Review: The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister

'The Tin Snail' by Cameron McAllister is a charming, somewhat old-fashioned read that delights with its humour, adventure, patriotism and love. Invoking the spirit of war-time France, it tells the tale of the development of the French version of the ‘people’s car’, the Citroën 2CV. We have baddies ranging from Nazis, including the villainous Ferdinand Porche, designer of the VW Beetle and the Panzer tank, who is trying to steal the plucky French design for Germany, to young Philippe, the jealous love rival, and his father, Victor, the pompous and obstructive mayor, who are ultimately redeemed by their courage and patriotism.

'The Tin Snail' is well plotted and the story unfolds like a script for a rattling good family film. However, although the book is illustrated, it is never completely clear from pictures or text what the revolutionary designs look like, unless one is already familiar with the 2CV (which my daughter was not). I wonder whether as a screenwriter, the author was imagining that all would become apparent on screen?

It appears to be creative non-fiction, telling the true story of the development of the car, so I felt a little cheated that that having invested in Angelo, his father Luca Fabrizzi, Christian Silvestre and Bertrand Hipaux, I discovered that their names were really Flaminio Bertoni, André Lefèbvre and Pierre Jules Boulanger. I don’t even know whether Fabrizzi’s son Leonardo had anything at all to do with the design. The other niggle is the sub-title: The little car that won a war – it didn’t. What actually happened was that the prototypes were deliberately hidden from the Germans and the car only went into production in 1948.

That said, this is a delightful book for anyone over the age of eight, and it would make a tremendous film.

This review first appeared in Historical Novels Review Issue 69 (August 2014). Book supplied by publisher.

Knight Crusader

It's about time I caught up on this blog and published some of the recent book reviews I've done for the Historical Novels Review Children's and Young Adult list.

This one is for a re-issue of a classic, Knight Crusader.

Ronald Welch won the Carnegie prize in 1954 for Knight Crusader, an action packed tale of a young Norman nobleman from Outremer, Philip d’Aubigny.

The new edition retains the evocative original illustrations and cover art by William Stobbs. Unusually it also includes a Note on the Text for modern readers, rather euphemistically referring to ‘difficult’ language of a classic re-published in its original form. However, it is not that the vocabulary is incomprehensible to a strong reader of 8 to 12. It is rather that political correctness dictates that pejorative expressions like ‘half-breed’ are no longer used in new works for young people. However, Welch shows the newly arrived Norman barons as ugly, racist, barbarian thugs, whereas the protagonist, Philip, is a third generation ‘Syrian’ lord, who has assimilated elegant customs and practices of the East and is sophisticated and enlightened in comparison. Philip is a pretty darn heroic hero, yet even he holds some unsavoury opinions of the ‘Pullani’, or mixed race noblemen, as untrustworthy schemers.

The plot claps along at a splendidly brisk pace, informed by the author’s superb knowledge of place and period. The fight and battle scenes in particular are vivid and powerful. The reader is immersed in the action, complete with sights, smells and sounds and one is left with a genuine belief that the author has both gone to war and to the Holy Land.

A stylistic point unusual to modern ears, though, is the occasionally didactic narrative voice. Equally unusual is the unnervingly unexpected savagery of the protagonist in the denouement which is so convincingly shocking as to leave the reader (this reader anyway) ‘blown away’ by a masterpiece. Wow!

Knight Crusader is not a ‘girly’ book yet this female reviewer loved it; but if you want your son to fall in love with history and reading, this may be the book to do it.

Saxon's Bane by Geoffrey Gudgion

Yesterday, on a hot summer night, I went to the launch of Geoffrey Gudgion’s fabulous debut novel, Saxon’s Bane at Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue in London.  

Walking in, I felt I had surely found the UK spiritual home of Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj from the Big Bang Theory! Upstairs was stocked with comic books and sci-fi merchandise goodies. Downstairs I found a regular bookstore and a warm book launch – actually the welcome (and the room) were very warm indeed - but the wine was chilled!

I should declare that I was given an advance copy of this book by the author, who I know through the Historical Novel Society. Jenny Barden, (author of Mistress of the Sea and doyenne of the HNS) and I were greeted by a charming woman, as "Ah! You'll be the HistFict massive then?" Gosh!  Best to admit it then!

With Jenny Barden

So what about the book?

Saxon’s Bane is an action-packed page-turner shaped by elements of horror, fantasy, history, thriller and the ghost story. As debut novels go, Saxon’s Bane is pretty impressive.

The catalyst for the story is the simultaneous discovery of a bog body and a car crash in an unspoilt valley, which brings together a plausible set of characters in an environment of convincing solidity. Just as the landscape visibly preserves the memory of ancient ploughshares, so other fragments of the past colour the lives of the living. Legend, history, memory, folklore, magical practice - ancient and modern - and religion impinge on the present and serve to fuel the interactions between well-drawn characters, all of whom have been touched by the shadow world in different ways. Gudgion deftly uses a well-observed, surprisingly broad spectrum of belief in a quintessentially traditional British rural community, to develop tension and suspense that hold the reader’s engagement without recourse to sensationalism.

