Touchstone by Laurie R. King

I am a huge Laurie R. King fan, so I was excited to find this at the library when I was browsing the shelves. Somehow I missed it when it was published last year. This is not part of her two series--Mary Russell historical mysteries or the modern Kate Martinelli ones. Whatever she writes has a historical aspect to it, and this novel is no exception.

Set in the 20s, the main character is an American FBI agent who comes to Britain to try to find proof that a rising Labour politican and strike organizer is responsible for three bombs set off in the U.S. He has a personal motive as well--his beloved younger brother was severely injured in one of the explosions. In Britain, Harris Stuyvesant becomes involved with a strange bunch--there's Carstairs, the slippery powerbroker who seems to be playing his own games; Bunsen, the main suspect, a powerful orator and his lover Lady Laura Hurleigh, a member of one of the oldest families in England; Bennett Gray, whose war injuries have given him an usual ability--he can tell just by being in the room with someone if they are telling the truth--and Bennett's younger sister Sarah, whom Harris finds extremely attractive. Somewhere in this stew is the likelihood of a bomb, a plot to discredit the Labour party, a possible general strike, and the machinations of a man who models himself on Machiavelli.

King's descriptions of England are lovely and she seems to catch the flavour of the times, with many in England rethinking the rigid class structure that the war has called into question. I never thought of England having a 'revolution of its own,' as Harris puts it, and modelling itself on the U.S. However, for all its strengths, I have to say that this is not at the top of my list of King books to recommend. It doesn't appear to be the start of a new series, although Harris Stuyvesant is an interesting character. If you haven't read anything by her, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, is the first in her Sherlock Holmes series. And make sure you start reading the Kate Martinelli series from the first one as well. The relationships in her series develop in interesting ways, and you wouldn't want to read them out of order.

Payback by Margaret Atwood

This is the print version of the Massey Lectures, aired on CBC in November. I tried to download the podcast onto my new iPod, but was unsuccessful, so I read the book. I had the constant sense of her voice in my head as I read, although I'm not sure if this because of her style, or my initial desire to listen to the broadcasts. In any case, I loved this volume. Like all the Massey Lectures, there are five chapters, corresponding to the five programs broadcast. Atwood looks at debt through the lens of the social sciences and includes her own personal stories about learning lessons of debt and money as a child. She looks at the historical attitudes to such aspects as fairness, indebtedness, redemption and reviews their appearance in a vast array of places and times, from ancient Egypt to modern Christianity, from the Bible to Shakespeare to Dickens. Her linguistic and literary knowledge make this an intriguing look at debt, especially critical in our society right now. Amazing that this was written before the global financial crisis. I did read a review that said they found this book full of 'drivel'--perhaps by an economist, who can't see anything but the numbers!! If you are interested in the more human side of debt, and its effect on our society, this is the book for you. If your only interest is in watching the stock market, you probably won't like this approach, although I would say you are one who really should read it.

A Scientific Romance by Ronald Wright

My bookclub was reading this for January so I reread it. I was impressed all over again. I read this long ago when I first came out, and loved it. I found the idea of finding H.G. Wells's time machine and going to the future to find the cure for mad cow disease, then going to the past to cure his lost love a timely plot device. And I loved Wright's sense of humour. He must have been the first to write a novel about global warming. The Thames is filled with mangroves and crocodiles, no humans are present in London, and the main character, an archaeologist, uses his professional skills as he tries to figure out what happened to cause the total breakdown of society. Then he sets off north in search of other humans, and finds them. There is one caveat--many in my book club found this novel hard going. It is filled with allusions to history, philosophy and literature. I consider myself a generalist--I know a little about a lot of stuff--so loved the eclectic references. But for many this may make the novel a bit too erudite. I liked this much better than Atwood's Oryx and Crake (and I am an Atwood fan, see the next review!) I fully intend to find and read other Ronald Wright books, both fiction and non-fiction. If my warning hasn't put you off, pick up this creative response to Wells's classic.