Friday Five: Books Read in May

1. Kehua! by Fay Weldon - "Novels can no longer sit on shelves and pretend to be reality; they are not, they are inventions, suspensions of reality, and must declare themselves as such." Fay Weldon's post-modern novel has layers of overlapping stories and lashings of authorial intrusion as she addresses the theory that we are all haunted by ancestral echoes and that we ourselves are the ghosts of the future. The eponymous kehua are Māori spirits who follow their kin across the world to bring them home where they belong. Which is why they end up in a basement in London while a great Greek tragedy plays out in Highgate. Peopled with a host of unlikeable characters and sweeping family dynamics, it's dramatic and clever and archly self-referential.  
2. Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco by Jason Webster - Flamenco is more than just a dance; it's a spirit, a passion and a way of life. Jason Webster tries to seek it out in this travel memoir through Alicante, Madrid and Granada. The blood-pumping adventures he undertakes en route teach him something about the duality of being in simultaneous ecstasy and despair, as he realises that flamenco means something different to everyone. From gun-toting gangsters, faithless lovers, sadistic guitar teachers and coked-up car thieves, he encounters many versions of the art, while trying to find his authentic self. It's certainly got flair.
3. Homage to Barcelona by Colm Tóibín - A companion to George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, Tóibín writes with insight and rich detail about the history and appeal of Barcelona. It was a pleasure to read while actually in the city and to recognise the landmarks and the peccadilloes of the people, as he darts down twisted alleyways of linguistics, art and politics, leaving the reader breathlessly struggling to keep up. Although originally published in 1990 (when he hoped the Barcelona Olympics wouldn't have a detrimental effect on the city), it maintains contemporary relevance. As a cautionary note, it must be mentioned that it borders on the academic and is a series of serious essays that should be approached as an educational study rather than as an armchair travel book. 

4. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie - In my defence, I wasn't reading it as an instruction manual! This is fun, sharp and darkly comic, apparently inspired by the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, which I've never seen. The antihero seeks revenge on her family after she learns her father wanted nothing to do with her or her mother after he knew of her existence. It's written in conversational tone by a narcissistic bitchy narrator who looks down on everyone else, although she's the one in prison. It's not a mystery as such, because she tells us from the beginning how many murders she has committed, but there is still an unexpected and well-plotted ending. Great macabre fun.
5. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt - This month's family book club book chosen by My Cousin Rachael. Two brothers are hired as hit-men to bump off a goldminer who has worked out a formula for finding more of the precious metal more easily. Their travels take them across Oregon in a Wild West picaresque series of events that recall Mark Twain crossed with Cormac McCarthy. Shortlisted for the 2011 Booker Prize and made into a 2018 film (starring John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix), it seems like a deceptively simple and straightforward stoic narrative but there are nuggets of profound existentialism if you dig deep enough. 

Friday Five: Ibiza Beaches

I was positively surprised by Ibiza. I thought it would be full of pissed up backpackers trashing the place, but it was utterly delightful. We were out of season and our hours were more 7am -10pm than 7pm - 10am, but we found some perfect beaches to while away the time, sip on a sangria, feel the sand beneath our toes and bob about in the Mediterranean Sea. Here are some of my favourites (yes, there are more than five: mi casa; mis reglas).

1. Babylon Beach

This was the closest spot to our accommodation and we walked down to see the sunrise a couple of times. Folks did yoga here to the gentle accompaniment of the lapping waves, and, although the bar was closed (don't worry - we found another one very close by!), it made for an idyllic setting. 

2. Marina Santa Eulalia

Just round the next inland is a beautiful cove full of yachts and hotels - the lights are very pretty on the water at night. 

3. Peurto de Ibiza

Not strictly a beach - more of a marina - at Old Ibiza Town. A perfect spot to sit and sip sangria while watching the boats coming in... and going out again. 

4. Playa Niu Blau

Great sandy beach with gradual drop-off into the sea for easy swimming. A cute little inlet at the far end of the beach was where boats were moored including one with a built-in slide. 

