Friday 29 October 2021

Reading Roundup - October 2021

 


Here in the UK the clocks go back on Sunday. And as much as I don't want to mention the 'Christmas' word just yet, it's really not that far away. I can't believe how fast 2021 has flown by.

Actually, I am a little ahead of the game and have already bought a couple of festive gifts. I know that many people will have already been doing this for a while now, but usually I resist doing so until November.

October has been a great month for reading. As most of you already know, I usually read somewhere between seven and ten books in a month. In an average month I consider myself lucky if I read one outstanding book. Lots of books are good but not that many can be counted as amazing.

However, amongst my reading this month there are two absolute gems which I can't recommend enough; The Girl With the Louding Voice and Matilda Windsor is Coming Home. Details are below.

 How about you? Have you read anything amazing this month?


Books I Have Read During October

The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition by John Callow - This is an amazingly well researched book about the Bideford Witches. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Mother of the Brontës: When Maria Met Patrick by Sharon Wright - a biographical account of the oft overlooked mother of the famous Bronte sisters. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier - I was unsure about what to expect from this collection of short stories but I enjoyed them very much. Disquieting rather than scary.

Matilda Windsor is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin - This is a fabulously heart-rending book and my review will be up very soon.

Rain Song by Alice J. Wisler - an enjoyable novel which is the first in the Heart of Carolina series.

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - An outstanding achievement of a book. Well done Ms Dare. You can read my review by clicking here.


Books I Am Partway Through

Tales from the Italian South by Angelina Brasacchio

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Rags of Time by Michael Ward

Thursday 28 October 2021

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - #BookReveiw

 


This morning, Papa call me inside the parlour.

He was sitting inside the sofa with no cushion and looking me. Papa have this way of looking me one kind. As if he wants to be flogging me for no reason, as if I am carrying shit inside my cheeks and when I open mouth to talk, the whole place be smelling of it...


***



I don't just want to be having any kind voice . . .

I want a louding voice.

At fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man. When tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. And one day, someone hears her.

***

This is one of the best books that I have read this year. It is heart-felt and beautifully written, and I could not put it down.

In Adunni, the author has created one of the most endearing characters that I have come across in fiction. The whole novel is written from Adunni's perspective which brings her character to life in the most realistic of ways. Although Adunni's story is a challenging one for us in the Western world to comprehend, the book is full of hope and the creation of a better world, particularly for girls in the position of our main character.

The book is set in Nigeria and written in the vernacular of the region. This was not difficult to follow. Instead, it illuminated the novel as I found myself listening as much as reading the text. Ms Dare expertly accomplished this in a way that lesser authors could not have, and I was captivated.

Her gift for story-telling is beautiful, and she has composed a book that caused me to feel as though she was telling it to me personally. It is a enormously skilled to be able to write a novel that effects the reader in this way.

I will not be able to forget this book. Adunni has made an indelible impression on me and will remain with me for a long time. I applaud Ms Dare for writing this book with such passion, integrity, sensitivity and intelligence and, for bringing to light the difficult lives that many girls in the society in which the book is based have to face.

I borrowed this book from the library, but I know I will want to read it again so I have purchased my own copy. I strongly encourage everyone to read this book.


ISBN: 978 1529359275

Publisher: Sceptre Books


About the Author: 

Abi Dare was born in Lagos. She studied law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an M.Sc. in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University. Keen to improve her writing, she completed an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London, achieving a Distinction with an early version of The Girl With the Louding Voice. It went on to win the Bath Novel Award for emerging authors and to be a finalist in the Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition in 2018 before being published in 2020. An instant New York Times bestseller, it was subsequently shortlisted for the 2020 Desmond Elliott Prize and the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize.

Abi Dare lives in Essex with her husband and two children.


