The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn - #bookreview

Prologue

He raises his head from the sink and looks in the mirror. Sunken eyes, stubble. The bruise a livid purple-red on his cheek...

The Blurb

In a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik’s historic Old Town, a book club begins…

Newly arrived on the sun-drenched shores of Croatia, Claire Thomson’s life is about to change forever when she starts working at a local bookshop. With her cousin Vedran, employee Luna and Karmela, a professor, they form an unlikely book club.

But when their first book club pick – an engrossing cosy crime – inspires them to embark upon an investigation that is close to the group’s heart, they quickly learn the value of keeping their new-found friends close as lives and stories begin to entwine…My Review

Each chapter is the name of the book which the book club is reading each month. At the back of the book the author provides a list along with the author of each of these books in case the reader would like to read them for themselves.

Helpful glossary at the beginning of the book which translates some of the words used throughout the novel.

My Review

As a member of two book clubs myself, I am often drawn to books which have a book club as their setting.

The titular book club is set in Croatia, within the walls of The Welcoming Bookshop. This book uses this setting to introduce the readers to a lovely array of characters. 

The book is told from the perspectives of main characters Claire and Luna. Claire has left England to join her grandparents in Dubrovnik for a year. She has had long Covid and as a result has lost her confidence and fears groups of people. Her grandmother is convinced that working in the book shop will help her regain it. 

Luna works with Claire in the bookshop. She comes from a rural Croatian village where she finds the community small-minded. She is hiding a secret of her own but finds a friend and confidante in Claire.

Setting up the book club allows the author to introduce an array of other characters, who each have an important part to play in the story. Vedran is Claire's cousin. He is a lawyer who has been through a tough time – and then there is Karmella, an academic who retreats to a place of safety behind her books.

These characters all come together within the book shop and find an emotional support circle. The book has much to say about friendship, self-acceptance and facing our fears.

The author depicted the charm and history of Dubrovnik beautifully without shying away from the hardships that the residents faced during and following the war. In fact, having read this made me want to hop on a plane so that I could stroll around its streets and have coffee outside a café, whilst reading a book. 

This was a gem of a book to read.  It had me absorbed by every page. It was a life-affirming book which made for wonderful reading. In fact, I already have the next book in the series, The Santorini Writing Retreat, waiting to be read. 

I highly recommend this book. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Book Details

ISBN:  978-0008648114

Publisher:  One More Chapter

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

No. of Pages:  384 (paperback)

Series:  Book 1 in the Bookish Escapes series

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Over the last couple of years Eva has become adept at writing with two hats on; under her own name Jane Cable it’s romance with a twist, and as Eva Glyn she creates escapist relationship-driven fiction. MHer inspiration comes from the nuggets of history she discovers both at home and abroad, and the beautiful places she finds them.

Eva Glyn’s books are mainly set in Croatia, a country she fell in love with in 2019. Her friendship with tour guide Darko Barisic has proved invaluable to gain an insight into Croatian daily life that few foreign authors can dream of. Her first book set in the country, The Olive Grove, was inspired by Darko’s experiences of the war in the 1990s. Both An Island of Secrets and The Collaborator's Daughter are dual timeline looking back to a little known period of World War 2 history.

 Eva is published by One More Chapter, a division of Harper Collins and has been contracted to write two books about unlikely friendships... and books under the title of Bookish Escapes. The first, The Dubrovnik Book Club, was published in March 2024 with The Santorini Writing Retreat following a year later and The Croatian Island Library in early 2026. 

Although she is Welsh she lives in Cornwall with her husband of more than thirty years. Unless, of course, they're off on their travels!

You can also find Eva at:

Author Website

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(media courtesy of the author's website)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Bright One by Lisajoy Sachs - #extract #excerpt #blogtour

I am so pleased to be bringing you a short excerpt of Bright One by Lisajoy Sachs today.

The Blurb

When desperate choices mean the difference between life and death.

