📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ The Lost Memories by Lorna Cook

Avon Books
28 March 2024

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Suffolk, 1944. American pilot Charlie’s second tour is about to draw to a close, but his heart is forever changed when he meets Kitty, a local girl with dreams of joining the Women’s Land Army. As love blooms, the pair are all too aware that every perilous mission Charlie flies may well be his last…

Suffolk, 2011. When Kitty’s granddaughter and ambitious tearoom owner Amy meets American tourist and photographer Jack, she agrees to show him around in exchange for his photographic talents. The deal quickly grows into an unexpected bond – but when long-buried secrets emerge, neither of their worlds will ever be the same again..

📖 My Review..

This dual timeline story shares the story of Kitty and Charlie in 1944 and that of Kitty's granddaughter, Amy in 2011. Both time frames sit comfortably together and as the stories start to weave together and overlap so a beautiful love story starts to emerge. 

Long buried secrets which Kitty has kept hidden gives the book its heart and soul and as her story evolves so we get to know more about the quiet Suffolk village where her father owns the local pub and the effect of having a US air force base so close to the village has on the villagers. Time and place come alive and I was equally at home in 1944 sharing the excitement as the American bombers fly backwards and forwards on their missions into Europe, as I was with Amy's life in 2011 running her tea-shop and catering for local events.

This emotional story really tugs away at the heart strings but it is so beautifully described that I couldn't help but be invested in all of the characters, especially Kitty and Charlie in 1944 whose fated love story reiterated just how much couples suffered during the war time years. The  uncertainty of life was never taken for granted, and young lovers living for the moment is given wings to fly in this lovely story of lost love, and forever love.

Beautifully written, and imaginatively described, as all this talented author's historical novels are, I have no hesitation of making The Lost Memories my Featured Book of the Month for May.

About the Author

Lorna Cook is the author of six historical fiction novels, weaving secrets and forgotten history with mystery and romance. She also writes contemporary fiction under the name Elle Cook.

Website

X @lornacookauthor

@AvonBooksUK

📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Butterflies from Candlestick Press

 

Candlestick Press
April 2024

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this poetry pamphlet

Butterflies must be the most beautiful of all insects. They are with us while the warm weather lasts, and seeing a Brimstone in a garden early in the year is one of the most delightful heralds of spring’s arrival.

The vividness and frailty of butterflies as they flicker across our summer meadows are why they seem to embody a sense of transience – and may also be why they are so popular with poets. For Judith Wright a butterfly’s short life is all about love:

“Lifted by air and dream

they rose and circled into heaven’s slipstream

to seek each other over fields of blue.”

from ‘Wings’ by Judith Wright

This glorious selection celebrates butterflies from all over the world – from a Swallowtail in the English Fens to a Spotted Jezebel in Australia – and reminds us to look closely at their dazzling beauty while we can.

Poems by Nandi Chinna, John Clare, WH Davies, Emily Dickinson, Robert Graves, Matthew Hollis, John Kinsella, Grace Nichols, Giles Watson and Judith Wright.

Cover illustration by Carry Akroyd.

 📖My Review ..

There's nothing more magical than seeing a butterfly appear on a warm summer's afternoon and as it gently flits from flower to flower there is a visible gentleness which belies its strength. However, some of our native British butterflies are in decline, environmental changes and loss of habitat means that since the 1970s over 80% of our native butterflies have declined, which is a tragic loss. This collection of ten poems celebrates these beautiful insects and reminds us just how precious there are to our global eco system.

Emily Dickinson's From Cocoon forth a Butterfly gets the collection off to a wonderful start:

" From Cocoon forth  a Butterfly

As Lady from her Door

Emerged - a Summer Afternoon

Repairing Everywhere "

I'm always excited when I spot a butterfly I recognise and Speckled Wood by Giles Watson shares the magic of this delicate insect:

"Speckled Woods get me every time

with that sudden flash of twenty-four carat

gold, inlaid with sepia, perching on a leaf "

To an early butterfly from The Village Minstrel by John Clare reminds of our long fascination with these exquisite creatures:

" Thrice welcome here again thou fluttering thing
That gaily seeks about the opening flower
& opes & shuts thy gaudy spangld wing
Upon its bosom in the sunny hour "

These stunning little creatures, who add such a touch of magic to a warm afternoon, are justifiably celebrated in this collection of ten wonderful poems. The colourful cover, with its beautiful illustrations of Painted Ladies, Peacocks, Holly Blues Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, make this poetry pamphlet something quite special.  A perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves the simple beauty of butterflies and the natural world.

