Impossibly Good

 One of my favourite authors has done it again. With Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell has upped the ante on fantasy stories.  

Here the "real" world  overlaps and crashes into one of myth, populated by the eponymous Creatures (each beautifully illustrated and given a brief description at the start of the book), and as many heroes and villains as needed to carry the story along at sometimes breakneck speed, leaving the reader (or this one anyway) breathless.

But there are layers, as in the best of stories. There is the adventure, cracking along full of suspense, and plenty of twists and turns. But there is also high emotion: loss and grief, hope and fulfilment, loyalty and betrayal.

In short order we are introduced to Christopher, sent to spend time with his grandfather in an isolated part of Scotland, to Mal (with her magical `flying` coat), her great-aunt Leonor and ...."the murderer." Who could possibly resist reading on?

Very quickly Christoper and Mal`s worlds collide and the two embark on a mission to, as it says on the fly-leaf of this beautifully produced book, "transform the destiny of the world".

We read about the children`s attempts to halt the potential extinction of species and counter the things that are going wrong in the imaginary world and there is no avoiding seeing the whole story as an allegory. However, the story-telling is so masterful there is no sense of being preached at and ultimately it is a story of hope and love. 

 

Three for the price of one.........

 So back to that thing about reading books that are marketed for young people ("even though you are so old and wise")* and here`s three authors who never let you down. And as an added bonus three spirited, joyous female characters who refuse to be pigeonholed. 

I read The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne  a while ago and I`m not sure why I didn`t write about it then as I loved it.  It`s set in a futuristic world where our heroine  is doing her best to survive in  hostile and dangerous surroundings. From the opening paragraph it is clear that to date she is managing pretty well: 

 "That morning, with the dawn hanging wet and pale over the marshes, Scarlett McCain

 woke up beside four dead men. Four! She hadn`t realized it had been so many. No wonder she felt stiff".                  

 It doesn`t take long for us to discover that she is alone, self-sufficient and fiercely focused on staying alive. Somewhat incongruously though she also carries a prayer mat and a "cuss-box"  into which she drops a penny every time she swears, which she does regularly. What she probably doesn`t need is for her life to be complicated by one Albert Browne, in almost every regard completely different, given to staring dreamily into space, not paying attention and apparently pretty helpless. 

Thus begins the tale of The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne. It is full of derring-do naturally but also slowly begins to build up the stories of these two unlikely partners and how they got to where they are. Their developing relationship as well as their adventures makes for a page turning narrative, written with sparkle and energy and - a stand out feature - great wit. 

How lovely then to find the second in the series is just as good, if not better, simply because it digs even deeper into Scarlett`s and Albert`s backgrounds and develops their relationship. They are now  The Notorious Scarlett & Browne, their reputation for "magnificent hold-ups, confounding robberies and perfect getaways" meaning there is a price on their heads and their exploits become more dangerous than ever. Jonathan Stroud`s writing is so good it carries you along effortlessly and makes you hope there`s a third story in the pipeline.

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I think Scarlett and Maggie McGregor, the central character of One Shot  by Tanya Landman, would have got on well, despite living different lives, in different places and altogether different times.  It is, as the author herself says, "inspired by the real-life "rags to riches" story of famous sharp-shooter Annie Oakley.....an imagined tale of how it might have felt to have had a childhood like hers." And what how wonderful to find a story that packs such a punch into such a relatively short book. 

Maggie is born into poverty. Her mother is "tired of raising babies" by the time Maggie is born and their relationship is non-existent whereas Maggie is very close to her father. When he dies everything changes and she is forced out into a world of drudgery, violence, exploitation, prejudice and abuse. Her one real skill is shooting, which she learnt with her father along with a deep love of the forests and wilderness around her: 

                      "When Pa used to take me out hunting, we`d walk along, my palm in his, joy radiating from his skin. It filled Pa`s soul - the wonder and beauty of the trees, the way the sun shone through the leaves and dappled the forest floor, the sound of birdsong."

But shooting and hunting are considered inappropriate for a young lady and however hard Maggie tries to fit in - partly in the hope of some sign of approval from her mother - she finds it impossible. Eventually though, with persistence and bravery she wins her freedom and of course (plot spoiler!) the heart of a young man who sees her for the person she is. 

Published by Barrington Stoke Teen in their "super readable" series, with dyslexia friendly font and off white paper, this is an accessible, beautifully written inspirational tale.

