The Youngster by Bibi Berki - #bookreview

From a distance. they could have been the same age. Two older women, sitting on a park bench on an overcast late winter morning...

The Blurb

Georgie and her mother Cherry have had their ups and downs. But now they're devoted to each other – and when Cherry learns that she’s in the early stages of dementia, Georgie is with her every step of the way…

…Until she can't be. And that's when he steps into her mother's life. The one who's been waiting, watching, whispering.

In turns deeply moving and deeply chilling, The Youngster is about one woman's spiralling descent when her mother is taken away from her by a damaged younger man.

My Review

This was a tense book to read, and it had me holding my breath at times.

The book begins with the main character, Georgie, feeling unwell as she sits on a park bench with her mother, Cherry, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia. They have a close relationship, and through Georgie's thoughts and reminiscences, we learn that Cherry has been a charismatic woman, who is feisty and very much knows her own mind.

When Georgie's illness turns into covid at an early point in the lockdown process, she is hospitalised and is very ill, leaving Cherry with no one to care for her. At least, this is Georgie's supposition when she is conscious but nothing could be further from the truth. The titular Youngster, has insinuated himself into Cherry's life and erected a barrier between her and her daughter. 

This made for fabulous reading. It was an utterly believable scenario and made for compelling reading. I could not put it down and I felt very invested in the story line.

The author wrote with authenticity of the empty streets during lockdown, along with the claustrophobic atmosphere of those who were locked inside within their bubbles. However, the thing that she accomplished so well was the gradual shift from dread and suspicion to Georgie's absolute horror of this man who she realises is coercively controlling her mother. What begins with the shock of her illness develops into something far more sinister with Cherry and the man she dubbed "The Youngster." 

There were points at which I questioned the reliability of Georgie as a narrator. She is frequently confused following her illness. Could she equally be confused concerning her mother's situation?

This is an outstanding book. It oozes with tension. The author has written very skillfully and laid out her story in a way which was engaging and edgy.  I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller written with literary style. If you want a book which will get under your skin, then this is the book for you.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1917090094

Publisher:  Deixis Press

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

No. of Pages:  274 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Deixix Press

Blackwell's

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Bibi Berki is the author of novels, articles and podcasts, including psychological thrillers The Youngster and The Watch, and the film history series, The Kiss – The Women who made a Movie Masterpiece. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, and contributes to many sites and publications.

Bibi is based in South East London, where many of her stories are set. She is also the co-founder of Tempest Productions, which makes original audio stories.

You can also find Bibi at:

Author Website

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Instagram

Linked In

(ARC courtesy of the publicist)

(author photo and bio courtesy of the author's website)

(all opinions are my own)

Women in Lockdown - Ed. by Wayfinder Woman #bookreview

 

This beautiful and by turns, poignant, powerful, sad and amusing book you hold in your hands came about by accident. It is the culmination of an unexpected and topsy turvy 18-month journey into, through and, we hope, beyond the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the globe...

***

The Blurb

When the UK entered lockdown in the Spring of 2020 a call went out from The Wayfinder Woman Trust for ordinary women's voices to be heard so that they could feel supported, connected and valued. They asked women to communicate their hopes, fears and experiences of the pandemic so their stories could be told.

Now experience these extra-ordinary women's responses in this unique collection of stories, poems, diary entries and artwork, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous and often uplifting. Their voices will not be forgotten but live on for future generations in this inspiring book.

My Review

Recently, I was fortunate enough to meet Laura Murphy when she came to speak at my Women's Institute meeting. Laura is the founder of The Wayfinder Woman charity and she was fascinating to listen to. So, I am very happy to be writing a short review of this book, which they have published.

The book is full to the brim with the writing, artwork and photographs of women in lockdown. The artwork in itself is testament to the talents that we women possess. For many, lockdown gave women the opportunity to express themselves creatively in a way that they perhaps had not had time to do before. The artworks appear in several medias; painting, textile and photographic. There are several inspiring examples in the book.

The writing is in many different forms also. Prose, diary entries, poetry and even as the minutes taken during a meeting. The writings portray the frustrations and challenges they faced. However, there are many that saw the time as an opportunity to put in place the things that they had been putting off.

