Recent ReadingThe Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell. Well worth reading if you are interested in Colonial India. Vivid believable descriptions of the characters and situations, all told from a masculine British point of view. The Victorian ladies were mostly depicted as pretty silly and the sepoys were just the sepoys. Have to confess I skipped some of the philosophy - perhaps I was exhausted empathising with the besieged.
The Point of Rescue by Sophie Hannah. Excellent characterisation and scene setting in this pyschological crime novel. The lives of the yuppie mummies and their difficulties with child care were both convincing and, in cases, chilling. I haven’t read her earlier books so couldn’t quite latch on to the characters of the main policeman and woman. The complex plot was well handled and such a long book would see one nicely through a long plane journey. I didn’t much like any of the protagonists but the plot carried me along. Have looked briefly at Sophie’s impressive biography (click on her name above) and see that she is an extremely talented young woman.
If you haven't time to read the Booker shortlist, check out these mini-lite summaries.
Recipe.
I cooked a version of Delia's luxury fish pie last weekend, except that I fried fresh breadcrumbs in butter and oil as a topping and didn't include expensive scallops as I thought they'd be overcooked and unappreciated in a pie. Instead I substituted white fish, smoked haddock, plus sliced raw mushrooms. I also used a well diluted fish stock cube rather than ready-made stock and omitted the cheese, plus I added some parsley to the sauce. Otherwise just the same, really, and quite a success with the family. I cooked the two kinds of fish and the sauce in advance, adding the raw king prawns, finely sliced raw mushrooms and topping just before I heated it up. It's not often I have a domestic goddess moment these days so I thought I'd better post about it.
