A Calamity of Waters by Chloe Turner - #bookreview

Later, they would talk of mighty hills of water tumbling one over another. Of smoke spilling from great waves... a sight which dazzled every one of those who looked upon it...

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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publicist. 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.

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The Blurb

JANUARY 1607. THE SEVERN VALLEY. THE GREATEST FLOOD IN LIVING MEMORY.

Habren has never quite forgiven herself. Her father only sings bawdy carols for farthings these days, none of the sweet songs he used to sing their mother, and perhaps it’s no wonder her sisters Syble and Margret have put many leagues between themselves and their old home. But then Syble summons her to Gloucester, and if Habren can keep on the right side of their pin merchant master, perhaps it’s the chance she needs to make up for the past.

Then the river rises. In a single January morning, the Severn floods the vale and upends every life in it. And somewhere down that swollen estuary is Ambrose, the man Habren loves.

With Syble and new friend Raynould beside her, Habren sets out for Bristol to find him, through a city the flood has torn apart. And as they search, secrets they have kept close to their hearts begin, one by one, to surface.

My Review

This was one of those books that I wanted to read slowly, to linger over every word and sentence because it has been so beautifully crafted.

The author has taken an authentic historical event, setting her book during the early part of the seventeenth century when the Bristol Channel flooded, and many drowned.  Homes, farmland and even entire villages were flooded, leaving both the human and animal populations depleted.

The book oozes period detail, demonstrating the extraordinary amount of research that went into the writing of this book and, thus, making her characters utterly believable.

The main character is Habren, the youngest of three sisters. She, along with  her sister, Syble, works for Alderman Taylor manufacturing pins. He is uncaring and abusive to his workers. Accompanied by their friend, Raynould, they flee his employment after almost losing their lives due to his negligence. What follows is a journey where secrets unfold and they come to understand one another more.

This book is up there with the best I have read this year. It was a gripping, immersive story which I didn't want to put down. Its pace is gentle and perfectly appropriate for the genre. I was fully engaged throughout and was sorry when the book had to end. I highly recommend this compelling book to fans of historical fiction.

As if the fact that this is a brilliant novel to read isn't a good enough reason to buy this book, all profits from the sales of A Calamity of Waters will go to the author's local charity, Stroud Valleys Project (https://www.stroudvalleysproject.org/), for their river restoration and other local nature works. Founded in 1988, Stroud Valleys Project's aim is to support people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities to connect with and nurture green spaces to keep people and nature thriving.

Book Details

ISBN:978 1917090223

Publisher: Deixis Books

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

No. of Pages: 320 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Waterstones

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Chloe Turner’s short stories have been widely published, including in Best British Short Stories 2018. Her debut collection, Witches Sail in Eggshells, won the 2020 Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection. In 2019, the Yeovil Literary Prize awarded third prize to Blue Hawk. 

A Calamity of Waters is her second novel. Set around the devastating Bristol Channel floods of 30 January 1607, where it is estimated that 2,000 or more people drowned. It was, according to modern historians and scientists, the deadliest sudden natural disaster to hit Britain in 500 years. The 420th anniversary is this coming January, 2027.

Chloe mixes extensively-researched historical fact with imagination to tell engrossing stories, intertwining actual events and places to bring her local history to life. 

You can also find Chloe at:

Author Website

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of the publicist)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer - #bookreview

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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Netgalley. 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.

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The Blurb

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and wrangle characters that go off-script.

Book witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction.... Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don't even think about it.

Except Rainy has fallen hard for the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite noir series. After their illicit romance is exposed, Rainy is forbidden from ever seeing her fictional lover again, lest she be expelled from her book coven-and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

When a priceless book is stolen from her home, there's only one person she trusts to help her get it back: the Duke. Thus their shared quest begins through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

My Review

This book has a fun premise which was entertaining to read.

Haven't we all wanted our perfect fictional romantic partner to step from the pages of a book at some point in our reading lives? I've been awaiting Atticus Finch since I first read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was thirteen!

