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Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen

 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

This edition published 6th November 2008 by Penguin Classics. Originally published 1811.

Audio book narrated by Juliet Stevenson.

From the cover of the book:

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. 

Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. 

Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

***********

Sense and Sensibility is Austen's first published novel. Appearing in 1811, it was based on an earlier draft in epistolary form entitled Elinor and Marianne. The story follows the fortunes of three sisters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret Dashwood, and their widowed mother, who are forced to leave their home, the palatial Norland Park estate in Sussex, when it passes to the girls' older half-brother, John. John gives his father a deathbed vow to ensure his half-sisters are well provided for, but reneges on his promise under the influence of his awful wife Fanny, leaving them rather worse off than they hoped.

Fanny's usurping of Mrs Dashwood's position at Norland quickly becomes unbearable, but then Fanny's unassuming brother Edward Ferrars arrives. He is as different from his cold sister as possible, and a romance kindles between him and sensible Elinor, causing much indignation on the part of Fanny who hopes (along with their domineering mother) for him to establish himself in a profession of importance and marry an heiress (he much prefers the church).

The Dashwoods eventually escape Fanny's snide remarks in favour of a cottage on the estate of a distant relation, Sir John Middleton of Barton Park. With a sore heart, Elinor (who she hopes will see Edward again), her mother, and her sisters settle into life in Devon, and the attentions of the Middleton family - in whose company Elinor has a confidence foisted upon her that threatens her happiness. Marianne loses her heart too, when dashing John Willoughby (literally) sweeps her off her feet. Willoughby's open and expressive nature matches her own, and all around them pronounce them a love match. Meanwhile, the older friend of Sir John, Colonel Brandon, who knows things Willoughby would not like made public, looks on with little hope of attracting Marianne's heart...

There are many fateful twists and turns focusing on the romantic journeys of Elinor and Marianne, particularly when it comes to the differences in their temperaments - level headed, circumspect Elinor representing the 'Sense' part of the equation, and impulsive, demonstrative Marianne the overblown 'Sensibility' side. Threads about secrets, seduction, selfishness, misguided prejudice, youthful foolishness, indulging your emotions, and coping with heartache lead to hard lessons for the sisters - but happy endings do roll around for them, and I like to think they ultimately meet in the middle of the Sense-Sensibility scale.

This is one of my favourite Austen's, and Elinor is one of her most likeable heroines (after Anne Elliot and Lizzie Bennet). Her innermost thoughts about the shenanigans that play out are so relatable, and her love story with Edward is enchanting. There is also something very lovely about the superiority of steady, sincere male suitors over the more flashy, inconstant ones in this story (hello, gentle Edward, and swoon-worthy Colonel Brandon).

Austen fills this with great characters all round, be they loud and vacuous, smarmily conniving, blindly prejudiced, comically buffoonish, or heart-warming gems. It takes a while for some of them to show their true colours, which adds greatly to the fun, unlike Austen's delicious satirical wit which is in evidence from the very beginning to poke fun at different aspects of Regency society.

Austen being Austen, there are also much deeper themes at play in this story. There are interesting reflections on inheritance laws that work against women, as well as about money, morality, and the faces we show to the outside world.

It was a joy to revisit this story for #JaneAusten250 through the voice talents of Juliet Stevenson via audio book - her narrations are always excellent. 

Where to next...? Northanger Abbey, I think!

Sense and Sensibility is available to buy now is multiple formats.

About the author:

Jane Austen, the daughter of a clergyman, was born in Hampshire in 1775, and later lived in Bath and the village of Chawton. As a child and teenager, she wrote brilliantly witty stories for her family's amusement, as well as a novella, Lady Susan.

Her first published novel was Sense and Sensibility, which appeared in 1811 and was soon followed by Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma.

Austen died in 1817, and Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously in 1818.

 March 2025 Reading Round-Up

What a lovely selection of books made up my March reading.

