Who needs a yacht?

Morgan Llywelyn is an author with whom I have never been disappointed. Her weaving of fact and fiction is so well done and intriguing that for the last twenty years I always anticipate her upcoming releases. When I discovered she was writing about St. Brendan the Navigator, I was doubly excited, as it is a story which has always fascinated me. Brendan was the 6th century Irish monk who, rather than choose serene and isolated contemplation like most of his colleagues, traveled to the ends of the earth. Using the ninth century document Voyage of St Brendan the Navigator, Llywelyn retells the story of the monk who, in his quest to find the The Islands of the Blessed, the eternal paradise, ends up crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Brendan tells the story of the monk from his early days, living in a quiet community, learning under the instruction of Ita, a gentle, patient nun. As his body and wisdom mature, he comes under the tutelage of Erc, a powerful Bishop and former Druid. In Brendan, Erc sees someone with great potential and leadership qualities, but is often frustrated by the younger man's questioning mind and adventurous spirit.

The novel shifts between time periods, a device which adds a dreamy quality to the novel. We read of Brendan's childhood, youth, adulthood (where he accomplished most of his adventures), through to his old age, where he records his memories in his journal. It is in the writing of the journal that Brendan recalls his greatest adventure of traveling with several other monks in a small boat called a curragh, where they see living islands, volcanoes, icebergs, all sorts of unusual people, as well as tragedy. It is speculated that Brendan was the first European to reach the shores of North America, a scene Llywelen describes beautifully in the final scenes.

Although Brendan is written about a Christian saint, it is not an overtly religious book. Brendan lived at a time when the Celtic church varied greatly from its Roman counterparts. Christianity was interwoven with pagan beliefs, marriages between church leaders was normal and encouraged, and even Brendan feels romantic love. It is more a story of a restless spirit, who happens to be a monk, the daring escapades he faced, and his relationship with his god which can only grow given the wondrous things he sees and experiences.

Worth the wait?

I remember several incidents when a new title in Stephen King's Dark Tower series would be released where library patrons would amiable complain that King needed to write the next book faster, as they were impatiently waiting for more! I would question them on whether they thought it would be worth it; perhaps the books were so compelling and left you wanting more because the author took his time writing them. If they were whipped off quicker, would it be as satisfactory?

Several times I've found myself in the same position with my favourite authors, thinking 'come on already, it's been two years! You must have SOMETHING to release!!!' With mystery author Erin Hart, I've been biding my patience for six, yes six, years for her next entry in the Cormac Maguire/Nora Gavin series. The first two titles, Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows, focused on Nora's fleeing to Ireland after her sister Triona's murder, seemingly committed by Triona's husband Peter. There, Nora stumbles upon two local mysteries, which she and Cormac help to solve. Hart's new release, False Mermaid finds Nora returning to the U.S. to finally confront her demons, namely, Peter.

The plot focuses on Nora's investigation in the States, where she discovers Peter is engaged to the younger sister of Nora's ex-fiance. She fears that Peter will do to Miranda what he did to Triona: slip her drugs which make her black out, make her suspicious of her own family, manipulate her into otherwise uncharacteristic actions. Nora also worries on how to approach her young niece, Elizabeth, who is unaware of the details of her mother's death,and must adjust to her new step-mother.

The storyline shifts to Co. Donegal, Ireland, where Cormac is trying to bond with his ailing father. There he finds one of his colleagues, a folklorist interested in the history of a missing local woman from the 19th century believed to be a selkie, living with Joseph Maguire in his isolated homestead. The story of the selkie plays a pivotal role in False Mermaid, as Elizabeth, like her mother in her youth, is also intrigued in this 'fairy tale.' So, like Hart's first two mysteries, False Mermaid ties in a current crime investigation with an older one, while examining rituals, traditions, and superstitions of a past people.

So, is False Mermaid worth a six year wait? Uhm, somewhat yes, somewhat no. It's a great book, and very gripping. The tiny details, the intriguing primary and secondary characters, the family relationships, the myth of the selkie tying in with the role of the modern day woman and her freedom and identity, the fast paced storyline, are all fascinating. As a stand alone book, it's excellent; but as part of a series I really enjoy combined with a six year wait, it's a bit of a disappointment. I think this largely stems from the fact that I prefer the Irish setting of the first two books, and the prehistoric subplot, albeit I enjoyed the selkie storyline most in this book. Perhaps if the book had been released in a more timely manner, or Erin Hart was a new author to me and I read the three books in quick succession, then my anticipation would not have reached the almost unbearable stage, and my expectations may have been better satisfied.

