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helganotes

@helganotes

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An Unofficial Rose by Iris Murdoch

This novel randomly caught my eye in a charity shop that I was browsing during an errand. I read my first Murdoch, The Italian Girl (also Vintage Classics), last year and really enjoyed her writing so took this as a sign to pick this one up. I also love the idea of slowly making my way to some of her most famous works like The Sea, the Sea over time.

The story begins with the widower Hugh attending his late wife’s funeral and reflecting on her life and their marriage. A web of characters emerges from his son Randall and his wife Ann to Hugh’s former lover, Emma. I’m starting to grasp that Murdoch is an utter expert at weaving schemes as she uncovers the hidden desires of all the characters with charm and wit. She also has a way of fully fleshing out characters in so few pages and in this novel she explores the ripple effects of characters choosing to remain confined or to break free.

I must admit that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable and the plot is, in a way, expertly driven by self-interest and infatuation. However, this book has made me fall in love with her writing style more - it perfectly keeps you company and the short chapters keep you hooked throughout. I’ve also loved the cozy start of autumn here in London and can’t wait to see which Murdoch I stumble across next. taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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19 hours ago

Three by Na Zhong

The premise of this novel immediately drew me in - the protagonist ‘N’, living in the US, visits her parents back in China. To understand the cracks in their relationship, Zhong retraces her mother’s life and her own working class upbringing in an industrial town in China.

Zhong’s tone is conversational and very intimate throughout as she explores the complicated mother-daughter relationship. She describes moments of closeness particularly through food but the wider sacrifices, dependencies and betrayals that are at the heart of this relationship too.

It’s a story that pulls at your heartstrings as the gulf between N and her parents grows. In fact, Zhong creates a palpable distance by referring to the mother and daughter as ‘the woman’ and ‘the daughter’ throughout. I felt similarities with Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner and A Woman’s Story by Ernaux.

It’s overall a shorter read with an incredibly personal feel. The mesmerising prose really drew me in, and I love stories like these, which explore relationships that have shaped us with vulnerability and empathy. Thank you to @netgalley and @joylandpublishing for the ARC - it’s officially coming out this October 13th💗 taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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8 days ago

To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong

I’ve been really excited to read this book! It was released last year by Les Fugitives, an independent publisher initially focused on translations from French women writers but that has since expanded to other translations and literary works. I remember seeing a fresh flurry of posts when this book won the Betty Trask Prize, a British literary award focused on new young authors.

This novel is written from the perspective of a female student who’s about to enter her final year of studying psychology at a university. We hear about her daily life made up of lectures and dissertation work but also the connections she makes, particularly with another dorm mate called Luke. Armstrong describes the closeness that builds between them but also the murkiness and messiness of emotions.

The book sucked me in from its first page and I found its loose narrative style really engaging. I also just felt a lot of authenticity in her descriptions of the university experience and the intensity of forming deep connections for the first time. It felt very relatable to me and made me pause on some pages and re-read some lines that just really spoke to me.

I think you would enjoy this novel too if you like contemporary novels by new authors with an original voice. This one revolves around the young adult experience and first romantic experiences but also grapples with bigger questions like finding meaning and connection too🫶🏼 taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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15 days ago

Emma by Jane Austen

I’ve been so excited to read this book ever since I got my hands on it! It marks the fifth book I’ve read by Austen and is once again a charity bookshop find. I spent a weekend in Paris and Emma was the perfect companion for my little trip. I tried to squeeze in as much as possible and loved stopping by bookstores, walking everywhere, munching on warm butter croissants and seeing some gorgeous paintings too.

This novel revolves around Emma Woodhouse who lives with her father in Highbury. Emma is charismatic, strong-willed but also quite arrogant. She meddles in others’ affairs and plots marriages, largely driven by her conviction that everyone else must have the same wants as her. Austen deeply focuses on class and social hierarchies in this novel but still infuses moments of humour and wit too.

