Wednesday 30 January 2013

Hilary Mantel Wins Costa Book Prize


This is getting somewhat repetitive. Hilary Mantel is scooping up prizes left, right and centre!

Bring up the Bodies by novelist Hilary Mantel has won the title of 2012 Costa Book of the Year.

"The sequel to Mantel's award-winning novel Wolf Hall and the second book of a trilogy, Bring Up the Bodies continues the life of Thomas Cromwell and explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history, the destruction of Anne Boleyn.

The announcement was made at an awards ceremony held at Quaglino’s in central London.

Mantel’s win secures her a unique place in literary history: Bring Up the Bodies is the first book to have been both named as Costa Book of the Year and won the Man Booker Prize in the same year. 

The inaugural Costa Short Story Award, judged separately from the main prize, was won by Avril Joy.

Mantel, the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite,  beat debut writer Francesca Segal, for The Innocents, graphic memoirists Mary and Bryan Talbot for Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie for The Overhaul and children’s author Sally Gardner for Maggot Moon, to win the overall prize and a cheque for £30,000 at the
awards ceremony.

Murray chaired a final judging panel that included actress Jenny Agutter, broadcaster Katie Derham, actress and writer Sophie Ward, author and comedian Mark Watson, poet Daljit Nagra and authors Wendy Holden, DJ Taylor and Marcus Sedgwick.

The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.  Originally established by Whitbread PLC in 1971, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s prestigious and popular book prize in 2006.  2012 marks the 41st year of the Book Awards."  More at www.costabookawards.com

Read our reviews and previous posts for Hilary Mantel

Check our library catalogue and reserve online:
Bring up the bodies by Hilary Mantel, 2012
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, 2009

All books by Hilary Mantel on our Catalogue

Thursday 24 January 2013

Merivel: A Man of His Time by Rose Tremain

Tremain’s first novel featuring Merivel, set in the heady days of the Restoration, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989 and made into a film in 1995. Here she creates a portrait of the larger-than-life character charting a course through his late middle age, asking the eternal questions that arise unbidden when the weight of one’s past and one’s future seem to be stretched equally across the consciousness. 

Never having been one for temperance, Merivel reflects on the way he has chosen to grab life’s pleasures and live for the moment. I can see the temptation for Tremain to revisit this character at such a stage. Does he now regret the choices he made? Will the lessons he has learnt from the past help him to finally create the sense of well-being, meaning, and purpose he has always craved? Can he turn his back upon the glittering allure of monarchy and material wealth for something more enrichening?

Although plot action drives the story onward, there is a much stronger sense of meditating on the imperfection of life, of ourselves, and of the life we are left living once the fervour and energy of youth has faded. Merivel is an unforgettable character and despite having read the first novel years ago, it was like meeting an old friend - however, I do think this book can stand-alone quite well. With his knack of blundering into mishap and confusion, Merivel can still fill a novel and, while the ending may not please everyone, I found it a fitting conclusion to the themes developed in the book.
Posted by Spot

About the Author

Rose Tremain is not your average historical fiction writer - in fact, she hates being called that as many of her novels are contemporary.  Read her interview with The Telegraph  

Check our Catalogue and reserve online                       
Merivel:  A Man of His Time by Rose Tremain,  2012

Friday 18 January 2013

Staff Favourites - Biographies

Here are three more staff favourites, especially for biography fans. Click on the titles to go to the Catalogue records and reserve online if you wish.

High Country Woman : My life on Rees Valley Station
by Iris Scott, with Geraldine O'Sullivan Beere, 2012

When she was widowed, with three children, in 1992 Iris Scott had to call on all her farming skill and inner strength to carry on as the run-holder of the 150-year-old, 18,000-hectare Rees Valley Station at the head of Lake Wakatipu, near Glenorchy. Not only that, she also had to keep up her veterinary practice. [This book] is the engaging story of Iris Scott's love of our high country and her determination to farm it successfully while upholding high conservation and land-guardianship values... From the Publishers.


Piano Lessons 
by Anna Goldsworthy, 2011

A memoir in which Anna Goldsworthy describes her experiences with Eleonora Sivan, the piano teacher who deeply impacted Anna's life with her encouragement and love of music.... From the Publishers.

A heart for freedom : the remarkable journey of a young dissident, her daring escape, and her quest to free China's daughters, by Chai Ling, 2011 

A Heart for Freedom is a tale of passion, political furor, and spirtual awakening. An inside look at China, then and now. A love song to a now forbidden country. And the inspirational true story of a woman who has dedicated everything to giving people in China their chance at a future... From the Publishers.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Toni Morrison calls this author “One of the greatest writers of our time.” Oprah Winfrey says “My favourite love story of all time.” And Alice Walker  “There is no book more important to me than this one… it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done.”

I say just read it! Poetic, powerful, magic and at times heartbreaking, in its apparently simple explanations of love, life and the humanness of us all. Much of this book is written in black inflected dialect and though it may take some getting used to you shouldn’t allow it to put you off reading this masterpiece of writing. If by chance you are interested in “black women’s writing” it is an absolute must read – even 75 years after it was written! Highly recommended.  Posted by Hastings Library Bookchat

First published 1937, our edition 1986. 


Catalogue Search and reserve online
Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  

Thursday 10 January 2013

Ignorance by Michele Roberts

Set in a small French town during the war, Michele Roberts' latest novel tells of the relationship between two girls who go to the same convent school and the disturbing effects of the German occupation. Marie-Angèle is the more fortunate of the two - the daughter of a shopkeeper, her parents have ambitions for her. Jeanne, on the other hand, is a charity student at the school. Her widowed mother takes in laundry, has a consumptive cough and is Jewish.

The girls grow up and are drawn towards different men, including Maurice, a black market racketeer who is happy to work with the Germans to make money but uses his influence for good as well. The reader can expect a certain amount of unpleasantness in this novel, given the storyline and Roberts has a talent for making it all seem very real. The characters are vividly portrayed, and even the heroines of the story are shown warts and all. Descriptions of wartime privations and the fearfulness created by enemy occupation add plenty of tension.

There is also much to think about. The ignorance of the title concerns the betrayal that occurs when people turn a blind eye to things that are difficult to deal with, such as a neighbour’s poverty or the slowly disappearing Jewish population. This is a powerful novel that will stay in your mind for some time. Posted by JAM.

About the Author



Other works includeDaughters of the House, 1992 - shortlisted for the Booker Prize 1992, won the W.H. Smith Literary Award 1993


Search the Catalogue and reserve online:
Ignorance by Michele Robert, 2012