You can find your way to my reviews of these gems by clicking on the pictures below:

The Stolen Child by Carmel Harrington

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

The McQueen Legacy by Stewart McDowall

The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson

The Last Days of Summer by Sarra Manning

Small Fires by Ronnie Turner

A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow

Son by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger

A Proper Mother by Isobel Shirlaw

The Man She Married by Alison Stockham

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

A Gentleman's Offer by Emma Orchard

From London With Love by Katie Fforde

Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson

Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie

If you have enjoyed my pictures, and prefer shorter, snappier reviews, why not check out my Instagram feed at @brownflopsy

Bring on the April books!

Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie

 

Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie.

Published 1937 as part of the collection Murder in the Mews and other stories.

Audio book narrated by Hugh Fraser. Released January 2009. 2hours and 21 minutes.

From the cover of the book:

Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore suspects he is the victim of fraud and contacts Hercule Poirot. The host’s failure to answer to the dinner gong leads to the discovery of his body in the study.

A gun, a shattered mirror – the obvious inference is suicide until Poirot begins his investigation…

Hugh Fraser, known to millions as Captain Hastings in the Poirot productions on television, gives a first-class performance.

***********

Just time to squeeze in another little audio book review before April comes a-knocking, and there is method to my madness here, because it has a link to Three Act Tragedy my March pick for #ReadChristie2025 - the connection is the mysterious Mr Satterthwaite who has a very brief appearance at the beginning of this short story, in which he actually mentions the Crow's Nest affair! 

In this expanded version of Christie's earlier short story The Second Gong, Poirot is summoned to the home of wealthy Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore, who believes he is being conned in some way. Poirot consults his pal Satterthwaite for the low down on Sir Gervase, and hears him described as an ego maniac with a very eccentric wife. Intrigued, Poirot heads to the Chevenix-Gore estate, but does not get to meet Sir Gervase (alive anyway), as he is found dead in his locked study with a shattered mirror, apparently having committed suicide. 

Poirot and chief Constable Major Riddle set about questioning the rum lot of family, friends, romantic interests, and staff in the house, eliciting widely varying descriptions of Sir Gervase's state of mind and intentions. Poirot, of course, discovers that this was not suicide after all, basing his findings on pertinent clues about the sounding of the dinner going, a stray pencil in the shape of a bullet, the position of Sir Gervase's chair, foot prints in the flower bed, and his ideas about a Chevenix-Gore family secret! Bravo little grey cells! 

This is such a fun mystery, as Christie really plays up the absurdity factor in her characters, particularly what we learn about the reputedly not very pleasant Sir Gervase and the delusional behaviour of his batty wife Vanda. 😆

Beautifully narrated by my fav Hugh Fraser too! 

Have you spotted Mr Satterthwaite in any other Poirot stories? I know he features in the Harley Quinn ones, which I have not read yet - something I need to remedy very soon.

Next Christie up is The Seven Dials Mystery for April's Characters And Careers prompt Butlers! 

Dead Man's Mirror is available to buy in multiple formats.

About the author:

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson

 

Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson.

This edition published 1st August 2019 by Penguin Modern Classics. Originally published 1952.

From the cover of the book:

A darkly funny account of family life from the author of The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery.

'Sometimes, in my capacity as a mother, I find myself sitting open-mouthed and terrified before my own children'

As well as being a master of the macabre, Shirley Jackson was also a pitch-perfect chronicler of everyday family life. In Life Among the Savages, her caustically funny account of raising her children in a ramshackle house in Vermont, she deals with rats in the cellar, misbehaving imaginary friends, an oblivious husband and ever-encroaching domestic chaos, all described with wit, warmth and plenty of bite.

***********

If you enjoy your stories on the unsettling side, then you will surely have heard of the renowned Shirley Jackson, and may even have read some of her classic novels too, as I have. However, I was completely unaware that she had also written about her own life in two novellas - Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons, until now, and it has been an absolute joy to sip the first of these in quieter moments this month.

Life Among the Savages was originally published as a series of semi-fictionalised short stories by Jackson for women's magazines, which were subsequently collected together and published in novella form in 1952. This gives the book a feeling like you are dropping in on moments in the life of Jackson and her amusingly chaotic family, which I rather enjoyed, and it makes it an easy one to pick and put down as the mood takes you.

The novella begins as Jackson, her husband, their two small children, one dog and two cats move from New York to a ramshackle house in rural Vermont, and follows them through their trials, tribulations, family dramas, and the addition of two more children to the household over the next few years - ending at the point when child number four is born.

Jackson's style is witty and engaging as she regales you with incident after hilarious incident of trying to cope with domesticity in the sticks, and the antics of her brood (and husband) - issues with the large and rackety house, pet related pandemonium, and all manner of child-centred commotion provide fodder for her sharply observed attention. Much of this is atmospherically 1950s in nature, especially the family dynamics and social structure, which provide a fascinating view of small town America of the era, but there is so much in these pages that is relatable when it comes to the old parenting lark too.

I chuckled throughout, lapping up absurd situations such as oscillating squirrels; conversations at cross-purposes; imaginary friends, identities, and even whole families that must be considered in the most trying of situations; and many more golden moments. There is an aching poignancy underlying much of the comedy too, which is hard to put into words. 

This was an unexpected delight, in a style that I did not appreciate Jackson could write so well, given the difference between this comic gem and her darker novels. I cannot wait to pick up a copy of the next part of their adventures, Raising Demons.

Life Among the Savages is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1916. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story "The Lottery," which was published in 1948. Her novels--which include The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House--are characterized by her use of realistic settings for tales that often involve elements of horror and the occult. 

Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are her two works of nonfiction. Come Along With Me is a collection of stories, lectures, and part of the novel she was working on when she died in 1965. All are currently in print (Penguin). 

Two posthumous volumes of her short fiction are Just An Ordinary Day (Bantam) and Let Me Tell You (Random House). A graphic novel adaptation of "The Lottery" by Miles Hyman, her grandson, was published in 2016 (Farrar-Straus-Giroux). #

Also in 2016: Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson (Penguin Classics) and an authorized biography by Ruth Franklin: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (Norton).

From London With Love by Katie Fforde

 

From London With Love by Katie Fforde.

Published 13th February 2025 by Century.

From the cover of the book:

It’s 1968 and it’s cold when Felicity arrives in London to stay with her mother, improve her English, do a secretarial course - and meet a suitable man.

She is already missing her home in Provence and her father and his new wife and their extended family. But it’s only for a year she tells herself - and then she can go back to France and do what she really wants and become a painter.

And then she bumps into Oliver who is quite the most interesting young man she has ever met. He lives on a barge for one thing and has a collection of jobs, but his passion is looking for hidden treasures along the shores of the river Thames.

In a word, he’s a mudlarker - and before long Felicity is mudlarking too. She is also pursuing her dreams and painting scenery for Oliver’s actor friends.

But is Oliver a Suitable Man of whom her mother will approve? Felicity knows she will not …

Love, tangled relationships, and a real life adventure lie at the heart of Katie Fforde’s heart-warming new novel.

***********

London, Autumn 1968. Felicity arrives in London to stay with her mother for a year, while she takes a secretarial course - and to possibly enjoy a taste of the swinging times she keeps hearing about, especially when it comes to a little romance (with a 'suitable' man, course).

Missing her father, step-mother, and siblings, who she has left behind at their rambling chateau in rural Provence, not to mention the comfort of the family dogs, Felicity finds it hard to settle into city life with her stiffly correct mother, and the women on her course who she has little in common with. She longs for the next few months to be over so she can return to France and follow her passion to become an artist.

