Before the Swallows Come Back by Fiona Curnow - #bookreview

A knock on the door. 'On you go, sweetheart. It's for you.' His words, slow, breathy, like they had been pushed from somewhere very deep, very narrow. Charlotte grinned at her father, tip-toed to the door, let out a deep sigh, and pulled it open. The delivery man stood there with her birthday present. There was only one thing it could be. The size of it. The shape of it...

***

The Blurb

Tommy struggles with people, with communicating, preferring solitude, drifting off with nature. He is protected by his Tinker family who keep to the old ways. A life of quiet seclusion under canvas is all he knows.

Charlotte cares for her sickly father. She meets Tommy by the riverside and an unexpected friendship develops. Over the years it becomes something more, something crucial to both of them. But when tragedy strikes each family they are torn apart.

Charlotte is sent far away.

Tommy might have done something very bad.

Before the Swallows Come Back is a story of love, found family, and redemption that will break your heart and have it soaring time and time again as you sit on the edge of your seat desperately hoping.

My Review

I can hardly put into words how beautiful this book is. In all honesty, I had never heard of it until one of the members of my Book Group mentioned it. She was gifted a copy for Christmas and suggested that we all read it. I am so very glad that she did as it was a five shiny star read for me.

It is set in Scotland and the vivid descriptions made reading this visceral. In fact, I think the environment in this book is every bit as important as the characters. This is a book to get lost in. The natural world is so beautifully depicted I was completely immersed.

The main characters are Charlotte, a young girl who cares for her ill father, and Tommy, a Tinker who, with his family, set up camp every summer in the woods and fields a bike ride away from Charlotte's house. Every summer they meet and become the unlikeliest of friends. However, this bond strengthens as the years progress and it was a sheer delight to follow. Their friendship represents the coming together of two alternative lifestyles. 

One of the things which I loved about this book was the gentle pace at which it moved along. However, about half way through there are a couple of dramatic events which I definitely did not anticipate. From there, the book becomes more people centric with the dialogue and prose being every bit as engaging as its leisurely the first half.

The book is a love letter to the natural world and the environs of Scotland. The writing is exceptional and beautiful to read. I was mesmerised by it. It is one to be savoured. At times I slowed down my reading to take in its beauty, and I can well imagine reading this book again as there is something very special contained within it's covers.

This is a fabulous book and is an independent publication. If Ms. Curnow's other books are anything as gorgeous as this one, then I want to read them all. I highly encourage you to read it.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 0995531499

Publisher:  Curnow

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  414 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blackwell's

About the Author:

Fiona was the winner of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) short story competition, 2023. 

Her writing has been described as, "Human experience impacted upon by political situation, interwoven with a love of nature."

She dropped out of school aged fifteen, because being the consummate rebel, she hated it! After becoming a single parent she decided to return to education, graduating in 1996 with an honours degree in primary education. Ah, the irony! 

As soon as she graduated she packed everything she owned into her Renault 11, including her daughter, two dogs and a cat, and headed off to Estonia to become an international school teacher. 

After travelling the world teaching for fifteen glorious years she returned home to pursue a long held ambition of committing herself to full time writing.

She lives on the east coast of Scotland where her days are spent dog-walking and writing.

She has written four books under the name F J Curlew. She now also writes under her given name of Fiona Curnow.

You can also find Fiona at:

Facebook

Instagram

Author Website

(author media courtesy of https://fjcurlew.wixsite.com/author/bio)

(book and all opinions are my own)

Top 10 Ten Books of 2023

 

Happy New Year

I can hardly believe that another year is behind us. The New Year for me is always a time of reflection on the joys and sorrows that 2023 brought with it. It is also a time to reflect on my reading for the year and to try to whittle down the 157 books that I have read to a mere ten - not an easy task as I am sure you can imagine.

So, in no particular order, here are my top ten (click on the book title to go straight to my review.)

The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen - I was already a fan of this author, having read her book, Waking Lions a few years ago. The Wolf Hunt was every bit as good and is well worthy of a place in my top ten book.

Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott - Set in Cornwall, this is a suspenseful book that I enjoyed very much.

Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds - This was a very powerful book which I cannot recommend highly enough.

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths - This is the final book in the Ruth Galloway series. I have loved all of these books and this one was no exception.

Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch - This is a wonderful feminist retelling of the character of Morgana from the tales of King Arthur. Well worth reading.

The Best Minds A Story of Friendship, Madness and Good Intensions by Jonathan Rosen - The author writes of his childhood friendship with Michael, and his diagnoses of scizophrenia.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed - Based on a true story and set in Cardiff's, Tiger Bay. This is a compelling story of injustice.

Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde - The story of a young boy and his friendship with an elderly neighbour.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - This book was a little out of my reading comfort zone but I thoroughly enjoyed it's time travel element which moves between modern day America and the Antebellum South.

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Suzy K. Quinn - This self published novel is well worthy of a place in my top ten books. It is both poignant and humourous and I highly recommend it.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2024

Annie x

Miracle Number Four by Paul Marriner - #BookReview #BlogTour

 

In the autumn of 1974 my mother stopped going to work at the bakery. I passed there often, and the ladies in their blue tabards still smiled but stopped speaking. It didn't bother me. It wasn't until the following spring, when out with my sister, that I realised they were offering sympathy. Susan knew. We had been walking to the chemist to collect Mum's prescription - Susan on half-day from the salon and me just home from school - when the smiles and silence at the bakery's open doors stopped her. More accurately, it was the whispering when we'd passed that she noticed. Turning sharply, she spoke slowly and clearly.

'April will bloom again.'

***

A song of the suburbs: a story of family, friends, first love, tragedy, hope and rock and roll

It's 1976 and with dreams of a career in rock, a crush on the prettiest girl in town, and a mother in remission from cancer, Mike’s future looks bright.

Music brings excitement and a chance to shine, but life off-stage is complicated.

Together with family, friends and band-mates, Mike finds joy, sadness and loss. Troubling secrets surface while a new friend brings both fresh perspectives and a cruel reality. The radios and pubs blast rock into the suburban nights and the band prepare for their big break. Is Mike ready?

A warm, thoughtful, questioning novel; a reminder of simpler days, complex emotions and music of a generation.

***

Publishing in paperback today, this is a lovely coming of age story set in 1970's London suburbia.

Having grown up in London during the 1970's I was instantly attracted to this book and it's period and setting provided me with a wonderful trip down memory lane.  Music is a big feature of this book and plays as important a role as any of the characters.

This is a dialogue led book and propels this story along very nicely. The narrative is well written, but it is largely the conversations between the characters which make for an easy read and which makes the characters so easy to engage with.

The main character, Mike, aka JB, is delightful. The author presents him as a fully formed adolescent, and we observe him as he learns about love, life and music. He is a multi-layered character, and I enjoyed watching him make sense of the world.

There is also a wonderful cast of secondary characters, and I enjoyed reading about each of them. Mike's family and friends interacted perfectly and were all very believable.

There are many themes running throughout the book; love, loss, friendship and growing up, all written with both humour and poignancy. I enjoyed this book very much and can forsee it being one I pop back to read now and then.

I was thrilled to realise in the end pages of the book that the author has previously written a book about one of the characters, Richard. Just as I was sorry to be leaving Mike and the other characters I now realise I do not have to and can read more about Richard in the book, Three Weeks in Summer.

I loved Miracle Number Four, and I highly recommend it.

ISBN:  978 1999620066

Publisher:  Bluescale Publishing

Formats:  e-book, hardback and paperback - available on Kindle Unlimited

About the Author:

Paul grew up in a west London suburb (not unlike the suburbs in which his latest book – Miracle Number Four – is based) and now lives in Berkshire with his wife and two children. He is passionate about music, sport and, most of all,  writing, on which he now concentrates full-time. Paul has written five novels and his primary literary ambition is that you enjoy reading them while he is hard at work on the next one (but still finding time to play drums).

(book and author photo courtesy of Love Book Tours)

(author bio courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)

Lucky Jack by S. Bavey - #bookreview

 

My name is Henry John Rogers, but I'm known to most people as Jack.

