Read in 2025 - 19

(This year's reads # 18 and 20 will be reviewed in a combined post.)

The Queen of the Tambourine

Jane Gardam

Not my picture, but it was the only one I found which showed the same edition that I bought.

During my sister and my holiday in Ripon, among several other things I bought three paperbacks, two in my favourite book shop and this one in a charity shop, one of many lining Ripon's streets (can't remember which one).

I liked the cover and the description on the back. Also, I read "Old Filth" by this author some years ago, and found it very good; you can find my 2017 review here.

This one was also a very good read, although I must admit it was not quite what I had expected.

The main character is Eliza Peabody, surrounded by a cast of neighbours, family and other people she meets in her capacity as a volunteer at a hospice. She is a keen observer, and the reader learns a lot about each of them.

The entire story is presented in the form of letters Eliza writes to her neighbour Joan. They start out as short notes, with (unwanted) advice about Joan's health and family life. No answers are ever written, but Eliza continues with her letters, which become longer and longer, revealing more and more of Eliza's own life.

But how much of what Eliza writes has actually happened, and how much of it is just in her mind? And why does Joan never answer? Why does Eliza always talk of having two dogs, when everybody else seems to be aware of only one? Has her husband really left her, and if so, why?

I don't want to tell you too much, but there are unexpected twists; it's not crime fiction, but still a mystery. I perfectly agree with one excerpts of a critic saying that she found the book "very moving when it is not being exceedingly funny".

The very end comes with one last twist. It left me with a slight feeling of disappoinment; I was expecting something more quirky, not such a neat explanation and conclusion. But see for yourselves, if you are interested.

Jane Gardam (who by the way was from Yorkshire) only died this year. She wrote many books; this was the 2nd by her that I have read. You can read about her here on wikipedia. "The Queen of the Tambourine" has its own wikipedia entry here.