By The Dart


Book Review W


ays with words...... It’s a good time of year for books with bookie


events aplenty. As we go to press we will be in the midst of Independent Booksellers’ Week (30th June – 7th July). National Reading Group Day is on 30th June and the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction was announced on 30th May. Locally, we can’t forget the nationally acclaimed Ways with Words Festival (6th - 16th July). This is a vibrant festival which gives those who read books the chance to meet those who write them in the glorious setting of Dartington Hall. It is a favourite in any booklover’s diary with an impressive and varied programme from which I’ve cherry-picked this month’s recommendations.


On Thursday 12 July Joanne Harris will talk about her latest novel - ‘Peaches for Monsieur le Cure’ (£18.99 Doubleday). It is the third of her books following the tale of Vivianne Rocher of Chocolat fame and tells the story of her return to the intriguing Southern French town of Lansquenet. It doesn’t disappoint with Harris “ immersing the reader in a bath of seductive imagery in a brave and grippingly confected story.” Sunday Times Fans of the intriguing and fact- based ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’ by Kate Summerscale will have the opportunity to hear about her latest creation, ‘Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady’ (£16.99 Bloomsbury). This is a “masterful telling of a true Victorian scandal” writes Rachel Cooke in The Guardian, about an1858 divorce case which used a personal diary as its key evidence. A compelling story of romance


and fidelity it navigates the cloudy waters of marital law, Victorian sexuality and the growing women’s liberation movement. Helen Dunmore, a previous Orange prize winner, is a widely acclaimed


by Emma Jones


contemporary author who has mastered poetry, children’s fiction, short stories and novels. On Tuesday 10 July she will talk about her move into new territory, ghost fiction with ‘The Greatcoat’ (Hammer £9.99). Set in the Post- war period Dunmore skillfully brings history to life; The Times calls it “the most elegant literary flesh-creeper since Susan Hill’s ‘The Woman in Black’, whilst “her recreation of an early Fifties world is immaculate,” says the Daily Mail.


Other highlights of this 20th Anniversary event include


Hilary Mantel, Devon based literary star Nicholas Evans, James Naughtie and Deborah Moggach - author of the much-loved film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’. I myself have tickets for Emma Kennedy – an actress, writer and comedian who takes comic travel writing to a new level and has even be described as ‘the female Bill Bryson’ – as she talks about her latest book ‘I left my tent in San Francisco’ (£7.99 Ebury Press). Andrea’s top tip of the month and essential holiday reading: ‘The Thread’ (£7.99 Headline Review) by Victoria Hislop. The Observer calls it “a beach book with a


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