LANE BOOKSHOP

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga $32.95 (Penguin Atlantic) Winner Man Booker Prize 2008

The White Tiger is the tale of two Indias. Balram’s journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable. Born in a village in heartland India, Balram is taken out of school by his family and put to work in a tea shop. As he crushes coals and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape – of breaking away from the banks of Mother Ganga into whose depths have seeped the remains of a hundred generations.

The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicoll $27.99 (Fourth Estate)

This is the most delightful Christmas read around. Set in the little town of Dot in a forgotten part of the Baltic, this is the story of Tibo Krovic, the good and honest Mayor of Dot, and his love for his secretary the beautiful, lonely, but married, Mrs Agathe Stopak. In the quiet, respectable town of Dot there is nothing that Tibo can do about his love for Mrs Stopak but one day, when she accidentally drops her lunch into a fountain, everything changes and their lives will never be the same again.

I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass $32.95 ( Hutchinson )

This is a big, commanding novel about the accidents that determine our choices in love and marriage by the author of the book we all loved a few years ago The Three Junes. I See You Everywhere opens when two sisters, Louisa and Clem who are very close, are in their early twenties. It then unfolds through their lives in a vivid story of what we can and cannot do for those we love. Louisa settles in New York while Clem moves restlessly about until she lands in the Rocky Mountains . Glass’s new novel is a powerful and moving double portrait that reveals the very nature of sisterhood.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb $35.00 (HarperCollins)

Remember This Much I Know is True? Well the wait for the new Wally Lamb novel is finally over and here it is. A colossal book about a school teacher at Colombine High school who happens to be away burying a family member on a day when two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, commit a well-planned massacre of fellow students and teachers. His wife is the school nurse who spends four hours during the massacre hiding in a stationery cupboard. Their lives are changed forever but this book is much broader than this well known massacre, it covers many issues, in fact it covers most issues. Read it and be impressed.

I Dream of Magda by Stefan Laszczuk $23.95 (Allen & Unwin)

This novel is the winner of the Australian Vogel Literary Award. George is twenty-six, he lives with his brother and is afraid of the dark. He works in a bowling alley by day and finds rare solace in a giant painting of an alien that sits outside his room. He is reeling from a broken heart, still coping with the trauma of a childhood home invasion and has to contend with a dysfunctional family to rival The Simpsons. His brother is not much better off, he recently lost the love of his life in a car accident and finds solace in constant sleep while he dreams of Magda. This is a quirky, left-field and wholly engaging story about families, love, loss and grieving.

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee $32.99 (harper Collins)

‘Rarely does one encounter a debut work as beguiling and assured as Janice Lee’s The Piano Teacher. Rich with intrigue, romance and betrayal, this wonderfully written novel dazzles with its sharp-eyed renderings of beau monde Hong Kong as it is plunged into the crucible of war. With its fascinating interplay of East and West, and caste of fascinating characters, this is an irresistible work of fiction’ Chang-Rae Lee – author of Aloft.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain $24.95 (Vintage) Winner of the Orange Prize 2008

Rose Tremain’s hugely enjoyable new novel is the story of Lev, newly arrived in London from Eastern Europe . It is a wise and witty look at the contemporary migrant experience. Readers will become totally involved with Lev’s story, as he struggles with the mysterious rituals of ‘Englishness’ and the fashions and fads of the London scene. We see the road Lev travels through his eyes and we share his dilemmas; the intimacy of his friendships, old and new; his joys and suffering; his aspirations and his hopes of finding his way home, wherever home may be. Deliciously funny at times and very moving at others, this is excellent bookclub material.

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell $32.99 (HarperCollins)

Cornwell produces annually, some of the most entertaining and readable historical novels of this generation, here is this year’s offering. Agincourt was a battle that was a turning point in English history. Fought on October 25, 1415 it was an unexpected and brilliant English victory and the first battle won by the use of the longbow. Lively historical characters abound that, in Cornwell’s hands, are authentic and vivid and the hour-by-hour view of the battle is dramatic and gripping.

America ,America by Ethan Canin $32.95 ( Bloomsbury )

It is the early 1970s. Nixon is in the White House. Corey Sifter, the young son of working-class parents, is befriended by the powerful Metarey family whose patriarch is a kingmaker in the world of New York state politics. Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and during one of the most turbulent eras of twentieth century US politics, America , America possesses the mastery of pace and the voice of classic American fiction. Richard Russo says of the novel ‘Rich, ambitious, intelligent, emotionally satisfying and important….Read this novel and weep’.

Stray Dog Winter by David Francis $32.95 (Allen & Unwin)

This is a page-turning psychological thriller and love story set in 1980s Moscow . Darcy, a restless young artist, travels to Moscow to visit his half-sister Fin. Darcy and Fin are inextricably bound by the secrets and betrayals of their childhood. Upon his arrival in the depths of a bleak Moscow winter, Darcy is immediately embroiled in Fin’s mysterious life there and also drawn to Moscow ’s forbidden underground, where he finds himself caught up in political and sexual intrigues of a nature he could never have imagined. With Stray Dog Winter, David Francis enters Graham Greene territory.

A Life in Seven Mistakes by Susan Johnson $32.95 (Bantam)

This is a compelling story about the complexity of family life. At last Elizabeth Barton’s career as a ceramist is finally taking off and she is about to exhibit in New York. First though she has to survive Christmas with her family on the Gold Coast. Why is it impossible to act our age in front of our parents? And how can we begin to care for and understand ageing parents with whom we have had a life-long conflict? This is a deeply moving portrait of a family trying to reach each other. Beautifully written it is saved from any sentimentality by a strong streak of comic black humour.

Dreams of Rivers and Seas by Tim Parks $34.95 (Harville/Secker)

A novel of India from one of England’s finest writers ‘For some time now I have been plagued, perhaps blessed, by dreams of rivers and seas, dreams of water.’ Just days after Albert James writes these lines to his son John in London, he is dead. Abandoning his girlfriend and the lab where he is completing his PhD, John flies to Delhi to join his mother in mourning. A brilliant and controversial anthropologist, the nature of Albert James’s research and the circumstances of his death, are far from clear.

Found Wanting by Robert Goddard $32.95 (Bantam)

Richard Eusden is on his way to work one unremarkable winter morning when he is intercepted by his ex-wife. She has sad news of his old friend, her other ex-husband. Marty is dying, but he needs a favour done for him – now, today, at once. Eusden sets off on what should be, a simple errand, but soon it turns into a race for life – his and Marty’s – across Belgium , Germany and Denmark . Every move he makes threatens to be a step into disaster. But move he must – in pursuit of truth, on the heels of history. It is his only hope. Here is the new thriller from the master of the clever twist.

To Love, Honour and Betray by Kathy Lette $32.95 (Bantam Press)

A classic Lette story involving divorce, revenge, a puberty-blue teenager and surf lifesaving.  Jasper, Lucy’s husband of eighteen years, has left her for her best friend. To make matters worse, Lucy’s teenage daughter Tally blames her mum. While Tally is busy trying to find a loophole in her birth certificate so she can put herself up for adoption, Lucy tries to accept that a child is for life and not just for Christmas. But it’s not till Lucy makes the Freudian discovery that her toy boy is also dating her daughter – and that he has been paid to do so by her ex as ammunition for a custody battle that she finally learns to stand on her own two stilettos.

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane $32.95 (Doubleday)

Set at the end of the Great War in an era of unprecedented uncertainty, The Given is a family epic by the author of Mystic River .  Boston 1918: Danny Coughlin is in charge of policing the Italian neighbourhoods of the North End, where political dissent is rife. Meanwhile, suspected of a drug-related shooting, Luther Lawrence abandon’s his wife and flees to Boston , finding work as a driver to the Coughlin household. While the intricacies of this family’s relationships unravel, Luther resolves to return to his own family but first he must settle scores…A fine broad drama that convincingly chronicles time and place.

Man in the Dark by Paul Auster $29.95 (Faber)

The plot of Auster’s new novel revolves around the many realities we inhabit as wars flare around us. August Brill is recovering from a car accident. Plagued by insomnia, he tries to push back thoughts of things he would prefer to forget – his wife’s recent death and the murder of his granddaughter’s boyfriend Titus – by telling himself stories. He imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. . Meanwhile back in the real world Brill gradually opens up to his granddaughter, recounting the story of his marriage and confronting the grim reality of Titus’ death.

Red Dress Walking by Sarah Jones $27.95 (Allen & Unwin)

Will and Emily are very much in love. But when Will gives Emily a stunning red dress, everything somehow changes. This is a playful, modern, sexy and engrossing first novel by a new West Australian author. It is about beauty and books, love and desire, men and women, breakdowns and break-ups, the fierce friendships women have and what certain books mean to us. A  welcome new voice on the home front.

The Devil’s Brood by Sharon Penman $32.95 (Penguin)

Here is Penman’s long-awaited third novel about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. It has at its heart the implosion of a family, a story of devastating betrayal as Henry’s three eldest sons and his wife Eleanor enter into a rebellion against him, aligning themselves with his most bitter enemy, Louis of France. It is also the story of a great king whose brilliance forged an empire but whose blind spots led him to make the most serious mistake of his life. Fine stuff – Penman is one of the most critically acclaimed historical novelists writing today.