About the Publisher

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle

Website

📖 Book Review ~ Sorry Men by Daniel Bird

 

Signal 8 Press
1 March 2024

My thanks to Cameron Publicity for my copy of this book

A father has his daughter’s crayon drawings tattooed all over his body so he can never lose sight of them. A commuter pretends to be Russian in an attempt to avoid being robbed. After a first date, a lovesick man plays it cooler than anybody ever has. The ex-husband of a lottery winner finds optimism in the numbers she chose. Two astronauts scour the solar system for a new home for mankind whilst pining for their exes. The world of Sorry Men is one of earnestness and desperation;fate and farce; hilarity and hopelessness. It absolutely will not restore your faith in men.

📖 My Review..

I read through Sorry Men in the space of an afternoon, dipping into and out of the stories at whim. Some made me smile, others made me ponder and even one or two exasperated me but collectively this set of 35 shortish stories kept me entertained.

The author writes well and gets the gist of the story across with relatively few words something that is not always easy to do, especially in a story which sometimes lasts just a few pages. As with any collection there were definitely some stories which I enjoyed more than others but that's the simple beauty of a collection, if you don't like the story, you can just move on to the next one.

The premise of the story reads that It absolutely will not restore your faith in men which I think is fair comment as none of these stories show men in a particularly favourable way but at least you know what you are getting and it's a quirky read which may appeal to some readers more than others.

About the Author

Daniel Bird grew up in Dorset, England, where he never missed a day of his paper round. He studied Drama and Theatre Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. His stories are usually comical, occasionally dark, and always short.

His work has appeared in Liars’ League Hong Kong; Litro; Reflex Press; Mono; Fragmented Voices, and Coffin Bell. He lives and works in Hong Kong.

His first book Sorry Men is now available in paperback and ebook.

Website

@CameronPRtweets

📖 Blog Tour ~The Human Kind by Alexander Baron

 

Imperial War Museum
2024

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book
and to Random Things Tours for the invitation to the blog tour

MARKING THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMS WARTIME CLASSICS SERIES

Alexander Baron’s remarkable Trilogy of the Second World War to be published together for the first time

Spanning the Sicilian countryside to the brothels of Ostend, and the final book in Alexander Baron’s War Trilogy, The Human Kind is a series of pithy vignettes reflective of the author’s own wartime experiences.

From the interminable days of training in Britain to brutal combat across Northwest Europe, the book depicts many of the men, women – and, in some cases, children – affected by the widespread reach of the Second World War.

In his trademark spare prose, Baron’s work provides an emotive and incisive snapshot into the lives of myriad characters during this tumultuous period in history.

Based on Alexander Baron’s own wartime experiences, this new edition of a 1953 classic includes an introduction from IWM which puts the work in historical context, and concludes the author’s War Trilogy.

📖 My Review..

Based on the author’s own wartime experiences, and first published in 1953, this last volume completes the War Trilogy which began with From the City, From the Plough and There’s No Home. In this collection of twenty five short stories Alexander Baron focuses on what war meant to the ordinary people who were caught up in extraordinary events. It’s an interesting collection and perhaps not what I was expecting, as it reads a bit like a personal memoir however, each of the stories have a beautiful lyrical quality which bring into stark reality some unique war time experiences. 

Some stories are quite difficult to read with emotional content which show the suffering, others are a little lighter but no less powerful. I was particularly impressed by The White Domain which shares the experiences of coal miners who were working alongside soldiers in constructing underground headquarters and on finishing Old Beethoven I have to admit to shedding a few tears. There are many of the twenty five stories which have stayed with me, particularly Chicolino which reiterates the vulnerability of children and their means of survival.

I have been particularly impressed by the stark power of these stories which linger in your mind even when you move onto the next one. Beautifully written, The Human Kind reminded me that although for us in the twenty first century these stories now read as historical fiction, for the author, this challenging time was his war-time reality and his powerful writing reminds us, quite forcibly, of that fact.

About the Author

Alexander Baron (1917 – 1999) was a British author and screenwriter. Widely acclaimed in his lifetime, he rose to prominence with his first novel, From the City, From the Plough, published in 1948 and based on his experiences of D-Day and the advance into Normandy.

It quickly became a bestseller, achieving both popular success and critical acclaim, and reportedly went on to sell in excess of one million copies. The novel cemented Baron’s reputation as a skilled, powerful, authentic writer, and he went on to write many more books, including the second and third in the sequence, both best-sellers, alongside scripts for Hollywood and screenplays for the BBC.

Twitter /  X @I_W_M #WartimeClassics #TheHumanKind

@AngelaMaryMar @RandomTTours

📖 Blog Tour ~ The Irish Key by Daisy O'Shea

Bookouture

24 April 2024

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

‘Take the key, my pet. I can’t ever go back. The last letter I had from Ireland was clear about that. But one day you may need a safe haven, and it’s the one thing I can give you. Ireland is in your blood, it will keep you safe.’

When Grace arrives tired, tearful and rain-soaked in Roone Bay, the little Irish village where her grandmother Caitlin grew up, she is overwhelmed with longing for Caitlin’s safe, warm arms. The crumbling wreck of Caitlin’s once-beautiful childhood cottage – whose key Grace was given on her wedding day as a secret refuge if she ever needed it – is not the fresh start she’d hoped for. But with her young daughter Olivia to look after and a painful past to hide from, Grace has to stay strong. 

Plucking up the courage to ask for help from her kind new neighbours – including quietly rugged carpenter Sean Murphy – Grace gets to work making the house habitable. Soon the view of the deep emerald sea has her captivated, Olivia is blossoming, and Sean makes her laugh in a way she’d forgotten she could… As she learns more about her family history, with Sean by her side, Grace’s curiosity unearths only further mystery. 

What drove Caitlin away from Ireland, never to return? But when Grace uncovers a long-lost letter to Caitlin that reveals the heartbreaking truth, she is suddenly threatened by her own devastating secrets. Grace may have finally found a home for her little family. But when faced with everything she ran from, will the past tear her apart once more? Or will Grace find the strength to stand up for her daughter, her love for Sean, and her new life in Ireland?

📖 My Review

Grace and her daughter Olivia arrive in the small coastal village of Roone Bay in Ireland. Leaving her controlling husband has been a huge upheaval but Grace is determined to make  a fresh start in the place where her family once called home. However, she arrives to find the family home little more than a ruin and with no place to stay Grace is astonished at the kindness of strangers and with the help of these kind people Grace and Olivia can begin to heal.

Beautifully written with a strong theme of special friendships and the anguish of long buried secrets The Irish Key soon finds its way into your heart and I couldn't wait to see how Grace and Olivia's story would play out in the wider context of this lovely story. I enjoyed the interactions between the central characters especially Grace's burgeoning relationship with Sean Murphy and the special connection she has with Noel O'Donovan who owns the big house in the village.

Filled with a strong sense of time and place the story moves between time frames so that we get to understand what Grace is leaving behind and with the strength of the story in Ireland pulling the whole thing together this really is a memorable story and one which stays with you long after the last page is read.

About the Author

Sue Lewando was a teacher for several years before migrating to the office environment, where she was PA to the Treasurer of Clarks Shoes, a multi-national company, then, briefly, PA to Susan George, the actress best known for Straw Dogs. Sue had many genre books published (M&B and Virgin), under pseudonyms, and self-publishes her crime thrillers. She was on the committee of the Romantic Novelists’ Association in England, for whom she assessed typescripts. She has been a fiction tutor for the London School of Journalism for twenty years. She has two grown-up children, a happy second marriage, and a bundle of cats and dogs. She moved to West Cork with her husband to undertake a farmhouse refurbishment project, foster their joint passion for playing Irish traditional music, and to invest time in their individual academic projects. She recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at UCC, taking the opportunity to explore diverse writing genres. She works with the Jeremy Murphy Literary Consultancy in the capacity of typescript analyst, ghostwriter, editor, and online publishing advisor. She loves good commercial fiction, and is a devotee of the Oxford comma.

Twitter / X @bookouture #TheIrishKey #BooksOnTour

Buy Link

📖 Book Review ~ Times’s Prisoner by Linda Gillard

 

10 February 2024
Independently Published

The dead are invisible. They are not absent.

With her personal and professional life in ruins, Jane Summers, author of historical whodunnits, receives an extraordinary bequest from an old enemy. But there’s a condition attached. If she is to become more than just a sitting tenant at Wyngrave Hall, a crumbling Elizabethan manor house, Jane must solve a centuries-old mystery.

She invites a motley crew of women to share her new life at the Hall: Rosamund, a tough but troubled nurse; Sylvia, retired actress and national treasure; loyal Bridget, gardener and handywoman, who knows the chequered history of Wyngrave Hall and understood the selfish eccentricities of its previous owner.

