42 WEEKEND March 9, 2013 Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk NEP-E01-S2 EP01 NEP-E01-S2 EP01 Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk March 9, 2013 WEEKEND 43

The Devil Is White by William Palmer, hardback, Jonathan Cape,£16.99 (ebook £9.49). The Devil Is White follows the lives of a group ofabolitionists as they set out to build a free society on anAfrican island.

In 1792, after recruiting more than 100 people to embarkon a “utopia” experiment, a group of English gentlemen setabout planning life in their new world, and it all seems to gowell as they arrive at the verdant paradise.

However, paradise isn’t handed to them on a silverplatter, and there is dissension in the ranks when peoplehave different views on how the settlement should be ruled– but greater adversaries await in the form of illness,starvation and inclement weather.

A master storyteller, Palmer exposes the dark anddangerous creases of the human mind in this accomplished novel.

★★★(Ben Major)

The Baby Diaries by Sam Binnie, paperback, Avon, £6.99 (ebook£2.99). Kiki and Thom are just married and in adrink-fuelled night on honeymoon decide they’ll try for ababy. Guess what? Kiki gets pregnant and then has tocome to terms with the changes to her life a new baby willbring. With a job she loves and plenty of friends in London,Kiki’s quite happy with how things are. Luckily, herhusband Thom is very supportive.While The Baby Diaries is a fun read for those who arepregnant and can empathise with Kiki’s situation, it borderson formulaic, because she’s so upbeat throughout and anywobble is met by a huge cuddle from her near-perfectother half.

★★★(Kate Whiting)

The Last Time I Saw You by Eleanor Moran, paperback,Quercus, £7.99 (ebook £5.03). If you enjoy novels with unexpectedendings, The Last Time I Saw You will be a rewardingchoice – once the plot eventually begins to unravel. Livvy,the protagonist, is a breakaway from the classic ‘maincharacter’ as the once-sidekick of typical queen bee Sally,which makes for a slightly warped look back at theirfriendship.

On discovering Sally has died in a car crash, years aftertheir time at university together, Livvy sets off on a quest touncover the truth. The story does have great potential;Livvy is thrust from plot point to plot point in a linearfashion that never really meets the expectations you longfor, yet still handing you just enough to keep you cravingconclusion. A pretty standard chick-lit with a twist.

★★★(Emily Pawson)

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK:Too Small For My Big Bed by AmberStewart, illustrated by Layn Marlow,hardback, Oxford University Press, £11.99.While reading a children’s picture book, it’s always agood sign when your eyes prick with tears.

Too Small For My Big Bed tells the tale of a tigercub called Piper who is brave during the daytime,when he’s climbing and jumping, but finds it hard tosleep in his own bed at night-time.

With beautiful illustrations throughout by LaynMarlow, Amber Stewart’s heart-warming tale willhelp toddlers – and big kids – get off to sleep.

★★★★(Kate Whiting)

NON-FICTIONField Notes From A Hidden City: An Urban NatureDiary by Esther Woolfson, hardback, Granta,£16.99 (ebook £9.78).Set against the backdrop of the bleak but captivating cityof Aberdeen, Field Notes From A Hidden City is a beautifuland absorbing account of the natural world, as observedby Esther Woolfson, and revealed in diary form.Not only is the flora and fauna of the locality examined, butthe role of the weather and geographical features, inshaping our relationship with the environment, are givendue prominence.Knowledgeable and informative on squirrels, rats, pigeonsand spiders, Woolfson brings the reader closer to nature.

★★★(Liz Ellis)

BOOK CLUB

1 The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window AndDisappeared, Jonas Jonasson2 Life Of Pi, Yann Martel3 Safe House, Chris Ewan4 The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen5 Dark Winter, David Mark6 Thursdays In The Park, Hilary Boyd7 Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway8 The Half-Life Of Hannah, Nick Alexander9 War Brides by Helen Bryan10 Missing You, Louise Douglas(Compiled by the Kindle store at Amazon.co.uk)

The Master (15) LancasterDodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) isthe figurehead of a burgeoning1950s philosophical movementknown as The Cause. Hisfollowers congregate in drawingrooms across America andLancaster is delighted towelcome an alcoholic warveteran, Freddie Quell (JoaquinPhoenix), into the fold as his“guinea pig and protege”.

Lancaster’s forthright wife,Peggy (Amy Adams), recognisesFreddie as a damaged soul and tries to curb his impulses.However, that primal rage, which percolates inside Freddie,proves useful when Lancaster encounters resistance to hisargument and even scorn from his own son (Jesse Plemons).

