Signs of Life - Anna Raverat

Simple on one level yet totally engrossing. Rachel narrates a familiar tale of an affair gone wrong, but brings so much depth and intrigue to the story you really can't put it down.

The reader is taken back and forth across the years as the story unravels and the conclusion is revealed early on, however you are taken on a journey through a series of memories recalled from the mind, diary entries and photographs.Sometimes mis-remembered, hard to recall or sometimes deemed unimportant at the time so not held onto for posterity. On occasion these recollections are twisted, altered slightly which keeps you questioning what really happened and what kind of person she really is. She questions herself on a number of occasions and these moments help to humanise her, bringing her to life.  

These are the moments that are familiar to us all as we try to recall characteristics, incidents and emotions from the past - sometimes with the interference of hindsight, sometimes with the interface of our own vanity or pride.

Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith

The thought of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' never really appealed to me, however the idea of Abraham Lincoln as an axe-wielding vampire slayer was an intriguing concept.

Packed full of historical facts, this is a very entertaining version of an alternative history of a figure I knew little about, other than his dramatic assassination. 

There is a dark comic element to this book, emphasised by the series of 'photographs' which have been mildly doctored for effect. However, this is also a great way to learn about a very important time in history. Grahame-Smith intertwines 2 stories one fact and one fiction - the fight against slavery and the freedom of all individuals, regardless of their colour, simultaneously taking place with the growing battle of the rise of the vampire and their goal of taking over and enslaving the entire human race.

Both these stories share the themes of injustice, freedom, and equal rights. The notion of slavery here encompasses all regardless of race, and the idea of war - all wars spanning from the American Civil War right through to WWII and beyond - stems from this notion of inequality and an unhealthy thirst for elitism.

There is a strong gothic theme underpinning the novel, and a chance meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Edgar Allen Poe simply adds to the dark undercurrents that are taking place. 

This really was a surprisingly easy read and one I would recommend to anyone looking for something different.

Mrs Robinson's Disgrace: the Private Diary of a Victorian Lady - Kate Summerscale

Although this book is centred essentially on one woman’s diary and her subsequent divorce case, it reads as so much more.

It delivers fascinating insights into such an incredible era in our history. The context Kate Summerscale provides surrounding her story builds a rich picture of the times: attitudes towards women, the role of a wife, sex, marriage, reputation and adultery – all of which are directly linked to the case. These sit within the wider backdrop of art, literature and an age of discovery in terms of groundbreaking medical advances and new practices. These include the new fashion for hydrotherapy and also phrenology, with some great examples of conclusions drawn about an individual’s personality and temperament based on the examination of the size of their skull.

A number of familiar Victorian characters also appear including Dickens, Nightingale, Darwin, Wordsworth and Charlie Field – the inspiration behind Inspector Bucket in Dickens ”Bleak House”, who also manages to play a role in the case itself. London features almost as a character in its own right – with the River Thames freezing over in the winter, and then almost boiling in the summer and filling the air with its rotten stench, forcing parts of the House of Commons to be evacuated at one point due to the smell.

The growing importance of a journal and its history is also an interesting part of this book, exploring what people record and, more significantly, for what purpose. Whether you believe that her journal was a work of fiction or a true account of her life, you can’t deny that Isabella is an extraordinary woman living in extraordinary times. The idea that she may have actually wanted people to eventually read her journal adds another dimension to her character – and also helped me as a reader from feeling too voyeuristic about reading extracts from such a personal and private document!

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who has an interest in such an exciting period of history and am now keen to read her previous books.