Monthly Book Haul (April ’24)

I have two other Shreve books in my possession that I have yet to read, but I couldn’t resist not picking this up when I saw it for £1 on a walk through town.

Its premise does seem to be more directed at a female audience, but since it’s Shreve, I’m certain I’ll enjoy it from a writing standpoint. However, the love triangle dynamic outlined in the blurb… yeah, maybe I won’t enjoy the awkward, drama-filled story that creates. I guess time will tell what I think of it.

Not really my sort of thing, but I figured I’d give it a shot. Like all the books in this month’s haul, it was £1 – so I think it will at least provide me with a pound’s worth of entertainment.

It is clearly a thriller and tragedy novel, and, based on what it says on the back, I sense that it wants to touch on racial issues. I just hope that its writing is mature and sensitive enough to match the delicate subject matter.

I love a historic read, and as a European myself, I obviously have an interest in how the continent was shaped and warped from 1870 to 1970.

Non-fiction can sometimes be dull, but my fascination with 19th and 20th century societies will get me through. After all, it will have to talk about both major wars, alongside the countless political and geographical debacles that played out across this select century of time.

I’m very aware of the importance of Dickens’ work, and I’m familiar with the basics of his literary career, but I have never actually read a novel by Dickens. If I did, I definitely have no memory of it, other than covering a few paragraphs from a certain text whilst in secondary school.

Tangent and my inexperience with the author aside, would you turn down the chance to buy a good condition Penguin Classics book for the low price of £1?

Let me be honest, from the blurb I cannot make heads or tails of what this story is really about, or if it’s any good. That made this one a fun gamble.

So, really, this is only in the haul because my inability to decipher its themes (which I suspect to be romantic or tragic) spurred me to buy it. It was published by Faber & Faber, who are generally a reliable distributor of worthwhile fiction, so I’m sure it will give me enough value for the near nothing I paid for it.