Maybe Tomorrow by Penny Parkes

Phil: Post-pandemic fiction is going to be a thing. We all lived through two of the strangest years anyone can remember with the exception of those who can recall the early 1940s.

Penny Parkes sets her novel in almost the current day. Its protagonist, Jamie Matson, is a single (through choice) mum struggling in a job that doesn’t pay enough to live on. She frequents a foodbank, and through this, acquires a small group of friends.

The whole “working poor” aspect is the crux of the book. That and the lack of a future to look forward to for many people. As the story builds, it could be quite depressing, especially if you are living the hope-free life described.

Fortunately, this being a book, Jamie chances upon an opportunity to become a housekeeper/carer for an elderly couple, Henry and Ruth. Both think she is there to look after the other, but their desire to help people, and the reason for it is gradually revealed.

In fact, gradual reveals are a big part of the book. Jamie’s son, Bo, is described as “different” and a genius artist. Bo is her world and in making sure he is OK is pretty much the only thing Jamie considers. Fortunately, the new home, friends and especially Henry, help him both mentally and physically.

Gradually, the group move forward. Most are looking for jobs, any jobs, in the wrong place. Their passions have been abandoned on the altar of simply paying the bills. Jamie’s backstory includes running her dream, a travel agency for single parents, which involved much travel. Covid killed it, and it seems, although this isn’t entirely made clear, her business partner. She still sees the shop, and it still pains her.

Obviously, she’s not the only one with a difficult backstory. There are deaths, a seriously abusive husband and more business closures making the friends into the people they have become. Even Ruth and Henry have their issues, which gradually develop as the tale unfolds.

This could have been a very depressing book. Were it real life, I suspect it would be, but then no one would buy it. As it is, this is a tale of hope, and a tale that really makes you think. For what appears on the face of it to be a light chick-lit book, there’s a lot of depth here. None of the 513 pages is wasted, there’s no fat in the text, and many times I was identifying with different characters, and also thinking “there but for the grace of god go I”.

And I’d like to be Henry.

Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris

Phil: Short story collections are, sadly in my opinion, out of fashion at the moment. Bucking the trend is Chocolat author, Joanne Harris.

Jigs and Reels presents 22 different short tales. Subjects vary widely, although there are a few stories with a sci-fi feel, and many exploit that genre to comment on current-day issues by extrapolating events to a logical conclusion.

As is common with short stories, there is a twist at the end of many of them. If you remember the TV drama series Tales of the Unexpected, you’ll feel comfortable with the idea. Mind you, the twist would be ruined if you could see the characters – books are better in this respect than TV!

The book is a real showcase for Ms Harris’s writing abilities. Nothing has the feel of a first draft that will one day be expanded to become an entire novel. Quite the opposite, the length of each one varies a lot, none outstay their welcome, nor do they vanish too quickly.

Reading some stories, it strikes me that they are based on some serious research. My guess is that the author fell down the Wikipedia rabbit hole when looking something up, and found herself inspired to craft the new knowledge into a story. The research is never worn on the sleeve though – these are interesting tales, not opportunities to show off.

Jigs and Reels is great fun, and a perfectly light read between longer books. One that can be dipped into as and when you feel like it. Keep it on the shelf and open at a random story when you need entertaining for a few minutes.

The Man on Platform 5 by Robert Llewellyn

Phil: Have you ever looked at the blurb on the back of a book, and thought it might be about you?

Two posh girls, Gresham and Eupheme, are sitting on a train at Milton Keynes station when they see a trainspotter: a pathetic, badly-dressed saddo with a terrible haircut and a worse anorak. The two are half-sisters and have always fought: now their argument rages over the trainspotter. Is he doomed to eternal nerdiness or could he be taught to appreciate the finer things in life? Eupheme bets he can: in time for Gresham’s engagement party she will have transformed him into a man that her sister would fancy…

Ian Ringfold is the trainspotter, and the story is in essence, a modern(ish) version of Pygmalion (My Fair Lady if you must). Eupheme plays the Henry Higgins character throwing money at Ian to turn him from a saddo (in the sister’s opinion) to a dude. By the middle of the book, she has pretty much succeded, and then he starts to turn the tables on both women.

There are some good jokes in here, starting with the title – Platform 5 is the brand of train spotting books full of numbers waiting to be crossed out.  Also, some howlers for the nerds to spot. You don’t take the locomotive off a High-Speed Train and replace it with one from the sidings (you can’t split the set of coaches and loco easily) and when Ian talks about visiting London’s Horticultural Halls to visit an exhibition of model railways, aeroplanes etc. the show, called IMREX, was toy trains only. Trust me on this. I was there.

It’s set in the mid-1990s, when the Internet (then with a capital I) (OK, World Wide Web) was in its infancy. Eupheme might work as a big-shot charity fundraiser, but she doesn’t use the web, or e-mail, and doesn’t really see the point. For the nerds, there are plenty of brand name drops too. I didn’t check the types of techy kit mentioned, but assumed the author had got it right, but did find myself a little nostalgic about a mention of Evesham Micros, who I remember well advertising on the page of Micro Mart magazine.  For the fashionistas, there are plenty of clothing brands given a namecheck. I didn’t check these either. Candice can tell me if these are right when she reads it.

There’s bucketloads of celebrity name-dropping. Llewellyn’s Red Dwarf co-star Craig Charles plays a small part late in the story and there’s also a very short appearance from Chris Barrie from the same show. I did wonder if you have to ask a real person before they appear in your book? Kirsty Wark quizzes Ian during a girlie lunch at one point, and I suspect that she does really know what trainspotting is.

Underlying the story, is the thought that Ian might be being changed, but does he really want or need to change? Why do posh, rich and pretty girls, both of whom live chaotic and somewhat disastrous personal lives, get to decree what is, and what isn’t, acceptable?