The Other Me by Saskia Sarginson Shame over Suspected Nazi Father and Family Skeletons

An emotionally charged novel, we learn of Klaudia’s shame over her German father, Otto, causes her to shirk from him as a child and to change her identity as an adult. This because she suspects he had committed atrocities during the Holocaust.

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And so the story is told from three (or rather two) viewpoints: Klaudia, her new identity, Eliza and Otto’s brother, Ernst.

Shame over Nazi Heritage

Klaudia is brought up in 80’s Wales in a small community where news travels fast and secrets are hard to keep. The result? Bullying at school, involving the Third Reich. This sets the catalyst for Klaudia’s new identity in the form of Eliza later in life. But her decision has consequences when she falls for Cosmo, who she hides the truth from. Poor Cosmo has the patience of a saint with Klaudia, who gives him confused messages, which gets a little irritating after a while. Her shame is tinged with self-centredness.

We also live through the eyes of Ernst, Otto’s brother during 1930s Germany. He is the more humane of the two brothers, yet it is he who ends up killing to survive. Ottos’ fate is not what one might expect.

Novel of Family Secrets

There are some frustrating moments in the novel when things are about to happen but tiresome obstructions get in the way. For instance, when Klaudia is about to learn the truth about her mother’s death, and when Cosmo is about to learn the truth about Klaudia’s true identity.

The ending was overlong, with undue solemnity. I found myself skimming paragraphs in the final chapters. Despite family members sharing years under the same roof, no one asks crucial questions. OK, so fear is an obstacle, but the result doesn’t make joyful reading. I just wished someone would break the spell and move things along.

This is a novel with sensitive portrayal of the protagonists and some good twists, but at times, the story was simply too drawn out and I got irritated with Klaudia. Well written, though and above par.

Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill: Nightmare School for Bitching and Dysmorphia

The story is set in a horrific girl’s finishing school, where protagonist, freida is born to be brainwashed into being the ‘perfect’ eve. In other words, to be as close to a showroom dummy as possible: impassive, slim and obedient. Not even their names deserve to be capitalized.

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Novel about and Anorexia and Dysmorphia

This novel is making an important point about society’s pressures on women to be perfect in looks and behaviour. And so we are showered with descriptions of what the eves are wearing, their bitching and competitiveness as they dine at the low-carb table. At times, these descriptions repeat somewhat and I found myself gleaning, getting the point.

But soon, the eves are to graduate via a ‘ceremony’ where ‘inheritants’, (young boys) will pick the best of the eves to become their companions. The leftovers will be scrapped to become concubines or chastities or worse, cast to the Underground.

Freida is not too bright, allowing herself to become a victim of the system and making dumb choices throughout the novel. Her nasty guardian, chastity-ruth constantly makes freida’s life a misery. The only eve to act against the grain, is freida’s best friend, isobel. She puts on weight and rebels against the system. But there is more to isobel than meets the eye, which is revealed at the end.

Society’s Pressures on Women

Echoing of 1984 and the Stepford Wives, this is a chilling account of mass brainwashing where covert bullying is rife between the eves. Nasty megan is textbook, as well as her henchgirls, the robotic twins who are as nasty as they come.

Freida has her chance in Darwin, an inheritant who appears to want to choose her as his companion. But dumb freida does it again, when she betrays Darwin to megan who is as treacherous as a bag of snakes. Why? The mind boggles!

This novel makes an important point for every teenage girl who feels worthless, but freida’s wantonly victim behaviour is frustrating to live through, and the ending left me feeling bereft. There was no hope on the horizon or of change. Only total despair. Even 1984 had more hope to offer.

I couldn’t feel sorry for freida, because I prefer to live a story through the eyes of someone with a little more clout or intelligence, or something to yield the smallest surprise.

A novel with something to say but hardly uplifting.

In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies: A Shocking Read

A compelling account on how Jimmy Savile fixed it for the British nation to be hoodwinked.

