New author discovered!

Well, new author to me. I picked up Elinor Lipman's "Then She Found Me". I hadn't realised that it has just been released as a film. I read it in a weekend and really enjoyed it. It was about a teacher just getting on with her life when her birth mother, who is a talk show host, makes contact. It is quite a simple story focusing on the emotions and confusions arising when an adopted child meets their birth parents. It was a very entertaining read, with romance, humour, sadness, and some lovely characters. I am looking forward to reading more of her books. I also read When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Remains of the Day, and that was an interesting story about a detective trying to find out what happened to his parents who disappeared in Shanghai when he was a child. The story is so innocent, but has an unexpected ending. It was beautifully written, describing childhood friendships intertwined with politics and corruption.

Latest Laurie Graham

Well, not really the latest, but the latest one that I have read. Gone with the Windsors is about the rise of Wallis Simpson and her eventual relationship with the King of England. It was very entertaining, although I did feel a little uncomfortable at times with what seems like a very calculated and manipulated relationship. The descriptions of the lives of the wealthy in those times sounded so frivolous, but the book contained some very interesting debates about the politics of that time. Laurie Graham's books all sound very factual, but there is never a bibliography included. I would like to know how much of her books are based on fact.