Gerald's Game, book review. (Stephen King)

Much like Dolores Claiborne - whose twin this novel is - Gerald's Game has a small cast, and on picking up this book I had to wonder, yet again, how the author was going to keep me entertained over three hundred plus pages with just two characters. Well, he did of course and there are more than two characters, one of them is even a feral dog, and along with Jessie's dead husband and her childhood self, there is more than enough narrative to speed you through yet another Stephen King novel.

The basis of this book is no big secret - the cover gives that away - so to say that one of the main characters is a dead man and therefore isn't actually there, other than in his wife's head, could make things confusing but when you add all the other things in Jessie's head like: her childhood self, memories of her father from when she was a girl, a strange man who she sees in the shadows at sunset (who might actually be there), memories of her mother when growing up, a school friend and her sister, you end up with what feels like one character living multiple personalities, which is kind of weird but also compelling.

So Gerald's game is a sexual one, which Jessie reluctantly agreed to months before, but is no longer keen on. Gerald needs the game - handcuffing his wife to the bed - to get aroused, his wife no longer being enough, and it is here, very early on in the book that you realise this is going to be a battle of wills - Jessie's will against Jessie's will in fact - because within a few pages her husband, who isn't taking no for an answer, is dead.

That battle of wills is very much in her head, from summoning the will to get a drink - bizarrely one of the best parts of the book - through coming to terms with the abuse she received on the day of the eclipse as a child; to seeing her dead husband being eaten by the feral dog and having to flay her own hand. The gory horror is infrequent but the emotional horror is constant and certainly speeds you through what is a really rather superb book.

It never gets boring, bogged down, there is always something new to explore, with the author revealing just enough to keep you guessing. Whether it's the question of the dog eating her husband, which I thought was a given, to whether she ever escapes, which I had my doubts about, to whether the psychological damage she experiences will be her downfall. And the way this book is written really does get your heart racing and has you asking questions like: Is her husband really dead? Does she really have to go back to the day of the eclipse and remember what happened? Did her dad really do that to her? Turn her into the woman she is, the woman who lets men do as they please? Is the strange looking man in the shadows with his portmantua full of bones real or also in her head? Will the nightmare ever end? Will Jessie survive? Mentally and or physically?

Well, to answer those questions you'll have to grab yourself a copy and read it and I recommend that you do too because the writing here is right up there with some of the authors best work and, to add to that, all might not be quite what it seems!

Four stars.

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How (Not) To Be Strong, book review. (Alex Scott)

I've never read a biography/memoir before and truth be known, in spite of the many authors, actors, musicians and historical figures I admire, no-one in the public eye has ever really grabbed my attention before now, until . . .

The 2018 football world cup and, Alex Scott.

Now, those of you who know me will know that I have little interest in football at club level but when the Euros or the World Cup comes round, I'm there, cheering on the team, following their journey. So, there I am, like the rest of the country, watching the action, getting more and more invested as we progress and more and more intrigued by the new fresh-faced pundit.

I don't know that Alex Scott is the second most capped player in English footballing history, that she's an east end girl from Poplar, that she's won virtually every footballing trophy there is to win whilst playing for Arsenal and England (which in some peoples' eyes' still didn't qualify her to comment on 'men's' football by the way!!!), but for reasons I couldn't explain, I wanted to know, and there in was the issue.

Alex Scott was an enigma. Yes, she was on Instagram and Twitter, where I learnt what I could, she was on the television dancing - Beyoncé is now on several of my playlist because of her Paso-doble - but unlike so many others in the public eye, her private life was, well, private.

Wow, I thought, how the hell has someone in her position achieve that? And it was the mystery, her infectious smile, her 'Strictly journey' as she liked to call it (she's the first person I ever voted for on any television show by the way), that fuelled my desire to know more.

So, fast forward to 2022, and as the year progressed it started to become apparent what this book was going to be about and, domestic abuse, trolling, racism, sexism and spite make for a tough read but in spite of all the abuse the author suffered through the years my overarching take from this book was love and hope, and I couldn't help but think that the (Not) in the title was profoundly wrong. For if there's one thing this author has shown throughout her life, it is strength, resilience.

For such a personal book, I won't comment on the writing style other than to say it broadly reads chronologically and sped me through in a few days - I'm not a fast reader but as I delved deeper into the book, I continued to be both fascinated and horrified in equal measure - the taxi ride in Russia and the car crash are both eye openers I can tell you - and I found the book very insightful in more ways than one.

Enjoying a book when the subject matter is so personal and to a large degree about abuse, is probably the wrong word to use but I did enjoy it. I enjoyed the discovery, both mine and the author's because, having listened to a few interview/podcasts about the book with the author, I got the profound sense that she discovered something about herself whilst writing this memoir and is finding her way out of her darkness and moving towards the light - at least I hope she is.

So, a very good read in my opinion, very much a, konnichiwa rather than a, konnichi-nah (you had us laughing out loud with that one Alex), and I look forward to seeing more or you now that the football World Cup has started.

NB: All proceeds from this book are being donated to the domestic abuse charity, Refuge. refuge.org.uk

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