Hilary – Page 55 – Books On Beechwood

“Trains and Lovers” by Alexander McCall Smith

Trains have always had a romance about them, and Alexander McCall Smith explores it in his latest book.

We have come to love McCall Smith for the characters he has created in his beloved series, i.e.: the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs, the 44 Scotland Street series and the Corduroy Mansions series.

This may be different as one of a kind, or it may start a new series. Who knows? At any rate, it’s the story of four passengers on the Edinburgh-London train: three men and one woman. McCall Smith quotes Auden’s Night Mail to show the poetic swing of a train: “This is the Night Mail crossing the border/ Bringing the cheque and the postal order.”

Sure enough, as the train winds down the North Sea and then dips inland, each of the passengers tells bits of his or her life through incidents of a love affair. The men are Scots, English and American; the woman came from Perth, Australia. As they rock down to London, McCall Smith shows how the train brings out that part of us that outweighs any other – our need for love – to give it and to receive it in that familiar battle that all of us fight with loneliness.

“The Scotsman” calls Trains and Lovers the best thing McCall Smith has written so far.

Review by Anne McDougall

“This and That: The Lost Stories of Emily Carr” by Emily Carr and Ann-Lee Switzer

Emily Carr has always had a double audience: one for her painting, and the second for her writing.

This little book is a collection of sixty very short stories – really sketches – which Carr put together because she thought they “ornamented life, which would be a drab affair without the little things we do not even notice or think of at the time…”. She originally called the collection Hundreds and Thousands, after the tiny coloured candies sprinkled over birthday cakes. For the last thirty years they have been in the British Columbia Archives. Scholar Ann-Lee Switzer has studied Carr’s writings for some years and in fact lives near the Archives in Victoria.

The jottings were done by Carr in the last two years of her life. She had already published three collections of her stories: Klee Wyck (1941), The Book of Small (1942), and The House of All Sorts (1944). Her great mentor was Ira Dilworth, professor of English at the University of British Columbia, and later director of the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. They shared a love of poetry, and of the Canadian West.

These stories are intimate, funny, and show the sharp sensitivity that we have always loved in Emily Carr’s paintings.

Review by Anne McDougall

Elizabeth Kelly Signs “Last Summer of the Camperdowns” on Saturday, July 13 from 11:00am to 1:00pm

Local author Elizabeth Kelly will be in the store signing copies of her new book The Last Summer of the Camperdowns on Saturday, July 13 from 11:00am to 1:00pm.

About the book:

“The Last Summer of the Camperdowns introduces Riddle James Camperdown, the twelve-year-old daughter of the idealistic Camp and his manicured, razor-sharp wife, Greer. It’s 1972, and Riddle’s father is running for office from the family compound in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Between Camp’s desire to toughen her up and Greer’s demand for glamour, Riddle has her hands full juggling her eccentric parents. When she accidentally witnesses a crime close to home, her confusion and fear keep her silent. As the summer unfolds, the consequences of her silence multiply. Another mysterious and powerful family, the Devlins, slowly emerges as the keepers of astonishing secrets that could shatter the Camperdowns. As an old love triangle, bitter war wounds, and the struggle for status spiral out of control, Riddle can only watch, hoping for the courage to reveal the truth. The Last Summer of the Camperdowns is poised to become the summer’s uproarious and dramatic must-read.”

Be sure to check out this great event and add another book to your summer reading list! We hope to see you all here!

Mel Bradshaw Signs “Fire on the Runway” on Saturday, June 22 from 11:00am to 1:00pm

Come by the store on Saturday, June 22 to meet Toronto author Mel Bradshaw. He will be here from 11:00am to 1:00pm signing copies of his new book Fire on the Runway. It is the newest novel in his Paul Shenstone Mystery series.

From the jacket:

“As Torontonians move to the beat of the Jazz Age, war is the furthest thing from their minds. Then a fatal grenade explosion outside a west end hotel room breaks the rhythm. The room’s registered occupant, a mysterious European woman calling herself Lucy, disappears before she can shed any light on the incident.

Police detective Paul Shenstone believes someone is trying to assassinate Lucy. Once he has found her, he will learn the reason.”

For more information about Mel and his books, visit: http://www.dundurn.com/books/fire_runway

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Liane Tanguay Launches “Hijacking History” on Monday, June 17 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm

Local author Liane Tanguay will be in the store on Monday, June 17 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, to launch her new book Hijacking History: American Culture and the War on Terror.

From the jacket:

“In Hijacking History, Liane Tanguay unravels the ideology behind an American enterprise unprecedented in scope, ambition, and brazen claim to global supremacy: the War on Terror. She argues that the fears, anxieties, and even the hopes encoded in American popular culture account for the public’s passive acceptance of the Bush administration’s wars overseas and violation of many of the rights, privileges, and freedoms they claimed to defend.