Wednesday 27 October 2021

Mother of the Brontes: When Maria Met Patrick by Sharon Wright - #BookReview

To the little girl gazing from the windows of her cosy attic nursery, the whole world seemed arranged for her entertainment. Six-year-old Maria Branwell's vantage points above the Penzance's busiest street afforded uninterrupted views of a most interesting place. Out front was the sea, with mysterious St Michael's Mount in the distance, sometimes crystal clear in the bright sunshine against a blue sky, sometimes wreathed in sea mists, the waters of the bay slate grey and restless. Not far from her door the small boats and tall ships arriving, or departing to trade or to fight or to fish. All the mercantile and military hullabaloo of a busy port in a seafaring nation. Directly below her window, merchants and redcoats stopped to discuss the French Revolution just over the horizon in one direction, American Independence an ocean away in another.



At long last, the untold story of the mysterious Mrs Bronte . They were from different lands, different classes, different worlds almost. The chances of Cornish gentlewoman Maria Branwell even meeting the poor Irish curate Patrick Bronte in Regency England, let alone falling passionately in love, were remote. Yet Maria and Patrick did meet, making a life together as devoted lovers and doting parents in the heartland of the industrial revolution. An unlikely romance and novel wedding were soon followed by the birth of six children. They included Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte , the most gifted literary siblings the world has ever known. Her children inherited her intelligence and wit and wrote masterpieces such as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Yet Maria has remained an enigma while the fame of her family spread across the world. It is time to bring her out of the shadows, along with her overlooked contribution to the Bronte genius. Untimely death stalked Maria as it was to stalk all her children. But first there was her fascinating life's story, told here for the first time by Sharon Wright. 

***

I initially discovered the Bronte sisters in the school library when I first attended secondary school. Having fallen in love with their novels and back stories at such a tender age, they remain amongst my favourite books. Being a diminutive, bespectacled girl myself, I particularly identified with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and I love it still.

I have read several biographies of the Bronte sisters over the years, but this is the first that I have read that is specifically about their mother, Maria Branwell. I was fascinated to learn how this intelligent, well to do young woman from Cornwall ended her life as the impoverished wife to an eccentric clergyman in Yorkshire.

The author has clearly completed extensive research for this book and as a result has been able to produce this informative volume, and to demonstrate Maria's progression both geographically and socially. I very much enjoyed reading the letters that Maria wrote and sent to Patrick prior to their marriage. Sadly, these letters are one-sided as only Maria's letters survive but the author was able to ascertain information about Patrick based on Maria's responses.

Ms. Wright has written an informative, elucidating and illuminating book about the mother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte. It is a very accessible and easy to read biography which I very much enjoyed.

ISBN: 978 1526757609

Publisher: Pen & Sword History


About the Author:

Sharon Wright is an author, journalist and playwright. She has worked as a writer, editor and columnist for magazines, newspapers and websites including The Guardian, Daily Express, BBC, Glamour, Red, The Lady and New York Post. Her first book, Balloonomania Belles, was serialised in The Mail on Sunday and Sharon was a guest on BBC Woman's Hour. The revised and updated paperback The Lost History of the Lady Aeronauts was published in April 2021. She is also the author of critically acclaimed plays performed in London and Yorkshire.

(bio information courtesy of Pen & Sword)
(early reading copy courtesy of NetGalley)

Tuesday 26 October 2021

The Testimony of Alys Twist by Suzannah Dunn - #TuesdayTeaser

 Hello and welcome to this week's Tuesday Teaser. The place where we take a sneaky peek at a book that has caught my eye.

This week we are looking at The Testimony of Alys Twist by Suzannah Dunn.

Suzannah is the author of many historical fiction novels and I am loathe to admit that I have not read any of them. I'm not at all sure why I haven't, as all of her novels look like they are just the kind of thing that I enjoy reading. So, I intend to rectify this by reading The Testimony of Alys Twist, very soon.

Have you read this book? Or do you have another favourite that you think I would enjoy?



The Blurb

1553: deeply-divided England rejoices as the rightful heir, Mary Tudor, sweeps to power on a tide of populist goodwill. But the people should have been careful what they wished for: Mary's mission is to turn back time to an England of old. Within weeks there is widespread rebellion in favour of her heir, her half-sister, Princess Elizabeth, who is everything that Mary isn't. From now on, Elizabeth will have to use her considerable guile just to stay alive.