For the main character in this book, Rainy March, that very thing happens when fictional detective, the Duke of Chicago, steps from within the pages of his book series, along with his cat, Koshka. It's just as well, as she soon needs his detective skills in attempting to find her missing grandfather.

The role of a book witch, such as Rainy, is to prevent 'burners' from deleting characters from books. Her mother and grandfather were also book witches, and so her destiny was already mapped out for her.

I loved the way the author took us into some classic literature. We follow Rainy into Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby and the Nancy Drew books. It was wonderful to experience these books through Rainy's eyes while she was within their pages.

The book was imaginative and creates a world of escapism for the reader. Ms Shaffer is a great storyteller and I felt very involved in the story.

I adore books about books. However, books of this genre aren't my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed this and I feel encouraged to perhaps dip my toes further into the genre.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1529443868

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Formats: e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 320 (hardback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game, which was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, a Book-of-the-Month finalist for Book of the Year, a #1 Barnes & Noble bestseller, and a Reader’s Digest Best Book of the Year. 

She holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. Her second novel, the instant national bestseller The Lost Story, is available now from Ballantine.

Shaffer lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

You can also find Meg at:

Author Website

Instagram

Facebook

(media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

The Irish Ties That Bind by Michael J. Hopkins - #bookspotlight #blogtour

I am delighted to be shining the book spotlight on this book today. The Irish Ties That Bind by Michael J. Hopkins is historical fiction and sounds fascinating.

The Blurb

From the green hills of southern Ireland to the heartland of America, four families are united by faith, perseverance, and an enduring legacy that spans generations.

As famine and hardship drive Irish immigrants across the Atlantic in the mid-nineteenth century, the Power and Coughlin families plant new roots in the American Midwest. Their daughters answer a higher calling, joining the fledgling Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa. Through the remarkable leadership of Sister Emily and Sister Samuel, these women help shape a religious community that will educate thousands and leave an indelible mark on the nation.

Their story intertwines with those of the Cullen and Hynes families, whose lives are transformed by the sisters’ influence. Seeking refuge from the unrest of postwar Chicago, they settle in Dixon, Illinois, where friendship, faith, and family bind them to another rising family—the Reagans. As Ronald Reagan grows from a small-town boy into a radio broadcaster, actor, and emerging public figure, the lives of ordinary and extraordinary Americans intersect in unexpected ways.

Set against the backdrop of immigration, the Great Depression, two world wars, and the dawn of the Cold War, The Irish Ties That Bind is a sweeping historical saga of courage, devotion, and the families whose quiet strength shaped generations. It is a powerful testament to the bonds of family, faith, and heritage that endure long after history's tides have turned.

Book Details

ISBN: 979 8950078163

Publisher: Historium Press

Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages: 324 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

A lifelong resident of Wisconsin, Michael J. Hopkins earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Beloit College, subsequently obtaining a degree in history from Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. He furthered his academic pursuits by completing a Master of Arts in the Humanities at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Mr. Hopkins concluded a distinguished forty-year tenure in secondary education, having served as a social studies instructor at Darlington High School for thirty-nine years.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he dedicated many years to coaching basketball, baseball, and football at the same high school. His contributions to athletics were formally recognized in 2021 with his induction into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. 

Following his retirement from education, he has transitioned into a career as an author. In 2025, he published his autobiographical memoir, Embracing A Competitive Life: Trials, Triumphs, and 150 Life Lessons in Six Decades of Competition, which chronicles his experiences as both an athlete and a coach.

My Other Blog Posts Featuring Historical Fiction Set in Ireland

Maid of Steel by Kate Barker

The Midnight House by Amanda Geard

Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of Wise Women, Healers and Magic by Lindsay Squire

My Heart Went Walking by Sally Hanan

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Books I Read in August 2026

As August draws to a close our streets and lanes already look like autumn. Of course, it isn't yet but this overly hot, dry summer have sent our plants and trees into distress and leaves have just shrivelled up and shed themselves.

I will be away next week so the blog will be quiet but rest assured I will soon be back with lots of great booky stuff to share with you.

Enjoy the rest of summer and happy reading!

