Shadow Dancer by Tom Bradby

shadow dancer

Colette McVeigh: Mother. Widow. Terrorist. For all of her twenty-nine years she has lived the Republican cause. Her husband was killed by the Brits. Her brothers have dedicated their lives to fighting them.

Until she is arrested in an aborted bombing raid in London when she has to make a choice: inform and see your children again; or stay silent and watch them grow up from the inside of a prison cell.

Her MI5 handler, David Ryan, has never questioned where his loyalties lie. But as he watches Colette put herself in increasing danger to fulfil her side of the bargain, he realises that his certainty and integrity have been fatally and irrevocably compromised…

Jane B  6
Pauline C 7
Elaine E 5
Rebecca H ?
Janet J 5
Janine J ?
Sally M 8
Cai M 6
Christine P 7
Trude S 5
June T 4

 

 

 

Rebecca H
Score:

Notwithstanding by Louis de Bernieres

notwithstanding     Welcome to the village of Notwithstanding, where a lady dresses in plus fours and shoots squirrels, a retired general gives up wearing clothes altogether, a spiritualist lives in a cottage with the ghost of her husband, and people think it quite natural to confide in a spider that lives in a potting shed. Based on de Bernières’ recollections of the village he grew up in, Notwithstanding is a funny and moving depiction of a charming vanished England.

 

 

Jane B  8
Pauline C 7
Elaine E not read
Rebecca H 8
Janet J 7
Janine J 8
Sally M 6
Cai M 7
Christine P 7
Trude S 6
June T 3
 

Christine P
Score:

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

nothing to envy

North Korea is Orwell’s 1984 made reality: it is the only country in the world not connected to the internet; Gone with the Wind is a dangerous, banned book; during political rallies, spies study your expression to check your sincerity. After the death of the country’s great leader Kim Il Sung in 1994, famine descended: people stumbled over dead bodies in the street and ate tree bark to survive. Nothing to Envy weaves together the stories of adversity and resilience of six residents of Chongin, North Korea’s third largest city. From extensive interviews and with tenacious investigative work, Barbara Demick has recreated the concerns, culture and lifestyles of North Korean citizens in a gripping narrative, and vividly reconstructed the inner workings of this extraordinary and secretive country.

Scores on the doors:

Jane 9
Pauline C 9
Elaine E 10
Rebecca H 9
Janet J 7
Janine J 6 (speed read)
Sally M 9
Cai M 9
Christine P 9
Trude S. 8
June T 9

 

Cai M
Score:

Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom

winter in madrid1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon
neutrality and enter the war. Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatised veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a
shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game – and surrounded by memories. Meanwhile Sandy’s girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own – to find her former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the international Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama. In a vivid and haunting depiction of
wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible
choices. ‘Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters with satisfying precision’ Independent

Scores on the doors:

Jane 8
Pauline C 8
Elaine E 8
Rebecca H 6
Janet J 8
Janine J 9
Sally M 6 or 7
Cai M 6
Christine P 7
Trude S. 7
June T 5

 

 

 

Elaine E
Score: