Ken Follett - Edge of Eternity
This is the third novel in Ken Follett's twentieth century trilogy, the first two books being Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. Edge of Eternity follows the lives of the families from Britain, USA, Germany and Russia which we first met in the early years of the century. This book begins in the 1960s and yet again the families interact with each other and real historic figures. They experience events ranging from the Civil Rights movement, President Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis, to the Berlin Wall and the pop music scene of the era. Written on a massive canvas, this is a superb novel to get your teeth into, and the scale of the work never daunts the reader as we are kept on the edge of our seats, turning pages to keep finding out the next twists and turns of the protagonists' experiences. Excellent reading, highly recommended.
Jenny Kane - Abi's House
In complete contrast, a warm, light-hearted read with a feel-good ending. This is a nicely-written novel, pulling the reader into the world of a Cornish holiday resort. The heroine, Abi, is a thirty-year-old children's book illustrator, recently widowed. Latterly her marriage had been difficult and she had lost her sense of self, so now she feels the need to rediscover her joy in life. She escapes to Cornwall where she used to holiday as a child, to try and find a house she remembers from her childhood called Abbey's House. In the village of Sennen she meets a collection of sympathetic characters, including an attractive decorator called Max. They help her to embark on a new life and rediscover the happiness that she has lost.