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And then there`s Mina, the sensitive, inquisitive, wonderfully imaginative eponymous heroine of David Almond`s novel. This has to be one of the most joyful books it is possible to read about nurturing a child`s curiosity and fascination with the world (not to mention with words themselves) as well as negotiating their place in it, especially hard if sometimes one is seen as different: as Mina herself says

                             "She was just nine years old. She was very skinny and very small and she had jet black hair and a pale pale face and shining eyes. Some folks said she was weird. Her Mum said she was brave."  (And by the way - her Mum needs a shout out) 

Though she is younger, Mina has the same persistence and courage as Scarlett and Maggie, the same determination to live life on their own terms. You could hardly wish for three better role models. In our local library (https://www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk/libraries ) Mina is categorised as Junior Fiction, The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne, The Notorious Scarlett & Browne and One Shot as Young Adult but frankly who cares? Forget categorizations (I think Mina would approve) and just read them.

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👍😉

             

Banish...despair...all ye who enter here........

 Can`t believe I nearly didn`t read this. I knew, vaguely, about Good Law Project. Knew, vaguely, who Jolyon Maugham was. Thought it might be a bit dry and probably a bit depressing. And thought that nevertheless I should read it. So I did. And soon found out it was neither dry nor, ultimately, depressing though there are some depressing stories in it.

The depressing part of it is how, in order to maintain their status, influence and wealth, the powerful and rich are able to bend and twist and not least afford what should be a tool equally accessible to all. Having explained broadly how the system should work, Maugham examines in some detail how again and again it  fails to hold power to account.

So far so disheartening but this is where Good Law Project comes in. Established in 2017 it intially had what Maugham calls a "modest" infrastructure - a bank account, a website and email but also Maugham`s unwavering belief that the law could do better.

At first glance he might have seemed an unlikely campaigner: comfortably off as a tax lawyer, he was a member of the very establishment he started to challenge, whose members it should be noted became very irritated, not to say angry, at what they saw as his betrayal of that club.  Maugham also made himself more and more unpopular with politicians and sections of the press and often came under fierce even hostile criticism..

Nonetheless, working with other like-minded campaigners, carefully addressing amongst other things the issue of how to fund their work to maintain independence, Good Law Project is now the biggest legal campaigning group in the country. 

Maugham himself comes across as self-deprecating, under no illusion that he and his colleagues are going to change the world overnight nor even that they always get things right. But Bringing Down Goliath is a vital and motivational read and best of all can be put on the bookshelf labelled Hope.

"All texts must be open, to all people" (Katherine Rundell)

Katherine Rundell`s book Why You Should Read Children`s Books, Even Though You Are So Old And Wise has been mentioned before here and no doubt will be mentioned again....and again...and again but especially when I`ve read something as enthralling as Jospeh`s Elliott`s Shadow Skye trilogy.

It is both sad and misguided that children`s books are still so often seen as the poor relation of fiction, that borrowers in the library service where I work still feel the need to apologise shamefacedly for having enjoyed a brilliant Young Adult book, never mind one categorized as Junior Fiction. (The categorization of books is a subject for another time😉)

Saddest of all is that some well known figures in the literary world get so snooty about it (no names, no pack drill but I see you), in the process making the problem worse as well as displaying an astonishing ignorance about some of the factors involved in encouraging children to become confident and enthusiastic readers.

So back to the books that prompted that mini-rant:

 

Set on an alternative Isle of Skye, this magnificent saga takes its heroes and heroines to the plague devastated mainland of Scotland, across the water to Norway and eventually to the kingdom of England, ruled by a despotic king and his allies, all in an attempt to defend their clan`s homeland.  There are terrifying shadow creatures known as sgàilean, blood magic, treachery, deceit and even a huge, vaguely familiar Scottish beast. The reader is completely swept up in the pacy narrative but the books real power lies in the three central characters,  Agatha, Jaime and Sigrid and the clever technique of giving each their own distinctive voice and alternating the chapters between them so the story is told from three different points of view.

It works brilliantly: not only is each voice unmistakable (the heading at the top of each chapter to signify who is speaking becomes almost redundant) but their language informs their characters without the need to make explicit observations. Especially delightful is what Elliott refers to in the notes as Sigrid`s "idiosyncratic slang", which absolutely nails her energy and resourcefulness not to mention her wry sense of humour.

Themes of loyalty, trust, love and tolerance run throughout the narrative, challenging our heroes at every turn to make hard choices about what is right and what is wrong. Which is why, when it is handled as well as this, anyone could be proud of saying they`d read it. Or, as Rundell says:

          "...the writing we call children`s fiction is not a childish thing.....(rather it) has childhood at its heart, which is not the same thing."

"Storytelling on a grand scale."

When you get towards the end of a 548 page hardback novel and realise that  you have to resist the urge to check the last page to see what happens while at the same time not wanting it to end at all - that is the absolute essence of good storytelling.  And Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver has it in spades.

Billed as a  "reimagining" of David Copperfield but set in Kingsolver`s Appalachia it is by no means necessary to have read Dicken`s classic story before embarking on Demon Copperhead. Those who have will recognize some of the characters as playing much the same role as in the earlier novel. But what draws you in perhaps most powerfully in both cases is the relating of the story by the heroes themselves - if, indeed, as David Copperfield says, they turn out to be heroes.

The opening paragraph of Demon Copperhead immediately sets the tone, the language and not least the wry humour which runs through the whole sorry tale of a boy born into poverty of a drug addicted single mother:

                            "First, I got myself born. A decent crowd was on hand to watch, and they`ve always given me that much: the worst of the job was up to me, my mother being let`s just say out of it."

And with that we are launched into an autobiography which rattles along at a breathless pace, following the fortunes and misfortunes of Damon, whose red hair and feral nature soon earn him his eponymous nickname. There`s a large and varied cast of characters whose lives touch Demon`s in one way or another, for better or worse, often as they also are dealing with their own crises of poverty, alienation, and drug addiction. 

As always with Kingsolver, politics and political structures are central to much of the plot but we are not being lectured at: much of Demon`s growing up demonstrates the abject failure of the very systems nominally there to support children in his position. Whether it is lack of resources, lack of political will,  a commentary on the forgotten communities in some parts of America - or indeed a combination of all these - is left for the reader to decide.

In any event it is impossible not to will Demon on, to celebrate his successes and despair when life throws him another curve ball. The writing never falters and with Kingsolver herself having grown up in Kentucky it feels like the story has been written as much from the heart as the head. 

Fact or Fiction?

Dystopian stories, set in an imagined future that often rests on an actual past and present, can make for disconcerting reads. How much more so if this imagined future isn`t in fact that far ahead. Rosa Rankin-Gee`s novel Dreamland falls into that category which is perhaps why, in an author`s note at the end of the book, she goes to the trouble of pointing out that while the story may be fictional "it builds on events and policies that are occurring today" which she then proceeds to delineate, in order to "be clear about which elements are based on fact".

And that`s a sobering thought once you`ve read the novel.  It`s a powerful read made all the more so by the strong first person narration. Chance is one of those characters you remember long after you finish the book. Buffeted by political forces outwith her control, social deprivation, family upheaval and the imminent threat of the consequences of climate change, Chance tries to navigate a way to survive. It sounds grim, it is grim, but there are moments of humour, of love and sheer human resilience that keep you reading on and rooting for Chance to succeed despite the constant, often inevitable, setbacks she faces. 

The backdrop is the town of Margate, a seaside resort whose fortunes have yo-yoed over the years but which, Rankin-Gee tells us in her author`s note, is currently enjoying another renaissance. Nevertheless part of its recent history mirrors the "relocation" theme which in many ways is central to Dreamland and where fact and fiction bump into each other. 

 By the end Dreamland is hard to put down: you`re  holding your breath as Chance aims to take control of her life and prioritise the things that really matter to her. And you`re left in no doubt that if she were to manage that Herculean task, she`d be one of the `lucky` ones.

Scarier than ...a really scary thing.

 Not being a massive fan of really frightening thrillers I discovered you don`t need to read them in order to scare the pants off yourself: try The Revenge of Power by Moises Naim and see how well you sleep for a day or two after you`ve finished it. 

A relatively hefty looking tome, it is not a difficult read despite being a detailed analysis of, as the subtitle says, "How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century".  In fact it is an extraordinary description of the way in which "populism, polarization and `post-truth` politics" (Naim`s 3Ps) have resulted in a marked increase in authoritarian and autocratic regimes around the world. 

For such dry sounding subject matter it is in fact a dramatic story of corruption, collusion, manipulation, criminality, dark social networks and carefully calculated disinformation which weaken, even destroys, the individual`s ability to distinguish between fact and fiction or perhaps more significantly their desire to do so.

And if anyone`s inclined to shrug and say they don`t "do" politics it might be worth reading just to understand how politics is "doing" them.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?kn=The%20Murderer%60s%20Ape&sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&ds=20 or at your local library e.g. https://www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk/libraries