It's all beautifully realised - as you'd expect from this magical author. And it comes highly recommended by Bookbag for all children, as soon as they are able to read alone. It tells the story of a young man who as a university project goes to study a Renaissance garden in Italy. It's written in the past, and opens with him in university, and the narrator says of his past self: "Try as he might, he couldn't penetrate the workings of that stranger's mind, let alone say with any certainty how he would have dealt with the news that murder lay in wait for him, right around the corner." I mean, seriously. Murder . . . right around the corner. Hurl. This approach directly situates the reader in the moment, understanding the unfolding campaign from the perspectives of individual combatants and eye-witnesses, with no foreshadowing or assumption of future events. It provides an accurate depiction of the uncertainty, fear, and randomness of war, where the survival of individuals (regardless of their prominence in the narrative) cannot be guaranteed. Holland’s narrative is driven from the perspectives of a range of individuals, both civilian and combatant, which provides the reader with a deep insight into the human dimension of warfare. In particular, it evokes the feelings of loss and indeed grief as individuals are wounded or killed. Competing priorities Savage Garden is an engrossing and intriguing story, but what raises it to another level are the very clever links with neoclassical literature, especially Dante’s epic poem Divine Comedy. The soul’s journey towards God from Inferno (Hell), through Purgatorio and onto Paradiso (Heaven) is one of the oldest classics. I recently discovered that an Irish monk, Marcus wrote his book, The Vision of Tundale two centuries before Dant's Inferno and tells of the 9 levels of torture towards hell. These 9 levels are a big aspect of this story but the reference is explicit about Dante's version. Every battle with death is lost before it begins. The splendour of the battle cannot lie in its outcome, but only in the dignity of the act.” // Paul-Louis Landsberg

Tells the story of the hard, bloody, muddy fighting that filled the rest of 1943… this excellent book reinforces Holland’s reputation as the busiest and most popular military historian of the second world war working today’ Spectator After a week and a half of binging all of Sophie’s books I can say she’s one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she puts out. I've said this before but it's worth mentioning again that when Sophie writes her books I feel like she is giving words of wisdom to us all whether that be from a relationship standpoint or building your own self confidence. Her books while they're fantastic stories with even better spice - there is so much MORE inside these books if you genuinely read between the lines.Every time I read a new Sophie Lark book I have this huge feeling of anticipation, wondering how she's going to surprise me next. And she always does, I'm never disappointed with a new Sophie book. I know sophie did us a solid writing this, but with everything that happens in this book I don’t know HOW she could go without giving us more of this world and it’s characters. I mean… can we stay here forever? Please. I just have to tell you that the first line of the author's bio is "Mark Mills graduated from Cambridge University in 1986." I guess that's the beginning and end of his life and everthing we need to know about him. Hurl.

One of my biggest issue with this story is that Adrik does not see her as his equal. Sabrina was reduced to such a grotesque sad version of who she initially started out as by Sophie Lark and Adrik. That probably wasn’t intended but that’s how it came across. Why? you ask (hopefully) Keep reading please. Excellently written, The Savage God is filled with memorable, disquieting, and thought-provoking quotes from throughout history. Here are a few of my favorites: A LITTLE more time before the epilogue! Maybe this is a future Patreon short? We never really saw Sabrina bonding with Jasper or Vlad, so I would have loved a bit more of a reunion with her and the guys, other than at the tattoo parlor. Also, I wanted just a bit more of Adrik and Sabrina post-shit-going-down, pre-wedding-bliss. But I'm just selfish like that. Despite the very slow pace of this novel I found it hugely atmospheric. Maybe especially so because I know some of the places mentioned personally, A particular favourite being Bomarzo, The Sacred Wood.