Inspired by true events, Bright One tells the story of Jetti Finkelthal, Lisajoy Sachs' great-grandmother. In Czernowitz, Romania, this young Jewish mother is forced to face impossible choices as the world begins to collapse around her. As antisemitism tightens its grip and war edges ever closer, Jetti holds fast to her daughter, Berta, with the fragile belief that love and courage might still carve a way through the darkness.

Heartened by her grandmother Berta's letters, photographs, and family oral histories, Sachs revives a story both intimate and universal-stitched with the fabric of daily life, the pull of memory, and the quiet heroism of women who refused to yield to despair. Told with vivid, sensory detail, the novel unfolds as if you are walking beside the characters, witnessing what they see and sharing what they feel.

Through Jetti's resilience and sacrifices, Bright One reveals the enduring strength of family ties and the shadow of trauma that lingers across generations. It is a story of survival, of loss, and of the unbreakable connection between mother and child.

For readers captivated by historical fiction that lingers long after the final page, Bright One offers a profoundly human portrait of love tested by history's darkest hours.

The Excerpt

The graves of their siblings lay fresh in the family plot, a stark and painful reminder of the devastating toll the flu had taken. Aaron, Avi, and Nurit, the only siblings who had contracted the illness and survived, wore visible signs of their ordeal. Their faces were gaunt, shadows of their former vitality, and though they moved with a cautious fragility, they were alive, a delicate blessing that none of them took for granted. Jetti often reflected on how narrowly they had escaped an even greater loss and felt certain that her insistence on precautions of covering their faces, washing with vinegar water, avoiding outsiders, and maintaining strict isolation had been their saving grace.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1964700410

Publisher:  Historium Press

Formats:  e-book, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  322 (hardback)

Series:  Book 1 in the Bright One series

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Lisajoy Sachs is a dedicated writer and advocate for the preservation of history and culture through storytelling. Born and raised on Long Island and in the Catskills Mountain region of New York, Lisajoy's early years were shaped by the picturesque landscapes of mountains and the sea. Growing up, she embraced her family’s deep connection to community and tradition.

Her professional journey is as dynamic as her personal interests. With a diverse career spanning Fine Arts, Interior Design, Metal Smithing, Lapidary, and the craft beer and hospitality industries, she has cultivated a deep and varied understanding of her many fields of interest.

Ms. Sachs holds several prestigious degrees and certifications, including a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the City University of New York, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University, and an Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP) certification from the Gemological Institute of America. She is also a graduate of the Hop and Brew School at Yakima Chief Hops and holds a CiceroneCertified Beer Server© credential, underscoring her expertise and passion for the craft beer industry.

As a writer, Lisajoy’s work spans a variety of themes, from beer culture and community engagement to her most prized projects in historical fiction. Her writing reflects a profound appreciation for history, particularly focusing on how personal stories intertwine with larger cultural narratives. She has published multiple articles celebrating the craft beer industry’s ability to foster diversity and unity and continues to explore new ways to inspire her readers through her storytelling.

A deep passion for history, coupled with a fascination with family ancestry and vivid storytelling, is reflected in Lisajoy’s creative projects. Her fiction often delves into richly detailed settings and explores characters navigating the complexities of their times. Whether writing about the harrowing journey of her family in pre-WWII Europe or capturing the resilience of individuals in the face of change, Lisajoy brings depth, authenticity, and emotional resonance to her narratives.

Outside of her professional life, Lisajoy is an avid cyclist and skier, often traveling in her camper van with her partner and standard poodle Hops exploring new adventures. She has recently relocated to the Catskills Mountains, a decision influenced by her desire to embrace a balanced, family and community-focused lifestyle.

Lisajoy’s dedication to her craft, her community, and her passions makes her a multifaceted creative force. Through her writing and professional endeavors, she continues to bridge the gap between history, culture, and the shared human experience.

You can also find LisaJoy at:

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(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Ciao, Amore, Ciao by Sandro Martini - #bookspotlight #blogtour

Today I am shining the spotlight on this book, Ciao, Amore, Ciao by author, Sandro Martini.

