Books I Have Read in September 2025

 

Here in my part of the world the weather has turned rather chilly. Still, I have a day at home today so plan on snuggling down with a book this afternoon.

I have read some lovely books this month and even read my first Christmas book this year. I am sure there will be more to come over the next couple of months.

Have you read anything good this month? 

The Vanishing Act by Jo Jakeman

What happens when a body is found and named as you? I enjoyed every page of this super book and was sorry when it ended. You can find my full review by clicking here.

The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken by The Secret Barrister

Written by an anonymous barrister, this account of what can go wrong in our court system was fascinatingly scary. It was easy to read and I enjoyed it.

The Irish Midwife by Seana Tinley

I enjoyed this novel, which is set in Belfast, very much. You can find my full review by clicking here.

A Keeper by Graham Norton

I just didn't have a free slot in which to review this book but it was probably my favourite book of the month. A well-written, dual timeline novel set in Ireland. Excellent.

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

I have read several of this author's titles and really enjoyed them. However, this one disappointed me.

A Taste of Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan

A lovely feel-good Christmas story which I really enjoyed. You can find my full review by clicking here.

The Sitter by Caroline McGhie

This was a wonderful literary book to read. Beautifully written. You can find my full review by clicking here.

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths

This book is a refreshing new take on this genre of books - crime and science fiction mixed together. You can find my full review by clicking here.

Tiger's Last Roar by Harriet Howe

This is a moving story about losing a pet. The death of a pet is a difficult enough experience when you are an adult, but for children, it can be a sad and confusing time. If you would like to read my full review please click here.

10 Ten Books I Want to Read in September 2025

 

Welcome September! The month when the leaves on the trees turn yellow, and temperatures dip. Although, who knows whether we may yet have a bit of late summer sun.

Whatever the weather, here are just ten books that I would like to read this month.

The Physician of Ninevah by Glenn Cooper

London, present day. Dr. Kate Mayne, a brilliant Assyriologist still recovering from heartbreak, devotes her life to uncovering the secrets of the ancient world. She never expects one of those secrets to walk into her life—claiming to be a royal physician from the long-lost city of Nineveh.

Assyria, 7th century BCE. Mannu-ki-Ashur, Chief Physician to King Ashurbanipal, faces an impossible choice. The woman he has loved since childhood is dying from a poison no medicine or forbidden magic can cure. In desperation, Mannu turns to an ancient ritual that sends him hurtling through time to modern-day London.

When Kate confirms Mannu’s identity through ancient texts only she can read, she is swept into a race against time, assassins from Nineveh, and the limits of belief. Together, Mannu and Kate must find a cure and confront a destiny that spans empires. Along the way, they discover a bond that might just be stronger than time itself.

Purchase Link 

 The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

Present day Paris: Maggie Parker receives a call. The new owners of her family’s old Notting Hill home are digging up the basement. They’ve no idea what might lie beneath.

London, twenty-one years earlier: teenaged Maggie, babysitting her little brother, waits in vain for her mother to come home after a night out. Seeking clues to her mother’s mysterious disappearance, she's drawn away from the neighbourhood’s grand terraces and into its hustling backstreets - and the arms of someone else living on their wits.

Over two decades later, the clock is ticking on a secret set to shatter Maggie’s grown-up life. But the draw of the past is irresistible...

Purchase Link

 The Vanishing Act by Jo Jakeman

Life as a missing person is absolute murder...

When artist Eloise Ford hears that human remains found in an abandoned mine are believed to be those of long-missing teenager Elizabeth King, the shock sends her reeling.

It can't be true. Eloise knows this for a fact because... she is Elizabeth King.

Now, her carefully curated life in Cornwall is falling apart. Her husband is acting strangely, her children aren't speaking to her and she can't sell a painting for love nor money. But much more worrying are the signs that someone knows exactly who she is... and why she had to vanish thirty years ago.

Eloise needs answers. Is her son's ex-girlfriend just plain annoying... or does she know something? Will the detection skills of the online 'Truth Seekers' group prove more than amateurish? What's the real story behind those village newcomers?

And just how far would she go to keep her family, her friends, and her fraudulent life, safe?

Purchase Link

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths

Ali Dawson and her cold case team investigate crimes so old, they're frozen - or so their inside joke goes. Most people don't know that they travel back in time to complete their research.