That said, however, nothing could have prepared me for the somewhat, I felt, rushed ending, which truly had me scratching my head in confusion regarding certain elements, but also leaving me feeling dread at its sense of finality! I want more! And hopefully before 2016!

A swift, fulfilling read

Being a teenager is a potentially trying time for almost anyone. For Shell Talent, the focus of Siobhan Dowd's A Swift, Pure Cry, it's even more difficult, given she is still mourning the loss of her vivacious, beautiful mother a year earlier. Her father is caught in a deep depression, volunteering to raise money for the church, while drinking away a portion of it, and it's left to Shell to help raise her two younger siblings. Add to that that it is 1984 in an Ireland still under the strong hold of the Catholic Church and its strict rules.

Shell has a small circle of 'friends' to help her through things: Bridie is her best friend and schoolmate, until the charismatic Declan destroys their relationship; when he departs for New York, Father Rose, a young curate at Shell's local church, becomes her closest friend. But rumours are being spread about Shell's relationship with Father Rose, and when people of the village notice, despite Shell's best efforts to camouflage it, her pregnancy, suspicion grows.

While A Swift, Pure Cry is aimed at a young adult audience, which may account for the melodramatic plot twist at the end of the book, the characters are real and well-rounded. Shell is a quiet, well-behaved young woman who manages to stay strong and true to herself despite the tragic circumstances of her life. She sacrifices her youth largely for that of her brother and sister, thrust into the role of mother well before facing the truth that she will become an actual one soon. She is loyal to Bridie, who turns her back on Shell seemingly due to jealousy, to Declan's memory, despite his leaving her in a difficult position, and to her father, who, in effect, has destroyed his family's life with his inability to deal with being a widower. She bravely faces the town gossip regarding her and Father Rose and their friendship, and also a circumstance which leads to the plot twist in the latter part of the book which truly adds upheaval to her life.

Sadly, Siobhan Dowd's personal story adds a greater sense of tragedy to the story. The author died of breast cancer in 2007, when her career as a young adult author was blossoming. It makes reading her existing writings more poignant for what the reading audience has lost.

Past lives makes great present entertainment

I love books about past lives. I love the fact that if I can't make my mind up if I want to read something contemporary or historic, I can have both in one cover! Whether it's a book on reincarnation, or a modern character researching past events, a good author will bring you into and hold your interest in both worlds, frustrating you when you leave one storyline, but immediately hooking you back into the other.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Possession by A.S. Byatt.
Two contemporary historic scholars join forces through their respective research of two Victorian poets, whose various writings reveal their torrid extramarital affair.

Marianna by Susanna Kearsley
When Julia Beckett first saw Greywethers as a child, it was a poignant moment which would one day lead her to purchase it. Once in residence, she finds herself daydreaming about Mariana, a woman who lived in the house four hundred years earlier, and Richard de Mornay, the man Mariana loves. When and how did their love end?

Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
Matilda de Braose was put to death by King John in the 12th century. Centuries later, journalist Jo Clifford undergoes hypnosis while researching Matilda's story, becoming increasingly obsessed as she realises that Matilda is in fact Jo herself in a previous existence.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Recovering from a horrific car crash that left him burnt beyond recognition, the book's narrator meets manic artist Marian Engel, who tries to get him to remember their former life together in medieval Germany.

The Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
The discovery of a well-preserved woman's head in a peat bog brings together Irish archaeologist Cormac and American pathologist Nora to determine how long ago she died. Concurrently, local authorities investigate the recent disappearance of the wife and child of a local landowner.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Yes, fine, the ubiquitous Da Vinci Code, but it's a fun read about secret religious societies, ancient coverups and vengeance. When the Louvre's chief curator is murdered, his body is symbolically laid out before the Mona Lisa. When his granddaughter, Sophie Neveu, a police cryptologist, joins forces with Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, their investigation leads to the legendary Priory of Sion, a nearly 1,000-year-old secret society whose members have included Botticelli and Isaac Newton, and the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei.

The Sinner's Tale by Will Davenport
When a tawdry scandal threatens to destroy Beth Battock's political career, she is forced to return to the provincial hometown and the relatives she’s kept secret. There, she discovers the tale of Sir Guy de Bryan, whose sweeping epic of the havoc wrought by war serves as an example for the present day.

