BOOKS TOO GOOD TO MISS -
Recommendations by Martha Bayley
Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery & the Hunt for the Perfect Bird, by Joshua Hammer. A rollicking true crime story about a rogue who trades in rare birds and their eggs - and the wildlife detective who managed to stop him. "Reading the Falcon Thief, one thinks of Truman Capote, who elaborated on a tiny news story...Like Capote, Hammer has a keen eye for elegant detail..." The Christian Science Monitor
The Mirror & the Light, by Hilary Mantel. This third and final volume in her acclaimed Wolf Hall series finds Thomas Cromwell, Henry the VIII's "fixer", at the height of his power - which makes him all the more vulnerable. "A masterpiece...A novel of epic proportions, (that is) every bit as thrilling, propulsive, darkly comic and stupendously intelligent as its predecessors...The trilogy is complete, and it is magnificent." The Guardian
Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames, by Lara Maiklem. A beautifully written memoir of one woman's obsession with scouring the shores of London's great river for discarded objects from the past. "It's a riveting crash course not only in the history of London from prehistoric times to the present, but also in urban geography and how to read a living environment from organic clues." The Wall Street Journal
Agent Running in the Field, by John Le Carre. In the lead-up to Brexit, a 47 year old veteran of the British Secret Intelligence Service has been brought back to London to train new spies. But something isn't quite right about his new assignment, new friends and old associations. "So topical it arrives with the beeping urgency of a news alert". The Washington Post
Imperfect Union: How John & Jessie Fremont Mapped the West, Invented Celebrity and Helped Cause the Civil War, by Steve Inskeep. This surprisingly modern tale of ambition and fame tells the story of the husband and wife team who in the 1800's were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States - culminating in John Fremont's candidacy for President in 1856 under the banner of the new Republican Party. "Like Candace Millard's
Destiny of the Republic,
Imperfect Union finds a big, resonant, star studded subject that has been hiding in plain sight." The New York Times
This is Happiness, by Niall Williams. It's 1958, and Noel Crowe, a "lapsed" seminary student leaves Dublin for his grandparent's village in County Clare. Noel's unexpected arrival means that he must share a room with a lodger - an older gentleman who has come back to the village to make amends for a long ago wrong. All you need to stir this pot is a bit of electricity, for this little Irish village will be the very last one finally connected to the national grid. Old and new ways and old and new love all come together in one magical summer. Glorious and lyrical prose...this novel is a delight. Publisher's Weekly * Washington Post Best Book of the Year*