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....continued... - nikkinaz - 26-05-2004
Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy (John Murray/Hodder & Stoughton)
Set in California, Liars and Saints follows four generations of the Catholic Santerre family from World War II to the present, as they navigate a succession of life-altering events -- through the submerged emotion of the fifties, the recklessness and excess of the sixties and seventies, and the reckonings of the eighties and nineties. In a family driven by jealousy and propriety as much as by love, an unspoken tradition of deceit is passed from generation to generation, and fiercely protected secrets gradually drive the Santerres apart. When tragedy shatters their precarious domestic lives, it takes astonishing courage and compassion to bring them back together. By turns funny and disturbing, irreverent and profound, Liars and Saints is a masterful display of Maile Meloy's prodigious gifts, and of her penetrating insight -- into an extraordinary American family and into the nature of human love.
The Mermaid and the Drunks by Ben Richards (Phoenix/Orion)
Fresia, the daughter of Chilean exiles leaves London following the suicide of her father to embark on a journey of self discovery in her mother country. She meets Joe, a Scottish academic on a research trip and Roberto, a wealthy local. The shadow of Pinochet and his legacy provide the backdrop to this novel which examines nationality, belonging and roots, friendship and loyalty, and of course, love.
Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen (Pan)
A witty, sophisticated romantic comedy which explores the universal themes of love, loyalty and family. American Maggie Monroe is a journalist for New York's hard-hitting current affairs show Newsline. Independent and fearless, the more cutting-edge the story, the happier she is. But when her next assignment turns out to be an in-depth documentary on the decline of England's ruling classes, she's furious at being sent to cover a bloody tea party. Meet the Earl and Countess of Bevan, eccentric, maddening and with family secrets to hide. Meet Daniel Bevan - their eldest son. Funny, attractive and hopelessly alcoholic. Meet Daniel's responsible brother Rory - angry, self-mocking and strictly teetotal. When Maggie discovers Rory to be an uninvited chaperone on the first stop of her journey the two look set to clash. Maggie finds herself torn between her journalist ideals and coming to terms with a greater understanding. This unlikely romantic comedy paints an endearing portrait of a family, which like so many others, holds itself together despite its evident frailties.