The Unseen

The story of Cat Morley, a servant, suffragette and a pawn in a spiritualist’s hoax. Set in 1911, this is a book that measures evenly the political state of the UK at the time and the inner rebellion that is beginning to flounder within the working class.

Katherine Webb sets the book in 1911 and 2011; the latter is seen through the eyes of Leah, a researcher who is called out to Belgium by her ex-boyfriend to identify a solider who died in one of the great wars. Her search is a weak line to the story but opens the book up to a wider audience, and towards the end adds some much needed suspense, filling in gaps in the epilogue of the 2011 narrative.

1911 has four main characters, Albert Canning, vicar to Cold Ash Colt, Hester Canning, his wife, Cat Morley, their maid, and Robin Durrant, house guest and spiritualist. The story of Hester and Albert is awkward and discomforting, she is addicted to him but he is more interested in fairies and Robin Durrant. This friction is brought to a head when Robin consummates the marriage with Hester an act that Albert could not do.

Cat Morley is a strong-headed and determined, working-class by her mother’s bad fortune and her father’s infidelity, she knows that the world is unnecessarily unjust and she has no plans to stick to the rules. She is forced to help Robin create fake pictures of fairies so he can cement his theories and she can runaway with her lover, George Hobson.

I won’t spoil the end of the story, as it is a good holiday read; a compelling book although the first three chapters are hard going. This brings to life the suffering of the working class, the suffragettes and the things that were not discussed.

Escape from Camp 14

The story of Shin Dong-hyuk's miraculous escape from Camp 14, one of North Korea's labour camps.

Blaine Harden tells the story empathetically, portraying the isolation of the camp and Shin's complete detachment from the politics of North Korea and the world. Overall it is a truly shocking story - but most shocking is the initial statement that:

"Shin had a relatively comfortable life by the standards of other children in the camp" - An Myeong Chul (Former Guard and Driver in the Camps)

The gentle approach of Blaine Harden's writing style didn't blunt the edges of the scenes that Shin was exposed to and forced to endure, rather he wrote in a way that allowed me to understand the complete de-socialisation of Shin and empathise with his decisions. As the book progresses, Harden doesn't lose sight of the political state of North Korea and its tentative relationship with South Korea and China and the importance this holds to Shin's final escape. 

This book is a must read, and as important as the concentration camp survival stories that children are forced to read in school.