Read for my reading group. Nearly all of us loved this book and didn't want it to finish.

Thank you Mrs Pickle - swapped for Jamaica Inn. Now contains "Turtle Womean Interrupted" label with your name on!

A special book, beautifully written. I read it mainly on the plane to and from Athens this week and had to hide a tear or 2 by looking out of the window. John and Sonja met at King's College in exactly the same year as my husband and I met there, which is a bit spooky.

Delivered safely this morning, a lovely surprise when I got up - I only signed up for this one earlier in the week but had forgotten about it already! It sounds really wonderful. I've got a couple of books on the go at the mo but will get on to this asap. Thank you :0)

From the back of the book:
“This is a story about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the life-altering effects of that one moment.

Joan is a single mother – beautiful, talented and desired. John is her adored son – growing up in the West Country, living a life outdoors. On his thirteenth birthday, Joan takes him to London to buy his first pair of Levi’s jeans. Unused to driving in the city, she takes a wrong turn. The repercussions of that moment’s hesitation are devastating …”

This is a really wonderful book that I just didn't want to end. I really don't want to say too much about it because half the beauty of this book is the way the story slowly unfurls, reeling you in and giving you a bit of information at a time. It's about a mother's love for her son, and a wrong turning that changes lives forever. The narrative jumps around from character to character, an intertwining of recollections of the past, diary entries and current events, and the story is just so beautiful and the characters so well drawn, I jus wanted to stay with them forever. A really wonderful book, and one I'll be looking out for for my PC. Thank you so much for letting me read this, Amanida - I'll be looking for more readers!

---

Right, I've managed to find some more readers for this, so this will be going out as a ray to:

kleptokitty (UK)
bookfrogster (UK)
perfect-circle(UK)
beebarf(UK)
catrionamoore(UK)
hey-miki(UK)
glitterlover(UK)
winterson (UK)
maisymay (UK)
molyneux (UK)
jaynereader(Italy)
coolboxuk (UK)



I'll leave the ring open for a while and add new names on to the list. Whoever ends up last, please can you either wild release, RABCK or continue the ray!

Chelseagirl highly recommended this, so I'm looking forward to it.

It took me a little while to start appreciating this book. Had it not been something I'd chosen to read following Chelseagirl's recommendation, then I may well have given up on it - which would have been a terrible shame as once it caught my attention I loved every remaining moment of it.

It's a story of love in all it's guises - the love between mother and son, between spouses, and between friends. Personally I found the depiction of love between friends the most powerful in this story, particularly the love between John & Ian. It's rare that the theme of non-sexual love between men is explored, and this was done really well.

I'm going to quote a passage now, so don't read ahead if it'll spoil the story for you. It was just a passage which stuck in my head.

"The bomb in Omagh that blew apart on a hot August day in the middle of a crowded street killed 29 people and injured more than 200. I stood, shaking, in Ian's flat that evening and watched the pictured being beamed in, of shattered windows and faces, broken buildings and hearts. I shivered and I watched until Sonja came to fetch me. It was the Real IRA who claimed responsibility. The Real IRA? As opposed to what, exactly? Had the bomb that exploded and turned over the Morris Minor as I thought of a pair of jeans and Merboy disappeared, been virtual? As insubstantial as my eardrums? Had I imagined it? They said they planted the bomb because they didn't agree with the peace process - well, talk about stating the fucking obvious."

I'll be posting this wonderful book on to Bookfrogster as soon as the Post Office reopens.

This arrived safely yesterday. About half-way through so far and loving it. Thanks kleptokitty and chelseagirl.

I thought this was a brilliant exploration of relationships. I'm very interested in how people relate differently to different people. Agree with kleptokitty that it's very unusual to find a book which describes a loving friendship between two men.
Another sign of good writing was that it didn't matter that the book skipped backward and forward in time. The story still flowed well.
Off to perfect-circle tomorrow.

Released on Monday, January 10, 2005 at about 5:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at West Maitland Street Post Office in Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to perfect-circle as next person on the ray.

a wonderful surprise this afternoon, as yet again, I'd forgotten about this one. I have a couple of books in front of it but will endeavour to read it asap.

I actually finished this on Wednesday and the break away from the computer has given me time to try and put how I felt about this book into something that makes sense.

I absolutely loved it. The exploration of all the relationships/friendships as well as John's own exploration of himself and his trying to marry up Merboy, Special and John as one person. The writing was almost like snapshots of memory and I found myself drawn into the story so easily that I really didn't want the book to end.

Thank you so much Chelseagirl for sharing this. It will be off to Beebarf next time I'm near a post office.

A book I'd forgotten I'd signed up for when it arrived a couple of days ago, but reading all the reviews makes me want to dive straight in!

This is still with me - life has been a bit overwhelming recently, but I wanted to let everyone know that the book is safe and I've not forgotten about it!

An unusual book - very down to earth about what could have been a sensational event. It's a book about what happens when your world falls apart and how you put it together again ... and again ... and again...

The characters were delicately drawn and relationships realistically depicted. I did like the use of narrative, flashbacks, diary entries and so on but I didn't think it came off entirely successfully - Joan and John's narrative voices were a little too similar for me - although that's perhaps the point? I would have liked Ian and Ellen to have been given their own voices as well. And the explanation about Joan's source of wealth (financial acumen) somehow didn't ring true either ...

A good book, but I'm afraid I can't rave about it like the other readers so far! Have PM'ed the next player for their address

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to the next player in the ring!

Arrived safely this morning. I will tried to read it as quickly as possible but there are a couple of books ahead of it.

Love depending on how and whom it is used by is a word with a thousand meanings, or no meaning at all. The love of a mother, the love of a child, love between friends, the lustful love of lovers, love lost and love restored. For a book that encircles so much love none of it is mushy unrealistic romance. It is the unadulterated everyday love of those who all have a frailty or failing in their eyes which is the strength of every one of them.

Altered Lands is the sort of book you may never read again but you know that it has touched you for a lifetime. The positive portrayal of disability is fantastic. The characters are more than just their disability (with the exception of The Blind Man), it is instead a part of what makes that person who and what they are. This is what makes all the impact of these characters and how they move the reader is because they are normal, believable and not one of them will lie down and be a victim of the story.

This will go in the post this afternoon, or by Monday at the latest.

This book arrived a while ago. I'm really sorry I forgot to journal it til now - I was having a long-term senior moment!!

[N.B. spoilers coming...]
I was quickly drawn into the story - particularly after the clever revelation of John's deafness. I liked the plot and alternation between the 2 stories - though I was more interested in John's than Joan's! It was very moving and very real throughout - helped by the fact the ending wasn't all happy and predictable (e.g. with Sonja). Following the characters and watching their transformation was quite a journey - and one I hope to remember. Thank you for sharing it chelseagirl!

Glitterlover wasn't ready for the book yet and Winterson asked to be skipped, so the book is now on its way to Maisymay

Arrived today - will start this when I've finished my current read.