The Journal of Dora Damage – Belinda Starling

Dora Damage was a bookbinder’s daughter before she became a bookbinder’s wife so she’s steeped in the trade and can tell that her husband’s business is on the decline. He’s not well, struggling with arthritic hands and painful joints, so she needs to help; but in nineteenth century London the guild rules are strict and use of un-apprenticed, non-union, and heaven forbid female, workers risks exclusion from the market.

However behind closed doors who is to say who has produced the goods, and her clandestinely backed notebooks, with their feminine finish, prove popular with the ladies and earn a crust or two. But when one publisher discovers her secret, instead of exposing her, he uses it to persuade her to exercise her skills on books of a disreputable nature for a group of wealthy men with unconventional tastes.

Thus she is drawn into the fringes of an unfamiliar society of free-thinkers and liberals, rubbing shoulders with men of influence and ladies of leisure. As a favour (not to be refused) to one of the ladies she takes on a freed Negro slave to help in the workshop, which increasingly becomes a model of equality and diversity with the boss man disabled, the apprentice gay, and a newly appointed servant girl pitching in when needed.

Dora’s troubles (she also has a young daughter who fits) and travails are related first hand in her journal with candour and they chronicle her developing confidence and capability in a man’s world. Her emancipation, and that of the other equally down-trodden characters, is the real story and a quite uplifting one it is too. The period detail is atmospheric and the bookbinding techniques and materials exude a convincing authenticity.

The volume I read was hardback, nicely bound of course with appropriately patterned endpapers, tooled spine, period dust jacket and ribbon bookmark. Its format and content provide a fitting and lasting legacy of the young author who died shortly after she finished writing this, her first, and sadly only, book.

Someone to Save You – Paul Pilkington

Dr Sam Becker is driving along a country road when a girl dashes into his path, flags him down and pleads for help – her family’s car has crashed down an embankment and is straddling a railway line, with a train on the way. His rescue efforts are only partly successful but he still emerges as a wounded hero.

However some things do not add up: why was the driver handcuffed to the steering wheel; why was the baby in the boot; why did only the girl get out; and why has she now disappeared?

Sam has other pressing issues on his mind just now. He is in fierce competition with a colleague for a consultant’s job at the hospital, and the man who murdered his kid sister fifteen years ago has just been released from prison and is still claiming innocence.

So when more strange things start to happen to him, Sam can’t decide who is behind them – his work rival, the ex-con with a sense of injustice, or someone displeased with his intervention on the railway line. Whoever it is has got some imagination, and a twisted sense of purpose.

Fortunately, with time off work to recuperate mentally from the train crash and with his wife away on business, he has time to pursue his tormentor; or is he just being led by the nose to a sticky end?

The events, characters and inter-relationships are convoluted and to me somewhat contrived, more to perplex the reader than to serve a coherent plot. This makes the reading quite fun in a mind-blowing way but on reaching the conclusion there remained unanswered questions in my mind.

It is a pacey read that uses chapter-ending cliff-hangers to keep you interested and turning those pages.

The Axeman’s Jazz – Ray Celestin

It is 1919, the Great War is over, and the servicemen are returning. New Orleans is a melting pot of colours, creeds and ethnicities – Negroes, Creoles, Sicilians and Irish all have their place, their culture and segregated communities. The one area they mix in freely is the Old Town where jazz music is emerging, drink is flowing and illicit sex is for sale.

The shadow over them all is a serial killer on the loose whose modus operandi is brutal, bludgeoning his victims with an axe, always left at the scene, always accompanied by a different tarot card inserted into the gaping wound. So far the dead have all been Italian shopkeepers so the involvement of the local mafia, the Family, is suspected, whether as target, perpetrator or both.

Three people are on the Axeman’s trail: Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot is given the unenviable task of leading the police investigation; Luca D’Andrea, ex-detective, ex-con (just released after serving five years for his corrupt mafia connections) is commissioned by the head of the Family to find out who is targeting his organisation; and Ida Davis, aspiring Pinkerton detective (though currently their office girl on the spot), wants to solve the case to prove she is worthy of promotion to an operational role.

Each has a different way into the web of clues and deception. Talbot can use official police files and intelligence; Luca has access to the Sicilian underworld; and Ida, helped by talented young cornet player Lewis Armstrong (who maybe became Louis Armstrong), can engage with the black community inaccessible to the others. Of course they each have their personal issues to resolve as well. Much more than justice depends on the outcome of the chase.

More people get hacked to death before the three pursuers (largely working in ignorance of each other) start to close in. The climax is heightened when the rain begins to fall and a hurricane blows in. Who, if anyone, will catch the Axeman; how will the aftermath of the chase change their lives?

It is a good atmospheric read to find out. The three pronged investigation is an interesting and (for me) novel approach in the genre; however keeping track of which of them knows what and when is a challenge. The immersion in the location is total and the research seems meticulous (the events are based on fact – a serial killer did terrorise New Orleans in 1918-19) so this would be a great book to read while visiting the Big Easy. And it is a pretty good one even if stuck at home.

Manhood for Amateurs – Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon is best known for his offbeat novels – such as ‘The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay’, and ‘The Yiddish Policemen’s Union’ – but here he is in self-reflective mode as he sets out his thoughts on the male condition.

The sub-title says it all – the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father and son. And in a sequence of forty or so short essays he covers a lot of ground, extrapolating from his own experiences to reach conclusions, or inconclusive bewilderment, as appropriate.

Although he’s Jewish (albeit secular) and American, his experiences resonate with this British, slightly older, atheist – maybe because I too am a son, husband and father. Even where the common language divides our nations (a murse turning out to be a man’s purse, i.e. a manbag) the observations are spot-on.