The Blurb

In the winter of 1942, an Italian army of young men vanishes in the icefields of the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1945, a massacre in Schio, northeastern Italy, where families grieve the dead, makes international headlines.

In present-day Veneto, an ordinary man is about to stumble onto a horrifying secret.

Alex Lago is a jaded journalist whose career is fading as fast as his marriage. When he discovers an aged World War II photo in his dying father’s home, and innocently posts it to a Facebook group, he gets an urgent message: Take it down. NOW.

Alex finds himself digging into a past that needs to stay hidden. What he's about to uncover is a secret that can topple a political dynasty buried under seventy years of rubble. Suddenly entangled in a deadly legacy, he encounters the one person who can offer him redemption, for an unimaginable price.

Told from three alternating points of view, Martini’s World War II tale of intrigue, war, and heartbreak pulls the Iron Curtain back to reveal a country nursing its wounds after horrific defeat, an army of boys forever frozen at the gates of Stalingrad, British spies scheming to reshape Italy’s future, and the stinging unsolved murder of a partisan hero.

Ciao, Amore, Ciao is a gripping story of the most heroic, untold battle of the Second World War, and a brilliantly woven novel that brings the deceits of the past and the reckoning of the present together. It's an enthralling dual-timeline WWII family mystery, based on the heartbreaking true story of the massacre in a small town in Italy in July of 1945, from award-winning, bestselling novelist Sandro Martini.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1685135782

Publisher:  Black Rose Writing

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

No. of Pages:  385 (paperback)

Series:  Alex Lago Book 1

Purchase Links

Black Rose Writing

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Sandro Martini has worked as a word monkey on three continents. He's the author of Tracks: Racing the Sun, an award-winning historical novel.

Sandro grew up in Africa to immigrant parents, studied law in Italy, chased literary dreams in London, hustled American dollars in New York City, and is now hiding out in Switzerland, where he moonlights as a Comms guy and tries hard not to speak German.

You can find him either uber-driving his daughter, chasing faster cars on the autobahn, or swimming in Lake Zurich with a cockapoo named Tintin.

His latest historical suspense novel, Ciao, Amore, Ciao, is now available.

You can also find Sandro at:

Author Website

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

(all opinions are my own)

Reading Roundup for March 2024

 

Here we are, almost at the end of March and spring is in the air.

I am a little early with my reading roundup for March but I prefer to be early than late with things. I am one of those people that arrive everywhere half an hour before I need to be there!

Have you read anything good that you think I might like this month?

Books I Have Read

In Sickness and in Health/Yom Kippur in Gym by Nora Gold - This is a flip book of two novellas. Both were five star reads for me. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Shadow Network by Deborah Swift - An excellent book set during WWII. I was gripped by this. You can read my review by clicking here.

Dark Clouds Bring Waters by I. R. Ridley - A short book which made for beautiful reading. You can read my review by clicking here.

A Swift Return by Fiona Barker - A picture book for children with a strong ecological message. You can read my review by clicking here.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor - This modern classic was my favourite book this month. 

Newborn by Kerry Hudson - Such a good memoir about life as an expat during pregnancy and illness during the pandemic. You can read my review by clicking here.

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer - An excellent book with a time travel element. Well worth reading. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Teacher Who Knew Too Much by Rob Keeley - A lovely book for middle grade children. You can read my review by clicking here.

And Now There's Zelda by Carolyn Clarke - I loved this book which is being published in May. My review will not be published until then.

Wuthering Heights - by Emily Bronte - I have read this a few times already. It was chosen by my book group so read it again. It is not my favourite of the Bronte novels.

Counting Sheep: A Farmyard Counting Book by Michelle Robinson - This is a wonderful picture book for little ones and well worth reading. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Curious Kidnapping of Nora W. by Cate Green - This was another five star read for me. My review will be up later this week.

The Mistress by Valerie Keogh - I love her books. You can read my review clicking here.

The Complete Stories of A. A. Milne by A. A. Milne - A lovely and varied collection of stories from the creator of Winnie the Pooh. My review will be up tomorrow as part of the blog tour.