Whilst Emma is quite blindsided by her own delusion, she is well meaning and as the novel progresses there is a lot of character development, which made me love Emma by the end in any case. I found it really engaging and comforting to read Emma and I loved that Austen dedicated the final chapters to tying up the story well. Emma definitely has a special place in my heart and I overall feel like it’s one of Austen’s best works as well - I can’t wait to watch the movie adaptations now! taken in Paris, France by @helganotes

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22 days ago

Fateless by Imre Kertész

I picked up a copy of this novel published in 1975 during my last trip to Hungary. Kertész was a Holocaust survivor and this novel draws heavily on his own experiences. It tells the story of a fifteen year old Jewish boy called Gyuri who first witnesses his father being sent to a labour camp and shortly after experiences deportation himself.

Kertész’s writing is deceptively simple - witnessing the events through the eyes of an adolescent boy who initially cannot register the gravity of events builds to a very heavy and heartbreaking read. We are privy to his initial disorientation as he is transported to Auschwitz and Buchenwald and as he slowly begins to piece together his new reality.

Alongside this, Kertész also captures the people that Gyuri meets and hones in on their characters and quirks thereby also paying tribute to them. He uncovers some complex emotions tied to the familiarity, camaraderie and structure of life in a concentration camp and the attitudes of Hungarians who experienced the war in different ways.

I took my time reading this novel and the sheer brutality of the events described naturally led me to take breaks frequently. It’s an important Hungarian classic for a reason and I’m really glad I’ve read it. I feel like the perspective it’s written from made it stand out to me in particular! taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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a month ago

The Illiterate by Ágota Kristóf

I finally picked up a copy of Kristóf’s memoir (tr. into German by Andrea Spingler) during my travels in Vienna! I was drawn to it when I found out more about Kristóf’s life story - Kristóf fled Hungary after the Soviet suppression of the anti-communist uprising when she was in her early twenties with her husband and four month old baby. She eventually found work in a factory in French-speaking Switzerland.

In this short memoir she chronologically shares her journey through brief vignettes. We feel the pain of her childhood being cut short and the feelings of displacement, homesickness and doubt, which permeate her life following her crossing of the border. However, she also captures her strong conviction in her own craft, which ultimately leads her to become a published author in French - the very language that initially felt so foreign to her.

It’s a really moving, inspiring and piercing memoir and you can see just how much of her own life story she poured into books like The Notebook Trilogy, which utterly blew me away when I read it a few years ago. I really recommend this book either as a contextual starting point or if you’re a fan of her writing already like me! taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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a month ago

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

This novel (tr. Ann Goldstein) recounts the aftermath of Olga, a mother of two, being left by her husband. She finds her world suddenly flipped upside down along with her daily routines and identity. Ferrante deeply explores the mental spirals that Olga loses herself in with her slowly becoming unrecognisable to herself and her own children.

It’s a compulsive, manic and obsessive read, which vulnerably explores motherhood and the female experience when hitting rock bottom. Whilst this naturally makes for a heavier read, Ferrante does give us glimpses of hope and strength too and there’s a real pace to the novel, which had me flicking through the pages and loving this one quickly.

I’m really glad I picked this one up and I feel like this makes for a very fitting and seasonal WITMonth read too! Ferrante is one of my favourite authors since I finished the Neapolitan Quartet by her and I love the fact that I have some of her standalone novels to savour now. I would recommend this one to fans of her work - it’s introspective, a little dark and psychological in a very good way🫶🏼 taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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2 months ago

Blood Book by Kim de l’Horizon

In this auto-fictional novel l’Horizon explores the weight of family secrets, a gender-fluid identity and an internal class struggle. It was released a few years ago but I only recently came across it through Nelio Biedermann’s recommendation and I knew I wanted to bring it with me on my trip to Copenhagen. My time in Copenhagen was utterly magical - I had some very lucky sunny days, munched on plenty of cardamom buns and stopped by some bookstores too.

Whilst there is a certain structure to the novel through distinct chapters, it feels largely experimental in nature. It begins with short vignettes about the narrator’s grandma living in Bern, Switzerland and subsequently retraces their family history through the history of the copper beech and stories of their female bloodline. I really enjoyed the deeply personal and intimate narrative voice and how it explored the limitations of language itself - the final chapter switches from German to English enabling the narrator to write the unspeakable and thereby break the chain of an inherited silence.

