Monday, 27 July 2026

10 Ten Exciting New Releases Coming in August 2026

 


I am looking ahead to August and some of the lovely new books due to be released. I've limited myself to just ten which have caught my eye. Do any of these look like something that you would like to read?


John Grebble is Gone by Peter James

John Grebble wakes up to discover he’s been declared dead. His bank account is frozen, his car repossessed, and his entire existence erased. Someone wants him gone—permanently.

Within hours, his world unravels. His debit card is declined. His car is towed away. His office locks him out. The police treat him like a criminal. According to every system, every database, every official record—John Grebble is no more.

But John is very much alive. And as he tries to uncover who could have pulled off such an elaborate erasure of his identity, he realises this isn’t just a mistake—it’s personal. Someone with intimate knowledge of his life has gone to extraordinary lengths to scrub him out completely. And this is just the start…

In this gripping short thriller laced with dark humour, Number One Sunday Times bestselling author Peter James asks: can John Grebble uncover who would go this far to destroy him before it’s too late?

Amazon UK


Invitation From a Dictator by Rory Clements

ON THE EVE OF WAR, A ROYAL GUEST IS LURED INTO HITLER'S DEADLY WEB . . .

Munich, 1937. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor have arrived in Germany for a historic meeting at Hitler's mountain retreat.

But recent attacks by ruthless Communist band, Red Freedom, has brought fear and bloodshed to the area. As brutal as the Nazis, their next targets are Edward, Wallis and the Fuhrer himself.

Detective Sebastian Wolff is charged with their protection, but the conflict between his job and his politics becomes even more complicated when Wolff realises who is behind Red Freedom: Ulrike, his first love and the mother of his son.

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


Radiant as the Stars by Elaine Elinson

In April 1911, Jews escaping pogroms are fleeing to America, but 20-year-old Anna Reader, full of fierce conviction, is headed in the opposite direction—back to the Ukrainian shtetl from which her family fled six years earlier. She has decided to join her radical cousin Chava in the Jewish Labor Bund on the eve of the Russian Revolution, leaving behind her work in a Chicago sweatshop and the lover who jilted her.

Her warm reunion with her cousin is tainted by political intrigue. Anna is not fully trusted by the Jewish radicals she grew up with in Ukraine. She is given minor tasks, while Chava’s assignments become more dangerous. The threat of betrayal is constantly lurking. When Chava is arrested and imprisoned, Anna’s efforts to rescue her cousin further alienate her from her Bund comrades. When she is threatened with arrest by the Tsarists, Anna is undone, fighting for survival in a strife-torn land.

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


A Thousand Painted Hours by Barbara O'Neal

In the shadow of the London Blitz, artist Elsie Turner clings fiercely to her canvases, refusing to let war dim the colors that define her. The bombs test her nerve, but the struggle also stirs memories of her golden youth in India and of the long-lost love of her life.

The daughter of a British civil servant in the Himalayan station of Nainital, Elsie crosses cultural divides to forge an unlikely bond with Tanveer Singh, a Sikh prince with hopes, dreams, and far-reaching ideas. What begins as shared sketchbooks and stargazing becomes first love and a secret correspondence. When Elsie’s father is summoned to England, Elsie is severed from the world she knows―and is determined to preserve it through both her art and a connection with Tanveer that endures through the most tumultuous years of their lives.

Across four decades and two continents, Elsie navigates a journey from lush colonial India to war-torn London, amid landscapes of beauty, protest, and peril. As past and present collide, the most impossible choices and sacrifices are yet to be made in the name of love, war, and survival.

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage by Della Galton

When two best friends decide to share their wedding day, what could possibly go wrong?

Jade is over the moon to be tying the knot alongside her best friend, Sarah, at the stunning Bluebell Cliff Hotel in Dorset—a venue where no detail is too small and no expense is spared in the pursuit of perfection.

But as the big day draws closer, so do the complications.

A long-lost relative, a troublesome brother, and some wildly unexpected animal antics all threaten to derail the brides’ dream celebrations.

With emotions running high and chaos around every corner, their perfect day begins to unravel.

Can love and friendship hold everything together when it matters most?

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


The Stray Dogs by Ruth Hogan

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but Desmond and Leona are about to find out that it's never too late to start living your dreams . . .

Since his marriage ended, Desmond Leaks has been stuck in rut. But living alone does have some upsides - for one, there's no one to tell him that he's 'not allowed' chocolate spread on his toast.

