August 2020 Roundup

 

What a peculiar month August has been weather wise. We have had some unpleasantly hot sweltering days when it was impossible to keep cool. We have also had torrential rain at times as well as the winds brought to us courtesy of Storm Francis. I wonder if September will bring us a late summer heatwave.

Out of all of the books I planned to read during August I only actually read four of them. Other books came along and lured me along the path of reading temptation, and weak soul that I am, I gave in to it. I completely blame the authors for writing such good books and publishers for creating such gorgeously tempting book covers. I accept no responsibility for my own feeble attempts at resistance :-)

I am also a bit behind with my reviewing as, with some Covid 19 restrictions being eased, it has been wonderful to see my family again and I know you will all understand that that became my priority this month. I will be catching up with writing my reviews very soon.

What books were you tempted by this month? I would love to hear about them.

Books I Read During August

Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri - I was transported to Italy when I read this book. My review can be found by clicking here.

Girl by Edna O'Brien - This was a great book but made for uncomfortable reading at times. It is the story of one of the 276 girls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram organisation in Nigeria in 2014.  A very worthwhile read that I highly recommend.

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville - This was my favourite book this month. A fictionalised account of the life of Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of John Macaruthur, a military man who was posted to Australia at the time of the transportation of criminals. My review of this book can be found here..

Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce - This is another book that I really enjoyed reading this month. Set during World War II it is the uplifting story of a young woman in London assisting the agony aunt of a woman's magazine.

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid (Karen Pirie #4) - I am enjoying the Karen Pirie series. She is an excellent character and the book has just the right amount of her personal life running alongside this police procedural novel. I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

The Sleeping Car Murders by Sebastien Naprisot - Translated from the French this tells the story of how and why a woman was murdered on an overnight sleeper train. A fascinating novel of twists and turns. My review will be up for this book can be read here.

How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier - Another novel translated from the French. It is an excellent short novel about the unlikely pairing of Simon, an ageing vermin exterminator and Bernard, a young man he employs as his driver. An excellent novel and my review of this book will be up very soon.

Books I am Partway Through

The Weaker Vessel, Woman's Lot in Seventeenth Century England: Part One by Antonia Fraser.

Women Who Run With the Wolves: Contacting the Power of the Wild Woman by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You by Jon McGregor.

Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri - #BookReview

                                                                                                                                                                     

"Monday, 5.13 a.m. The sun wouldn't show up for at least another hour, but Nico got out of bed, shrugged on a T-shirt, pulled on a pair of shorts and socks, and laced up his trainers. Bed had stopped being a welcome place, both back in the Bronx brownstone he and Rita had lived in for twenty-five years, and here in this century-old, two roomed farmhouse he'd rented since May."

Mourning the loss of his late wife, Rita, former detective Nico Doyle moves to her hometown of Gravigna in the wine region of Chianti. He isn't sure if it's peace he's seeking, but that certainly isn't what he finds: early one morning he hears a gunshot near his cabin and walks outside to the sight of a flashily dressed man with his face blown off.

Salvatore Perillo, the local inspector, enlists Nico's help with the murder case. It turns out more than one person in this idyllic corner of Italy knew the victim, and with a very small pool of suspects, including his own in-laws, Nico must dig up Gravigna's every last painful secret to get to the truth.

***

So many of us have had to stay-cation this year. Not a bad thing in itself as we have some beautiful places to visit here in the UK. However, reading this book transported me to Tuscany. It is so rich in atmosphere that I could almost taste the food, sample the wines and feel the Italian sun seeping into my bones.

Additionally, there is a stray dog who attaches himself to Nico, who has this huge void in his life following the death of his wife. I think I may have fallen a little in love with Nico. The author's portrayal of him as a kind, compassionate, grieving man is extremely well executed. As he becomes involved with the local police force in solving the murder of the man whose body he discovered we see his resourcefulness and sensitivity.

The secondary characters are equally well drawn and Ms Trinchieri is able to portray the members of a close community with real skill. Evocative language and great storytelling skills made this an extremely enjoyable read for me.

It is perfect for fans of Donna Leon, Philip Gwynne Jones and Andrea Camilleri.

I am thrilled that this is set to be the first in a series and I am looking forward to the next one already. It is a wonderful combination of character, atmosphere and murder mystery and far exceeds many books of this genre that I have read. I hope that you will enjoy it too.

ISBN: 978 0749026462

Publisher: Allison & Busby

About the Author

Camilla Trinchieri worked for many years on films in Rome with directors including Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. She emigrated to the US in 1980 and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Under the pseudonym Camilla Crespi, she has published seven crime novels, including The Breakfast Club Murder.

The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse - #BookReview

"It was late August, and had been one of those long, lazy hazy days of summer when the sun rose slowly and lingered late into the evening. Victoria had moaned about the fierce heat, knowing full well that on chilly winter days she would give anything for a glimpse of the sun. It took all of her strength to lift a hand and swat the darned fly away from the front of her face. In this balmy clime, Rosebank, their large square red-bricked Edwardian home on the outskirts of Epsom, with its rolling Downs and only a short train ride from the hubbub of the capital, felt closer to an African savannah than the suburbs. Especially if that savannah had a Pizza Express, a Waitrose and a roaring social scene based around the horse-racing calendar. Not that Victoria's social life was roaring. The truth was it didn't even mew."

When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.

As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.

To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?

***

I read Perfect Daughter by the lovely Amanda Prowse five years ago and although I can tell you that I really enjoyed it I cannot remember the specifics. Actually, these days I'm lucky if I can remember what I did yesterday! It was the first in the No Greater Strength series and I am now questioning why I did not go straight on to read the next book in the series. Consequently, I have just ordered a copy of The Christmas Cafe/The Second Chance Cafe (it seems to be known under these two different titles) and am looking forward to reading it soon.

The Day She Came Back is another excellent novel from the pen of Mrs Prowse. It is a very moving account of how the heroine of the story, Victoria, is faced with grief, betrayal and lies and how she learns to come to terms with those and how she will make peace with her past in order to face her future.

Victoria is a lovely character. She is young, studious and a little naive. When her world is turned upside down following the death of her beloved grandmother and a woman claiming to be her long dead mother turns up at the funeral she feels as though her whole life has been a lie. 

I am not going to say whether this woman is, in fact, her mother but my heart ached for Victoria in trying to find her way through this incredible circumstance. The author presents her in such a realistic way that she was so easy to identify with and to feel empathy towards.

This book is largely about relationships - that she had with her grandparents, her friends and whether or not she will ever have a relationship with the woman claiming to be her mother. It is that which propels the story along and throughout I could not make up my mind whether I thought the woman was genuine or not. Of course, this is resolved by the end of the novel but I would never deny you the thrill of reading this book and finding out for yourself.

The author is a great storyteller. She writes with compassion, realism and hope. Well done. Another great book from Amanda Prowse that I wholeheartedly recommend.

ISBN: 978 1542014496

Publisher: Amazon/Lake Union Publishing

About the Author:

She has had twenty novels published along with six short stories in dozens of languages. Her recent chart topping No.1 titles What Have I Done?, Perfect Daughter and My Husband’s Wife have sold millions of copies around the world.

The Revolt by Clara Dupont-Monod - #TuesdayTeaser

Hello and welcome to my occasional Tuesday Teaser blog on this hot and sunny August morning.

I wanted to share this book with you as I am in love with the cover. I know we are not supposed to judge a book by it, quite literally in this instance, or in life in general but how could I possibly pass this cover by and not pick up this book.

So today I am going to give you the first few paragraphs and I am itching to know what you think. Does this make you want to read it? Do you think the cover is as gorgeous as I do?

 

The story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, told through the eyes of her favourite son, Richard Lionheart. In 1173, Eleanor and three of her sons instigate a rebellion to overthrow the English king, her husband Henry Plantagenet. What prompts this revolt? How does a great queen persuade her children to rise up against their father? And how does a son cope with this crushing conflict of loyalties?