But she soon finds a welcoming presence in Violet, who has also recently arrived in London from her father's sprawling manor house in the country to take a job in a London book shop, and who is staying in the apartment upstairs. The two quickly become firm friends. Then the chance of romance appears in the form of the handsome, dramatic, and often inconveniently muddy, Oliver, who lives on a barge and loves to go mudlarking on the banks of the Thames. But Felicity fears he is definitely not the kind of man her mother would approve of...

This latest gorgeous novel from Katie Fforde picks up the reins of her earlier stories about family, friendship, and romance - this time through the adventures of Felicity, who travels to England for a taste of Swinging London, under the beady eye of her mother, the terribly proper Lucinda. Fans will be very pleased to know that several familiar faces from the series appear in this story, particularly the chateau crowd, but this book is very much about Felicity and Violet, so can be read as a standalone.

With elegant charm, and a nicely wrought backdrop that sizzles with 1960's atmosphere and social history, Fforde weaves two central love stories which will keep you in perfectly pitched romantic suspense until the warm and wonderful threads work themselves out - the stop-start, bumpy love affair of Felicity and chaotic Oliver, and the more gentle meanderings of the courtship of Violet and her bumbling academic romantic prospect, Henry. There are little flirtatious asides for some of the fabulous supporting cast too, which will warm the cockles of your heart, make you indignant, and set you giggling, all of which have direct bearing on the bumps in the road on the way to happiness for the central characters. I have several new favourites from this lovely new set of gems, especially the incredible Miss Wynter, who I really hope will crop up again in Fforde's books - and who frankly, deserves a novel all of her own.

I always love the way Fforde writes her female characters with relatable hopes and dreams, and just the right touch of vulnerability, whatever the time period, but I think she does this particularly well when she is looking back in time. She touches lightly on many of the changes in the lives of women in the 1960s here, such as female independence, sexual freedom and the clash between older ideas and new about romantic relationships, and delves into fashion and popular culture quite naturally as part of the story. There are fascinating threads about history and mudlarking that connect different storylines together beautifully too.

I loved it, and really did not want to leave the characters behind when I came to the classic Fforde, heart-warming conclusion. Until next time old (and new) friends!

From London With Love is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Ed PR and Century for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Katie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart.

Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She’s been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she's even been on a Ray Mears survival course. She loves being a writer; to her there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do.

She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories.

A Gentleman's Offer by Emma Orchard

 

A Gentleman's Offer by Emma Orchard.

Published 22nd March 2025 by Boldwood Books.

From the cover of the book:

June, 1817.

Sir Dominic De Lacy – one of the season’s most eligible gentlemen – has recently proposed marriage… to a woman he scarcely knows. But his father’s choice for him, Miss Maria Nightingale, seems amiable, and at 29, Dominic cannot live the life of a bachelor forever. He hopes he can provide a happy future for her as they learn to care for each other.

Maria, however, has other ideas. Midway through their engagement celebrations, she confesses to Dominic that she is not Maria at all, but her identical twin sister, Margaret. Maria has disappeared, and Margaret’s been persuaded to take her place until she’s found – and for that she needs Dominic’s help. The pair quickly find they make a formidable team, but with just three weeks to avoid the biggest scandal of the season, time is against them.

But even if they find Maria, can they really hope the wedding will happen? Because, as they are starting to realise, chemistry can’t be arranged – and Sir Dominic might just be engaged to the wrong Miss Nightingale…

***********

June, 1817. Sir Dominic De Lacy is one of the season's most eligible bachelors. At twenty-nine, the time is ripe for him to find a bride, so when his widowed mother tells him it was his late father's dearest wish that he marry the very pretty Miss Maria Nightingale, he gives it serious consideration. Although he barely knows the young woman in question, she seems amiable enough, and when he proposes marriage to her, she graciously accepts. 

On the night of their engagement party, Sir Dominic is astounded when his betrothed takes him aside and tells him she is not Maria, but her twin sister Margaret (Meg). Maria has gone missing, and Meg requires his help to discover where she has gone before the scandal becomes known. As they set about tracking down the whereabouts of Maria, it is clear that Dominic and Meg are attracted to each other in a way neither have felt before. Could he be engaged to the wrong sister?