Orphan Alys Twist has come a long way - further than she ever dared hope - to work as a laundress at the royal wardrobe. There she meets Bel, daughter of the Queen's tailor, and seems to have arrived at her own happy ending.

But in a world where appearance is everything, a laundress is in a unique position to see the truth of people's lives, and Alys is pressed into service as a spy in the errant princess's household. Alys herself, though, is hardly whiter than white, and when the princess is arrested she must make a dangerous choice.


The Beginning

Parchment Halo

I remembered it once said, when I was small, that I would go far. Whoever had spoken over my head had been right, I thought, because just twenty or so years later here I was, arriving to work at the palace, and no servant gets further than this.

Fresh off the wherry-boat, foot in the washroom door, I was all smiles for the pair introducing themselves as my fellow laundresses: Mrs Fox - more ox-like than fox-like - and her sourpuss sidekick, Kay. I was only too aware I was no choice of theirs, but a recommendation taken up by whoever at Whitehall did the hiring and firing. And, worse, three's a crowd. So busy was I with the smiling that I didn't spare a second glance for a young woman, small and neat in periwinkle mockado, who passed us on her way to what I would later learn was the drying room.

Introductions over, I was directed to my lodgings - the Wiltons' house on Kings Street - and when I returned to the laundry a half-hour later, there was no sign of the laundresses. Instead a ruddy-faced royal-liveried man came bounding across the deserted washroom towards me: 'Mistress Twist?'

Well, there was no denying it.

He said he was Mr Hobbes, Yeoman of the Robes, and would like to borrow me to cast my gaze over the queen's wardrobe: he'd value an expert eye, he said, and I had to stop myself from looking over my shoulder, because any eye I had was for linen, not the silks and wools of gowns. Mistress Fox had been so kind, he said, as to lend me for the day. Neither she nor the sharp-faced sidekick were in evidence to confirm or deny it, and who was I to argue with a man in uniform? So, out of my depth before I'd even started, I did my best to look competent, snatching up my pouch of fuller's earth and a couple of my flasks of flower waters: wood sorrel and celandine, if only because those had the tightest stoppers. I took no soap - gowns can't be soaped - and followed him from the laundry back to the riverside steps, which was when I queried: 'Wardrobe?'

***

Well I am feeling intrigued and am keen to read on. How about you?

Monday 25 October 2021

New Releases in November 2021

 


There are so many fantastic new releases this month that it has been hard to choose just a few to mention here. 

You may notice that there are no Christmas books in this list. The reason being that there will be a dedicated post of all things Festive very soon - so watch this space.


The Violinist of Auschwitz by Jean-Jacques Felstein

Arrested in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz, Elsa survived because she had the 'opportunity' to join the women's orchestra. But Elsa kept her story a secret, even from her own family. Indeed, her son would only discover what had happened to his mother many years later, after gradually unearthing her unbelievable story following her premature death, without ever having revealed her secret to anyone. Jean-Jacques Felstein was determined to reconstruct Elsa's life in Birkenau, and would go in search of other orchestra survivors in Germany, Belgium, Poland, Israel and the United States. The recollections of Hélène, first violin, Violette, third violin, Anita, a cellist, and other musicians, allowed him to rediscover his 20-year-old mother, lost in the heart of hell. The story unfolds in two intersecting stages: one, contemporary, is that of the investigation, the other is that of Auschwitz and its unimaginable daily life, as told by the musicians. They describe the recitals on which their very survival depended, the incessant rehearsals, the departure in the mornings for the forced labourers to the rhythm of the instruments, the Sunday concerts, and how Mengele pointed out the pieces in the repertoire he wished to listen to in between 'selections'. In this remarkable book, Jean-Jacques Felstein follows in his mother's footsteps and by telling her story, attempts to free her, and himself, from the pain that had been hidden in their family for so long.


The Time Between Us by Marina McCarron

Normandy, 1937. Sixteen-year-old Elise embarks on a whirlwind romance with a young American man, which transports her from the drudgery of her everyday life caring for her mother. But neither she nor William is prepared for the war that will threaten to tear them apart...

