Review: Five by Ilona Bannister

* Copy courtesy of Harlequin Australia & Harper Collins *

I love a book with an enticing premise, and Five by Ilona Bannister has just that. Five commuters are waiting on a train platform and in five minutes the next train to London is going to arrive and one of them is going to die. The unnamed narrator takes us away from the present so we can get to know the back stories of each of the five characters and how they came to be standing at the train platform that morning.

We're introduced to mother Emma and her out of control child Gideon, Sonny, a young man who has gambled his life away, a cranky older woman named Mrs Worth who's refusing help even though she's having a medical episode and a successful looking businessman named Liam.

"There are many other mundane but poignant details we could explore in the lives of these ordinary commuters, but we have time constraints. Let's just say that you've seen them before, on some other train platform in some other suburb, weighed down by bags and coats and unmet goals and unrealised dreams." Page 20*

As you can see, the narrator breaks the fourth wall to address the reader directly and I came to see the narrator as the author herself, occasionally breaking into the story to communicate directly with me.

I love people watching and always wonder about the lives of those passing me by; or am I passing them by? Other characters on the platform are given nicknames like Bad Back and To Do List, and while on the periphery of this story, we're also given insight as to their behaviours and choices on the train platform.

Fans of Benjamin Stevenson will love the author's sense of humour and the way in which she foreshadows precisely what will happen, leaving the reader to reach the destination on their own. The thrilling nature of the plot is supported by surprisingly deep character development and the back stories of these five flawed characters really made me sit up and take notice.

This next quote is from a scene where Liam - one of the five main characters - is sitting with his brother and mother watching TV. It's an excellent example of the author's writing style and such a relatable family moment. That moment suddenly becomes shockingly poignant and I found it very moving.

"She sips her sweet, sweet tea and thinks to herself for the thousandth time in twenty years that she really should launder those curtains, and regrets that now she won't have the chance, as a thunderclap no one else can hear explodes inside her head. The pain is immense, but she sees her Liam, so big and muscular and broad and handsome pointing at the screen and making his brother laugh. As the feeling drains from her left side, Doreen regrets that she never had the money to fix the gap between his teeth that she knows secretly bothers him, but that she has always loved. The last thing she sees before her vision is lost and another blood vessel explodes in her brain is her Danny, smiling with the box of biscuits in his lap. As her breath stops, Doreen can still hear his hoarse, gasping laugh as Liam says something rude about the lady on stage impersonating Barbra Streisand. Lads, she thinks, her lads, and the word feels like a smile. And as the mug of tea drops from her hand and her soul leaves the room, she regrets nothing at all." Page 211*

At the end of the book, the death is revealed and the narrator addresses the reader about their feelings on who survived, who died and whether there was any disappointment about the outcome. I certainly had my preference for who was going to survive and who wasn't but this fourth wall questioning was so engaging I felt sad it was all over. I also enjoyed reading about the aftermath for some of the characters and immediately wished Bannister was in a book club to discuss it all.

Five stars for Five by Ilona Bannister, very highly recommended! (Why don't you take five minutes to read a sample, you won't regret it).

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

* I read an ARC so page numbers may vary.

Review: Underwear by Eleri Lynn

I've always been curious about underwear across history and I enjoy the snippets that occasionally pop up in the books I read* but where those authors may have touched on one or two fascinating facts from history, in Underwear - Fashion in Detail by Eleri Lynn it's the author's sole focus.

Eleri Lynn is a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the book is published by V&A Publishing which tells me she's at the height of her field with access to some of the best artefacts from history. It also tells me she's more than qualified to guide the reader through an evolution of underwear in this book.

Surprisingly, this evolution doesn't follow a chronological path, and the history of underwear is instead divided into the following chapters: Covering Up, Decoration, Control and Constrict, Fastenings, Support and Uplift, Volume and Inside Out.

This did create a little content overlap from time to time but not so much that I minded and in some cases it was helpful. I did have to smile when I read about drawers and knickers which were open at the crotch and weren't common in Britain until the 19th century.