*

"In my mother's eyes, I see things that overwhelm me. I see vast conquests, deserted houses, and suits of armour. She carries an anger within herself that condemns me, and forces me to be a better man.

This evening, she comes to us. Her gown caresses the floor. At this moment, we are like the stones in the vaulted ceiling, immobile and breathless. But what petrifies my brothers is not her indifference, for they are used to being ignored, nor the solemnity of the meeting - everything about Eleanor is solemn - no, what transfixes us, at this moment, is her voice. For it is with a soft voice, full of menace, that my mother commands us to overthrow our father.

She says that she has raised us for this task. That she made sure we grew up here, in Aquitaine, and not in England, so we would know the nobility of her lineage. Indeed, is my name not Richard the Lionheart? The time has come for us to assert ourselves. She reminds us that she ordered troubadours to sing legends at our births. One for each child. She tells us that here, where we now stand, where we learned to walk, in this great hall of the palace of Poitiers, the spirit of our great-grandfather is breathing his strength into us. You have heard his poems, she says, and the stories of his exploits. And so, my sons, you are armed. You are fourteen, fifteen and sixteen years old. The time has come.

We know these words. They flow through our veins. Henry, Geoffrey and I will obey, each for our own reasons. But we are bound together by one certainty: Eleanor can be threatened, she can be defied, and even fought. But betrayed, never. And maybe my father knew this, in fact. Maybe he wanted to wound his wife in her very heart. That idea turns our countries to ice. For in that case, what we must engage in is not a matter of personal revenge, but the clash of two monsters ready to fight to the death. And we, their children, will be mere toys between their paws."

The Revolt by Clara Dupont-Monod - #SocialBlast #BlogTour

 

I am very excited to be taking part in the blog tour for The Revolt by Clara Dupont-Monod.

Please drop by the blog tomorrow for my Tuesday Teaser of this book.

Isn't the cover just gorgeous.

The Things I Want to Say but Can't by Carla Christian - #CoverReveal

A lifetime of endings, a million goodbyes. None of them right. It's funny what you remember when you've got nothing else to think about. All those things you should've said while you had the chance. You never learned, did you? You never, ever learned.'

Belle has a habit of losing things. Her friends. Her lovers. Her mind.

Everything ends eventually, or at least that's what life has taught her. But what if everything she lost came back again? What if she got a chance to finally have her say? To face her past. To put things right.

Second chances aren't easy when memories are all you have. So, when Belle invites the nightmares of her past back in, is she willing to deal with the consequences? Because maybe, just maybe, this time she's getting what she deserves.

About the Author:

Carla Christian lives in the Lake District in the North of England. A busy working mum of two teenagers, she has a passion for writing, art and travel, and these interests have been a part of her for as long as she can remember. 

Constantly inspired by both the good and the bad in the world around her, she spends much of her time creating in one way or another; be it painting canvases for the blank walls of her new home, sketching pictures to capture memories of the many travel adventures she’s been lucky enough to go on, baking fantastical cakes with her daughter, or writing endless beginnings to a million unfinished stories.

The Things I Want To Say But Can’t is her first novel.

Reading in August

It's incredible that we are already in August of this strange year we are having. I do not think anyone will forget 2020 in a hurry.

Last month I excitedly posted that our libraries were about to reopen. However, the local authority have decided to open only five in the county, and sadly, the one in my town is not one of them. Furthermore, there is no indication of when it might do so. Such a pity as I know so many people who were looking forward to it. I do understand why this decision has been made but I am disappointed nonetheless.

Never mind. I have a few books that I am looking forward to reading this month. How about you? What are you planning to read in August?

Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

Inge's War by Svenja O'Donnell

Singing for Mrs. Pettigrew by Michael Morpurgo

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid

Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Girl by Edna O'Brien

The Sleeping Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot

Books to Finish

Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri