The Imagined Things Book Club

October 2019

The Wall by John Lanchester

Not Yet Rated

Stunning. A rare story that genuinely works on two levels: a human story & a comment on humanity. An almost allegory. 

Kavanagh must patrol the wall. He must protect it from the others. If he does he can get away from the wall after he’s served his two years, if nothing goes wrong he can get as far away from the wall as possible. On those cold nights & days on the wall Kavanagh starts to wonder what if something did happen? What if he had to fight for his life?

September 2019

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

6.89/10

Beautiful, eerie and thought-provoking. Julia is growing up in a world where the turning of the Earth is slowing causing days & nights to be longer. 

Julia’s day-to-day life continues despite the Slowing, she still faces many of the challenges of growing up. She has not even learnt the ways of the world and they are already changing as society struggles to cope with how to carry on as the days & nights grow continually longer.

August 2019

The Passengers by John Marrs 

7.35/10

A near-future thriller where cars are not only automated but some have no manual controls at all.

This becomes a serious problem for eight passengers in such cars when a hacker takes control of them, saying they will all likely be dead soon as they will all collide, except one. The choices are diverse – a pregnant woman, an elderly actress, an immigrant who speaks no English and more. Who would you decide to save? Cleverly exploring our perceptions and judgements of others, how there is so much that is unknown in other’s lives and about who has a right to live and who doesn’t.

July 2019

Our House by Louise Candlish

Rated 6.66/10

Imagine someone else moving into your home, when you didn’t put it up for sale, what would you do?

This happens to Fi as she comes home to her expensive, and adored home in London. The novel tells the story of how this came to be – half through Fi’s version of events and half through her husband’s. It’s a satisfyingly convulted, cautionary tale of how things can quickly spiral out of control and how decisions you make without the full facts can have allsorts of unforseen consequences.

June 2019

Vox by Christina Dalcher

Rated 7.5/10

Scary, thought-provoking, claustrophobic and horribly pertinent.

Imagined you could only speak 100 words a day… if you were a woman, or a girl. Welcome to near-future America (it is fiction, at least for now) where all females have to wear devices that count their words and electorcute them for exceeding their daily count. Follow Jean McClellan, silent whilst her husband and sons chatter around her, a scientist before the change of government stripped her of her job, her money and her words…

May 2019

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Rated 6.7/10

Complex and enthralling. Agatha Christie mixed with Groundhog Day.

A murder that doesn’t look like a murder and Aiden Bishop is tasked with solving it. Forced to relive the day repeatedly in the bodies of different hosts as Evelyn Hardcastle dies again and again.  There are forces at work in Blackheath that Aiden can’t begin to understand and someone who wants to stop him from leaving. Getting to the bottom of all of the secrets, and the murder will not be easy.

April 2019

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 

6.25/10

A love story set in the most horrific place on earth. 

This is the novelisation of the story of Lale, a jew who was imprisoned by the Nazis and became the tattooist of Auschwitz. It is an unusual tale of love in the most horrendous of places. It gives a rather sanitised view of Auschwitz, with jolts of horror and isn’t as heavy reading as you would imagine. 

March 2019

Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce

8/10

Uplifting, hilarious and compelling. The pefect tonic for a weary nation!

Emmy is a young lady living during the Blitz who dreams of being a lady war correspondant but instead inadvertently ends up working for the women’s problem page of a magazine for the formidable Mrs Bird. Mrs Bird will not deal with any letters concerning any “unpleasantness” and Emmy is tasked with filtering them. Feeling for the poor women Emmy decides to take matters into her own hands and reply to them. 

February 2019

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris

Rated 8.19/10

Uplifting, page-turning & wonderful! Fall into Jasper’s unique world of colour. 

Jasper can’t see faces (even his own) but he can see sounds as colours. Something has happened to his neighbour Bee Larkham, and Jasper was somehow involved. Yet it’s difficult to make sense of things when you can’t understand all of the clues. This unique mystery is wonderful, multi-layered and satisfying. You’ll fall into Jasper’s world and see the world in a way you’ve never seen it before. 

January 2019

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis 

Rated 7.2/10

Imagine if you had to pay for every word you spoke from the age of fifteen.

Speth, about to turn fifteen, will soon have to pay for every word she speaks – which won’t be much since her and her siblings are orphaned and unable to afford much of anything.  Not only are words owned, but so are hairstyles, curtains, even names. And you need to pay to use them. Speth is contracted to speak for a corporation as her first paid for words but instead decides not to speak at all. Leading her to be an unlikely icon for change. 

December 2018

If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura 

Rated 6.79/10

Thought-provoking, strange & moving. What would you give for another day of life?

The narrator’s days are numbered. He lives an isolated life with his cat Cabbage, and is dying of a brain tumour. The devil appears to him and offers him an exchange – one extra day of life for making one thing in the world dissapear. What follows is a story of loss, a journey to discover what really matters and a bizzare relationship with the devil. 

November 2018

Dark Pines by Will Dean

Rated 8/10

A gripping plot, a stunning setting and a unique, loveable character !

Tuva is a deaf reporter is looking for a story that could make her career and let her escape the isolated, rural town of Gavrik. Two bodies lie deep in the forest she is frightened of, linked to a murder twenty years ago. She has to face her demons to investigate and find out what is really going on in the forest. 

October 2018

Elefant by Martin Suter

Rated 6.81/10

Human, uplifting, fascinating & featuring an adorable glow-in-the-dark tiny pink elephant! 

Genetically engineered and escaped from the group of scientists who don’t care for her, you can’t help but fall in love with the tiny elephant! This is a lovely, heart-warming story about what matters, how fates can collide and how second chances can come in the strangest (glow-in-the-dark) packages! 

September 2018

The Exphoria Code by Antony Johnston

Rated 7.14/10

Modern cyber-espionage in this strong tech thriller featuring a damaged M16 cyber-analyst. 

Brigitte Sharp is haunted by her experiences in the field. But when her friend is murdered, in connection to strange, coded internet posts Brigitte is compelled to go undercover again inside a top secret Anglo-French military project to hunt a mole. The trouble is the truth behind the Exphoria Code is worse than anyone imagined.

August 2018

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

Rated 8/10

Immersive & compelling. Imagine if some people had a space inside them, a space where a spirit could hide?

As the English Civil War errupts around her Makepeace defends herself againsts nightly ghosts who try to possess her whilst trying to unravel the mystery of her heritage. Though when she lets down her guard down a wild spirit gets in, and may be her only defence in the dark times to come. You can’t help but become enthralled by Makepeace’s story! 

July 2018

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter

Rated 7/10

Gorgeous & haunting. Perfectly captures the claustrophobia and wonder of motherhood set on the backdrop of a flooded London. 

Unusual in style & form – names conveyed by letters and the entire book in brief prose, yet so much is captured in such short form. It is beautiful, harrowing and hopeful. It draws you in and takes you on a strange, uncertain journey as the baby’s new life contrasts with the backdrop. A truly beautiful tale. 

June 2018

The History of Bees by Maja Lunde

Rated 8/10

Powerful. Worrying. Essential.

This stunning novel spans 250 years. From England in 1851 following William, a biologist & seed merchant who sets out to build a new kind of beehive. To the USA in 2007 following George, a beekeeper, who struggles to fight collany collapse disorder and worries for the future of his farm. To China in 2098, following Tao, a mother, who lives in a world where the bees are gone.