Book Reviews - F
Fearn, John Russell
Tile of Book : Climate Incorporated
Reviewed by : Book Club Member
Category : Fiction Large Print
Suggested Audience :
Meteorologist Alvin Brook invents a means of controlling the weather. He believes he will become a world benefactor. Instead he and his wife are murdered, the invention stolen and misused by Industrialist Marcus Denham. 12 years later their son David Brooks tries to set things right. Nature herself also rebels. The climax comes during an earthquake and a hurricane and Nature comes out the winner. Great story – if we knew what the weather would be all the time what would we talk about?
9/10
Fearnley, Laurence
Tile of Book : Edwin & Matilda
Reviewed by : Book Club Member
Category : Fiction
Suggested Audience :
This beautifully written novel by Laurence Fearnley is about finding love. It is the stoy of an unusal bond between sixty-two year old man and a twenty-two year old woman. The man is searching for his mother who left him when he was seven years old. The woman was raped as a teenager and became HIV positive as a result. I really enjoyed this story and shall look for others written by this New Zealand author.
Fforde, Katie
Tile of Book : Going Dutch
Reviewed by : Book Club Member
Category : Fiction
Suggested Audience :
A great story combining romance and humour as two women change their lives. Dora flees to London after breaking her engagement and joins Jo whose husband has taken up with a younger woman. They live on a barge and start new jobs. When the barge goes to Holland for a refit the pair are on board as reluctant crew but things change as romance and adventure appear where least expected. A fast pace read that races along.
8/10
Follett, Ken
Tile of Book : World without end
Reviewed by : Book Club Member
Category : Fiction
Suggested Audience :
Gwenda (8) daughter of a thief, in 1327
Merthin (11) son of a soldier
Ralph (10) his younger brother
Caris (10) daughter of a wool merchant
Play in the forest near Kingsbridge with a bow Merthin had made. Together they witness an attempted robbery during which 2 men are killed one of them by Ralph’s arrow. This affects the life of them all, as it must remain their secret. Ralph becomes a soldier and later is made an Earl. He has a cruel streak and blackmails Gwenda. Merthin and Caris become lovers but later part and he goes to Florence where he marries and has a daughter. When his wife dies of plague he returns to Kingsbridge to continue his building work. Caris is a nun, who is a nurse, and often in conflict with the monks who are doctors. Plague strikes repeatedly over the next 34 years until Caris, who has left the nunnery, and married Merthin, is instrumental in closing off the city. The death rate inside is 1-100, outside it is 1-5. How all this affects the four and their families is a monumental story. A fitting follow-up to the ‘Pillars of the Earth’ which was set in the 1100’s when the Cathedral of Kingsbridge was built. A great story which highlights how much better life is now for the majority of people.
9 ½ /10
Francis, Dick & Francis, Felix
Tile of Book : Dead heat
Reviewed by :
Book Club Member
Category : Fiction
Suggested Audience :
Another horse racing story with a twist. Why is the chef/owner of a popular Newmarket restaurant being targeted? First 200 people dining at the Hay Net suffer food poisoning, next he narrowly escapes a bomb in the grandstand at Newmarket, and again escapes when his home is burnt down. What is behind all this? He goes to U.S.A and again is attacked when he is asking too many questions at a horse stud. The climax comes at last in his newly reopened restaurant. A beautiful woman with a viola and an excitable Czech waiter help vanquish the crooks! Another great story from Dick Francis with his son Felix.
9/10
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