CATCH ME IF I FALL by Nikki Rodwell @NikkiRodwell

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: The author is a friend of my sister, who I got to know when she joined Twitter.

In a Nutshell: Personal story of psychosis and spine injury

I bought this memoir because I've got to know Nikki on Twitter and wanted to support her, and also because I wanted to read about how she recovered from a devastating spinal cord injury. I expected to find it moderately interesting, but it's riveting, from start to finish.  It's written in such a chatty, engaging way; Nikki definitely has plenty of storytelling talent.  I couldn't stop turning those pages.

I did not realise until I began the book that Nikki has a severe mental health problem - and no, I don't mean the sort that is claimed in many a social media post every time someone has a bit of a bad day or feels a bit anxious.  She suffers from psychosis, something I knew very little about.  Her account of the incident that culminated in her spinal cord injury was harrowing to read about, though more shocking in a different way was the blow-by-blow account of her slow, painstaking recovery.

I'm fascinated by all things psychological, less so by the medical, but I was still gripped all the way through this.  It's written in a very 'warts and all' fashion - now and again it was a bit 'TMI', but my goodness, I take my hat off to anyone who has been through an ordeal like Nikki's and come out smiling.  At the same time, I wondered if she realised how much she has told the reader about herself; for instance, she talks about her daughters frequently not speaking to each other or not speaking to her, as if this is something quite every-day, and, although she talks a little about her relationship with her father, I wondered if she sees how much it has influenced the rest of her life.

There was just one thing missing - pictures!  Nikki talks a lot about the photos she posted on Facebook, throughout, and it would have been so great to see them in the book.  However, if you look here on her blog, there are many posts under 'Hospital 2019' that show some of them, or you can sign up to her newsletter to see them (link in book), and also the video of her learning to walk again.

I so admire Nikki's guts in getting through this life-changing period, whilst turning negatives into positives and using the experience to re-evaluate her life.  I think it should be read by anyone who is going through a long recovery of this type or suffers from psychosis and the stigma attached to severe psychological problems; I hate to use the ghastly buzzword 'inspirational', but it really is.  I highly recommend it anyway, even if you don't think a medical memoir will be your sort of thing.  You won't be able to put it down either, I guarantee!

THE WAITING ROOMS by Eve Smith @evecsmith

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads and BookBub

 

How I discovered this book: Amazon Browse

In a Nutshell: dystopian alternative present, post-'Crisis', in which everyone lives in fear of viruses.  Yes, I'm aware of the irony in that sentence.

I gathered that this book is set not in the future but in an alternative though chillingly relevant fictional present; there are some suggestions of the years in which events took place, though not many.  At some point which I took to be the recent past, the 'Crisis' has occurred: over 200 million deaths and counting, as spiralling drug resistance means that ordinary infections can kill, and the availability of antibiotics that actually work is severely limited.  Seventy years old is the cut-off point for being allowed anything but over-the-counter medication.  If ill, men and women wait for a painful death, or can choose to end their own lives.

The narrative zig-zags between present and past, a structure I always like, as the meshing of the two timelines is gradually revealed.  Kate, a nurse in the restriction and doom-filled present, has a husband and daughter, but knows she was adopted.  The other main present day POV is that of Lily, a woman in a private care home facing her seventieth birthday.  The chapters in the past centre around Mary, a biologist in South Africa, who meets the married Piet Bekker, and begins a love affair.  It is clear almost from the start that Mary later becomes 'Lily' (ie, this is not a spoiler); the reasons why are revealed slowly, throughout the book.  The plot centres round the Crisis itself, the part Mary and Bekker played in the TB pandemic, and family secrets.

I enjoyed reading this unusual story, which brings to mind many frightening real life predictions.  The contrast between Lily and Kate's world in the present and Mary and Bekker's carefree life at the end of the last century is heartrending, and makes me glad I am old enough to remember the 1960s-90s.  A most memorable part for me was Mary's obsessive love for Bekker; her every emotion and action were so real.  Bekker was horribly arrogant, and I felt so sad for her, especially as time went on; the 'other woman' is so often seen as a person whose feelings are of no importance.  In order to avoid facing up to choices made by the husband and father, the family is inclined to place all blame on the girlfriend.

As for Africa, the sense of place was so vivid; it made me feel nostalgic for somewhere I have not been.

There were a couple of aspects about which I was not so sure; I couldn't work out why Lily, at just sixty-nine, seemed more like a woman in her nineties.  She had crippling arthritis, but the other descriptions of her (papery skin, wispy white hair, etc) seemed unlikely.  Several of my friends are in their late sixties, and look much the same as I do (I'm 61); my mother didn't seem that decrepit even in her late eighties, and she had Alzheimer's.  It's possible that I missed something; there was a lot of information to take in (if I did, please tell me!).  Also,  I wished there had been a little more explanation of the Crisis itself, exactly how it unfolded, what actually happened, rather than just snapshots; the accounts were a little haphazard, and I felt it was here that the zig-zagging between time periods came unstuck.  A bit of chronology might have helped.

