Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Fierce fury burned inside Tilly, stealing her breath. She couldn't believe what she was hearing...

***

The Blurb

A gripping saga of courage, resilience and fractured dreams, set in Victorian London.

Life on the river has never been easy for Tilly and Sam, but through hard work and determination, they’ve built a home filled with love. Joey, Tilly’s eldest son, has lived between two worlds—cherished as her child but granted privileges, denied to her other children, through his wealthy birth father’s family. It’s a fine balance that has always held… until an incident at a glittering Celebration Ball shatters the fragile harmony.

Tilly fears the consequences, especially when her spirited, headstrong daughter Martha is involved. Martha has ideas of her own. How will she fare when she faces Joey’s entitled friends and their easy lives?

Disaster strikes Sam’s business, shaking the family’s foundation. Tilly’s worst fears come to life when Joey’s affluent relatives start making plans to reclaim him. Tilly is torn between fighting for her son and respecting his dreams.

As old wounds reopen and new temptations arise, Tilly must summon all her strength to keep her family together. But will love and loyalty be enough, or will the promise of wealth and comfort lure her children away forever?

My Review

Before I even begin my review, there is a giveaway of this book which you can enter by scrolling to the bottom of this post.

Troubled Times for Tilly is set in Victorian London, and the author does a great job of conveying the atmosphere of the time and place alive on the page. I had a tangible feel for life working on the river for these characters.

The main character, Tilly is married to Sam. They have several children together, but the focus is on their daughter Martha. She is a strong minded and determined young woman whom Tilly is trying to gently guide. Sam is not Joey's biological father who is wealthy, and Tilly fears his family might cause trouble for them.

What I most loved about Tilly is how she resonated with me. Readers who are parents will recognise her feelings as her children are growing up and developing lives of their own.  She is a character as recognisable in the twenty first century as she was in the nineteenth when this book is set, and she is a relevant character to modern readers.

In fact, all of the characters came alive on the page, and Ms. Seeley has done an excellent job with them. She tells her story well and it made for easy and enjoyable reading.

The book is being published tomorrow. This is the second book in the The Water Gypsy series. The first book is The Water Gypsy which introduces Tilly. However, I had not read this and found that Troubled Times for Tilly works perfectly well as a standalone.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a copy of this book. Good Luck!

Preorder Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author:

Kay Seeley is a talented storyteller and bestselling author. Her short stories have been published in women’s magazines and short-listed in competitions. Her novels had been finalists in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. She lives in London and loves its history. Her stories are well researched and beautifully written with compelling characters where love triumphs over adversity.  Kay writes stories that will capture your heart and leave you wanting more. Often heart-wrenching but always satisfyingly uplifting, her books are perfect for fans of Anna Jacobs, Lesley Pearse and Josephine Cox. 

Kay is a Member of The Alliance of Indie Authors and The Society of Women Writers and Journalists. 

All her novels are available for Kindle, in paperback, audio and in Large Print.

You can also find Kay at:

Author Website

Twitter / X

Instagram

Giveaway*

Giveaway to Win 3 x paperback copies of Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley (Open to UK only)

To enter please click on the Giveaway button below. Good Luck!

GIVEAWAY

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources 

reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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

(all opinions are my own)

Nocturne With Gaslamps by Matthew Francis - #blogtour #spotlight

 

Hello. I am back from my summer break today and am delighted to be starting my return with a spotlight of Nocturne With Gaslamps by author Matthew Francis.  It is a historical crime fiction novel set in Victorian London’s gaslit theatre scene, where ghosts lurk in the shadows and murder takes centre stage. It is due for release on 5th September.

The Blurb

Gaslight. Ghosts. Murder.

Hastings Wimbury has always dreamt of playing Hamlet, but for now he works as a theatre gas-boy. Here, he tends to a gas chandelier so powerful it creates its own weather, and limelight machines that can throw a shadow onto a wall ten miles away.

