The Real May Reading Post

 Clearly, I am very tired and feeling the seasonal ick because I started my May reading post, saved it as a draft, scheduling it to post later so I could add to what was there. Somehow it posted anyway with just the one book on it so I'm sure I did something wrong. I've deleted that post and am now writing the real May reading list. 

It was a very Trollope heavy month and I did finish the Palliser series, which has now been donated in its entirety to a charity shop.

The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

From the title, you'd expect this to be a book about politics, but parliamentary politics are a relatively small part of the story. However unofficial politics play a pretty big role. In this book, Plantagenet Palliser, now Duke of Omnium, formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been named Prime Minister in a coalition government. This provides the backdrop for the political maneuverings of his wife, the former Lady Glencora, now Duchess of Omnium. Much of this reminded me of my own corporate suburban childhood--the parties and the 'proper' behavior and all that. The other major storyline in the book is the growing awareness of Emily Wharton, who is young, compliant in some ways and stubborn in others, and who learns pretty quickly that she made a foolish choice in marriage. One thing I found interesting in this book was the way in which Trollope explores the ways in which the society of the time limited women's personhood and how women pushed back against this. Lady Glencora and Emily Wharton both acknowledge that husbands and fathers control women's activities, both legally and through societal norms, but while both are pretty submissive to these rules, both also find ways to push back. Emily tends to be more willing to go along until she's pushed too far and she has a lot of trouble fitting her moral sense into societal expectations because of it. Lady Glencora tends to just do what she wants in manipulative ways until she pushes others too far. Both strategies have their strengths and weaknesses. I quite liked this book and felt it was one of the best of the series.

The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

This is the final book in the series and perhaps I was suffering from a bit of Palliser fatigue, having read 4 of the books in about 6 weeks, but I didn't like this one as much as I like The Prime Minister. It was fine. I didn't dislike it, but there were some general similarities between one of the storylines in this book and Emily's story in The Prime Minister. When this book opens, Lady Glencora has recently died, leaving the Duke to deal with his young adult children. He is ill equipped to do this, particularly when the heir and the only daughter fall in love with people he considers unsuitable. Of the middle child, we see little. He does provide some tension, but is not a main player in the story. The book is pretty much about how these relationships unfold, how they illustrate the changes in society, and how the Duke has to learn to lighten up a bit, adapt to change, and be less uptight. 

The Fixed Period by Anthony Trollope (my e-book)

I was watching a booktube video and the woman mentioned Trollope's satirical dystopian novel. Well, I had no idea Trollope wrote such a thing, but knew at once that I wanted to read it so I grabbed a copy online and stuck it on my e-reader. It's a strange little book about the president of Britainulla, a country which has gained independence from Britain. The story takes place primarily in the late 1970s and involves a crisis. Decades ago, when they were forming their constitution, the people in the government of Britainulla agreed to set a fixed period for people's lives. When they were 67, they'd be brought to a facility in which their every need and wish would be provided. When they turn 68, they'd be euthanized and cremated. No one thought much about it in the intervening years, but now the president's oldest friend and the oldest person on the island is about to turn 67 and he is having second thoughts about this. The population takes sides and there is tension, even within the president's family. A big cricket match plays a role in how things conclude. It's an interesting book with some humor and some weirdness. The bit about bringing someone to the facility reminded me a in a general way of the Book The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. The section with the cricket match seemed too long and detailed--I know nothing about cricket so that was all meaningless to me. Still, it was an interesting read. I'm always interested in these old books that are set in the future, because I'm fascinated by what they thought life would be like.

Stay Alive: Berlin 1939-1945 by Ian Buruma (borrowed from the library)

This is a relevant, powerful, and important book about what life was like for people of all persuasions in Berlin between 1939 and 1945. My father, born in 1938, happened to be one of those people and his experience, although almost never talked about with me, obviously shaped his life and to some extent my own. The author's father was a young man then and was a conscripted laborer from the Netherlands for part of that time. Buruma does a fine job of illustrating what the city was like for all kinds of people during this time. It's not a happy book and there is much people will find familiar from today, but it's worth a read. One thing I was particularly pleased to read was Buruma's reminder that the US was an inspiration for the Nazis--the genocidal formation of the country and the segregation laws were what Hitler built on. I think that bears repeating, because only when history is confronted and dealt with, whether on a personal or a societal level, can real healing and progress be made.

On Blackwater Pond by Mary Oliver (BorrowBox audiobook)

This is Mary Oliver reading 40 of her poems. It's an excellent listen. I do enjoy listening to poets read their work because the pauses and intonations are as they intended. Highly recommend.

An Arrow in Flight by Mary Lavin (borrowed from the library)

This book is a new collection of Mary Lavin's short stories. I love short stories and have been wanting to read more by Lavin. I'd only read one or two of her stories in anthologies so I was thrilled to see this at the library. The stories are set mostly in rural Ireland and are centered on the lives of women. I'll be reading more of her work.

