The Standing Stone on the Moor by Allie Cresswell - #bookreview #blogtour

Yorkshire 1845 - The moor was vast and largely impassable - an expanse of black bogs, impenetrable undergrowth and dense woody swathes of small tufted shrubs...

***

The Blurb

Yorkshire, 1845.

Folklore whispers that they used to burn witches at the standing stone on the moor. When the wind is easterly, it wails a strange lament. History declares it was placed as a marker, visible for miles—a signpost for the lost, directing them towards home.

Forced from their homeland by the potato famine, a group of itinerant Irish refugees sets up camp by the stone. They are met with suspicion by the locals, branded as ‘thieves and ne’er-do-wells.’ Only Beth Harlish takes pity on them, and finds herself instantly attracted to Ruairi, their charismatic leader.

Beth is the steward of nearby manor Tall Chimneys—a thankless task as the owners never visit. An educated young woman, Beth feels restless, like she doesn’t belong. But somehow ‘home’—the old house, the moor and the standing stone—exerts an uncanny magnetism. Thus Ruairi’s great sacrifice—deserting his beloved Irish homestead to save his family—resonates strongly with her.

Could she leave her home to be with him? Will he even ask her to?

As she struggles with her feelings, things take a sinister turn. The peaceable village is threatened by shrouded men crossing the moor at night, smuggling contraband from the coast. Worse, the exotic dancing of a sultry-eyed Irishwoman has local men in a feverish grip. Their womenfolk begin to mutter about spells and witchcraft. And burning.

The Irish refugees must move on, and quickly. Will Beth choose an itinerant life with Ruairi? Or will the power of ‘home’ be too strong? 

My Review

This was an excellent read, and I enjoyed every minute that I invested in reading it.

Although this is the third book in the Talbot series, it is something of a prequel to the rest of the books. It also worked perfectly well as a standalone novel, and it has definitely inspired me to read the others in the series.

Set in Yorkshire in 1845, the author has done an excellent job in conjuring up the atmosphere of the Yorkshire Moors. I could almost feel the wind howl against my face and the snow beneath my feet.

The main character, Beth, has been wonderfully well portrayed. She is a multi-faceted character who knows her own mind and lives life on her own terms, in as much as she could within the restrictions of a Victorian society. She has many decisions that she has to make throughout the story, and she does so with kindness and compassion for others on every occasion.

There is a large cast of characters in this book, but at no point in my reading did I find it difficult to keep track of who was who. In fact, there is a list of characters at the beginning of the book, but I did not need to refer to this. Each of the characters are portrayed in a genuine way, and they were utterly believable.

The book reminded me of reading the classics, partly perhaps because of the location where Emily Bronte based her book, Wuthering Heights. However, this is far from a retelling of another book. What it provides is a story that has plenty of interest, a variety of characters, and a strong plot. I'm not sure that as readers we ever want more than that from our fiction.

I was absolutely engrossed in this book. When I was away from my reading of it, it definitely had the ability to pull me back. I kept wondering what was happening in Beth's life. For me, that is the sign of an outstanding book - one that nags away at me to get back to it as quickly as possible.

The author is a great storyteller and conveyed her story in a way that was engaging throughout. This was a wonderful book, and now I cannot wait to read some of the others in the series.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1739469979

Publisher: Allie Cresswell Ltd

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 531 (paperback)

Series: Book 3 of the Talbot Saga (can be read as a standalone)

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Allie has been writing fiction since she could hold a pencil. She has a BA and an MA in English Literature, specialising in the classics of the nineteenth century.

She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a bookkeeper and the owner of a group of boutique holiday cottage but nowadays she writes full time.

She has two grownup children, five grandchildren and two cockapoos but just one husband, Tim. They live in the remote northwest of the UK.

The Standing Stone on the Moor is her sixteenth novel. 

You can also find Allie at:

Author Website

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines - #bookreview

 

There were no curtains up. The window was a hard edged block the colour of the night sky. Inside the bedroom the darkness was of a gritty texture. The wardrobe and bed were blurred shapes in the darkness. Silence...

***

Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a troubled teenager growing up in the small Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley. Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines's acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world.

***

I first read this book at school when I was about twelve years old. Needless to say, I did not recall the details. More recently I heard it recommended on the podcast, Backlisted, which I highly recommend, and was intrigued to read it again.

It was first published in 1968, and is as relevant today as it was then. The main character, Billy Casper, is a timeless portrayal of a adolescent boy growing up in Yorkshire with his mother and older brother, Jedd. Billy is bullied by his brother, bullied at school and by some of his teachers. This was the days of corporal punishment and reading of how the pupils were beaten was shocking.  Billy was frequently humiliated by his teachers who had written him off. There is one scene set during a PE lesson which did not make for comfortable reading.

That said, this was a brilliant novel and easily a five star read for me. It is a slim volume that is a powerhouse of a book. Billy is lacking any familial love. His single mother is inept, and Billy is frequently left hungry and without direction.