The latest assignment sees Ali venture back farther than they have dared before: to 1850s London in order to clear the name of Cain Templeton, the eccentric great-grandfather of MP Isaac Templeton. Rumour has it that Cain was part of a sinister group called The Collectors; to become a member, you had to kill a woman...

Fearing for her safety in the middle of a freezing Victorian winter, Ali finds herself stuck in time, unable to make her way back to her life, her beloved colleagues, and her son, Finn, who suddenly finds himself in legal trouble in the present day.

Could the two cases be connected?

Purchase Link

The Eights by Joanna Miller

They knew they were changing history.

They didn’t know they would change each other.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world’s most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms on Corridor Eight. They have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship.

Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Beatrice, politically-minded daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way – and her own friends – for the first time. Socialite Otto fills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they won’t be enough to distract her from her memories of the war years. And quiet, clever, Marianne, the daughter of a village vicar, arrives bearing a secret she must hide from everyone – even The Eights – if she is to succeed.

But Oxford’s dreaming spires cast a dark shadow: in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever.

The Eights is a captivating debut novel about sisterhood, self-determination, courage, and what it means to come of age in a world that is forever changed.

Purchase Link

A Keeper by Graham Norton

A masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland.

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother's death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother's presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light.

40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless wind that circles her as she hurries further into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on.

Purchase Link

 The Life She Could Have Lived by Laura Pearson

What if the answer to one little question could change your whole life?

Soon after Anna goes on the best date of her life with a man called James – she and her best friend Niamh visit a fortune teller. Who tells Niamh that she will have one great love. But all she tells Anna is that her future is with a man whose name begins with a J.

It won’t be Jamie though – he never calls. And then Anna meets Edward – gorgeous, kind, loving. He’s all she’s ever dreamed of. Until he asks her to make a choice about their future.

If Anna says ‘yes’ to him, her life will go one way. If she says ‘no’, it’ll go another. Both of the worlds could be happy. Both of the worlds could be heartbreaking… But as Niamh meets her one great love in both worlds, which of Anna’s answers – yes or no – will bring her life together with the person who she’s fated to be with?

Purchase Link

 The Traitor's Circle by Jonathan Friedland

Berlin, 1943. A group of high-society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo - revealing their secret to the Nazis' most ruthless detective.

They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering headmistress. Meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule, what unites them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance. Or so they believe.

How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap? And who betrayed them?

Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruellest men, they showed a heroism that raises a question with new urgency for our time: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?

Purchase Link

 A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George

Amid the beauty of Cornwall’s coastline, the death of a local man shatters the peace with its violence. The body of Michael Lobb is discovered in his family’s tin and pewter workshop, and Detective Inspector Beatrice Hannaford is brought in to investigate. Suspicion quickly develops when it emerges that a mining company had been trying to buy the man’s land, and Lobb was the only remaining obstacle to the deal going through.

But every step of Bea’s investigation provokes more questions than answers, and the complexity of the case develops further as Lobb’s family life, rife with mistrust and deception, comes to light. With cryptic alibis and shifting motives, the tangled web of intrigue soon draws in her colleagues Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, who must search for a killer in a community that has very little trust in outsiders . . .

Purchase Link

 The Great West Railway Girls Do Their Bit by Jane Lark

1940 - As the Nazi invaders race across Europe, the women of the Great Western Railway works pull together like never before.

Catherine wrestles with self-pity after a machine-shop accident. With her fiancé and brothers on the front lines in France, she must find a new way to fight on the home front.

At her side are her steadfast GWR friends, among them Maggie, facing the loss of her father and family home, and Lily, desperate for news of her childhood sweetheart. All are determined to keep morale high and do their bit to win the war.

Amid blackout nights and rationed days, as the war creeps closer to home, these resilient women forge deeper bonds of sisterhood, confronting heartache and embracing joy. Standing up and volunteering to do even more, when hundreds of thousands of exhausted and wounded troops are rescued from Dunkirk and arrive in Dover. Britain’s ships and small boats saved them, now the trains must move them to safety and the women need to help to keep them alive...

Purchase Link

Happy September Reading!

Annie x

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

10 Ten New Releases in September 2025

 There are few things I find more exciting than putting together a 'new release' post, as there are so many great books to look forward to.

