Book review: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson

 

A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson

 

This is a review of the book A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson. The novel follows the story of a female missionary in Kashgar in 1923, interwoven with a thirty-something woman’s search for self in present-day London.

I found this a fascinating read. Both stories hooked me in quite early, though I confess I found the story of present-day Frieda slightly more engaging. This is very likely because it was more relatable to a woman of similar age living in the same period, but it doesn’t make Evangeline, the writer-come-missionary, any less interesting. It was interesting to see how two quite disparate tales could have so many things in common, and it was quite some time before I made the connection of how they could possibly be joined into one story.

The amount of research that must have gone into this novel is staggering. To have the level of detail present in 1920s Kashgar (and elsewhere on the Silk Road) that’s given is incredible, but it doesn’t go to waste – the picture painted of the desert city ninety years ago, and the attitudes and behaviour of its inhabitants, gives a really vivid impression of what it must have been like.  Evangeline’s mix of naiveté and worldliness is also fascinating, but totally believable given her background; things which seem obvious to a 21st century reader are a mystery to her, but there is also a keen understanding of human nature which shines through and helps give her her strength.

Equally, Frieda’s story is full of vivid details that make it come alive and her adventures with Tayeb, the Yemeni refugee who she finds sleeping in her doorway one night, are symptomatic of someone who is still trying to find her way in life. I loved her confusion at inheriting the possessions of Irene Guy, an old woman she’s never heard of, and her attempts at working out the connection between them and of looking after the owl she finds in Irene Guy’s flat.

If there is anything that didn’t quite work for me, it is probably the myriad of minor characters who sprinkle both tales. Because the Kashgar and London stories are told in alternate chapters, they don’t flow as smoothly as they could and sometimes I had to find myself flicking back a chapter or three to work out who Evangeline (or Frieda) was referring to and what their role was. Once I had that sorted out, though, I had little trouble following either woman’s journey.

Overall, it is an epic tale of self discovery, happening over two centuries in two different continents. Both women learn a lot about their place in the worlds along the way, and both women eventually find themselves in situations in which, for once, they feel comfortable, their stories becoming inextricably interwoven along the way. If you like reading well-written, touching stories about adventurous women in very different circumstances, this book is for you.

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A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
374 pages (paperback)
Available from Amazon.com as hardcover, paperback and e-book

 

Book review: Alison Wonderland, by Helen Smith

Alison Wonderland, by Helen Smith

This is a review of the book Alison Wonderland, by Helen Smith.

The novel follows the adventures of Alison Temple, a twenty-something Londoner who joins the detective agency she hired to find out if her husband was cheating on her. (He was.) Tasked with finding out about a secret project near Weymouth, she finds herself involved in a complicated mix of genetic engineering, the magical properties of abandoned babies, and mistaken identity.

While an enjoyable read, the book could have, I felt, been better. Alison’s sections were narrated in first person, so when the POV changed to a different character (eg, the intriguingly-named Ella Fitzgerald, head of the detective agency; her brother Clive; or Mr Bird or Mr Flowers, who were trying to hide the experimentation Alison was investigating) and switched to third person, it was a bit distracting. I felt that if Alison was in first person, then it should have been all her story – and if we were going to use the POVs of other characters then maybe it should all have been in third.

Having said that, the characters were second to none. Alison, her somewhat flaky friend Taron, lovesick neighbour Jeff, Ella, Clive, even the farmer they caught on the hillside with the shig – they were all well developed and with clear motivations. I admit I didn’t necessarily relate to Alison or Taron, possibly because of the casual drug culture they adhered to. Equally, I couldn’t understand how Alison could suddenly be looking after an abandoned baby with no one asking questions about how she got it or where it came from. However, I was willing to overlook that in the interests of poetic licence – it is, after all, a work of fiction.

I was also amused by the tizzy that Messrs Bird and Flowers got themselves into over Alison’s investigations, when really she didn’t have a clue what they were up to. Stealing what they thought was her address book and roughing up someone else’s friends was a nice touch, as was Jeff and his role in the whole affair. Overall, though, it felt like the book promised more than it delivered. There were amusing parts, but as a narrative it felt a little confused and disjointed.

I did enjoy Alison Wonderland. It was fun, lively and entertaining, and the mental image left from Alison and Taron’s visit to the fertility site on the hillside will stay in my mind for a long time. For a debut novel, it ticked a lot of the boxes and certainly made for a good afternoon’s reading. I just felt that it could have been better.

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Alison Wonderland, by Helen Smith
Published by Amazon Encore
201 pages (paperback)
Available from Amazon.com as ebook or paperback