The Master is an overlong demonstration of virtuosofilm-making that is by turns dazzling and boorishlypretentious. Paul Thomas Anderson’s emotionally wroughttale is easy to admire for its ambition and verve, but hard toworship for the protracted sequences of pointlessness. Thecast’s commitment to their roles is unswerving. Phoenix driftsthrough scenes in a drowsy stupor, Hoffman is charismaticand Adams delivers a steely supporting performance.

★★★

Premium Rush (Cert 12)Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)slaloms through traffic on thestreets of Manhattan as a bicyclecourier alongside his girlfriendVanessa (Dania Ramirez) andarch-rival Manny (Wole Parks).Dispatcher Raj (Aasif Mandvi)sends Wilee to ColumbiaUniversity to collect an envelopefrom Nima (Jamie Chung). Soonafter, crooked cop BobbyMonday (Michael Shannon)attempts to procure the package,but Wilee resists and pedals furiously towards lowerManhattan, determined to meet his delivery deadline.

Unfolding largely in real time with occasional flashbacks toplug gaping plot holes, Premium Rush is a testosterone-fuelledchase along the streets and avenues of the Big Apple. The castperform many of the tricks and stunts, adding to the sense ofdanger because a car could suddenly swerve into their path. Toemphasise the peril, rough footage over the end credits showsthe back window of a taxi cab smashed and lead actorGordon-Levitt standing nearby, blood coursing down his arm.For the opening 30 minutes, Premium Rush is anadrenaline-pumping blast but the action becomes repetitive.

★★★

LATEST DVD RELEASES

TOP EBOOKS

Utopia – Series One (Cert 18)Recently broadcast on Channel 4,Utopia is a major six-part dramarevolving around a cult graphicnovel called The UtopiaExperiments, which is rumoured topredict the most catastrophicevents of the 20th Century, eventhough most critics and historiansdismiss the book as claptrap. Thebook’s manuscript is acquired by asmall group of people, and thesevirtual strangers become targets ofa shadowy organisation known onlyas The Network. Thus, post-gradstudent Becky (Alexandra Roach), troubled 11-year-old boyGrant (Oliver Woollford), IT consultant Ian (NathanStewart-Jarrett) and conspiracy theorist geek Wilson (AdeelAkhtar) go on the run with hired assassins Arby (Neil Maskell)and Lee (Paul Ready) in hot pursuit.

★★★

A Notts couple, who quit their jobs to go travelling in a motorhome,have turned their experiences in Morocco into a book. They talk toLYNETTE PINCHESS about their African adventures, warts and all

Story of our driveinto the unknownJULIE and Jason Buckley areseasoned travellers after more than20,000 miles on the road.

But their arrival in Morocco came asa culture shock after months of touringacross Europe.

As their motorhome trundled intoterritories unknown – at least to theBuckleys – there was an instantassault on their senses: loudspeakersbellowing calls to prayer, locals goingabout their daily duties in long robesand camels and goats grazing at thero a d s i d e .

It seemed a million miles away fromtheir life in Eastwood, where both hadhad 9 to 5 jobs at E.ON before quittingto tour Europe.

Before arriving in Morocco, theBuckleys hadn’t particularly stood outon their travels in their motorhome,nicknamed Dave.

But in Africa, they were very clearlyin the minority and were attractingattention. Or at least their four-leggedfriend was. Pet dog Charlie hasaccompanied them every step of theway on their mammoth expedition.

Julie says: “Everyone wasfascinated by Charlie. We think he maybe the first King Charles cavalier tomake it there. People stared, somepointed and the braver kids went for aleg grab or stroke.”

Because their month-long stay inMorocco proved such an eye-opener,the couple, who both turned 40 duringtheir 500 days on the road, thought itwould be useful to turn theiradventures into a warts and all bookcalled A Monkey Ate My Breakfast.

The title comes from their encounterwith the Barbary apes who live in thewild near their campsite.

Julie says: “The locals were feedingthem small cakes in metallic wrappers.They were used to these as theycarefully undid the wrapper, thenpeeled away the surrounding paperbefore eating the cake. They were allaround us and we were desperate tofeed them something, but didn’t have

any cake – then I remembered I’d puta banana in my bag to have asbreakfast on our walk to see themonkeys.

“We felt a bit bad stereotyping themwith a banana, but they seemed tolove it when Jason gave it to them.”

The Buckleys have been on theroad since resigning from their jobsand renting out their home in October2011.

Their adventures have taken themto 14 countries in Europe includingFrance, Spain, Portugal, Italy,Slovenia, Croatia and Austria but theynever planned to visit anothercontinent.