Here are just ten that have caught my eye.

 The Boy with the Jade by Charles Bush

A young aristocrat's quest for identity amid love, loss, and betrayal in 18th-century China

In the opulent world of 18th-century China, where wealth and power reign supreme, The Boy with the Jade unveils the poignant tale of Baoyu, heir to the illustrious Jia family. Born with a jade pendant in his mouth—a symbol of his destiny—Baoyu's life is one of luxury laced with darkness.

Amidst his family's splendor, Baoyu navigates complex relationships. He shares a deep, intellectual connection with his cousin Daiyu and engages in intense liaisons with Amber, his main maid. Yet, these bonds are marred by mistreatment, deception, and overwhelming societal pressures.

Baoyu's life spirals after a severe beating from his father, Amber's death, and Daiyu's illness. His spirit breaks, plunging him into despair and leading to the loss of his jade pendant. Fate deals another blow when he's duped into marrying Baochai on the day Daiyu dies. Seeking enlightenment, Baoyu turns to Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, finding guidance from mystical mentors who help him reclaim his jade and hope.

With expectations to excel at the Imperial Examination and continue his lineage, Baoyu is trapped by tradition. Craving freedom, he makes a bold escape, embarking on a transformative journey.

Preorder Link

 The Vanishing Act by Jo Jakeman

Life as a missing person is absolute murder...

When artist Eloise Ford hears that human remains found in an abandoned mine are believed to be those of long-missing teenager Elizabeth King, the shock sends her reeling.

It can't be true. Eloise knows this for a fact because... she is Elizabeth King.

Now, her carefully curated life in Cornwall is falling apart. Her husband is acting strangely, her children aren't speaking to her and she can't sell a painting for love nor money. But much more worrying are the signs that someone knows exactly who she is... and why she had to vanish thirty years ago.

Eloise needs answers. Is her son's ex-girlfriend just plain annoying... or does she know something? Will the detection skills of the online 'Truth Seekers' group prove more than amateurish? What's the real story behind those village newcomers?

And just how far would she go to keep her family, her friends, and her fraudulent life, safe?

Preorder Link

 The Great Western Railway Girls Do Their Bit by Jane Lark

1940 - As the Nazi invaders race across Europe, the women of the Great Western Railway works pull together like never before.

Catherine wrestles with self-pity after a machine-shop accident. With her fiancé and brothers on the front lines in France, she must find a new way to fight on the home front.

At her side are her steadfast GWR friends, among them Maggie, facing the loss of her father and family home, and Lily, desperate for news of her childhood sweetheart. All are determined to keep morale high and do their bit to win the war.

Amid blackout nights and rationed days, as the war creeps closer to home, these resilient women forge deeper bonds of sisterhood, confronting heartache and embracing joy. Standing up and volunteering to do even more, when hundreds of thousands of exhausted and wounded troops are rescued from Dunkirk and arrive in Dover. Britain’s ships and small boats saved them, now the trains must move them to safety and the women need to help to keep them alive...

An inspiring story of friendship, courage and women’s strength on the home front.

Preorder Link

  The Teacher Evacuees by Rose Warner

Canadian-born teacher Victoria McKaye takes up a new position at a London school, but soon finds herself coordinating its evacuation to a Norfolk village along with standoffish spinster Beatrice and quiet young Nell. Victoria has to adapt to life in the countryside, petty politics and local busybodies.

When she meets attractive naval officer Louis Grainger, romance blossoms. Victoria is drawn into a clandestine world and told that she is helping the British government, but after she catches Louis covertly meeting a suspicious stranger in nearby woods, she fears the worst – a traitor in their midst.

It’s a race against time for Victoria to discover the truth and keep the village – and the country – safe from invasion.

Preorder Link

 The Memoirs of Andre Trocme by Andre Trocme

André Trocmé is famous for his role in saving thousands of Jews from the Nazis as pastor of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, a story celebrated in literature and film. But who was the man behind the legend, and the how did he become an international hero and uncompromising advocate of nonviolence resistance? Appearing in English for the first time, his private memoirs give a colorful and honest account of a person determined to stay true to his faith and convictions, who despite his quirks was ready to stand his ground when world history came knocking.

