BOOK OF THE WEEK
SINGAPORE, 1978 – stunning young beauty Amisa stars in the cult horror movie Ponti! as the Pontianak of local legend: a man-eating, forest-dwelling ghost.
In 2003’s stifling polluted air, Amisa’s troubled 16-year-old daughter Szu forms an intense but short-lived bond with fellow outsider Circe.
Fast-forward to 2020, and Ponti! is being remade with a new message, that even monsters can be redeemed. But in a world where people sweat, ooze grease and sprout unsightly spots, and beauty belongs to social media brands and ad campaigns, can we believe that memories can be re-edited or a failed relationship rebooted?
A smart, slick take on the dark side of modernity.
THE LIDO
by Libby Page
Orion Fiction, £12.99 (ebook £6.99) ★★★★★
ROSEMARY, 86, has swum at Brockwell Lido in south London all
CIRCE
by Madeleine Miller Bloomsbury, £16.99 (ebook £14.99) ★★★★★
CIRCE is Titan royalty, the daughter of the Sun god Helios and the nymph Perse.
Through her lonely childhood in her father’s palace, overshadowed by her more successful siblings; to her eternity of exile on a remote island, the character of Circe is brought fully to life.
Circe is banished for using magic and mixing with mortals, and on the island she
her life, while Kate, 26, has just moved to the city and is struggling to latch on to any semblance of community.
When Kate’s day job as a junior reporter on the local paper sees her covering the lido’s imminent closure and redevelopment, she and Rosemary strike up a friendship, and battle the developers together.
The ideas are heart-warming grows stronger, develops her gift for sorcery and her fascination with mortals continues.
This is a gorgeous retelling of Homer’s Odyssey blended with other legends. Miller creates a magical narrative: strong relatable characters, cold-hearted gods, flawed heroes, deadly monsters, and best of all, a strong female protagonist.
Overall, it is fabulously readable.
and sincere – a community pulling together, overcoming loneliness no matter your age, the impact of exercise on mental health – but the language often comes off as a saccharine, and the plot points sentimental, absent of any suspense or surprise.
The potential is there, and it may make for a pleasant beach read, but The Lido ultimately flounders.
TREVOR COX, a professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, sets off on a journey to explore human conversation.
He delves into how evolution has shaped the bones, muscles and nerve responses that give us the physical capacity to create and decipher sound; the role of dialect, accent and tone, plus the impact of speech defects and brain injuries and the influence of recording technology and talking robots.
Drawing on scientific studies, theories, case studies and expert interviews, and peppered with anecdotes and observations, Cox’s passion for his subject weaves through every page.
If you have an interest in human sciences and the art and function of conversation, this is a brainpleasing and entertaining read.