Welcome to Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories; I’m so happy you’re here. I’m still on a summer reading kick, in-between the various read-alongs I’m taking part in (Wolf Crawl, War & Peace and the just-finished The Age Of Innocence) and most of what I’m reading at the moment is joyfully trashy.
To me, trashy is a word that’s often used disparagingly when actually what it usually signifies is books that are written primarily for their entertainment value. Trashy books don’t care about your edification or your learning; they aren’t trying to break new literary ground or explore an intellectual theme but instead are there to be enjoyed (what a revolutionary idea!) Trashy also doesn’t have to mean badly written - it’s a myth that prose which is accessible and easy to read is also easy to write. It takes great skill to write something so engaging in a simple way. Trashy books will usually have great storytelling and compelling plot and characters and I find they are especially good for reading by a pool/in a garden/on a plane or anytime you just want something nice and easygoing - a reading snack, if you will. They’re also often faster to read than more literary books, since the writing style is usually simple and clear.
I do feel like there aren’t as many trashy books written these days - maybe they had their heyday in the 80s, especially with the ‘bonkbuster’ novels that were so popular then (such a great word) so the list below has a bit of a retro twist to it but is none the worse for that. This month we have a range of genres from adventure to thriller to family saga (a genre which often seems to show up in trashy books, I’m not sure why) to historical fiction, horror and the terribly-named ‘chick lit’.
I also have some exciting news! This month will see the launch of my new column over at Global Comment. Each month I’ll be taking a book within our theme (one that isn’t already featured in the newsletters here) and exploring how it’s been adapted for TV, film, or how it’s inspired more art to be created. I’ll share the link with you once the first column is up - I really hope you enjoy it.
Okay, let’s dive in!
Chances by Jackie Collins
“‘You’re just like your father,’ he said coldly.
‘Yeah. I guess I am. Only Daddy would never have allowed himself to be conned into a boring marriage. I can see I’m going to have to develop balls – just like dear old Daddy.’”
So what’s it about? Chances is the first book in Collins’ Santangelo series, which introduces us to the inimitable Lucky Santangelo, daughter of Gino and surely one of the best heroines ever written. Essentially a mafia family saga (but so much more than that!) we meet Gino in the 1920s as he grows into a young criminal and see him slowly grow an empire, the jewel of which is his Las Vegas casino. His beloved daughter Lucky takes after him in every way - she is stubborn, loyal, fierce and unabashedly fearless. When Gino has to go into tax exile, Lucky moves in to take over his empire and is constantly underestimated by Gino’s rivals and business associates, much to their eventual chagrin. But when Gino returns, will father and daughter be able to work together, or is the world the Santangelos have built too small for both of them?
What’s great about it? This book, and indeed the whole series of Santangelo novels - or any Jackie Collins book, for that matter - are so much fun. I chose this one because Lucky is such a great heroine and reading the whole arc of her life from childhood through to her success as the series progresses is really satisfying. Described by CNN as “The Godfather goes to bed” (quite the accolade), expect lots of sex, ruthless power plays and mafia violence, with plenty of humour and plot twists along the way.
Jackie Collins herself had a fascinating life, including an affair with Marlon Brando when she was 15 (!) and her books are full of Hollywood gossip and glamour. If that’s more your bag, The Hollywood Wives series in particular is fun to read, partly because it’s so compelling trying to work out which real-life stars Collins has based her characters on - I’d be happy to discuss if any of you have read them!
Give it a try if: you loved The Godfather or The Sopranos but fancy something more fun; you love strong female lead characters; you don’t mind graphic sexual content; you like family sagas; you love revenge plots; you want a whole series to devour this summer.
The Rats by James Herbert
“Harris would never forget the horror he felt under the gaze of the three pairs of sharp, wicked-looking eyes.”
So what’s it about? Somewhere in an abandoned building in East London, a new threat is growing. A homeless man is found dead by a canal, eaten alive by giant rats. Harris, our hero, is an art teacher at a nearby school and is shocked when one of his pupils is attacked by a rat; he takes the student to hospital only to find that there have been other attacks, a phenomenon the doctors are puzzled by. Soon events will spiral out of control as the giant rats become bolder, attacking large groups of people. Can Harris find a way to kill the rats and save London?
What’s great about it? The Rats was inspired by one of the Dracula movies, where one of the characters describes having nightmares about hordes of rats. Herbert remembered seeing plenty of rats as a child in East London and so the idea for the book was born; Herbert later said that he wrote the book for fun. It has now become one of the classics of British horror and it is definitely horrific; it’s gory and violent and was roundly criticised on publication for how graphic it was, as well as for what was considered to be a lack of literary merit (trashy!) although it’s now considered to have broken new ground in horror writing. It is scary; I remember reading it as a teenager when one of our black cats jumped up next to me and I almost leapt out of my skin in fright. Harris is a great lead character: by making him a teacher rather than a government official Herbert makes the action much more relatable. Personally I have a real soft spot for rats; I think they’ve been getting a bad rap ever since they got blamed for the plague (they need better PR, perhaps) when they actually play an important role in our ecosystems and are much more like us* than we give them credit for. However, if you’re scared of them then definitely don’t read this book.