This indepth book opens with the chapter entitled Apocalypse Now Then. The distinction between the defacing of a tombstone on a Scarborough hillside and the glitzy life of Jimmy Savile could not be more extreme. I grew up with Savile on TV. He always grated on me for no definable reason. I felt obliged to ‘like’ him because he was the oldest teenager on Top of the Pops, did lots for charity and was one of England’s great eccentrics. Even as a young child, I just couldn’t like him. But what a shocking story Davies tells.

Savile's Interviews with Dan Davies

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Few can be more qualified to write about Savile’s life than Davies, who first met Savile during a Clunk Click episode, where he got spooked into a lifelong obsession on the man behind the cigar smoke. Davies met Savile numerous time throughout his journalistic life, stopping in the ‘Duchess’ (Savile’s then dead mother) bedroom overnight.

Davies’ descriptions of Savile interviews make compelling reading, particularly the small detail: the way Savile would smugly puff at his cigar and stretch that thin grin, telling the same old tales. But Davies remains sceptical. Was Savile ever really a Bevin Boy? It would seem evidence did not always back up Savile's claims.

The Double Life of Jimmy Savile

Each chapter alternates between the present and the past, where the two timelines eventually meet at the end. Davies’ account evidences fastidiously accurate research, yet never gets bogged down into a dry detail. Instead, the tale is played out in a slow car crash, where Savile ingratiates higher and higher into British circles. Meanwhile, like a fly in the soup, Davies skilfully sandwiches unsavoury accounts of the vulnerable in children’s’ homes Savile virtually ‘owned’. The reader is catapulted between the persona of a national hero and a sex predator.

Davies does not sensationalize, but tells it as it is. But had this account been written as fiction, it might be criticised for being farfetched. It just comes to show that regardless of emerging as the youngest runt of a Leeds litter, having monstrous narcissism can carry you into high circles.

I feel this book is an important inclusion on British society from the 1950s to the 1990s, not least because Savile managed to woo not only the nobles, but also the British public.

My only issue is that I wish the book had contained more images. It has about 5 images that are rather small and indistinct. I felt, with Davies’ gripping narrative, more imagery could have made the experience more rounded.

That said, the book is a memorable read that sits uncomfortably alongside the memories I had of Savile as a child

Junk Food in Supermarkets are Giving you Diabetes, Obesity and Candida

According to the government’s obesity and healthy eating policy, most people in Britain are overweight or obese. This means that the risk of developing heart disease, cancer and diabetes are rife. But I find it no surprise when I see the dire state of our supermarkets. The food they stock is a disgrace.

Why the Government Action to Tackle Obesity in Britain will Not Work

I took this pic in the Coop Superstore

Their strategy might sound good on paper, but will not work in practice, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. For now, government’s strategy informs on:

Having a healthy diet and getting exercise.

This includes getting people to eat their 5 a day, reducing fat and salt, reducing portion sizes as well as alcohol intake.

Better labeling on food and drink to help consumers make healthier choices

Include healthy menus in restaurants.

Local councils to provide health services for obese people.

Their ‘call to action’ makes the statement that it is everybody’s responsibility to lose weight. This means the individual, the family, the health service and the council. But what about the supermarkets?

Why is Britain is Fat and Will Stay Fat

Merry Christmas, you have Diabetes

This government policy may sound all well and good, but it will not work, because their strategy cannot be put into practice. And why? Walk into your average supermarket (Asda, Tesco, Aldi and the Coop) and you will find aisles and aisles of fizzy drinks, chocolates, crisps and booze. There is little choice of healthy foods and they are relatively harder to find.

“But there are aisles of fruit and veg,” I hear you cry.

Yes, there are, but eating lots of fruit and veg is only part of the story. In practice, it is hard because we live in a generally cold climate. Few people I speak to actually manage to eat eat five a day. This is because of the peeling and coring of highly perishable foods that leave you hungry, as they are quickly digested. They also take up loads of freezer space. Soon, you will find yourself groping for a quick unhealthy snack courtesy of Asda.

People will reach for the fruit juice thinking this counts as a 1 in the 5. But fruit juice contains a lot of sugar that is quickly digested. Great for diabetes and candida. Consuming lots of fruit juice will merely enhance your sugar cravings.

