Bookstoker’s Best Nautical Novels

The North Water

Behold this book!

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The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Devil and the Dark Water

Pure unadulterated entertainment

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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

If you read one book this year, let this be it

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The Prophets of Eternal Fjord

Compulsively readable novel about arctic hell hole

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Rush Oh!

Tender and Humourous Coming of Age in 19th C Australian Whaling community

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Exterminate All the Brutes film

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Exterminate All the Brutes as TV-series

One of the more harrowing books reviewed on this blog is Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, a history-cum-travel book which investigates the dark history of European colonialism and brutal extermination of indigenous peoples. It’s a very worthwhile read, described by the director of the TV-series as an ‘incredible explosion’. Raoul Peck’s Exterminate All the Brutes, inspired by Lindkqvist’s book, will air from 1st May on HBO in the US and Sky Documentaries and NOW in the UK. Reviews of the film are divided but the book remains good!

Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal

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Letters to Camondo

A thing of beauty

The Hare With the Amber Eyes transported us to the rarefied world of the unimaginably wealthy Ephrussi family. Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal follows another Jewish family, the Camondos, neighbours of the Ephrussis and, eventually, family by marriage. In 1936, following the death of Count de Camondo’s only son, their grand residence was donated to Paris as museum and remains untouched to this day. This is their story.

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A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

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A Town Called Solace

Comfort reading

I cuddled up with a true feel-good book last weekend which took me far, far away to a small, imaginary town in 1970s Ontario. A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson is a novel about family, trust and personal dramas, big and small. Nothing earth-shattering here just a well-written, warm, everyday story which I really enjoyed.

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Soon on screen

Soon you’ll be able to watch a series based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner The Underground Railroad on Amazon, directed by none other than Academy Award winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight). In the meantime, I can highly recommend reading this surprising and excellent book. Read our full review here.

My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley

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My Phantoms

Dissecting a mother-daughter relationship

Dysfunctional doesn’t even begin to describe the family in My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley. There’s no violence or abuse going on, just a devastating inability to communicate, a staggering lack of empathy, and some more or less genuine attempts at reaching out which, like two repelling magnets, always fail. If Bridget, our narrator, is to be believed, it’s all her mum Helen’s fault.  But is she to be believed? If you’re interested in complex family relationships My Phantoms has lots to offer, some of it very funny; just don’t expect lovable heroes because there aren’t any.

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Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald

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Innocence

Wry humour and clumsy innocence

There’s something seductive about Fitzgerald’s writing, it’s so gentle and light that it almost seems effortless. It’s not, of course, and that’s the genius of it. No wonder Fitzgerald has become a writer’s writer, with hoards of author fans. If you enjoy a well-written book, I suspect you will like her novels too. Be warned, though, Innocence, like her other books, is not action packed, but rather a funny, contemplative story where a lot more goes on than meets the eye.

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