Harold the King by Helen Hollick - #spotlight #bookblast

 

I am delighted to be part of the blog tour today with this special silver anniversary promotion of this book. 

Harold the King (UK) and I Am the Chosen King (US/Canada) was first published in 2000. Many congratulations to Helen Hollick on the 25th anniversary of this book.

The Blurb

The events that led to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 - told from the English point of view.

Two men. One crown.

England, 1044. Harold Godwinesson, a young, respected earl, falls in love with an ordinary but beautiful woman. In Normandy, William, the bastard son of a duke, falls in love with power.

In 1066 England falls vulnerable to the fate of these two men: one, chosen to be a king, the other, determined to take, by force, what he desires. Risking his life to defend his kingdom from foreign invasion, Harold II led his army into the great Battle of Hastings in October 1066 with all the honour and dignity that history remembers of its fallen heroes.

In this beautifully crafted tale, USA Today bestselling author Helen Hollick sets aside the propaganda of the Norman Conquest and brings to life the English version of the story of the man who was the last Anglo-Saxon king, revealing his tender love, determination and proud loyalty, all to be shattered by the desire for a crown – by one who had no right to wear it.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1739937188

Publisher:  Taw River Press (UK), Sourcebooks Inc (US)

Formats:  e-book, hardcover and paperback

No. of Pages: 640 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Amazon CA

About the Author

First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel,

Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/supernatural series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her Jan Christopher Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant. The fifth in the series, A Memory Of Murder, was published in May 2024.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She is currently writing about the ghosts of North Devon, and Jamaica Gold for her Sea Witch Voyages. 

Recognised by her stylish hats, Helen tries to attend book-related events as a chance to meet her readers and social-media followers, but her ‘wonky eyesight’ as she describes her condition of Glaucoma, and severe arthritis is now a little prohibitive for travel.

She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon with their dogs and cats, while on the farm there are showjumper horses, fat Exmoor ponies, an elderly Welsh pony, geese, ducks and hens. And several resident ghosts.

You can also find Helen at:

Helen's website

Blog

BlueSky

Twitter / X

(all media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Sisterhood by V.B. Grey - #Repost #BookReview

 Those of you who follow my blog regularly will remember that I posted a review of this book last year when I first read it.

It is being released in paperback today, and for those that missed my review the first time around I am re-posting it. I enjoyed this book very much, and if you did not catch the hardback you can now get the paperback. Happy reading.

My mother is not an easy patient. To her, patients are submissive, impotent creatures, and she - Dr Freya Grant - has no intention of becoming one. Not that she's in denial about her condition. She knows she's dying from an inoperable brain tumour and, if she could speak, would explain it better than I can. Her doctors say that, while her mind is as sharp as ever, a rapidly spreading glioma in the left frontal lobe has left her with expressive aphasia - the inability to speak, read or write. She can still understand language and can occasionally form sounds, but they are often meaningless, which annoys her so much she'd rather remain silent.

***

It is 1944 in war-ravaged London. Freya and Shona are identical twins, very close despite their different characters. Freya is a newly qualified doctor tending to the injured in a London hospital, while Shona has been recruited by the SOE. The sisters are so physically alike that they can fool people into thinking that one is the other. It's a game they've played since childhood. But when Shona persuades her twin to swap roles to meet her Polish lover, he is angered at being tricked.

Then Shona proposes a far more dangerous swapping of roles. At first Freya refuses but finally she agrees, with consequences so dangerous that they threaten not only the happiness but the lives of both sisters.

Forty-five years later in November 1989 Freya, now aged 69, is watching television with her daughter Kirsty. Freya is gripped as she witnesses crowds of Berliners attempting to knock down their hated Wall. This sight stirs long buried memories of her own war and her sister's, and of events in wartime Poland - memories that she has never shared with anyone. Even if she wanted to reveal them now, she couldn't. She's suffering from a brain tumour and is unable to speak although her reason is unimpaired. And this is what she's thinking: if they succeed in knocking down the Wall, what secrets will come tumbling through? If her own were revealed, it would be devastating for all those close to her, especially her daughter.

***

I initially came across this author when I was invited to take part in the social blast for her previous book, Tell Me How it Ends, last year. You can read my review by clicking here. I was further delighted when I was again approached by the publisher to take part in the social blast for her new book, and I enjoyed every page of her latest work.

Without doubt, Ms. Grey is an accomplished storyteller and this book very much showcases that talent. Interestingly, her own family history was the springboard for this novel although it is an entirely fictionalised account of the lives of her mother and her non-identical twin during World War II.

With a dual timeline the narrative alternates between the 1940's and the 1980's, telling the story of Freya and her daughter, Kirsty.

The book takes as it's main themes both the bonds that exist between mother and daughter and also between that of identical twins. Also, it considers the impact that secrecy can have upon these relationships.

Parts of the plot are set in wartime Poland, and the reader is given insight into the role played by the Polish resistance. It made for fascinating reading and I was all the more gripped as the story unravelled and the courage of those involved played out on the page.

The characters are all well portrayed and easy to engage with. The relationship between twins, Freya and Shona, was compelling. The strength of their bond coupled with the sometimes changing roles of their individual weaknesses and strengths made for an immersive reading experience.

Furthermore, there is a thread of mystery and intrigue running throughout this novel and, it is this which  elevated this book and made it into a page turner. I found this book to be an engrossing read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys books about strong female characters.

ISBN: 978 1529405750

Publisher: Quercus

Format: Hardback, audio, paperback and e-book

Pages: 368 in paperback

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 he own name. She grew up in Manchester and now lives in north London.