Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Talk about powerful. Peter Carey writes about this book that it left him awestruck, shaken, on the edge of his chair, filled with admiration for the writer’s courage and ambition. And this is an incredibly brave novel. It deals with a family of three young people, British-Pakistani Muslim twins and an older sister, whose father was a jihadist and whose mother has died. When the younger twins turn nineteen, the eldest sister leaves for America to complete here PhD. She befriends Eamon the son of the British Home Secretary. When Eamon returns home he meets the younger sister Aneeka and the story becomes more and more complicated from thereon in. What this writer does is get inside the head of these British Muslims, looks at the motivations behind people becoming jihadists, at the response from moderate Muslims, and at the terrible consequences the decisions people make around these issues have on relationships. The book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize a couple of years ago. It’s obvious this writer has keenly observed British society and the tensions between Muslims and other groups in society. And the ending for me was totally unexpected.

Trace Elements by Donna Leon

I’ve never before read a Donna Leon book but some people I know are addicted to them. So this one was lying around the house and I thought, well why not see what all the fuss is about. This story is about Commissario Brunetti and his female offsider Griffoni investigating a case of corruption. It’s obvious from the moment you find out where the dead guy worked what it’s going to be about, just as it is obvious from the moment you meet him who the villain is going to be. It’s not particularly well written so you just scream through it skimming the whole time. People tell me they read this series because it’s set in Venice, and the writer certainly makes the setting and her references to the stereotypes of Italian men and women a big part of the story telling. I suspect she knows that’s why people are reading her books. So there are heaps of references to landmarks, local eateries and particular little streets around Venice, constant carping about the number of tourists, with particular reference to Chinese tourists, and Italians portrayed in the most traditional gender roles. Brunetti’s wife does the cooking and cleaning and dotes on him like a besotted wife in a soap opera. I don’t know whether this is a deliberate dig on the part of the writer but actually I just found it irritating. Ditto the references to Griffoni’s Neopolitan background, the mafia and the corruption at all levels of society. I was just bored by the whole thing but at least I’ve read one now.