Emma Orchard has done it again, pulling out all the stops to produce a Regency romp that has everything you could want in terms of characters, story, and romantic suspense. The tale unfurls via the points of view of Dominic and Meg as their search for Maria takes unexpected twists and turns, burgeoning from a missing person mystery into a love story with oodles of intrigue.

Co-opting the assistance of all sorts of helpmates for their quest, from above stairs, below stairs, and even of the salons frequented by gentlemen in search of pleasure, Dominic and Meg soon discover that Maria's disappearance is more than the elopement they suspected - and they find out rather a lot about each other in the process. As the plot thickens, with witty banter galore, confessions, a dollop of blackmail, family reconciliations that greatly improve their stakes in the game, and plenty of simmering passion, Orchard brings everything together in a lush ending that will have you chortling with glee.

There are lovely threads running through the whole story, balancing lighter, comic storylines, and steamy interludes, with deeper social history themes about poverty, race, and sexuality, plus women's independence and their right to choose the course of their lives (and loves). I especially enjoyed the literary threads about women writers, and their admirable blue-stocking ways. Go ladies! I absolutely adored Meg and Maria's half-brother Francis too, who comes through to save the day.

This is my favourite Emma Orchard to date with sumptuous chemistry between the lovers, atmospheric locations that thrum with spot-on time and place vibes, and a stellar supporting cast for you to love and loathe in equal measure. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

A Gentleman's Offer is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for granting me access to an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and and to Random Resources Tour for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Emma was born in Salford and studied English Literature at the universities of Edinburgh and York.

She was a copy editor at Mills & Boon, where she met her husband in a classic enemies-to-lovers romance.

Emma has worked in television and as a Literary Agent, and started writing in 2020.

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

 

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 22nd March 2018 by Harper Collins. Originally published 1935.

From the cover of the book:

At an apparently respectable dinner party, a vicar is the first to die…

Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor’s house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died.

But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison – just as Poirot had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive…

***********

Poirot is invited to dinner by the celebrated stage actor Sir Charles Cartwright, at his home in Cornwall, Crow's Nest. Thirteen guests are expected, made up of various friends and acquaintances of Sir Charles, and it proves to be an unlucky number for one of them, as local vicar Reverend Babbington drops down dead after consuming a cocktail.

Sir Charles and young Hermione "Egg" Lytton Gore (his love interest) suspect foul play, while Patron of the arts Mr Satterthwaite (a mutual friend of Poirot's) muses upon suicide, but nothing was found in unassuming Rev Babbington's glass. Psychiatrist Sir Bartholomew Strange and Poirot are convinced that there cannot be a motive for a murder.

Sometime later, Poirot is in Monte Carlo and meets Sir Charles and Mr Satterthwaite, who inform him that Sir Bartholomew Strange has been poisoned during a dinner party he hosted at his home. Many of the same guests from Crow's Nest were present, which casts Rev Babbington's demise in a new light. Sir Charles, young Hermione "Egg" Lytton Gore, and Mr Satterthwaite set about tracking down clues, with the help of Poirot as consultant (who now also looks upon the tragedies as no mere coincidences)...

This is a Poirot I have not read before, and it is a bit of a curious one, because Poirot actually spends very little time in the thick of the investigation. Instead, it is mostly undertaken by Sir Charles (channelling his stage performance as a celebrated detective); thoroughly modern (but with obvious daddy issues) "Egg" Lytton Gore, who hankers after becoming Sir Charles' wife: and the rather odd Mr Satterthwaite who stands-in as Poirot's proxy (largely known from Christie's Harley Quinn Mysteries).

