REVIEWS

QUEENIE MALONE’S

PARADISE HOTEL by Ruth

Hogan, Two Roads, £14.99

(ebook £3.99).

★★★★★

RUTH Hogan is said by some to be the ‘Up-Lit Queen’ and this lively novel is sprinkled with zest, wit and whimsy.

Twin narratives feature Tilda as a rather lonely, slightly disconnected woman who returns to Brighton after the death of her mother, and Tilly, her bright younger self. Past and present go on a crazy dodgem ride, ricocheting about as Tilda discovers the truth of the life Tilly led with her mother, hiding away in the titular hotel, a community of happy misfits. A teasing opening sentence: “My mother killed my father when I was seven...” suggests a darker novel than this, although grief does haunt the pages, along with love. The writing sparkles, although adjectives are over-used.

THE WOLF AND THE WATCHMAN by Niklas Natt Och Dag, by John Murray, £12.99 (ebook £8.99).

★★★★★

SWEDISH noir doesn’t get much

darker than Niklas Natt

Och Dag’s debut historical thriller. Set in late 18th century Stockholm, Cardell – a one-armed war veteran

– and Winge – a police consultant dying of consumption – attempt to unravel the story behind a dismembered body dumped in a lake. Through four points of view, Natt Och Dag paints a dismal picture of the

turbulent time period, with the mystery at its heart constantly twisting and turning. Each character offers a different social perspective, but there’s very little light relief throughout, and the brutal violence isn’t for the fainthearted.

Ultimately, the final explanation of events is lacking, so it’s the vivid depravity that’s the overriding impact, rather than the cleverness of the plot. THREADS OF LIFE by Clare Hunter, Sceptre, £20 (ebook £9.99). ★★★★★ THE subtitle of this book may be A History Of The World Through The Eye

Of A Needle, but in fact it is very much about the social, emotional and political significance of sewing. The text loops around between times and places in chapters based on themes such as Voice, Captivity, Art or Identity.

There are fascinating glimpses along the way into the talismanic origin of pompoms, the fabric tokens left by mothers with babies at the London Foundling Hospital and the thousand stitch belts given to soldiers in Japan.

But the book is strongest where it adheres most closely to the author’s own knowledge and experience of banner-making and community textile arts, and in its focus on where the personal meets the political, such as the use of fabric by peace protesters at Greenham Common and the power of sewing to bind individuals together through shared projects of self-expression.