Cause of Candida Albicans

Hidden sugars will be found in the remaining aisles within tinned foods, frozen ready meals and so-called ‘low fat’ products. When I say low fat, I mean the sort of products that will make you fat. ‘Low fat’ yogurt contains loads of sugar. Cereals are the worst. Frosties should be banned. Sugar will make you fat.

If you were a healthy alien without candida, sugar cravings, excess weight or diabetes and you transported yourself into the average British town, such as Nuneaton, you will find yourself hard-pressed not to find a diet that will not eventually give you these conditions. It is virtually impossible to eat healthily in Britain because the average supermarket gives little choice of healthy foods. And even if they do, the prices are way too high.

If you don’t like chocolate, biscuits, crisps, bread, booze or sugar, you will find little else to cure your hunger. British supermarkets are geared to make you fat.

What the Government Needs to do to Cure Obesity

The government needs to target supermarkets to make them accountable for the junk they stock. I think we need different foods in the aisles. Put the junk food on a small aisle at the back of the store with the dog food.

Introduce more interesting foods from the around the world that are easy to cook or can be eaten in an instant. The answer lies in low carb, high protein and high fibre foods. I find foreign supermarkets more interesting than the British supermarket. End the rip-off prices of healthy foods in health shops such as Holland and Barrett and put the healthy foods into the average British supermarket. At supermarket prices.

British Supermarkets are Making You Fat

I found small packs of ground wheatgerm, flaxseeds, sunflower seed and pumpkin seeds in Asda. They were stuck on the bottom shelf where I could easily have missed them, but I almost jumped for joy at their discovery.

I also nearly had an orgasm when I discovered Polish bread with complex carbs and low in carbs (45%). There are also nut milks such as hazelnut, almond and Coconut produce. Stevia has recently made an appearance too, but the supermarket brand has added maltodextrin, which is a simple sugar. Shame.

But I would like to see more of this kind of thing. As we are a carb-loving country, I would like to see different flours and different breads and biscuits that supply satisfying, quick snacks that are slow to digest and low in carbohydrate. Complex carbs, high protein, low sugar. But not necessarily low fat, only healthy fat.

Since cutting a lot of sugar from my diet, I find a lot of foods in the supermarket horribly sweet. I grimace at the taste of fruit yoghurt and fizzy drinks. It is shocking how much sugar can be found within. Yet once upon a time, I liked this stuff because I was used to the taste and it satisfied my candida. Well, yeast’s gotta have sugar! It makes me sad to see people still stick this junk into their supermarket trolley, as I used to.

Healthy Fast Food

We live in a cold climate. We want carbs. We can’t help it. I find 5 a day fruit and veg hard to practice. The answer lies in complex low carb tasty snacks that are low in glycemic index. I’m afraid such a product has not been invented, but I would like to find high protein, high fibre biscuits and snacks that satisfy like the digestive biscuit. No simple sugars, no hydrogenated vegetable oil.

At the moment, I make my own ‘treats’ by using varying amounts of the following ingredients: coconut butter, Tahini, dried fruits, Manuka honey, Stevia, wheatgerm, Spelt flour, rye flour, ground almonds, ground brazil nuts and such stuff. Butter will not do you as much ham as sugar. Sugar is by far the biggest killer in this country and the government should be targeting sugar as the number one cause of obesity.

Until that day, I shall blog more on this subject.

The Violet Hour by Richard Montanari: Regular Reporter in Cat and Mouse with Serial Killer

I was sold by the blurb and the opening of this thriller. A priest is murdered via overdose during shenanigans and then is thrown out of the window, mantel and all to plummet deathwards .Well, what isn’t there to hook the reader? We don’t know who the killer is, there are some colourful characters and the writing was fine. But I didn’t anticipate the next reading. In fact, I got distracted by another book halfway through and that is never a good sign.

Thriller with Colorful Characters

When I returned to the Violet Hour, I found I didn’t care much about what happened. There was a fair amount of aimless bantering between characters, it seemed, to illustrate the nature of cousins Nicky and Joe’s relationship, as well as the mete of the other hustlers in the neighbourhood. Nicky is a regular good guy with a lot of weird associations, only I didn’t care.

