Winners and Losers by Catrin Collier

Authors Synopsis:

Megan Williams is eighteen and in love with the boy next door, Victor Evans. It is 1910 and, in the Rhondda Valley, poverty and hardship are taking their toll as troops are brought in to control the striking miners. The only work Megan can find is in a house where the police and soldiers lodge, but she is shunned by friends and neighbours, who believe she has betrayed her class by working for the enemy. Megan's father would rather see his daughter dead than married to a Catholic, particularly one whose father and brother are marked as strike ringleaders. Caught in the middle, Victor and Megan find themselves fighting for the right to love one another, remain together and build a future they can share.

Skyes Review

This is the first of Catrin's books I have read, and I will be keeping my eye out for more of her work, Catrin manages to makes it possible to imagine the living conditions of the people at that time and the class divide between the wealthy and the poor. At times I felt like I was walking the streets of TonyPandy and right by Megan’s sides during her "battles". Tonypandy in 1910 is a town of poverty, hardship, and strife, garrisoned by troops brought in to control the striking miners whose anger all too frequently erupts into bouts of violence and picketing.

Catrin cleverly weaves her fictional tale around real events and historical figures, and it makes for a great read, I found myself immersed in this novel as it progressed, wanting to know what would happen to Megan and all concerned, and also interested in the general historical background. Several issues were covered in a realistic way, giving me quite an insight into the society of the time. I found myself, reading this book at every spare moment. It wasn't that the various plotlines were overly exciting, but I was caught up in the everyday lives of these people, wanting to know what would happen next.

In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books based lightly on historical events with a little bit of romance thrown in to keep things spicy.

Damage Done ~ Warren Fellows

Editors Synopsis:
In 1978, Warren Fellows, Paul Heyward and William Sinclair were convicted of heroin trafficking between Australia and Thailand. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in Thai prisons. This book is one man's story of an unthinkable nightmare.

Hayley's Review:
OK, so this is not a current book I have read, rather it was a couple of months ago.
I tend to read a lot of true stories although this one stands out and was refreshingly different in that the writer did not try to deny or sugar coat the charges against him. There was no question of his guilt throughout the book. We learn about the relationships of the accused and how Warren became involved in the drug scene before being thrown into the whirlpool of hard prison life that becomes his rock. The story was true to the blurb outlined on the cover and openly delves into the nightmarish hell of an Australian man serving time in a stereotypical Thai prison.
While the facts are brutal and unimaginable, encompassed within is a glimpse of the power and determination of the human spirit.

My Sister's Keeper ~ Jody Picoult

A short Synopsis:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukaemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?

Hayley's Review:
I just finished reading Jody Picoults My Sisters Keeper and I cant begin to tell you how good this book is!
A tale of questionable morals and a complexity of characters reeled me in from the start. The characters were so likeable and often relatable in their quest for normalcy and equality, and the story unfolded so naturally from the beginning. The tale is told in alternating perspectives from each of the characters and flowed with a beautiful candour, well known to most picolut readers.
This book had me turning the pages faster than my fingers could keep up. An unexpected ending left me shocked and awed and reaching out to the bookshelf for the next Jody Picoult novel.