Boston, 2009. Lucy has been left reeling by the death of her beloved grandfather. They had always planned to visit France together after her college graduation; now, still aching from his loss, Lucy decides to take the trip alone.

As Lucy traces the steps of her grandfather through the French countryside where he once served as a GI, a powerful story of love, loss and destiny emerges – but can the truth about her family's past unlock her future? Or are some scars too deep to heal?


The Falling Thread by Adam O'Riordan


Manchester, the summer of 1890. A city humming with industry and gleaming with affluence.

But for Charles, cloistered in his middle-class parents' suburban villa on holiday from university, the city's vibrancy holds no charms. Bored and a little listless, he spends the summer in pursuit of his little sisters' governess, Hettie. Before the summer's end, both must face the consequences of their affair - consequences they will live with for the rest of their lives.

Charles's sisters come of age as women of the new century - and experience a very different Manchester from their brother and guardian. In the smog and glitter of the city, both sisters will discover the very different things they seek, and the very different women they will become. But as a new era springs into being, a darker shadow stretches, threatening to engulf the whole world...

A captivating portrait of a family in time, The Falling Thread is a hauntingly evocative debut novel from one of our most exciting literary talents.


The Memory Box by Kathryn Hughes

Some love stories can't be forgotten...

Jenny Tanner opens the box she has cherished for decades. Contained within are her most precious mementoes, amongst them a pebble, a carving and a newspaper cutting she can hardly bear to read. But Jenny knows the time is finally here. After the war, in a mountainside village in Italy, she left behind a piece of her heart. However painful, she must return to Cinque Alberi. And lay the past to rest.

After a troubled upbringing, Candice Barnes dreams of a future with the love of her life - but is he the man she believes him to be? When Candice is given the opportunity to travel to Italy with Jenny, she is unaware the trip will open her eyes to the truth she's been too afraid to face. Could a place of goodbyes help her make a brave new beginning?


The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom


The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of global phenomenon Tuesdays with Morrie.

Adrift in a raft after a terrible shipwreck, ten strangers try to survive while they wait for rescue.

After three days, short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves.

They pull him on board - and the survivor claims he can save them.

But should they put their trust in him?

Will any of them see home again?

And why did the ship really sink?

The Stranger in the Lifeboat is not only a deeply moving novel about the power of love and hope in the face of danger, but also a mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end.


Lights in the Night by Chris Barash & Maya Shleifer

In this charming picture book for young children, the magic of Shabbat is celebrated through light. As the sun goes down on a Friday evening and darkness descends, different sources of light welcome in the Sabbath: candles, lanterns, the moon and stars, fireflies, nightlights and then the next morning, the sunrise. Told in gently rhythmic rhyming couplets and beautifully illustrated throughout, this is an enchanting exploration of light and dark, and a journey through the various rituals and delights of Shabbat.



Thursday 21 October 2021

No Child of Mine by Olga Gibbs - #BookReview

 

The Broadcasting Unit burst to life, the sharp jingle of the State news intro filling the kitchen.

"Federation Britannia news at six", a deep robotic voice announced into the cement coffin of the state approved kitchen.

"Good morning, free citizen. Good morning, free citizen. Good morning and a glorious Liberation Day to us all", a voice of a young woman rang after the daily mechanical greeting.

"We are starting the celebratory news segment with great news, free citizens. Today, on this historical day, when our free country celebrates the fifty seventh anniversary of its independence, we are excited to report on another great achievement of our young and heroic country which wouldn't be possible without the wisdom and leadership of our beloved Ordained Liberating Party. Today, when many of us will be marching in the parades, celebrating the Liberation Day and thanking our fearless leaders for fifty seven happy and peaceful years, on that remarkable day our scientists report the first positive tests in non-biological food production", the smiling woman read from the large screen, tears of pride and joy shining bright in her eyes.


57th Year of the true leadership of The Ordained Liberating Party; or Year 2273 by the old calendar.

"The Collapse" took millions of lives and most of the country's farming lands, bringing the surviving population of the island to the brink of starvation.