Written for his children in the 1950s and first published in French in 2020, these memoirs trace André Trocmé’s extraordinary life: a bourgeois childhood; teenage years as a World War I refugee; studies abroad in New York City, where he met his future wife, Magda, and tutored the Rockefeller children; military service in Algeria, which cemented his pacifist stance; postings as a pastor in depressed areas of France; resisting fascism and hiding Jews in Le Chambon; a brief imprisonment and a stint underground; and globetrotting leadership in the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. Trocmé also reveals the impact of personal tragedies: the untimely death of his mother in a car accident for which his father was responsible and, years later, his teenage son’s suicide.

This detailed first-person account from an eyewitness to pivotal moments in history will be of interest not just to scholars of the Holocaust, World War II, and domestic resistance to fascism, but also to those seeking to follow their conscience and the teachings of their faith in trying times.

Preorder Link

  The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand

Secrets, rumours, and dangerous liaisons - at an elite New England boarding school, they come with the territory.

It's move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It's a seventeen-spot jump - was there a typo? The dorms are dingy, the sports teams always come last and Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. But the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by a New York chef. And they do have lots of fun . . .

But as the rarefied air of Tiffin is suffused with self-congratulation, scandalous bulletins begin to appear on phones across campus, thanks to a new app called Zip Zap, and nobody is safe. From Davi Banerjee, queen bee and international influencer, to Simone Bergeron, the young new history teacher; to Charley Hicks, a transfer student who seems determined not to fit in, it seems everyone has something to hide.

As the year unfolds, bonds are forged and broken, secrets are shared and exposed, and the lives of Tiffin's students and staff are changed forever.

Preorder Link

  Clues to You by Claire Huston

One murder mystery weekend. Two rival sleuths.

They’re looking for answers. But will they find love?

Kate Brannon is delighted to be attending her first murder mystery weekend in a movie-worthy Victorian manor house. Still getting over being dumped, cracking the case would be a welcome boost to her flagging confidence. And the prize money wouldn’t hurt either.

But Kate’s dreams of victory become a nightmare with the arrival of Max Ravenscroft. Smart, enigmatic and annoyingly handsome, Max is Kate’s sleuthing nemesis.

When she and Max are forced to work together, Kate despairs. But, as the investigation brings them closer, she finds being his partner in solving crime isn’t all bad.

With growing suspicions that the game is rigged against them, can Kate and Max beat the odds to find the killer? And, as their partnership deepens, can they find romance too?

Paperback Preorder Link

  The Children of the Roses by Warren Adler

Meet Josh and Evie Rose, heirs to the notorious legacy of Barbara and Jonathan. In The Children of the Roses, Adler delivers a darkly comic, razor-sharp sequel about love, family, and the havoc we inherit.

Josh’s marriage to Victoria seems destined to avoid the mistakes of the past. But when a harmless prank involving missing Milky Ways at their son’s elite private school spirals into all-out war, everything changes. Josh and Victoria find themselves caught in a whirlwind of emotional chaos, fueled by a depraved headmaster, hidden affairs, and a meddling mother-in-law with a vendetta against men.

Meanwhile, Josh’s sister Evie, ever loyal and always ready with a comforting meal, tries to hold the family together. As tensions rise, even the children, Michael and Emily, plot their own desperate plan to keep their family from falling apart.

Witty, biting, and unforgettable, The Children of the Roses explores how the ghosts of the past haunt the present and how even the most perfect facades can shatter in an instant.

Preorder Link

  A Taste of Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan

The Sugar and Spice bakery sparkles with holiday spirit as Jacob serves up more mouthwatering festive treats, and Christmas spirit Lara tries to sprinkle her magic over those finding the time of year difficult.

Ollie is at his wits’ end. A debt from years ago comes back to haunt him just as he and his girlfriend are buying their dream home.

Rose is dejected as her college sweetheart has dumped her now they’re in their final year. She’s not looking forward to Christmas alone, nor her twenty-first birthday on Christmas Eve.

Sacha has recently moved to Winstanton following the failure of his business. He’s too embarrassed to confide in his family, but can he find the friendship he so desperately needs and begin to trust again?

Diana tries to find her new normal after the unexpected death of her husband earlier this year. All her plans for retirement have been thrown out the window and she feels lost. She needs a renewed sense of purpose and to find her place in the world.

Can Lara provide the answer to a joy-filled Christmas?

