Stalin’s Hammer: Rome, by John Birmingham

A failure to realise that the Stalin trilogy of novellas was a follow-up to the Axis of Time trilogy of novels meant the first couple of chapters of Rome were largely incomprehensible. A prologue would have been useful for the stupid and the unwary. Fortunately the story soon takes over and it zips along, with only the occasional time travel reference causing confusion. Birmingham is a warfare hardware nerd. His gun descriptions are far too precise for the average reader, but they no doubt tickle the fancy of fellow nerds. Fortunately his engaging writing style and well-drawn, layered characters are more than sufficient to keep the ignorant interested. Several questions occur around the development of this alt-history post WWII, such as how the technology introduced by ‘uptimers’ evolved so fast and how one of them became US president within 10 years of arrival from the future. Likely most of them would not be an issue for those who have read the Axis books, although the presence and demeanour of Prince Harry still takes some explaining. Even without the useful foreknowledge Stalin’s Hammer: Rome is a good read, which whets the appetite for the next two – Cairo and Paris. It is probably a good idea to get hold of the Axis of Time books first though to catch up on the back story.

The adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, by Krissy Kneen

Too long and promising a lot more than it delivers, this book’s title perfectly represents its contents. It is said that one person’s erotica is another’s pornography and if your tastes trend towards vanilla, this book is definitely not for you. The journey from repression to sexual freedom apparently requires one to delete all boundaries; one must be open, literally, to anything. The depiction of sex is dominated by pain and is devoid of sensuality. The ludicrous ending is ironically appropriate. Perhaps that is actually the point of the book, as it id difficult to see another.

Any Human Heart, directed by Michael Samuels

Spanning most of the 20th century, this four part British series was adapted by William Boyd from his own novel. Everyman Logan Mountstuart is played by three different actors – Sam Claflin, Matthew McFadyan and Jim Broadbent. He is a not-so successful writer and a deeply flawed man, who experiences great love and great loss. There is a touch of Forrest Gump in some of his celebrity encounters – Winston Churchill, King Edward and Mrs Simpson, Ernest Hemingway and Ian Fleming. But it serves to illustrate many significant events of the last century, including the Spanish Civil War, WWII and Thatcherism. Hayley Atwell is wonderful as Freya, the love of Logan’s life, and the story is ultimately dominated by the relationships in his life – friends, lovers, wives and children. Often funny, frequently sad, sometimes moving, occasionally silly, always engaging, Any Human Heart boasts a very strong supporting cast, including Gillian Anderson, Kim Cattrall, Tobias Menzies and Natasha Little, and is thoroughly enjoyable.

A House for all Seasons, by Jenn J McLeod

Four books in one tell the story of four very different young women who receive a strange legacy that helps resolve their shared and individual pasts. Sara, Poppy, Amber and Caitlyn were at school together in rural Calingary Crossing, where all had it tough in different ways. Sara had to care for ageing and disabled parents living in poverty. Poppy had a distant and disappearing war vet father, who could not cope with their family tragedy. Amber’s perfection was a front for a life of domestic violence. Caitlyn always had to the good girl, who lived up to others’ expectations. All sought solace from unconventional Gypsy in her magical house. A tragedy marred the end of their school days and they all fled town as soon as they were able, but all found they carried the baggage of their past into their new lives. Gypsy’s legacy brought them back together, with conditions that made them all attempt to confront and resolve their pasts. Can they do it and all forge a bright new future? The first two stories are fleshed out quite well, with Sara and Poppy both flawed and appealing. The author seems to have run out of steam for the last two girls. Amber’s story runs straight to soap and her character is not very believable. Caitlyn doesn’t have a chance to convince, her story is so sketchy. The inevitable ending is a little too pat, which is a pity, because there were some really good ideas that just needed a bit more attention to work well.

The Light between Oceans, by ML Stedman

On remote Janus island off the WA coast, World War I veteran Tom Sherbourne tends the lighthouse station poised between the Indian and Southern Oceans. He is lucky enough to meet a woman willing to share the splendid isolation, but their love story is marred by an inability to have a child. When a baby is washed ashore, it looks like their life and love could be back on track, what could possibly go wrong? A slow start does gradually build to an engrossing, sad tale of a bad choice, made from love, that can have no good outcome. Small town prejudice and the lingering effects of a brutal war contribute to the pressure and difficulty involved in choosing to do the right thing. One can’t help but feel for the deeply tragic lighthouse keeper, who is almost literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sympathy is harder to maintain for his equally tragic wife, whose bitterness threatens to compound her tragedy. The book has been made into a film starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, two very European actors for such an Australian story.

The Book of Pearl, by Timothee de Fombelle

This fractured fairy tale of an exiled prince is difficult to get into, as the disjointed narration is off-putting. It gradually becomes easier to read as the narration is reduced to the occasional, if seemingly unnecessary, intrusion into the story. Jumping between occupied France in World War II and a land of fairies and magic, Joshua ‘Ilian’ Pearl is searching for a way to return to his lost life and love. The narrator’s purpose becomes clear towards the end of the book, but his insertion into the story remains clunky and unconvincing. There is some nice writing of the patisserie and the Pearls' relationship with their adoptive son. As an undoubtedly tragic fairy story, the Book of Pearl doesn’t quite work. If there is meant to be anything deeper to discover – perhaps about displaced persons or the search for self? – it is hard to find, or possibly lost in translation from the original French.

Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016), directed by Sharon Maguire

Totally predictable, but nonetheless enjoyable, this third instalment of the Jones girl’s diary provides many laughs. The gang is all back on board barring Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver, who is cleverly replaced by McDreamy Patrick Dempsey. It is refreshing to see Bridget and her friends and lovers allowed to be realistically older. Emma Thompson is great as the caustic obstetrician and there is a lot of fun had with the TV takeover of generation hipster, even if Bridget Jones as a hard news producer takes a fair suspension of disbelief. The film does trail off a bit at the end, towards its all-too-neat and never really in doubt conclusion. It will be interesting to see of a fourth film is made of Helen Fielding’s latest Bridget book, which is set five years later.

The Graveyard of the Hesperides, by Lindsey Davies

In the week leading up to their wedding, Roman sleuths Flavia Albia and Tiberius Manlius Faustus discover a mass grave in a beer garden undergoing renovations. The semi-reluctant bride leaves the nuptial preparations to her teenage sisters as she plunges into another murder mystery in the underbelly of Rome. Each Davis novel is gently educational, but never didactic, about an aspect of ancient Roman society. This one examines the murky world of prostitution, as well as dipping back in to construction and policing, and concluding with marriage rituals. Divine retribution almost spoils the wedding party, but our indomitable heroes battle through, as ever. Always fascinating, amusing and entertaining, Lindsey Davies' books contain relatable parallels to modern times. Will we next see Flavia Albia struggling to balance work with motherhood? It is to be hoped so.

Love and Friendship (2016), directed by Whit Stillman

A film adaptation of a book is limited by the strength of the source material. Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan reads like an early draft of what may have been developed into one of her classic novels, had she lived long enough to do it. This could have freed an adaptor to take up the development task, but if anything Stillman is too faithful to the original. His trademark slow and talky approach does the novella no favours and the early part of the film is very slow and quite dull. There are rather too many long and lingering scenes of people walking and of grand house interiors, corridors and ceilings galore. The momentum does gather and the laughs increase, so that the film finishes better than it starts. Kate Beckinsale is outstanding as the beguilingly manipulative and impoverished widow, who must use her wit and charm to survive and to try to secure a future for herself and her long-suffering daughter. Xavier Samuel and Chloe Sevigny also shine, as her suitor and her confidante respectively. The plot, such as it is, resembles a storyline from The Bold and The Beautiful, but the script includes some classic Austen lines, such as Lady Susan’s description of her friend’s husband as, “too old to manage but too young to die.”