Out of the aftermath of the chaos and anarchy, a new state had emerged, known as The Federation Britannia, run by the single and unopposed Ordained Liberating Party.

The division of the country's orphanages for children of "the true citizens" and children of "the enemies of the state" began the clearance of the questionable element, and bloody years of the Age of Cleansing had finished the purge, leaving behind a perfectly obedient electorate that marched every year in the Liberation Day parades, praising the Party's leadership and following the Party's every directive.

The rule of the Party is absolute. Its tool of compliance, the State Security Unit, is feared.

Tom isn't a frightened follower, he is a true believer. He loves the Party with all his heart. He trusts in the Party's wisdom. The Party had raised him, rewarding his devotion and love with a lucrative engineering job, and after the approval for the Procreation licence, it also granted him a family.

But the unexpected midnight visit by the State Security to his flat, questions asked and blood samples collected, unsettles Tom more than he likes to admit, and the following day, whilst investigating the "black uniforms" interest, Tom witnesses the State Security troops, led by the familiar officer, marshalling the children from his daughter's nursery, packing them into trucks and taking them into the unknown.

At that moment Tom is forced to make a decision: either to follow the Party directive and to surrender his child into its plenary care or to protect what he loves and run.

But there's nowhere to run. There's no escape from the island or from the complete control of the Ordained Liberating Party.

***

This book was a departure from my usual reading fare. Every now and again I think it is good to read something outside of my reading comfort zone as it either confirms to me that I am best sticking to my usual genres or I get a pleasant surprise which opens me up to a whole new genre to me. I am delighted to say that with, No Child of Mine, the latter was definitely the case.

It would be untrue for me to claim that this is the very first dystopian style novel I have read. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood are two of my all time favourite books. 

The main character in this book, Tom, was easy to engage with. I sympathised with his disappointment and disillusionment of 'The Party' in whom he had such belief. The author did an excellent job of allowing the reader to experience this alongside him.

There is a sense of urgency throughout the novel, and this is matched with a fast paced narrative. Suspicion and doubt abound and with an element of suspense running throughout make this an entertaining and worthwhile book to read.

Olga Gibbs is a new to me author who has several books in her back catalogue. I am confident that I will be trying one of her others.

ISBN: 978 1916471078

Publisher: Raging Bear Publishing


About the Author: 

Olga Gibbs is a British novelist and a mental health expert who has experience of working with disturbance in adolescents and young people. Using her Masters in Creative Writing, she explores taboo topics such as borderline personality and social effective disorder, effects of abuse and insecure attachment in young people and the inner world which is so rarely spoken about. Olga Gibbs is also a creative writing coach and mentor.


Wednesday 20 October 2021

The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition by John Callow - #BookReview

 

On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of the house of Thomas Eastchurch. The busy quayside, well-stocked shops, and the patchwork of walled gardens and little orchards that backed onto many of the major properties in Bideford usually offered rich pickings for scavengers with a quick beak, a sharp eye and a fast wing. Yet that morning was different...


On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches.

Though 'pretty much worn away' the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common.

In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.

***


The extensive research that has gone into producing this book is excellent and the author details the religious, socio-economic and political background which existed in the community at this time.

I was astounded to learn that the last of the Witchcraft Acts was not repealed until 1951 when it was replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, which in turn was repealed in 2008. One of the things that I admire greatly in Mr. Callow's work is that as well as his examination of the society these women lived in during the 17th century, he goes on to consider how they are viewed through a 21st-century lens, taking in the remaining three centuries sandwiched in between. 

It is an extensively detailed account presented in a thoroughly accessible and easy to read manner. I was engrossed from the beginning, and it made for fascinating reading.

What becomes abundantly clear throughout the book is that the three women were guilty of nothing more than vulnerability. Couple that with a society steeped in superstition and with an element of misogyny. The author has written an easy to understand and detailed volume of the story of these three innocent women lives.