Poirot appears at various points throughout the 'three acts' to give wisdom, consider the clues, and then provide his classic summing up, but I found myself wanting much more of the little Belgian detective to make this work as proper Poirot story. In some ways, I wonder whether Christie thought about making this a mystery for Mr Satterthwaite to solve on his own, as he is not bad at the sleuthing game, but it falls to Poirot to pull everything together in the end. I can see why the decision was made to completely miss out Mr Satterthwaite and replace him with Poirot throughout in the excellent David Suchet adaptation, as this works much better.

Nonetheless, there are some very lovely things about this story, weaving nicely into a delicious plot that takes you all round the (play) houses, before revealing a shocking surprise. Christie beautifully explores the themes of 'acting', performance, deception, and love, and there is a bitter sweet taste to the motive that drives the murders. I absolutely loved the inclusion of playwright Muriel Wills (also known as Anthony Astor), who is a fascinating character, and whose observational skills are a turning point in the tale!

This is my March pick for #ReadChrstie2025, and I listened to the audio book narrated by my favourite, Hugh Fraser. It is an excellent choice to delve into this month's prompt of 'performers'!

Three Act Tragedy is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

The Man She Married by Alison Stockham

 

The Man She Married by Alison Stockham.

Published 20th January 2025 by Boldwood Books.

From the cover of the book:

How can you fight for a life you can't remember?

One moment I was just living my life, finding my way in the world. The next I woke up in a hospital bed with years of my life missing.

The man by my side – Rob, my husband – looks familiar, but I can't remember marrying him. I can’t remember our life together. Most haunting of all: I can’t remember anything about the last five years.

Rob keeps telling me that everything will be fine, that my memories will return, but something feels... wrong. Why does our flat feel so unfamiliar? Why does he flinch when I ask questions? Why are none of my friends and family in touch?

The more I try to piece my life back together, the more I question everything – even myself. Who is Rob, really? And can I trust him? More importantly, can I trust myself?

A compulsive and obsessive read that will have you saying 'just one more chapter!' Perfect for fans of Before I Go To Sleep and Alice Feeney.

***********

When Beth wakes up in a hospital bed, she has no idea how she got there. She is even more confused when she finds out that the man tenderly holding her hand claims to be her husband. Five years of Beth's life have vanished in an instant. She does not recognise her husband, Rob, or anything about the life he says they lead. Everything he tells her about their so called happy marriage feels wrong, and she is dubious of the reasons he gives for her having cut contact with her family and friends. Who is this man? Can she trust him? What has happened in the last few years for her to be living a life she surely would not have chosen?

Beth has been involved in a serious car accident, which leaves her with retrograde amnesia that has taken away her memories of the last five years. Everything about the life she seems to be living, starting with the man who says he is her devoted husband, is alien to her. She is frightened and deeply suspicious... and she has every reason to be.

The story opens with the accident, then jumps forward to unfurl from when Beth subsequently regains consciousness, and Stockham makes the absolute best of this unsettling situation. The tension creeps up as years of psychological trauma are stripped away, driven by shocking reveals from the discoveries Beth makes while the increasingly unlikable Rob is absent, and the impact of fragments of memory that randomly return to her. 

Suffice to say you will come to detest that whopping liar Rob, be turning the pages in a frenzy urging Beth to find the means to escape from her terrifying predicament, and be in awe of the way Stockham keeps her cards very close to her chest when it comes to the twist and turns that come at you thick and fast.  

For a gritty story like this, with a shockingly extreme premise, there are pleasingly relatable characters and moments, which I think comes from the clever way Stockham shines a light on the motivations of the characters throughout. I really enjoyed how she explores the fascinating subjects of memory, and trauma based amnesia; and she does an excellent job getting to grips with coercive control, and how its insidious poison can spread until you find yourself isolated from your friends, family, and even your own self.   

I consumed this little gem in one tasty gulp, totally glued to the page from disturbing beginning to extremely satisfying ending. This stunning mash-up of Before I Go to Sleep meets Sleeping with the Enemy is Alison Stockham's best thriller yet!