The collection of experiences has been well put together and it was interesting to read how other women coped with the lockdown situation. You will find the good and the bad portrayed here, all of which were fascinating to read.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1838102210

Publisher:  Thought Centre Publishing

Formats:  Paperback

No. of Pages:  202

Purchase Link

Wayfinder Woman

About the Wayfinder Woman Charity

Wayfinder Woman is a charity run by women for women. They are an organisation that provides support and resources to women of working age who need help.

Their vision is to empower every woman to live a life of confidence, skill, and strength to create the life that she desires.

Their mission is to have a positive social impact on the women and communities they serve. Their purpose is to give women access to the resources, networks and assistance they need to build and maintain their lives.

You can find them at:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

(book courtesy of The Wayfinder Woman)

(all opinions are my own)

Belly Woman by Benjamin Black - #bookreview #blogtour

 

The woman is lying on the floor outside the maternity department; her large pregnant belly slopes to one side as her back arches, face muscles clench and a violent, jerking convultion resumes. It's past midnight, the air is warm and humid, hanging heavily around us. The two men who had squeezed her on to the back of their mototbike stand silently, staring; everyone is staring...

***

Hailed as "a must-read for our times" (Aminatta Forna) and "eye-opening, kind, and inspirational" (Adam Kay), Belly Woman tells the story of what happens to pregnant women when a humanitarian catastrophe strikes.

May, 2014. Sierra Leone is ranked the country with the highest death rate of pregnant women in the world. The same month, Ebola crosses in from neighbouring Guinea. Arriving a few weeks later, Dr Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of an exponential Ebola outbreak. From impossible decisions on the maternity ward to moral dilemmas at the Ebola Treatment Centres: one mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster.

An eye-opening work of reportage and advocacy, Belly Woman chronicles the inside journey through an unfolding global health crisis and the struggle to save the lives of young mothers. As Black reckons with the demons of the past, he must try to learn the lessons for a different, more resilient, future.

***

Although this is not quite what I was expecting when I agreed to take part in the blog tour, I am so very glad that I did as it is a fantastic book.

It is the memoirs of Dr. Benjamin Black, an obstetrician who travelled to Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. The novel focusses on his experiences there whilst volunteering with Médecins Sans Frontières. The latter half of the book addresses his experience during the covid pandemic of 2020/21.

Needless to say, the book addresses some complex issues facing all medical staff attending to patients during those two catastrophic events. From necessity, decision making needed to be detached. However, Dr. Black writes in a way that conveys the humanity of his patients and brings them to life on the page.

He writes with compassion but without sentimentality, and his writing is clear, accessible and highly readable. I have no medical background, but I was able to understand his descriptions of the decisions made based on the clinical procedures necessary. And there were certainly some difficult decisions to be made surrounding maternity care.

This book was certainly an eye-opener. We all watched newsreels during the Ebola crises, and we lived through the covid pandemic, and we are blessed in that we survived it. However, this first hand account of being on the front line provided me with much food for thought and the realisation that I could not even begin to comprehend the reality of having to make impossible decisions in the face of such adversity.

This is a powerful, non-fiction title that I highly recommend.

ISBN:  978 1911107576

Publisher:  Neem Tree Press

Formats:  e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  368 (paperback)

About the Author:

Dr Benjamin Black is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and a specialist advisor to international aid organisations - including Médecins Sans Frontières. His focus on sexual, reproductive and maternal healthcare for populations in times of crisis has taken him to many countries working with humanitarian organisations, UN bodies and government departments. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic he provided frontline healthcare to pregnant women and developed international guidelines. Benjamin was a member of the expert panel for the inquiry into racial injustice in UK maternity care.

(e-book and all media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

Maybe It's About Time by Neil Boss - #Bookreview #Blogtour @WriteReadsTours @iamneilboss #maybeitsabouttime #neilboss

 

The concourse at Waterloo Station was rammed as Marcus Barlow emerged from the warm cocoon of the Underground like a pupating moth. Thousands of Monday evening commuters were awaiting their fate at the hands of South Western Trains. He took his AirPods out of their case. For years he had resisted, insisting they looked like hearing aids. Now they were as much a part of his uniform as his Cartier cufflinks and Ferragamo tie.

His smartphone came to life. A picture of his family taken the previous year on holiday in the Maldives. Four tanned bodies, squinting into the sun waist-deep in a turquoise ocean. A happy picture taken at a happy time...

***

Two people trapped in their different worlds. One by wealth and one by poverty. Twenty years working for The Firm has given Marcus Barlow everything he wants but has taken his soul in return. Finding a way to leave has become an obsession.

Claire Halford’s life hits rock bottom when she is caught stealing food from Tesco Express. Left alone by her husband with two small children and an STI, her suicide music is starting to play louder in her head.

A chance meeting brings them together. As a mystery virus from China starts to run riot across the country, their world’s collide and they find they have more in common than they knew.

Set in the early months of 2020, Maybe It’s About Time is a story about the difficulty of changing lives for the better. Starting as a funny and satirical view of the egocentric world of professional services, it gives way to a heart-warming story of an unlikely friendship that rejuvenates Marcus and Claire, giving them both hope for a better future.

***

There is something original about this book, and it kept me completely hooked. Set during the run up to, and during the pandemic lockdown it was so much more than a novel of 'unprecedented times'. 

There were some marvellous characters in this novel. The main characters, Marcus and Claire were both well drawn and utterly believable. However, the author does an equally good job with the secondary characters. I loved Mr Mahoney and Claire's other neighbours. Equally, Marcus' family were well portrayed.

I laughed at the way Marcus' colleagues were depicted as soulless human beings and it was a joy to see him come to understand his role within this. It was no surprise to discover that Mr. Boss has worked in the corporate sector and I suspect that much of himself is reflected in Marcus.

The novel is about self-evaluation, and questions what constitutes a family. It was also about friendship and how it can occur in the most unlikely of places and situations.

It is a fairly lengthy novel at just over 500 pages but it was worth every page and I flew through it. It was both heartwarming and funny whilst dealing with a serious subject. I did not anticipate the ending, and I cannot wait to read the sequel when it is published.

ISBN:  978 1803135038

Publisher:  Matador

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  552 (paperback)

Support Independent Bookshops - Buy from Bookshop.org *

About the Author:

Neil retired from a career in the corporate world in November 2019 with three objectives. To travel around the world and fly fish in the most exotic locations, to play his electric guitar better and to write a novel that he could be genuinely proud of. The pandemic and lockdown in March 2020 put his first two objectives on hold leaving him no option but to start writing. Two and half years later, Maybe It's About Time, his first novel, was published.

As a piece of work, he is incredibly proud of it. It makes him laugh and cry in equal measure. He is even more proud that readers seem to be enjoying it just as much and it is getting great reviews.

Travel and fly fishing has now started again, his guitar playing is improving and a sequel to Maybe It's About Time is planned to start in 2023!

Support Independent 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.

(book provided courtesy of The Write Reads)

Reading Roundup - May 2022

 

May has been a mixed month for me. We were finally able to take a long needed holiday. My husband and I packed up the car with the dog and a pile of books, and headed off to spend a week in Yorkshire followed by a week in Lincolnshire.

Yorkshire is a beautiful county and we had a wonderful week there. The photograph above is one that I took at the library in Cottingham. I love to visit libraries when I visit other parts of the country.

Our week in Lincolnshire got off to a great start. Our accommodation was beautiful and we were surrounded by yellow rape seed fields. It was stunning. Unfortunately, part way through this week we both contracted covid which was far from ideal. 

However, regardless of that, it was wonderful to get away for a while to two such beautiful parts of the country. It was so good to relax with our books and we had some lovely walks with the dog. We are back home now, refreshed and recovered and looking forward to a new month ahead.

Books I Have Read This Month

Still Life by Sarah Winman - this was my book group choice this month. I adored everything about this book.

Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon - a nice cosy read which was ideal for holiday reading. You can read my review by clicking here.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - this has been languishing on my TBR for so long. It was my favourite book this month and you can read my review by clicking here.

The Shocking Price of a Pair of Shoes by Andy Tilley - The premise of the book was interesting but I didn't enjoy it much.

A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage - This did not work for me either.

Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir - I am enjoying this series of books. My review is written and will be up very soon.

Tell Me Everything by Laura Kay - I enjoyed reading this very much and you can read my review by clicking here.

Tearoom on the Bay by Rachel Burton - This was my first foray into audio books in decades and I really enjoyed it. 

The Ascension of Mary by William West - An interesting story with chapters being told by three generations of a family.

Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb - This is a lovely book full of recipes fit for a Queen. I will be uploading my review for this in the next few days.

Books I Did Not Finish

Munich by Robert Harris

Books I am Partway Through

A History of Herbalism: Cure, Cook and Conjure by Emma Kay

A Silent Voice Speaks by Trishna Singh

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore

Hope: a History of the Future by G.G. Kellner