  “Strangler Vine” was nominated for many awards and was on the Shortlist of the Best Debut Crime Novel in 2015. I had to read the second novel, “The Printer’s Coffin” which is set in London of 1841 in a very different atmosphere from the previous book.

Two printers from London’s seedy gutter presses have been found brutally murdered, in an area that was then anything from the now extremely highly priced property around the Embankment and Covent Garden. Viscount Allington, a wealthy, religious philanthropist who runs charitable organizations for the poor, hires Avery & Blake to look into these grizzly killings.  The new police have very little interest to uncover the truth and fearing the murders might fire up the Chartist movement, Allington is trying to prevent civil unrest.  As Avery and Blake start their investigation in a London full of unimaginable poverty and squalor, many colorful characters try just as hard to prevent them from uncovering the truth.  I have to confess I kind of suspected who might be behind it half way through the novel but it is not an obvious choice …..

The meticulous research that Carter undertook to gain insight into the Chartist movement, the extremely detailed description of London, its architecture and the layout of the city then, makes this not only an action packed read but also a historical and sociological lesson.  This is one of the reasons I enjoy MJ Carter’s novels, you come out so much smarter while being wonderfully entertained at the same time. This novel is packed with detail and it helps to read the book without time lapses in order not to lose the thread. 

The third installment of the series has just been published, it is called “The Devil’s Feast” and some of the characters from “Printers Coffin” reappear. 

Edithsbookpicks: JohnGrisham: The Whistler, 9780385541190, hardback...

Edithsbookpicks: JohnGrisham: The Whistler, 9780385541190, hardback...: John Grisham: The Whistler, 9780385541190, hardback, Penguin Random House, Doubleday (not available in German yet) Holiday and final...

John Grisham: The Whistler, 9780385541190, hardback, Penguin Random House, Doubleday (not available in German yet)

Holiday and finally again beach time, in the mood for a legal thriller and not having read a John Grisham for ages, I downloaded “The Whistler” on my E-book reader very much in the mood for a page turner.  Grisham never disappoints in delivering a captivating, entertaining thriller as he does again with “The Whistler”. 

This fascinating conspiracy story is set in Florida’s law courts featuring a very corrupt female judge who is turning a blind eye on the gambling industry on one of Florida’s Indian reservations. Throw in a whistle blower represented by a convicted, now reinstated lawyer called Greg Myers who contacts Lacy Stoltz and her colleague Hugo, both lawyers and investigators with the Florida Board of Judicial Conduct.  When they learn that the Coast Mafia financed the casinos on Native American land now skimming of a large proportion of the profits for themselves and greasing the palms of the Judge in question, they know they are looking at a more serious, dangerous case then the usual misconduct complaints they normally investigate.

I like John Grisham’s unagitated way of storytelling and complex plotting as only a lawyer can, with many surprises as you turn the next page. I had a thrilling time reading “The Whistler” learning a lot about the US judicial system as a side benefit. 

Edithsbookpicks: PauloCoelho: The Spy,9781786330543 hardback, Pengu...

Edithsbookpicks: PauloCoelho: The Spy,9781786330543 hardback, Pengu...: Paulo Coelho: The Spy, 9781786330543 hardback, Penguin Random House UK, (German: Paulo Coelho: Die Spionin, Diogenes Verlag, 19.90 € hard...

Paulo Coelho: The Spy,9781786330543 hardback, Penguin Random House UK, (German: Paulo Coelho: Die Spionin, Diogenes Verlag, 19.90 € hardback)

Most of Paulo Coelho’s work is usually too esoteric for my taste but I loved the book he became famous for, “The Alchemist”, and when I saw that he had written a novel about the legendary Mata Hari, I was intrigued and decided to give him another go. Mata Hari was a colorful personality in the early 20th century, dancer, It girl of her time, mistress to many man and supposed spy, so plenty of material to write a captivating book I figured.  I could not have been more wrong.

Coelho decides to set the book by letting Mata Hari or Margaretha Zelle as was her original name, telling her own life story.  As she is waiting for a pardon after being sentenced to death in France’s Saint Lazare prison,  accused of spying, she writes a letter to her lawyer looking back on her life.  What could have become an unputdownable, fascinating story of a self- determined modern woman, burbled along instead,  going from one shallow life event to the next, from one empty love story to the another with very little meaningfulness,  depth or insight into the real life or loves of Mata Hari , instead filling the chapters with platitude.

I took the novel on a holiday with me and was thoroughly bored.  His attempt to put himself into Mata Hari’s shoes failed royally in my opinion. I do love the book cover !