I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity

by Izzeldin Abuelaish

Actually I am surprised that I didn’t already review  up to no more than a week in total.this book, given that I finished reading it a month ago (date of writing is 20 June 2021).  But this has been a very hectic month, with only occasional nights spent at home, adding up to no more than a week in total.  I read this book quickly, in a desire to have it finished and returned to the library before going away.  Even so, I didn’t manage to join the book group discussion or even send in my review and score after finishing the book.  I guess I just got distracted.

So, what can I say about this?  It was a book group choice and I was unsure about it at first.  The book grabbed me however.  How could it not?  Abuelaish’s and his family’s story is told with great passion.  It is a harrowing story but he tries to allow the reader to hope for a better future for Gaza – something he is working to bring about.

This book sparked various conversations with my better half – who tends to have strong views on one side of the Arab/Israeli issue.  It made me think.  And the timing of my reading it coincided with the latest Gaza war, with shocking incidents and the – apparently – usual ratio of 10 dead Palestinians to every dead Israeli.  Abuelaish’s three daughters and niece were killed in 2009.  Another Gaza war took place in 2014, and another last month.  Has anything really changed?

 

Ryan’s Christmas

by L J Ross

Picked up at a book exchange, this book I had left in the guest room at my son’s house in Devon hit the mark, as I wanted something easy and short.  It did not disappoint.

Ross’s DCI Ryan series is hugely popular, and as far as I recall, I have only read the first book, Holy Island. This must have been not long after it was published.  I think it was on a cheap (or even free) Kindle deal.  Since then, Louise Ross has published about three books each year in this series, as well as starting another series of – I assume – detective novels.

The books are short, easy to read, somewhat formulaic, but still interesting enough to keep you guessing.  This novel had many similarities with Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and indeed, one of the characters makes reference to that story.  So naturally, as reader you expect a similar outcome … but I am not going to give anything away!

I won’t be rushing to read more by this author.  I think I like my detective fiction a bit more gritty and more gripping than this.

Hamnet

by Maggie O’Farrell

I’d been wanting to read this book for ages, ordered it from the library (which had, as expected, a very long waiting list) and was delighted when my friend Pat offered to lend me her copy, which she’d received as a Mother’s Day gift from her children.

At first I wasn’t sure whether this book had been over-hyped.  The language and setting are deliberately 16th century and I wondered if this was going to grate a little.  But no, it was spot-on, and I found myself immersed in the supposed lives of this Stratford family of the 1590s.  The book tells the story of William and Agnes (more commonly known as Anne) Shakespeare and their family in the context of the parents’ meeting and marriage, and the subsequent early death of their son Hamnet.

O’Farrell uses the few historical facts with great imagination, to create a setting and characters so believable they “leap off the page” as the saying goes.

The story is told mainly from the perspective of the female participants, especially Agnes herself, but also her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and her elder daughter Susanna.  The superstitions and remedies are described in the language of the time, and their efficacy – or not – is not brought into question by the story’s author, who shows at all times the point of view of a woman of the 16th century who has only these means at her disposal.  Agnes herself is very familiar with herbs and other remedies, and concocts potions and poultices which she sells to neighbours.  This leads her to be respected and also somewhat suspected by those around her.   Her separation from her husband while he pursues his career in London is portrayed in a way sympathetic to both parties – though who knows, really, how this came about and how Anne felt about it?

Shakespeare himself appears from time to time in the story.  He is never mentioned by name, but only in the context of his activities and relationships: “the Latin tutor”, “the father”, “the husband”.  His character, too, is believable, and the story sheds some light – though it is pure conjecture – on his actions and motives.

All in all, a triumph of imagination and a great read!