Barter Books

Barter Books
Jan 2016

Barter Books of Alnwick may not be the largest second hand bookshop in the country, but it must be one of the most unusual.

When we visit Northumberland we usually find ourselves at Barter Books which is housed in the Alnwick's old station. What is more, the owner is a railway enthusiast so the bookshelves are groaning with train related publications.

By was of a contrast, the inland waterways is diminutive to say the least - usually less than 20 books! That said, these slim pickings always seem to contain a gem.

When we were last there we took a lot of old books with us to trade in (hence the name) and used about £18 to buy a promotional brochure produced by the engineers who built the Foxton Inclined Plane.

One of the two overhead model railways

This time I picked up a copy of a book examining the Nutbrook Canal, one the the lost lines in Derbyshire. Its a fascinating book and one which will no doubt inform another "lost canal" walk in the near future.

Barter Books in festive mood

The range of books carried by Barter is immense and its well worth a visit if you are in the area. If books are not your thing the old waiting rooms house an atmospheric coffee shop complete with a real coal fire.

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky - book review

The Girl who Fell From The Sky

by Simon Mawer

Another holiday read but this one was something of a let down.

The story is set in World War Two when Marian Sutro is recruited by the  British Secret Service to work behind enemy lines in occupied France.

Ok - I am starting this post again as I fell asleep twice whilst writing the above two lines - literally! In my defence I had a lousy nights sleep and then a very busy day sailing down the west coast of St Lucia followed by an excellent Italian meal in one of the hotel restaurants. I guess sleep was inevitable.

So, back to the book.

Our heroine is recruited from  the communications wing of the MOD and sent to Scotland for spy training, has her first sexual encounter but is then torn with angst about a previous unrequited love. Off she goes to France so recruit said unrequited love who happens to be a key nuclear physicist (like the Nazi's wouldn't have nobbled him already - right).

To my mind the plot chuggs along in a pretty pedestrian fashion with the real place being delivered when she is on the tun from the occupying forces across the streets of Paris. This section takes off, but by then you are 75% of the way through the book.

As for the twist in the tale - there is one and who but a complete idiot with a price on her head wouldn't take the opportunity to get on a plane and live to fight another day. Not this one it seems.

So why did I buy it in the first place? Because of the endorsement on the front cover:

"As good as le Carre. If you read one book this year make it this" Alan Massie. Scotsman.

Le Carre may specialise in spy thrillers but there the parallels end. That said, I find le Carre plots horribly complex so why am I complaining about the flimsy fabric behind this construction?

In finding an image for this review I came across another title for 2010 with the same name which sounds like a much more interesting read: