The Perpetual Motion Machine - The Story of an Invention
Paul Scheerbart and Andrew Joron
Book
In the last days of 1907, the German novelist and exponent of glass architecture Paul Scheerbart...
Postcards from the Edge
Book
When we first meet the extraordinary young actress Suzanne Vale, she's feeling like 'something on...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Dec 17, 2020
Sour Heart
Book
A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of Chinese...
Literary Fiction
The American Dream: In History, Politics, and Fiction
Book
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: these words have long represented the promise of...
Open Water
Book
'A tender and touching love story, beautifully told' Observer 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021 'A...
Literary fiction Race Cultural Novella British Literature
Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales
Book
The acknowledged Queen of Crime, P. D. James, was a past master of the short story, weaving together...
crime
Sam (74 KP) rated Three Things About Elsie in Books
Mar 27, 2019
I was a bit dubious when I first picked it up. The novel sets off to quite a slow start, opening on Florence waiting for help after having a fall. The novel follows Florence telling the stories of what happened leading up to her fall.
A man arrives at the care home who looks a lot like a man from Florence and Elsie’s past, and not from a good part of their past either. He’s dangerous and mysterious, and there’s something that Florence isn’t saying when it comes to him.
Three Things About Elsie is the book to be reading. If the Battenburg cover isn’t enough to draw you in – I had to get Battenburg because of this – then I don’t know what is. Florence is such a sweet old woman and it’s quite surprising from the start with just how many secrets she seems to have. It’s full of surprises and twists, some so shocking that you just don’t know what to believe anymore.
As someone who doesn’t love mysteries, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Even though it is a mystery, it reads more like literary fiction and is a nice read. I found myself wishing I had a friendship like Elsie and Florence’s.
The Sarashina Diary: A Woman's Life in Eleventh-century Japan
Sugawara no Takasue no Musume, Sonja Arntzen and Moriyuki Ito
Book
A thousand years ago, a young Japanese girl embarked on a journey from the wild East Country to the...
Myself and the World: A Biography of William Faulkner
Book
William Faulkner (1897-1962) once said of his novels and stories, "I am telling the same story over...