Page 5114 | Now To Love

The Snowman

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THE SNOWMAN BY JO NESBØ, RANDOM HOUSE, $32.95.

“Guaranteed cooler than Stieg Larsson,” says the cover sticker. Who could resist? Nesbø is Norway’s gun crime writer and with this – his fifth novel to be translated into English – he has broken big, proving there’s life in the old serial-killer genre yet.

Distinguishing this one is the wonderfully laconic detective Harry Hole and a macabre plot in which women disappear during the first fall of snow each year. The only clue linking each case is the appearance of a large snowman with black stone eyes.

It’s a chiller in every sense, with a fair bit of social comment thrown in, as it becomes clear that many of these women shared the same deep secret. The Snowman is one of those books which creeps you out, but keeps you reading at the same time.

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The Last Letter From Your Lover

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THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER BY JOJO MOYES, HODDER & STOUGHTON, $32.99.

The Last Letter From Your Lover is a perfectly executed love story. It weaves together two tales: that of present-day journalist Ellie and wealthy 1960s housewife Jennifer.

Ellie is in a less-than-perfect relationship with a married man when she discovers a beautiful love letter in the archives of the newspaper offices. Jennifer awakes in hospital after a car crash, but remembers very little of her life. Both will begin to search for the writer of the passionate yet sweet letters, motivated by different reasons. Jojo Moyes writes with style and restraint, creating a love story with a light touch, but one that will still stir the romantic yearnings of readers everywhere.

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The Invisible Bridge

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THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE BY JULIE ORRINGER, VIKING, $32.95.

Hate, war and the machine of corrupt bureaucracy take Julie Orringer’s finely drawn characters and fling them cruelly into the hands of fate.

The Invisible Bridge begins in 1937, when sensitive student Andras Levi leaves Budapest to study architecture in Paris. His financial struggles and the difficulties that come with his burgeoning love affair with an older woman will soon be overwhelmed by the fact that he is Jewish. Andras, his lover and his two brothers are slowly sucked into the horror the Nazis are unleashing on Europe. They face the many cruelties of the time with courage and hope.

Orringer writes with a subtlety and breadth that makes the reader feel like a witness to history.

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The Red Queen

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THE RED QUEEN BY PHILIPPA GREGORY, SIMON & SCHUSTER, $36.

We all love a Tudor and since, for the time being, we’ve bled Henry VIII and his wives and daughters dry, we turn to his paternal grandmother, Margaret Beaufort.

At age 14, she gave birth to the last male of the once mighty House of Lancaster, Henry Tudor. Despite going on to marry three times, she would never give birth again, focusing all her ambition on her only child, Henry VII, father to Henry VIII and grandfather to Queen Elizabeth I. Philippa Gregory allows Margaret to tell her own story and, through her letters and narration, she unwittingly reveals her insecurities, fanaticism and hypocrisy.

It’s an entertaining insight into the origins of the House of Tudor.

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The Botticelli Secret

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THE BOTTICELLI SECRET BY MARINA FIORATO, ALLEN & UNWIN, $32.99.

A man and a young woman race to decode the secrets of a painting, while pitched against a powerful secret society and trailed by a freakish assassin.

Yes, it’s all a bit The Da Vinci Code, but The Botticelli Secret is a lot more fun and original than this summary would suggest. Lured by clues and stalked by a killer, Brother Guido, a monk, and beautiful prostitute Luciana roam 15th century Italy.

The tale begins when Luciana is talked into modelling for an artist by one of her clients, a decision which will lead to an adventure that will change her life. Some of the coincidences are hard to swallow, but The Botticelli Secret is as earthy and vibrant as the lovely Luciana.

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Wildflower Hill

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WILDFLOWER HILLBY KIMBERLEY FREEMAN, HACHETTE AUSTRALIA, $32.99.

“The worst mistake we can make about old people is to forget they were young once,” says award-winning women’s fiction writer, Kimberley Freeman. And so, in her latest novel, she heads up into the attic and opens up Grandma Beattie’s old memory box to discover a poignant chapter in the maternal family history, about Australian-born London prima ballerina Emma.

