June/July 2013
A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks
London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Seven wintry days to track the lives of seven characters: a hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and a Tube driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop.
With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life, and the group is forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit. Sweeping, satirical, Dickensian in scope, A Week in December is a thrilling state of the nation novel from a master of literary fiction.
Overall Opinion:
Island Wife by Judy Fairbairns
My childhood socks were always white, my frocks ironed. Each day predictable, safe. I escaped. Aged 19, I was swept off my feet by a wild adventurer and married within months. Two small children later (with three more to come) complete with Labradors, cats, a heavy horse and hearts full of dreams, we arrived on a remote Hebridean island to begin our life on the Tapsalteerie Estate. Nothing was ever predictable again.
ISLAND WIFE tells the story of Judy, who, at 19, met her Wild Pioneer. He whisked her off into an adventure, a marriage of forty years, and a life on a remote Hebridean island. Along the way she bears five children, learns how to run a rocky hill farm, a hotel, a recording studio and the first whale watching business in the UK - all the while inventively making fraying ends meet. When her children start to leave home, things fall apart and there is sadness and joy in how she puts things back together. Judy tells her story in a clear and unique voice, in turns funny, unforgettable and intensely moving.
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This is an autobiography by Judy Fairbairns who, at the age of nineteen, marries a man ten years her senior and settles on the isle of Mull. When they first arrive on the island they have no money and live in a large old house without any modern conveniences, often cold, damp and miserable. Her husband turns out to be a workaholic who can turn his hand to anything and make a success of it. After some years as a
farmer he ends up setting up whalewatching trips on Mull which becomes a lucrative business. In the years that follow Judy organises the family (they have five children), looks after sheep, horses, dogs, runs a guesthouse and does numerous other tasks. Life is really hard for her and she gets very little support from her husband. This leads to increasing levels of frustration and unhappiness, culminating in a nervous breakdown
and Judy leaving the family and the island.
It takes several months before she gets the energy back to face life on Mull again and even longer for the family to settle back to normal life.
I enjoyed this book because it is not so much a story about the hardships experienced by family members but mainly an intensely personal account by a woman surviving emotional turmoil, misunderstandings and loneliness over a period of three decades.
It is very well written. You can just imagine all the upsets she describes in the book. I’m sure most women will recognise some aspects in their own lives and for that reason it will probably appeal especially to them. On August 25th 2013 Judy Fairbairns appeared at the Bridge of Lochay Hotel in front of an audience of the combined book clubs in Killin to discuss this book, which had just been published. She talked openly
about all her trials and tribulations in the book and most of the audience were very surprised to see her husband there as well! After so
many negative comments about him in the book it was brave of him to appear, especially because the audience was all female! It did prove, though, how the couple have overcome many of their difficulties and their communication has improved.
Both of them stayed on until well after Judy’s talk and enjoyed a glass of wine with the audience. It was altogether a very enjoyable evening.
Judy’s book is highly recommended!
Anneke Mayo
This is an autobiography by Judy Fairbairns who, at the age of nineteen, marries a man ten years her senior and settles on the isle of Mull. When they first arrive on the island they have no money and live in a large old house without any modern conveniences, often cold, damp and miserable. Her husband turns out to be a workaholic who can turn his hand to anything and make a success of it. After some years as a
farmer he ends up setting up whalewatching trips on Mull which becomes a lucrative business. In the years that follow Judy organises the family (they have five children), looks after sheep, horses, dogs, runs a guesthouse and does numerous other tasks. Life is really hard for her and she gets very little support from her husband. This leads to increasing levels of frustration and unhappiness, culminating in a nervous breakdown
and Judy leaving the family and the island.
It takes several months before she gets the energy back to face life on Mull again and even longer for the family to settle back to normal life.
I enjoyed this book because it is not so much a story about the hardships experienced by family members but mainly an intensely personal account by a woman surviving emotional turmoil, misunderstandings and loneliness over a period of three decades.
It is very well written. You can just imagine all the upsets she describes in the book. I’m sure most women will recognise some aspects in their own lives and for that reason it will probably appeal especially to them. On August 25th 2013 Judy Fairbairns appeared at the Bridge of Lochay Hotel in front of an audience of the combined book clubs in Killin to discuss this book, which had just been published. She talked openly
about all her trials and tribulations in the book and most of the audience were very surprised to see her husband there as well! After so
many negative comments about him in the book it was brave of him to appear, especially because the audience was all female! It did prove, though, how the couple have overcome many of their difficulties and their communication has improved.
Both of them stayed on until well after Judy’s talk and enjoyed a glass of wine with the audience. It was altogether a very enjoyable evening.
Judy’s book is highly recommended!
Anneke Mayo
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