An intriguing aside: The Rats inspired a horror film called Deadly Eyes which, although universally panned at the time (including by Herbert himself, who described it as “absolute rubbish”) has since achieved a cult following. Apparently the producers got around the fact that giant rats don’t actually exist by dressing daschunds in rat costumes and using them to play the part of the deadly rats. Sounds worth a watch just for that.
Give it a try if: you love horror as a genre; you like reading books which have helped their genres to evolve; you want a fun, trashy read with teeth (pun intended); you don’t mind vivid descriptions of death and mutilation; you quite fancy a new series but don’t want to get stuck reading 10+ books (this is the first in a trilogy but also works as a standalone).
* Yes, I know it’s ironic that an exterminator would write an article about how great rats are.
When The Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith
“Play the game without mercy, play to win.”
So what’s it about? Another family saga here, this time set in South Africa and based around two twin brothers, one heroic and one craven. Sean Courtney is our hero and the book contains everything you could wish for from a trashy adventure novel: war, hunting, the missing-presumed-dead coming back to life, rabies, brothels, brothers marrying their brother’s girlfriend, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, bitter exes, a gold rush, fortunes made and lost, swindles, deadly accidents, marriage and death.
What’s great about it? This is another book which wasn’t received well upon release and was in fact banned in South Africa for eleven years on the grounds of obscenity and blasphemy, or as the court evidence said, it would have the: “tendency to deprave or corrupt the minds of persons who are likely to be exposed to the effect or influence thereof. It is offensive and harmful to public morals. It is likely to be outrageous or disgusting to persons who are likely to read it.” One judge even commented on the “poor literary quality” of the book. However, as we’ve already established, trashy books aren’t aiming to be literature, they’re aiming to be entertaining, and When The Lion Feeds is definitely entertaining. Sean is a deeply flawed but likeable hero and this is just the first book in - get this - a series of twenty-four novels about the Courtney family. Some of those are prequels and some take place after Sean’s death but if you’re looking for a new family saga in the adventure genre and have plenty of time to spare then this might be the book for you.
Give it a try if: you like adventure novels; you’re interested in the history of South Africa; you love family sagas; you’re looking for a new series of easy reads; you love plots which stretch credulity yet still manage to be entertaining.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
“I looked at him nonplussed. I realized that I have spent so many years being on a diet that the idea that you might actually need calories to survive has been completely wiped out of my consciousness. Have reached point where believe nutritional ideal is to eat nothing at all, and that the only reason people eat is because they are so greedy they cannot stop themselves from breaking out and ruining their diets.’’
So what’s it about? I’m sure that many of you have already read this or at least seen the movie, but for those of you who’ve managed to avoid the Bridget Jones franchise, this is a laugh-out-loud funny novel about Bridget’s single life. In her thirties and starting to worry that she’ll never meet anyone, we read along with her diary as she diets, attempts to give up smoking and generally tries to avoid the toe-curling embarrassment that shows up in her life in myriad ways as she searches for The One.
What’s great about it? This is an incredibly funny and witty book which skewers society’s expectations for single women and became a classic of the 1990s. Bridget is loveable and you find yourself cringing for her as she finds herself in comically awful situations again and again. I love the diary format; it’s difficult to pull off but works so well here as it really gives us an insight into Bridget’s thoughts and feelings without needing an omniscient narrator or even a traditional first-person narrative; neither option would have been anywhere near as funny as the diary format allows (for me this is one of the reasons why the movies didn’t work; I don’t think it’s possible to capture that same intimacy on a screen).
Give it a try if: you like books which were classics of their time; you like books that make you laugh; you love female characters who don’t have everything together; you love books written in unusual formats.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
“‘I was born to be your rival,’ she said simply. ‘And you mine. We’re sisters, aren’t we?’’’
So what’s it about? This is the story of Anne Boleyn, as told by her sister Mary - also King Henry VIII’s lover, used as a pawn in her family’s quest for power and influence. Mary is Henry’s lover before Anne enters the scene, and bears him two children, a girl and a boy, although both are illegitimate since he is still married to Katherine of Aragon. Her family decide to put Anne in the king’s way in an attempt to seduce him and increase their own power, and Mary is enlisted to help facilitate the seduction. We see Mary watch as Anne first rises and then spectacularly falls from grace, all the while pining for her children and a life away from court.
What’s great about it? Gregory is brilliant at bringing history to life and evoking the setting and time period. I might describe this as the soap opera (in the American style - think Dynasty rather than Eastenders) version of Anne Boleyn’s story, and it certainly has all the glamour and rivalry you might expect from a soap opera. The book is part of a series on the Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties, and in each of the books Gregory explores the history from the perspective of the women in the courts or behind the throne. The books are well-researched and while some license may have been taken with certain aspects of the stories, the results are both entertaining and informative.
Give it a try if: you love historical fiction; you love stories exploring history from women’s perspectives; you love the Tudors; you’d like a more accessible counterpoint to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy; you love books that bring an era vividly to life; you love stories about families, especially sisters.
Thanks for reading!
I hope you found something good to read here. As ever, I’d love to hear if you’ve read and loved (or indeed hated) any of the books here, and which ones you’d add to the list. You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment by clicking the button below.
Join me next time for the fun stuff edition, where we’ll have a trashy bonus recommendation and a bumper stack of links, as well as the usual poem, playlist general fun stuff.
Happy reading,
Kate
What a fantastic idea to include Jackie Collins in this month's books. Perfection!
Great suggestions!!