The Quality of Love by Ariane Bankes - #blogtour #bookreview

What elusive quality is it that propels people into the centre of things? My mother, Celia Paget, and her identical twin sister Mamaine seemed to possess that quality, to gravitate towards the very heart of the era in which they lived... their lives became entangled with some of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century, whether as friend or lovers, muses or wives.

***

When her mother Celia Paget died, Ariane Bankes inherited a battered trunk stuffed with photographs and letters belonging to Celia and her twin sister Mamaine. This correspondence charted the remarkable lives of the Paget girls and their friends and lovers, including Arthur Koestler, Albert Camus, Sartre

and de Beauvoir, and George Orwell.

Out of this rich unseen archive, The Quality of Love weaves the story of these captivatingly beautiful – all the more so for being identical – twins who overcame a meagre education to take 1930s London society by storm and then move among Europe’s foremost intellectuals during the century’s most

dramatic decades. Above all, it is a sparkling portrait of the deep connection between two spirited sisters.

***

 This book provides an interesting and engaging insight into the lives of identical twins Celia and Mamaine Paget. 

The author, who is Celia's daughter, discovered a chest full of letters, diaries and journals following her mother's death in 2002. Through these the author permits the reader to observe and understand, not only the life of her mother and the aunt that she never knew, but also into the intellectual and cultural period in which they lived.

Born in 1916 and orphaned at a young age, the twins were largely raised by an aunt. Catapulted into the glamorous society of coming out balls, they were presented at court as debutantes in 1935. However, neither of them were interested in the marriage market, and instead were more drawn to the company of intellectuals such as George Orwell, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus.

The text is littered with photographs demonstrating not only the beauty and elegance of the sisters, but also of those in the circle in which they moved. They were obviously spirited women, who the author portrays with the love and respect which she clearly feels. She has pieced together the lives of two extraordinary women through her inheritance of the letters and diaries. I so enjoyed being able to not only hear from Celia and Mamaine, but to hear the words written by Orwell and his peers.

This is a fascinating account, not only of the twins, but also of the time period and the world which they inhabited. It is well written, and delightful to read, and I recommend it for anyone interested in this era.

***

ISBN: 978 0715654989

Publisher:  Duckworth Books

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages:  304 (hardback)

***

About the Author:

Ariane Bankes had a long career in publishing, including at John Murray and V&A Publishing, before becoming a writer, critic and curator. Her writing has appeared in the Spectator, TLS, Financial Times, Country Life and Slightly Foxed. She sits on the boards of Koestler Arts, the Leche Trust and the Biographers’ Club, where she runs the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize and the Tony Lothian Prize.

(book & media courtesy of Random Things Tours)

(all opinions are my own)

Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Dad walks into the dining room carrying a showstopper of a cake. All eighteen candles flicker above the raspberry and pistachio topping...

"A work of art, Steve," says Nana Pat...

"Baking is pretty similar to building; cake for the bricks and cream for cement. Just on a much smaller scale!" laughs Dad...

***

Looking for Lucie is a contemporary YA novel that explores identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship as an 18-year-old girl sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history.

"Where are you really from?"

It's a question every brown girl in a white-washed town is familiar with, and one that Lucie has never been able to answer. All she knows is that her mother is white, she's never met her father, and she looks nothing like the rest of her family. She can't even talk about it because everyone says it shouldn't matter!

Well, it matters to Lucie and-with her new friend Nav, who knows exactly who he is-she's determined to find some answers.

What do you do when your entire existence is a question with no answer?

You do a DNA test.

***

Publishing on 18th April, you only have to wait a couple of days to be able to get your hands on this fantastic book for young adults. Having said that, it has been many years since I could call myself young, but I enjoyed every word of this book. 

It is aimed at a secondary school-age audience, so roughly 11-18 year olds.  The main character, Lucie, has her eighteenth birthday at the beginning of the book, and she is on the cusp of going to university to study art. She is also having an identity crisis. She has never looked like her family, mum, step-dad and sister, Maisie. She is darker skinned and has always been unable to answer the question when people ask "Where are you really from?" and the answer, Norfolk, did not satisfy. Her mum has never talked about her biological father, and she is desperate to know more about him and his ethnicity. This leads her to secretly taking a DNA test. Lucie was a wonderful character and she was very easy to identify and engage with. I was rooting for her every step of the way.

The book moves along at an appropriate pace for the genre. There were some surprises along the way which kept the plot moving forwards nicely. 

The book considers what it means to belong, as well as personal identity and working out how we fit into our individual world. I enjoyed following Lucie's journey as she grappled with some of these questions.

The majority of the chapters are written from the perspective of Lucie and her new friend, Nav. Later in the book we also get to hear the viewpoint of Lucie and Nav's mothers. The multiple perspectives enable the reader to understand that family dynamics and how or where we belong are never simplistic. This book performs an excellent job of demonstrating that situations can be viewed differently, and will vary with each individual.

If you have a young person in your life, I suggest buying them a copy of this book... but I would have a sneaky read of it before you pass it to them! Both young adults and adults alike will adore this book, and I heartily recommend it.