And for Leona Lennox, a fresh start might just mean she can finally open that rescue centre for abandoned dogs she's always dreamed of. That's if she can learn to let people in occasionally - and accept help.

Take this Desmond guy, he's so nice that he's offering to get his old band back together to play some fundraising gigs for the rescue centre. If only Leona could say yes, just this once . . . The Stray Dogs might actually be decent, right?

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


The Paris Seamstress by Catherine Law

Torn between love and duty, and a fierce need to protect…

Paris, 1940

For young, lively Murielle, working in the heart of Paris as a seamstress is a dream come true. She loves the bustle of the city, but as the War progresses and new restrictions for Jewish people appear, she begins to realise how quickly her world is changing – and how, soon, she may lose those cherished freedoms.

Her best friend Zoé has always lived a smaller life. Still reeling from an incident from many years ago, she’s already used to being on her guard. But as the Occupation tightens controls on everyone, Zoé knows she must find the courage to stand up and protect the people she loves.

When the two women come across a fallen English pilot, they don’t hesitate. As they put their lives on the line to help the airman escape, their friendship bonds are truly tested. For a chance of happiness, Murielle and Zoé will have to make an impossible decision — one that will demand the greatest sacrifice of all…

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


The Midwife by the Sea by Jo Bartlett

When midwife Hope Masterson arrives in Cornwall to start her dream job by the sea, she’s ready for a fresh start and a chance to make a real difference to the lives of the women and babies she cares for.

Working between St Piran’s hospital and the community midwifery unit of Port Agnes, Hope quickly finds herself drawn into the lives of her patients and colleagues. From dramatic deliveries and joyous newborns to heartbreaking struggles with infertility, she is on hand to share in all the hopes, worries and incredible love that motherhood can bring.

But Hope is carrying a secret that could change everything – and she faces an impossible dilemma.

Should she reveal the truth and shatter the lives of those around her, or protect the fragile happiness of the family she’s only just found?

As friendships deepen, romance blooms and emotions run high, Hope must decide whether some secrets are better left untold… and what it truly means to belong.

A gorgeously heartfelt, uplifting and unputdownable story of love, family and the many different paths to motherhood, by Top Ten bestselling author Jo Bartlett.

Amazon UK   Bookshop.org


The Curse of the Saltmarsh Girl by Clare Marchant


The dark marsh stretches around Margery. She can hear the sound of her mother’s voice, crying. Or is it the wind…? Will she get out of here alive?

1665: When Margery arrives in Saltmarsh looking for her mother, she finds silence, secrets, and backs turned.

But she is not the only thing that has arrived. As the Plague falls on the village, leaving almost no man, woman or child alive, rumours circulate – about a demon dog, about lights floating above the waters, about voices in the dark… And about a girl, one who has brought a curse.

With Margery’s mother missing, it becomes clear that these remote, desolate marshes are about to become the most dangerous ground she’s ever stepped on…

Now: A beautiful young opera singer named Angel Bailey has arrived in Saltmarsh. She’s there to visit her adoptive brother, but she’s also running away. Because, after years of longing to know where she came from, she’s received word from a woman claiming to be her sister, saying their birth mother’s dying wish is to meet the child she abandoned.

But when Angel becomes fascinated with the story of another mother and daughter, and a centuries old curse on the marsh, the land beneath her feet is about to shift forever…



A Fatal Love by Louise Tregar


Following Ruth Ellis' long-awaited posthumous conditional pardon in July 2026, never has there been a more compelling moment to revisit the woman behind one of Britain's most enduring legal cases.

It is Easter Sunday in 1955 and a young man lies face-down on the ground covered in blood. A woman, blonde and petite, stands over him with a gun in her hand. This is the story of Ruth Ellis as never told before...

As Ruth awaits her trial in Holloway Prison, she recollects growing up in England during the Second World War and the events that led to the death of her lover, David Blakely.

Meanwhile, Kitty Carrington - the assistant to Ruth's trial lawyer - tries to forge her own path through the male-dominated legal world of the 1950s and ensure that Ruth receives a fair trial.

Navigating secrets, betrayal and a broken justice system, Ruth and Kitty try to take control of their own lives and narratives. But do we ever really know the full story?


