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Recommended Reading at Kemp Town Bookshop
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Nigel Slater: Toast
Nigel Slater's cookbooks are a dream to read for the pure personality and sumptuous enjoyment that oozes through his descriptions. This book takes this experience a few steps further in getting to know Nigel Slater - but certainly not steps away from the kitchen! In Toast we have a book where food builds Slater's childhood, each crumb of his memory holds a gastric and nostalgic significance, painting a picture of the chef's complex beginning. Once again life brings to mind that much flogged phrase "you are what you eat". A good book to digest alongside the Christmas pud and brandy!
Review by V. Hepburn
K.I.H.Barratt: The Whitest Woman on the Beach
This is K.I.H. Barratt's debut novel self-published from the author's home in Brighton. The Whitest Woman on the Beach can be purchased at Kemptown Bookshop.
We follow Simon as he shapes the ominous picture of his dark past from the vibrant present ensconced in a deck chair in Pavilion gardens. This is a truly gripping read, the question of which version of events to trust kept me hooked throughout. The way in which Barratt portrays the delicate bloom of love pushing its way through the grime of fledgling egos, is touching and suspense invoking. The characters teeter on the edge of a lonely void as they attempt to survive the first confusing year of University life. Each character is intensely psychologically complex and the question of sanity looms large.
It is inspirational to have a professionally produced example of a self-published work paving the way for the future.
Review by V. Hepburn
Joan Didion: Year of Magical Thinking
As soon as I picked up this book I was compelled to read it all in one day. The pace of the book gives the reader a keen sense of bewilderment and leads you through the whole gripping narrative. Didion’s flat pragmatic tone dotted with repetition imparts a certain depth of melancholy that defies tears. Didion seems to be researching the condition of grief in order to piece together what is happening to her. The product of Didion’s approach is to turn the intensity of grief into a situation that is fascinating without being too devastating to read. Her writing is crisp and lucid despite and perhaps due to her powerful coping mechanisms of disbelief and calm reflection.
Review by V. Hepburn
Janet Malcolm: Psychoanalysis The Impossible Profession
Certainly not an impossible read, this insightful book explores the history, highs, lows and pitfalls of Psychoanalysis as a profession. Malcolm extracts a very honest account of the many mental and emotional labyrinths from a forty-six-year-old psychoanalyst practising in Manhattan. The easy relationship between Malcolm and the psychoanalyst combined with Malcolm’s expert writing skills, make this a very readable book, whilst imparting many interesting theories and perspectives on psychoanalysis. A candid account for anyone interested in ‘the talking cure’.
Review by V. Hepburn
Chris Paling: A Town by the Sea
This entrancing novel follows the wanderings and ponderings of an amnesiac. The novel begins with a washed up body on an anonymous town by the sea. As if rising from birth (or rebirth) the figure must piece together from scratch how he got to be washed up and how he will continue his journey.
Seeing the world through the eyes of someone completely alienated from all human life, even his own, is a testing experience. This is part of the fresh challenge that Paling offers the reader, a chance to absorb the world in minute detail with no preconceptions or reality structures.
Review by V. Hepburn
Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart
This classic is particularly potent and troubling in the light of the current “war on terrorism”. The question remains: who is the terrorist? Despite some of the troubling (to my mind) practices of the tribe, through reading this novel the unity and ritual of the tribe become something to uphold. This world from another time and place seemingly so different and far away begins to be familiar in the reader’s mind. The colonisers of this tale threaten to destroy the pride, traditions and beliefs of Okonkwo and his fellow clansmen and women. Religion becomes the fuel of passionate clashes between the white settlers and the natives of Igbo. The very foundations of human civilisation are questioned and globalisation becomes a more problematic theory than ever.
Review by V. Hepburn
Zadie Smith: On Beauty
This is a very accurate portrayal of how the most chaotic times in a family household scarily but often hilariously unfold. At times this book can feel like a very long series of the Jerry Springer show in which the same passionate, disgruntled lovers and rivals come back each episode for a new apocalyptic row. Somehow, despite this, the family stays somewhat together and it is at the rare times of silent agreement between the family members that the unique beauty of the book shines through. As well as family catastrophes and teenage angst this novel explores the labyrinth of university, race and class politics with eloquently versed arguments offset by mud slinging and pure rage.
Review by V. Hepburn
Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore
This is an utterly baffling but compelling read. Murakami takes a fresh look at the myth of Oedipus obliterating boundaries, taboos and reality as he goes. The characters are bizarre yet empathy inspiring. The dual narrative style keeps the reader turning the pages and puzzling as to how the ending could possibly work out. Possibly the strangest novel that you will ever read, but engrossing none the less.
Review by V. Hepburn
Samantha Weaver: Saving Samantha
One of many books that describes the harrowing childhood and redemption of an author. This particular book is certainly full of painful recollections and spectacular cruelty. Weaver’s progress to health and happiness is slow and riddled with episodes of decline into darkness. The message that completes the book is one of hope and the writing of the book seems to have been part of the process of healing. This is a personal journey that is recounted in a coherent way that will hopefully inspire readers to explore their own stories and heal themselves in the process.
Review by V. Hepburn
Kay Redfield Jamison: An Unquiet Mind
Jamison takes the reader through her harrowing journey through the highs and lows of manic-depressive illness. As an academic in the field of psychology and a firsthand witness of the world of manic depression, Jamison deals with the subject with a frank, intelligent and yet touchingly honest manner. Her personal journey of courage and strength is inspiring. A good read for anyone that wants to get to grips with the difficulties and possibilities that manic depression can entail.
Review by V. Hepburn
Siri Hustvedt: What I Loved
"Artfully combining the sinister with the flirtatious" the underground world of the postmodern art scene draws the characters in and Hustvedt's absorbing novel draws the reader in with them. The main characters attempt to salvage their precious relationships amidst loss, despair, drugs and madness. Hustvedt's characters are intense beings who contemplate such immense themes as absence and presence, artifice and truth, hunger and loss, gender, boundaries and doubleness. The novel is a brilliant mix of intelligence, intrigue and potent emotions. This truly stimulating book stays in your mind long after you have finished reading.
Review by V. Hepburn
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