When Hastings suddenly disappears, his fiancée Flora sets out to find him with the help of Cassie, her rival in love who is more preoccupied with the ghosts terrorising the streets of London. Soon total darkness is imposed upon the city, and they realise that something far more sinister is at hand…

Ladies aren’t supposed to solve mysteries, but this is a matter of life and death.

ISBN: 978 1915584236

Publisher:  Neem Tree Press

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  224

About the Author:

Matthew Francis is Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. He writes novels, short stories, and poetry collections. He has won the TLS / Blackwell's Prize for Poetry and the Southern Arts Literature Prize, and been shortlisted twice for the Forward Prize, twice for the Welsh Book of the Year Award and once for the Ted Hughes Award. In 2004, he was chosen as one of the Next Generation Poets. He is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy. Matthew lives with this wife in Aberystwyth, Wales where he enjoys playing chess, cooking and playing the ukulele.

(all media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

10 Ten Exciting New Releases in August 2024

 

New Releases in August 2024

I know that the English are famous for complaining about the weather! At the moment almost anyone you speak to will mention the unseasonal weather we are having. We are having so much rain at the moment. We just want some summery weather now that we are in mid July.

What a good thing that there are some pretty, sparkly new release books to distract us. Here are just ten that look fabulous.

The True Crime Lover's Guide to London by Charlotte Booth & Brian Billington

London has a long and fascinating history which has not always been pleasant; it has been peppered with murderers, shoplifters, smugglers, prostitutes, grave robbers and highwaymen. Learn about the darker side of the history of this great city through the buildings and sites on London streets which remain standing to tell the story. Do you want to know where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell? Do you want to pay your respects to the victims of Jack the Ripper? Do you want to know what went on behind the doors of the most discreet hotel in London? You will find these locations to visit, and many more within these pages. This guide will take you on a journey visiting 299 sites covering the history of more than 60 crimes (or crime sprees) which took place over nearly 1,000 years of London’s criminal past. Visit where heists were planned, murders were carried out, bodies were dumped and criminals were punished. You can follow the pre-set tours which includes a murder site tour, pub crawl and a cemetery tour or you can create a bespoke tour depending on where you happen to be in this great city. But rest assured, you will start to wonder what went on behind every closed door you see.    

The House of the Witch by Clare Marchant

Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.

But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone, drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…

1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…

Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?

When You Were Mine by Emma-Claire Wilson

One mistake could change their lives forever…

My life is a mess. My marriage is falling apart, and I’d hoped the arrival of our baby girl would bring us closer together. Yet, as she grows, I see less of a resemblance to my husband, stirring unsettling questions.

I was hoping a visit from my friend, Victoria would bring some stability. With her seemingly perfect life in Spain, she embodies hope for a brighter future.

But our reunion has taken an unexpected turn. And when a shock diagnosis shakes our family further, Victoria doesn’t know it yet, but she might just hold the key to saving our family.

But if I want her to help, a big secret has to come out. Revealing the truth risks everything – my marriage, our friendship, our families. Can we weather this storm, or will it shatter us beyond repair?

Last Seen Online by Lauren James

When Delilah meets Sawyer Saffitz (son of Anya Saffitz, aka Hollywood royalty), she becomes hooked on a decade-old scandal. In her quest for the truth, Delilah uncovers blogposts written by the mysterious “gottiewrites” and is soon caught up in a world of greed, fandom conspiracy theories … and murder. And the deeper Delilah digs, the more dangerous it becomes – because someone is willing to kill to hide the truth.

Hope for the Blitz Girls by Johanna Bell

London, October 1940. As German bombers increase their nightly raids on the capital, the Blitz Girls must be braver than ever to protect innocent lives and keep the fight against Hitler alive.

Dot, encouraged by her friends, is finding her independence and takes a full-time role as an ARP warden. As she finds new courage in the blackouts, her past might still be lurking in the shadows...

Peggy makes it her mission to help children caught up in the bombing find safety at her parents' large house in the country. When she returns home, however, she realises her own family need her more than ever. But can she leave her friends in the line of fire?

Vivian spends every moment not behind the wheel of her ambulance at the bedside of the man she loves, helping him recover from a terrible crash while defending the British skies. When she is torn between his hospital ward and the site of the latest blast, she faces a heartbreaking choice.

As each night becomes more dangerous for the Blitz Girls, will they have the strength to help each other through and keep the light alive in the darkness?

One Hundred Moments of Us by Jon Rance

They say life is made up of moments.

So is a relationship.

From the moment he sets his eyes on Ashley Oliver at sixth form on the cusp of the new millennium, Charlie falls in love. It isn’t all sunshine and roses though and it takes several years and more than one chance meeting before they begin their relationship.

Will they survive everything the world has to throw at them or will the pressure of life, love, and London be too much for them?

Told through moments big and small, trivial and significant, this is the moving and uplifting story of a relationship - the ups, the downs, and everything in between.

The Map Maker's Promise by Catherine Law

One night, everything changed…

Air raid sirens wail across London and nineteen-year-old Clare takes her chances in the streets rather than heading to the office basement – and risk being in the same vicinity as him, the man who hurt her in the worst way possible…

… and makes a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Over a year later, and Clare is heartbroken to be saying goodbye to her newborn daughter Mirren. Leaving her in the care of her sister, in a remote – and therefore safe – house in The Highlands, she heads back south to become a map maker for Bomber Command.

The work is tough, and Clare struggles with having a direct hand in killing ordinary people. Combined with the guilt for leaving her baby behind, her dark thoughts could destroy her… or make her stronger than ever.

A heart-breaking tale of love, loss, and redemption, this is a moving and poignant story of motherhood and the complexities of healing in the aftermath of war.

Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse

Tawrie Gunn feels stuck. She’s spent her whole life in the same seaside town with her beloved Nana and grief-stricken mum, all of them still reeling in different ways from the tragic loss of Tawrie’s dad at sea. Desperate for a change, she challenges herself to take up wild swimming―every morning, no excuses, from March till September.

Daring to take the plunge with the ‘Peacock Swimmers’, Tawrie feels alive in a way she’s never known. Suddenly it seems she might be able to step outside her comfort zone after all and let life surprise her―perhaps even dream of a future beyond the shores of Ilfracombe? Especially when, one day, she spots a man in a pink linen shirt who seems as eager for a new start as she does.

But it turns out taking risks on land is a little different from wading into the sea. Can Tawrie face her fears head-on and find her way to happiness? She knows it’s never too late to pursue your hopes and dreams, but it might be easier said than done…

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan

Everyone knows her life story.

But who will win her heart?

Gertie has always had her head in the clouds, wondering what her life might be like if she could only pluck up the courage to leave the remote Scottish island where she was born.

It's the only place she knows, but you can't do anything there without everyone knowing - the glue of this close-knit community is the Knitting Circle, a group of strong, capable and frankly nosy women who work hard, gossip, knit and support each other through thick and thin. At the centre of this sisterhood is Gertie's mum Jean and her grandmother Elspeth, and the three generations of women live together, surrounded by wool, in one small cottage.

The Fecking Fabulous Forties Club by Freya Kennedy

The funny and uplifting novel from bestseller Freya Kennedy. Find out what happens when Derry Girls become Derry Women...

Becca Burnside isn’t sure where it all went wrong...

How did she end up single in her forties, with the highlight of her weekend being a trip to Big Asda with her mum and the only chance of cuddles coming from her dog?

It’s fair to say that Becca’s life isn’t quite where she’d hoped it would be. She already knew that, deep down, but when she finds the time capsule she and her friends made as teenagers and remembers the hopes and dreams sixteen-year-old Becki (with an i) had for the future, she knows she has to do something, and fast.

Refusing to be controlled by her hot flushes and Unexplained Waves of Sadness, Becca is determined to turn things around – for Becki’s sake. But what will it take to prove there’s life in the old girl yet?

