Another Women's Prize book down.
Salt Lick - Lulu Allison
In a post pandemic Britain where the cost of living has gone sky high, jobs are sporadic and on poor terms and climate change is drastically affecting coastal areas, people are left little choice but to move to cities as the economy collapses. Only a few remain in the countryside, mostly 'white towns' of insular racists who remain separatist and a handful of eco types who want to go back to living on the land which has rewilded itself after abandonment.
One boy laments to change to his environment as he is forced to move to the city and a few decades later one young woman heads the other way to find answers to what happened when her mother was killed in a terrorist attack.
I thought this was really well done. It doesn't over explain and leaves a lot of work to the reader to do the thinking and pondering about how things came to this. It doesn't feel overtly dystopian and gives the impression of being very plausible. The only criticism I have is it employs a Greek chorus of cows to comment on events and I'm not convinced it adds anything to what is otherwise a beautifully explored scenario.
I'm left with the books I can't get as audio now, so I've been listening to other books when I've not had the time to sit and read.
Unbelievable - Christian T Miller
Based on a true crime investigation. A young woman reports a rape which happened when someone broke into her home and held her captive. The original police department don't believe her and start investigating her for a false report. Shortly afterwards she claimed she lied and withdraws the report. Her testimony bears striking similarities to other reports in different areas which convinces two detectives to explore the cases more thoroughly and discover a serial rapist.
Really interesting look at police departments and how crime is dealt with in the US. Thank goodness for female detectives who trust their gut instincts.
The Promise - Damon Galgut
Changing attitudes in South Africa during and after apartheid. Recently reviewed upthread. Well written and interesting.
The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez - Ann Swinfen
Elizabethan spy series. This is quite lightweight compared to the likes of Shardelake, but it's an easy listen with likeable characters and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I loved the author's medieval mystery series and these will be a pleasant alternative now I've run out.
Master Georgie - Beryl Bainbridge
Entwined lives of unlikely people as fortunes cross in Victorian Liverpool and take them to the Crimean War.
I found this on the library's Borrowbox service, but didn't realise it was the abridged version until I was part way through. It's masterful writing and has given me a taste for her work. I also listened to According to Queenie again abridged, telling of the affair of Samuel Johnson through the eyes of his mistress's daughter. I also want to read The Birthday Boys and Every Man for Himself but will go for those as books as I want the unabridged versions.
Suffer Little Children (Sister Fidelma #3) - Peter Tremayne
Another outing of a legally trained nun in mid 600s Ireland. Called in to solve a murder, she finds herself caught up in a tribal feud.
I don't love these, but they are an easy way of passing some time when something that doesn't need too much concentration is called for.
The Stranger - Albert Camus
A man on trial for murder, then sentenced to death contemplates the meaning of life.
On the surface quite a simply story, but told with incredible depth and insight into the human psyche.
I tend to avoid authors I have studied in-depth previously, but this shows why that is a very silly idea. Camus is a master of the written word.
Seize the Day - Saul Bellow
A day in the life of a failed actor and salesman trying to claw back some sense of self worth as he blames everyone but himself for his failings.
I didn't feel like I enjoyed this as such but it has stayed with me. It's veru well crafted, but feels like it's lacking something I can't quite put my finger on.