A story of hope, love, friendship, community, and of course, Christmas spirit.

Preorder Link

   The Irish Midwife by Seána Tinley

Peggy Cassidy is a milly, working in the Belfast linen mills to just about get by. But Peggy also has another job - a secret one. She works as a handywoman - an illegal midwife, tending to the women of her community in their time of need.

When Peggy is offered the chance to leave Belfast to receive formal midwifery training in Dublin, it sets off a chain of events that will change her life forever.

But amongst her middle-class colleagues, Peggy must keep the truth about her past secret at all times. If the realities of her life in Belfast are revealed, she could lose everything she has worked for.

And when she meets a well-to-do doctor down in Dublin, she must make a decision: should she protect her family and her history? Or can she let herself fall in love?

Preorder Link

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Maid of Steel by Kate Baker - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Bright sunshine made no difference to the March temperature, nor did it dry the puddles which covered the surface of Brooklyn Bridge in a rash of reflective measles. Enormous motorcars weaved their way between the more traditional hansom cabs, an army of dark metal monsters chugging their way to a takeover of city life.

Emma pulled her heavy woollen coat more closely round her body to keep out the chill wind whipping up the East River.

'Hey, you okay?' Martina stepped back to where Emma had paused at the handrail. They both leant over to watch the wakes left by barges wash to the river's edge.

***

It’s 1911 and, against her mother’s wishes, quiet New Yorker Emma dreams of winning the right to vote. She is sent away by her parents in the hope distance will curb her desire to be involved with the growing suffrage movement and told to spend time learning about where her grandparents came from.

Across the Atlantic – Queenstown, southern Ireland – hotelier Thomas dreams of being loved, even noticed, by his actress wife, Alice. On their wedding day, Alice’s father had assured him that adoration comes with time. It’s been eight years. But Alice has plans of her own and they certainly don’t include the fight for equality or her dull husband.

Emma’s arrival in Ireland leads her to discover family secrets and become involved in the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society in Cork. However, Emma’s path to suffrage was never meant to lead to a forbidden love affair…

***

If I had to choose just one thing that I really admired about this book, it would be how well the author has captured and portrayed the time period. She has clearly conducted extensive research and it has really paid off in this novel.

Of course, there are many other things that I enjoyed about this book too. Emma is an interesting protagonist and her bravery and single mindedness make for a wonderful character. The portrayal of the secondary characters is equally good, and the author has fleshed them out well and they were completely believable.

Set in Ireland and America we follow Emma on her journey across the Atlantic Ocean. However, it is her emotional journey that we follow every bit as much as her physical one and I enjoyed observing her character development.

Without giving anything away there is a twist at the end which made for a very satisfying reading experience.

As a debut novel this was excellent and I am looking forward to seeing what Ms. Baker does in the future.

ISBN: 978 1915352699

Publisher:  The Book Guild Ltd

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  312 (paperback)

About the Author:

Kate writes short stories and is presently drafting a second novel. Maid of Steel is her first full length novel to be published.

She writes at a desk covered in to-do lists and lights candles in the hope the lists disappear in the shadows.

She lives in East Anglia in the UK with her husband where they attempt to look after farmland for generations to come.

A small, very small, dog can be frequently found on Kate's lap. Otis is her first miniature dachshund.

(book provided courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(author photo and bio. info. courtesy of Amazon)

My Top 12 Books of 2022 - #ReadingRoundup

 

As the end of 2022 approaches I am looking back over the past year, and what a mixed year it has been.

Here in the UK we celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of our Queen, and then only three months later, we mourned her passing. We have seen the succession of a new monarch and have endured a record breaking heatwave in the summer.

On a personal note, I have welcomed a new grandson to the family, and I could not be more proud.

At the time of writing I have read 110 books this year. When I checked on my Good Reads page I had eighteen five star books, and thus it has been extremely difficult to whittle it down to just twelve.

Here are my favourite twelve in no particular order.

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville

It is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the ward of a Devon clergyman, knows she has few prospects. When proud, scarred soldier, John Macarthur, promises her the earth one midsummer’s night, she believes him.

But Elizabeth soon realises she has made a terrible mistake. Her new husband is reckless, tormented, driven by some dark rage at the world. He tells her he is to take up a position as Lieutenant in a New South Wales penal colony and she has no choice but to go. Sailing for six months to the far side of the globe with a child growing inside her, she arrives to find Sydney Town a brutal, dusty, hungry place of makeshift shelters, failing crops, scheming and rumours. 

All her life she has learned to be obliging, to fold herself up small. Now, in the vast landscapes of an unknown continent, Elizabeth has to discover a strength she never imagined, and passions she could never express.

If you would like to read my review of this book then please click here. 

Mr Peacock's Possessions by Lydia Syson

Oceania, 1817

For two years the Peacocks, a determined family of settlers, have struggled to make a remote volcanic island their home. At last, a ship appears. The six Pacific Islanders on board have travelled over eight hundred miles in search of new horizons. Hopes are high, until a vulnerable boy vanishes.

In their search for the lost child, settlers and newcomers together uncover far more than they were looking for. The island's secrets force young Lizzie Peacock to question her deepest convictions, and slowly this tiny, fragile community begins to fracture...

If you would like to read my review then please click here.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

To read my review you can reach it by clicking here.

The French House by Jacquie Bloese

In Nazi-occupied Guernsey, the wrong decision can destroy a life...

Left profoundly deaf after an accident, Émile is no stranger to isolation - or heartbreak. Now, as Nazi planes loom over Guernsey, he senses life is about to change forever.

Trapped in a tense, fearful marriage, Isabelle doesn't know what has become of Émile and the future she hoped for. But when she glimpses him from the window of the French House, their lives collide once more.

Leutnant Schreiber is more comfortable wielding a paintbrush than a pistol. But he has little choice in the role he is forced to play in the occupying forces - or in his own forbidden desires.

As their paths entwine, loyalties are blurred and dangerous secrets forged. But on an island under occupation, courage can have deadly consequences...

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

ONE MURDER. FIFTEEN SUSPECTS. CAN YOU UNCOVER THE TRUTH?

There is a mystery to solve in the sleepy town of Lower Lockwood. It starts with the arrival of two secretive newcomers, and ends with a tragic death. Roderick Tanner QC has assigned law students Charlotte and Femi to the case. Someone has already been sent to prison for murder, but he suspects that they are innocent. And that far darker secrets have yet to be revealed...

Throughout the amateur dramatics society's disastrous staging of All My Sons and the shady charity appeal for a little girl's medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. The evidence is all there, waiting to be found. But will Charlotte and Femi solve the case? Will you?

To read my review of this book please click here.

The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay by Julie Brooks

England, 1919: Rose and Ivy board a ship bound for Australia.

One is travelling there to marry a man she has never met.

One is destined never to arrive.

Australia, 2016: Amongst her late-grandmother's possessions, Molly uncovers a photograph of two girls dressed in First World War nurses' uniforms, labelled 'Rose and Ivy 1917', and a letter from her grandmother, asking her to find out what happened to her own mother, Rose, who disappeared in the 1960s.

Compelled to carry out her grandmother's last wish, Molly embarks on a journey to England to unravel the mystery of the two girls whose photograph promised they'd be 'together forever'...

If you would like to read my review please click here.

House Boy by Lorenzo DeStefano

House Boy is a contemporary thriller set in Southern India and in the polite suburb of Hendon, North London. 

At 321 Finchley Lane, ancient traditions take root and prosper in our so-called civilized society. The lives of a boy from rural India, Vijay Pallan, and an Indo-British woman and her son, Binda and Ravi Tagorstani, collide as if decreed by history. Through Vijay, we experience the shocking realities of modern slavery, the human spirit's boundless capacity for pain, and the ultimate blessing of one young man's redemption and survival.

My review of this book can be reached by clicking here.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

1944, Italy. As bombs fall around them, two strangers meet in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa and share an extraordinary evening.

Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner a 64-year-old art historian living life on her own terms. She has come to salvage paintings from the wreckage of war and relive memories of her youth when her heart was stolen by an Italian maid in a particular room with a view. Ulysses’ chance encounter with Evelyn will transform his life – and all those who love him back home in London – forever.

Uplifting, sweeping and full of unforgettable characters, Still Life is a novel about beauty, love, family and friendship.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Balram Halwai is the White Tiger - the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor for him to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi. The city is a revelation. As he drives his master to shopping malls and call centres, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be able to gain access to that world. As Balram broods over his situation, he realizes that there is only one way he can become part of this glamorous new India - by murdering his master.

