Synopsis from Waterstones:
1995, and at a party in Bedford, Mary meets Jack and Neal, a pair of hipsters and self-confessed Beats’ stuck (un)squarely in the sixties. After a Beat (not-quite) Happening’ at the local library, the three of them (and Neal’s cat Koko) set off in Mary’s Vauxhall on a road trip to Brighton in search of literary fame and fortune. But, this is neither the time nor the place for free love, uncomplicated sex and unrestrained cool this is 1990s Britain and everything comes with a price
When asked what category I would place this book in, I struggled to think of an answer. I think it would just sit in fiction as the book just follows a group of twenty-somethings as they live life as though they are stuck in the 1960s – the era before Dylan had his motorcycle accident. This is not horror or a even a psychological thriller, it is just Mary, Neal and Jack looking for a “hip” time.
This wasn’t a bad book, but I’m not sure I’ll be jumping at a chance to read Litt again. This book did seem a bit random to me. Can people really live their lives as though they are stuck in a decade that they weren’t even born in? There were definitely elements of the book I found unbelieveable – like Mary and Jack’s trip to America. There were areas of the book that made me uncomfortable. In Brighton Mary loses all inhibitions and partakes in a threesome that is watched. I didn’t like reading that at all.
I think this could be used as a social study however. One could use this to look at behaviour, what influences people and how beliefs can shape someone’s life.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I found they all bugged me. Mary was desperate to fit in, Jack was trying to be “cool” and “hip” and Neal I felt just needed to grow a backbone. If I’m going to be honest, although this wasn’t an awful book and I did read it in a day, I only finished it because I was reading it for my dissertation. As I sit and think about this book I’m not overly excited by the memory of it. It will be a book I will probably have forgotten about in a few months.
2/5
This is not a long book, only 160 pages, but it is full of information. The book is presented as a fiction book for children, but every conversation is full of facts. Oliver and Edward have arrived in Brighton on a holiday, and are later joined by their cousin Helen. They go exploring the town and its surroundings and as they embark on their adventure they are full of questions, which conveniently their parents are able to answer. The questions are historical and scientific, and the answers are very detailed.
To be honest, this was not an exciting book. I felt that it was a book for older children but it was so full of facts that I just couldn’t get into the story. I found the children pompous and was mildly annoyed by their parents, who knew everything. It wasn’t realistic, it was just frustrating. However, it will be useful for my dissertation. Aside from that, I didn’t enjoy this book too much.
4/10
Amazon synopsis:
A look at the dark side of life, Victorian-style, when nothing was quite as it seemed and a public execution could be an entertaining family day out. Murderers, poachers, thieves, pickpockets and vagabonds all went about their business with impunity. Crime took place on the streets, on public transport, in homes, pubs, prisons, asylums, workhouses and brothels – it was all part of everyday life in Brighton and Hove in the late 1800s. Read about the notorious railway murderer, Percy Lefroy, who appeared at his trial in full evening dress and went to the gallows in an old brown suit. Gasp at the audacity of a temptress who fell in love with a doctor and tried to poison his wife, with strychnine laced chocolate. Then there’s little Emily, a girl who received imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a few tempting pieces of gingerbread while a gaggle of disruptive young women loved causing a riot, flirting with men and smashing windows. It was madness and mayhem in those weird and wonderful times – and it’s brought vividly to life by Janet Cameron in Brighton and Hove – Murder and Misdemeanours.
This book focusses on Victorian Brighton and the crimes that took place in that 100 years. This book is full of stories – some serious, others bordering on comical. It seems Cameron really has done her homework – the book was detailed and although not very long, it contained some interesting and useful facts.
However, I did not find this an easy read. I found myself having to force myself to read the chapters – even though some were very short, only a page or two long. I thought the use of pictures was interesting as well. She wanted to show an area but used a modern photograph instead of a picture that revealed Brighton back in the 1800s. Although this book will be useful to my dissertation I felt a bit let down. I thought the book would be more interesting than it was and I’m afraid I won’t be actively seeking out books by Cameron.
5/10
Amazon description:
Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naïve bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn t be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom. Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.
This is the first time I have come across Gregson, and to be honest I was disappointed. There were a few significant events, such as Rose marrying, the events on the ship with Guy Glover and the consequences of taking him to India, and the decision Tor makes….but between all these things the story was flat, and a bit boring. There was a lot of writing but it felt like nothing was really happening. I put down and picked up this book at least three times and by the time I had finished it, I was left empty.
I don’t think Gregson wrote characters I could like, or even care about. I really wasn’t overly bothered what happened to them. I don’t know what it is about her writing style, but it meant I felt no empathy for them, and by the end I was reading just to finish the book, not to find out what happened to any other them.
I don’t know how accurate the book was either, but I did find it odd coming across modern names such as Debenhams and Thomas Cook in a book set in the beginning of the century – that said, they might have been around, it just didn’t seem to fit with the story.
I wasn’t convinced overly by the storyline itself. Guy Glover’s character was very seedy and odd. What he said in the book didn’t seem realistic, and when Viva got kidknapped because of him I wasn’t convinced by her escape. The whole book seemed a bit like that. I found it long-winded and dull really – a complete let down.
4/10
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