Books are a staple item on the holiday packing list for millions of people, whether they enjoy reading all year round or associate it exclusively with lazy days in the sunshine. A beach holiday gives you the chance to relax, chill out and basically just avoid doing anything involving too much effort; and that includes your choice of reading material.
I’m often surprised by people’s reluctance to admit that they’ve been reading chick-lit. I don’t know if it’s because they assume that I specifically have an issue with the genre, or whether its a wider taboo that would apply regardless of who they were speaking to. Either way, I want to be clear and say that I have absolutely no problem with mindless books or the people who enjoy them – on the beach or otherwise.
It’s just that for some reason I’ve never been able to get into hardcore trash myself. Even so, I still have the same craving for easy-going novels while I’m sitting by the pool. So if you’re looking for something that doesn’t feel like a chore, but isn’t just a new spin on a Jane Austen novel, here are a few suggestions that I’ve enjoyed over the years.
The Blood of Flowers – Anita Amirrezvani
Particularly recommended if you liked A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Blood of Flowers is a coming of age story set in 17th Century Persia, where a young girl’s dreams of marriage are halted by the sudden death of her father. With no dowry and little income, the girl and her mother are forced to move into the city to seek refuge with her uncle, who takes them in as servants. Our protagonist has a lot to learn on the road to adulthood and it’s not always easy to get behind her decisions, but the result is a three dimensional character that you can’t help rooting for. Amirrezvani paints a colourful and engaging picture of Iran’s past through this nameless girl’s efforts to carve out whatever slice of independence she can.
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher
If you liked Room
Jamie is 10 years old and he hasn’t cried for 5 years – not since his sister Rose was killed in a terrorist bombing. Now that his mum has gone away, Jamie’s dad has brought him and his other sister to the Lake District for a fresh start, but things aren’t going too well at school so far. There is one girl that Jamie gets on well with, but he can’t tell his dad because Sunya is a Muslim, and he doesn’t think that will go down too well… Through the eternally optimistic voice of her young narrator, Pitcher explores the destructive force of misplaced anger and the all-consuming power of grief in a novel that remains uplifting even in the most heart wrenching sections.
The Art of Fielding – Chad Harbach
With an effortless perfection on the baseball field, Henry seems to have everything figured out until he mis-throws his first ball at college and everything starts to unravel. Meanwhile, Henry’s roommate Owen has been distracted from his academic prospects, Mike Schwartz pushes himself way too hard on the field and Pella returns to college – where her dad happens to be the president – after a failed love affair. As someone who doesn’t usually do sport I had to persevere a little bit with the first part of this book, but the characters really start to shine through after the first few chapters and then it’s all about the people.
The Wilderness – Samantha Harvey
If you liked The Sense of an Ending
The Wilderness is told through the unreliable recollections of Jake, who doesn’t mean to be misleading but hasn’t quite been able to get things straight in his mind since he developed Alzheimer’s. So much of who we are is based on the people we’ve known, the places we’ve been and the life that we’ve lead, so what happens when you can’t be sure that any of what you know is real? As Jake’s perception of characters and events shift and change we are reminded of how fragile our memories really are. Although the concept may be terrifying, Harvey handles this delicate subject beautifully and The Wilderness is a resoundingly positive novel that will stay with you long after the final page.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
If you liked About a Boy
When Oskar finds a key hidden in his father’s closet he feels sure that this is the latest in a long line of quests that his dad sets up for him. Or used to set up, before he went to a meeting in the Towers one September morning and never came home. Oskar sets out to find the lock that matches his father’s key, hoping that it will bring him closer to the man he misses; but there are an awful lot of locks in New York City. Through a parallel narrative we also learn about Oskar’s grandparents, who went through traumas of their own when they lived through the Dresden bombings. It’s never explicitly stated that Oskar is autistic, but he is certainly dealing with a lot of issues above and beyond his grief and it is his character that really draws you into this novel. A book involving 9/11 might not be the obvious choice when you’re getting on a plane, but protagonists don’t come much more endearing than Oskar so he’s well worth it in the end.
At a glance this list deals with some pretty heavy stuff, but I promise that the style, language and characters of every one of these books makes them really easy to get through in no time.
There must be tons of other novels that fall into this category, so I’d love to hear about any others you can recommend…
Between the Lines 