These are some of the books our books editor, Meneesha Govender, received recently. They may be reviewed later
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& Sons
by David Gilbert (Fourth Estate)
The funeral of Charles Henry Topping on Manhattan’s Upper East Side would have been a minor affair, except for the presence of one particular mourner who was his oldest friend: the notoriously reclusive AN Dyer whose novel Ampersand stands as a classic novel of American teenage angst.
But as he reads out the eulogy, Andrew Dyer breaks down, recalling the life he has led.
Andrew resolves to brings together his three sons – before it’s too late.
Narrated by Philip Topping, the son of the dead man, the novel looks at the following chaotic week after the funeral.
Dyer’s eldest son, Richard, is a screenwriter exiled in California.
Then there is Jamie, who has spent 20 years documenting human suffering.
And finally there is Andy, the half brother whose birth tore apart the Dyer family 17 years ago.
Only when all four men are together in New York, does the real purpose of the reunion come to light. Much is at stake.
& Sons essentially is a novel about family and mortality.
It is Exclusive Books’ April Book of the Month.
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The Kept
by James Scott (Random House Struik, R270)
In 1897 three killers enter a farm in upstate New York where they brutally attack a family.
When Elspeth Howell returns home, she is confronted with the bloodbath and finds her 12-year-old son who managed to survive and witnessed it all.
Mother and son set out into the frozen unknown to track down the killers.
They end up at a settlement on the edge of lake Erie. It is a merciless place and violence is everywhere.
Here Caleb is brutally forced into adulthood and begins to learn things about his mother he could never have anticipated.
At the same time Caleb is determined find the killers of his brothers and sisters.
Elspeth herself, must finally confront the dark urges that surround her.
The novel poses the question of how far a person would go for family, love and revenge.
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The Perfect Match
by Katie Fforde (Random House Struik, R270)
Only Katie Fforde can add a touch of fun and warmth to an otherwise tedious love-triangle theme.
Fforde is one of the queens of “chick lit” (oh, how I hate that term, but how else would you describe this book?)
Bella’s boyfriend, Nevil, has proposed.
They’re perfect for each other, Bella tells herself.
But then, Dominic, the man who broke her heart, appears on the scene. And Bella starts questioning whether Nevil is, indeed, the perfect man after all.