Murder at Christmas by T.A. Williams

It seemed somewhat ironic to be reading a Christmas book during a heatwave, but I so enjoyed reading about Private Investigator Dan Armstrong and his faithful canine friend, Oscar. You can find my full review here.

The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O'Brien

I enjoyed this book set around the French Resistance in World War II. You can find my full review here.

The One Where They Fall in Love by Cristina Wolf

I absolutely loved the slow burn of friendship, later followed by desire between the two main characters in this book. You can find my full review here.

Lost and Never Found by Simon Mason

This is currently my favourite crime series. The characters are just wonderful.

A Dangerous Crossing by Jane Mitchell

This is probably the best book I have read so far this year. You can find my full review here.

A Hymn to Life: Shame Has To Change Sides by Gisele Pelicot

What can I say? This memoir from Gisele Pelicot is something everyone should read. Her bravery and resilience is second to none.

Currently Reading

A History of the Novel in Britain by Philip Hensher

The Alchemist's Secret by Clare Marchant

Invitation from a Dictator by Rory Clements

The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman

A Dangerous Crossing by Jane Mitchell - #bookreview #blogtour

I sprint around the perimeter of Freedom Square in the centre of Kobani. I hardly recognise this place any more, it is such a wreck now...

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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from The Write Reads. 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.

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The Blurb

Ghalib doesn't want to leave his home in Syria. But the city has become too dangerous, and his family has no choice but to flee. Together they make their way through Syria to the Turkish border, where Ghalib gets separated from his family. Stricken with grief and fear, fighting cold, pain and hunger, he manages to make it to a refugee camp in Turkey. Ghalib is safe for now, but life in a refugee camp is wretched and hopeless, and this boy's journey in search of safety is far from over. Based on true accounts and real Syrian children, A Dangerous Crossing is the story of one boy's search for refuge.

My Review

This is probably one of the best books I have read this year. Quite the accolade when considering that I have currently read 83 books so far.

The main character in the book is thirteen-year-old Ghalib. He was a contented child, living with his parents, older sister and younger brother until the war began in Syria. From then, every day was a fight for survival.

The story has been beautifully told and the writer has demonstrated real skill in the telling. The entire book came alive on the pages. It is well-written, compelling and highly engaging. This is one of the few books where I could have cried simply because the book had ended. I wanted to scoop Ghalib up into my arms and to somehow make the world a better place for him. It isn't often that I become this invested in a book.

The book is aimed at a young adult readership. I would encourage every secondary school library to have a copy of this on their shelves. That said, it is highly suitable for adults too.

This was a deeply moving and heart-wrenching book and I would challenge anyone to read this and not be deeply moved. Each of the characters in the book is the name of a real Syrian child who was killed during the war. What a wonderful tribute to so many young lives so needlessly lost.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1910411582

Publisher: Little Island

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 224 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Jane Mitchell lives in Dublin and works with children with physical disabilities. Her Amnesty International- endorsed novel A Dangerous Crossing (Little Island), about a Syrian family fleeing the war, has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide. Jane spent time volunteering at the refugee camp in Calais to research the book. Chalkline (Walker), about child soldiers in Kashmir, won the Children's Choice Award at the 2010 CBI Awards.

You can also find Jane at:

Author Website

X

(ARC and media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Lady of Lincoln by Rachel Elwiss Joyce - #bookreview

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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the author. 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.

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The Blurb

A true story. A forgotten heroine. In a time when women were told to stay silent, could she become the saviour her people need?

12th-century England. Nicola de la Haye wants to do her duty. But though she’s taught a female cannot lead alone, the young noblewoman bristles at the marriage her father has arranged to secure her inheritance. And when an unexpected death leaves her unguided, the impetuous girl shuns the king’s blessing and weds a handsome-but-landless knight.

Harshly fined by Henry II for her unsanctioned union, Nicola struggles to salvage her estates while dealing with devastating betrayals from her husband… and his choice to join rebels in a brewing civil war. Yet after averting a tragedy and gaining the castle garrison’s respect, she still must face the might of powerful men determined to crush her under their will.

Can she survive love, threats, and violent ambition to prove she’s worthy of authority?

