ClareR (5726 KP) rated Pippo and Clara in Books
Apr 16, 2021
Pippo and Clara arrive in the city with their mother after their Romany father is murdered. One morning their mother gets up early to buy food and doesn’t return. Clara goes to look for her, turning right at the entrance to their building; later Pippo awakens and goes to look for his mother and Clara, turning left at the entrance. This change in direction means the children don’t see one another for a long time.
Luckily, they are each adopted into families (unofficially) who love and care for them - Clara’s family are Fascists, Pippo’s are Communists.
This was such an emotional story. It wasn’t just what happened to these children, it was the bigger picture as well. When the inevitable happens and the Germans occupy Italy, Jews are rounded up and taken away, people fear for their freedom and their lives.
It was fascinating to read about the Freedom Fighters (Partisans) and their acts of espionage, as well as how they fought back. This included even those who had been fascists under Mussolini’s regime.
There’s so much to talk about in this book (perfect for a book club, I should think!), but I won’t spoil it. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it and was thoroughly heartbroken by the end. Any book about war is going to have tragic elements, but this is about hope as well, and the fact that good can, and did, overcome evil.
Another recommendation for the historical fiction fans. It’s a fabulous novel.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated A Net for Small Fishes in Books
Feb 17, 2021
This is a story that I already knew a little about: I read The Poison Bed by E. C. Fremantle on The Pigeonhole about 3 years ago, where the story was told from Frances Howards point of view, and A Net for Small Fishes does nothing to contradict that story. They both illustrate really well how women were expected to conform and be perfect, docile, brood mares for their influential husbands, and in Frankie’s case, how political marriages weren’t always happy ones. It also illustrated how desperation to escape a loveless marriage made two women take desperate action. As so often happens throughout history, the women in this story are punished for the barefaced cheek they had to want better lives for themselves. It’s a frustrating conclusion - but I could see that it was inevitable. It showed that it didn’t matter if you were a woman in one of the most influential families in the country or a doctors widow, you toed the line or suffered the consequences. But what a journey they had!
This is such a good story, as real life often is, and it’s a book that’s going on the Keeper shelf (yes, I bought a copy after I read it on The Pigeonhole - that’s how much I liked it).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this, and to Lucy Jago for contributing to the conversation.
Ben Foster recommended Husbands (1970) in Movies (curated)
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated I Am Mother (2019) in Movies
Sep 15, 2020
Anyway fast forward a few years and daughter is a teenager and becoming very inquisitive about the outside world. This starts when a mouse gets into the facility, upon this mouse being destroyed by mother, daughter explores the facility one evening whilst mother is powered down and she hears a voice from outside shouting for help, it turns out to be another human, what!?! She let's her in and after an argument with mother for doing so, mother agrees to help the stranger but the woman - seing and experiencing the outside world refuses help, she doesn't trust mother at all. You see it turns out there are other droids identical to mother, but they are evil and tear people away from their families. It's little wonder she doesn't trust mother but is she right to be suspicious? You'll have to watch and see.
Now I'm not usually a Sci fi fan but this movie isn't actually all that bad, the fact that mother sounds more human than android you do feel like there's a real connection between mother and daughter, even right at the end.
Throughout the movie I kept feeling torn between trusting mother or the stranger, I did lean more towards the stranger but I did feel for mother too. It was a complete mind bender and messed with you right to the very end.
Erika (17788 KP) rated Carnival Row - Season 1 in TV
Sep 8, 2019
Anyway, the world was interesting, and it was a Steampunky-Victorian mash up. It was also very predictable, I had everything figured out completely by the 6th episode. The script wasn't that great, and good god, Cara Delevigne cannot act her way out of a wet paperbag. The main draw, for me, was Orly. He seemed to be the best actor out of all of them. There was one story line that I'm not sure was strictly necessary, involving the Spurnrose family, and that obnoxious actress that played Catherine Howard in the Tudors. There was also another strange plot line that seemed a little off, because it wasn't introduced with enough detail. There was also unnecessary T&A that I think just slowed down the show in general. I don't like T&A scenes in general, because they're hardily every relevant to the overall story. I just feel like the streaming platforms are trying to be like HBO. This show would have benefited from not having it, because it could have brought in a younger demographic as well as the adults.
I'm glad this was already renewed for a second season, because they left it as a cliffhanger. I wanted more about these different magical races and their country of origin.
Sprout Pregnancy +
Health & Fitness and Medical
App
Congratulations on your pregnancy and welcome to Sprout! It’s an Apple ‘Essential App for...
Check - A Beautiful Checklist
Productivity and Utilities
App
Check is an iPad and iPhone list manager that is as simple as it is beautiful. Set in Futura, on...
Hazards – Red Cross
Weather and Education
App
Download the Hazard App by New Zealand Red Cross to help you and your family prepare and respond to...
Flowering Plants. Monocots: Poaceae
Book
This volume is the outcome of a modern phylogenetic analysis of the grass family based on multiple...
Forest Plans of North America
Jacek P. Siry, Peter Bettinger, Krista Merry and Donald L. Grebner
Book
Forest Plans of North America presents case studies of contemporary forest management plans...