(header photo courtesy of Oliver Hale/Unsplash)

The Library Girls of the East End by Patricia McBride - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Lady Carmichael looked at her daughter in dismay. 'You're not serious! The East End of London? Why on earth would you want to work there? All sorts of unsavoury people live there. Poor people, immigrants, criminals, Jews.' She frowned. 'And where is this Silvertown? I've never heard of it. Is it the principal London centre for making jewellrey?'

'No Mother. It's part of the East End, between Canning Town and the Thames.'

Her mother's eyes widened. 'Really, Cordelia, that sounds just dreadful...'

***

1940, London

When Cordelia accepts the post of head librarian in Silver Town Library, her mother is more than a little disapproving. The East End has high levels of poverty and illiteracy, and her mother says it’s no place for a woman of her status.

But Cordelia is determined to make a difference in these times of strife, and along with her colleagues, Jane and Mavis, she begins to help the local community, making sure everyone knows what the library can offer them.

And maybe even a romance will blossom, giving Cordelia the strength to make it through the chaos and destruction that constantly threatens their livelihood.

Against a background of war, air raids and rationing, it becomes clear the library is more than a building filled with books - it is the beating heart of a community refusing to be torn apart.

***

The older I get the more I like this kind of feel-good fiction. Or maybe, it is just that there is just so much misery in the world at the moment, that I love to escape into a world that lifts my spirits. Whatever the reason, I was delighted to be part of the blog tour for this book. 

The main characters in this book, Cordelia, Mavis and Jane are a wonderful mix of personalities.  I loved the straight talking East Ender, Mavis. I was born and grew up not too far from where the book is set and I certainly recognised Mavis, as well as many of the secondary characters.

Through both the narrative and dialogue, the author has imbued an authenticity to the setting of this book. I have vivid memories of my parents describing the East End during the Second World War, and it was very easy for me to slip this story into those descriptions.

There are lots of themes running throughout this book; rape and domestic abuse are mentioned (although not witnessed on the page) and the author deals with them with sensitivity and compassion. However, alongside this there are happier themes of friendship and a good dose of romance thrown in.

All in all, it was a delightful book which I highly recommend. This is the first in a brand new series from Patricia McBride, and I can hardly wait to see what comes next.

ISBN: 978 1785139918

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

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

No. of Pages:  248 (paperback)

About the Author:

Patricia McBride is the author of the very popular Lily Baker historical saga series. She is now writing a new WW2 series for Boldwood, based in the East End of London during the Blitz, the first title of which, The Library Girls of the East End, will be published in November 2023.

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

(all opinions are my own)

10 Year Blogversary - My Favourite Book from 2020 - The Five by Hallie Rubenhold - #BookReview

 

"There are two versions of the events of 1888. One is very well known; the other is not. The first one is the one printed in most history books......... Then there is the other version..... which most choose to forget."

***

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become more famous than any of these women.

In this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally gives these women back their stories.

***

Continuing with my ten year blog anniversary celebrations, here is another of my favourites of the decade. Today I am publishing my favourite read from 2020 and it was originally posted on 27th May of that year.  This nonfiction title made a huge impact on me has stayed with me ever since.

I originally read this during the pandemic and my review reflects that. I have updated the review a little so there is more information about the book and the author but essentially the review is as it appeared that day.

I have a library copy of this book which I had borrowed before all the libraries were closed. However, half way through this book I knew I would want a copy of my own so bought one online. It is a fantastic book and one that I know I shall return to.

I suppose it resonates with me as my own ancestors were in the same area at the time of the murders. Flower and Dean Street is well known for it's Victorian doss houses and the 1881 census places my own great-great grandparents as being resident in Flower and Dean Street at the time the census was taken. It is a strange thought that they were rubbing shoulders with the Ripper victims and possibly even the Ripper himself.

The author has clearly done extensive research in preparation for writing this book and it contains a bibliography that runs to twenty-one pages. She has taken all of these resources and written an accessible and engaging book.

At no point does she deal with the brutality with which these women lost their lives. Instead, she focuses on the women who were murdered; their childhoods, adolescence and  adult lives which were cut tragically short. She challenges the belief that they were 'merely prostitutes,' as was contemporaneously believed and reported and presents us five women who were trying to live and survive during difficult times and in straightened circumstances.