You can read my review of this book by clicking here.

The Midnight House by Amanda Geard

My Dearest T, Whatever you hear, do not believe it for a moment…

1940: In south-west Ireland, the young and beautiful Lady Charlotte Rathmore is pronounced dead after she mysteriously disappears by the lake of Blackwater Hall. In London, on the brink of the Blitz, Nancy Rathmore is grieving Charlotte’s death when a letter arrives containing a secret that she is sworn to keep – one that will change her life for ever.

1958: Nancy's daughter Hattie finds herself growing up at the mysterious Blackwater Hall, where she overhears the secrets whispered above and below stairs. Secrets that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

2019: Decades later, Ellie Fitzgerald is forced to leave Dublin disgraced and heartbroken. Abandoning journalism, she returns to rural Kerry to weather out the storm. But, when she discovers a faded letter, tucked inside the pages of an old book, she finds herself drawn in by a long-buried secret. And as Ellie begins to unravel the mystery, it becomes clear that the letter might hold the key to more than just Charlotte’s disappearance.

My review of this book can be found by clicking here.

More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman

On a kibbutz in Israel in 2008, Gili is celebrating the ninetieth birthday of her grandmother Vera, the adored matriarch of a sprawling and tight-knit family. But festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Nina: the iron-willed daughter who rejected Vera's care; and the absent mother who abandoned Gili when she was still a baby.

Nina's return to the family after years of silence precipitates an epic journey from Israel to the desolate island of Goli Otok, formerly part of Yugoslavia. It was here, five decades earlier, that Vera was held and tortured as a political prisoner. And it is here that the three women will finally come to terms with the terrible moral dilemma that Vera faced, and that permanently altered the course of their lives.

More Than I Love My Life is a sweeping story about the power of love and loving with courage. A novel driven by faith in humanity even in our darkest moments, it asks us to confront our deepest held beliefs about a woman's duty to herself and to her children.

My review of this book can be accessed by clicking here.

Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl growing up on Long Island until one night a terrible road accident brings her life to a halt. While her best friend Helene suffers life-changing injuries, Shelby becomes overwhelmed with guilt and is suddenly unable to see the possibility of a future she’d once taken for granted.

But as time passes, and Helene becomes an almost otherworldly figure within the town, seen by its inhabitants as a source of healing, Shelby finds herself attended to by her own guardian angel. A mysterious figure she half-glimpsed the night of the car crash, he now sends Shelby brief but beautiful messages imploring her to take charge of her life once more . . .

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When you lose all hope and sense of worth? Shelby, a fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookshops, and men she should stay away from, captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding oneself at last. From the bestselling author of The Dovekeepers comes this spellbinding, poignant and life-affirming story of one woman’s journey towards happiness – and the power of love, family and fate.

To read my review please click here.

What have been your favourite reads of 2022?

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - #BookReview

 

In October there were yellow trees. Then the clocks went back the hour and the long November winds came in and blew, and stripped the trees bare. In the town of New Ross, chimneys threw out smoke which fell away and drifted off in hairy, drawn-out strings before dispersing along the quays, and soon the River Barrow, dark as stout, swell up with rain.

The people, for the most part, unhappily endured the weather: shop-keepers and tradesmen, men and women in the post office and the dole queue, the mart, the coffee shop and supermarket, the bingo hall, the pubs and the chipper all commented, in their own ways, on the cold and what rain had fallen, asking what was in it - and could there be something in it - for who could believe that there, again, was another raw-cold day...

***

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.

***

Bill Furlong is one of the most delightful main characters to grace the pages of a book. He imbues this slim volume with a sensitivity and tenderness which echoes throughout.

Set in a small town in Ireland we are introduced to the main character and see life very much through his eyes. He is a man who is content with his life. He has steady work, a wife and five daughters and he lives his life with humility and integrity.

On occasion, his work takes him to the infamous Magdalene laundries. With our fore-knowledge of these homes for unmarried mothers, it is possible that as readers we understand the significance of the events playing out there more than the main character does. However, through Ms. Keegan's perfect prose, we witness the scales fall from his eyes and his big-hearted generosity come into play.

