This week: a book to help us abolish belly fat, by Dr Eva
This week there are three works of fiction, all contrasting, covering crime, history, the pandemic and revenge. There’s also a book to help us abolish our belly fat from a well-known TV doctor who used to be on the panel of Operation Transformation, and there’s a book for parents and professionals who work with young people, to help guide youngsters through their anxieties.
Alive in the Merciful Country, AL Kennedy, Saraband, €23.99
This is a complex novel, set in the dark days of Covid lockdown, where a primary school teacher balances teaching Year 5 over Zoom with her home life and her parental duties for her adult son. In the 1980s, schoolteacher Anna was involved with a street theatre group, and now in 2020, her past comes back to haunt her in the shape of an undercover cop who’s chasing down members of that group for dubious reasons. This cop is a monster. Her ex-husband was a monster too. Her grown-up son can’t leave the house. She has lost faith in her post-Brexit country, its rapacious government, the ugliness of its late-capitalist greed.
And still the undercover cop, with some nasty habits, continues to hang around, presenting her with a document he insists she read. It’s difficult to do justice to this novel, full of nihilism and hope in equal measure, within a short review. But Kennedy is no stranger to despair in her fiction, and the despair in this novel is considerable. It has, however, already garnered much praise and if you’re a fan of the award-winning Kennedy, you’re in for a treat.
The Good Wife, Jacqui Rose, Macmillan, €27.55
Ava is a psychologist and is used to keeping other people’s secrets. She is professionally successful and besides work, all she wants is to be a good wife to her husband, Tony. However, she has secrets of her own, and that stash of secrets is rapidly mounting, including her one-night stands when her husband is away and a spiralling drinking habit. When her father is attacked and left for dead, Ava is determined to find out the who and why. Tony cautions her that her father wasn’t what he seemed. He too had secrets and moved in dubious circles. This only piques Ava’s interest, as she embarks on a terrifying journey through the dark streets of Soho in search of who her father really was, convincing herself along the way that like her Dad, she was born with a ‘bad gene’. A simmering page-turner.
Charlie, Finn Óg, Vinci Books, €12.50
Sam Ireland is an ex-SBS man on a mission. His wife was killed in front of his young daughter and on later leaving the SBS, he sets up CHARLIE with just one objective in mind; avenging his wife’s murder. But he has to make a living too, as well as bring up his little daughter alone. The missions he chooses are dangerous and action-packed, and that’s the essence of this novel. It’s an action-packed thriller in the same vein as, say, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, so if you’re a Lee Child fan, then you’ll enjoy the ride.
Sam is flawed and a bit lop-sided but still he’s a believable Angel of Vengeance. Do watch for the flashbacks, though. They’re not always clearly indicated and sometimes confusing. But it’s a satisfying read for thriller fans, the first in a series of four novels involving the intrepid Sam Ireland.
The Belly Fat Solution, Dr Eva Orsmond, Gill, €19.99
Dr Eva Orsmond became a household name with her presence on the panel of Operation Transformation. Her straight talking did not endear her to everyone, but nevertheless she knows her stuff. Here she uses that knowledge to help us banish those post-Christmas pounds for good! People who have lost weight will tell you that the belly is the toughest spot – fat seems to disappear from other body parts, but the obstinate belly is always the last to go. The diet as outlined here promises to reduce belly fat significantly. And the bad news? It really is all about diet, with exercise playing very little part. So you can’t just run it off, unfortunately, it seems you have to starve the wretched thing off!
Actually, starvation is not on the menu. What is on the menu is various healthy foods that have been selected specifically for losing the paunch, and lots of recipes, too. Orsmond has put her heart and soul into this book, as she seems to do with everything and – love her or hate her – she has scored results in her weight clinics here and abroad. So if you’re on board for lots of healthy eating and a disappearing waistline, this book is for you.
Un Stuck, Kate O’Brien, Sheldon Press, €16.99
Our youngsters are anxious. Every survey that’s done show the same results; our kids are terrified, and why wouldn’t they be? Two of the planet’s most notorious man-child lunatics are about to take control of the free world, arm in arm like Tweedle-Doom and Tweedle-Dumber, there’s climate change, there’s Gaza and Ukraine, there’s ongoing famine in Africa, there’s online bullying and flaming, there are so many problems out there for teenagers that we could not have dreamt up for them in our craziest nightmares. Kate O’Brien’s book seeks to assuage the anxiety in our kids, drawing from a deep and varied well of perspectives worldwide.
O’Brien is a wellness coach, and some passages are a bit touchy-feely but at the same time, she has strong opinions on how careless parenting, or parenting with the wrong ideals (for instance wanting our kids to be wealthy grownups rather than fulfilled ones) can lead to endless frustration and feelings of isolation for our kids. A solid guidebook for parents and teachers navigating the minefield that is contemporary adolescence.
Footnotes
Starting this coming Friday the 24th and running until February 2nd, the Spirit of Brigid festival takes place in various venues throughout County Kildare and promises some really good gigs, some cultural and historical fun for the kids, there’s something for almost everyone in this celebration. And Kildare is not a million miles away. See spiritofbrigid.ie for full programme and details.