The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh - Beautifully written fiction about a soldier during the Vietnam War.

Books I Am Currently Reading

Does My Dog Love Me? by Graeme Hall

From Crime to Crime by Richard Henriques

Murder on the Dance Floor by Katie Marsh

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

10 Year Blogversary - My Favourite Book from 2013 - My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young

 

It's been a warm night. Summery. Quiet, as such nights go.

The shattering roar of the explosions was so very sudden, cracking though the physicality of air and earth, that every battered skull, and every baffled brain within those skulls, was shaken by it, and every surviving thought was shaken out. It shuddered eardrums and set livers quivering; it ran under skin, set up counter-waves of blood in veins and arteries, pierced rocking into the tiny canals of the sponge of the bone marrow. It clenched hearts, broke teeth, and reverberated in synapses and the spaces between cells. The men became a part of the noise, drowned in it, dismembered by it, saturated. They were of it. It was of them...

***

While Riley Purefoy and Peter Locke fight for their country, their survival and their sanity in the trenches of Flanders, Nadine Waveney, Julia Locke and Rose Locke do what they can at home. Beautiful, obsessive Julia and gentle, eccentric Peter are married: each day Julia goes through rituals to prepare for her beloved husband’s return. Nadine and Riley, only eighteen when the war starts, and with problems of their own already, want above all to make promises - but how can they when the future is not in their hands? And Rose? Well, what did happen to the traditionally brought-up women who lost all hope of marriage, because all the young men were dead?

Moving between Ypres, London and Paris, My Dear I Wanted to Tell You is a deeply affecting, moving and brilliant novel of love and war, and how they affect those left behind as well as those who fight.

***

This was my favourite read from 2013 and was originally posted on 19th November, 2013. I noted the price at the time as costing £3.86 that day. Today the same book would cost £9.19 from the same retailer. That is quite an increase, but I would still argue that it is worth every penny. 

I have updated the review a little so there is more information about the book and the author but essentially the review is as it appeared that day.

I was instantly drawn into this story by the intelligent prose of the Prologue which sets the scene, introduces the characters and establishes the main theme of the book right at the outset.  An explosion takes place on the battlefields of France, and Louisa Young demonstrates the ripple effect of this through a series of short paragraphs illustrating the thoughts of those who hear it both in France and across the Channel.

It was this ripple effect that I felt was one of the main themes of this book.  That the effects of war reach  much further than the soldiers themselves and extends to those whose involvement is far away from the battlefields and trenches.  Young men went to war and came back changed.  This also had significant repercussions on those left behind and reunions were not necessarily as had been hoped for, as the men who returned were not the same of those who had left.

This is also a story of love and of the class distinctions which existed prior to World War I.  It was interesting to read the reactions of both families to Riley trying to ‘better’ himself.  For me, it also raised questions as to whether the war changed attitudes to class?

This was much more than a book about war and love as it was thought provoking and informative.  The descriptions of the pioneering work being carried out at the Queens Hospital in Sidcup inspired me to find out more about it.  Any novel that makes me stop, think and research further has a lot to offer.  I have read quite a lot of novels set around World War I and in my opinion, this is one of the best.

ISBN:  978 0007361441

Publisher:  The Borough Press

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  416 (paperback)

About the Author:

Louisa Young is a history graduate, and worked as a journalist for British national newspapers and magazines for some years. Her first book was A Great Task of Happiness (1995), the life of Kathleen Bruce, her grandmother, the sculptor and wife of Scott of the Antarctic. She followed that with her Egyptian trilogy of novels: Baby Love (which was listed for the Orange Prize), Desiring Cairo and Tree of Pearls. They were followed by The Book of the Heart, a cultural history of our most symbolic organ. She has also published the Lionboy trilogy of children’s novels, written with her then ten-year-old daughter under the pseudonym Zizou Corder and two further children's novels, Lee Raven Boy Thief and Halo. 

Her 2011 bestseller My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2011 and the Wellcome Book Prize, was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice, and the first ever winner of the Galaxy Audiobook of the Year. It was followed by two sequels, The Heroes' Welcome and Devotion, and a memoir, You Left Early: A True Story of Love and Alcohol, about her relationship with the composer Robert Lockhart.

Her most recent book is a novel, Twelve Months and a Day.

She lives in London.

(photos courtesy of the author's website https://www.louisayoung.co.uk/)

(author bio courtesy of GR)

(all opinions are my own)

Top Ten New Releases in March 2023

 March is fast approaching and with it comes a whole fresh batch of new releases. There are some great ones coming up, and here are my top ten.

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children.

But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.

A beautiful, haunting novel, in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.

The Last Party at Silverton Hall by Rachel Burton

Two women. Two centuries. A life-changing night...

1952: Vivien and Max collide in the thick London smog. Within a few years, their whirlwind romance sees them living a quiet life on the Norfolk coast, blissfully happy with their beautiful daughter - at least, that's how it appears...

2019: Isobel is hoping for a fresh start when she inherits her beloved grandmother Vivien's house in Silverton Bay. But when she discovers an old photograph of Vivien at one of the infamous parties held at Silverton Hall in the 1950s, Isobel is forced to question how well she really knew her grandmother. Silverton Hall is a place Vivien swore she never went and never would - but why would she lie? And what other secrets was she keeping?

Together with an old friend, Isobel searches for answers. But is she prepared for the truth?

All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow

Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is Dolly - her clever, headstrong daughter, now on the cusp of leaving home.

Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday's book. Soon they are in and out of each others' homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo's polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.

A New Home in the Dales by Betty Firth

To follow her dream, she’s gone from city to village – but can she ever fit in?

October 1940. Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news herself. When she successfully applies for a junior reporter role at The Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales, she’s thrilled to be entering the world of journalism – even if she only gets the position because so many men are away fighting in the war.

Bobby moves to the sleepy village of Silverdale, but she quickly discovers life in the countryside is a different world. Not only does she need to win over the local animals – from rampaging bulls to belligerent geese – but there are a whole host of eccentric characters to get to know, not least of whom is her editor’s younger brother: charming but infuriating village vet Charlie.

As Bobby struggles to be taken seriously by the gruff dalesfolk, she starts to wonder if she’s made a huge mistake. Will the city girl ever find her place in the beautiful but hostile countryside of the Dales?

The Hagley Wood Murder by M.J. Trow

Nazi Spies and Witchcraft in Wartime Britain

Astonishingly, The Hagley Wood Murder is the first book solely on the subject (other than a selection of privately printed/self published offerings) ever written on this murder, which too place eighty years ago. In April 1943, four teenaged boys discovered a corpse stuffed into the bole of a wych elm in a wood in the industrial Midlands. The body was merely bones and had been in the tree for up to two years. The pathologist determined that she was female, probably in her thirties, had given birth and was just under five feet tall. The cause of death was probably suffocation. Six months after the discovery, mysterious messages began to appear on walls in the area, variants of Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm - Hagley Wood'. And the name Bella has stuck ever since. Local newspapers, then the national press, took up the story and ran with it, but not until 1968 was there a book on the case - Donald McCormick's Murder by Witchcraft - and that, like others that followed, tied Bella in with another supposedly occult murder, that of Charles Walton on Meon Hill in 1945. Any unsolved murder brings out the oddballs - the police files, only recently released, are full of them - and the nonsense still continues. The online versions are woeful - inaccuracy piled on supposition, laced with fiction. It did not help that a professional occultist, Dr Margaret Murray, expressed her belief, as early as 1953, that witchcraft was involved in Bella's murder. And ill-informed nonsense has been cobbled together to prove' that Dr Murray was right. McCormick's own involvement was in espionage and his book, slavishly copied by later privately printed efforts, have followed this tack too. It was wartime, so the anonymous woman in the wych elm had to be a spy, parachuted in by the Abwehr, the Nazi secret service. The Hagley Wood Murder is the first book to unravel the fiction of McCormick and others. It names Bella and her probable murderer. And if the conclusion is less over-the-top than the fabrications referred to above, it is still an intriguing tale of the world's oldest profession and the world's oldest crime!

