Book of the week - Ross Raisin, God's Own Country

Ross Raisin was born in Yorkshire and lives in London. He is twenty-seven years old. Before university he spent time working in the hotel trade in France and Ireland. When he graduated, he began working in a wine bar in London, eventually becoming co-manager. He has continued to work as a waiter while writing this novel, and still does so now as he begins his second, a novel about a Glaswegian ex-shipyard worker, whose life unravels after the death of his wife. God's Own Country is his first novel, and has been promoted as one of the books of 2008. It has been well reviewed by most of the UK broadsheets, and has received positive comments from Colm Toibin and JM Coetzee. The UK hardcover is published by Viking at £14.99 - signed copies should be available at this price.

Sam Marsdyke, the teenage son of a farmer up on the Yorkshire Moors. He spends his days working the sheep, mending fences, trying to dodge the eye of his brutal, silent father, and most of all, watching the transformation of the farms and villages around him. From the top of the moors he watches the goofy ramblers and the earnest 'towns', the families from York, who are feverishly buying up the farmhouses left empty by bankrupt farmers. And as he watches, one young daughter of a new family catches his eye. As he falls for the young, sophisticated girl from London, she begins to see him as a means to escape. She wants to rebel against her parents and he wants to fulfil the fantasy he harbours about her and so they run away together. But this journey across the moors will take a terrifying menacing turn which, for him, will prove his terrible undoing.

Book of the week and bibliography - Frank Tallis, Fatal Lies

Frank Tallis is a clinical psychologist, and Max Liebermann, the protagonist of his series of detective stories (The Liebermann Papers) set in early 20th century Vienna, is a disciple of Freud. Fatal Lies is the third book in this series. It is Vienna, 1903. In St. Florian's military school, a rambling edifice set high in the hills of the City's famous woods, a young cadet is found dead - his body lacerated with razor wounds. Once again, Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on his friend - and disciple of Freud - Doctor Max Liebermann, to help him with the investigation. In the closed society of the school, power is everything - and suspicion falls on an elite group of cadets, with a penchant for sadism and dangerous games. When it is discovered that the dead boy was a frequent guest of the deputy headmaster's attractive young wife - other motives for murder suggest themselves. A tangled web of relationships is uncovered, at the heart of which are St. Florian's dark secrets, which Liebermann, using new psychoanalytic tools such as dream interpretation and the ink-blot test, begins to probe.
The earlier two books in the series, Vienna Blood and Mortal Mischief, are well written and enjoyable, and the BBC are working on television adaptations, which may be an indicator of wider public interest to come. At present, the second novel of the series is more difficult to obtain than the first (at least signed), which may be indicative of a smaller print run.

Bibliography

Max Liebermann Novels

Mortal Mischief Century, 2005)
Vienna Blood (Century, 2006)
Fatal Lies (Century, 2008)
Darkness Rising (Century, 2009)


Other Novels

Killing Time (Hamish Hamilton, 1999) softcover
Sensing Others (Hamish Hamilton, 2000) softcover


Other Books

How to Stop Worrying (Sheldon Press, 1990)
Hidden Minds: A History of the Unconscious (Arcade, 2002)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Cognitive and Neuropsychological Perspective (Wiley, 1995)
Changing Minds: The History of Psychotherapy as an Answer to Human Suffering (Sage Press, 1998)
Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions: A Self-help Manual (Sheldon Press, 1992)

Booker Prize - The First Chapter Series

The Booker Prize is one of my particular interests as a collector, and I have managed to build up a complete collection of the winning / shortlisted novels. An interesting addition to a collection is the series of books being published by The Oak Tree Press which includes the first chapter of one of the Booker Prize winning novels in a limited edition signed by the author and featuring specially commissioned original artwork. For some of the books, the artwork is also available separately. The First Chapter Series was launched in 2006 and so far has featured five books, with a sixth to follow in the next few months. The profits of the series are used to support of children living with HIV/AIDS. The books and the artwork are produced to a very high standard and the whole initiative is strongly recommended.

Book of the week - Joe Dunthorne, Submarine

Its been a very busy week for Trapnel, so little time to think about books (unfortunately). However, better late than never I bring you my Book of the Week. Joe Dunthorne is young, Welsh, and a poet. Submarine (Hamish Hamilton) is his first novel. It is funny, offensive (to some), and has attracted very strong reviews. You can listen to the author read the first chapter. Buy it now (signed and dated, target price around £20).

Book of the week - Paul Waters, Of Merchants & Heroes

This is Paul Waters first novel, and is the first in a projected series. He is described as well-travelled classicist, and the book addresses serious themes. There have been some very positive notices, and it looks like an interesting read. I will post a review in due course, but in the meantime now is the time to pick up your signed and dated copy at list price. "A consuming story of love, loss and redemption set in the classical world of Rome and Greece, Of Merchants and Heroes is the story of a young man's pursuit of his father's murderer and of the values and qualities he develops. At the end of the third century BC, as Republican Rome's long war with Carthage was at last drawing to a close, it was already threatened by a new enemy, Philip, the tyrant King of Macedon in the east...Into this turbulent world emerges our Roman hero, Marcus, whose father is brutally murdered by pirates on a journey from Italy to Corfu on a visit to his uncle. Fate takes him to some of the great cities of the Greco-Roman world at a time of major turbulence, where he learns much and finds love unexpectedly. The book addresses political and philosophical questions that are timeless - democracy and tyranny, war and self-defence, right and duty as well as questions of love, loyalty and betrayal."

An opportunity - Philip Pullman limited edition

There will be a limited edition (1500 copies, slipcased) of a short book by Philip Pullman, Once Upon a time in the North. For a full listing of Pullman limited editions please see my full bibliography. The format of the book will be very similar to Lyra's oxford, but it will be blue in colour, and will include a few extras. You can pre-order a copy of the limited edition via Hatchards website (update - March 27/3/8 Book is no longer available). This is not a major work by Pullman (The Book of Dust is on the way), but Pullman is a major author who will be in the same league as Tolkein or Lewis from a collecting perspective in years to come. "When Lyra is studying at Oxford University, she comes across the story of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnisson's first meeting, many years ago, along with much evidence of the adventure that brought them together. When a young Texan balloonist, Lee Scoresby, comes down to earth in the harbour of an Arctic town in the North, little does he realise that he is about to be embroiled in an out-and-out political brawl. Lee and his daemon, Hester, find themselves the target of political factions trying to take over the running (and oil) of the town. And also resident in the town are huge arctic bears, ignored and patronised by the people and treated like second-class citizens. When Lee and Iorek first meet, they cement a friendship that will continue throughout their lives, as the tensions and pressure in town lead to a deadly conclusion."

Book of the week and Bibliography - Benjamin Markovits, A Quiet Adjustment

A Quiet Adjustment is the fifth novel of Benjamin Markovits, a California-born author now living in London, and is the second in a trilogy about Byron. Markovits writes elegant literary and historical fiction. All of his books have been well-reviewed and it seems only a matter of time until he has a breakthrough book. Signed copies are not common, but now is the time to be looking out for firsts of the early books.

Bibliography

The Syme Papers (Faber, 2004)

Either Side of Winter (Faber, 2005)

Fathers and Daughters (Norton, 2005)

Imposture (Byron volume 1; Faber, 2007)

A Quiet Adjustment (Byron volume 2; Faber, 2008)
Playing Days (Faber, paperback, 2010)
Childish Loves (Faber, Hardcover.  Byron volume 3; 2011)