A timely retrospective on the War on Terror, Hijacking History examines popular representations of US military action, dissects both the logic and the aesthetics by which the dominant discourses strive to justify war, and reveals how some of these forces can ultimately contribute to an ideology of resistance.”

We hope to see you all come out for this great event!

“Unusual Uses for Olive Oil” by Alexander McCall Smith

In a sensible world where we all worry about relationships and how to fix them, it is a relief – and a joy – to read Alexander McCall Smith – especially when he’s writing about his German professors who get into situations beyond imagining but hilarious all the way.

One of these men is Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. He wrote the definitive text book Portuguese Irregular Verbs for the Institute of Romance Philology. He is married to the book, although his friends try to persuade him otherwise, and spends every waking hour assuring his own name receives the recognition he feels it deserves. This results in some amazing adventures, including one trip on the annual student body retreat in the Alps. He plunges 3,000 feet – to make mountaineering history – and later turns this into a lecture series.

McCall Smith has lived in Africa, England, Scotland and written from all of them. One of the earliest and most beloved is The No. l Ladies Detective Agency. Readers in Ottawa may have caught Alexander McCall Smith on a recent visit here where he spoke to the Authors Association. A questioner in the audience asked McCall Smith why he ignored all the trouble in Africa when he was writing about that continent. He replied firmly that yes there was trouble, but there was another aspect to life, and that he is what he chose to write about. He certainly does it in Unusual Uses for Olive Oil. The result is a very funny book.

Review by Anne McDougall

“Family Album” by Penelope Lively

This is an attractive paperback edition of British author Penelope Lively’s 2009 novel, Family Album. As always it lives up to it’s author’s name. It is a lively and provocative story of a family of six who live in a big country house and return over the years to discover a lot about each other they had never recognized when they were growing up.

There is a convincing picture of the mother, whose whole life is dedicated to running “a happy close family.” There is also the au pair girl, Ingrid, from Sweden who becomes integrated into this close family in a way no-one knows how to accept. The father, a writer, sticks close to his study, where he turns out books and sees as little of his children as he can manage.

Penelope Lively is an award-winning novelist and author of children’s literature. She won the Booker Prize for Moon Tiger, and wide acclaim for books like The Photograph and Consequences. She is amusing and sharp in her observations, and altogether delightful to read.

Review by Anne McDougall

John Kneale Signing “Volcano Rising: An Amabassador’s Diary” on Saturday, June 15 from 12:00 to 2:00pm

Be sure to come by the store on Saturday, June 15 to meet local author John Kneale. He will be here from noon to 2:00pm signing copies of his new book Volcano Rising: An Ambassador’s Diary.

From the jacket:

“During the three years that the author was Canadian ambassador in Quito, Ecuador, the country experienced – often simultaneously – volcanic eruptions, economic collapse, indigenous uprisings and a coup d’etat by the military. Adding to the crisis was a kidnapping of Canadians in the Amazon region. This diary details day by day the threats and challenges faced by the ambassador, his family and the embassy staff.

In spite of the chaos, Canada emerged during this period as a major player in Ecuador’s political and economic life. This story will intrigue readers with its account of a developing nation’s struggles, as well as descriptions of the Andes, the Amazon and the magnificent Galapagos Islands.”

We hope to see you here for this great event!

“Those Angry Days” by Lynne Olson

Lynne Olson has already established herself as a vivid reporter of the politics and diplomacy of World War II as they involve the governments of the U.S. and the U.K. Troublesome Young Men focussed on the rebels in England who pressed for Winston Churchill’s leadership. Citizens of London gives an unforgettable picture of that city in the blitz, as well as the Americans who stood with Britain in her darkest hour.

In this new book, Olson gives a closeup of the two men representing opposing sides in her own country, the U.S. These were President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wanted to help England stop Nazi Germany, and the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, who went across the country preaching isolationism.

In Those Angry Days Olson has done new and fascinating research on the years 1939-1941 leading up to Pearl Harbour. It makes for an exciting book and shows, as one reviewer points out “a great democracy rallying to a great debate.”

Lynne Olson lives with her husband, historian Stanley Cloud, in Washington, D.C. She has written two books with him, as well as Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830-1970.

Review by Anne McDougall

Sonia Tilson Signing “Monkey Puzzle Tree” on Saturday, June 8 from 1:00 to 3:00pm

Come by the store on Saturday, June 8 to meet local author Sonia Tilson. She will be here from 1:00pm to 3:00pm signing copies of her debut novel The Monkey Puzzle Tree.

From the jacket:

“Gillian Davies is six years old when her mother sends her to Croessfordd to escape the Blitz. But can she escape her child-molesting cousin Angus? Alternating between WWII Wales and present-day Canada, The Monkey Puzzle Tree is the story of Gillian’s struggle to accept her childhood trauma, forgive her mother, and confront Angus-who, it seems, is as dangerous as ever.”

We hope to see you all on Saturday!