If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin

A gripping, darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.

Every morning Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her, cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However, the guilt she still carries about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased.

Then, Janet finds herself involved in a train crash and, recognising the chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago, she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her, and for the first time her life has purpose and the future is filled with hope.

But Janet's story isn't quite what it seems, and as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn't an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face.

Where We Belong by Sarah Bennett

On paper, Hope Travers has an idyllic life.

Living in a bustling farmhouse with her mum, aunt and uncles, cousin and too many dogs to count, surrounded by the breath-taking Cotswolds countryside, she knows she is privileged and protected.

But all families have secrets, and the Travers family are no exception. Their farmhouse sits in the grounds of the Juniper Meadows estate, passed down through the generations and now being made to pay its own way with a myriad of businesses and projects. When a construction crew uncover what appear to be historical ruins, the history of the Travers family is put under ever closer scrutiny as a dig gets underway.

Hope may have found a blossoming romance with local archaeologist Cameron Ferguson who is running the dig, but when things start to go wrong around the estate and family secrets begin to be revealed, Hope wonders if she’s made a big mistake in digging up the past.

Rasputin and His Russian Queen by Mickey Mayhew

The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra

RASPUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP with Russia’s last Tsarina, Alexandra, notorious from the famous Boney M song, has never been adequately addressed; biographies are always for one or the other, or simply Alexandra and her husband Nicholas. In this new work, Mickey Mayhew reimagines Alexandra for the #MeToo generation; ‘neurotic’; ‘hysterical’; ‘credulous’ and ‘fanatical’ are shunted aside in favour of a sympathetic reimagining of a reserved and pious woman tossed into the heart of Russian aristocracy, with the sole purpose of providing their patriarchal monarchy with an heir. When her longed-for son then developed haemophilia, she turned to the one man capable of curing the child’s agonising pain – Grigory Rasputin. Some say that between them, Grigory and Alexandra brought down 300 years of Romanov rule and ushered in the Russian Revolution, but theirs was simply the story of a mother fighting for the health of her son against a backdrop of bigotry, sexism and increasing secularism. She liked to pray and he liked to party, but when they found themselves steering Russia through the First World War, her gender and his class gave society no option but to destroy them. Bubbling with his trademark bon mots, Mickey Mayhew’s latest book breathes fresh life into two of history’s most fascinating – and polarising – figures. This is the real story of Rasputin and his Russian Queen.

A Noble Cunning by Patricia Bernstein

The Countess and the Tower

A thrilling tale, based on a true story, of one woman's tremendous courage and incomparable wit in trying to rescue her husband from the Tower of London the night before he is to be executed.

The heroine of A Noble Cunning, Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, a persecuted Catholic noblewoman, is determined to try every possible means of saving her husband's life, with the help of a group of devoted women friends.

Amid the turbulence of the 1715 Rebellion against England's first German king George I, Bethan faces down a mob attack on her home, travels alone from the Scottish Lowlands to London through one of the worst snowstorms in many years, and confronts a cruel king before his court to plead for mercy for her husband Gavin. As a last resort, Bethan and her friends must devise and put in motion a devilishly complex scheme featuring multiple disguises and even the judicious use of poison to try to free Gavin.

Though rich with historical gossip and pageantry, Bethan's story also demonstrates the damage that politics and religious fanaticism can inflict on the lives of individuals.

The Letter by Josephine Cox

Bella can’t wait to be married to her fiancée Sidney, and dreams of the day she will walk up the aisle to be given away by her widowed father, with her bookish sister Alice as her bridesmaid.

Their lives are disturbed when they receive a letter from their fourteen-year-old cousin Millie. Taken in by her austere aunt and uncle when her parents were killed in an accident, Millie says she is being badly treated and pleads to be rescued.

