Tower and Town, February 2018 (view the full edition)Good ReadsAt last year's Marlborough LitFest I heard John Boyne (author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas) speak about his tenth adult novel The Heart's Invisible Furies. He was a great speaker and spoke movingly about growing up gay in Catholic Church-dominated Ireland and thus feeling a perpetual outsider and disapproved of. He inspired me to read his book, which might not be to everyone's taste but I found compelling. It is a big sweeping story told in seven-year blocks featuring the life of Cyril Avery, an orphan raised by indifferent adoptive parents and forced to make his own way in a difficult and complex world. Through Cyril's life serious issues are addressed with a mixture of humour and tragedy and written in a powerful storytelling style. By contrast, I enjoy the crime novel genre and was delighted to discover recently that W. H. Auden was addicted to detective fiction. I have my particular favourite authors but I've found some recent crime novels too violent for me. Someone recommended the Simon Serrailler novels by Susan Hill and they got me hooked. So far there are eight in the series set in the Cathedral City of Lafferton and they are best read in order. However, there is nothing old-fashioned about the crimes which are committed or anything cosy about the characters involved. The main detective is Simon Serrailler who has his own intriguing complexities. I found them more than good mysteries, raising questions about living, God, friendships and family. Deborah Reynolds |