Kids Out and About AUTUMN BOOK REVIEWS We all like a good read, whether chilling on the sofa at home or just before bedtime. James & Louise Ashmore who own Read bookshop in the heart of Holmfifirth have another two crackers for you and the kids to try this autumn... the traditionally masculine traits so celebrated by those he meets in his father’s world, the Travellers and their bare-knuckle prize-fifighters, but he is gentle and kind and is seen as the last hope for the family who must be protected. Cathy, however, is rangy and strong, and has to be the one to stand up for both of them. Constantly underestimated by the endless men and boys who line up to demean her, it is in Cathy that Mozley shows us what true strength actually is. There is an inevitability to Cathy’s journey, one that will end in blood and fifire. Lyrical but brutal, Mozley’s novel will remain with you long after you turn the fifinal page. It’s an explosion of a book, one that feels like it was blasted out of the crags and moors of Yorkshire itself. THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND BY CATHERINE DOYLE Review by Louise Ashmore We often meet adults in the shop who have busy lives and struggle to fifind time to read. One good way of getting back into reading again is to try young adult or 9-12 books which can very often have fantastic stories that appeal to adults just as much as children.The Storm Keeper’s Island is one of the best books for this. Not only has it captured children’s imaginations, but also every adult we’ve sold it to has loved it as well. The book is set on the island of Arranmore, just off the west-coast of Ireland, where a brother (Fionn) and his sister (Tara) have been sent to stay with their grandfather whilst their mother is unwell. Strange things start to happen and they realise that there is magic on the island. Not only are they witnesses to it but they are more central to it than they could have ever imagined.Their grandfather, who has taken care of the island for many years starts to develop Alzheimer’s, and is determined to ensure that the island will be well looked after into the future. The descriptive language, particularly of the magic and the power that the weather has over the island is beautiful. Doyle manages to capture the love-hate relationship between Tara and Fionn perfectly and the book’s dramatic scenes are complemented well by their scenes together. Sensitive issues such as grief are tackled well and ensure that the book is so much more than an adventure book. This is a perfect time for both children and adults to read this book as the sequel,The Lost Tide Warriors, has just been released and is every bit as wonderful as its predecessor. ELMET BY FIONA MOZLEY Review by James Ashmore This utterly astonishing novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2017 and subsequently robbed of the title, is easily one of the best novels of the last ten years. The fact that this is Mozley’s debut is even more astonishing; you will not fifind a more accomplished fifirst-time work. As much a character in the book as the central trio of Daniel, Cathy and their Daddy, John, is the rural Yorkshire landscape, the Elmet of the title,“the last independent Celtic kingdom in England” that “originally stretched out over the vale ofYork” we discover from Ted Hughes at the start of the book. These are the “badlands” and Mozley mines their historical and geographical signifificance to create an entirely new genre – Yorkshire Noir. Her description of place is masterful: “An ancient forest ran in a grand strip from north to south. Boars and bears and wolves. Does, harts, stags. Miles of underground fungi. Snowdrops, bluebells, primroses. The trees had long since given way to crops and pasture and houses and railways tracks and little copses, like ours, were all that was left.” Here, in their copse, John is slowly building a new life for his family, crafting all they need from the landscape that surrounds them. But John, a huge, rope-muscled brute, has a violent past, a role as an enforcer for monied landowner, Mr Price, that just can’t be forgotten. The dangerous existence he’s left behind now stalks his whole family and is exacerbated when John is persuaded to help support a renters’ revolt, an uprising against Price and his ilk. Only by reverting to the man he used to be can John see a way through to safety. John may emanate sheer physical strength and power, but it is in his children where Mozley lays the heart of the story. Daniel, who often curses what he sees as his cowardice, lacks SADDLEWORTH • 01457 879030 SADDCLEENWTROER•TPHO•N0E1N4U5M7B8E7R9030 1B 1SBtaSttioatnioRn oRaoda,dG, Grroottotonn, ,Oldldham OL4 5SFF Address www.kipmcgrath.co.uk/centre www.kipmcgrath.co.uk/centre 1 www.AroundSADDLEWORTH.co.uk www.AroundSADDLEWORTH.co.uk 70