When the two sisters take a trip to find out the truth, things take a troubling turn. Millie is brought home to live with them, her only possessions her ill-fitting clothes and a tatty suitcase.

But soon they are questioning this act of kindness. Does their teenaged cousin just need some love and kindness? Or is she a troublemaker, with only mischief and malice on her mind…?

After Silence by Jessica Gregson - #BookReview

 

Katya woke from nothing with her mouth closed on a gasp. This sudden coming back to herself, from something that wasn't sleep: there were no words for it, uncoiling her body, finding it already moving without her will. She saw her hand first, its five fingers as alien as an undersea creature, unrecognisable, pressed against flesh, red with blood. The feel of it, slick and hot, its unmistakable soft-firmness. Then her hearing, returning with a flood, and her own voice, mid-sentence: "...it's all right, it's all right."

A hand landed on her shoulder and Katya turned. She didn't know the face, but somehow associated it with wooden boards, open trucks and glances not met, a collection of independent impressions, clattering together like the shifting of stones, trodden on. The face spoke: "They're coming back."

***

Leningrad, 1941. German forces surround the city at the start of the most harrowing winter in its history. The siege becomes a battle for survival. Bodies fill the streets, and the crushing horror of cold, starvation and bone-deep fear is relentless.

Set against this background of tragedy and suffering, a remarkable group of musicians - soldiers and civilians, all of whom have been wasted by war and hunger - come together to perform Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony. They scarcely have the strength to carry their instruments, but their performance of this haunting and defiant new piece provides a rare light of hope in the darkness. Friendship, love and a vibrant passion for music combine in this ambitious, absorbing and richly sensuous masterpiece.

***

This is a wonderful novel which is strong in character, atmosphere and place.

Set in Leningrad during the siege of World War II the author uses this period and place to describe the bleak and horrific conditions in which the characters had to live and survive. I have rarely read a book whereby the author is able to create such an authentically bleak atmosphere in which to plant her characters, whilst simultaneously portraying hope, love and friendship.

Central to the story is the creation of an orchestra set amongst the ruins of the city. Weakened from little food, the characters who are central to the narrative, enlist for this orchestra largely for the extra rations they will be provided with. However, we soon learn that it is about so much more than that. Music is the lifeblood of these people and is central to the story.

The characters are exquisitely portrayed, and the author recognised exactly the right point in to which to insert the back story of the main characters without interrupting the narrative. This perfectly seamless movement through time added hugely to the novel and provided the reader with a better understanding of the characters.

I do not think that I will be able to forget Katya and Dima in a hurry. They represent all that good fictional characters should be and I highly recommend this book. Readers who enjoy historical fiction or music will enjoy this book.

ISBN: 978 1838498764

Publisher: Deixis Press

Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback

No of Pages: 474 (paperback)

About the Author:

Jessica was born in London in 1978. She is now a humanitarian education specialist and a writer, with occasional forays into other careers. Her first novel, The Angel Makers, was published in 2007 and has since sold to nine international markets. Her second novel, The Ice Cream Army, was published in 2009. She has lived and worked in a variety of places, including South Sudan, Myanmar and Azerbaijan, and currently divides her time between Glasgow and everywhere else.

(ARC provided courtesy of the publisher)

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

Kingdom of Twilight by Steven Uhly - #TuesdayTeaser

 Hello and welcome to this week's Tuesday Teaser. The place where we take a sneaky peek at a book that has caught my eye.

This week we are looking at Kingdom of Twilight by Steven Uhly.

Steven was born in 1964 in Cologne and is of German-Bengali descent, and partially rooted in Spanish culture. He has studied literature, served as the head of an institute in Brazil, and translated poetry and prose from Spanish, Portuguese, and English. He lives in Munich with his family.

The Blurb

One night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An S.S. officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles - one for every year of the dead man's life. First hidden by a German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her new-born baby.

So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. Kingdom of Twilight follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former S.S. officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from Displaced Persons camps to Lübeck, Berlin, Tel Aviv and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it.

Hypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly's epic novel is a finely nuanced and yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity and redemption.