(header photo courtesy of Florencia Viadana/Unsplash)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

(all opinions are my own)

Friday, 24 July 2026

The House of Twisted Shadows by J.H. Mann - #bookreview #blogtour

The first snow flurries danced in the breeze as Amelia Tremayne stepped out of her red Austin-Healey sports car and strode towards Tyler House. Her skin prickled at the sight of a building she had spent ten years trying to forget...

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Rachel's Random Resources. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***


The Blurb

A HOUSE ON THE EDGE

 A DAUGHTER DRIVEN TO OBSESSION

A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Winter 1962. Amelia Tremayne has spent the past ten years in London trying to forget the lonely clifftop house where her father was killed. Tyler House was built shortly before the Second World War on Cornwall’s stormy coast by a wealthy German outsider. Its most unsettling feature is a vast glass dome that bends the light, casting twisted, elongated shadows across the walls.

Amelia’s father, Douglas Tremayne, a noted historian, was researching a controversial book about Tyler House’s Nazi origins - and its links to powerful figures in the local community.

As Amelia begins to uncover the truth about her father’s death, she is pulled into a web of buried secrets - and into a forbidden love that could destroy everything she holds dear.

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY


My Review

This book is an exciting story which I enjoyed reading.

The main character, Amelia, is obsessed with Tyler House, her childhood home in Cornwall. However, Tyler House is creeping closer to the edge of a cliff.  Ten years prior, her historian father was murdered there and Amelia believes the manuscript that he was killed for is hidden somewhere in the house.

In some ways, Tyler House was the main character in this book. It has a dark history, and an eerie, brooding presence. Within its rooms and hallways, secrets are hidden. The author did a fabulous job of describing the house and its rapid decline into the sea beneath. 

The author skillfully brought his characters, setting and story alive on the page. He knows exactly how to create atmosphere, from the decaying house through to the heavy snowfalls which isolated the village. He portrays the sense of isolation and captivity really well.

This novel is full of suspense and tension and kept me turning the pages. It is well worth reading and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful mystery with some eeriness thrown in.


Book Details

Publisher: Dark Spider Books

Formats: e-book (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 344

Series: Part of the Wild Cornwall series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author


J.H.Mann is an award-winning journalist and writer living in the South West of England. His second novel, The Echoing Shore, was a Yeovil Literary Prize award winner and the Adult Fiction Winner of the 2025 Selfies Book Awards at the London Book Fair. His third novel, The Silver Tide, has just been shortlisted for the 2026 Selfies Book Awards. He has strong family links with Cornwall. His novels are inspired by the many stories told by his mother and father and his own experiences as a shore-based volunteer for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). He lives with his wife, Nicola, and their lively whippet Patch.

You can also find him at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram

Tik Tok


My Other Blog Posts of Based in Cornwall

The Cornish Rebel by Nicola Pryce

The Letter by Ruth Saberton

A Mother's Hope for the Cornish Girls by Better Walker

The Vanishing Act by Jo Jakeman

Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott

The Rescue by S.L. Rosewarne





(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)


Tuesday, 21 July 2026

The Freshman Parents by Ko Porteous - #bookreview #blogtour



Sitting in her house in Edinburgh, Heather McVey takes a horrified gasp, minimises the chat and slams the laptop closed...

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Rachel's Random Resources. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

They're off for the time of their lives. But are you? 

Book #1 in The Empty Nesters Series.

Single parent Heather isn't neurotic (honest!) - she's simply dreading the day her only child leaves for university - so her meticulous checklists grow longer by the hour. When she seeks advice on a parents' forum, she clashes with Scott, a single dad whose "helpful" statistics and assertions about “helicopter parenting” leave her fuming. 

Move-in day delivers the ultimate surprise: their daughters aren’t just roommates – they are self-declared "besties for life". Suddenly, Heather and Scott are thrown into a begrudging alliance. 

As they navigate the new status quo, Heather's instinct to organise meets Scott's philosophy of letting go. Their practical text messages about mattress toppers and emergency supplies evolve into conversations about dream jobs and bucket list aspirations. Despite their intentions to avoid relationships at all costs, unpredictable events keep throwing them together, meaning Heather and Scott find it increasingly difficult to ignore each other... 


My Review

This was a wonderful book to read and I enjoyed every page.

The main characters, Heather and Scott, both single parents, rub each other up the wrong way when they join an online support group for the parents of young people who are heading off to St Andrews University. Heather is feeling a sense of dread at her only daughter, Georgia, going off to university, whereas Scott has raised his daughter, Brianna, to be independent and self-sufficient. When Georgia and Brianna become the best of friends, Heather and Scott have to deal with seeing each other more than they wished.

Heather was such an easy character to identify with. Yes, I was that mother who sobbed when each of my sons went off to uni. Then when my youngest left, my nest felt very empty indeed. I think anyone who has had a child go off to university will relate to Heather wholeheartedly. And while Scott initially came across as judgemental and a little offhand, as the book progresses and we learn more of his backstory, he becomes an equally likeable character.

It's obvious from the beginning that they were going to be attracted to one another despite their initial dislike. The author portrays this enemies-to-lovers story extremely well. As a debut novel she has done an excellent job and I am already looking forward to reading her next book, The Twenty Dates, which is due to be released in October 2026.

I also enjoyed the way the author depicted the story. We have chapters told from the perspectives of both Heather and Scott, as well as through the online forum messages and text messages between the characters. In addition, the author used both dialogue and narrative to move the story along at an appropriate pace.

The author uses both humour and sadness in this story. She is clearly a skilled writer and I am looking forward to reading more from her in the future. It is very rare that I would award a book of this genre five stars, but this one really deserves it. I highly recommend this book.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1918664010

Publisher: All Ways Books

Formats: e-book and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 454 (paperback)

Series: Book 1 in the Empty Nesters series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Ko Porteous lived in a tiny fishing village in the north of Scotland before moving to Edinburgh aged 10.  

Ko loves meeting people with interesting stories to tell and is constantly on the lookout for knotty story themes, particularly involving women navigating the messiness of life. She has worked as a Research Chemist, Assistant Chef, Teacher and School Leader.  

As well as writing, Ko works as a Business Manager and provides listening services for a mental health charity aiming to reduce the number of deaths caused by suicide.  

In her free time, Ko loves to run, meditate and travel; preferably all on the same day.   

Ko has been married for 25 years, has 2 children of her own and is now navigating her own empty nest.  

The Freshman Parents is Ko’s debut novel and is the first in ‘The Empty Nesters’ series. 

You can also find Ko at:

Author Website

Instagram

Facebook


My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

Cover Reveal





(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)


Monday, 20 July 2026

If I Could Be With You by M.W. Arnold - #bookspotlight #blogtour

I am so pleased to be shining the spotlight on this book today. If I Could Be With You by M.W. Arnold is a story of strong female friendship set during World War Two.


The Blurb

May 1944, it's the build-up to D-Day, for which the girls of the Air Transport Auxiliary Mystery Club are busy delivering the aircraft sorely needed, and the search goes on for a Nazi spy, who has information which cannot be allowed to get into the enemies hands.

For one of the girls, her husband in badly burned after his Mosquito is shot down, bringing the war closer to home than it's ever been before.

With danger at every corner, the girls unbreakable bond is put to the test like never before. Through it all, they stand firm, taking all the war can throw at them, before daring it to try again.


Book Details

Publisher: Wild Rose Press

Formats:  e-book

No. of Pages:  341

Series:  Book 7 in the Broken Wings series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Mick is a hopeless romantic who was born in England and spent fifteen years roaming around the world in the pay of the late HM Queen Elizabeth II in the Royal Air Force, before putting down roots and realising how much he missed the travel. This, he’s replaced somewhat with his writing, including reviewing books and supporting fellow saga and romance authors in promoting their novels.

He’s the proud keeper of two Romanian Were-Cats bent on world domination, is mad on the music of the Beach Boys, and enjoys the theatre and humouring his Manchester United-supporting wife. (Please don't mention this last to her!)

You can also find Mick at:

Facebook

X

Instagram

You Tube


My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

Time Waits for No One





(media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)








Wednesday, 15 July 2026

The Making of Marigold McGraph by Carrie Hayes - #extract #excerpt #blogtour

I am delighted to have an excerpt from The Making of Marigold McGrath by author, Carrie Hayes on the blog today. The book begins in 1930's New York before moving to London.


The Blurb

New York City, 1937 - Seventeen-year-old Marigold McGrath is coming undone.Her mother is dead. Her father is drawn to dangerous politics. The only place she feels joy is behind a camera — where she can frame the world on her own terms.

After a series of her own missteps, she reinvents herself in London: mentored by a celebrated émigré photographer, photographing Kindertransport children, working alongside Edward R. Murrow. She falls in love with Joop, a charming Dutch student, and shrugs off the war gathering around her.