I once visited Bideford and at the time I was completely unaware of the lives and fate of the three women featured in this book; Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards and Mary Trembles. It has made me want to return to the town, and I would visit with quite different eyes now.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in history.

ISBN: 978 1788314398

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic


About the Author:

John Callow is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Suffolk, UK, who has written widely on early modern witchcraft, politics and popular culture. He is the author of The Making of King James II (2000) and Embracing the Darkness (2005, I.B. Tauris). He has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 documentary It Must be Witchcraft, and the series on the Salem Witches on the Discovery Channel.



(photo courtesy of University of Suffolk)

(bio info courtesy of Amazon)

Tuesday 19 October 2021

The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse - #TuesdayTeaser

 Hello and welcome to this week's Tuesday Teaser. The place where we take a sneaky peek at a book that has caught my eye.

This week we are looking at The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse.

I am already a fan of Amanda's writing and I have reviewed a few of them on the blog already. In fact, you can read my reviews of The Day She Came Back by clicking here

However, The Food of Love is one that I have not got around to reading yet but is beckoning me. How about you? Have you read any of Amanda's lovely books? And have you read this one?



The Blurb

Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter.

But when Lexi’s struggles with weight take control of her life, everything Freya once took for granted falls apart, leaving the whole family with a sense of helplessness that can only be confronted with understanding, unity and, above all, love.

In this compelling and heart-wrenching work by bestselling author Amanda Prowse, one ordinary family tackles unexpected difficulties and discovers that love can find its way through life’s darkest moments.

The Beginning

Prologue

The sun slowly casting it's fire-coloured rays over everything it touched as it sank was one of the most beautiful things Freya had ever seen. She would never forget the sight of pelicans sitting on the Florida shoreline like prehistoric time travellers, masterful and breathtaking, as they balanced on poles rising up from the seabed, stretching their immense wings in the scarlet remains of the day.

Lockie and the girls had earlier fished from the dock - catching nothing but each other's crossed fishing lines. The fun, however, had been in the anticipation, any disappointment now quashed by the sampling of fine gelato as they strolled the streets of old Naples, window shopping as day turned to night and the sun pulled their tanned skin taut on their weary bones. Charlotte, already becoming a lady at nine, nibbled daintily at her single-scoop cone, while Lexi was fully focused on balancing her towering three scoops, as if unwilling to forfeit a single bite.

Freya laughed at her seven-year-old. "Goodness me, Lex, carry on at this rate and we'll have to put you in the hold on the flight home; you'll never fit in the seat!"

As they wandered onto the long pier at the end of this golden day, Freya knew this family vacation would be crystallised in memory, there for her to dip into when the cold, grey sky of a British morning threatened to pull the happy from her heart and the spring from her step.

"So can I, Mum? Can I?"

***

I wonder what she is asking her mum? Any ideas?

Thursday 14 October 2021

Her Secret War by Pam Lecky - #BookintheSpotlight

 Being published today, is this gorgeous book, Her Secret War by Pam Lecky. I am really looking forward to reading this.



The Blurb

A life-changing moment

May 1941: German bombs drop on Dublin taking Sarah Gillespie’s family and home. Days later, the man she loves leaves Ireland to enlist.

A heart-breaking choice

With nothing to keep her in Ireland and a burning desire to help the war effort, Sarah seeks refuge with relatives in England. But before long, her father’s dark past threatens to catch up with her.

A dangerous mission

Sarah is asked to prove her loyalty to Britain through a special mission. Her courage could save lives. But it could also come at the cost of her own

Monday 11 October 2021

Library Loans - 9th October 2021

 It seems to have been a while since I visited the library and during my journey there I really noticed how autumnal it suddenly feels. Last time I visited I was wearing short sleeves; this time I needed a jacket.

As always, the library shelves were well stocked and I enjoyed browsing. I have come to the conclusion that my local library is one of my favourite places. It excites me when I see people bustling around town with a pile of books under their arm; either on the way to or from the library. I always wonder which books they have chosen and are they ones that I would like to read. The anticipation surrounding the starting a new book never goes stale for me.

I borrowed five books this week from various genres. Have you read any of them?