In this carefully researched and vividly human series debut, Rachel Elwiss Joyce showcases the complex themes of honour, responsibility, and freedom in the story of a remarkable heroine who men tried to erase from history. And as readers dive into a world defined by violence and turmoil, they’ll be stunned by this courageous young woman’s journey toward greatness.

Lady of Lincoln is the gritty first book in the Nicola de la Haye Series historical fiction saga. If you like richly textured female heroes, courtly drama, and fast-paced intrigue, then you’ll adore Rachel Elwiss Joyce’s gripping true-life tale.

My Review

I love novels which bring an almost forgotten woman to the fore. This was one such book and I enjoyed it very much.

The main character is Nicola de la Haye and I became immersed in her story very quickly. She is courageous, feisty and has to rapidly learn how to use these talents in a time when women had little control over their own lives.

Set in twelfth-century England, Nicola knows that her role in life is to marry a man of her father's choosing. His choice is Gerard de Camville, a man with wealth and land and who is loyal. However, Nicola wants to marry for love. Following the death of her father she does just that and marries William Fitzernest, a handsome younger man who is attracted to Nicola more for her inheritance than for love.

The book has been well researched and I was drawn into the time period every bit as much as the plot. I felt as though I was walking through the grounds of Lincoln Castle in the twelfth century and the author did a fantastic job of bringing the time period and setting to life.

It has a brisk pace and I flew through the book fairly quickly. However, that might equally have been due to my reluctance to put it down. 

This is the first in a series and I can't wait to continue with it once the second book has been published. I applaud the author for bringing this little-known woman of the past back to life within the pages of this book.

If you enjoy historical fiction then you will adore this one as much as I did. I highly recommend it.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1919337906

Publisher:  Hedgehog Books

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

No. of Pages:  462 (paperback)

Series:   Book 1 in the Nicola de la Haye series

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

After a rewarding career in the sciences, Rachel returned to her first love—history and the art of storytelling. Fascinated by the women history neglected, or tried to forget, she creates meticulously researched, emotionally resonant fiction that brings her characters’ stories vividly to life.

Her fascination with the past began early. At six years old, she was already inventing tales about medieval women in castles, inspired by her treasured Ladybird books and other picture-rich stories that transported her to another time. By the time she discovered Katherine by Anya Seton as a teenager, she knew the joy and escape that only great historical fiction can bring.

Rachel’s two grown-up children still tease her (fondly) about childhoods spent being “dragged” around castles, archaeological sites, and historical re-enactments. For Rachel, history and imagination have always gone hand in hand.

There was, however, a long gap between the stories of her childhood and her decision to write her own novel. The spark came when she discovered the remarkable true story of Nicola de la Haye—the first female sheriff of England, who defended Lincoln Castle against a French invasion and became known as “the woman who saved England,” Rachel knew she had found her heroine, and a story she was destined to tell.

Rachel lives in the UK, where she continues to explore the lives of women who shaped history but were left out of its pages.

You can also find Rachel at:

Author Website

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Bluesky

My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

Extract from Lady of Lincoln

(ARC and media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

The Maternal Element by Kate Nicholls - #extract #excerpt #blogtour

I am very excited to be bringing you an extract from The Maternal Element by Kate Nicholls. I love books which feature forgotten women and this one looks fabulous.

The Blurb

Siberia 1833.

Forty-one-year-old Maria Mendeleeva is enduring her seventeenth pregnancy. Her husband Ivan has lost his sight, and her brother Vasily has left their grandfather’s glass factory in ruins. The factory Maria hungered for as a child. On the brink of poverty and her family’s only remaining hope, Maria must find a way to make the factory viable. She must find the power to bring her grandfather's dreams back to life. She must make the glass sing.

The Maternal Element is a sweeping, gripping epic with an extraordinary woman at its heart. Maria Mendeleeva – mother of Dmitri Mendeleev, who devised the Periodic Table of the Elements – is a heroine like no other. A woman who refuses to be quashed by circumstance, Maria fights against the strictures of her time to gain an education for herself and for her children as she traverses the Urals of Russia seeking opportunity and safety for her family. A vivid and visceral portrait of a woman history has long since forgotten, The Maternal Element is a manifesto for truth, female empowerment and defying societal expectations.