To give a flavour he writes of childhood passions (Lego & comic books) and adult dilemmas (what to do with your children’s all too prolific but largely bad artwork); first loves and lasting loves; and the pains and pleasures of growing up and growing old.

The style is understated and the humour wry and self-depreciating, earning this volume a deserved and not inappropriate permanent place on the bookshelf next to the similarly gifted and perceptive Alan Bennett and Bill Bryson.

The Vesuvius Club – Mark Gatiss

This tale of derring-do is narrated by Lucifer Box – artist of repute, well known dandy about late Victorian / early Edwardian London, and less well known secret agent of HMG, reporting to head of service, one Joshua Reynolds RA.

His new assignment is to investigate the deaths on consecutive days of two eminent scientists in Naples, which were swiftly followed by the demise of the local British diplomat, Jocelyn Poop.

A trip to Naples for Box then, but before he can set off other distractions crop up: the delightful Miss Bella Pok who comes for art lessons but seems interested in more; the disappearance of Mrs Midsummer Knight in which a friend is implicated; and the strange goings-on at Tom Bowler & Co, purveyor of superior funerals, that involve unorthodox practices that threaten to provide additional custom.

Notwithstanding those distractions, Box finally gets to Naples and discovers, mainly through the obliging (in more ways than one) Charlie Jackpot, vital clues that lead to the mysterious and exclusive Vesuvius Club. The club resembles a circle within Dante’s vision of hell with all types of debauchery and excess on display but, behind and below this show, even worse is being planned, constructed and set in motion. Box’s ingenuity, cool head and strong thighs will be needed to prevent death and destruction.

Gatiss was of course instrumental in the creation of the cult TV series “The League of Gentlemen” and has put his talents to use in this self-confessed ‘bit of fluff’. It reads as a cross between Rider Haggard and Terry Pratchett – a fiendish plot with villains and heroes (equipped with outlandish names) peppered with witty asides and naughty nuances.

A diverting bit of fluff, just right for that flight or train journey.

The Eustace Diamonds – Anthony Trollope

In this, the third of the “Palliser” novels, the focus of attention is Lady Elizabeth Eustace, “Lizzie” to her friends, who are few and diminishing. She is young, clever and attractive, which helped her make the advantageous match with the hard-living Lord Eustace for whom she rapidly produced an heir before being predictably, and non-too sorrowfully, made a widow; thus adding rich and available to her already considerable charms.

As for the diamonds, they constitute a fabulous necklace in the possession of Lady Eustace – but are they hers or do they belong to the estate, held in trust for the heir? She claims her husband gave them to her to keep; the estate solicitor says prove it, and in the meantime hand them over. For Lizzie, possession is ten tenths of the law and she holds them close.

The dispute divides society opinion and provides complications for Lizzie as she casts her net for a fresh husband. First choice is her cousin Frank Greystock but, while he supports her claim to the necklace and could do with her money, he is otherwise engaged to the sweet but penniless Lucy Morris. Second choice, Lord Fawn, is initially keen but then unwilling to be compromised by the dispute. Others hover on the fringes, both fascinated and worried by the dangerously feisty widow.

Around the central bone of contention Trollope weaves his usual narrative of social niceties, gossip and innuendo, spiced up here and there with larceny as the criminal fraternity get wind that the diamonds are being hauled around the country in a strongbox as part of Lizzie’s entourage. Other side plots abound to give variety and light relief, particularly Lizzie’s relations with Mrs Carbuncle, symbiotic to begin but increasingly acrimonious.

Perhaps longer than necessary, it remains a pleasant read provided you have the time to enjoy the unhurried prose. What drive the reader on are the questions – who will end up with the diamonds and who will end up with Lizzie?

I Am Pilgrim – Terry Hayes

The man with the code name Pilgrim, Scott Murdoch to use one of his better names, is a one-time ace undercover agent for a branch of the US state security that polices, among others, the CIA. As the cold war gave way to the war on terror, he quit the service and penned, under a pseudonym, a seminal text book on investigative technique that, while not being a best seller, was admired by his peers.

The publication also had a couple of unwanted consequences. First a New York detective, Ben Bradley, recuperating from his experiences on 9/11, reads it and as a therapeutic exercise tracks down not only the author’s real identity but his location too – quite a shock for Scott Murdoch who thought his current cover was impenetrable.

But Ben is a good guy, a hero, so becomes a trusted friend, who calls on Murdoch’s expertise in particularly interesting or tricky cases. One such case – at the Eastside Inn – gives rise to the second consequence. A murder has been committed and the techniques in his text book have been used to remove nearly all evidence. All that can be retrieved is a fragment of a phone number and a library ticket, used once to borrow that book.

In parallel to that of the Pilgrim we get the story of the Saracen (a name subsequently bestowed by Murdoch). Born in Saudi; his radicalisation supercharged by the unjust execution of his father, he goes to Afghanistan to sign up and fight as a mujahedeen, and to learn from experience that ultimate victory against the enemy could only come from a lethal strike at the heart of America.

So his long game plan begins, which if it comes to fruition spells death and destruction in the US on an unimaginable scale. It is only late in the day that a scrap of intelligence alerts the powers that be, who then haul Scott Murdoch in from retirement as the only man for the job – as Pilgrim.

Over 900 pages the various stories play out: Murdoch’s theories on the Eastside Inn murder; his back story as an agent and his new mission as Pilgrim; and Saracen’s obsession, ruthlessly pursued, to destroy the western hegemony over his native region. Inevitably the strands converge, intertwine and crash towards a climax.

Though lengthy, the prose is pacey, fortunately leaving little time to ponder credibility. Action, tension and ingenuity abound; though worryingly the quest to save the west seems to hinge mainly on coincidences to give Pilgrim his breaks.

Of its type it is good, very good.