Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin

The Blurb

San Francisco, 1976. A naïve young secretary, fresh out of Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts dance contests. The saga that ensues is manic, romantic, tawdry, touching, and outrageous - unmistakably the handiwork of Armistead Maupin.

The Review

A few months ago I put out a request for books set in San Francisco, and one book (or series of books) got mentioned over and over again.  Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City had somehow passed me by - I'm really not sure how.  But as soon as I started reading this first instalment, I knew I was going to be hooked.

The 'tales' belong to a wide and diverse cast.  Mary Ann is new to San Francisco, moving into lodgings at 28 Barbary Lane.  She's quiet and uncontroversial, very different to the other tennants living in the house.  Mona seems unsure of what she wants from life and relies on sedatives to get through the day, Michael is gay, skint and looking for a good man (I loved him, especially in the scene with the jockey shorts in the bar), Brian sleeps with any woman he can find and landlady Anna Madrigal grows marijuana in the garden... plus there's an array of supporting characters each with their own secrets.  Their lives are carefully and cleverly interwoven to create one world from what is essentially a series of short stories.

I liked how the scenes were snappy - most just a few pages long - and there was a lot of dialogue which added to the already fast pace.  The dry humour and cutting remarks reminded me of a soap opera and have retained relevance 37 years after they were first written.  Maupin lived in the San Francisco he was writing about and it shows, there's a realism in even the most outlandish of situations and that made me care about the characters and their plight.

This book is older than I am, and I imagine it was shocking when originally published (and probably still would be now to some readers!)  Race, sexuality, drugs and infidelity are key to the plot and talked about openly, nothing is off limits.  It was refreshing to read a book where every character is going through their own problems yet isn't overwhelmingly depressing.  Somehow there's an uplifting air to Tales of the City despite the unfulfilled lives of the majority of the cast and to me that's conveyed through the genuinely touching where the characters reach out to each other.

The only negatives for me were that it took a while to get my head around so many different stories and I had to google some of the seventies American references to fully understand the story.  But despite that I found myself so drawn to this wonderful world that I went straight onto the next book in the series.  I need to know what happens next! 

I've not read anything quite like this before.  And I loved it.

Tales of the City is out now, published by Transworld.

The Monkey's Secret- Gennifer Choldenko HOT KEY BOOKS WEEK

The Blurb

In a segregated town, a hidden boy, a courageous girl - and a mystery in desperate need of solving. San Francisco, 1900. Thirteen-year-old Lizzy Kennedy is not like the other girls in her town. She'd much rather be helping her doctor father with his patients than be stuck in frilly dresses and learn how to dance - but unfortunately for her, society (and her Aunt Hortense) has other ideas about what is 'proper' for a young lady. This includes not poking your nose in other's people's business - but then Jing, their beloved housekeeper, gets stuck in the Chinatown quarantine. Fear rules San Francisco - fear of the Chinese, and mostly fear of the plague rumours that circle them. Lizzie knows she has to help Jing, whatever the warnings. But what she doesn't expect to find is a strange boy hiding in Jing's room. The boy is called Noah. He says he's Jing's son - although Lizzie's never heard of him - and although he's escaped the quarantine, he can't risk leaving the house in case he gets rounded-up too. Lizzie wants to investigate, but it seems her questions only get people riled up. Is there really plague in San Francisco? What have the Chinese got to do with it? Just what or who is the mysterious 'monkey' - and what has his secret got to do with anything? Lizzie will have to use all of her courage, instinct and cleverness to unravel the mystery of the monkey's secret, save Jing, Noah and Chinatown - and maybe even her change her own destiny.

The Review

I've not read Gennifer Choldenko's previous books, and The Monkey's Secret is quite different to my usual choice of reading material.  However, I was drawn in by the bright cover art and when I realised it was set in San Francisco I knew I wanted to give it a whirl (it's one of the destinations I'm heading to on my trip to America later in the year).