No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This is a story about a life lived in two halves.

It's about what happens when real life collides with the world accessed through a screen.

It's about where we go when existential threats loom and high-stakes reality claims us back.

It's about living in world that contains both an abundance of proof that there is goodness, empathy, and justice in the universe, and a deluge of evidence to the contrary.

Irreverent and sincere, poignant and delightfully profane, No One Is Talking About This is a meditation on love, language and human connection from one of the most original voices of our time.


A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

It begins with a message: a telephone call informing Krishan that his grandmother''s former care-giver, Rani, has died in unexpected circumstances, at the bottom of a well in her village in the north, her neck broken by the fall. The news arrives on the heels of an email from Anjum, an activist he fell in love with four years earlier while living in Delhi, bringing with it the stirring of distant memories and desires. 

As Krishan makes the long journey by train from Colombo into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral, so begins a passage into the soul of an island devastated by violence. Written with precision and grace, A Passage North is a poignant memorial for the missing and the dead, and a luminous meditation on time, consciousness, and the lasting imprint of the connections we make with others.


Pocketful of Dreams by Jean Fullerton

It's 1939, and as the country is preparing for the challenging times ahead, the Brogan family of London's East End is trying to keep their spirits up. But things don't seem so rosy when rationing, evacuation and air-raids start to put this larger-than-life family to the test.

When a mysterious young man arrives in the local community, he provides just the dazzling distraction they need - and for eldest daughter Mattie, the promise of more than she'd ever wished for. But as the pair fall deeper in love, they are drawn into secret dangers, rife on the very London streets they call home. As the young couple race to protect the East End, can their dreams survive the darkening backdrop of wartime...?


How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

In Baxter's Beach, Barbados, Lala's grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister, a cautionary tale about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers.

For Wilma, it's the story of a wilful adventurer, who ignores the warnings of those around her, and suffers as a result.

When Lala grows up, she sees it offers hope - of life after losing a baby in the most terrible of circumstances and marrying the wrong man.

And Mira Whalen? It's about keeping alive, trying to make sense of the fact that her husband has been murdered, and she didn't get the chance to tell him that she loved him after all.


The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain

Freya Fuller is living her dream, working as a live-in gardener on a beautiful Suffolk estate. But when the owner dies, Freya finds herself forced out of her job and her home with nowhere to go. However, with luck on her side, she’s soon moving to Nightingale Square and helping to create a beautiful winter garden that will be open to the public in time for Christmas.
 
There’s a warm welcome from all in Nightingale Square, except from local artist Finn. No matter how hard the pair try, they just can’t get along, and working together to bring the winter garden to life quickly becomes a struggle for them both.
 
Will Freya and Finn be able to put their differences aside in time for Christmas? Or will the arrival of a face from Freya’s past send them all spiralling?


Wednesday 6 October 2021

Confessions of a Fallen Angel by Ronan O'Brien - #BookReveiw

 

Dying was the easy bit. It was during my life after death that things started to go wrong. A conspiracy of coincidences perhaps or else maybe some higher power was having a laugh at my expense. But when I returned from the other side I brought something fearful back with me...


Following a near-death experience as a child, a young boy becomes cursed with the ability to foresee the deaths of the people closest to him. These visions come to him in his dreams and, following a disastrous attempt to save a childhood friend from drowning, a set of terrifying events begins to unfold. As a young man, he finds redemption in the arms of Ashling, his beautiful wife. But then the visions return...

This is a story about one mans struggle to live an ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances; about love lost and found and the vast range of emotions that can be weathered by the human heart. This is a story where dreams come true but where dreams can turn into nightmares; a place where true love will prevail and where death is only the beginning.

Set in the fictional Dublin suburb of Rathgorman, Confessions of a Fallen Angel is a truly remarkable debut novel that will grip you from the first line and surprise you to the last.

***

I stumbled across this book in the library. I had never heard of the author or any of his work. However, this is the beauty of libraries; they enable us to try new titles and authors without worrying about the cost.