5. Playa Cala Pada

More good swimming and a restaurant right on the beach, where we shared an excellent seafood paella.

6. S'Argamassa Beach/ Cala Martina

There are eye-wateringly expensive resorts along this strip of beach where you can rent a day bed by the hour and sit by the pool ordering drinks and snacks all day long. We peered through the fence, then sat on the beach and swam in the sea for free before ordering a bottle of Albariño. There's an Ibiza to suit every budget.

7. Playa De Santa Eulalia

The main beach in town - the sand is raked every morning and the good folk of the town come to soak up the rays in the afternoon. The duathletes raced and rode up and down the promenade, and it offered spectacular opportunities for reflection in the evening. 

Friday Five: Books Read in September

 

And yet again it seems I have read five books in a month. Here are the September offerings:

5 Books Read in September:

1. Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark (Ecco) - When there was such a thing as the wild wild West, men thought they could make their fortune by pushing through to the far frontier. It turns out they were wrong. In 1810 John Jacob Astor, the richest man in New York with the backing of Thomas Jefferson, sent out two advance parties to trade in furs and establish a township on the so-far unclaimed coast of North America. More than half of the men died violent deaths; the rest suffered starvation and madness. The colony was a disaster but its legacy was immense, opening the eyes of provincial Americans to the potential of the Western coast and discovering the route that was to become the Oregon Trail. Peter Stark writes in fascinating detail with compelling research to underpin his narrative and expand upon these adventures.  
2. By Blood by Ellen Ullman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) - When a disgraced former professor overhears his psychiatrist neighbour's conversation with a client, he decides to 'help'. His research into her background leads to information which he shares with her anonymously, such as the fact that her birth mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. Is his intervention a kind assistance or a disturbing need to control? Like a Gothic version of 'Who Do You Think You Are?', the writing is mix of Kafka and Poe with a curiously detached and unreliable narrator who nudges the plot along by drip-feeding his findings into the client's consciousness. This is an intriguing novel about the impossibility of certainty and the fragility of belief.
3. The Winter Sea by Di Morrissey (Macmillan) - This novel is pure escapism and wish fulfillment. A woman decides to leave her high-paid but unsatisfying legal job and husband in Sydney for a holiday on the coast. On a whim she buys a dilapidated restaurant and turns it into a roaring success with the help of the local fishing community. The spanner in the works (of course there has to be one) is in the form of a historic family incident with far-reaching repercussions. Because it's a typical holiday read there is a caring community for affirmation, an abandoned dog for company, and a handsome vet for romance. It contains a lot of stereotypes which are completely undemanding.
4. Wanderers: A History of Women Walking by Kerri Andrews (Reaktion Books) - When women have walked alone in the past they have been considered unfeminine and odd. More recently they have been labelled vulnerable or provocative (just consider the term 'streetwalker'). Kerri Andrews shares the rambles of ten women who have incorporated their walks into their world through their writing, from Dorothy Wordsworth and Virginia Woolf to Anais Nin and Cheryl Strayed. Walking allows time for contemplation and reflection; it can be companionable or solitary; and in certain climates, it can still be considered dangerous. The collection opens up avenues of further reading (I'm going to check out the works of Nan Shepherd), but there is a touch too much authorial intrusion - if we have the women's' diaries, we are privy to their thoughts without the need for further explanation or, in the words of My Cousin Rachael when we read this for Family Book Group, "a bit A-Level course work". 
5. The Yield by Tara June Winch (Hamish Hamilton) - Language is one of the most important means of preserving and communicating culture. In this prize-winning novel (Miles Franklin Literary Award 2020), Tara June Winch spells out the crucial need to collect the words of the Wiradjuri people and pass on the secrets of generations. Just as a mining company threatens the environment at Massacre Plains, the authorised history endangers the true heritage of the people who have cared for the land for millennia. By proving the cultural connection to country, the survivors might just be able to save their way of life. Words have meaning on multiple levels and this incredible novel digs deep to find them.