Dream Latitudes by Alia Kobuszko (BorrowBox e-book)

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of this book, so I'll just put the description from BorrowBox here:

I am drawing a map of distances.

The swimmer. The sleeper. The dreamer.

Another afternoon traipsing the incomprehensible

corridors of the brain. Nothing uttered.

Alia Kobuszko's poetry is as immediate as it is mysterious. She is unafraid of detonating form or trusting a quiet phrase, and saturates these poems with surreal and sensuous aspects. In this enchanting and piercing debut, strange horses gallop - embodying metamorphic freedom and power. The speaker becomes the rider, the horse itself and even the field, enacting how the poet inhabits and unanchors their subject so that 'girl and horse / stand still- / field runs through them.'

The Hog's Back Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts (personal copy)

This is a British Library Crime Classics republication that I found in a charity shop. I brought it because it was a BLCC, even though I wasn't sure I'd like it. I'd started this author's first mystery novel, which didn't involve his series detective, Inspector French, and found it to be a slog, so I didn't finish it. It was on audio and perhaps I'd like it better in print. I may go back to read it at some point. I enjoyed this one. It's the 10th Inspector French novel, but I had no problem reading it as a standalone. In this novel, three women who were friends at school gather at the home of one of them. It soon becomes apparent that the marriage isn't a happy one and there are things that make the other women uncomfortable. Then the husband disappears in mysterious circumstances. There's no body and no indication that he was elsewhere. The local police are baffled and call in French. He starts digging but before he can solve the case, one of the houseguests goes missing and things get more complex. I'll probably read more in this series.

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (my e-book)

I read about this book in a book blog, I think and knew I wanted to read it so I went clicking around and found an e-book. And what a great book it is! As I've said several times already in this post, this is an author I will definitely read more of. As this book opens, readers learn at once that a cliff has fallen into the sea, taking a hotel and its inhabitants with it, leaving no survivors. The story then turns to the week before the collapse and shows what happened leading up to the event. Who was in the hotel at the time and who wasn't? The ending mostly ties this up, but I did feel it was a little abrupt and there was one person that was left unknown. I went back and read the prologue after I finished the book and I think it's still an open question about the one person, given the last scene in which he was present. 

The people in the hotel are all from different backgrounds and have different temperaments. Many do not get along with others in their family and those outside it. Class and status resentments are at play. Emotional abuse within families is evident. Religious tensions exist. I loved this book and I can't wait to read more of Kennedy's work.

I read one book that will be published soon. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

The Clew Bay Detectives by Pam Lecky

to be published on June 16, 2026 by Storm Publishing

ISBN 9781837005079

This book opens with a man, lying in a ruin on a small island in Clew Bay, off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland, aware that his death is imminent, and reflecting on his life. The action then moves to the Westport area, where readers meet master gardener and landscape designer Ali Brennan. Ali is new to the area, having moved there from Dublin after leaving a long-term relationship. She and her brother had been wanting to expand their business and this seemed like the perfect time and place. Ali's cousin, Jacinta Burke, owner of Burke's Hotel, has a holiday let that needs some refurbishment so Ali moves in there, paying a reduced rent in exchange for some work on the cottage. Ali's nephew, Gavan, soon arrives. He's at a bit of a loose end since he dropped out of Trinity College. He's there to get some part time work and to room with Ali. Little do they know they'll soon be working together as amateur detectives. As Ali tries to get the word out about her business and find her way in rural Ireland, she meets locals, learns about feuds and small town rivalries, and unwittingly becomes involved in an international crime investigation. Then she's asked by his widow to find out what happened to the guy on the island. She reluctantly agrees and she and Gavan find themselves investigating what law enforcement thinks is a case of natural death. Are they right or is something more sinister going on? There are other aspects to the intertwined stories, but I won't say anything more here because I don't want to give anything away.

When I saw that this book is set on the Wild Atlantic Way, I knew I wanted to read it. I've lived on the Wild Atlantic Way for several years, albeit further north. I haven't spent much time in the area where this book is set, although a town I lived in when I first got to Ireland is mentioned a couple of times in passing. The author's note stated that there will be at least two more books in the series and it'd be fun for me if one was set up here in Donegal, but it seems like the areas she's most familiar with are further south. No matter. I will look for the next books and happily read them. I enjoyed this one a lot. I think the author captured the setting beautifully--the landscape, the interpersonal relations in the rural area, the feuds, and the friendliness and willingness to help a newcomer all rang quite true to me. The plot was very well crafted and the story unfolded at just the right pace--as Ali and Gavan learned more about what was going on at the dead man's home, readers began to understand why it could be that someone wanted him dead, while at the same time, the possibility of a natural death was kept open. The mystery at the heart of the book was well done and pretty unique. The ending was satisfying with loose ends in the various plotlines tied up well, but with one ongoing. All in all, I'd say that this is an excellent cozy mystery--one that I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. I'm thrilled that this will be a series and I look forward to reading the next one.

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