Dream interactions and flashbacks allow Gudgion to share a vivid experience of ancient lives and battles, with both character and reader alike. An emotional literacy underpins much of the writing which is further enlivened by tangential but witty observations by the characters - a smug post-coital pigeon or a failed clinch that results in the near-embrace of a rucksack - which diffuse any suggestion of sentimentality. Mythical motifs are woven elegantly into a fast paced split-time story.

Saxon’s Bane reads very well indeed – give me more, Mr Gudgion! Five stars.

Publisher’s Description
Fergus's world changes forever the day his car crashes near the remote village of Allingley. Traumatised by his near-death experience, he stays to work at the local stables as he recovers from his injuries. He will discover a gentler pace of life, fall in love and be targeted for human sacrifice.

Clare Harvey's life will never be the same either. The young archaeologist's dream find the peat-preserved body of a Saxon warrior is giving her nightmares. She can tell that the warrior was ritually murdered, and that the partial skeleton lying nearby is that of a young woman. And their tragic story is unfolding in her head every time she goes to sleep.

Fergus discovers that his crash is linked to the excavation, and that the countryside harbours some dark secrets.

As Clare's investigation reveals the full horror of a Dark Age war crime, Fergus and Clare seem destined to share the Saxon couple's bloody fate.

Saxon’s Bane is published 12 September 2013 by Solaris. 

Available for pre-order via Amazon now.

From Rapunzel to Little Red Riding Hood, beloved fairy tales as minimalist posters.

I was scrolling down this very pleasing series of minimally reworked classic fairytale posters by designer Christian Jackson, and thinking hmmmn these would make fabulous book covers... as you do... when my mouse wheel ground to a halt and my jaw dropped at the Wizard of Oz poster.

Now anyone who follows my husband Apolitical Dave's blog will know that Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz was always more than a children's book whatever old Frank made out, and it is often taught to students of economics as a powerful allegory for all that can go wrong with monetary policy. Even the BBC carries a discussion of the story's use as an economic parable.

But this pared down poster is clearly a Very Grown Up version. The Tin Man is shown as the heart he lacked; The Scarecrow described by a lightbulb representing the brain he lacked; and The Cowardly Lion? Well we all know what he lacked, and very fluffy liony ones they are too!

Great design!

Secret Doors

Followers of this blog will be aware that I posted about the work of my friend Suzie Bishop at her current Exhibition at New Greenham Arts in Newbury.

Most people (as I was) were particularly taken with her painting called Secret Door (above).

I've subsequently come across a wonderful picture by NC Wyeth which was the front cover image for Mark Twain's Mysterious Stranger.

They're lovely, aren't they?

Publishing Joke #1

Q. How many publishers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
 A. Three. One to screw it in. Two to hold down the author.

I was going to make a really valid point about the state of the publishing industry, but on consideration further comment would be superfluous...

The Story of Newbury

The Story of Newbury

Long time friend and local historian David Peacock, is signing his new book The Story of Newbury in WH Smith, Newbury tomorrow, Saturday 19th November from 11am - 2pm and I urge you to get down there or buy a copy via any of the links on this page.

If you can't make it tomorrow, David will be doing another signing at Waterstone's, Newbury on Saturday 10th December 11am - 1pm.

The Story of Newbury will be a fabulous Christmas gift for anyone with an interest in our unique local history - which is everyone I know really! Here's the blurb:

In the 21st century, the bustling market town of Newbury is now home to a famous racecourse, a global telecommunications company, a leading pharmaceutical business, and a myriad of thriving enterprises. It has come a long way, then, from its pre-Roman beginnings, when it was little more than a group of huts beside the River Kennet.  This excellent book sets out to tell the story of its journey through time and the colourful events which have helped shape the town. They range from the heyday of the cloth trade when much of Newbury's wealth was established; the turbulence of the English Civil War when two major battles were fought within its boundaries; to the recent anti-nuclear peace camps set up around the perimeter of Greenham Common airfield and the treetop protests against the building of a much-needed bypass to help keep motorists moving north and south of the town.  Written by local historian, David Peacock, this brand new account of Newbury's past will inform and fascinate residents and visitors alike.

The Story of Newbury - David Peacock Published by Countryside Books - Price £9.95

Available From: Newbury Newbury Tourist Information Centre 1, The Wharf, Newbury, Berkshire. RG14 5AS 01635 30267 Waterstones 64 Northbrook Street, Newbury Berkshire. RG14 1AE 0843 2908501 W H Smiths 87/89, Northbrook Street, Newbury Berkshire. RG14 1AE 01635 40013 Thatcham The Family Bookshop 58, The Broadway, Thatcham, Berkshire. RG19 3HP 01635 871777 Hungerford The Hungerford Bookshop 24, High Street, Hungerford, Berkshire. RG17 0NF 01488 683480

Alternatively you can order online direct from the publishers: Countryside Books, Highfield House, 2, Highfield Avenue, Newbury, Berkshire. RG14 5DS http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk/book-catalogue-book-details.php?book=1877