I was born at the very end of the nineteenth century, on 21st March 1894, in a room above my father's boot repair shop, in Hammersmith, London.

Most of my nine siblings (I was the second eldest) were born in the same room. Of course, I had no idea then that my life would be full of adventure...

***

Meet Jack Rogers. Born in 1894, he once locked eyes with Queen Victoria and was one of the first travellers on London’s ‘Tube’. An early car owner, he had many escapades on his days out to Brighton, including a time when his brakes failed and he had to drive through central London without them!

His skills as an entertainer earned him popularity throughout his life, and kept him out of the deadly mines while a prisoner during the First World War. At the tender age of 103 Jack earned the title of ‘The World’s Oldest Columnist’ as he began dictating his life’s exploits to a reporter from the local newspaper.

***

This is the story of the author's grandfather, and what a lovely book it is. Ms. Bavey has every right to be as proud of her book as she clearly is of her remarkable grandfather.

Jack Rogers, lived to the grand age of 106 (1894-2000), making him one of the few people to have lived through three different centuries, whilst experiencing the reigns of six different monarchs. And what a remarkable life it was! He faced the ordeal of two world wars, being held in a prisoner of war camp, the establishment of the London Underground and saw the progression from horse drawn carriages to motor cars.

Jack's voice is very apparent throughout the narrative. He was clearly a man of good humour, and I could almost imagine a twinkle in his eye as he told his stories. He described himself in childhood as "a naughty scamp" and it was this boyish enthusiasm that propelled him through life. He faced many challenges throughout his years, but he accepted life with both fortitude and resolve.

This pleasing memoir was a delight to read and my life feels richer for knowing of this man. I could almost imagine him relating his stories to his granddaughter in her childhood, just as my own did, and I appreciated the nostalgia this created in me for bringing my own grandfather to mind who had a good few stories of his own to tell. 

The book has been well written in a first person narrative and thus feels like listening to Jack's stories at first hand. I think the author has done an excellent job of bringing Jack to an audience who would probably never have known of his existence had she not told his story. Bravo Ms. Bavey for this excellent memoir of a life well lived.

I highly recommend this book.

ISBN:  979 8766392583

Publisher:  Independently published

Formats:  e-book and paperback (currently available on KindleUnlimited )

About the Author:

Sue is an English mum of two, living in Massachusetts since 2003 with her husband, kids, a cat named Midnight, a bunny named Nutmeg, a leopard gecko named Ziggy Stardust, and occasional frogs and salamanders.

She loves alternative music, British alternative comedy and unusual art.

During the Covid lockdown she wrote her grandfather, Henry John Rogers’ biography, Lucky Jack (1894 – 2000) and it is now available for purchase on Amazon.

In 2022 she collected together all of her late father’s writings and selected what she considered to be the best ones for an anthology she has entitled Daydreams & Narcoleptic Nightmares which is now available for purchase on Amazon with 15% of all profit being donated to the UK charity Narcolepsy UK.

She has two stories (one is an extract from Lucky Jack) in an anthology which came out in December 2021 called 40 Life Changing Events 2022 Edition, edited by Robert Fear. She also contributed a chapter to the Travel Stories Collection Box Set (only available digitally).

In 2022 she also contributed stories to a memoir anthology: 50 Intriguing Personal Insights, 2023 Edition and a creative fiction anthology, 15 Fascinating Fictional Tales, both edited by Robert Fear.

She holds a BA (Hons) in ‘German Studies’ from Manchester University, UK and a MSc in ‘Communication in Computing with Italian’ from Middlesex University, UK.

Thereafter, she worked for many years in London, UK, in publishing, multimedia project management and website production. She currently does some freelance marketing work, in addition to website management, proofreading, writing, beta reading, and reviewing books for booknest.eu, Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team and her own blog, Sue's Musings. She likes a variety of genres, but prefers to support indie authors where possible.

More photos of Jack can be found on the author's website https://suelbavey.wordpress.com/lucky-jack-photo-gallery/