Letting Go
Beginnings and Endings
February, despite it being the year's second month, feels more like the time for beginnings. The sky is starting to lighten, the snowdrops are making their way out into the world and, as ever, great books are being published! This month we look at fiction, children's books, and non-fiction that look at the world anew. We hope you enjoy reading!
Patrick Jamieson enjoys Martin MacInnes wrestling with issues global and intimate in his latest novel In Ascension.
In Ascension By Martin MacInnes Published by Atlantic
Beneath the dressings of form and style, most works of art are concerned with the same basic question: What makes us who we are? The ways of approaching this question are numerous. Modernists turned inward, Naturalists to our environments, while authors of some of the greatest science-fiction sought answers far beyond the reaches of everyday life. In this sense, In Ascension, the latest book by Inverness author Martin MacInnes, is not remarkable. What is remarkable is that it does not assume a single explanation of ‘I’ that is psychological, environmental, or evolutionary, but seeks the answer in all these places at once. This is science-fiction, but not as we know it.
Typically, it all begins with a birth. As a child, Leigh Hasenboch grows up at the water’s edge in Rotterdam surrounded by violence. The violence of the city’s architecture – tower blocks built up following its destruction in World War Two – the violence of ‘growth itself’, and the volatile moods of her depressed father. Poorly protected by her mother and sister, for young Leigh the sea becomes a haven, a place of contact and connection, submerging herself in the ‘teeming immensity’ of the water near their home. Fascinated by the origins of life, she immerses herself in the world of microorganisms, and at first opportunity escapes her fractured family life to study marine biology at the local university....
Jenny Boyd was one of the faces of the 1960s, in the thick of Swinging London. A successful model, sister to Pattie Boyd, friend of the Beatles, muse to Donovan, and wife of Mick Fleetwood, she shares her experiences, her excitements and disappointments, in her star-studded memoir Jennifer Juniper. Here, she writes of her first catwalk experience in the US.
Jennifer Juniper By Jenny Boyd Published by Sandstone Press
Sally and Marion came into the office one day with exciting news. An American called Paul Young had seen their clothes and wanted a collection made to launch Youthquake, his company in the States. As well as Foale and Tuffin and Mary Quant, he had asked a few other up-and-coming designers who were also transforming British fashion in the 60s, including Mick’s sister, Sally Jesse, designer of soft leather handbags with clear Perspex handles, and a new shoe d...
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
The Book … According to Stuart MacBride
‘It wasn’t until I’d finished that I realised the entire book was about redemption. Nearly every character in it, good, bad, or misunderstood, is seeking it in their own way.’
‘Welcome to Haarville — if you’ve arrived, you’ve survived. Off the grid and not on the maps, it’s a place shrouded in fog and steeped in pungent pongs.’
‘When he returned to school after the holidays, he listed retrenchment and reinstatement among the new words he had learnt during the Christmas break.’
‘I have often walked past and wondered what a proper library may look like inside. The well-to-do gentlemen who step so confidently up the stone stairs to its imposing door belong to another world. Ho …
‘I believe that by making the consumer aware we can drive those in power to take seriously the role of food in making our population healthier and our environment more resilient.’
David Robinson Reviews: Elixir by Kapka Kassabova
‘Somehow, in an alchemical process that involves stirring together vast knowledge of plants, history, spirituality, magic and local folklore, Kassabova has mastered the art of tying together the inner …
‘The young gallery attendant was leaning over him, shaking him. There was something gentle in his voice, even tender.’
The Broken Dragon: A Q & A with Karen McCombie
‘Readers can expect a short and sweet tale of a dragon-obsessed ten-year-old, plus they’ll learn about Kintsugi – the Japanese art of mending things with gold!’
‘You’ll think but little of my Songs, When you have read them o’er; But say, “They’re well enough from her”– And I expect no more.’
‘My eyes are caught by a rolling wave. Am I still dreaming?’
‘No matter how many times Fulton cast his mind back he could never find the truth. It was like a bleeding sore that he constantly picked at and that never healed. ‘
The Rymour Effect: Showcasing Glasgow Scots
‘There’s wan shinin light though, ma young grandson. Twinty years auld he is, a strappin big lad. Ma only grandchild an the only real faimily ah’ve goat left.’
ALSO ON BOOKS FROM SCOTLAND
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Pink Camouflage by Gemma Morgan
‘I had to tell this story for the thousands of other women who have been harmed by the toxic culture …
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The Hollow Tree by Philip Miller
‘The man turned around. His hands were dark with blood.
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David Robinson Reviews: All Before Me by Esther Rutter
‘This then is a book about recovery, about regaining self-confidence and rediscovering joy.’
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QuickFire, Slow Burning by Janette Ayachi
‘Things are shed when people listen to poetry.’
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‘But best of all it is dead silent: no sound of greetin’ weans, no shouting staff, no screaming- dru …
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‘If readers enjoy what you’ve written, they’ll keep on coming back for more.’
FEATURED AUTHOR:
Alan Measures
Alan currently works for the MoD and was involved with high profile projects such as Tornado and he managed the Sea Skua anti-ship missile system. The lead character of RAF Bomber Command Striking Back: Operations of a Halifax Crew was a family friend …
FEATURED PUBLISHER:
Frontline Noir
Frontline Noir, founded in 2008, is a publisher of current affairs and recent history titles covering controversial topics and events, often written by people who were participants or otherwise affected. Our aim is to ensure such subjects are given a h …