This evocatively written story is about a secret pregnancy and forbidden love affairs, set against the backdrop of illegal gambling rooms and bible-bashing households in Glasgow and Hobart, in the ’20s and ’30s. When an accident and a broken love affair leaves Emma with a damaged knee and heart, she returns to Sydney, where she inherits Nana Beattie’s decrepit sheep station in Tasmania. There, she unearths the painful truth of her grandmother’s parallel journey in a different era.

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Homecoming

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HOMECOMINGBY CATHY KELLY, HARPERCOLLINS, $32.99.

Seventy years after leaving Ireland, Eleanor Levine, now a famous psychoanalyst, returns to her homeland.

She becomes drawn into the lives of three women: beautiful young actress Megan, who is in hiding after an affair became public; Rae, a pillar of the community with a secret past; and Connie, a 30-something woman who has given up on love. Eleanor finds herself dispensing wisdom she learned from her mother many years ago.

A story told with great affection, sincerity and compassion,Homecomingis a book I’m sure you’ll love.

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Hell On The Way To Heaven

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Hell On The Way To Heaven, BY CHRISSIE FOSTER WITH PAUL KENNEDY, BANTAM AUSTRALIA, $34.95.

Chrissie Foster’s experience is almost beyond belief. Two of her three daughters were abused by a paedophile priest, leading to the suicide of one and the secret alcoholism of another, who was severely disabled in a drunken car accident.

The Fosters drew Australia’s attention to their story during World Youth Day in 2008 and here Chrissie tells of learning of her daughters’ abuse, the suffering it caused and her anger at the response of the Catholic Church. The subject matter is heavy, but readers will find Chrissie’s style is readable and her honesty about her emotions – shock, anger, fears for her girls – puts a personal, engaging spin on a difficult issue.

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The Confessions Of Catherine De Medici

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The Confessions Of Catherine De Medici, BY C.W. GORTNER, HODDER & STOUGHTON, $32.99.

A riveting first person account of the extraordinary life of Florentine-born Caterina (Catherine) de Medici, 14-year-old bride of the 14-year-old Duke of Orleans, later crowned King Henry II of France, to whom she bore three kings among her seven children.

In spite of Henry’s long affair with “older woman” Diane de Poitiers, proud Catherine is undeterred by her sacrificial marital fate and, when Henry dies after a jousting accident, she plays powerful roles as adviser to her son-kings, including as regent until her third son, 10-year-old King Charles IX, is old enough to govern. Set against a backdrop of raging sectarian war between Catholics and Protestants (known as Huguenots in France), Gortner weaves a little of his own fictional storytelling into a true historical tale, which includes “characters” such as Henry Tudor, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I of England.

Catherine’s own belief in the power of portents (she was pivotal in seer Nostradamus’ 16th century celebrity) casts aspersions over this ruthless and ambitious monarch. Rich in colour – the stench of the battlefield, the pomp and ceremony of royal weddings and teenage royal deflowering – this book romps through a complex and mysterious Renaissance royal period.

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Hawke: The Prime Minister

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Hawke: The Prime Minister, BY BLANCHE D’ALPUGET, MUP, $54.99.

The most important thing to do when reading Hawke: The Prime Minister is to keep reminding yourself that it is written by his second wife, Blanche D’Alpuget. If you forget, even for a few pages, then you could be lulled into thinking he was the greatest man to ever walk the planet.

Despite this, it is still a compelling and highly enjoyable read, which captures a time in politics when it was about more than spin and focus groups, and when leaders fought over ideas and their vision for this country. Ms D’Alpuget brings to life the events of this period by quoting extensively from some of the major figures of that time, including Kim Beazley, John Dawkins, Ross Garnaut, Bob Hogg, Bill Hayden and a number of Hawke’s loyal staff. This technique tends to mitigate the fact that she is married to her subject. Her characterisation of Hawke’s rival, Paul Keating, is at times condescending yet still incredibly compelling and she nails the ruthlessness and disloyalty of factional heavyweight Graham Richardson. However, her observations on Hazel Hawke seem incredibly inappropriate. In summary, Ms D’Alpuget is a fine biographer and the strength of her writing carries the book.