“The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin

This novel is about two women who are in hospital. Lenni is a 17 year old who lives on the terminal ward for people with “life-limiting” conditions. Margot is an 83 year old with a heart condition, who wears purple, and is referred to as the mauve miscreant, the periwinkle perpetrator. The hundred years of the title is the sum of their ages. By coincidence I read the first part of the book while waiting at Burwood Hospital for a friend who was having a C.T. scan, which all added to the book’s atmosphere for me.

I loved the candid humour of the young dying woman, and the supportive friendship they share. They recount their lives to each other, and each story is a little gem, often very moving. Although Lenni knows she will soon die, she is able to experience Margot’s full life. In the art therapy room they illustrate their stories with the goal of producing 100 pictures before one of them dies. There are some beautiful characterisations in this very different book, which is well worth reading.

Their stories span one hundred years
provoking laughter and some tears

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“State of Terror” by Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny

This book is truly a thriller. Not a genre I usually choose, but I was attracted by the authors. Hillary is well-known as the person who might have been the first female President of the United States. Louise is one of my favourite mystery writers, and I appreciated the occasional references to the small Canadian village where her crimes are often set.

The story moves at a breathtaking pace, in a United States just recovering from four years under an idiotic, possibly deranged conservative president. The main character is the female U.S. Secretary of State, and there are many other characters of interest, some obviously based on well-known world leaders. It’s absolutely gripping, with an authenticity that’s enhanced by Hillary’s experience, and it celebrates women’s skills and support for each other. Thoroughly recommended.

These two women collaborate
to write a book that’s simply great

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“Isobar Precinct” by Angelique Kasmara

This is a gritty novel, or maybe edgy is the better word. The setting of inner city Auckland is one that was once very familiar to me and Kasmara portrays it authentically. The story starts in Symonds Street Cemetery, where I remember discovering the grave of a first cousin thrice removed over 40 years ago. There are references too to Grafton Bridge and Karangahape Road, all of which seemed more innocent to me then than they do in this book.

There are links to a secret drugs trial, and even the possibility of time travel. The writing moves at a fast pace, and a good dose of mystery and suspense makes it a worthwhile read. The descriptions of people and places are impressive. This is the author’s first novel, and future books will be worth looking out for.

This book the Isobar Precinct
tells of an Auckland quite distinct

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“Should We Stay or Should We Go” by Lionel Shriver

I support euthanasia being available to those who want it, and I voted in favour of the End of Choice Act last October. As someone now facing the latter stage of life, the topic of this book attracted me, but I was disappointed.

The central couple make a pact that they will commit suicide together when they’ve both turned 80, but it doesn’t work out the way they’d planned. The author gives twelve different scenarios for what might happen, but I started to find them tedious. After three days of sporadic reading I’d got only half way through and decided not to bother with the rest. I’ve been disappointed by this author’s books before, and it seems she’s not able to repeat the success of “We Need to Talk about Kevin”. Have you tried this latest novel?

The question of to stay or go
to me seemed infinitely slow

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“The Swift and the Harrier” by Minette Walters

This book is set in Dorset during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century. Supporting either the Royalists or the Parliamentarians split families in two, in a way that parallels our current disagreements over vaccines and mandates.

There were several mentions of Bridport, where I stayed in 2013, the only time I’ve slept in a four poster bed, which definitely felt historical.

The main character is a woman who is a qualified doctor, determined to remain neutral and treat people from both sides of the conflict. She’s brave and feisty, and seemed to me to be slightly fantastical, like a modern feminist transported back to the 17th century. Despite this (or maybe because of it) I found the story absorbing and stayed up till 1am this morning to finish it. The author gives a good outline of the development of the Civil War, and an intriguing romance alongside.

The Civil War portrayed crescentic
the heroine not quite authentic

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“Dandy Gilver & a Deadly Measure of Brimstone” by Catriona McPherson

This is one of a series of 15 books that grows on you, and I’ve read several of them now. Dandy (short for Dandelion) is a 1920s wife and mother living comfortably in Scotland with a butler, cook, and a lady’s maid. Together with a neighbour she sets up a detective agency and solves crimes. Her husband tolerates this activity, but only just.

This book is set in a Hydropathic Hotel, complete with all kinds of therapeutic treatments. There’s a supernatural aspect to the story as well. The lack of modern communication devices is refreshing and brings it down to a charming human level.

The story is expertly and wittily written with interesting characters and relationships. I look forward to more adventures with Dandy Gilver.

You can always rely on Dandy
to suss out modus operandi

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“The Murder Club” by Nikki Crutchley

This is the third mystery I’ve read by this N.Z. author and I’ve found all of them gripping. The fact the setting is a small Waikato town gives extra interest, and the suspense is held right to the end. Miller Hatcher, the journalist who was the focus of Crutchley’s first book, features again here, and is sympathetically portrayed. Relationships and characters are well drawn, especially the long-lasting effects of violent deaths.

It’s great to have a local author writing excellent mysteries. It’s no surprise that this book was short-listed for the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award.

He targets women on their own
and sneaks in when they’re all alone.

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“The Love Child” by Rachel Hore

This is a beguiling story set in the the aftermath of the first world war. It tells of a young woman forced to give her baby up for adoption, and what happens to that baby. All the characters are sympathetically drawn, even those who are driven by the conventions of the time to do cruel things. The book authentically portrays the choices available to women in the early 20th century, and the various discriminations they faced. I felt the ending was a little too convenient, but none-the-less satisfying. This is an absorbing yarn that tugs at the heartstrings. I’ve read others by the same author and enjoyed them too.

Decisions can be hard to make
uncertain which road best to take

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fun with frankie

A collage session with a group of friends was creative and satisfying. Among the pile of magazines supplied for cutting out was an old frankie magazine. I hadn’t seen one of these for several years and had forgotten how inspiring they could be. I was captivated by a series of pictures of women with bird heads, and ended up putting them all around my collage.

I thought I might buy a copy of frankie and was pleased to find the supermarket sells them. At $15.95 it was definitely an extravagance, but we all need treats. It may be just as well the magazine is published only six times a year.

There are articles about art, life, and many other things, as well as fascinating extra lift-outs. It’s published in Australia on sustainably produced paper with acknowledgement of the Traditional Owners of the land on which they work, and it’s relevant to Aotearoa as well. I’m rationing it, and so far have read only the first few pages, most of which are advertisements. However these are written in an attractive chatty way which makes them seem less pretentious than advertisements in some other publications (e.g. Avenues which I find to be a waste of time).

The target audience is obviously people younger than me, but I shall enjoy luxuriating in that different perspective. Have you met frankie?

For something different from routine
I recommend this magazine

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“The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart” by Margarita Montimore

I loved this book, and didn’t want it to end. The theme is time travel, and so much more, but it’s time travel with a difference. Each year, on her birthday, Oona is transported to a different year of her life, sometimes, older, sometimes younger. She finds that you have an unusual understanding of the present when you’ve seen the future.

There is suspense, as the reader waits to see which year will be next. In 1991 Oona was pleased to find that people were out and about living their lives, rather than curating them for the internet, or hiding behind their devices. Her knowledge of the future means she doesn’t need to worry about money, and her mother provides the one element of stability in each year.

The title of this book in the U.S. was “Out of Order Oona” – which appeals to my love of alliteration.

This is an original complex story that moved me and left me longing to know more.

Imagine if each year you changed
and everything was rearranged

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