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David Almond looks at bereavement in quirkier way in My Dad's a Birdman, while art blends with sentiment in This Land is Your Land, Kathy Jakobsen's take on the Woody Guthrie classic. Indeed, the invasion of Italy has arguably been considerably overlooked by modern historians, in favour of the campaigns in Normandy and the Eastern Front. An unfortunate consequence of this is that the Italian campaign is poorly understood among the general public, despite the noble sacrifices of so many soldiers and civilians in opening this front against Nazi Germany. As Holland points out, when troops desperately fought and died for bare metres of mud in the Italian countryside, they did not have the luxury of knowing whether they fought in a location that would be commemorated for decades to come, or in places that would be condemned to anonymity and rapidly forgotten. As Andrew delves into the garden’s meandering paths and shadowy grotto, however, he comes to suspect that the hidden meaning is much more sinister. Could it be that the garden serves as much more than a memorial to a tragically deceased young woman? Is it possible that the carefully chosen references and precisely placed ornaments describe the method and motive of her murder? Do the clues in the garden point to the identity of her murderer? To express an inward tragedy in an art form, and so purge himself of it, is something that can only be achieved by an artist who, even while living through his tragedy, was already putting forth sensitive feelers and weaving his delicate threads of construction; who, in short, was already incubating his creative ideas. There can be no such thing as living through the storm in a state of frenzy and then liberating pent-up emotions in a work of art as an alternative to suicide. How true that is can be seen from the fact that artists who really have killed themselves because of some tragedy that happened to them are usually trivial songsters, lovers of sensation, who never, in their lyrical effusions, even hint at the deep cancer that is gnawing them. From which one learns that the only way to escape from the abyss is to look at it, measure it, sound its depths and go down into it.” (Cesare Pavese)

As with two other books I read on the subject ( History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture and Leaving You: The Cultural Meaning of Suicide), this one contains much to open the eyes and provoke thought. The overall lesson here is simple (and applies as well to the other two), though it does a disservice to these engaging books to reduce it to such: the human being does have and has always had many possible reasons for committing suicide. Those reasons, in any particular case, are often kept private, may not be speakable by the suicide, and may go beyond the individual (as with the Jews of Masada or the aborigines of Tasmania). Those who remain behind, and those who see and wonder, are left, as Alvarez says in his preface, to "attempt to find out why these things happen." Thus, along with the many possible reasons for one person's self-destruction, many theories have arisen to explain the phenomenon. Alvarez surveys the reasons as well as the theories, often paying close attention to writers and other artists. As I say, I was captivated by the older mystery, less so by the newer one -- in fact, although I was by no means bored by the latter, I wasn't 100% sure why Mills had included it. Even so, he managed to pull together the two different elements skilfully enough that it was only later that I began to have my doubts. All that being said, and I truly hope I can have this come across the way I want it to. This book was not what I personally enjoy reading. Not every story is going to be for me. That doesn't mean I won't still recommend it or still shout about how great this story is, but I had 2 main issues that lessened my enjoyment quite a bit. This book is about suicide. It opens with the author's personal reminiscence of Sylvia Plath who he was somewhat of a friend of, and ends with the story of his own failed suicide attempt (which chronologically came before Plath's successful attempt). Being longstanding fans of David Almond’s work such as My Name is Mina and The Fire Eaters, it was wonderful to see how one of his stories is adapted so brilliantly to the stage and the images on the walls coupled with the music truly brought the book and the production to life. The set is very sparse but with the stage being so small, this works very well in the telling of the story. The four actors who play the various character parts were outstanding and so convincing in their roles. We thought that the actor playing Blue developed the character exceedingly well from the first scene, then throughout the performance, until the savage fully consumes him and he appears towards the end in his full “savage” costume.The Savage Storm is a remarkable achievement by a historian at the height of his powers. Holland has successfully illustrated both the significance and the savagery of the Italian campaign for a new audience through a powerful and compelling narrative. This book will surely become an authoritative reference for all readers with an interest in understanding the European theatre in the Second World War. James Holland Listen to the newborn infant’s cry in the hour of birth—see the death struggles in the final hour—and then declare whether what begins and ends in this way can be intended to be enjoyment. – Soren Kierkegaard Mills masterfully reveals each piece of the puzzle, drawing his readers along at an almost leisurely pace. The story reads like a lazy summer afternoon – each new clue is discovered in its own time. Yet the murders add an urgent undercurrent to the narrative, pulling the readers forward until all is understood. The overall conflict between the H/h had so many layers, but ultimately I love that message that a couple is stronger together. Real love has a foundation of respect, listening, recognizing strengths and being vulnerable with your heart. Other authors he examines in this section include John Donne, Robert Burton, William Cowper, Thomas Chatterton, Goethe (he focuses on The Sorrows of Young Werther’s impact in particular), Coleridge, Camus, and Dostoevsky. After discussing literature, he concludes the book by sharing the story of his own suicide attempt.