The Man She Married is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Alison Stockham for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Alison Stockham’s debut novel, The Cuckoo Sister, was a top 10 bestseller and was also longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. Her novels The Silent Friend and The New Girl followed and a fourth thriller, The Man She Married, was published January 2025.

From a background in film and television production, working in film dramas and then TV documentary production for the BBC and Channel 4, she then worked as the events coordinator for Cambridge Literary Festival. Now a full time writer, she lives in the city with her husband, their children and their cat, who keeps her company while she works on the next book.

A Proper Mother by Isobel Shirlaw

 

A Proper Mother by Isobel Shirlaw.

Published in paperback 6th March 2025 by Point Blank.

From the cover of the book:

Sometimes it's your own child you're most afraid of...

Ever since an ominous palm-reading on her honeymoon, Frankie has suspected that her youngest son, Michael, is different. From an early age he sees things no one else can. As he grows up – academically gifted, a musical prodigy and with an unshakeable religious faith – his mother can no longer deny there is something strange about him, or that it frightens her.

It is only when Frankie learns Michael is sliding into drugs and violence that she realises she can't keep ignoring the past. But by confronting her destructive marriage and her own responsibility for all that has gone wrong, she begins to see there is something darker at play.

***********

Frankie has always known there was something different about her second son, Michael. Gifted with musical and academic prowess he seemed marked for success, but there is a darkness to him that sets him apart, showing itself in an eerie ability to see things that are not there, and sending him down the path of religious obsession. 

Caught up in her own personal trials, Frankie has done her best to gloss over Michael's issues, but there is no doubt that his spiral into drugs and violence can no longer be ignored. She is afraid of her own son, and the time has come for her to confront the part she, and her destructive marriage to his father, may have played in the person he has become...

I came to this incredible debut novel expecting a psychological thriller about a woman who is forced to recognise darkness in her own son. In may ways this is exactly what this is, but it is also a compelling examination of parenthood, marriage and family dysfunction, delving into love-hate relationships, trauma, responsibility, and guilt, which was a pleasant surprise.

The story unfurls in a number of weaving timelines that flip between an unsettling scene during Frankie and her husband Callum's honeymoon in 1974; hard hitting moments from their marriage, and the childhood of Michael and his older brother John; and the years 1997 and 1998, when the weight of all the difficult episodes that have come before bear fruit in the most disturbing ways. 

The timelines are slickly constructed to tip you head first into a complex tale of an unhappy marriage, disappointments, parental struggles and estrangement through the eyes of Frankie. It is a little overwhelming at first, but Shirlaw's writing is superb, revealing just enough to draw you gradually into the messy relationships in this family, before disclosing exactly how and why they come to be in this unhealthy predicament. She ups the tension stakes notch by excruciating notch, as poor decisions, misunderstandings, and deliberately ignored red flags result in behaviour careering out of control.

There is plenty of darkness in this story. Sadness, adversity and the constant threat of violence seep from the page, and yet Shirlaw is way too clever to paint her characters in black and white. There are achingly poignant golden moments, and lashings of shades of grey to be waded through on the way to the powerful finale, which force you to look beyond their behaviour to the experiences that have shaped them too. Love, hate, hope, fear, dreams, nightmares, small wins and bitter regrets are all touched on in the most thought provoking of ways, which I really enjoyed (if that is the right word for the perturbing feelings this novel evokes).

This is an exciting debut, pitched firmly on the literary side of the thriller genre, and it is compulsive reading from the first page to the last. I look forward to following Isobel Shirlaw's writing journey, because this is an impressive beginning.

A Proper Mother is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Oneworld for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Isobel Shirlaw has written for The Times Literary Supplement, The Daily Telegraph, The i and The Catholic Herald in the UK and for The Daily Star and New Age (Bangladesh). She won the Fresher Poetry Prize in 2019 and was shortlisted in Poetry London’s pamphlet prize in 2023. She has worked for The Daily Telegraph, the British High Commission, Bangladesh, and for several UK-based charities including Refuge. She lives in Berkshire with her family.