Only when the UK Government’s

Department for Environment, Foodand Rural Affairs changed its petpassport rules did they decide toventure into Africa.

“E u ro p e ’s a pretty big place tooccupy us for a year or two. But thelure of adventure, the test ofovercoming our own fears and theopportunity to go and see a MuslimAfrican country for ourselves was toomuch to resist. We had to go,” saysJulie.

In the book they write aboutmagnificent sights from the snow-cladAtlas mountains and Sahara Desert tobustling medieval souks at Fez andMarrakech.

It is, says Julie, the kind of worldyou daydream about on those dark,wet, winter mornings on your way towork.

But there were less spectacularmoments: finding a McDonalds wasjust too much like home. And Juliewasn’t impressed when she witnesseda chicken being slaughtered at one ofthe busy marketplaces.

Julie recalls: “I saw its feet wiggleas it went into the plucking machine.Yu c k ! ”

As tourists they had to keep theirwits firmly about them, especiallywhen it came to deterring locals whofrequently flagged them down to selltheir wares, usually chocolate.

“Yo u ’re right there with us as wehaggle with the locals, ride camels inthe Sahara and learn to handle thecelebrity status of being foreign,” saysJulie.

The downside was having to dealwith persistent beggars, Charlie wasattacked by a wild dog and they fellvictim to a fake tour guide.

Julie says: “We ’d been warned byothers about ‘faux guides’. Theyapproach you and offer to show youaround, or invite you to meet their‘b ro t h e r ’ in his cafe or shop, or ask ifthey can walk with you to practisetheir English – then at the end theydemand payment.

“Our fella – his name was Idriss,although at first we doubted that aswe were in a town called MoulayIdriss, but we refer to him as ArthurDaley as he wore a similar coat to himand was a bit of a chancer.

“We ’d parked up in a car park andhe had approached us and told us thathe was the guardian – in car parks it’snormal to pay the guardian a fewDirham to watch your vehicle for you.

“Jason opened his wallet and paidhim, at which point Arthur caught sightof money in there and asked if weneeded a guide. We declined butasked him to point us in the directionof the main part of the town. Bigmistake. He pointed and told us hewas going that way so we should walkwith him – another big mistake.”

As the Buckleys followed himthrough the back streets, they beganto suss they were being given a tour.

“First we visited a view point highabove the town, then a dirty alley nextto the mosque. He couldn’t take us tothe main sights as the official tourguides were there.

“Soon it began to rain so we saidwe wanted to go back but he insistedwe carried on. Poor Charlie wasdrenched, we all were, but we didn’thave a clue where we were or how toget back to Dave, so we had to carryon following him. As we walked along Igestured to Jason to give me the cashfrom his wallet, so we could try tominimise the cost by pretending wehad limited cash. But of course he’dalready seen our money, so it wasnever going to work,” says Julie.

After haggling for five minutes the‘guide’ suddenly asked if they had anywine.

“This shocked us as we believedMuslims didn’t drink. Seeing a chanceto get the deal done and get away wesaid we did and grabbed a litre box ofCarrefour Discount wine from ourwardrobe. We’d come stocked up asit’s tricky to buy in Morocco.Keen-eyed Arthur spotted the otherboxes in the wardrobe and offered to

buy some from us for quite a bit morethan we’d paid for them,” says Julie.

“We agreed a price for the ‘tour’and to sell him a few boxes of ourwine, which he needed in a nonsee-through plastic bag..”

As the days passed, they foundthemselves transformed from nervoustourists into more enlightenedtravellers.

“After reading the book you’re leftwith a vivid sense of not only Moroccothe country, but also of the humaninteractions and emotions experiencedexploring this exotic land. The onlyproblem is you might want to buy asecond-hand motorhome and head offto sunnier shores yourself,” says Julie.● A Monkey Ate My Breakfast isavailable from Amazon, paperback£7.95 or eBook £3.91 andwww.smashwords.com priced £3.25.

To follow the couple’s blog go tow w w. o u r t o u r. c o . u k .

Julie and Jason Buckley on their Moroccan adventure and (below) with their dog Charlie.

The couple at Moulay Idriss.

The Buckleys’motorhome‘Dave’ inM o ro c c o .

TheBuckleys’bookabouttheira d v e n t u re ,AMonkeyAte MyB re a k f a s t .

Nottingham’s top ten books1 Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O‘F a r re l l2 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn3 The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Windowand Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson4 The Fields by Kevin Maher5 The Fast Diet by Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer6 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell7 The Hairy Bikers’ Great Curries by Si King and Dave Myers8 To b y ’s Room by Pat Barker9 The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days by Tarek Malouf10 The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett