Skeinspotting

A Quick Book Review

I have just finished reading The Alchemists' Daughter - Katherine McMahon

It is a historical romance. It is a thriller. Despite its subject matter and its setting, it is light and airy, quick and passionate. Some parts of it remind me of Rose Tremain's Restoration novel, especially the scientific sections. It is a powerful love story but the love does not flow from lover to lover but more from father to daughter, a powerful bond that even alchemy cannot alter. The lightness of the text means this is a quick read, it could be read in a couple of days. Finishing a book is always a wrench for me, partly because I cannot escape and must return to more pressing matters but also because of the anxiety of what to start next. If you can send me an SAE you can have a copy of this book.

These days, I can't bring myself to waste my time on novels I don't feel really passionate about. I have started reading Frank McCourt's Teacher Man but I'm finding that compared with Angela's Ashes it is unstructured and doesn't settle in any area long enough for me to want to feel committed to it. I will persevere and see if I can get used to the choppy anecdotal style. For anyone who hasn't read Angela's Ashes, you must as this is a truly gripping biography of a harsh childhood in Ireland that reads like Dickens but is in our lifetime.