Thriller about Halloween Past

Halloween 1988 has significance to the killer and he is out for revenge for a traumatic event. There were some missing pieces that don’t come together until the end. There are some truly gruesome scenes where the killer slices bodily parts from his victims. Someone described this book as the new Hannibal, because the killer likes to use the body parts as props. But this book wasn’t half as good.

I wouldn’t call it a page turner, but some scenes might stay in the memory, only not for the right reasons. There is a twist at the end.

Andy Weir The Martian: In Space there are Potatoes Aplenty But No One Can Hear you Scream like a Girl

This book seemed to be written with Matt Damon in mind, although I haven’t seen the film. Most of the story is told through abandoned astronaut, Watney’s log, which is tinged with tongue-in-cheek comments such as, ‘I’m off to play with drugs and radiation’ and ‘yay, I’m pretty much f..cked.’

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Science Fiction with Realism

But this irony is what really defines this book as well as an entertaining lesson on physics and chemistry. Stuck with seventies TV and disco as entertainment provides contrast against the harsh realities of Mars.

So, Watney is stranded on Mars after his team, believing him dead, cut their mission short. Knowing what we now know about Mars, the book asks ‘what if...?’ There are no little green men, only dust storms, low gravity, extreme cold and the sterile environment. In Bond fashion, Watney has to find creative solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.

And the answers lie in a combination of potatoes, duct tape and sending Morse code via the positioning of rocks. At any moment, Watney could blow himself, up, starve to death, suffocate or die of thirst.

Survival Odds on Mars

I liked Watney being ahead of me in overcoming problems, some of which were nail-biting. Examples were avoiding dust storms that would reduce power to solar cells, leaving him stranded; getting blown up via a lethal mixture of oxygen and hydrogen and avoiding an overdose of radiation from the RTG, a vital source of heat.

But enjoyable though the book was, I couldn’t believe any human could get through those 18 months alone on a desolate planet without more traumas to the psyche, even with NASA training. Where was Watney’s mental breakdown, being spooked or craving intimacy? He didn’t seem to miss a blue sky, a girlfriend or yearn for smell fresh air. There were no descriptions of the other characters or of the Mars’ landscape. How about the light? The mighty canyons? The weird haze in the sky? Sometimes, I didn’t get a sense of being there.

The read was diverting and educational, but the science stuff overshadowed what the experience would really be like for a lone astronaut on a desolate planet. Still, I left with a strong impression of Watney’s sardonic wit.

The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve: Slow Burn Suspense of a Husband’s Betrayal

This mystery thriller has a strong beginning, drawing the reader in with a multitude of questions. A wife living a blissful domestic life is interrupted by news that her pilot husband has been killed in an air crash off the cost of Ireland. But the nightmare is just beginning when Kathryn soon realises her husband was not the man she thought he was.

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Thriller of a Double Life

Shreve’s strength lies in her compelling narrative of the protagonist’s inner thoughts and resultant difficult emotions when investigator, Roger keeps coming back with questions about the cause of the crash. Had it been suicide? Political? An accident? Nothing seems to fit.

This thriller demonstrates how a woman living in domestic blissful life can be blind to her husband’s indiscretions. Her belief their marriage had been watertight falls apart, as well as her former identity which she questions. What had her role been in this long-standing marriage?

Revealing a Murky Past

After encountering mysterious notes on scraps of paper, Kathryn takes a trip to London to discover their meaning. And here, the full, ugly picture begins to emerge about her husband and his betrayal is laid bare. Despite having a supportive network, namely her own mother, Julia, Roger from the Agency and a teenage daughter, Kathryn is ultimately alone in a strange place.

I empathised for Kathryn, robbed of her ability to express anger towards her husband, and of feeling vulnerable under the questions of Roger, whose motives were at times questionable. However, this might have been more a reflection of Kathryn’s state of mind.

Shreve is great at conveying what it is like to experience conflicting emotions and misplaced trust, which I thought was brilliantly described. But this s a slow burn of a thriller, rather than a rollercoaster ride, but the pacing fitted the theme. The suspense is drip-fed in timely portions, retaining the story’s credulity. The momentum really picks up over the final third of the novel, which I read in one sitting