Ms. Rubenhold has humanised and given these women a voice. Certainly, they were women who were down on their luck, homeless and alcoholic but with the exception of two of them there is no evidence to suggest that they were sex workers.

I wholeheartedly applaud the author for this book. She presents us with five women who were not merely victims of the Ripper but were victims of the time in which they lived. They were victims of their gender, time and world into which they were born - a time in which women did not have a voice. Well done Ms. Rubenhold for giving us the means by which we can see these women for who they really were and not merely as the Ripper's victims. I highly recommend this book.

ISBN: 978 1784162344

Publisher: Black Swan

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  432 (paperback)

About the Author:

Hallie Rubenhold is a bestselling author, social historian, broadcaster and historical consultant for TV and film.

She published The Five; The Untold Lives of The Women Killed by Jack the Ripper in 2019 and was the winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction. It is the first full length biography of the Ripper’s victims. 

In 2005, Hallie published The Covent Garden Ladies, and was the subject of three television programmes, including the hit drama series, Harlots (ITV Encore, Amazon and Hulu). In 2006, BBC4 broadcast The Harlots Handbook, a documentary based on Hallie’s book which she presented.

Her equally celebrated second book, Lady Worsley’s Whim (entitled The Lady in Red in the US) about the 18th century’s most infamous adultery trial became BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in November 2008. In August 2015, it appeared as a 90 minute drama for BBC2 entitled The Scandalous Lady W, starring Natalie Dormer and Shaun Evans.

Hallie is also the author of a series of novels set during the period of the French Revolution. The first of these, Mistress of My Fate was published in 2011 (2013 in the US). The second, The French Lesson was published in the UK in April, 2016.

In addition to writing books, articles and reviews, Hallie regularly appears on TV as an expert contributor to documentaries. 

Hallie has a passion for telling a great historical tale and has a nose for unearthing previously unknown stories from little-known sources. She loves challenging our preconceived notions about our ancestors lives and revels in history’s surprising, unpleasant and gritty truths. Her extensive academic experience extends to research, teaching, lecturing and curatorial work. In the past she has been employed as a curator for the National Portrait Gallery, a university lecturer and a commercial art dealer. In 2014 she curated an exhibition on women’s reputations in the Georgian era for No.1 Royal Crescent in Bath and has been involved with several projects at the Foundling Museum in London.

Hallie received her B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an M.A. in British History and History of Art from the University of Leeds. Remaining at Leeds, she embarked on her studies for a PhD and later completed her thesis on the subject of marriage and child-rearing in the eighteenth century.

She lives with her husband in London.

(author media courtesy of her website https://www.hallierubenhold.com/ / Sarah Blackie)

(all opinions are my own)

A Stepney Girl's Secret by Jean Fullerton - #bookreview @JeanFullerton_ #blogtour

 

Rolling her shoulders to ease the stiffness caused by a four-hour journey down the Great North Road, Prudence Carmichael glanced at her watch.

'Not long now, Prudence,' her father, Revd Hugh Carmichael, called over his shoulder as their elderly Austin Seven approached a crossroads.

'Mind that parked car, Hugh,' said Prue's mother Marjorie from the seat beside him.

It was just after four o'clock in the afternoon. Twenty-three-year-old Prudence... was squashed into the back of her father's car since the last of their furniture had been carried out of St Stephen's vicarage in the leafy village of Biddenden.

***

East London, 1940. Prue Carmichael never dreamed that she'd end up working at a railway yard. But when her reverend father is called up to Stepney, she and her family are uprooted from their country home for a new life in the turbulent city.

Determined to help with the war effort, Prue signs up for work and soon becomes intrigued by handsome train engineer Jack Quinn. But as the spark between them grows apparent, so does his troubled past - a past that Prue's mother would certainly not approve of.

