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Furies: Stories of the wicked, wild and untamed - feminist tales from 15 bestselling, award-winning authors

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The Sisters Strange is the longer of the two, and begins with the seemingly simple murder of a coin collector. But this is John Connolly, and nothing stays simple for long – Charlie Parker is pulled into the increasingly twisty case by an outsider concerned for one of the two sisters the expanding mystery threatens to consume. This story is lighter on the supernatural elements that have come to be this author’s trademark, but not without them entirely. Cyril, the main character, was a huge disappointment to me. He was initially a likeable little boy, struggling to come to terms with his blossoming homosexuality in a hetero Ireland where "homosexuals don't exist". Somehow, though, he becomes a selfish, self-pitying, covetous adult, who only seems able to focus on his own troubles.

Pakistan could have been organized as constituent states with Muslim majorities inside India; Calcutta-Bengal & Delhi-PunjabAs you can see, I loved this novel and it seems the year started very well. I hope it will continue in the same manner. Baby Cyril is adopted by a wealthy but unconventional couple, and although he isn't badly treated, he's never shown any real love and is constantly reminded that he's not a real Avery and never will be. It was like a film, she would later tell me, with everyone holding their breath as they wondered to whom she might point the finger of blame What is the main reason for the continuing animosity between India and Pakistan? Why can't they just get along? Nisid presents the main reasons for the distrust between the two governments which sadly is still pretty much the same after 70 odd years since their creation. Both founding fathers, Nehru and Jinnah almost completely distrusted each other and did their utmost to destabilize their nemesis. India using their superior army while Pakistani resorted to proxy a tribal/mujahedin model to counter India's army. Unfortunately, the same formula is employed even today, why because it still works and I would argue that it has gotten worse with the rise of RSS/BJP government in its second term. So if Pakistanis started using Islam as the main ideology for Pakistan after the fall of Dhakka, the Indians seem to have followed them by ideology to Hinduvita, leaving little room for minorities on either side.

The belief that I would spend the rest of my time on earth lying to people weighed heavily on me and at such times I gave serious consideration to taking my own life. So many eternal decisions were taken under high emotional stress, without a careful glimpse into the future and without consideration of overt repurcussions. And for what? To maintain oneself in a position of power. Normal populace was martyred in this tug of war of power between politicians, tearing a country asunder. Among the best books I've read on Partition! And that's saying a lot. Partition has its share of popular and cliched explanations. But it has always raised a number of questions - several of those remain unanswered as i continue that quest. But books like this go a long way in explaining with clarity, honesty and facts what went down. Not only is it thoroughly researched and uses primary sources for its conclusions it also makes for a great read. In telling this tale of woe, Hajari focuses on the major players, especially Mohammad Ali Jinnah, an uncompromising lawyer who dreamt Pakistan into being, and Jawaharlal Nehru, a protégé of Mohandas Gandhi whose life work was independence from Great Britain. We also spend a good deal of time with Nehru’s deputy, Vallabhbhai Patel; Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India; and Sikh political leader Tara Singh. I preferred “The Sisters Strange” to “The Furies” due to its strong supernatural elements. I have a soft spot for scary tales during the Halloween season, so I am happy to report that John Connolly and his trusty protagonist do not disappoint.As the years pass we share Cyril's life, firstly in Ireland, then onto Amsterdam where the laws were more lenient towards the gay community, and where he meets his future partner, and then finally to America, where he has to face one of the biggest tragedies of his life. Why he couldn’t just sit when he peed, like a sensible human being, she’d never been able to establish. Lord knows, he took every other opportunity to sit when it was offered, so there seemed to be no comprehensible reason why he couldn’t have extended that policy to peeing, too.” of you with daughters or sisters, upsettingly). Catherine Goggin is sixteen. She’s pregnant (but not Fates and Furies': Lauren Groff's love story has a furious subtext". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 26 September 2015.

John Connolly’s latest supernatural thriller, “The Furies”, is actually two novels for the price of one. Both feature Connolly’s private detective Charlie Parker, a man haunted by demons, both figurative and literal. Strangely enough, things are going well for Parker, who has found some semblance of a life in Maine. He has a favorite watering hole, friends, and even the occasional client, but he is extremely discriminating about the types of cases he signs on to anymore.In “The Sisters Strange”, Parker learns a lot about the rare coins market. Career criminal Raum Buker stole a unique coin from the wrong man and this crime brings danger to Dolors and Ambar Strange. Raum has a tendency to dare his enemies “which bespoke a degree of confidence in himself to which he had no right”. In “The Furies”, a widow asks Parker to recover some mementos of her dead daughter. A pair of murderous thugs are holding them for ransom. Another mother asks Parker to help her daughter escape from an abusive boyfriend. Growing up in the second generation of free India, most of my knowledge about the partition and the last days of British Raj is mired with sensational patriotism and holier-than-thou emotions. The concept of Unity in Diversity is ingrained in young minds as soon as children understand the concept of a nation. The blatant discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, skin color, etc., and the violence that comes along, is always swept under the rug as an exception rather than a significant part of our history. The sacrifices by the martyrs of the freedom struggle are woven in beautiful prose and poetry, and glorified to the limits of truth and beyond, in movies and songs. But the senseless crimes of murders, rapes, and arson are left to the likes of the barbaric British rulers and Pakistani militants. The virtues of the peace loving nature of Hindus, Sikhs, and other major Indian religions are extolled by raising a few quotes from the Mahatma, instead of being questioned with cynicism on the basis of facts from Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, Hyderabad, Gujarat, etc. Both of these stories make it clear that even when investigating smaller cases – at least compared to some of the previous books in the series – Charlie Parker is a force for good and a character with plenty of stories left to tell. The Furies is an excellent example of a series that delights in horrifying and uplifting its readers simultaneously; long may it continue to do so. The story is told in different times of Cyril's life, from birth until old age. It is all very bittersweet and there are some really funny moments. I really enjoyed Cyril. I thought he was funny and sweet and as an adult he had some hard times. Friends dying or being killed.

Catherine’s journey to Dublin is the beginning of a picaresque, lolloping odyssey for the individual characters and for the nation that confines them. As the novel begins, Ireland is a young republic and effectively a theocracy. The church writes and enforces the laws controlling sexuality and social behaviour. The opening episode is narrated by the child in Catherine’s womb. He grows up as Cyril Avery, adopted child of a famous Irish female novelist, and tells the story of his life up to 2015. By then the permanent, unquestionable structure of Catholic Ireland will have all but vanished, as the power of the church dissolves in scandal and shame. This story is ripe for alternative histories. If there were no Jinnah, would there be a Pakistan? If there were no Pakistan, would India suffer from a restive minority? Would violence have been avoided if the partition was given more time or if the ruler of Kashmir joined his area with India sooner? Should there have been a partition for the Sikhs?The Furies” revolves around two women for whom Parker has taken on cases. The first is Sarah Abelli, who tragically lost her daughter, Kara. To add insult to injury, two men have robbed her of personal items that amounted to all she had left of Kara. Even though Sarah comes from a family with a criminal past that Parker is well aware of, it is important for him to retrieve her valuable possessions. He will get unexpected help when the specter of a little girl begins to haunt the culprits while they stay at the same flophouse as Buker did in the first story. I was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.

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