Books of the month

Our Book Club will be launched with an author event in September and then it will enjoy a regular monthly slot of the first Tuesday of the month.

Details of the initial book lists and other events including our craft workshops are available via our website or in the shop.

The big news is that Alison Weir, the UK’s bestselling female historian will be appearing at The Milton Rooms in the first of our co-productions in November to talk about her work and her books.

This event is a must for anyone who loves history or historical fiction, especially those who find Tudor life fascinating.

So, exciting times ahead and we hope that you enjoy all we offer as your local independent bookshop.

Triflers Need Not Apply - Camilla Bruce

Based on a true story located in Chicago 1900, this chilling work of fiction explores the known facts of one woman’s determination to ‘pay back men for all they have taken’. Belle’s crimes were as complex as those of the woman herself: reports say she killed 14 men but it was more likely up to around 40. This novel is an attempt to understand how someone like Belle became such a dangerous serial killer.

The story begins in Selbu, Norway in 1877. After a brutal attack and the consequent sudden death of the assailant, ‘Little Brynhild’ leaves her poverty-stricken home to join her sister in America and assumes a new identity, reinventing herself as Belle Gunness. Determined to rise above her childhood deprivation, she marries twice, both times to wealthy men. However, she is unable to conceive naturally and the story takes a surprising turn when she takes a fictitious criminal lover

Both of Belle’s husbands meet dubious deaths, but she is absolved of any involvement and reaps the rewards of inheriting her husbands’ properties and their life insurance. Now a woman of considerable fortune, but thirsty for more, she invests her monies in a farm in Indiana where she invites wealthy men to visit with the intention of murder and to purloin their money. Soon the morbid appetite for blood increases and the motivation to kill for pleasure takes over.

The whereabouts of Belle Gunness from 1908 onwards are, to this day, unresolved but Camilla Bruce’s adept reimagining of this compelling historical figure is difficult to forget. Mixing true crime and historical fiction with the imaginative skill of a novelist, Bruce has produced a truly memorable portrayal of a woman for whom revenge doesn’t go far enough.

ISBN 9780241442302 Penguin Books Hardback £14.99

Wanderers – A history of Women Walking - Dr Kerry Andrews

In this engaging exploration of the influence walking has upon women’s creativity, Dr Kerri Andrews looks anew at some well-known women writers and introduces us to some that are less familiar. The book spans three centuries and explores the works of ten different female writers from Elizabeth Carter, an Eighteenth Century parson’s daughter, to Cheryl Strayed who hiked 1100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone in 2005.

The miles walked in this book are matched by the many forms of writing: there are essayists, sociologists, diarists, memoirs, poets, novelist and nature writers.

There are women such as Dorothy Wordsworth whose fulfilling domestic life also proved restrictive, Sarah Hazlitt who walked to gain a sense of power over herself when her marriage failed and Anais Nin whose city wandering reflected her sense of sexual liberation. Andrews takes a chapter for each writer and unites them by highlighting the lively, intelligent and significant contributions they have all made to the travelogue and nature writing genres.

Andrews’ academic background and is balanced by her sociable writing style which gives it a broad appeal. This is a truly pioneering book from an author whose love of her subject shines through. Whether you read it from the comfort of your armchair or take it with you on your next walking adventure, it is the kind of book that will stay with you for many years to come.

ISBN 9781789145014 Reaktion Books Paperback £9.99

Maria’s Island – Victoria Hislop

Adult readers may already be familiar with Victoria Hislop’s bestselling historical novels. Here, she takes a detour into children’s fiction to rework her first novel, The Island, into a captivating story told from the point of view of one of the children in the original novel.

In Maria’s Island, Hislop returns to the beautiful little village of Plaka, a happy place full of sunshine and freedom where the only shadow cast over it is the incurable and poorly understood disease of leprosy. As closest mainland village to the leper colony island of Spinalonga, the villagers live with the constant reminder of this disease. Some understand it more than others, some are able to deal with it more than others and, through portraying these attitudes, Hislop carefully shows how adults are little different to children when dealing with stigmatised issues.

When Maria’s mother and her best friend, Dimitri, both catch leprosy they must quarantine on Spinalonga, leaving Maria and her older sister behind on Plaka with their father. Told through the resilient Maria’s eyes, the reader is shielded from the potentially devastating effect of losing her mother and learns from her how love, friendship and life can carry on in the face of illness.

Eventually, Maria herself succumbs to leprosy and must go to the island herself. Again, the disease does not stop Maria and she pursues her interest in medicine to contribute in no small way towards finding a cure. Sometimes poignant but never upsetting, this book highlights the strength of love, friendship and resilience over adversity. Complemented wonderfully by Gill Smith’s beautiful illustrations, this is an ideal book for older early readers who are ready explore more complex themes associated such as coping with adversity and having respect for others who may be different from themselves.

ISBN 9781406399073 Walker Books Hardback £10.99

While You’re Sleeping – Mick Jackson and John Broadley

It’s not unusual in our house to hear the pitter-patter of tiny (and not-so-tiny) feet coming down the stairs after being tucked up for a good night’s sleep. However, this beautiful picture book offers children a thoughtful ¬- and somehow comforting - new perspective on bedtime. Drawing on that common feeling of being safe, comfortable and warm while the outside world still bustles, this book is a real bedtime treat for child and parent alike.

Even before the book starts, the endpapers are a joy to look at together and chat about with a sleepy child. Moving into the book, the divinely detailed illustrations capture all manner of night-time activity from transport workers to factories, caterers to carers and wildlife to mums and dads.

The toned-down colours are both calming and evocative: you can almost hear the activity of the sorting office and smell the freshly baked bread in the bakery.

These illustrations are perfectly matched by the soothing words of the narrative which gently delivers information about the night-time world and makes the nocturnal setting relatable to a child’s understanding.

The postal workers are sorting a birthday present which ‘may be heading towards your house’ and parents who ‘don’t have enough sleep themselves…can get a bit grumpy’. Finally, we are reminded that as we wake up, there are many people just arriving home, tired and ready for their own beds. The message of the book is a one of quiet comfort: the world at night is full of interesting people, magical animals and is certainly nothing to fear.The active world at night may seem an unlikely subject for a bedtime book but this is no ordinary book. It’s reassuring tone and gently reflective verbal and visual imagery is a true pleasure for families to snuggle up with and share together at the end of a busy day.

ISBN 9781843654650 Pavillion Books Hardback £12.99

For more information go to https://www.kempsgeneralstore.co.uk/pages/kemps-books