Book reviews

The Memory Wood Sam Lloyd The Water Dancer Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Water Dancer is celebrated journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates’ debut novel but, although it is thoroughly plotted and deftly handles the devastation of slavery, it often lacks pace and urgency. Hiram, the Tasked (enslaved) son of a slave master (the Quality) on a Virginia plantation called Lockless has a gift for recollecting everything except for his mother. It is a skill that becomes invaluable when he’s scooped up by those operating the Underground Railroad. Things however, get off to a slow start (despite a fatal plunge from a bridge), while Hiram’s intriguing, supernatural ability to teleport and travel through time takes too long to fully materialise. But when it does, things get much more interesting. Sensitively told, but sometimes sluggish, The Water Dancer feels important and highly crafted, but your attention may wander.

7/10

Sex And Lies Leila Slimani

Leila Slimani was a journalist covering Francophone Africa before gaining success in recent years as a taboo-breaking novelist. After her novel Lullaby, Slimani returned to reportage with this volume of interviews with women in her native Morocco, now translated into English. Moroccan law prohibits extramarital sex and homosexuality: Slimani focuses not on efforts to repeal this colonial-era legislation but rather on the social dissonance created when sex is ever-present but unmentionable. A central chapter is entitled Society on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, while another highlights an incident in 2016 when police found two moralising politicians in flagrante in a parked car. Slimani does not preach, letting women of varied backgrounds tell their own varied stories. The sections in her own voice are incisive but measured.

7/10

The Lost Pianos Of Siberia Sophy Roberts

You don’t need to love Siberia or pianos to be enamoured by this book. Sophy Roberts’ brilliance illuminates each page. Ostensibly, she’s on a quest to find a piano for a talented pianist she befriended in Mongolia. Siberia is the haystack to her needle. In the 19th Century, this part of the world experienced “pianomania” on an epic scale. So too did it experience debilitating wars and social upheaval. Pianos were left behind in the resulting fray – and Roberts hopes one may need a new owner. But really, Roberts’ search is for Siberia itself – its history, its people, and, ultimately, its soul. If abandoned-yet-functioning pianos are a rarity, so too is the cultural heritage of a people whose lineage is derived from exiled Russian prisoners and who were subjected to centuries of political and geographical brutality.

9/10

A Sprinkle Of Sorcery Michelle Harrison

In this rollicking story of sorcery, friendship and high jinks on stormy seas, we’re reunited with sisters Fliss, Betty and Charlie as they’re tugged, somewhat against their will, into another adventure. This time, we find them on Crowstone Island, awaiting the sale of their grandmother’s pub. But such mundane matters are soon left behind after Betty and Charlie discover a runaway, Willow, and the Will-o’-the-Wisp that accompanies her. When Charlie is mistaken for Willow and is kidnapped, her sisters set off to find her – negotiating pirates, a magical map, a witch’s talking raven and a mysterious island. Along the way, the sisters learn a great deal about courage, friendship and integrity. This is a fun and engaging book that’s sure to keep boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 12 hooked.

8/10