His love and skill with the kestrel that he raised and trained was wonderful to read. Through this we observe him blossom into the boy that the reader implicitly recognizes he could be if only his circumstances and the people around him were different. He has been raised to be unambitious and to expect little from life.

While the storyline is bleak, the author performs a fabulous job of depicting the beauty of the area. His descriptions of the natural world surrounding this poverty stricken area are superb. Coupled with a narrative and a dialogue which is rich in the local dialect, this book is a fantastic juxtaposition between the beautiful environment and the harsh living conditions.

It was gritty and bleak, but I am extremely glad I came back to it. This is a book that has stayed with me since my school days. The fact that I even remember reading it some forty decades later speaks volumes about the power this book has. 

If you would like to read a modern classic then this is probably top of my list to recommend. It is a fantastic book, and I can well imagine reading it again.

ISBN: 978 0141184982

Publisher:  Penguin Classics

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  208 (paperback)

About the Author:

Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire.

He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal.

He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield. 

(author photo and bio. courtesy of GoodReads)

(all opinions are my own)

The Yorkshire Farm Girl by Diane Allen - #BookReview

 

Sally stood next to her mother, cold and ready for home, but she knew better than to say so as they both walked down the steep hillside of the graveyard to her grandparents' graves. Her long brown hair was damp and her winter coat barely kept her warm, and she shivered as they reached the graves.

Ivy Fothergill, still a good-looking woman for her age, looked down at the graves of her long-dead parents. Even though it had been more thant ten years since her father had died, she still missed them both...

***

Life is hard for the Fothergill family as they try to make a living on their farm in the Yorkshire Dales. Bob Fothergill has set his sights on buying his own farm instead of renting the one they currently hold. Sally his teenage daughter, wishes her father would see that she could help more with the farm, but he believes that a girl's place is in the home. Ben, their youngest, has no interest in farming so is ignored. Sally's mother makes do knowing her husband wants what's best for them.

But when Bob decides to take a well-paid job collecting it causes friction in the family, bringing tension to everyone. With Germany is shaking its angry fist at other nations and the threat of another war undermines everything. Times are hard and the future is uncertain, but perhaps the coming years could bring better times. But will the Fothergills survive the oncoming storm?

***

If you are wondering what that noise was, it was the sound of my very contented sigh. I adored this book from start to finish. The book came recommended by The People's Friend, and anyone who enjoys their lovely magazine will already know what to expect from this book.

The book is set during 1938/39 in the period just before the declaration of the Second World War. Rumours that the country will soon go to war are rife, and everyone is on edge. This created the perfect backdrop to place the main character, Sally, and her family, friends and neighbours.

The book begins during the winter of 1938 and with the preparations for Christmas. This was delightful to read as it described a world which is so much simpler than the present day. Life in rural Yorkshire was hard, money was scarce and pleasures were modest, and I really enjoyed reading about this family and their way of life.

It is a leisurely paced novel to read and made for easy reading. I liked the way the plot meandered along even though there was plenty going on in the plot. It felt very unhurried and made for a lovely read.

It is a very character driven novel and I really enjoyed spending time with Sally and her family. The author is very skilled at bringing her characters alive on the page. I almost felt like I had spent time with them, supping a cup of tea at the farmhouse table with Sally and Ivy.

The book depicts an old-fashioned way of life which felt full of realism. My parents were young during this period and many of their stories that I heard growing up were echoed in the attitudes of the adults in the novel.

The book left me wanting more, and I do hope that the author will write a sequel to this book.

Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will enjoy this book.  I will definitely read more books by this author. In fact, I already have The Girl From the Tanner's Yard on order.

ISBN:  978 1529093117

Publisher:  Pan

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  320 (paperback)

About the Author:

Diane was born in Leeds on Halloween. However Leeds was not my home city, I was to return to my family farm set high in the Yorkshire Dales and have an idyllic childhood. 

As a child she lived for the travelling library coming up her farm track once a fortnight and she loved to rifle through the shelves looking for a book she hadn’t read.

In her teenage years her choice of reading matter changed from lovely sweet stories to the darker side of life and she enjoyed Ira Levin’s, Rosemary’s Baby and Dennis Wheately’s To the Devil a Daughter. Her reading choices soon changed and she  read the classic’s, The Bronte sisters, being her all time favourite author’s. How could any one not fall in love with dark brooding Heathcliffe? The setting on the wild swept moor lands above Haworth not unlike the wild fell land that I was brought up with.

Now she is manager of a large print book firm in Yorkshire and have access to a host of reading matter.

(book courtesy of the publisher)

( all author info courtesy of the author's website http://www.diane-allen.co.uk/)

(all opinions are my own)

Reading Roundup - October 2021

 

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

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

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

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

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

Books I Have Read During October

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

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

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

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

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

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

Books I Am Partway Through

Tales from the Italian South by Angelina Brasacchio

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Rags of Time by Michael Ward

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

ISBN: 978 1526757609

Publisher: Pen & Sword History

About the Author:

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

(bio information courtesy of Pen & Sword)

(early reading copy courtesy of NetGalley)