Book Review: “The Eighth Life” by Nino Haratischvili

Wow, this was an amazing book if you like being emotionally crushed by the weight of generational trauma for over 900 pages. It is a mammoth of a book. We have eight lives to follow. The book is subtitled “for Brilka” and hers is the final life, the Eighth. Eight on its side eight is the symbol of infinity and the final life is left blank for the myriad of possibilities for Brilka. The Story is narrated by her aunt, Niza, the seventh life in the tale. This is the longest book I have read in a very long while. The story covers the history of Georgia through the 20th century up to the beginning of the 2000s, through the lives of five generations in one family, focusing mainly on the women and the difficulties they encountered during a very troubling time in history. A multi generational saga like Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, a Georgian-Soviet War and Peace.

The book begins with a chocolate maker, who has a secret recipe for hot chocolate, the chocolate entrances the consumer but brings with it a curse to those who partake. The first life we follow is Stasia, the chocolate maker’s third daughter, who falls for a lieutenant of the White Guard at the beginning of the 20th century. But like many of the romances in the book, this will not be an easy relationship as the Russian Revolution erupts and the couple are separated, a pattern oft repeated in the different generations.

Some of the principal players in the Soviet Era: Stalin , Beria and Khrushchev are not named explicitly in the book, Stalin is the Generalissimus, Beria is the Little Big Man and Khruschev, the Ukrainian Peasant.

This is a long book. I found the first four lives to be more engaging than 5 and 6 (Elene and Daria). There is a lot of heartache, as you can imagine, even when the Soviet period came to an end; the 1990s were a tough time in Georgia.

Nino Haratischvili has weaved a rich tapestry with the various threads of this story, it took me three weeks to get through, which is quick for me with a book of such length.

My rating : 5 out of 5

Book Review: The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro

This is the first of what I hope will be many Tate and Bell mysteries, this is a terrific start to the series and works fine as a standalone novel. The book begins with the discovery of the gruesome murder a young woman on the morning of All Saints’ Day, who is displayed on a cross in Highgate Cemetery with a pig’s heart around her neck. A journalist who witnessed the display falls under the wheels of an omnibus and is killed. Gemma Tate a nurse, recently returned from the Crimea is the sister of the journalist and doesn’t believe his death was an accident. Sebastian Bell is the police officer assigned to investigate the murder of the young woman victim in the cemetery, Bell’s pregnant wife had been murdered viciously before the story begins and to ease his pain and guilt, he had sought relief in alcohol and opium. Soon the paths of Tate and Bell cross and they begin working together a little reluctantly at first to solve the two suspicious deaths.

This is London in the late 1850s, the nurses, who had returned from the Crimea are viewed with suspicion. as what honorable woman would go to such a place? There is a lot of prejudice against women shown in the story, a woman’s reputation was precious and could easily be besmirched through no fault of her own. The book also details early prejudice against Muslims working in London and the sharp class divides.

Sebastian Bell despite his baggage is a dogged detective with a quick intellect, he was assigned the case by his superior, Superintendent Lovell, who reminds Bell, “Remember your place when questioning your betters.”
Sebastian retorts half-jokingly “Should I tug at my forelock, sir?”

Tate and Bell make a good team, even though Gemma Tate has no hope in those times of working for the police in an official capacity, one wonders in future books if a romance may develop twixt the two.

The story is gripping and fast paced, the historical detail is good although there was one anachronistic reference to Botany Bay (the last convicts were shipped to New South Wales in 1850 almost a decade before the events in the book). I also wondered if poppies were available in November for taking to cemeteries. The ending felt a little rushed. Despite these minor gripes I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC, I leave this review voluntarily.

The book is due for publication on 29 February 2024

My rating 5 out of 5

This is Embarrassing..

If you are wondering why I haven’t posted any book reviews since August, my latest video explains:

Abby’s expression in the thumbnail is priceless.