I read this as it was my book group choice for October and, as always, there were varying opinions on it. Overall, people liked it. However, I adored it. It was 128 pages of pure loveliness, and it is one of those books that I could have happily gone straight back to the first page to read it all over again.

An outstanding novella which I highly recommend.

ISBN: 978 0571368686

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Formats: e-book, audio and hardback (paperback due for release in November 2022)

No. of Pages: 128 (hardback)

About the Author:

Claire Keegan grew up on a farm in Wicklow. Her first collection of short stories, Antarctica, was completed in 1998. It announced her as an exceptionally gifted and versatile writer of contemporary fiction, and she was awarded the Rooney Prize for Literature. Her second short-story collection, Walk the Blue Fields, was published to enormous critical acclaim in 2007 and won her the 2008 Edge Hill Prize for Short Stories. Foster, a short novel, was published in 2010 and won the Davy Byrnes Award, judged by Richard Ford. Claire Keegan lives in County Wexford, Ireland.

(photo and bio info courtesy of the publisher)

The Midnight House by Amanda Geard - #BookReview

 

It was the contents of her mum's bookshelf that finally drove Ellie out of hiding; Moira Fitzgerald's taste in literature was chalk and cheese to her daughter's. Heaving bosoms versus timeless classics. And two weeks of plot lines where the guy gets the girl and everything turns out hunky-dory was just too much.

In a desperate bid to fill her days, Ellie had devoured a dozen old editions of 'The Kerryman' scattered here and there about the house, read the crumpled ageing news of local sporting victories and items lost and found. When she'd asked Moira to pick up the 'Guardian' from the village shop, her mum had loyally obliged, bringing the paper back each day between two fingers as thought it might be contagious...

***

My Dearest T, Whatever you hear, do not believe it for a moment…

1940: In south-west Ireland, the young and beautiful Lady Charlotte Rathmore is pronounced dead after she mysteriously disappears by the lake of Blackwater Hall. In London, on the brink of the Blitz, Nancy Rathmore is grieving Charlotte’s death when a letter arrives containing a secret that she is sworn to keep – one that will change her life for ever.

1958: Nancy's daughter Hattie finds herself growing up at the mysterious Blackwater Hall, where she overhears the secrets whispered above and below stairs. Secrets that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

2019: Decades later, Ellie Fitzgerald is forced to leave Dublin disgraced and heartbroken. Abandoning journalism, she returns to rural Kerry to weather out the storm. But, when she discovers a faded letter, tucked inside the pages of an old book, she finds herself drawn in by a long-buried secret. And as Ellie begins to unravel the mystery, it becomes clear that the letter might hold the key to more than just Charlotte’s disappearance.

***

This novel made for a gripping and engaging read and I found myself being forced to put it down. Not literally, but that thing called life kept getting in the way of my returning to this book.

It is hard to believe that this highly accomplished novel is a debut. It has a triple timeline, which in the hands of a lesser author could have been convoluted.  However, it flows seamlessly through from one time to the next, and the reader is able to connect the dots as the story progresses.

However, it is never predictable, and this is what made it so engaging for me. There are a number of unexpected twists and turns with a number of well crafted characters to carry us along on their journey. I appreciated the family tree at the beginning of the book as it was a useful tool to remembering the connection between the characters.

Perhaps not surprisingly if we consider the title, the house itself forms one of the characters as much as the setting and most of the action focuses around it. The author has depicted rural Ireland beautifully, and it was easy to immerse myself in the scenery surrounding the characters.

Whilst the principal theme of this book is secrets and the impact that they can have on subsequent generations, it is equally about friendship, loyalty and love.

When I turned the final page I could have happily gone back to the first page and started all over again. I will definitely want to read this again at some point, and I envy you all that you will be able to enjoy this book for the first time.

Publishing today, I unreservedly recommend getting your hands on a copy.

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ISBN:978 1472283702

Publisher: Headline Review

Formats: Hardback, e-book and audio.

No. of Pages: 432 (hardback)

About the Author:

Born in Australia, Amanda Geard has lived all over the world, from a houseboat in London to a Norwegian Island, before settling in County Kerry in Ireland. Her writing has appeared in The Irish Times, The Journal, writing.ie, Nordic Reach and Vertical Magazine. Her short story Not Yet Recycled won the New Irish Writing Award in October 2019.

(author photo, ARC and bio. information courtesy of Headline Review)

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*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.