On the whole, though, it's one of those 'not 5* but better than 4*' books, and one I definitely recommend.

INTO THE SUFFERING CITY by Bill LeFurgy

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Historical Fiction, 1909 Baltimore, murder mystery

A most professionally presented book, which centres around the murder of a showgirl.  Dr Sarah Kennecott is a doctor who happens to be on the autism spectrum, though of course this was not recognised in those days.  She becomes fascinated with the case and can't let it rest, despite much family and political opposition; she also has to contend with the attitude of the time towards professional, educated women.  Through her passionate interest in Lizzie Sullivan's murder, she becomes involved with Jack Harden, a down-on-his-luck private detective.  This association is not looked upon kindly.

The author clearly has a great love for his subject, and I appreciated the pictures drawn of the development of this new city, with its excitement and opportunity, but also its dark side: corruption, narcotics, prejudices.  It is most intelligently written (the author is a professional historian and archivist), and a most commendable debut.

The only problem for me with this book was that it lacked that spark that might have made it a real page-turner.  I felt a lack of suspense, and didn't become involved with the characters; they felt distant, and never became more than names on a page for me.  This could be just personal taste, though, as I often struggle with third person characters written in the omniscient narrator style.  I am sure that if the author works on his actual storytelling he could produce something marvellous in the future; the rest of it, I could not fault.

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: the paperback was sent to me by a friend, for my birthday last summer.

In a Nutshell: 'a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question: What makes a life worth living?'

Not an easy book to review, or indeed to read.  It starts off with Kalanithi's diagnosis - the unlikely occurrence of a man of 36 who (I assume) didn't smoke, getting lung cancer.  At the time, he and his wife were about to separate, but they came together again when he fell ill, and had a child, Cady, who was just 8 months old when he died.

The beginning of the book tells much about what led Kalanithi to become a neurosurgeon, and his search for meaning in his life - I enjoyed this part.  Less so the mechanics of some of the work he did (not for the squeamish).  Then comes his suspicion that he's ill, the diagnosis and treatment.  From the point of view of one who has known people who have died from and some who have recovered from cancer, I found the information about the treatments and his reaction to them, and the thoughts that went through his head, most interesting to read about.

What is so sad is that he didn't know how much time he had left; in the end, it was less than perhaps he'd thought.  The last section of the book is written by his wife, after he died, and it's heartrending.  Some reviews have said it's the best part of the book; in some ways I agree.

It's probably not one to read if you're not in a good frame of mind, but I'm glad I did.

SICK by Christa Wojciechowski @ChristaWojo

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Novella, (very) dark psychological drama

This is a short novella that I read in just two hours, and possibly the most peculiar book I've ever read.  John Branch is an impoverished aristocrat who lives in squalor with his wife, a podiatric nurse called Susan; the book is written from Susan's first person point of view.  Throughout their marriage he has suffered one illness after another, and terrible accidents; many of his maladies baffle the doctors.  Suzie lives on frazzled nerves and chocolate bars, but they love each other, and exist in their own little world of their house and his illnesses.  Their relationship is odd in the extreme, with their baby talk, and the way she refers to him, and he acts, as if he is a child.  She is a plain woman who had little in her life before they met; he is everything to her.

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it; I wondered if English was the author's first language as Susan talks about singing John his favourite 'lullaby' when he is ill, and describes him as having 'pretty lips'; there are several other odd word choices, and I couldn't work out if they were part of the peculiarity of the couple, or if they were just ill-chosen.  Also, a hyphen is used instead of an em dash throughout, which is confusing when the hyphen is used for two different purposes in the same sentence.  Thirdly, the book is graphic in its descriptions of blood, puss and worse; I can do gory violence, but not bodily functions/secretions.  But at the same time it's very well-written; it's dark, vivid and horribly depressing.  As it went on, I thought, yes, I do want to read it, but perhaps it'll be one of those '3*, good but not my cup of tea' books.

Then I got to appreciating it more and more, and I understood how clever it is.

It becomes clear that all is not what it seems in the dingy servants' house where they live, on the estate that once belonged to John's family, but Suzie is too tired, undernourished and concerned for John to investigate the irregularities.  When the truth about John's illnesses comes out, the whole story is turned on its head.  

So I ended up giving it 4* because I liked it ~ I would recommend it to anyone who is not squeamish and likes something a bit out of the ordinary.  And I think I might pick up the sequel at some point, too; I am most intrigued to see what happens next!

BROKEN BRANCHES by Ben Ellis

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: UK dystopian, futuristic

The basic plot:
In the future, all men in Britain are sterile. Fertility drugs for procreation are given only to couples whose genetic matches are approved by the state. Those without a family history to prove their genetic heritage are known as broken branches, treated as inferior citizens and not allowed to breed, so that the genetic purity of the National Family Tree will be preserved.  On presenting an application to have a child, each case is decided upon by a jury of over forty people, randomly chosen from the genetically approved public.

The novel contains some feasible ideas about the not too distant future: compulsory DNA sampling at birth, genetic enhancement of a foetus being the norm, and, of course, the necessity for health insurance, usually provided by an employer, which some say we are heading towards sooner rather than later.  Mr Ellis shows some nice turns of phrase and imaginative metaphors, and I liked some of the philosophy (often inner dialogue) about the human race as a whole.

On the whole, though, I felt the finished article needed a bit more thinking through. I needed to know straight away why all the men were sterile, but it is not revealed until half way through.  Several generations before, a male contraceptive pill had been introduced in order to control population, that ended up causing sterility.  Hmm.  I'm not convinced that many men would take it in the first place, given that virility is an important element of the masculine identity.  A character called Maiya doesn't know she is infertile until told by a doctor that she was the victim of a government sterilisation programme, but neither we nor Maiya are told what this programme was, and for some reason she doesn't ask.  I had too many unanswered questions, generally. 

Other stuff I liked: early on, the 'pub culture' scenes are well done and authentic.  When protagonists Grace and Tom submit their application to become parents, we are shown snapshots of the conversations between couples chosen as the 'jury', to show how they arrived at the decision, an inspired touch which made for an entertaining and revealing sideshow about human nature; I would have loved more like this.  Alas, though, there was a lack of individuality in the dialogue, generally; practically all couples call each other 'love'.  Almost all the characters have short tempers and say 'fuck' a lot.  Sometimes the technology appeared not to have moved on as it might; it's meant to be several generations into the future but people still talk about their 'mobile' phones, a phrase that's started to sound a little outdated even now.

Interspersed between the main chapters are some curious short ones written from the point of view of someone who turned out to be a computer programmer (I think).  Some of it is a bit 'fourth wall', about the writing and publication of the book itself.  He talks about a new programme called 4cast which can programme futures according to DNA and data collected all over the world ~ another of the great ideas present in the novel.  Again, though, it all seemed a bit haphazard.

To sum up: an original story containing imaginative, unusual concepts.  I read all the after-book acknowledgements, etc., and must thank the author for the Wikipedia entry about the Tasmanian aboriginals ~ fascinating stuff, it led me to look up more.  Ellis thanks his beta readers for 'getting through the third draft' ~ speaking as a writer who still finds dodgy bits as late as the fifth draft, I felt it could have done with another one or two.  The grammar and punctuation (copy editing) is mostly fine, but I think some professional content editing would make this book as good as it could be.

DEATH WISH by Linda Huber @LindaHuber19

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I've been mutually retweeting with Linda Huber on Twitter for some time and had seen that her books looked popular, so thought I'd try one!

Genre: dark family drama.

A great start to this book: a man is burying a body in a garden.  But who is it?

Death Wish concentrates on two families.  Leo Mackie has just set up home with his unstable girlfriend, Ashley, while her wicked witch mother, Eleanor, looms in the background.  Leo will do anything to keep Ashley's love, and doesn't realise a) quite how unhinged she really is, b) why, and c) what a bad move it is to accept her mother's offer of buying into his business ~ and into their lives....  

The other family consists of sweet eight-year-old Joya, her father, Stu, and her it's-all-about-me, neurotic mother, Martine, who feeds her child an almost constant diet of chips, ice cream and Coke, and leaves her to her own devices much of the time; I was with Stu all the way and wanted to tell her to get a grip, too!  Also in the house is Martine's invalid mother, Vee.

Linda Huber writes in such a readable way, and I read the first 40% of the book in one sitting; it was only later that I realised that almost all of it takes place in the two houses.  That the families lead rather dreary, insular lives did not matter; the writing itself was of a quality that kept me turning the pages.  I liked Ms Huber's decision to show much of the story from Joya's point of view; it gave a refreshing variation to the narrative, and made me remember how I used to think when I was eight years old!  This story is a fine example of what goes on behind respectable closed doors. Leo was by far my favourite character, despite the decisions he makes later; he seemed the most 'real' to me.

There are no great surprises but the end comes together neatly, with a nice little twist or two in the tale that becomes almost darkly comic in places, which I liked.  Within the plot are the deeper issues of Huntington's Disease, assisted suicide, teen pregnancy and adoption, and these are dealt with realistically and with sensitivity.  It's a moderately-paced story, very well put together, and I think it would appeal to anyone who likes intricate family dramas ... with a dark side.