Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook

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First of all I want to apologise for, hopefully, temporary problems with the blog. I managed to get the home page working, but it seems that the last post posted will also show up at the top of the labels' pages. I am trying to solve it, but alas, so far no success. Maybe this is an indication that I should look for another provider, and make my own web-site. I am still working on a Wix web-site and might be close to let it go public. If you encounter problems with access, please leave a comment (if possible) what the problem is, or send me an email thecontentreader(at)gmail.com. In the meantime ...

Sometimes you are lucky with your choice of books. While visiting my parents I took another look at the common book cases and found one book I could not resist. I have neither heard of the book, nor the author. The summary of the story caught my attention.

"On a summer day, a young woman alighted from a bus in the small Cape Cod village of Chatham and took up residence in a cottage on the edge of Black Pond's dark waters. She was embarking on a voyage she could not foresee --- one that would bring catastrophe to her, to those she loved, and to the town of Chatham itself. Now, seven decades later, only one living soul knows the answer to the question that irrevocably shattered hearts, a town, and a way of life: What really happened on Black Pond that day?"

The story is told by Henry, now an aging lawyer, who was a teenager at the time. He givs us glimpses of what happened but not chronologically. The story goes back and forth from now to the past, as glimpses of present day life. It is a psychological thriller, very skilfully woven.

The young, beautiful lady from overseas with a shimmer over her past life in Africa joins the school as an art teacher. She lives in an old house by the lake. On the other side of the lake lives a male teacher with his family. As the two teachers become friends, the gossip is live in the villages. But nobody really know what is going on. One day everything comes to a close when an accident happens. Or, was it an accident.

As Henry relives the tragedy of the time, we slowly get an insight into the village life and its people. It is dramatic in a quiet way. We know there is a mystery lingering in the past, but it is only in the very end that we realise the consequences and get to know what really happened.

One of the best books I have read this year. It reminds me a little bit of Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, in its narration of calm and quiet, which does not seem to go along with the dramatic events. It is beautifully written as well. I read somewhere he got a reward for this book. Well deserved. I am now eager to find other books by him. Any of you who have read something by Cook? Please let me know.


Comments

  1. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz17 November 2022 at 13:07

    I can see that this story might unfold in a fascinating way. I'm glad you liked it so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisbeth @ The Content Reader17 November 2022 at 13:35

      Deb, it really did unfold in a way I could not really foresee. As usual you think of different scenarios, but when you still get surprised at the end of the book, it is good.

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