What I found within the covers of this novel was a little gem which I loved from the very start. The book begins with the childhood of the main character, and the reader is permitted to accompany him on his journey through life as the book is narrated from his point of view. 

And what a varied journey it is. We get to laugh and cry with him and to experience his range of emotions within those parameters.

The author has skilfully created a whole panorama of characters who are expertly drawn. At times I felt angry when some of those characters misunderstood him. This is testament to the author as his writing was able to make me react so emotionally.

There are times in this book when the narrative turns toward the violent. Whilst those sections made for uncomfortable reading, I never felt that the author turned to the gratuitous and those descriptions really were significant to the plot.

This is a great book and it deals with many themes; love, hope, disappointment and, of course, Ireland. The book is as much about the country as it is about the character and plot.

This is the authors debut novel and I sincerely hope that there will be more to come.


ISBN:  978 0340953167

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland



About the Author: 

Ronan O'Brien (born 1974, Dublin) is an Irish author, winner of the 2009 Irish Book Awards "Newcomer of the Year" for his first novel Confessions of a Fallen Angel.

He studied law at University College Dublin and then obtained a master's degree in modern drama studies. His primary career is as a solicitor specialising in criminal law. 

He lives in County Kildare with his wife Rita and is currently working on his second novel.

(bio information courtesy of Wikipedia)

Tuesday 5 October 2021

Kingdom of Twilight by Steven Uhly - #TuesdayTeaser


 Hello and welcome to this week's Tuesday Teaser. The place where we take a sneaky peek at a book that has caught my eye.

This week we are looking at Kingdom of Twilight by Steven Uhly.

Steven was born in 1964 in Cologne and is of German-Bengali descent, and partially rooted in Spanish culture. He has studied literature, served as the head of an institute in Brazil, and translated poetry and prose from Spanish, Portuguese, and English. He lives in Munich with his family.



The Blurb

One night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An S.S. officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles - one for every year of the dead man's life. First hidden by a German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her new-born baby.

So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. Kingdom of Twilight follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former S.S. officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from Displaced Persons camps to Lübeck, Berlin, Tel Aviv and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it.

Hypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly's epic novel is a finely nuanced and yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity and redemption.

The Beginning

One

He had followed a short, haggard man in shabby clothes, who seemed a nasty enough piece of work to betray a few of his fellow countrymen. They'd been hiding in the church, the Pole had said in his thick accent. But we searched every nook and cranny, not a soul there.  The Pole just shrugged as if to suggest, It's not my fault you didn't find them. He knew that the German would follow him, even if he suspected that the Pole would try to lead him astray, stall him to stay alive himself, or try some other dirty trick. The German would follow him, lured by the prospect of more Jews, maybe even women, the short man had made vague mention of women as if to avoid overstating his promise. And he was right.

The German followed him through the winding alleys, ignoring the fine rain that fell incessantly on the city like a cold, silk cloth, lending everything a silver-grey sheen, the low, crooked houses, which were narrow and packed together so tightly as if unable ever to get warm. The steeply pitched roofs glistened like molten tar and the uneven cobbles were slippery. The Pole was wearing a pair of old, well-worn shoes, his footsteps made only a muffled scraping on the stones, which was drowned out by the hard pounding of the army boots following in his wake.

The German strode past the furtive windows with the assuredness of an untouchable...

***

An interesting beginning to this book. I think it will build into an intense narrative. What do you think?

Friday 1 October 2021

Books to Read in October 2021


When I awoke this morning, the rain was hammering against my window and I was reminded that with the seasons change we can look forward to staying in the dry with a pile of great books.

This month has seen our schools returning for a new academic year, gardens being tidied and put to bed for the winter and the first signs of autumn appearing. 

In addition to the exciting new releases that I posted earlier in the week (you can see the list here) I can't wait to make inroads on my selection of books this month. What exciting books are you looking forward to reading this month ?


If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley

They Never Saw it Coming by Roberta Kagan

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Matilda Windsor is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Rags of Time by Michael Ward

Jewish Women by Max Brod

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher


(photo courtesy of Aaron Burden via Unsplash)