Random Things Tours: The Secretary by Deborah Lawrenson

Although the times changed so radically, particularly in the world of intelligence, I am always happy to come back to stories inspired by the Cold War. As in the case of many other spy narratives, be it modern or contemporary, what is really missing is the presence of women. Women as spies, not as honey traps.

Inspired by the story of her own mother who worked as operative for the British intelligence, as shared by her diaries, novelist Deborah Lawrenson created in The Secretary the portrait of a  smart, risk taking MI6 employee, trying to catch a traitor. The timeline is at the end of the 1950s, the height of the Cold War, and Lois Vale is in Moscow. Soon she will fall for a German journalist, himself involved with the MI6.

The love story and the spy story are intertwined allowing the main character to express her voice and tell her story. The adventure and dangers create the perfect backdrop for developing both the story and the characters. The facts and the voices of the characters resonate with the historical ambiance and the timeline. The ambiance is timely defined as well, with relatable historical and mentality references.

I enjoyed reading this book and being part of the ambiance and the story of the characters. As an avid reader of spy novels, I can only hope that more and more stories do focus on women stories and their equal part in the global intelligence narrative.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: Esther is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeney

When I started to read the debut novel Esther is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeney I was expecting some funny cosy read with celebrities and their fans as characters. After all, the author herself is well acquainted with the world of celebrities and their ways.

At a certain extent, I was right, this book has one or two things to do with this world of celebrities. But it goes even deeper, into the lures and smokes of our everyday realities, when celebrities may be within reach, and communication is fluid, but without any consistency and meaning. We can say ´hello´ to our favourite star, but does it mean that we are really sharing or being shared something significant?

Esther, the main character of this book, leaves everything behind and starts a new life. Behind is a loss of pregnancy, the grief following it. Her future: being close to her celebrity crush. But this is how life works ?

She is delusional, unrealistic, although funny and naive. She may not be fully aware about the ups and downs of social media. She has her own struggles and mental health is one of the most important of them. We may criticize and make fun of her, even deride her. But are we really honest with ourselves? How often have we been caught in the net of lies we tell ourselves? That excitement of getting in touch with some ´big names´ online, without being actually connected...

There are a lot of thoughts and ideas I got while really enjoying reading this book and following Esther adventures. It leaves you with a sour sweet taste, but nevertheless a very realistic and relatable situation where mindless social media games can lead you.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Rachel´s Random Resources: Murder at the Duomo by T.A.Williams

 

The cozy mysteries from the Amstrong and Oscar series by T.A.Williams are a pleasure to read for more than one reason: one is the eventful plot and the adventures taking place along the way; the other is the Italian background of the stories. The more I read in the series the higher my interest to return to Italy. As a constant learner of Italian, I cannot wait to see soon some of those beautiful places, that may hide so many secrets and mysteries.

This time, Dan is about to have a break in the beautiful Florence. Spending time with his fiancée and his family are the only urgent things on his agenda. However, you may never be sure about what´s next in his case, and that´s what happened now: as a corpse - of non other than a super wealthy arms dealer - is found inside the beautiful Duomo, Dan is on a mission to trace the culprit. On his side, one of the best four-legged support, Oscar, whose fantastic intuition is always saving the game. 

I couldn´t put down this book, as usual, captivated by the well developed mystery plot, but about the character development and the atmospheric Italian landscape descriptions. Every time there is a new book from the series, I am happy to spend some eventful hours trying to decipher together with the characters the key of the story. As usual, it was definitely worth it.

A recommended read for a faster journey through the cold February, and some inspiring tips for the incoming travel months as well. I just cannot wait to see where the new adventures of Dan and Oscar will take them, and the readers as well.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Rachel´s Random Resources: Journey to the Scottish Highlands by Julie Shackman

 ´A journalist, an actor and a sheep go into a pub´.

Almost two years ago, I had the chance to take part to a virtual event revealing the cover of a book by Julie Shackman. The location and topic sounded interesting but somehow, other blogging obligations took over and couldn´t take part in the book blog tour. 

This time though, I didn´t want to miss my chance and got my eyes to Journey to the Scottish Highlands, a very entertaining read. 

Daisy is a struggling actress and Evan a journalist. A review by an influential anonymous film critic brought Daisy to an apparent professional crossroad and she may need to take some time off from acting, visiting his grand-father in Scotland. But an unexpected social event brought Evan and Daisy together, and although the circumstances are not always kind, this sounds like an unexpected story unfolding.

Surprise plays a very big role in this novel. From one moment to another, the hidden pathways of destiny brings the characters together, in unpredictable ways. Those unexpected circumstances allow the characters to better know each other or to face shocking revelations. Like in life, both humour and drama do play a role in creating a related ambiance.

Personally, I liked Daisy as the main character, whose energy, humour and stubborness define the plot directions. 

I am clearly interested in more books set in Scotland by this author, as she promises pleasant reading stories set in a very special part of the world - and knowing the people and the landscape is a very important guarantee of authenticity. 

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own 

They Said They Wanted Revolution by Neda Toloui-Semnani

Discovering the history of Iran through the story of different people who were involved in the event preceding and following the Islamic Revolution reveals a very diverse even conflictual ideological and social movements. 

The parents of Neda Toloui-Semnani, the author of the memoir They Said They Wanted Revolution were very much involved in the Iranian students movements in the US during the Shah time and continued to believe in the values of the left in the post-revolutionary Iran. As her father was send to prison and eventually murdered, Neda, her mother and her not yet born brother left the country in a hurry heading back to the US.

Shortly after the death of her mother, Neda is putting together a wide array of sources: from diaries - hers and her mother´s - memories of discussions or discussions about discussions, her own account of events, accounts of relatives etc.. The reconstruction of events is worth an important mention and can serve as inspiration for memoir writing.

With the unfolding tragic events in Iran, this book brings to life characters and historical episodes rarely discussed. Hopefully the time will come to write extensively about the left political tradition in Iran. Individual stories, like the ones of Toloui-Semnani must definitely be part thereof.

Rating: 4 stars 

The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat

´But in a revolutionary state that detains kindergartners, asking for common sense is like hoping for a mule to give birth´.

Inspired by her experience of growing up in socialist Ethiopia, The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat is a story of a society changing, seen through the eyes of a child. A difficult child, a girl who is the storyteller, the witness of a world who often is lacking any rationale. 

From the permanent political oppression her family is witnessing, to the age-related troubles of her siblings and the disappearance of her mother, she is witnessing and interpreting things through her eyes and mind. Sometimes, even taking her own stance, as for instance when she is writing to the foreign radio stations her father is religiously listening to receive information about the situation within the country. 

There is humour and grief, sickness and tragic journeys. Sometimes the voice feels too mature to belong to a child, some other times it shares innocent and genuine observations - how, for instance, about how some rebel group brought salty crackers to the places they´ve been to. 

The ambiance - through names, places, foods and traditions, as well as the political turmoil - is very important for placing the story within a specific timeline and geography.

Reading this book I realized how much I want to read more about Ethiopia and its history, as well as getting to better know its people. Books do open such gates of curiosity and knowledge.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Random Things Tours: The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe

End of dictatorships sets the perfect setting for dark apocalyptic novels. As terror is incessantly played against the rebel citizens, the world gets dark sunking in the sea of uncertainty. It is, the end of a world, while the birth of the new one remains largely unknown.

I personally deeply and organically hate dictatorships. The ways in which they kill dreams and destroy destinies and trust. But it may also learn people how to resist together, and this feeling may go beyond the politics, as it prepares individuals to be awake even in the face of a doom.

Rosi is a smuggler active somewhere near the Romanian Western borders. While on her way to a ´secret economic survival´ mission together with her partner Gigi, the radio transmission station starts sending bizarre messages. It seems it is not the feared Romania secret police, but who is behind those transmissions? Warned by the changes taking place outside, Rosi and her group are slowly taking control of their lives trying to figure out the origin of the chaos.

The author of The Night Ship, Alex Woodroe is a Romanian-based author hence her familiarity with names, locations, various local dynamics and historical details from the recent communist past. But even without those specific elements, the ways in which the story is built and the character features of the protagonists may project the narrative in a timeless horizon. 

The descriptions do have a strong visual feature and interesting psychological details, particularly about human reaction in face of catastrophies. 

I have serious reserves about apocalyptic dark novels - and movies too - but a well written book is beyond any genre-based classifications. And The Night Ship just encouraged me take a chance out of my mental comfort zone and give a boost to my imagination. 

Was worth it and the intersection between so many separate topics was a blessing for my brain constantly hungry for new ideas.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own