The Extract

 “Why must I stay at home and study all alone? I know there are questions that I cannot ask because I am ignorant of their very existence,” Maria cried furiously one morning, pummelling her fists into a heap of flour moistened by buttermilk. She and Nyanya were preparing the midday meal with Cook, who was at the other end of the kitchen table chopping yellow onions into fine pieces and adding them to a bowl of minced pork.

“Gently, Masha, gently,” Cook instructed, “you must encourage the dough – not beat it to death.”

“Exactly my point,” declared the girl, “I want to be encouraged . . . to be allowed to grow and think and understand the world. Instead, I’m trapped at home, and without Papinka and Vasily to help me, I would be lost.”

Cook glanced at Nyanya and saw a fleeting hurt pass over her friend’s face.

“You have a good many people here to help you, Masha,” Cook retorted sharply, “and you have much to learn. One day, your Papa will not be there to give you a roof over your head, and there may not be so much good food in your pantry or so many fine pots to boil soup in.” Her knife was gathering quite terrifying speed. “Your book reading won’t feed your family or keep them warm at night, I can tell you that . . . you need to know how to squeeze the goodness out of a cabbage leaf Miss Know-it-all . . . that’s women’s work . . . and good work too, don’t you think otherwise.”

Cook ran her sleeve against her face to wipe away tiny pearls of sweat that had gathered on her brow, and Maria ran to hug her.

“I know, I know how lucky I am. You and Nyanya are my dearest friends,” cried the child, distraught to see the usually cheerful woman in such distress.

Yet, Maria’s frustration grew, and things came to a head on a rainy afternoon some months later when she and her brother fought so fiercely that they tumbled onto the floor, pulling each other’s hair, and had to be separated by their exasperated nanny.

“Vasily Kornilyev,” cried the woman, wrenching the boy from his sister’s grasp and shaking him until he rattled – the household keys around her waist clanging in lockstep with her fury. “Maria Kornilyeva, what is this? You are both too old to engage in such unruly behaviour. I have never seen such bad children. I shall put you both out in the night to freeze to death.”

“He called me foolish,” shouted the unrepentant girl, “I’m far cleverer than he and – and – I shall do great things in my life – you shall see – I shall travel far and wide like Professor Lomonosov and I shall go the far ends of the earth, just you wait. Vasily is so stupid – too – too stupid to remember the words of his poem . . . and such a wonderful poem . . . and he called me foolish and . . . oh I just hate him.”

At this she ran out of the room in a storm of tears. It transpired that Vasily had been instructed by his teacher to learn An Ode on the Benefits of Glass, by the polymath Mikhail Lomonosov. On seeing her brother struggling to recall the lengthy poem, Maria had offered to help by reading the text and gently correcting his mistakes. For a while, she urged him along, but as time passed, his fumbling became too much to bear, and finally throwing the book to the floor, she stood full square and recited the entire poem with such a flaming passion that her brother fell upon her in a fury, declaring her a foolish girl who had no right to their father’s library.

Perhaps it was irony that had caused Maria such anguish, for the ode revealed the poetic chemist’s reverence for the enigmatic material that lay somewhere between liquid and solid in which light and colour were both captured and free. It was she, not Vasily, who shared their grandfather’s passion for glass – it was she who longed to be taken to see the great furnaces in which, by glorious alchemy, sand was transformed into transparency. And it was she who trundled up stairs to watch from the upstairs window as her father and Vasily sped off in the carriage to spend weeks and weeks together in the village on the other side of the forest.

It was Vasily who cared not a jot, who would inherit the dragon’s lair.

Life was intolerably unfair.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1784633998

Publisher:  Salt Publishing

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  400 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Salt Publishing

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

About the Author

Kate Nicholls is an author and former actor who traded the stage to study evolutionary biology. She raised and home schooled five children while researching lions in the Ocavango Delta. She now lives and writes in Rome

You can also find Kate at:

Instagram

Bluesky

(media courtesy of Random Things Tours)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)