Pomegranate Soup (Marsha Mehran)

I read Pomegranate Soup on a plane, and this very mediocre attempt at magical realism was not improved by such uncomfortable surroundings. I don't think I can blame the plane, though - I would have disliked Pomegranate Soup wherever I read it.

I picked up Pomegranate Soup because of the cover, and took it home from the library because of the blurb. Three Iranian sisters move to a small Irish town and start up a cafe - it seemed a pleasantly light and quirky read to take on holiday.

Unfortunately, as Books Give Wings pointed out, Marsha Mehran has copied the plot of Joanne Harris' Chocolat almost exactly. Strangers come to a small town, are greeted with fear and suspicion, and win over townspeople with their magical cooking skills. Unfortunately, Mehran doesn't write nearly as well as Harris, and Pomegranate Soup suffers from her heavy-handed writing, scattering unnecessary metaphors and symbolism all over the place. The sisters are greeted with competely over-the-top hatred and fear by some - the main villian of the piece, Thomas McGuire, is laughable in his constant state of rage. Pieces of "magic" pop into the plot, but because Mehran hasn't drawn the reader into another world, they are ridiculously out of place. I found myself laughing at a scene I think was supposed to be a transformational and triumphant conclusion to the novel. A very disappointing read.

The Probable Future (Alice Hoffman)

I enjoyed The Probable Future very much, more so than some of Alice Hoffman's novels. It has that air of ethereal dream-like magic which she does so well.

Three generations of women in the Sparrow family all have different gifts, which come to them on their thirteenth birthday. One can smell when people lie, another visits people in their dreams, and worries about what gift will arrive on her daughter Stella's thirteenth birthday. As usually happens in Hoffman's novels, things tie up fairly neatly at the end - we see characters' redemptions and healing love affairs coming a long way off. But this doesn't detract from the pleasant lyrical story Hoffman weaves. I really liked this - 4 out of 5.

The Antelope Wife (Louise Erdrich)

The Antelope Wife is a gorgeous novel, a novel of many interconnected stories, about two Ojibwa families. The Amazon.com review by Mary Park says, "Erdrich follows them through two failed marriages, a 'kamikaze' wedding, and several tragic deaths. But the plot also loops and circles back, drawing in a 100-year-old murder, a burned Ojibwa village, a lost baby, several dead twins, and another baby nursed on father's milk."

I loved Erdrich's skill with language, and the insight she gave me into another culture. Myths weave their way through The Antelope Wife - women who can attracted by the fluttering of cloth in the corner of their eye, a dog who tells stories to his alcoholic owner. It's an intricate, very enjoyable read. Five out of five, because I can't think of anything that would reduce its score.

Practical Magic (Alice Hoffman)

Alice Hoffman is known for her stories of magic realism, and Practical Magic certainly comes within that category. It was written some time ago, and has since been made into a movie, with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, which I can vaguely recall enjoying.

The movie certainly had a brisker plot than the book, which is somewhat dreamlike in that way that magic realism often is. I do like that aspect to Hoffman's writing - her imagery is beautifully disturbing. The lilacs which grow so voraciously over the body in Sally's backyard are compelling. A pleasant escape - three and a half out of five.

Queen of Dreams (Chitra Divakaruni)

I've read most of Divakaruni's poetic, slightly surreal novels - Queen of Dreams reminds me of an earlier work, Mistress of Spices - both have a dreamlike atmosphere, where reality is somewhat blurred. Both novels give their characters difficult choices.

Rakhi, a struggling artist who runs a cafe, is frustrated by her relationship with her mother, a dream reader, and her strained separation from her husband. When her mother dies, Rakhi discovers her journals, and begins the process of trying to understand her mother, who never spoke of her past.

It's a lovely novel, and I particularly enjoyed the dream sequences, and the way they made their way into Rakhi's life. Four out of five.

The Powerbook (Jeanette Winterson)

I had never read any Winterson before this novel, and found her style a little hard to adjust to. It's very dream-like, this collection of interlinked stories and scenes, and I wouldn't describe it as a work with a firm plot or narrative.

Winterson creates very visceral imagery - her descriptions drip with colour, scent and flavour, and this is the most seductive part of her writing. I found the dialogue between the storyteller and the listener a little forced and wooden, but that was my only dislike in terms of Winterson's writing style.

I found it hard to connect to this book, with its mutable characters, its winding and tenuous storyline, but I really loved Winterson's use of words. I'd like to read another one of her novels, perhaps one of the more conventional ones, although I don't think "conventional" is really a word you can connect with Winterson. This was a book for the Book Club, and it made for an interesting discussion piece - I was pleased to be introduced to Winterson's work.

The Mermaid Chair (Sue Monk Kidd)

I read Sue Monk Kidd's first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, and really loved its soothingly spiritual flavour. The Mermaid Chair didn't grab me in the same way. When Jessie hears that her mother is ill, she leaves her stifling husband and returns to the island of her childhood to confront her memories of her father's death and her future.

I didn't really connect with the characters - Jessie was irritatingly obtuse, and I didn't enjoy her awakening and realisations, or the decisions she made. The myth of the mermaid which is woven somewhat awkwardly through the story feels clumsy and unneccessary. The revelation concerning Jessie's father's death was overly elaborate, and felt contrived.

I don't think I'd be attracted to any more of Kidd's work. This was a 2 out of 5 novel, and rather disappointing, as I was expecting more.

Beyond Black (Hilary Mantel)

This 10th novel from Hilary Mantel has been put in the long list for the Booker Prize this year. I'd never read any of Mantel's books before, but she's a long established and respected English author, and I'm looking forward to reading through her older books. So, as you can imagine, I enjoyed this one.

Alison Hart is a psychic, travelling around with her assistant Collette, her horrific medium Morris, and a whole pile of memories and ghosts from her childhood. Despite the characters, and a proliferation of dead people, it's not really a fantasy novel, but one with a much more personal scope. The real story is Alison and Collette, and their pasts that creep along behind them.

This is a dryly humerous novel, in parts, but I found it too dark and disturbing to describe it as funny. It's an excellent read, though - I love the way Mantel writes, and the way the bulky character of Alison treads through the pages. It also, on a note unrelated to the writing, made me want to use my tarot cards more regularly again - as long as Alison's fiends don't accompany me as they do her.