Janet Gordon, who lives in Takeley, reviews best-sellers and debut fiction for the Indie
D-Day: The Unheard Tapes by Geraint Jones (Macmillan £22)
Were you, like me, glued to the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations? I’m not ashamed to say I was in tears watching the veterans talking about their lost pals and how they weren’t the heroes. The heroes were those who never made it back.
And there was such wonderful coverage of all the local events in the Indie.
I have such a personal interest in this since my dad was a D-Day veteran. He was 29 when he landed on D-Day, older than most of the others since his corp, the Pioneer Corp, was made up of those men who had originally been turned down for the draft.
Dad had a lazy eye (something I’ve inherited!) and so wasn’t fit for service initially, but with Operation Overlord approaching they needed to call up every able-bodied man, no matter how bad their eyesight!
He did attend the 60th anniversary and received his Legion D’Honor from the French mayor, but, to be honest, he never really spoke about it. Although when interviewed for the media, he was asked about getting off the landing craft and he just replied that there was nowhere else to go, so he jumped off the boat, into the water with his rifle above his head.
He landed with one of the first waves and ended up laying tracks for the tanks. I know this is stupid, but I always find myself scanning all the news reels just to see if I can catch a glimpse of Dad on a landing craft.
Packed with previously unheard memories from those who were actually there, D-Day: The Unheard Tapes by Geraint Jones is a must-read for all militaria collectors.
The Suspect by Rob Rinder (Century £20)
I haven’t yet managed to watch Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour on the BBC - I’m saving that for yet another rainy day - as I’m currently racing through the second legal thiller-ish from “Judge” Rinder.
Last year the wonderful Rinder published his first novel, The Trial, which introduced pupil barrister Adam Green and not forgetting his marvellous dialogue with his Jewish mother (think Maureen Lipman as Beattie in the BT ads). Now he’s back with his second novel, The Suspect, and Adam is now a junior barrister in Stag Court.
Some people are convinced that Rinder has had help from a ghostwriter. Me, I don’t know and, to be honest, I don’t really care because Rinder is such an intelligent and chatty person that I’m convinced he’s quite capable of writing such a scintillating read with sparky dialogue and the interaction between Adam and his mum, who is desperate to find him a girlfriend.
In this great not-quite-a-locked-room mystery, a popular television presenter from a breakfast show dies on air and the only person who can be suspected is the TV chef. I loved it.
Riding Route 66 by Henry Cole (Quercus £22)
Route 66 is one of those legendary roads that we’ve all heard about and dreamt of driving on. And I expect it will be one of those roads I’m never going to get to.
Henry Cole is an extremely well-known name in motorcycle circles and has ridden this route on three occasions. His tale begins with his list of 10 commandments about riding the route and then follows up with a list of what not to bring.
Since I can’t do this ride in person - and, quite honestly, even if I could it wouldn’t be on a motorbike - I can only read vicariously. Great fun and one of those books you can keep by your side and dream.
Melting Point by Rachel Cockerell (Wildfire £25)
When my grandparents left Russia to escape the pogroms back in the 1900s they arrived in London’s East End not speaking English, with barely any money, nowhere to live and certainly with a totally different name to that I grew up with. In fact, it was only through the help of the Jewish Welfare Board that they managed to find a room to rent and my grandfather began work in a timber yard.
The first trace I’ve managed to find is in 1904 when their first child, my Aunt Rebecca, was born. I’ve spent weeks trawling through genealogy sites trying to trace my family. And I managed it. I found out what my original maiden name would have been and tracked down relatives in the US who somehow ended up in New York whilst my family landed in London.
Someone else who has done just this is Rachel Cockerell. Her great-grandfather David Jochelmann is the man who, in 1907, persuaded hundreds of Russians (using the term loosely to encompass Ukraine, Lithuania etc) to emigrate, not to New York or even to Jerusalem but to Texas (I have cousins living out there).
It began what is known as the Galveston Movement – a forgotten moment when over 10,000 Jews fled to Texas at the onset of the First World War.
Cockerell has undertaken so much research as she follows the Jochelmann family through both world wars, to London, New York and Jerusalem. This is an absolute treasure trove of memories.
Lost London by Tim Brown (Amberley £15.99)
As I mentioned earlier, my grandparents arrived in London and eventually managed to rent a room in London’s East End, in a street that certainly doesn’t exist any more.
All I remember of the area is an iron railway bridge over Cheshire Street, but I just love looking at all the pictures which illustrate just how much London has changed.
One of my favourite lost London things is the lost rivers – the Fleet, the Walbrook and the Tynebourne just to mention a few.
In Lost London, Tim Brown focuses on all sorts of pubs and views. I rather like the Spratts Dog Biscuit building, now swish flats, on page 47.
The Death Watcher by Chris Carter (Simon & Schuster £20)
There are so many online book clubs and, of course, our wonderful Bishop’s Stortford Library and there are always people talking about Chris Carter’s novels and eagerly awaiting a new release. The Death Watcher is Carter’s 13th novel featuring Robert Hunter and his sidekick Carlos Garcia.
Carter is known for his uber gory reads which have been getting gorier and gorier with each successive novel, but in The Death Watcher he has toned it down somewhat.
Starting off with what seems like a straightforward hit and run, it turns out that the victim was dead before he was dead and the sharp-eyed coroner conducting the post mortem immediately contacts Hunter with her suspicions. And so it goes on.
I wouldn’t say it’s a change of pace with this one, but definitely there’s not quite so much action (although wait until you get to the last few chapters). But for all Chris Carter fans – and there are legions – this is a must-read.