Then the Blitz begins.Joop vanishes into the Dutch Resistance. And Marigold — who has always preferred to photograph the world as she wishes it were — must finally decide what kind of woman, and what kind of witness, she is willing to become.

A sweeping WWII coming-of-age novel set in wartime London.


The Extract

1936

WINTER

NEW YORK CITY

The cinema was nearly deserted, and the two girls took the best seats in the house. They opened their bags of peanuts and chocolate covered raisins, silently munching until the movie got to their favorite part. 

Marigold mouthed along with the woman on the screen who spoke first. “Not because I love England, but because it will pay me better.” She continued, “The very brilliant agent of a certain foreign power on the point of obtaining a secret vital to your air defense.”

Trude whispered, “I tracked two of his men to that music hall. Unfortunately, they recognized me.” The two girls took bites of their candy. Trude continued, “That’s why they’re after me now.”

Marigold smiled from ear to ear. She loved this part. “You ever heard of a thing called persecution mania?”

Trude’s eyes grew wide and she said, “You don’t believe me?” As if from nowhere, the usher came over and shushed them. 

Marigold scowled at him and turned back to Trude. “Frankly I don’t.”

They had been doing this for days now. Rather than go to math class, they skipped school instead. How it was that nobody reported them must have been because they were the kind of girls who were rarely in trouble. They did well enough that their absences didn’t seem to matter. So, for two weeks running, they faithfully bought tickets for the 2:55 show and watched The 39 Steps until they knew it cold.

Afterwards, they stood by the window outside the ladies’ room, where one could see the traffic below. 

Trude stopped Marigold and said, “Go and look down into the street then.” She always said this with a campy accent, like her father’s. Trude’s father was Swiss. Her late mother had been British and Marigold thought everything about Trude was glamorous in the most spectacular way. 

Marigold pretended to be afraid. “Are they there?”

Trude looked terrified. “Yes. I’d hoped I’d shaken them off. I’m going to tell you something which is not very healthy to know. But now that they have followed me here, you are in it as much as I am.” 

Then she grabbed Marigold’s hand and they bolted down the stairs, out through the back door gasping and chuckling on the short walk to the pharmacy. 

When they arrived, Trude stopped short. “Oh, mein Gott!”

“What is it?”

“It’s Will Carrington!” Trude pointed to the counter. 

“I love him.” Marigold spoke with as much gravity as she could muster. It was part of their shtick. Whenever Trude saw a boy they knew, Marigold would simply say, “I love him.”

These declarations of love always made Trude laugh, then respond by either sticking something up her nose, or putting her spectacles on sideways. Anything, anything to make Marigold laugh back and Trude look like a freak. 

Silently, they went to the counter. “Oh hi, Will,” Marigold said, in her most modest, simple style. Trude looked away. 

Will was blonde, handsome, an athlete. He was in the boys’ section at school, so they rarely saw him outside of class. “Hi.” He leaned past Marigold. “Hi Trude,” which didn’t surprise Marigold. All the boys were in love with Trude, who was beautiful, smart, and kind. 

Trude turned to face Will. She’d stuck a raisin into each nostril, so they hung out just the smallest amount. “Will, hi!”

Will stopped short of recoiling. He paid his tab and said, “See you.” Then gestured to his own nose, discreetly, for Trude’s benefit.

She continued to smile, oblivious. “See you tomorrow.”

“Girls.” Home was on Riverside Drive, where Marigold’s mother stood in the foyer, surrounded by boxes. Some were on the floor, others stacked upon the table, which normally held only letters and an orchid. On top of the boxes were large oblong tickets indicating their contents. The tickets were stamped with round and dashed holes, like eyelet made of cardstock. 

Marigold opened one of the boxes. “What are they?”

There had to be thousands inside. She passed a dozen cards over to Trude, who fanned herself with them. 

“These could be dollahs, thousands of dollahs, nicht so, Schatze,” Trude said.  

“Jahwohl, they could.” Marigold held up a card to the chandelier, examining the tiny square holes in the light. She held it over the face of her friend and it created dashes and dots upon Trude’s skin. She moved to look through the dashes at her mother. Cool and elegant in her grey silk dress, with her creamy colored pearls and her white, white skin. 

“They’re some sort of punch cards, darling,” her mother said. “They’re for your father.” 

“I love them,” Marigold said.

Trude raised an eyebrow. “Even more than Will Carrington?” 