But unknown to the women of Wyngrave Hall, there is another, unseen occupant, one with a desperate agenda: to enlist Jane’s help solving the coldest of cold cases.

📖My Review..

Jane Summers is astonished by an unexpected legacy which gives her the tenancy of Wyngrave Hall, an Elizabethan Manor House which has its fair share of secrets. Sharing her good fortune with three other women, Jane soon finds that the house has its own distinct personality and with a centuries old mystery to solve she soon finds that there is certainly enough to keep her occupied.

As always this talented author brings time and place alive in the imagination, the story is wonderfully descriptive and as the mystery is revealed piece by piece so we get a glimpse into the dark heart of Wyngrave Hall and the deadly secret which as been kept for centuries. The cast of characters blend into the story so seamlessly that there are never any clunky moments or the distraction of one character hogging the limelight although there is one mysterious character who I developed a real fondness for and enjoyed their time on the page. Moments of humour interspersed with a genuine feeling of doom the story reads like a Shakespearean tragedy which is enhanced by quotations from Hamlet which head each chapter and which herald events as they unfold.  

Time’s Prisoner is a lovely blended story which takes the sadness and secrets of the past and brings them entirely up to date in a compelling story which resonates from the chilling prologue and which doesn’t let go of your imagination until the last page is turned and even then days after I finished I found myself wondering how the occupants of Wyngrave Hall were faring. I’m thrilled to learn that the author is writing a sequel. Fabulous!

About the Author

Linda Gillard lives in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She’s the author of ten novels, including STAR GAZING, shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year in 2009 and the Robin Jenkins Literary Award for writing that promotes the Scottish landscape.

HOUSE OF SILENCE and THE MEMORY TREE became Kindle bestsellers. Linda's tenth novel, TIME'S PRISONER was published in February 2024 and she's now working on a sequel.

Website

📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ A Duke of One's Own by Emma Orchard

Boldwood
22 April 2024

Thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Summer, 1816. A notorious rebel is about to meet her match...

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury is no stranger to breaking the rules of polite society. But when a so-called ‘friend’ invites her to a clandestine party, Georgiana is shocked to discover the event is more scandalous than even she could have imagined. So when a mysterious stranger offers help, she accepts, not realising their encounter will turn her life upside down.

Later that summer, Georgiana is invited to attend a house party at an infamous castle in Yorkshire. The gathering is a loosely veiled effort to arrange a marriage for the Duke of Northriding, who desperately needs an heir. Duke Gabriel Mauleverer has a terrible reputation as a rake, and Georgiana is happy to be a guest purely for the entertainment, but upon arrival, she is shocked to discover that the Duke is none other than the stranger who rescued her weeks earlier.

As the other ladies vie for the Duke’s attention, Georgiana is desperate to avoid their shocking secret getting out. But she finds herself caught, unable to avoid Gabriel’s gaze. Are they a threat to each other? Or could they be the answer to each other’s greatest desires?

My Review..

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury isn't your usual Regency miss, she enjoys a rather unconventional lifestyle which inevitably leads her into trouble. Her meeting, one night, with a mysterious stranger changes the course of both their lives and brings unexpected results. Whilst the Silver Duke has his own rather louche lifestyle, he can't get this beautiful stranger out of his mind and when he meets her again, sparks fly in more ways than one.

This is a lively, and rather spicy, romp through the vagaries of Regency society where there is never a dull moment as we observe as aged roués gather in the jaded decadence of a London salon, to the starkness of a Yorkshire castle where prospective brides are paraded in front of Gabriel Mauleverer, Duke of Northriding, as he attempts to pick out his future wife.  I raced through the story in a couple of afternoons, there's a nice amount of intrigue to keep interest, and lots of sparky passion between the lead characters and whilst the peripheral characters add interest this really is Georgie and Gabriel's story. 

A Duke of One's Own has a hint of a modern day Georgette Heyer, the narrative is authentic, no modernisms to spoil the flow, and whilst it is unashamedly sexy, it is also super duper romantic.

About the Author

Emma Orchard was born in Salford. She studied English Literature at the Universities of Edinburgh and York, before working behind the scenes in publishing and television for many years. Her first job was at Mills & Boon, where she met her husband in a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. She now lives in North London.

X @EmmaOrchardB #ADukeofOnesOwn

@BoldwoodBook