The Monkey's Secret is a fictional story based around actual events in San Francisco at the turn of the twentieth century.  Doctor's daughter Lizzy overhears an adult conversation which appears to be spoken in code- why is everyone talking about a monkey?  After much digging, she discovers rumours that the plague is rife in the Chinatown region of the city and takes it upon herself to find out more. 

Lizzy is a wonderful character- brave, clever and sharp as a tack.  She's determined and strong and refuses to let adults keep her in the dark.  Her tenacity is admirable and I am so pleased this book had a great female protagonist, particularly as it's set in the past.  Aunt Hortense was a formidable woman too, I could imagine her throwing the most withering of looks to those who dared to do anything she disagreed with.  This book will definitely appeal to the feminist reader due to the ballsy portrayal of the female characters.

There were times the pace was a bit slow for my taste, but I was interested enough in the story to keep turning the pages.  It was appealing to read a book set in a different time and place and the imagery Choldenko portrays, particularly within Chinatown, is magnificent.  The sense of mystery really comes across and whilst I was cheering Lizzy on, willing her to obtain the information she desperately longs for, I had my heart in my mouth at the end of the story.  There are a few chilling moments, that's for sure.

At the end of the book there's a timeline showing the actual dates of the events that inspired Choldenko and I definitely learnt a lot from this - I never even knew San Francisco had been affected by the plague. 

If you're looking for a unique mystery with a feisty female lead, The Monkey's Secret is well worth a look.

The Monkey's Secret is out now, published by Hot Key Books.

With thanks to Hot Key Books who provided me with a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

The Miniaturist- Jessie Burton

The Blurb

There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .

On an autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman knocks at the door of a grand house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the country to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his sharp-tongued sister, Marin. Only later does Johannes appear and present her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways . . .

Nella is at first mystified by the closed world of the Brandt household, but as she uncovers its secrets she realizes the escalating dangers that await them all. Does the miniaturist hold their fate in her hands? And will she be the key to their salvation or the architect of their downfall?

Beautiful, intoxicating and filled with heart-pounding suspense, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

The Review

The Miniaturist was everywhere throughout the second half of 2014, and now it's available in paperback it's sure to go to another level entirely.  The Miniaturist was chosen as the Waterstone's book of the year and also named in many of the 'Book of the Year' lists for 2014, so I decided to kick off a new year of reading with this historical fiction novel. 

Being honest, I found it quite difficult to get into this one- I think because there were quite a lot of characters introduced in quick succession, and that along with a setting and time frame that I know very little about pushed me outside my comfort zone.  That's not a negative, because I'm a firm believer that sometimes it's good to try something different, but there were times I considered putting it to one side and picking up something else to read instead.to

The writing itself totally grabbed me- it was vivid and dramatic and completely swept me away to Amsterdam in the late 17th Century.  I could feel Nella's vulnerable yet somehow stubborn nature ebbing off the page and couldn't help but have empathy for her as she struggled to adapt to life as a wife part of a well-known, established family.  As the tale unfolded, like layer upon layer of an onion being peeled back to reveal the small yet necessary heart at the centre, I became more and more enthralled by the hidden world of the Brandt family.  The elusive and abrupt sister- in- law Marin, the doting and compliant housemaid Cornelia, the black servant Otto, and even Johannes precious dogs have a role to play in this unsettling tale- but the enigmatic miniaturist who appears to be all seeing and all knowing, even of what goes on behind closed doors, is the central cog, giving clues to the young Mrs Brandt about what the future holds.

Jessie Burton cleverly drops a plot twist when the pace starts to slow, and I'm sure that's what makes The Miniaturist appeal to so many.  Whilst I wasn't blown away, I'm sure it's a book that's going to stay with me.  It has the haunting, unsettling feel of a du Maurier book (which is a triumph in itself- anyone who can get close to Daphne is winning in my eyes!) and the ability to transport to an unfamiliar bygone era.

If you're a fan of historical fiction, The Miniaturist is a must.  Even if you're not, it's well worth a whirl.  Part mystery, part romance, part family saga- Jessie Burton's debut ticks a lot of boxes.

The Miniaturist is out now in paperback, published by Picador.