The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam $32.95 (Faber)

This is a sweeping epic novel that is moving and insightful. Lara, a young Russian woman is on a quest to Afghanistan to find news of her brother, a veteran of the Soviet invasion. Does the key to his disappearance lie with Marcus Caldwell, an Englishman who is grieving for his wife and daughter or with the Americans who now live in this region? The stories and histories that unfold tell of the terrible afflictions that have plagued Afghanistan The Wasted Vigil presents a timely portrait of this region and of love during war and conflict. It marks Aslam as a writer of major importance.

My Sister, My Love by Joyce Carol Oates $32.95 ((Fourth Estate)

This is a dark, wry, captivating tale, inspired by an unsolved American true-crime mystery. My Sister, My Love is based on the controversial true-crime mystery of the JonBenet Ramsey murder. When a beautiful ice-skating child prodigy is found brutally murdered, suspicion immediately mounts against friends, neighbours, and even the young girl’s own family. Told from the point of view of the dead girl’s brother, and in the inimitable style and gripping voice that has long been this author’s trade mark, My Sister, My Love takes us into a world that only the most daring and imaginative novelists can capture.

The Believers by Zoe Heller $32.95 (Penguin/Figtree)

Joel Litvinoff, a radical lawyer, has a stroke and lapses into a coma. This is the story of the wife and children he leaves behind. Audrey his wife who discovers that their relationship is far from as perfect as she thought it was; Rosa who is grappling with a need for a spiritual focus, Karla who starts to believe in herself when she finds someone that loves her and Lennie who is back on drugs again. In the course of battling their own demons and each other, every member of the family is called upon to decide what, if anything, they still believe in. A compulsive read by the author of Notes on a Scandal.

The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux $24.95 (Penguin)

This fabulous, far-reaching book captures the tumult, ambition, hardship and serenity that mark modern India. Theroux’s characters risk venturing far beyond its well worn paths to discover woe or truth or peace. We meet Indian characters as distinctive as they are indicative of their country’s subtle ironies. The Elephanta Suite urges us towards a fresh and compelling notion of India and its effects on those who try to lose or find themselves there. We might think we know India but, Theroux insists, we need to think again…

Everything I Knew by Peter Goldsworthy $32.95 (Hamish Hamilton)

Set in a small town in South Australia ’s Coonawarra this is the story of a young boy’s adolescent crush on his teacher, except that it becomes much more than a crush and things get out of hand. It is also the story of ordinary things like his dreams of becoming a writer and his deep friendship with a young aboriginal boy. Everything I Knew is a sexual farce with a serious heart. Goldsworthy takes the teacher-student taboo and turns it on its head. We are all, he argues expatriates from the country of our childhood, determined to believe we did things more innocently there. But adolescence is far from innocent, and in this novel it is a volatile interlude with tragic consequences. Goldsworthy always manages to surprise and impress us.

I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass $32.95 (Hutchinson)

This is a big, commanding novel about the accidents that determine our choices in love and marriage by the author of the book we all loved a few years ago The Three Junes. I See You Everywhere opens when two sisters, Louisa and Clem who are very close, are in their early twenties. It then unfolds through their lives in a vivid story of what we can and cannot do for those we love.

Louisa settles in New York while Clem moves restlessly about until she lands in the Rocky Mountains . Glass’s new novel is a powerful and moving double portrait that reveals the very nature of sisterhood.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas $32.95 (Allen & Unwin)

One of Australia ’s best contemporary novelists turns his unflinching eye on to the modern family. At a suburban barbeque, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends. What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children and the fury and intensity – all the passions and conflicting beliefs – that family can arouse. In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant novel about the nature of loyalty and happiness.

A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré $32.99 (Hodder)

Here is a new le Carré masterpiece: contemporary, poignant and utterly gripping. A half starved young Russian man is smuggled into Hamburg in the dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse around his neck. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa. Annabel, an idealist civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation and soon her client’s survival becomes more important to her than her own career. Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the so-called War on Terror, the spies of three nations converge upon the innocents.

Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter by Peter Mansteau $29.95 (Simon & Shuster)

From what I have heard, this first novel by a thirty-four year old promises to be an undiscovered gem. In the last years of the twentieth century, two very different lives unexpectedly converge; those of a Russian emigrant nearing the end of his days, and of his future translator, a twenty-one-year-old Boston college student for whom life and love, is just beginning. Set in a Yiddish bookshop, this is a story of adventure, passion and great friendship.  

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