Electric Souk by Rose McGinty

About Electric Souk

Rose McGinty has written a powerful debut novel that crackles with energy and shimmers with lyricism, shedding light on a world that is half hidden.’ SOPHIE DUFFY, author of Bright Stars

‘An enthralling novel; beguiling characters that leap off the page and a beautifully conjured world. Exquisite writing infused with a creeping tension held me spellbound.’ JANE ELMOR, author of My Vintage Summer

‘With its unique blend of exuberance and menace, Electric Souk is a journey and an adventure’ ISABEL COSTELLO, The Literary Sofa

Humanity blisters in this haunting, lyrical thriller about trust and treachery. Ireland's gone bust, and with it Aisling Finn's life. She flees austerity for adventure in the desert. But the Arabia she finds is not that of her dreams. Everyone is chasing a fast buck, a fast woman and another G&T. Expats and locals alike prickle with paranoia.

Debonair fixer, Brian Rothmann, charms Aisling with champagne brunches and nights at Bedouin camps. But is Brian a hero or a desperate expat prepared to go to any lengths to get what he wants? Is this Aisling? Or is he using her as bait? Her only hope is Hisham, a local activist. But where do his loyalties lie?

Aisling faces severe peril when the sleazy expat and blood-lusting desert worlds collide, as the Arab Spring erupts. She has to ask, whom can she trust? Can she even trust herself?

My Review of Electric Souk

Oh my word! Where do I start? Other than by saying that I loved this book. It has everything. I'm not even sure what genre this book fits into is as it is part adventure story/part thriller/part romance/part spy novel/part epic journey...I could go on. . It is like no other book I have ever read and I was captivated from the very first page.

Electric Souk tells the tale of Aisling Finn, a thirty something Irish woman, who flees Dublin after a failed relationship to seek a brighter and more happier future in the Gulf desert working for the Health Board. However, life in the desert is far from easy, and although she does get her fair share of adventure, she gets far more than she bargained for.

This novel is told from Aisling's point of view and we see, hear and taste what she does. I could taste the red desert sand, smell the mint tea and hear the buzzing of the crowds at the Souk at nigh time. Rose McGinty has managed to capture the fragrance, intensity and the emotions of the desert and the lifestyle which may of us will never know.

We meet many colourful characters along the way. The first is Angie, the bubbly scouser who is in nurse training and who takes Aisling under her wing in this strange new country. Her Liverpudlian accent flew from the pages and I found myself smiling, remembering the voices of my old home. She is a strong female character, and this book is full of them. We have Laila, who becomes Aisling's Sister as well as her interpreter. She is feisty, intelligent, beautiful and quick witted. In contrast we have Mozah, a manipulative woman who is only out for her own ends. It is Aisling though, who had my attention.  The story is told from her point of view and I felt her vulnerability as well as growing strength. Although this book is about deception and learning who you can rust, it is also about Aisling's journey of self discovery.

This book is full of twists and turns. I was gripped until the very end, wanting to find out the many truths. Aisling is in a foreign country, she does not speak the language, nor does she fully understand the rituals and customs, and it is to others that she must turn to feel safe and be protected. But the big question that is raised is who can she trust? As a reader I had my doubts about those characters who seemed trustworthy. I too, just like Aisling, felt a creeping sense of doubt and building paranoia. We meet Mr Brian Rothmann, who is brought in to work on the project. Can Aishling trust him? Is he all who he seems? From the very first moment I met him, I did not like him and was wary of him throughout the novel. We also meet Hisham, Laila's brother, an activist, a polar opposite to Brian, a gentleman, and from the moment he appeared, I both trussed and liked him.

 

Electric Souk fully immerses you in the Arabic world. We go on trips to the mall for coffee and trinkets. We drink whisky from jam jars and stay up until 3 am in the morning. It really is a different lifestyle and one which is evoked beautifully on the page. It is very obvious that the author has spent time in the desert, and is aware of the lifestyle and customs, as she writes with such ease and knowledge.

 

I highly recommend Electric Souk as a book to escape the ordinary world. You will be gripped, shocked and thoroughly entertained. The language is poetic and the pages crackle with intensity. It really is a stunning debut novel.

 

Electric Souk is published on March 23 by Urbane Publications. You can find the book on Amazon here.