"Early drawers, called pantaloons or pantalettes (long trouser-like undergarments for women), were introduced around the beginning of the century, but were not popular as they were considered too masculine and unhygienic. They were also considered immodest because they were cut quite long and were visible below the hem of the dress." Page 20

In the middle of the century (1850s) they were cut to a mid-calf length so as not to show beneath the skirt. Contrast that level of modesty with women's leggings, bike shorts and scrunch bum shorts today and I wonder what our ancestors would have made of our modesty standards - or the lack thereof - in the 2020s.

The author highlights the constantly evolving nature of fashion, showing how corset styles and construction changed and adapted across decades and centuries. A detail I found surprising was:

"The average corset was only expected to last about a year, as even very sturdy corsets would distort with wear." Page 94

As you would expect, the photographs of the V&A exhibits were detailed although sometimes it was hard to gain an appreciation of the entire garment. The accompanying illustrations were helpful but as a layperson, I would have appreciated some indication as to the front, back and side views as they weren't always obvious to me.

I've always found the bullet or torpedo shaped bra of the 1950s a strange fashion trend, and cringe when I see photos of Marilyn Monroe wearing them under a sweater. I remember when Madonna wore the conical corset designed by Jean Paul Gaultier in 1990 and in doing so turned soft feminine lingerie into a symbol of power and domination. This book helped me understand why it was that rosy pink colour, which was the most popular colour of underwear in the early to mid 1900s. That aside, I hope the bullet shaped bra never makes a return for the masses.

Here though, the author explains that the conical shaped bra included intricate concentric stitching and required padded inserts called falsies to fill out the shape and keep them from collapsing. I hadn't given much thought as to how the look was achieved so it was fun to consider it here. I wonder what the sweater girls would have made of the silicone chicken fillet inserts popular in the 1990s.

The sports bra gets a mention, but for some reason Lynn doesn't show us the plunge bra, and includes a photograph of the 'Ultrabra Perfection' balcony bra instead which was disappointing.

"Gossard launched the Ultrabra plunge bra in 1994, with the advertising tagline: 'Ultrabra, creating the ultimate cleavage'. It was followed by additions to the range, including 'Ultrabra Perfection', 'Ultrabra Light' and the 'Ultrabra Super Boost', which launched in 1999 with the slogan: 'Biggest Cleavage EVER... Or your money back!'"

I was also surprised not to see the wonder bra or push up bra, both of which seemed like significant fashion developments in the last 50 years and worthy of inclusion in a book like this. There was also no mention of Skims and the current shapewear trend which is as popular as ever.

Underwear - Fashion in Detail by Eleri Lynn ends suddenly and doesn't offer a conclusion on shifting trends over the centuries or any observations about the future of underwear. I did wonder if that was because the Victoria and Albert Museum collection includes historical items and curators focus on the past and present perhaps but not the potential future. That may be the reason, but given her expertise, I was keen to know Eleri's thoughts on the impact of changing technology and how future fabrics and changing materials will impact the underwear we wear in the future.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Carpe Librum!

* Those interested in intimate snippets about underwear from previous books I've read, might enjoy the following:

In The Dirt on Clean - An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg we're told the the Marquis d'Argens wore a flannel under-waistcoat to keep warm in the 1700s and wouldn't take it off for fear of catching cold. It was revealed he'd worn the waistcoat for four years, but when he finally agreed to take it off, it had "so fixed itself upon him that pieces of his skin came away with it." Eeek!

In How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain by Ruth Goodman I learned that the long tails of shirts once acted as a barrier between the body and the trousers, essentially performing the role of underwear (or drawers) for men. Men's shirts reached down to just above the knees with a slit at both sides, so they could be tucked around one's nether regions without impeding movement. As a result, to see a man with his shirt tails hanging out was 'disgusting' and now I understand why!

More recently in The Stuff of History by Steven Moore, I read about the 14 year old boy who broke into Buckingham Palace between 1838-1841, allegedly lived there in secret by hiding in rooms and chimneys and stole a pair of Queen Victoria's underwear. I was reminded of this when reading Underwear by Eleri Lynn, when we see a pair of Queen Victoria's underwear. Historians know they were worn by the Queen as they're embroidered with her monogram.

When reading Black - The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau I learned that white was once the most common colour of underwear but that this trend has reversed and black is now the most popular. Wearing black underwear was once transgressive but no longer draws attention the way it once did. Go figure!