Marigold bit her lip to keep from laughing. Her mother didn’t know about her silly crushes. “Yes, even more than he.” Marigold spread the cards out upon the table. They looked vast and impersonal, like in that film. What was it? Metropolis. Oh, yes, she thought, just like Metropolis. “Say, Moms, how about I take some pictures of you and Trude with these cards?”

“Aren’t you girls supposed to be doing your algebra or something?”

“Yes, but let me take your picture first, Moms, and you should wear that dress, you know, with the print just like these cards.”

“Marigold.” She loved the way her mother folded the R in the word Marigold. It was always under the tongue with a delicate precision used by those whose English is flawless albeit foreign. 

“Come on, Momsy. You’ll be the living embodiment of industry, and Trude will be the future. It’ll be fun!”

Her mother chuckled and left the room, only to reemerge in her dress with the printed dashes and circles just like the punch cards. In her hand was a large silk scarf printed with the same design. 

“We’ll stack them like this. Then Trude, lean on them here and look up at Momsy, like so.”

Marigold opened her camera case. She looked through the lens and adjusted the aperture. Her models struck a pose. The light in the foyer was bright, bright. Her mother was cool, aristocratic, and Trude simply brimming with life. Both of them were beautiful. Marigold wound the film and pressed the button. 

“Perfect,” she said and wound the film again. 

Suddenly, her mother waved an arm and the scarf fluttered outward, like a wing. Trude moved her own arms upward. 

“Wonderful!” Marigold pressed the button. “Wonderful!” 

She did it again, then her models adjusted their poses in varying degrees, leaning away and toward each other. 

“Fabulous!”

“What are you doing? Put those down.” Marigold’s father stood in the doorway. “Don’t touch those. Put the camera down.” Suddenly, he roared, “I said put the camera down!”

“Sorry.” Marigold looked down at the ground. There was a tense silence It was the same silence which often occurred when Marigold’s parents were in the same room. 

Her mother said, “She was merely experimenting.” 

“Not with my cards, she’s not. Stupid girl.”

“Ta gueule, Arnold.” Her mother had been from Arlon, in Belgium. But she rarely spoke French. “Don’t talk to her so.” 

Marigold watched her mother go into the kitchen as Trude gathered her coat and slipped out of the apartment.

Make amends, Marigold warned herself. “Excuse me, Dad.” She stacked the cards and returned them to their boxes. “I just thought—”

“Don’t think. They’re not for you.”

“Sorry.” 

“They’re for my German clients.” He glanced at himself in the mirror, his reflection confirming his golden hair and hazel eyes were still handsome, still distinguished.

“Sorry,” she said again. “What are they used for?”

“These cards store information. Who is doing what and how much of it they’re doing. Like who’s buying how many apples, or how much money is withdrawn from a bank. Who lives where in what part of town. It’s the latest technology, Marigold. They revolutionize how records are kept. And they come from IBM. They’re the future. Not props for a childish fashion show.” With a small nod, he took a lapel pin out of his pocket. “Help me with this.” He held it out to her and Marigold obliged, fastening it behind the worsted wool as he added, “I’m going to present them at tonight’s dinner.”

She turned the pin. The black lines echoed themselves as they had when the symbol meant good fortune, in Asian religions, long, long before it was used by the German government. Marigold rotated the pin the other way, so the black lines inside the white circle with the red background appeared in a more upright position. 


Book Details

ISBN: 979 8995323914

Publisher: HTPH Press

Formats: e-book and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  346 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Carrie’s first two novels, Naked Truth or Equality and Well Dressed Lies, follow the lives of the iconoclastic suffragist sisters, Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin.

Carrie lives with her husband and two spoiled dogs in a rambling Victorian house just outside of New York City. 

You can also find Carrie at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram

Substack





(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)


Tuesday, 14 July 2026

The Anniversary by Andrea Bajani and Translated by Geoffrey Brock - #bookreview

'On that day, ten years ago, I saw my parents for the last time. Since then I’ve changed phone numbers, houses, continents, I’ve erected an impregnable wall and put an ocean between us. They’ve been the best ten years of my life.'

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publisher. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org  affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

A son is celebrating a bittersweet anniversary. It is a decade since he saw his parents: the father who ruled through petty acts of intimidation and fear, the mother who silently accepted it, fitting herself in the spaces around others’ lives. As he looks back, he recalls the airless family home, unsettled only by the ringing of a telephone, or a visitor who was soon rejected. And he remembers how he became possessed by the irrepressible desire to be free, to live his own life. But can you ever escape the grip of your origins?