In between cleaning train carriages and helping to shelter Jewish refugees, Prue manages to stay busy. But she has more than one admirer, and when Jack is recruited into Churchill's secret army, a very different suitor begins to pursue her.

As air raid sirens sound overhead, Prue Carmichael is facing her own battle - the fight between her heart and her head . . .

Amidst the ruins of war, will Prue and Jack's love find a way?

***

As a Stepney girl myself, how could I possibly resist this book. It has been a number of years since I lived there, but it was where I spent my formative years and I still have a fondness for it.

Prue was a wonderful character and easy to engage with. She is determined, headstrong and hardworking. Having moved to the vicarage in Stepney from her father's rural parish in a Bedfordshire village, Prue quickly demonstrates that she is not afraid to roll her sleeves up and get stuck into working with the people of the parish. In addition, she 'does her bit' for the war effort and gains employment in the local railway works, enabling the trains to continue running.

It is in the train yard that she gets to know Jack and it is not long before an attraction turns into something more significant.

The author is a very skilled storyteller and I almost felt as though I was there with them. Her knowledge of the area is apparent, and she has clearly researched her period well, enabling her to do an excellent job of recreating 1940's East London.

This the first book that I have read by this author and I am certain that it won't be my last.

ISBN: 978 1838957599

Publisher:  Corvus

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages: 544 (paperback)

About the Author:

Born and bred in East London Jean was a District Nurse by trade and ended her thirty-year career in health care as a senior lecture in Health and Nursing Studies in London Southbank University.

She had published twenty sagas all set in East London with both Orion and Atlantic the most recent of which is the highly successful Ration Book series. She has also recently released her autobiography A Child of the East End.

If you would like to find out more about Jean and her books you will find her website at:  http://jeanfullerton.com/

(ARC, photos & author bio info courtesy of the blog tour operator)

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.

Support Local Bookshops - buy from Bookshop.org

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)

Support Local Bookshops - Buy from Bookshop.org

*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.

Tell Me How it Ends by V. B. Grey - #BookReview #SocialBlast

"England, early 1950's - I have lost everything a person can lose. And, should I ever attempt to forget, my failing body will remind me. I've lived in the cramped attic flat of this big house in Birmingham, where I work as a housemaid, since the Red Cross parcelled me up and sent me here seven years ago......"

Delia Maxwell is an international singing sensation, an icon of the 1950's glamour who is still riding high on the new 60's scene. Lily Brooks has watched Delia all her life, studying her music and her on-stage mannerisms. Now she has a dream job as Delia's assistant - but is there more to her attachment than the admiration of a fan? Private investigator Frank is beginning to wonder.

As Lily steps into Delia's spotlight, and Delia encourages her ambitious protogee, Frank's own suspicions of Lily's ulterior motives increase. But are his own feelings for Delia clouding his judgement?

The truth is something far darker; the shocking result of years of pain and rage, rooted in Europe's darkest hour. If Delia thought she had put her past behind her, she had better start watching her back.

***

It came as no surprise to me to learn that the author is also a screen writer as the book has a real cinematic quality and I would be very surprised if the film rights to this book are snapped up.

The characters are very easy to engage with and are well fleshed out. The dynamic between Delia and Lily is excellently portrayed.  Also, it is multi-narrated by Delia, Frank and Lily, and consequently, we see the story unfold from these three different perspectives which adds an element of complexity to both the characters and the story,

It has been well written and it has an element of gentility along with a much darker backstory. The narrative is gently paced and it is this that creates a mellow story rhythm that plays out slowly within the readers imagination. There is a depth to Ms. Grey's writing which continues throughout the whole story.

The writing is rich in historical detail and it was easy to envisage post war London in which the novel is set.

This is my first novel by V. B. Grey / Isabelle Grey and I anticipate reading more of her work. Anyone who enjoys 20th century historical fiction will love this book and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 15249405392

Publisher: Quercus

About the Author:

V. B. Grey is the pseudonym of the acclaimed television screenwriter and crime novelist Isabelle Grey. A former arts journalist and feature writer, she has written for film radio and television, contributing episodes to Jimmy McGovern's award winning BBC series Accused. She is the author of two novels of psychological suspense and four books in a contemporary crime series under her own name.