The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
After the suspicious death of her oldest friend, stained glass restorer Juno Mackay delves into Christine's past and her obsession with Pre-Raphealite artist Arthur Penrose, his wife and sister-in-law, and the stained-glass portrait he commissioned a century ago.

She Walks These Hills by Sharon McCrumb
The ghost of 18 year old Katie Wyler, captured by the Shawnee in North Carolinain 1789, haunts the Appalachian wilderness. The story of her escape inspires ethno-historian Jeremy Cobb to retrace her return journey. Meanwhile, 63-year-old convicted murderer Hiram Sorley, who has no recent memory, escapes from a nearby prison.

The Mask of the Night by Mary Ryan
Okay, the beginning was a bit slow, and there were far too many exclamation marks, but once it got going, I zipped through it! A mysterious mask and signet ring, tied to an inquisitor from medieval Venice, and brought to early 20th century Ireland, curses the life of the recipient: Theo becomes 'possessed' by the original owner's spirit, and the desire to find his lady love, an independent woman accused of witchcraft. Theo believes he sees her in his wife's best friend, Jenny. Fifty years later, Dee finds these items in the ruins of Kilashane, Theo's now abandonned and decrepit manor house, and she becomes personally caught up in the intrigue of their past.

Fiction that goes beyond its target

As a teen, I devoured the classics, such as A Tale of Two Cities, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights, and practically all of Agatha Christie's mysteries. I wasn't into 'teen' fiction.

Looking back, I'm not sure if this was due to a lack of books that caught my interest, or a lack of Young Adult authors at the time. During university, I found myself turning to YA fiction as a break from academia, because of my notion that it was fluffy, therefore easier and lighter to read than 'adult' fiction; it wouldn't distract me from my studies through its plots or writing styles (no more "just one more chapter"!).

During this time, I came across multiple YA titles that challenged and changed my thinking, and rank them to be 'as good' as those classics I once voraciously read.

O.R. Melling's The Chronicles of Faerie
A series of four books taking place in Canada and Ireland, of crossings between the worlds of faerie and humans.

An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle
During a summer spent with her maternal grandparents in Conneticut, Polly O'Keefe and her friend Zachary Grey become involved with ancient hieroglyphs which attract druids who lived some three thousand years ealier.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Yes, a romantic story with a happy ending, but a bit of a different path getting there. 'Old maid' Valancy Stirling is diagnosed with a heart defect, and decides that it's time to get out of her mother's house. She proposes to local bachelor Barney Snaith, saying she will die soon, and just wants to live out her remaining days in peace and quiet. But of course, something changes, because it wouldn't be a happy ending if we left it there, would it?

Laura Whitcomb's A Certain Slant of Light
Helen Lamb spends her days with Mr. Brown, an English teacher in a public high school, and her nights in his house, with him and Mrs. Brown. But they don't know it, as Helen has been dead and lost for 130 years. One day, she gets a jolt as she sees one of the students watching her. When he speaks to her, he explains that he, too, is one of 'the Light' inhabiting the body of a lost boy. After finding her own host body, Helen and James start a most unusual and intense love affair, as they adjust to their new lives without their hosts' memories.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
In 1895, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely and guilt-ridden after her mother's suicide, Gemma is prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man sent to watch her and warn Gemma and her friends about using their powers to enter spiritual realms.

A great afternoon escape

Mags Grimsdale is a 40-something ex-Goth (okay, not entirely ex) married for over twenty years to Bill, a former Punk and the love of her life. Together, they have raised four straight laced children. Mags' boss, Julie Sultana, is her exact opposite, a cool blonde, play-the-field wedding planner who has little faith in happily-ever-after. While Julie juggles her time between her devoted fiance and her secret young lover, Mags must organise the upcoming wedding of a famous rock star, complete with bats, vampire attire, a haunted house wedding cake, and skull-patterned tuxedo. Plus take care of her depressed oldest son, his anorexia suffering girlfriend, her father's funeral (complete with bizarre relatives), her daughter's emigration to Australia, and potential financial disaster.

Sharon Owens' Revenge of the Wedding Planner is a light, entertaining story with fun and frustrating characters, quick moving scenes, lots of turmoil, and a woman trying to make keep her head amongst the chaos. It's a great read for one sitting, so try it for a late summer lollygag in the garden, or save it for a chilly autumn evening, or a snowy winter afternoon. It will lighten up your day regardless (mostly because you will be thankful you are not Mags Grimsdale!)