Page 71 - Phonebox Magazine June 2009

Book Review
By Oxfam Bookshop, Olney The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
After a whirlwind romance, Meri and Nathan have been married for ten months when Nathan is appointed as a lecturer in New England. The novel opens as they begin house-hunting – reluctantly on Meri’s part since she wishes she need not leave the job she enjoys and the friends she has made. Also she suspects that she might not want the kind of house Nathan is seeking. However, when they are shown the house attached to that which belongs to retired Senator Tom Naughton and his wife, Nathan not only likes the house; he is also attracted by the idea of having the former senator as a neighbour. Meri, snatching the opportunity for a quick cigarette before going inside, meets Delia, the senator’s wife, and is attracted to the older woman’s warm friendliness, combined with her elegance and sophistication.
That attraction fuels her curiosity and, once installed in their new home, and asked to ‘mind the house’ for Delia while she spends time in Paris, Meri enjoys finding out more about her neighbour’s lifestyle, even to the extent of reading letters she discovers in a cubby hole in the desk. She learns much more about the relationship between Delia and her husband, interesting facts about their marriage. In the light of these revelations, she looks afresh at her own marriage and her feelings for Nathan.
The novel moves between these two couples, the two who have been married for many years, and the newly- weds, shedding light on their lives and their relationships. It is a book to be savoured slowly, to appreciate the author’s skill in depicting character, and the contrast between youthful enthusiasm and the wisdom, experience and sadness which come with age.
Oxfam Book Fortnight
Review by Thelma Shacklady
What is the he worst book you have ever read?
There are books out there with rubbish plots, clunky dialogue, cardboard characters, bad writing – sometimes so bad you cannot understand why they were published. We would like you to let us know at Oxfam Books ad Music what your worst experience with the printed page was. Not something you simply didn't like or didn't enjoy, but something you thought was really dire.
I have been sure for quite some time that my worst book would be Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. I read it when I was trapped in a situation without any other books - and for me the only thing worse than a bad book is no book at all. I read it with increasing incredulity and have still not quite got over the experience: the premise and some of the plotting devices were an insult to the intelligence, the characters hadn't got many dimensions and the writing was adequate at best. BUT it was certainly a page-turner, with a few hard facts and enough just-plausible ideas scattered judiciously through the plot, to keep you reading against your better
judgement. I read it to the end, but like Clive James it may only have been "in the belief that it couldn't stay that stupid".
So, have I read anything worse? Well yes, I think I have. Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian beats The Da Vinci Code to 'my worst read', if only by a very short head. It certainly has the cardboard characters, the creakingly implausible plot and the wooden writing – no pace, no style, no grace, no edge. But what tipped the scales I think was the way it rehearsed every single cliché ever written about vampires without providing a single real frisson of terror. I don't go in much for vampire or horror stories, but everything that I have read in this genre is better than this. Bram Stoker's original Dracula still has masses of atmosphere and impact. Barbara Hambly's Travelling with the Dead, is a fairly traditional treatment, almost homage, by a modern writer which provides some very creepy moments. The Silver Kiss (Annette Curtis Klause) has all the imagination and characterisation that The Historian lacks. But my favourite by far is Robin McKinley's Sunshine. This is set in a world which isn't quite ours, so it allows an
imaginative exploration of what being a vampire means, something that more traditional treatments – perhaps hampered by everyone's knowledge of the legends and traditions - can't match. It too is a page- turner but it is written skilfully and stylishly and it also has a very human heroine as narrator – no cardboard cut-outs here.
Brown and Kostova are my personal choice of 'worst books' and in no way represents what Oxfam may think officially. But as part of our celebration of Oxfam Book Fortnight we would like you to tell us what you think is the worst book you've ever read. Call in at the shop and tell us, or email us at oxfamshopf3414@btconnect.com
And if you haven't read either of my choices and would like to find out if you agree with me, we will have a number of copies available from the shop in June at 99p each.
If you think I’m wrong in my criticisms, (and I know lots of you will) you will soon be able to use the Olney100 web site to post your comments and point out the error of my ways.
Sandra Metcalf
The Phonebox Magazine Readers Forum is back
www.phoneboxmagazine.co.uk
Phonebox Magazine 71
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The book reviewed above is from Oxfam Books and Music, Olney, which sells donated books, records, CDs, tapes and music to raise money for Oxfam’s work in combating poverty around the world.