Keuzelijst 2022-2023

Nuri tends his bees as they tend him. His organised bee colonies seem like paradise, just like the world of Nuri, his wife Afra and their son Sami. Then war destroys both paradises and Nuri and Afra are torn between staying in Syria, waiting for death, and trying to join his cousin Mustafa in England. They embark on a journey full of agony and anxiety, during which they meet many other refugees from very different backgrounds. A story of lost dreams, lots of suffering and anxiety against a background of enduring love between a husband and wife.

Robert “Doc” Wright is a General Technical Assistant, leading two young assistants on a geographical research expedition in Antarctica. During the trip, unnecessary risks are taken, and when a sudden storm strengthens and the radios fail, the three become isolated. The story continues with Doc’s return home to the UK, seen through the eyes of his wife, Anna. Having been at opposite ends of the globe for 30 years, the two have become estranged. Anna struggled to find a balance between raising their children and her career as a climate expert, and now suddenly has to take on a new role as Doc’s full-time carer. An investigation into the Antarctic tragedy is launched and Doc, who suffers from aphasia following a stroke, has to find a way to account for his actions. McGregor has written an emotional novel about a relationship and communications after a stroke that is both captivating and deeply sad.

When Debbie goes to university, she stands out because of living on a farm with her family, who can best be described as weird and extremely uncomfortable with their existence. The struggle to cope with life is what makes them loveable. Her mother is plagued by dreams, and Debbie is scared to end up the same way. Her saviour is her Uncle Billy. Together, they gaze at stars from the roof of his caravan and tell each other stories. And all the while Debbie must find a way through life, both as a country girl and a bright student. Luckily she finds a true friend at university. There are many coming-of-age books on the passage into adulthood and this one hurts as much as it entertains. The story makes you love Debbie and her crazy family and friends. Somehow you know she will find peace with herself, some day.

It is 1974 and the island of Cyprus and its capital Nicosia are divided into a Turkish and a Greek part. The situation is tense. And in these circumstances a Greek Christian boy and a Turkish, Muslim girl meet and fall in love. Romeo and Juliet revisited? It is an impossible situation, people watch each other all the time. But there is one place in Nicosia which is an oasis in this hostile environment. In the Happy Fig inn they find stolen moments of sanctuary, guarded by its owners and by the fig tree in the centre of the restaurant which has stood there for over 80 years. It is a place where they can share their dreams of a better world, until war breaks out, causing them to flee. Decades later, in London, their teenage daughter struggles to find out where she belongs. And gradually we learn what happened all those years ago. A story of infinite tenderness between lovers and towards their daughter.

Every year a suburban family goes to Bognor in West Sussex for their fortnight’s holiday. This offers Mr Stevens, a chief invoice clerk disappointed to have been passed over for promotion, an opportunity to dream about a future in which something would happen to reward his striving in the past. Mrs Stevens dreads the train journey and does her utmost to hide her fear of the sea. Most of all she enjoys the quiet hour after supper when Ernie, their youngest, is in bed, and the others have gone out. Their seventeen-year-old son Dick tries to understand why he is unhappy in his job as a clerk and comes to an important decision on his future, while his sister Mary, who is nearly twenty, finds romance. This story, written in 1931, about hard-working people doing normal things draws you in and makes you wish there was a sequel showing how their plans and dreams worked out.

After the baby twins Marian and Jamie Graves have been rescued from a burning ship, their Uncle Wallace, a painter who drinks too much and has no idea how to raise children, takes them in. Marian has always wanted to be a pilot, but when Barclay Macqueen, a shady businessman, makes her dream come true, she has to pay a very high price. Jamie leads a very different kind of life and becomes a well-known artist. In 1950, Marian disappears while flying around the world from north to south. At regular intervals, the story switches to Hadley Baxter, a disgraced Hollywood movie star, who, more than 50 years later, is preparing for her role as Marian in a movie about the latter’s life. The novel is set against the background of Prohibition, the Great Depression and the Second World War and includes the histories of various real-life women pilots. This results in a very interesting read.

During a stay in Japan, Edmund de Waal, the author of the book, admires the netsuke (miniature ivory sculptures from Japan) of his great-uncle Ignace von Ephrussi, who lives in Tokyo. The inheritance of the 264 netsuke arouses Edmund’s curiosity about the collection’s origins. He discovers that they were bought by Edmund's great-grandfather, Charles Ephrussi, in Paris in the 1870s. The story of the netsuke is related to the history of the Ephrussi family, a Jewish family of wheat traders, originally from Odessa and who, over time, became bankers, with offices in all the major European capitals. Edmund’s quest leads him through the Paris of Proust and Monet, and a time of growing anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus affair, right up to the present day. This book gives insight into the lives of a rich Jewish family around 1900 and beyond, at both a personal and broader level.