On her pseudonym and change in creative direction, Isabelle says "I wanted to escape the bodies piling up around me in my television crime dramas and novels, and explore new ways to bring my love of film and television into my fiction. I've always been in awe of 1940's and 1950's noir thrillers and 'women's pictures', so turned to them, and to the stars who played in them, to inspire my new novel. It's been both exhilarating and rewarding to spend time in such a complex and glamorous world.'

Isabelle grew up in Manchester and now lives in north London. 

The Five (The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper) by Hallie Rubenhold - #BookReview

"There are two versions of the events of 1888. One is very well known; the other is not. The first one is the one printed in most history books......... Then there is the other version..... which most choose to forget."

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become more famous than any of these women.

In this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally gives these women back their stories.

***

I have a library copy of this book which I had borrowed before all the libraries were closed. However, half way through this book I knew I would want a copy of my own so bought one online. It is a fantastic book and one that I know I shall return to.

I suppose it resonates with me as my own ancestors were in the same area at the time of the murders. Flower and Dean Street is well known for it's Victorian doss houses and the 1881 census places my own great-great grandparents as being resident in Flower and Dean Street at the time the census was taken. It is a strange thought that they were rubbing shoulders with the Ripper victims and possibly even the Ripper himself.

The author has clearly done extensive research in preparation for writing this book and it contains a bibliography that runs to twenty-one pages. She has taken all of these resources and written an accessible and engaging book.

At no point does she deal with the brutality with which these women lost their lives. Instead, she focuses on the women who were murdered; their childhoods, adolescence and  adult lives which were cut tragically short. She challenges the belief that they were 'merely prostitutes,' as was contemporaneously believed and reported and presents us five women who were trying to live and survive during difficult times and in straightened circumstances.

Ms. Rubenhold has humanised and given these women a voice. Certainly, they were women who were down on their luck, homeless and alcoholic but with the exception of two of them there is no evidence to suggest that they were sex workers.

I wholeheartedly applaud the author for this book. She presents us with five women who were not merely victims of the Ripper but were victims of the time in which they lived. They were victims of their gender, time and world into which they were born - a time in which women did not have a voice. Well done Ms. Rubenhold for giving us the means by which we can see these women for who they really were and not merely as the Ripper's victims. I highly recommend this book.

ISBN: 978 1784162344

Publisher: Black Swan

About the Author:

Hallie Rubenhold is a best-selling author, social historian, broadcaster and historical consultant for film and television. She is the author of two novels, Mistress of My Fate and The French Lesson. 

She has also written non-fiction titles The Lady in Red, The Covent Garden Ladies, The Scandalous Lady W and Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies.

She lives in London with her husband.

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (A Strike Novel) - #BookReview

         

"Such is the universal desire for fame that those who achieve it accidentally or unwillingly will wait in vain for pity."

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts in a panic. 

Trying to get to the bottom of Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott - one his assistant, now his partner in the agency - set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward; his relationship with Robin is more fraught than it ever has been - she is now invaluable to his business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that...

Although my edition of this book is just over 770 pages, I was so engrossed by the story and characters that I would have happily have continued reading this book if it was twice the length.

Without doubt, Robert Galbraith, the pseudonym of J.K. Rowling, is an exceptional story teller. She creates worlds and characters that are both likeable and unforgettable as evidenced by a whole generation of children and young people who have grown up alongside Harry Potter.

This is equally evident in this, the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series. I have read the previous three novels, The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil.  I am completely entranced by the chemistry in the relationship between Cormoran Strike and his colleague Robin Ellacott. With each one of the books in the series I have felt that the books have grown in strength even though each of them have been fantastic novels in their own right. I think this is largely attributable to the characters who we get to know a little better with each book.

The plot has some wonderful twists and turns, making this book enormously absorbing, entertaining and unputdownable. I am excitedly anticipating the next book in the series, Troubled Blood, which is due to be published in the UK on the 9th September 2020 and on the 29th September 2020 in the US so I am just going to have to be patient until then.