ISBN:  978 1911107682

Publisher:  Neem Tree Press

Formats:  Paperback

No. of Pages: 272

About the Author:

Amanda Addison is an award-winning author of books for adults and children. Her writing has been translated into German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian. Her picture book, Boundless Sky, was nominated for The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal, and her YA novel, Looking for Lucie, was listed for the Searchlight Writing Novel Opening Award. A graduate of Chelsea school of Art, her writing and artwork are inspired by travel, textiles, and the natural world. Amanda holds an MA in Writing the Visual and lectures in Art & Design and has also led workshops in Creative Writing at the National Centre for Writing. Amanda lives in Norfolk, UK, with her family.

Her writing includes flash fiction, short stories, picture books and novels. She explores themes of home and belonging, and enjoys using the juxtaposition of rural and city life. Her characters are often artists or scientists, as their curiosity about the world around them are two sides to the same coin, and the exploration of art and science can give us meaning and purpose in life with its infinite avenues of discovery. Amanda’s debut YA novel, Looking for Lucie, Neem Tree Press 2024, explores the above. It is a contemporary story of identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship. Lucie, an 18-year-old art student sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history with her new scientist friend Nav. Together they unravel family secrets.

Amanda believes in the power of stories as a window on the world, and a mirror to better see ourselves and is passionate about stories which are empowering and inclusive. When not writing she can be found swimming in the North Sea or running in the countryside, and that is when she gets some of her best ideas!

(book and media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - #Bookreview

I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.

And I lost about a year of my life and much of the comfort and security I had not valued until it was gone. When the police released Kevin, he came to the hospital and stayed with me so that I would know I hadn't lost him too.

But before he could come to me, I had to convince the police that he did not belong in jail. That took time. The police were shadows who appreared intermittently at my bedside to ask me questions I had to struggle to understand.

***

In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave.

When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again.

Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them.

And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.

This is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time.

***

This book was a little out of my reading comfort zone. However, I am so glad that I read it as it was fantastic and I enjoyed every page.

It was chosen for my book group read this month and I cannot wait to hear what my fellow book group members thought of it.

It is said to be the first science fiction novel written by a woman of colour. What pulled me so completely into this is the time travel element as it meant that many sections read like historical fiction, of which I am a devoted fan.

The main character, Dana, is a fully fleshed character and it was interesting to read about her in both time periods. For me, the most interesting parts of the novel were when she is called back in time to the plantation owned by her white ancestors. As a black woman she must assume the role of a slave while she waits to be transported back to 1976.

Although time travel is the device used to enable the reader to understand the history surrounding  slavery through twentieth century eyes, it is about so much more. The community formed by the slaves and the terrible lives that they had as possessions of a white owner were difficult to read at times. Punishments by white owners were handed out with little thought, and for those who survived, it was interesting to observe the way in which they learned to adapt to life as slaves.

This novel is about gender, race and survival. It is about how an educated modern black American woman witnessed and lived in one of the most atrocious periods in history. It is one of the best books I have read this year.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction, science fiction and black history. I am definitely going to check out some of Ms. Butler's other books and venture a little further into the science fiction genre.

Purchase at Bookshop.org*

About the Author:

Octavia E. Butler was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother.  She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Sower (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Parable of the Talents (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.

She passed away on February 24, 2006. At the time of her death, interest in her books was beginning to rise, and in recent years, sales of her books have increased enormously as the issues she addressed in her Afro-Futuristic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant.

(Author photo and bio. information courtesy of the authors website https://www.octaviabutler.com/ )

*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.

The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay by Julie Brooks - #BookReview #BlogTour

 

Rose scrambled down the bank in a storm of sand, arms flailing and legs protesting. Funny how her legs didn't work as well as they had once. Inside she still felt like the girl who had landed on these shores forty years ago, yet her body resembled an old woman's more each year. Sometimes, catching a flicker reflected in a window, she didn't recognise herself.

Reaching level ground, she shook the sand from her shoes, before settling the canvas hold-all on her shoulder and looking up to see the bay spread before her like a half-moon of glittering blue, Cape Bridgewater jutting into the ocean to the west with rugged Cape Nelson and its lighthouse rising to the east. 

***

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' . . .

***

I love a dual time line novel. Partly, because I am fascinated by the connection that the present has with the past, and also because I think it is exceptionally difficult to pull off successfully. Julie Brooks has achieved this incredibly well, and I enjoyed reading every word of this book very much.

Furthermore, it is a book of secrets and is full of twists and turns, many of which I had not anticipated. It made for an interesting and intriguing reading experience as little by little the secrets of the past are revealed.

The characters were all well portrayed, and as an amateur genealogist myself, I could identify with Molly who was attempting to join the dots between herself and her ancestors. Ivy, whose story was set in the earlier time frame was a wonderful character and I thoroughly enjoyed reading how the author developed her character.

This is Ms. Brooks debut historical fiction novel for adults and I am looking forward to reading more of her work. Her next novel, The Keepsake, is due for release in the UK in January 2023.

I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I would love to hear your thoughts if you read it.

ISBN: 978 1472279163

Publisher: Headline Review

Formats: e-book, audio, paperback and hardback

No. of Pages: 400 (paperback)

About the Author:

Julie Brooks was born in Brisbane, Australia, but has lived most of her life in Melbourne. She taught English and Drama in secondary schools before working as an editor of children’s magazines. She has been a full-time author since 1999 and is the author of several young adult novels as well as children’s fiction and non-fiction. The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay is her first novel writing as Julie Brooks.  

Purchase Link

(author photo and bio. info. courtesy of the publisher

ARC courtesy NetGalley)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)