March book

For March the staff reading group all read Restless by William Boyd. It won the Costa Book Award (formerly the Booker Prize), so we knew we were in for a treat. All the group members really enjoyed the book and it generated much enthusiastic discussion, virtually all positive. Restless is a gripping thriller, set both around World War 2 and now. The plot involves 2 main characters Sally Gilmartin and her mother Eve. Eve, a Russian migrant, was recruited to spy for Britain during the war. The main context of the plot is the undercover attempts by Britain to persuade the United States to join in the fighting in World War 2. Apparently about 3000 British secret agents were working in America on propaganda and other tactics to convince the Americans that Germany was their enemy. llll

The winner of the Costa First Novel Award was The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It is also a terrific read. Set in nineteenth century rural Canada it is about a woman's search for her missing son after a murder. It is very evocative of the time and place, but is very modern in terms of some of the psychological aspects included in the plot. llll