If you have not read any of the books in this series then I strongly encourage you to do so as you have a real treat in store. 

Happy reading.

ISBN: 978 0751572872

Publisher: Little Brown

How to be a Heroine (Or, What I've Learned From Reading Too Much) by Samantha Ellis - Book Review

"A couple of summers ago, I was on the Yorkshire moors, arguing (over the wuthering) with my best friend about whether we'd rather be Jane Eyre or Cathy Earnshaw. I thought Cathy, Obviously Cathy."

On a pilgrimage to Wuthering heights, Samantha Ellis found herself arguing with her best friend about which heroine was best: Jane Eyre or Cathy Earnshaw. She was all for wild, free, passionate Cathy, but her friend found Cathy silly, a snob who betrays Heathcliff for Edgar and makes them all unhappy - while courageous Jane makes her own way.

And that's when Samantha realsied that all her life she'd been trying to be Cathy when she should have been trying to be Jane.

So she decided to look again at her heroines - the girls, women, books that had shaped her ideas of the world and how to live. Some of them stood up to the scrutiny (she will always love Lizzy Bennett); some of them decidedly did not (turns our Katy Carr from What Katy Did isn't a carefree rebel, she's a drip). There were revelations (the real heroine of Gone With the Wind? It's Melanie), joyous reunions (Anne of Green Gables), poignant memories (Sylvia Plath) and tearful goodbyes (Lucy Honeychurch). And then there was Jilly Cooper......

How To Be A Heroine is a funny, touching, inspiring exploration of the role of heroines, and our favourite books, in all our lives - and how they change over time, for better or worse, just as we do.

This was such a fun book to read that I could not put it down. The author takes us on a romp through the heroines of books that she has read throughout her life, how she has internalised some of those behaviours and the effect that they have had on her life.

Her chapter headings are:

1.   The Little Mermaid
2.   Anne of Green Gables
3.   Lizzy Bennett
4.   Scarlett O'Hara
5.   Franny Glass
6.   Esther Greenwood
7.   Lucy Honeychurch
8.   The Dolls (from the Valley)
9.   Cathy Earnshaw
10. Flora Poste
11. Scheherazade

However, these are not essays solely on each of these characters. Throughout each chapter Ms. Ellis draws on many other fictional characters who have crossed her reading path and thus this book becomes a multi-coloured ramble through the flowers and thorns she has encountered in her reading.

This is also part-memoir and we learn much about the authors Iraqi-Jewish upbringing and culture and the expectations that were put on her as part of this community.

Although, written from a femininist perspective I felt that both women and men would appreciate the message that Ms Ellis is conveying in this book. In her final chapter she writes:

"No writer is writing me a better journey. No writer is guiding me through my misunderstandings and muddles and wrong turns to reach my happy ending. And then I realise I am the writer. I don't mean because I write. I mean because we all write our own lives."

I liked this conclusion to her book. This is a light read with an important message within. None of us have to settle for another person's plan for our lives. Life itself can give us the inner strength to be the person who we want to be.

In the postscript of this book the author provides her mother's recipe for masafan, an Iraqi-Jewish type of marzipan that she mentions in the book. I had a go at making this the other day and judging by how quickly my grandchildren packed them away they were a resounding success and I encourage you to give them a try. 

Within the covers of this book Ms Ellis has given us insight into books, reading, culture and a recipe for gorgeously sweet biscuits. A marvellous combination. 

ISBN: 978 0099575566

Publisher: Vintage

About the Author:

Samantha Ellis is a playwright and journalist. The daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, she grew up thinking her family had travelled everywhere by magic carpet. From an early age she knew she didn't want their version of a happy ending - marriage to a nice Iraqi-Jewish boy- so she read books to find out what she did want. Her plays include Patching Havoc, Sugar and Snow and Cling to Me Like Ivy, and she is a founding member of women's theatre company Agent 160. She lives in London.