The Road Trip | Beth O’Leary
By
REVIEWED BY KAREN BYROM www.karensbookbag.co.uk, @Karensbookbag
Dylan and his friend Marcus are on their way to their friend Cherry’s wedding on the west coast of Scotland when they crash – literally – into the car driven by Dylan’s ex-girlfriend Addie and her sister Deb, on the way to the same wedding with another guest, Rodney, who’s cadged a lift.
With the men’s car a write-off, they pile into Deb’s Mini and continue their journey – but it seems fate is conspiring to stop them attending the wedding, with traffic jams, blow-outs, passengers who wander off and visits to A&E, not to mention the tension between all parties.
First up
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, a book I read months ago and still find myself thinking about. It’s available in Waterstones in the Bloomsbury Modern Classics edition which is a stunningly timeless cover. The narrative is a retelling of the Trojan war, set in Greece in the age of heroes and yet, no interest or passion in Ancient Greek history is needed to throw yourself into this story. Miller writes her story from the perspective of Patroclus, an awkward and exiled Greek prince who befriends Achilles, the son of King Peleus whose court Patroclus finds himself living within. Miller’s prose is achingly beautiful and the way she writes the love story from beginning to end is heart wrenching, a definite tearjerker!
WORST. IDEA. EVER
by Jane Fallon (Michael Joseph £12.99, 400 pp)
I’ve been a huge fan of Fallon’s beautifully written novels since her fierce and fresh 2006 debut, Getting Rid Of Matthew.
Here she takes us on a deep dive into the emotionally murky waters which exist between protagonists Lydia and Georgia.
They are best friends for ever and, on the surface anyway, still as close despite their lives taking different directions.
Georgia is a successful illustrator of children’s books with bestsellers on the shelves, international publishing deals and award nominations. Lydia also illustrates but alongside a job she dislikes.
Space is the final frontier for archaeologists
The boot prints left by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong are a tangible legacy of one of humanity’s greatest achievements putting a man on the moon.
It’s a technological feat easily on par with Egypt’s pyramids, the Great Wall or Stonehenge but how should the Apollo 11 mission site and others be preserved and protected for future generations?
Right now, the bootprints, rovers and hundreds of other artifacts from the Apollo missions are not protected like heritage sites are on Earth something a small but growing number of space archaeologists want to change.