Even though some chapters captured my attention more than others, it felt like an utterly original and creative read. The novel felt alive to me and I just loved how raw and piercing the writing was. I did a bit of digging and this award-winning book has also recently been released as a paperback in English by @hodderbooks (tr. Jamie Lee Searle)! taken in Copenhagen, Denmark by @helganotes

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2 months ago

Supporting Act by Agnes Lidbeck

This novel (tr. from Swedish by Nichola Smalley) is centred around womanhood through Anna’s shifting roles from mother to lover to carer. Lidbeck skilfully captures the quiet rage that boils away under Anna’s skin and which keeps building with the monotony of each day.

Lidbeck’s writing style is incredibly gripping, sharp and intentional. Passages in italics scattered throughout the various parts also provide a wider commentary on societal expectations and human behaviour. I thought these worked really well and invited deeper reflections on invisibility, fulfilment, and confinement.

I’m really glad this was my first book from Peirene Press, an independent UK publisher with a stunning catalogue of translated books with a contemporary touch! I honestly can’t wait to read more from Lidbeck and I recommend this novel for fans of Rachel Cusk’s A Life’s Work and My Work by Olga Ravn💗 taken in London, United Kingdom by @helganotes

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2 months ago

Come with me on a solo bookish date in West London! I took my current read with me, which is the Supporting Act by Agnes Lidbeck (tr. from Swedish by Nichola Smalley)💗

I first stopped @oxfambookschiswick - this location has such a great selection of second hand books and I always find a little gem in the classics or fiction section!

Then I snagged an outside seat @matchado_london to make the most of the good weather with a matcha latte and I read a few pages😌 I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while and it’s been very gripping!

I walked a little further to browse in an independent bookshop called @everybody.reads - they have such a well curated selection and I always like browsing their short reads section!

Finally, I just took the bus home which also let me squeeze in a few more pages. Thank you for following along for my little day🫶🏼 taken in Chiswick, London by @helganotes

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3 months ago

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

I recently took a little trip to a coastal town in England and mostly just walked around the seafront and old town but also loaded up on yummy seafood and coffee😌 I wanted to read something seasonal and brought the summer book along with me, which I had been eyeing for such a long time!

This book (tr. by Thomas Teal) includes little snippets of a summer spent on an island in the Gulf of Finland by Sophia, a six year old child, together with her grandmother. The short chapters immerse you in the plants, winds, and waves around the island and you get the sense that many days simply drift away with the book giving you little glimpses into some of the happenings.

The narrative is playful and often humorous too as Tove captures childhood curiosity and intergenerational interactions with loss lingering quietly in the background. Tove has been said to have based this novel in parts around her mother and niece who spent many summers on an island together. It gives such a personal touch to this slower summer read, which perfectly kept me company as I was experiencing summer myself in this seaside town. I also recently found out about the movie that’s being released in August and can’t wait to watch it🥹 taken in Deal, Kent by @helganotes

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3 months ago

White Rabbits / Down Below by Leonora Carrington

This book contains Carrington’s memoir Down Below as well as a collection of eight short stories written throughout her lifetime. It was a brilliant review of Down Below by @wanderreadings and Carrington’s life story that compelled me to read this book. Carrington was an English surrealist painter who, following her partner being taken to a concentration camp, suffered a psychotic break and was confined to a psychiatric hospital in Spain before she eventually settled in Mexico.

The book begins with the short stories, which are interlaced with natural and surreal elements in ways that are very readable. The stories involve speaking hyenas and horses and quite a bit of world building that has quite eery and unsettling undertones. These are followed by Down Below whereby in a diary format she compels herself to recount her experiences of inhumane treatment at the psychiatric hospital, which are utterly heartbreaking.

I think what’s incredible is that in Down Below, you truly get a snippet into her brain and her perception of reality, however dreamlike or absurd. I think stories like hers that are interlaced with so much pain are often told incredibly matter of fact - there is no need to embellish or exaggerate as the facts speak for themselves. She also briefly shares how these experiences gave her the urgency to paint.

I would actually recommend starting with Down Below to give an insight into her personal experiences, which have shaped her surrealist stories and paintings too. I will link a few additional sources below but I’m really grateful to @penguinukbooks for the ARC (and the translators involved). This edition containing both her short stories and memoir is released this 9th of July in the UK☺️ taken in London, England by @helganotes

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3 months ago