The Beginning

One

He had followed a short, haggard man in shabby clothes, who seemed a nasty enough piece of work to betray a few of his fellow countrymen. They'd been hiding in the church, the Pole had said in his thick accent. But we searched every nook and cranny, not a soul there.  The Pole just shrugged as if to suggest, It's not my fault you didn't find them. He knew that the German would follow him, even if he suspected that the Pole would try to lead him astray, stall him to stay alive himself, or try some other dirty trick. The German would follow him, lured by the prospect of more Jews, maybe even women, the short man had made vague mention of women as if to avoid overstating his promise. And he was right.

The German followed him through the winding alleys, ignoring the fine rain that fell incessantly on the city like a cold, silk cloth, lending everything a silver-grey sheen, the low, crooked houses, which were narrow and packed together so tightly as if unable ever to get warm. The steeply pitched roofs glistened like molten tar and the uneven cobbles were slippery. The Pole was wearing a pair of old, well-worn shoes, his footsteps made only a muffled scraping on the stones, which was drowned out by the hard pounding of the army boots following in his wake.

The German strode past the furtive windows with the assuredness of an untouchable...

***

An interesting beginning to this book. I think it will build into an intense narrative. What do you think?

The Poppy Factory by Liz Trenow - #TuesdayTeaser

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Teaser. The place where you can have a sneak peek at a book that has caught my eye. It won't necessarily be a new release but will be something exciting that I would like to read.

This weeks book is The Poppy Factory by Liz Kernow. It has been published in the US under the title All the Things we Lost. Published by Avon Books it is one of several interesting titles by this author.

Liz started writing fiction after a long career in newspaper and broadcast journalism, and is now the author of best-selling historical fiction which is published all over the world.  She combines writing with spending time with her family, her artist husband, two grown-up daughters and three grandchildren. 

Once again, I am surprised that I have not read any of her books as I am a big fan of historical fiction. I am looking forward to reading this book and I hope that you will join me.

The Blurb

With the end of the First World War, Rose is looking forward to welcoming home her beloved husband, Alfie, from the battlefields. But his return is not what Rose had expected. Traumatised by what he has seen, the Alfie who comes home is a different man to the one Rose married. As he struggles to cope with life in peacetime, Rose wrestles with temptation as the man she fell in love with seems lost forever.

Many years later, Jess returns from her final tour of Afghanistan. Haunted by nightmares from her time at the front, her longed-for homecoming is a disaster and she wonders if her life will ever be the same again. Can comfort come through her great-grandmother Rose's diaries?

For Jess and Rose, the realities of war have terrible consequences. Can the Poppy Factory, set up to help injured soldiers, rescue them both from the heartache of war?

A captivating story of two young women, bound together by the tragedy of two very different wars. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Maureen Lee.

The Beginning

Chapter One

An uneasy silence fell as the plane lurched bumpily around a spiral holding pattern above Heathrow. England was somewhere below, shrouded in slate grey clouds. Even the lads had finally stopped talking.

On reaching safe airspace half an hour out of Camp Bastion, six long months of constant fear and tension had been released like a spring-loaded jack-in-the-box into an eruption of shouting singing and laughter. They'd bellowed loud boasts across the aisles detailing exactly what and how much they would drink on their first night of leave in six long dry months and bragged raucously about the sexual conquests they would make, forgetting that the two activities were usually incompatible. They'd embroidered ever more unlikely details about how they would spend their Long Overseas Allowance, the main bonus of the tour. And just a few of them, in quieter voices, had talked of family; parents and siblings, wives, girlfriends and children, the comfort of their own beds, and real, home-cooked food. 

She'd come to tolerate and sometimes even enjoy the lads' banter, their insults and juvenile pranks, their lavatory humour. She knew now that it was just the way they got through; underneath they were thoughtful human beings with the same fears as anyone else. For all their piss-taking and petty squabbling, when everything kicked off, they'd gladly give their lives for each other. Some had even done so.

ISBN: 978 0007510481

Publisher: Avon Books