At once unflinchingly honest and razor sharp, The Anniversary is above all a novel of liberation which dismantles the tyranny of the family. It becomes a mirror in which we glimpse something that, even if we have not known it, affects us all.


My Review

This slim book of just 144 pages is quite remarkable. Translated from Italian by Geoffrey Brock, it tells the story of the narrator's estrangement from his parents. In fact, the titular anniversary is in recognition of the ten years since he walked away and has never contacted them since.

What has led him to this decision is the need to escape his father's violent, controlling and narcissistic behaviour. His mother has resigned herself to a life of servitude to her husband, never contradicting him, just silently moving around him as though not to be noticed. Initially, I felt sympathetic towards her character but at times, and by the end of the book, I wanted to pick her up and shake her; make her see sense and walk away from this man.

However, these situations are notoriously difficult to escape and both history and current times see women tied to violent or coercive men. That said, the narrator often felt his mother was complicit in his father's violence towards him by withdrawing herself from the situation, never speaking out to protect him and remaining silent. 

This is a powerful novella which considers the effects that growing up amidst violence and aggression can have. It is a short work and the author has portrayed much. Every word is considered and accurately placed. The author has contained the larger than life character of the father, along with the meekness of his mother, ingeniously within the covers of this book and has created a great work in doing so.

This novella is well worth reading and I highly recommend it.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 0241766507

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages: 144 (paperback)


Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author


Andrea Bajani is the author of several award-winning novels including If You Kept a Record of Sins, Every Promise and The Book of Homes, which have been translated into over twenty languages. The Anniversary was a bestseller in Italy and won the Strega Prize in 2025. Born in Rome, he now teaches creative writing at Rice University in Texas.


Other Blog Posts Featuring Translations

Through Three Rooms by Sven Elvestad

Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal

Some Kind of Company by Nan Ostman

The Tunnel by A. B. Yehoshua


US cover

(book courtesy of the publisher)

(author photo courtesy of Rice University)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Monday, 13 July 2026

The Quest for the Crown of Thorns by Cynthia Ripley Miller - #bookspotlight #blogtour

I am delighted to be shining the spotlight on this book today. Quest for the Crown of Thorns is second book in the Long-Hair sagas. You can find the first book in the series, On the Edge of Sunrise by clicking here.


The Blurb

AD 454. Three years after the Roman victory over Attila the Hun at Catalaunum, Arria Felix and Garic the Frank are married and enjoying life on Garic’s farm in northern Gaul (France). Their happy life is interrupted when a cryptic message arrives from Arria’s father, the esteemed Senator Felix, calling them to Rome. At Arria’s insistence, but against Garic’s better judgment, they leave at once.

 On their arrival at Villa Solis, they are confronted with a brutal murder and a dangerous mission. The fate of a profound and sacred object—Christ’s Crown of Thorns—rests in their hands. They must carry the holy relic to the safety of Constantinople, away from a corrupt emperor and old enemies determined to steal it for their own gain. But a greater force arises against them—a secret cult who will commit any atrocity to capture the Crown. All the while, the gruesome murder and the conspiracy behind it haunt Arria’s thoughts.  

 Arria and Garic’s marital bonds are tested but forged as they partner together to fulfill one of history’s most challenging missions, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns.


Book Details

ISBN: 978 1634925525

Publisher: Book Locker

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 278 (paperback) 

Series: Book 2 in the Long Hair Saga series


Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US


About the Author

Cynthia Ripley Miller is a first-generation Italian-American writer with a love for history, languages, and books. She has lived in Europe and traveled worldwide, holds two degrees, and taught history and English. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthology Summer Tapestry, at Orchard Press Mysteries.com, and The Scriptor.

She is a Chanticleer International Chatelaine Award finalist with awards from Circle of Books: Rings of Honor and The Coffee Pot Book Club. She has reviewed for UNRV Roman History, and blogs at Historical Happenings and Oddities: A Distant Focus and on her website.

Cynthia is the author of On the Edge of Sunrise, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns, and A Sword Among Ravens, books 1-3 in her Long-Hair Saga series set in Late Ancient Rome, France, and Jerusalem. Cynthia lives outside of Chicago with her family and a cute but bossy cat. 

You can also find Cynthia at:

Author Website

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(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)