bookmarks – Just Olga

Hi all:

I bring you another book from Rosie’s Book Review Team, and one from an author I discovered recently. Another great one.

Finding Verity by Jenny Loudon

‘Quite stunning… one of my books of the year.’ – Anne Williams, Romantic Novelist Association Media Star of The Year 2019

NOMINATED FOR 2018 & 2019 READERS CHOICE AWARDS by TCK PUBLISHING

The heart-warming bestseller from this exciting debut novelist.

An unhappy woman. An unfinished romance. A sense that time is running out…

Verity Westwood is a successful London businesswoman whose husband is handsome but selfish. When Edward Farrell, a nomadic American journalist from her past, returns unexpectedly, she is swept by the irresistible desire to fulfil her dreams of working as an artist, like her famous father before her. After being caught in a storm on the Cote d’Azur, she vows to change her life.
What she does not foresee is the struggle involved, the ultimate price she will pay, and the powerful force of enduring love that changes everything.

‘Engagingly written’ Crafty Green Poet review

‘A bittersweet read’ Bookworm Lisa review

About the author:

Jenny Loudon is a British novelist whose work includes SNOW ANGELS, a moving and uplifting tale of recovery after loss, and the bestselling love story FINDING VERITY. She read English and American Literature at the University of Kent in Canterbury and holds a Masters in The Modern Movement. She lives with her family in the English countryside.

Learn more about Jenny Loudon at www.jennyloudon.com

My review:

I write this review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team (author, check here if you are interested in getting your book reviewed) and thank her and the author for this opportunity.

I recently read and reviewed Loudon’s second novel Snow Angels and loved it, and I also loved this one. Both novels share some characteristics even though the stories and the protagonists are quite different.

This novel is about second chances —it starts in 1989 at a party where Verity meets Edward, a handsome American stranger, but despite their evident attraction for each other they both decide to go their separate and very different ways, and it ends in 2013-14, with a Verity who lives in London, is married with two grown-up daughters who have already left the house, a seemingly happy marriage, and a successful business. Life has happened in between and things are not as they seem to be to the casual observer. It is also one of those novels that I think of as an adult coming-of-age story, although perhaps in this case it would be more appropriate to say that it is a novel about “finding Verity” as the title indicates, in many senses: we, the readers, get to know and understand the real Verity, with her self-doubts, her fears, her desires, her contradictions, her attachment issues, her panic attacks, her menopausal symptoms, her naivete…; Verity (and those around her) gets to find —or rather, become— the real Verity; and it is a novel about looking for and finding the truth (Verity comes from veritas, truth in Latin, after all), no matter how unpalatable or hard it might be and how many layers of conventionality and good-manners it might be hiding under.

This is a novel where women are the central characters, Verity in particular, and where all the women (except for a couple we don’t really get to know much about) seem to understand each other and be mostly supportive of each other’s dreams and interests (Tills, Verity’s younger daughter, is a bit contrary, but she is very young and seems to have matured by the end of the story). I liked all of them, especially because they are all very different, multifaceted, and feel like people in their own right, rather than being there just to add depth to Verity’s story. And there is a kind of sorority between them. I was particularly fond of Fiona, Verity’s mother, who despite her mental health difficulties and her troubled marriage does her best to support Verity and offers her good advice; Stella, her friend who lives in the countryside and is always a strong supporter, no matter what, while keeping her anchored in the real world; and Jane, the artist who helps her make her dreams come true. Verity can be very frustrating, because she is quite naive at times, and I think most readers will have their suspicions about what her husband, Matt, might be up to, but she trusts him and feels bad for him nonetheless. Her reactions feel realistic though, and through the novel, we get to understand the impact her childhood had, and why she might have chosen to live the life she was living rather than taking any risks. She is quite taken aback towards the end of the novel when she realises that none of her closest friends or relatives seems surprised by what has happened to her, and she comes to the conclusion that she has been turning a blind eye and working very hard not to see what must have been quite evident. I liked the fact that she is an older protagonist (almost fifty), who despite suffering from empty-nest syndrome, feeling unsure about herself as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a business-woman manages to start a new life afresh, all by herself. Well, with a little help from her friends.

The men… Matt is not a terribly sympathetic character, but there are some scenes that help us understand why he might be the way he is, and he offered Verity something she was looking for (or seemed to) at least for a while. I didn’t like him, but he tries so hard to live according to his standards of what a successful man should be like, that it is difficult not to feel a bit sorry for him. Edward has more of the romantic hero about him, and the author offers us some chapters narrated from his perspective (the whole novel is written in the third-person, mostly from Verity’s point of view), and that makes us get to know him a bit better, although we only learn his secrets at the same time as Verity does. They might seem to be total opposites, but you all know how these things can go.

Apart from the characters (oh, and I loved Charlie, Verity’s old dog. He is a sweetheart), I also enjoyed the focus on Verity’s love of art, her gift as a painter, and her attempts at finding the perfect place to paint. Loudon’s writing is precious; the descriptions of London, Oxfordshire, Scotland, and France are breathtaking, and I felt as if I could see the places, walk and run with Verity through the streets, forests and mountains, and enjoy her canvases. The pace of the narrative is contemplative and paused, allowing us time to get familiar with the characters’ thought processes, their feelings, and their psychological make-up, rather than being swept by non-stop mindless action. Plenty of things happen, but the emphasis is placed on how Verity and the other characters react to them and how they feel about them.

Some short examples of the writing, although you might want to check a free sample to make sure the writing is to your taste.

The truly great marriages are the ones where each person sees inside the other’s heart, and responds. A rare thing, sadly, but they do exist. (Fiona, Verity’s mother, tells her).

The rain had stopped and patches of watery sunlight blotched the landscape, lightening swathes of hillside and sea. Low sunlight added drama, making the atmosphere almost surreal. A double rainbow arced across an entire valley, and snow dusted the mountain tops like icing sugar.

She knew it was a cliché but also recognised deep truth in the observation that life was precarious, and that no matter how much some people liked to believe they were in control, or the orchestrators of their own fate, life was utterly unpredictable.

It was as if the island clung to the edge of the world, and every swerve of the road offered a feast for the eyes.

And the ending… This is not one of those novels that shy away from real life and leave us with the message that taking a life-changing decision is easy and it will all work out as if by magic. There are moments of loneliness, of hesitation; there are glitches and hurdles in the way; and living a day at a time and learning from it is what it’s truly all about. Do not worry, though, there is a happy ending, in case you were wondering.

I recommend this novel to readers looking for realistic female characters, especially women of a certain age, second-chance novels, and romances where the focus is on personal growth, and not only on romantic relationships. Art and nature lovers, and those looking for beautiful, inspiring, and descriptive writing, will have a field day.

Thanks to Rosie and the members of her team for their support, thanks to the author for her book, and, thanks to all of you for reading, sharing, commenting, and spreading the word. Remember to keep smiling and stay safe.

#TuesdayBookBlog #Exiles by Jane Harper (@janeharperautho) (@panmacmillan) #Netgalley Aaron Falk comes full circle

Hi all:

I bring you the latest novel by Jane Harper, who is one of my favourite novelists in recent years, and one of a group of Australian writers (she is originally from Manchester, in the UK) whose publications I always celebrate. This is the last novel of Aaron Falk, her most famous character, and although I prefer some of her other novels, it is a great read. I must confess that I identified with some of the conversations and the decisions a couple of the characters are faced with, and I think after the strange years we have survived, quite a few people might feel the same.

The book will be published on the 2nd of February 2023, and you can preorder it already.

Exiles by Jane Harper

FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR JANE HARPER COMES EXILES, A CAPTIVATING MYSTERY ABOUT A MISSING MOTHER

“Once again Harper proves that she is peerless in creating an avalanche of suspense with intimate, character-driven set pieces…Harper’s legions of fans will exult in reading Exiles.”
—David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend’s baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie’s disappearance. One year ago, at a busy town festival on a warm spring night, Kim safely tucked her sleeping baby into her stroller, then vanished into the crowd. No one has seen her since. When Kim’s older daughter makes a plea for anyone with information about her missing mom to come forward, Falk and his old buddy Raco can’t leave the case alone.

As Falk soaks up life in the lush valley, he is welcomed into the tight-knit circle of Kim’s friends and loved ones. But the group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, the missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge. What would make a mother abandon her child? What happened to Kim Gillespie?

About the author:

Jane Harper is the author of The Dry, winner of various awards including the 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, the 2017 Indie Award Book of the Year, the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year Award and the CWA Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 2017. Rights have been sold in 27 territories worldwide, and film rights optioned to Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and lives in Melbourne.

My review:

I thank NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely chose to review.

This is the fifth of Jane Harper’s novels I read, and it is the third one whose protagonist is Federal Investigator (AFP Officer) Aaron Falk. This time, the story is set in Southern Australia, in the fictional Marralee Valley, a wine-producing region. The author’s stories —mysterious crimes set in Australia— have gained the accolade of “outback noir”, and it feels right, although they share much in common with domestic noir, even when the setting tends to rely heavily on the landscapes and peculiarities of Australian towns, especially small towns, and nature. The action builds up slowly; there is a lot of attention paid to family and close relationships, to the psychology of the characters, and to the way the crime (or crimes) interact with the setting; and rather than being heavy on the procedural part of the investigation, the stories tend to focus on uncovering the truth by unveiling the personal stories of those involved and testing the different versions of what happened. For those who worry about explicit violence and gore, you can rest assured. There are some creepy and tense moments, and we come to the realisation that not all the characters are as benign as they seem to be, but that is all. And the story is complete in itself and it is not necessary to have read the two previous novels starring Falk to follow it, although those who have will be able to better appreciate the full arc of his story and how he has evolved.

I hadn’t read much about the story beforehand, but it still felt like a final adventure for Falk from early on, and not only because he is joined by some of the characters he met in The Dry, which were favourites of mine. There is a beautiful symmetry in the way the story works out. In The Dry, the first of the three stories Harper has published about Falk, he goes back to the little town where he grew up, to attend the funeral of a friend. In this one, he goes to a small town to not only attend the christening but also become godfather to Greg Raco’s son, a recent friend he met in the first novel and with whom he investigated that case. He is welcomed into Raco’s family and the town, and although he had never visited before, it feels like a homecoming for him.

There are two crimes in this novel, both old (and more or less cold) cases. One is the case of Kim, a woman who went missing the previous year at the local wine fair, and whose disappearance resulted in the cancellation of the christening of Raco’s boy (because this is a book about second chances as well). Even though he didn’t know the woman, Falk became a witness in the case, because Kim happened to be the long-term on-and-off partner of Raco’s brother, Charlie, with whom she shared an adolescent daughter, Zara, who lived with her father in the vineyard. Kim had moved away, married again, and was now also the mother of a little girl. Although most people suspected she had committed suicide, all her friends were surprised that she would have abandoned her daughter, leaving her alone and unattended in her pram at the fair.

The other case was a hit-and-run incident that had taken place in the same area six years previously, in which a man who worked in the office next door to the missing woman, had been killed. Are the two cases related? Zara and the missing man’s son, Joel, think so and are determined to find the truth out. Falk finds himself involved in both cases, in the lives of his friends and the people of the town, and starts questioning many things about his work, his priorities, and his own future.

Among the themes, I have mentioned families, difficult and even abusive relationships, childhood and long-term friendships and how they evolve through the years, small-town life, professional and personal choices, what would we do to uncover the truth and to protect our children, and there is a romance as well, one that I enjoyed precisely because it was a bit unusual but I felt it suited the characters involved perfectly well.

The story is slow and reposed, and it meanders through the events that are happening while the christening and the fair are being organised, as we follow Falk’s thoughts, reflections, and his nagging sensation that he is missing something. There is something quite bucolic about the rhythm and the development of the story, although I didn’t feel the setting was as well achieved and as realistically rendered as in the two other stories (The Dry and Force of Nature), perhaps because Falk is seeing things from a different perspective and he is not the same person and is not in the same place as he was before. There is also something idealised about the way the place is depicted, and although there are some disturbing elements and characters, “noir” is a bit of a stretch for the way the story develops.

The story is narrated in the third person, mostly from Falk’s point of view. There is a change in point of view towards the end of the story that turns things on their head, but I don’t want to reveal too much or spoil the story for those reading it, so I’ll leave you to check it out. It is an interesting choice on the part of the author, and I suspect some readers won’t like it. It adds some depth to the story, although it might be frustrating for those looking for a standard mystery. I personally enjoyed the ending (endings, as Falk, eventually solves both cases), even though I agree with comments that say it seems to come on quite suddenly compared to the rhythm of the rest of the novel.

I am happy to recommend all the novels Harper has published to date. They are beautifully written, and she creates intriguing plots and credible characters (some we love, and some we don’t). Despite the mystery elements, these books are not high-octane, fast-paced, action-packed, and anxiety-inducing thrillers. They are reflective and take their time to set the story and introduce the characters and their conflicts. Although this is not my favourite, I feel it works well as the last call for Falk; it provides a suitable and happy closure for the character, and I strongly recommend it to those who have read the two previous novels. Oh, and I learned that the second Falk novel has also been adapted to the big screen. I look forward to it, as I enjoyed the excellent adaptation of The Dry, and Eric Bana is an actor I’m always happy to watch.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author, for her novel, thanks to all of your for reading, and remember to like, share, comment, click, and always keep smiling.

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