Falling Angels by Tracey Chevalier

This is a soap opera set in the early 1900s and narrated by several different characters. It’s salacious in its way, with hidden moments of illicit sex around which the plot revolves. It’s the story of two middle class families living ‘proper’ lives, their children and the Highgate cemetery. It was entertaining enough but another book to be left behind at the end of the holidays. 2 stars.

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

As I might have said before, Margaret Atwood is among my favourite writers, except for her sci fi gloomy stuff. This collection of short stories is a gem. The same characters flit in and out of the stories so you gradually build up a picture of them and a relationship with them. And I got the sense that she was telling the same story from different points of view, a very clever use of the short story genre I think. These are elegant and subtle stories and show Atwood at her restrained best. 4 stars.

Legend of a Suicide by David Vann

This is a collection of several short stories and a novella, all inspired and in response to the writer’s father’s suicide when Vann was just a youngster. I thought it was autobiographical for a while, and I still think there is a lot of that in it, but the novella had me quite confused because it presents a different take on events. It is particularly powerful and often uncomfortable reading of the squirmy sort but certainly a book that ought not to be missed. Vann is a beautiful writer and his stories are so so sad, not in a sentimental way at all but to the depths of his soul. 4 stars

Faithful Unto Death by Caroline Graham

Well, I was on holidays, wasn’t I? So I sat by the pool in Chiang Mai and read this silly, pompous thriller about a faked kidnap and murder. The best thing about it was that after I’d finished it I could leave it behind, making more room in my suitcase for shopping. 0 stars.