Another triumph for Tan Twan Eng with his third Malaysian novel: The House of Doors.
I particularly enjoyed the evocative Malaysian setting, during British colonial times (1910 – 1920 ) and the lyrical prose in some sections. Johnathan Lee writes: An amazingly transporting novel about love, desire and duty. It does what the very best stories do – it draws us into many fascinating worlds at once: the British Empires’ incursions into South East Asia, the secret life of one of England’s best writers and a forgotten murder trial playing out in the Kuala Lumpur courts a century ago.”
The novel will feature in my year-end Best Reads of the Year, and will appeal to fans of literary novels. An outstanding read, both for content and style. Highly recommended.
FICTION
The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng . Outstanding literary novel.
Just One damn Thing after Another: the Chronicles of St Mary’s series #1 – Jodi Taylor. A jolly good, rollicking read. An original take on the old theme of time travel. History revisited (literally), plenty of action & Boys’ Own adventure, plus a dry wit. A happy discovery – I can’t wait to read the next one!
A Symphony of Echoes: #2 The Chronicles of St Mary’s – Jodi Taylor. Another rollicking adventure: The hanging Gardens of Babylon, Elizabethan England, and the hilarious team building exercise in 1666 Mauritius, hunting dodos. Priceless!
New York Valentine – Carmen Reid. Annie Valentine & daughter Lauren hit NYC on a mission to save The Perfect Dress business set up by BFF Svetlana and her daughter Elena. More Fashion, fun, romance and a charming feel-good read. Recommended
Lost on a Page – David E Scott. A glorious mish-mash of genres: SF, Historical Romance, Tolkienesque Fantasy and crime noir, plus input from the 3 baffled authors whose books-in-progress start to write themselves. Loads of action and adventure. 100% fun and fast
NON-FICTION
KEPT: A Househusband in Paris – Gregory E Buford. Greg and the 3 kids tackle a 2 year stint in Paris, while Mom is working her day job at the US Embassy Paris. He and the kids love Paris, and being part of French life. His Aunt Ethel, from Texas, comes for a visit and the ensuing Visitor from Hell chapter was both funny and horrendous. An enjoyable read.
THE BOOKSMITH 
The Househusband in Paris appeals. I like stories of people in large cities and their daily lives. 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Househusband gives plenty of details about their daily lives, the French school system. food and eating out.
LikeLiked by 1 person