With thanks to the author and publisher who gave me an Advanced Reader Copy for review purposes.

 

About the author

Rose McGinty was born with itchy feet, which she has yet to decide is a blessing or a curse. Certainly, surviving Hurricane Sandy, an earthquake, a spider bite, jumping 192 metres off the Sky Tower in Auckland, and nearly being arrested for inadvertently smuggling a rocket in Vietnam, make her wonder about locking up her passport. But then, it was her adventures in the Middle East that gave her the itchy fingers to write. Rose lives in Kent, where as well as enjoying writing short stories, flash fiction and poetry, she also paints. She works in community health services and has worked overseas in Ireland, Canada, Sweden and the Middle East. She completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course, under the guidance of Richard Skinner, in 2015. Electric Souk is her debut novel and Rose says of her story, 'The parts of the story that are true, I probably wish were not; while the parts that are not, I probably wish were true.'

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

 

 

About the One Memory of Flora Banks

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO TO TRUST WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN TRUST YOURSELF?
I look at my hands. One of them says FLORA BE BRAVE.

Flora has anterograde amnesia. She can't remember anything day-to-day: the joke her friend made, the instructions her parents gave her, how old she is.

Then she kisses someone she shouldn't, and the next day she remembers it. It's the first time she's remembered anything since she was ten.

But the boy is gone. She thinks he's moved to the Arctic.
Will following him be the key to unlocking her memory? Who can she trust?

 

 

My review of The One Memory of Flora Banks

 

The One Memory of Flora Banks has been on my 'to be read pile' for a long time, and so I was very glad when I eventually had the opportunity to read it. I absolutely adored this book. It was such a treat to read.

 

The story revolves around Flora Banks, a seventeen-year-old girl who has anterograde amnesia. This means that she can only retain information for a few hours, so she has to be constantly reminded of who she is, what she has done and what she needs to do next. Her life is a series of notes, reminders and she cannot live without her notebook, which is where her whole life is documented. On her hand thee is a tattooed message that states, 'Be Brave' and Flora lives her life by this mantra. She is brave, she is exceptional.

 

Although YA, it is not the typical young girl falls in love with boy YA story, it is different, believe me, you have to stick with the story until the very end. This is not about teenage love, this is a book about self discovery, it is a book about how Flora finds herself. When Flora remembers kissing Drake one night on the beach, who is also her best friend's boyfriend, her whole world begins to unravel and changes forever. Although the novel begins as one of teenage love and of new love, this novel is so much more.

 

Flora takes the bold decision to travel to Svalbard, in the Arctic, so as to find Drake. This part of the book I absolutely loved. I could see, smell and taste the Arctic with the author's vivid descriptions. This young girl, with no memory, managed to get herself there, living up to her motto, Be Brave. Flora does indeed manage to get herself safely to Svalbard and she finds that she is loved by many of the inhabitants there, namely those of Toby and Agi, who are fantastic characters, that we meet through Flora's viewpoint.

 

I will just mention that this novel is repetitive, we read many times that Flora 'kissed a boy' for example, but this repetition is needed. It is Flora telling the story, and through the use of repetition I felt like I was able to creep inside her head and live her life throughout the pages of he novel. Without this constant reputation, I really do feel that a vital part of Flora would have been lost to me. I needed to understand how her amnesia impacted upon her life, and the narrative repetitions helped me to do so.

 

The main themes running throughout this novel are those of, Who is telling the truth? and, Who can Flora trust? Throughout the novel I just knew that something was amiss, I just couldn't put my finger on it, so the ending came as a complete surprise.

 

The One Memory of Flora Banks is an exceptional novel for any age. It is a story of self discovery, adventure and of never giving up on life. The One Memory of Flora Banks was published by Penguin on 12 December 2016 and can be found on Amazon here.

 

 

  

About the author

 

Emily Barr worked as a journalist in London but always hankered after a quiet room and a book to write. She went travelling for a year, which gave her an idea for a novel set in the world of backpackers in Asia. This became BACKPACK, an adult thriller which won the WH Smith New Talent Award, and she has since written eleven more adult novels published in the UK and around the world. THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS is her first novel for young adults. She lives in Cornwall with her partner and their children. Visit her website at www.emilybarr.com