It's generally taken as given that beach and other holiday reading is on the light side. But must this always be the case? Why not read something worthwhile on holiday this summer?
I travelled south to Florida about a week ago armed with my usual Rough Guide, three non-fiction books (including a biography) and a half-read mystery. I can't say I planned it this way, they were the first volumes on my bookshelf to take my fancy. And not that the mix really matters. It went without saying that I'd be picking up a few volumes while I was here.
However, my book-buying didn't go quite as planned. First, the places I visited, not being at the top of the tourist trail, didn't have the wealth of local interest books I'd imagined. The two State Parks provided a variety of bird-watching, tree-, plant- and animal-identification guides, as well as some thin local history tomes and kids books, but I was looking for something meatier.
When I asked at my hotel, I learnt that the local Borders had closed its doors a few weeks earlier, and the owners of the best independent shop had tossed in the towel several months ago. I was in a veritable book desert. Or so it appeared until I began my Internet search. I soon located a Barnes and Noble (B&N) not too far from my planned outing for the day, and so I was off.
Of course the B&N location only looked close on the map, the road, much busier than expected, was home to a good many strip malls. I found Borders with little problem. And yes, it was closed. Getting to B&N required going in circles a few times, but it yielded up some items of interest that I hadn't seen at home.
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One of the books I brought with me, was The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman who Ran It. It's a must for those who enjoy a bottle of the Widow. This is a relatively slim volume about a remarkable woman who seized her chance to make her mark upon the champagne industry. What's even more interesting is how small her window of opportunity was.
Widowed before she was 30, the Widow Cliquot sought and surprisingly, received the necessary family backing to produce and market a product that was quite different from what we know today. The secrets to her success included the development of a cheaper method of production, audacious marketing and a willingness to adapt her product to a changing market. Nevertheless, the impact of the politics of the Napoleonic Wars on international trade was almost her undoing.
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Andrew Taylor's The Barred Window was a very different sort of read. A story of manipulation and immorality, it's easier to decide which character to dislike. The lives of two cousins, one rich and the other poor, slip onto the same path after a suicide.
Thomas Penmarsh has alway's been looked after by Esmond, but it hasn't been easy. Mrs Penmarsh treats Esmond like a son, a preferred son. While Thomas' ambitions have been stifled, keeping her true son under Mother's thumb well into adulthood. Despite this, Thomas has managed to father a daughter, Alice.
Alice, now grown, and heir to Mrs Penmarsh's estate is coming to visit. How will Esmond and Thomas manage to continue their comfortable life? A creepy but compelling read with the type of nasty characters Taylor portrays so well.
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Fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series will enjoy Under Enemy Colors. Royal Navy Lt Charles Hayden has been denied his own command, his loyalty questioned because of his mother's French birth. Instead, he's to be 1st Lieutenant to Captain Hart, with a secret order to spy upon this fellow naval officer.
It doesn't take Hayden long to discover what's wrong with the despicable Hart. Hayden's life is quickly reduced to matter of survival. With so many enemies -- Hart and his supporters, mutineers, Napoleon's forces -- what's Hayden to do?
A very enjoyable read, full of interesting sailing terms. My favourite was "scandalize the sails". A pity it wasn't explained.
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Charles Cumming's A Spy by Nature tells the tale of Alec Milius, a London School of Economics graduate whose life suddenly takes a heads up when he's interviewed by the British Secret Service. The trouble with Milius, is that he's still in love with Kate. So he mentions her in the interviews. Rather than tell the truth, he lies. He does that often. Lying.
Much to his surprise, he doesn't get an offer. But all is not lost. He's given a chance to run a scam -- the victims being an American oil company and two CIA operatives working with it. If he succeeds, that job offer will be back on the table.
The result leads right into the sequel, The Spanish Game. Milius is now in hiding in Madrid, terrified the CIA and MI6 are after him. He keeps his head under the radar and uses all the spycraft he's learnt to maintain his anonymity.
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Then he gets a visit from his former best friend, Saul. Is Saul on the up-and-up or is he part of an MI6 plot? Or have the CIA got to him? Is there anyone Milius can trust?
Or is Saul right? Is Milius small fry, long forgotten by the denizens of the spy world?
Gritty and hard. A thought-provoking story of a man with dubious morals in a game lacking any morals at all.
I was on a roll, so I picked up Cumming's Typhoon. This time, the main character is a decent spy. It's his counterpart at the CIA who's no good.
A Chinese man makes the dangerous night swim to Hong Kong from the mainland just before the British handover to the Chinese. His excellent command of English and insistence that he has information of vital political importance, convinces the soldier who finds him to turn the man over to SIS, rather than the Chinese.
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Joe Lennox is too far down the feed chain to conduct this type of interview, but everyone else is busy. The Chinese mainlander spins a gruesome tale of torture and murder, and Joe falls for it, head first. But next day, Joe discovers the man has disappeared, the explanation being he was a liar known to the CIA and has been returned to mainland China.
Eight years later, Joe's back in China. This time in Shanghai. So is everyone else of importance from the Hong Kong Fiasco. He wants another chance to put things right. He also wants a chance to win back the woman he loves from Miles, the unprincipled CIA agent who stole her all those years ago.
Another enjoyable read from Cumming, this time with a hero you can cheer for without holding your nose.
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