Far to go, Alison Pick

The Holocaust is a common topic in Booker listed picks, but Alison Pick's 'Far to go' manages to find a new way in to this oft-told tale. Her central characters, the Bauers, are secular Jews in Czechoslovakia. Observed through the eyes of their Gentile nanny, Marta, Pavel Bauer fights more for  Czech independence than for his Jewish culture; his refusal to leave his homeland is a stubborn representation of his idealistic view of Czech unity.

The tale reveals the many small ways in which people seek their own fortune in hard times, often betraying those close to them in an attempt to make some small gain, be it financial, emotional or self-worth. The Bauers find themselves battling not just the known enemy of the Nazi invaders, but the more sinister enemies of people's everyday fears and greed.

Interspersed with this are flash-forwards to modern day Montreal, where a character draws together research on the Kindertransport, trains which rescued many young Jewish children from the stricken European mainland and placed them with British families. We learn, from letters, that Pepik, the Bauers only son, was one such transported child. The story concertinas inward, as in the modern day sections the reader aches for news of how he fared; in the wartime tale, we are anticipating the moment when Pepik is finally relinquished to the train, which could prove to he either blessing or cruel lesson in the ways of the world.

Pick's tell is beautifully interwoven, and the simultaneously insightful and naive character of Marta provides an unintrusive yet engaging narrator. Despite the ability to foresee a number of the twists in the tale (some by design, others by lack of suspense), I found myself hooked until the end.

On Canaan's Side, Sebastian Barry

At what she sees as inevitably the end of her life (for what is worth living now her beloved grandson has died?), Lilly Bere recounts her memories, and the many tragedies she has borne throughout her life. She looks back on those loved and those lost, and builds a portrait of a woman both strong and practical, providing there is a reason to go on.

As Lilly's memories flow across the pages, you start to understand her ambivalence to life now. Her adulthood was thrust upon her as she and her sweetheart are forced from Ireland, and events take a turn to force her to mature quickly, but to always keep one eye looking over her shoulder as she ploughs on determinedly.

The format of the novel bounces between modern day and the sequential reliving of Lilly's past, allowing a clearer empathy with the aged storyteller. As the gap closes between then and now, we come to understand the bond Lilly held so dear with her grandson, and appreciate the severe loss of the last living connection one has with the world. When your line is done, what is left? 'On Canaan's Side' is a gently told tale, and can at times ebb too slowly. There is also a little incredulity in the sheer berth of historical significances mixed up in Lilly's life, but there sideline status makes them bearable. A story quite beautifully told, with characters that engage.