Framley Parsonage (The Chronicles of Barsetshire Book Four) by Anthony Trollope

 

Framley Parsonage (The Chronicles of Barsetshire Book Four) by Anthony Trollope.

This edition published 13th November 2014 by Oxford Worlds Classics.

From the cover of the book:

The Reverend Mark Robarts makes a mistake. Drawn into a social set at odds with his clerical responsibilities, he guarantees the debts of an unscrupulous Member of Parliament. He stands to lose his reputation, and his family, future, and home are all in peril. 

His patroness, the proud and demanding Lady Lufton, is offended and the romantic hopes of Mark's sister Lucy, courted by Lady Lufton's son, are in jeopardy. 

Pride and ambition are set against love and integrity in a novel that has remained one of Trollope's most popular stories.

Set against ecclesiastical events in the Barchester diocese and informed by British political instability after the Crimean War, Trollope's fourth Barchester novel was his first major success. 

A compelling history of uncertain futures, Framley Parsonage is a vivid exploration of emotional and geographical displacement that grew out of Trollope's own experiences as he returned to England from Ireland in 1859.

***********

Back to Barsetshire we go, this time to the little parsonage at Framley, where the Reverend Mark Robarts lives with his wife Fanny and their two small children. The patronage of the widowed Lady Lufton, who resides on their doorstep at Framley Court, has been of great benefit to the Robarts' family, but she is very particular about her views on the suitable pursuits for a country clergyman and she does not like to be gainsaid.

Despite his fortunate position, Rev Robarts feels the stirring of ambition. Encouraged by his friend Lord Ludovic Lufton, the only son and heir of his patroness, Robarts is introduced to the movers and shakers of Barsetshire among the Chaldicote set, where the scoundrel Nathaniel Sowerby MP has his country seat. This is a crowd very much in the orbit of the notorious Duke of Omnium, and highly disapproved of by Lady Lufton, but Rev Robarts convinces himself that he can do some good by being friendly to them all - and after all, Bishop and Mrs Proudie are among this set too.

Sadly, Rev Robart's naivety makes him easy prey for devious folk like Mr Sowerby, and he soon finds himself drawn into a tangled web of lies and deceit by becoming a guarantor for part of Sowerby's considerable debts. It is a responsibility a country parson can ill afford, and in doing so he puts his reputation, his home, and his family in peril.

In the meantime, Lady Lufton's marital schemes for her son Ludovic are put in jeopardy by the arrival of Rev Robart's sister Lucy at the parsonage. All her carefully laid plans are in danger when Ludovic announces his intention to marry the penniless Lucy rather than the wife Lady Lufton has selected for him. Lady Lufton is determined that this will never come to pass...

Framley Parsonage is the fourth book in the Barsetshire Chronicles, and much like in the previous instalment, Doctor Thorne, this is a book that is ripe with themes of suitable marriages, status, money and politics. Unfortunately, Rev Robarts is no Dr Thorne, and his weak character makes him a very difficult protagonist to like. Time and time again he makes foolish decisions in this story, and I shook my head with frustration over his antics throughout. There is also a lot more politics in this book than any of the former volumes in the series, and although this may have raised more than a few knowing nods and wry smiles from Trollope's contemporary audience, I must admit to finding this all a bit tedious. However, it has to be said that there is a lot to be gained from Trollope's very insightful use of his male characters to examine masculine pride and ambition, and for that reason it is an intriguing morality tale, if a bit hard going.

What saves this novel for me is Trollope's glorious female cast. There are many familiar faces among these women, particularly the plucky Miss Dunstable who has a very heart warming story arc here; and our old adversaries Mrs Grantley and Mrs Proudie, whose conversational sparring is an absolute delight to witness (particularly when that odious Obadiah Snape gets a mention). There are some great new faces to add to the fun too, with Archdeacon and Mrs Grantley's daughter Griselda making an appearance as a love rival; and Lucy Robarts taking on an Elizabeth Bennet role with Lord Lufton as her Darcy - Lucy also has her share of vocal sword play with Lady Lufton, which is deliciously reminiscent of Lizzie Bennet's showdowns with Lady de Bourgh. The women in this story have all the best scenes and dialogue, and fortunately they are the characters who drive most of the second half of the story. I loved them!

I find it interesting that this was Trollope's first major success, because it is certainly not one of my favourites, but it is well worth reading for the firebrand females that carry the novel - and am looking forward to seeing where the story goes next in book five, The Small House at Allington, which I will be reading next month. 

Framley Parsonage is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Anthony Trollope (1815-82) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire, but he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.

Three Nights In Italy by Olivia Beirne

 

Three Nights in Italy by Olivia Beirne.

Published 13th April 2023 by Headline Review.

From the cover of the book:

THREE WOMEN. ONE SECRET. AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY.

Zoe always knew this day would come. After all, no one can live for ever. She may not be ready, but Zoe knows the importance of goodbye - and how much it hurts when left unsaid - so it's time to return to her grandmother's home in Italy one last time. Even if that means deceiving her mum, Ange.

Harriet doesn't know where she fits anymore. It's not in Cornwall with the new family her mum is building, and it's certainly not in the job she hates. The trip to Italy may not be the adventure Zoe and Harriet promised themselves, but Harriet is simply not being left behind.

Ange was doing fine. Well, she was coping. Like she has been for the past fourteen years because her daughter needed her. But since her mother's death, nothing has felt fine. Even her relationship with Zoe is cracking at the seams.

Then, the last person any of them expects to see suddenly turns up, and soon it seems the only way to move forward is to revisit the past . . .

Explore the sun-drenched Italian countryside in this hilarious and heart-warming novel about unconditional love, second chances and the importance of not taking life for granted.

***********

Cornish wedding planner Zoe always thought that the vitality of her artist grandmother would keep her going for ever, so it hits her hard when the formidable Clarice finally passes away in her nineties. She is not the only one crushed by a tidal wave of grief - her mother Ange is struggling to cope too, and Zoe spends her time walking on egg shells around her, unconvinced by her protestations that she is 'fine'. 

Clarice wished for her house in Italy to be cleared and her possessions auctioned off for charity after her death, but she had always promised Zoe her emerald engagement ring. Unfortunately, Zoe's boorish uncle Reggie is in charge of the arrangements and Zoe does not trust him one bit. She starts to think that the only solution might be to head out to Italy to look for the ring herself. 

Zoe's best friend Harriet feels like she does not know where she belongs any more. She is fed up with her job as a hotel receptionist, and feels that her mother no longer wants her around now she has a new partner and baby. She and Zoe have been promising themselves an adventure for quite a while, so when Zoe suggest a trip to Italy, she is willing to drop everything at a moment's notice. What are best friends for after all?

Zoe has one more hurdle to negotiate. She is sure that her mother needs come too, so they can both say goodbye to the house that holds so many wonderful memories for them, but Ange refuses to even talk about the idea. Then a face from the past turns up out of the blue, and steam rollers them all into heading off to Italy...

Three Nights in Italy is a lovely combination of road trip adventure, buddy story, romantic extravaganza, and family drama, filled with moments that hit the emotional bitter-sweet spot. The central characters are all stuck in an 'everything is fine' rut, and it takes the loss of someone very dear to them all to make them address their unhappiness. There is a lot of baggage to be unpacked and sorted out between Ange and the person who arrives unexpectedly, and the only way they can deal with a painful situation is by going back in time to revisit the good times that made them close, and the bad times that broke their friendship apart. In parallel, Zoe and Harriet have preoccupations of their own to work through before they can find the courage to chase their dreams. 

At the spine of the story is the impromptu trip to Italy, focusing on the search for the missing ring that was promised to Zoe. Beirne beautifully weaves threads about love, female friendship, romance, loss, and reconciliation through the adventure, which has moments of farcical caper to make you laugh, as well as poignant episodes to set you weeping - I did a lot of both while reading this book.

Beirne writes enchantingly about Italy, and the whole story thrums with evocative sights, sounds, and smells of the country - especially when it comes to food, wine, and the warmth of the people. Zoe and the gang worked their way into my heart, and I loved being with them on their emotional Italian journey.

Three Nights in Italy is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Olivia Beirne is the bestselling author of The List That Changed My Life and lives in Buckinghamshire. She has worked as a waitress, a pottery painter and a casting assistant, but being a writer is definitely her favourite job yet.

The Cruise by Caroline James

 

The Cruise by Caroline James.

Published 20th April 2023 in ebook and 11th May in paperback by One More Chapter.

From the cover of the book:

Three women.
One widowed.
One unmarried.
One almost divorced.

All aged 63, but not ready to give up on life!

Leaving behind the heartache, guilt and disappointment of their real lives, three friends decide that now they’re in their sixties, it’s time they finally did something for themselves!

Swapping Christmas turkeys and BBC reruns for crystal waters, white sandy beaches and smooth golden rum, Anne, Jane and Kath throw caution (and tradition) to the wind as they set sail on a luxury two-week Christmas cruise around the Caribbean.

Will the three friends find the comfort and joy they seek aboard the Diamond Star?

***********

Spurred on by an enlightening experience at the latest reunion for Garstang Grammar School for Girls, three old friends decide to take the plunge and book a cruise to the Caribbean over the Christmas break. Each one of them has good reason to take some time out from their real lives - Anne is going through a messy divorce with her philandering ex; Kath is recently widowed after a long marriage to a controlling husband; and never-married Jane feels overweight, frumpy and uncomfortable in her own skin. They figure at sixty-three it is time to do something they want for a change, and look forward to an adventure aboard the Diamond Star with the over-50s crowd.

Cruising the exotic Caribbean islands proves to just as exciting as they thought it would be, with all the glamour and luxury they have been hoping for, but will it also bring them the Christmas magic they crave?

The Cruise is a sweet, escapist story about three old friends that have reached a crossroads in their lives, and are looking for something more from the years that spread out before them in retirement. Anne is the glam-queen of the bunch, laid low by the amorous antics of a husband she should have ditched years ago, and she is on the hunt for a new romance among the wealthy bachelors of the cruising scene. Kath is reeling from the death of a husband that has kept her firmly under his thumb for the entirety of their married life, but she also feels guilt over a secret she is harbouring - and a fear that she might well be losing her marbles, as her ungrateful sons keep telling her. Jane (my favourite) has always felt in the shadows, has zero confidence, is terrified of letting herself go, and is convinced she has made a massive mistake going on a cruise where she feels exposed to the scrutiny of others. Each of them is looking for something different from this experience, and there are surprises ahead for all three. 

James fills the pages with the sights, sounds, smells and culture of the Caribbean islands and makes the most of all they have to offer through her characters. On and off board, there are enjoyable moments of drama and romance, and she touches on subjects that are very relatable to older readers around loneliness, post-retirement, tricky family dynamics, and secrets about what goes on behind closed doors in outwardly seeming happy marriages. There are some intriguing case studies among the passengers too - even some melodrama around the unscrupulous charmer dodgy Dicky. I am a cruise phobic, as can imagine nothing worse than floating round the ocean with hordes of people you cannot get away from, but I think if you are a fan of sailing the seven seas you will find yourself giving a wry chuckle to much of the situations that play out in these pages.

This is a light and easy read, about second chances, with plenty of gentle warmth and humour. I especially enjoyed Jane's story arc, and the heart warming ending made me smile.

The Cruise is available to buy now in ebook, and from 11th May 2023 in paperback.

Thank you to One More Chapter for sending me a Netgalley copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Rachel's Rabdom Resources Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. 

About the author:

Caroline James always wanted to write but instead of taking a literary route, she followed a career in the hospitality industry, which included owning a pub and a beautiful country house hotel. She was also a media agent representing many celebrity chefs. 

When she finally glued her rear to a chair and began to write the words flowed and several novels later she has gained many best-seller badges for her books. 

When she's not writing, Caroline likes to go wild water swimming or walk with Fred, her Westie. 

A member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Women's Writers & Journalists, Caroline writes short stories and articles, contributing to many publications.

Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater

 

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater.

Published 27th April 2023 by Hodder Books.

From the cover of the book:

Roach - bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic- is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.

With her cute literary tote bags and sunny smile, she's everyone's favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.

And as curiosity blooms into morbid obsession, Roach becomes determined to be a part of Laura's story - whether Laura wants her in it or not.

***********

Awkward loner Roach has been a bookseller at Spines in Walthamstow since she was sixteen. It is the perfect place for her to indulge her fascination with serial killers, and she loves curating the true crime section of the bookshop - making it into her personal library of horrors. She has little need for friends, and is content to fill her non-working hours with murder podcasts, caring for her pet snail Bleep, and drinking copious amounts of her poison of choice, Strongbow dark fruits cider.

But things are afoot at this failing branch of Spines. A new management team has been brought in to turn the shop around, and with them comes bouncy, shiny Laura, everyone's favourite bookseller. On the surface, Laura is the antithesis of Roach, but beneath the glossy exterior Roach senses a darkness that intrigues her - one which Laura unwittingly exposes to the world through her poetry.

Roach becomes obsessed with Laura, caught in a love-hate infatuation that begins to consume her. She is determined to become part of Laura's story, whether Laura wants anything to do with her or not - and she obviously does not. Roach will not rest until she has uncovered Laura's secrets and made them her own...

Death of a Bookseller is a delicious tale of obsession, secrets, and serial killer fanaticism. Slater weaves insidious magic by pitting two characters against each other, who become locked in a deadly slow-burn dance of power dynamics - chaotic serial killer fan-girl Roach, who is front and centre about her fascination with murderers, while hiding her twisted vulnerabilities under a goth-like hide; and apparently bright and breezy Laura, who secretly carries within her the pain of an association with the kind of tragedy that Roach salivates over. Both are broken in their own way, with shifting contradictions and similarities that make for a story that gets uncomfortably under your skin.

Slater delves into gritty themes around the fascination that surrounds serial killers in this story, and the way their fame overshadows the victims of their crimes, using Roach to explore uncomfortable facts about the people who become enamoured with them, and there is much here to be disturbed by - especially around the things Roach is driven to in pursuit of her desperate need to feel a connection with another human being. It is easy to find her abhorrent, and she certainly gave me the creeps, but Slater does paint her in shades of grey to muddy the waters - even if they are mostly at the darker end of the spectrum. In contrast Laura begins the tale as the lightness to Roach's pitch-black, but she becomes mired in the unresolved trauma that haunts her as a war of wills plays out in Spines - until Roach's need to both be her, and destroy her, brings about a heart-stopping climax to their story.

It is fair to say that this book strays into darkness in a way that is highly disturbing, but it is also filled with gallows humour and oodles of lovely detail about life behind the scenes in a bookshop. The combination is highly addictive, and I found this book impossible to put down - despite being freaked out by almost the entire final section of the story. As a debut, this is seriously impressive. I cannot wait to see what comes from Alice Slater next!

Death of a Bookseller is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. 

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

About the author:

Alice Slater is a writer, podcaster and ex-bookseller from London. She studied creative writing at MMU and UEA. She lives in London with her husband and a lot of books. Death of a Bookseller is her first novel.

Don't Believe The Hype by Natalie Lewis

 

Don't Believe the Hype by Natalie Lewis.

Published 13th April 2023 by Hodder Books.

From the cover of the book:

The world of fashion is supposed to be glamorous . . . isn't it?

Meet Frankie Marks: the world's least likely fashion PR. She got the job by fluke, she doesn't know the first thing about designers, she's always hungry, and she struggles to think before she speaks. When Frankie crash-lands in the prestigious GGC agency, her friends and family can't believe it - least of all her long-term (and long-suffering) boyfriend, James.

Frankie quickly realises she needs to use everything she's got to survive life behind the scenes of this glamorous and chaotic industry - with its eccentric characters, towering expectations, and ridiculous requests. But first, she needs to learn the difference between velour and velvet . . .

As the pressure builds and Frankie's personal life begins to take the hit, she starts to wonder if she'll ever manage to escape the strange world of fashion unscathed. And, quite frankly, does she even want to?

***********

Frankie Marks, recent graduate with a degree in the history of art, is on the hunt for a job, but sadly none of the London galleries and auction houses she has applied to seem to be keen to employ her. Feeling somewhat desperate, she sends her CV to PR company GGC and unexpectedly finds herself being offered a position as an intern at one of the most prestigious fashion PR companies around - which is somewhat terrifying since she knows nothing about fashion, and really does not like people all that much.

Working for a fashion PR company is a steep learning curve, but Frankie quickly realises that there is something special about the buzz of the industry, the eccentric characters, and the madness of it all, even if it is exhausting and not at all conducive to a private life - as her long suffering boyfriend James, best friend Charlotte, and despairing parents can attest.

Frankie begins to struggle to keep all areas of her life in perspective, while riding the fashion merry-go-round. Eventually, something has to give, but can she now break herself away from a job that she is great at?

With echoes of The Devil Wears Prada, Natalie Lewis draws on her own experience in the PR world to create a delicious caper full of fun and frolics from the light, dark, and unashamedly whacky sides of fashion. 

Frankie is a great character, and you find yourself getting behind her right from the beginning - even when she is being a bad girlfriend, bestie, and daughter - as she discovers that working in the world of PR is a lot more demanding that she thought. PR is the kind of job that it is impossible to explain easily, and Frankie is stumped when she tries to get across to her nearest and dearest what it is that her working life entails - and why it is so all consuming. However, Lewis does a great job of delving into the bizarre nitty gritty of the weird, wonderful, glamorous, competitive, and fast paced environment that gets under Frankie's skin. There is a lot of fascinating detail about what goes on behind the scenes in fashion PR, and although much of this sounds crazy, it rings with authenticity.

Lewis' writing is engaging, and her characters are delightful - especially the GGC gang, who are really supportive of each other (except for one who shall remain nameless). They become like a little family over the course of the story, and just like family they have their trials and tribulations to be worked through, all of which keeps you rapidly turning the pages until the inevitable drama plays out in very entertaining style. In the telling, Lewis touches on some intriguing subjects too, not least of which explores the difficulty of maintaining personal relationships when you have a career that demands so much of you - especially when to outside eyes it looks like you are having the time of your life.

This debut makes the perfect summer read. It is full of humour and heartache, and I absorbed the whole glitzy creation in one bite. Natalie Lewis is now on my radar, and I am looking forward to her second book very much.

Don't Believe the Hype is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Natalie Lewis has been a fashion pr for decades.

Her agency, Brower Lewis PR, was one of the leading PR firms in London renowned for creating the launches and strategies for brands such as Net-a-Porter.com, Jimmy Choo, Matches and Matches.com, Diane von Furstenberg and Anya Hindmarch.

In 2007 together with her business partner, she sold the agency. Natalie thought she would kick back and drink some pina coladas. Instead, she went freelance. Her high-profile clients included Bella Freud, Marie-Chantal of Greece, Amanda Wakeley, Robbie Williams, James Perse, Claudia Schiffer and latterly Victoria Beckham who she worked with as a consultant for twelve years from her very first show in 2008 up until June 2020.

In 2020 after 29 years in the business Natalie took a sabbatical. She was exhausted.

And she desperately wanted to write. For herself. Every press release, interview, website content and show note she had delivered over the years had never been in her own voice. Full of ideas and a wall display of post it notes she realised she needed to learn what a narrative arc was and went on the Curtis Brown three-month novel writing course. There she worked on the first novel she had started – Don’t Believe the Hype.

Natalie is currently working on a number of projects with Francesca Amfitheatrof, Artistic Director of Jewellery and Watches at Louis Vuitton, while also working on her second book.

Where Waters Meet by Zhang Ling

 

Where Waters Meet by Zhang Ling.

Published 1st May 2023 by Amazon Crossing.

From the cover of the book:

A daughter discovers the dramatic history that shaped her mother’s secret life in an emotional and immersive novel by Zhang Ling, the bestselling author of A Single Swallow.

There was rarely a time when Phoenix Yuan-Whyller’s mother, Rain, didn’t live with her. Even when Phoenix got married, Rain, who followed her from China to Toronto, came to share Phoenix’s life. Now at the age of eighty-three, Rain’s unexpected death ushers in a heartrending separation.

Struggling with the loss, Phoenix comes across her mother’s suitcase―a memory box Rain had brought from home. Inside, Phoenix finds two old photographs and a decorative bottle holding a crystallized powder. Her auntie Mei tells her these missing pieces of her mother’s early life can only be explained when they meet, and so, clutching her mother’s ashes, Phoenix boards a plane for China. What at first seems like a daughter’s quest to uncover a mother’s secrets becomes a startling journey of self-discovery.

Told across decades and continents, Zhang Ling’s exquisite novel is a tale of extraordinary courage and survival. It illuminates the resilience of humanity, the brutalities of life, the secrets we keep and those we share, and the driving forces it takes to survive.

***********

Phoenix Yuan-Whyller has spent most of her life living in close quarters with her mother, Rain. When Phoenix made the move from China to Toronto, her mother was not far behind, and it was only natural that when Phoenix married audiologist George in her fifties, that Rain would be part of the package too.

Rain has now passed away at the age of eighty-three, after succumbing to dementia, having spent her last few years in a nursing home. Overcome with grief, Phoenix is struggling with her loss. She feels an unexpected resentment towards George because Rain spent her final years in a place where she could not always be with her in her increasingly rare lucid moments, and she does not know how to even begin to move on.

After Phoenix retrieves her mother's belongings from the nursing home, it is some time before she can bring heself to open her battered suitcase - the 'memory box' Rain brought all the way with her from China. Tucked inside Rain's clothes she finds two old photographs and a bottle containing a crystallised powder that she cannot identify. There is a mystery to be solved here, but the only person Phoenix can ask about the meaning of these momentoes is her mother's sister Mei, who still lives in China.

Mei tells Phoenix that there are things Rain kept hidden from her and the truth about her mother's early life can only be shared face to face. Armed with an urn containing Rain's ashes, Phoenix flies to China to discover her mother's secrets, and in the process goes on a journey of self-discovery. 

Where Waters Meet is an epic story of sacrifice and survival that delves back into China's modern history, following the tales of mother and daughter, Rain and Phoenix. The format is striking, being made up of Phoenix's narration, epistolary sections, and extracts of the book she decides to write about her experiences and all she learns about her mother from Mei.

It does take a while to get into the rhythm, but this format works surprisingly well, as each section exploring the past is told via Phoenix's 'book within a book', with an introduction to each one in the form of email conversations between her and George. Phoenix begins with her own childhood, then as Mei reveals the truth about Rain's (and her own) past in increasingly traumatic stages, Phoenix tells the story of her mother's survival through years of tumultuous Chinese history marked with war, politics, famine, and terrible crimes inflicted by the powerful on the powerless.

As the story unfurls, Phoenix begins to realise that there are many things she did not know about her mother, some of which explain why Rain was so haunted by a past that became more real to her when she retreated into her memories as dementia took hold. Phoenix also finds herself questioning her recollections about about her childhood in a way which enables her to put painful memories of her own in perspective. 

I really enjoyed the way this story is constructed. Zhang Ling draws you inexorably back in time with each section of the story, and the full significance of objects, scattered conversations, and recurring characters only becomes clear when you come full circle at the end of the novel. It is beautifully done, and there is something magical about the way the waves of intense emotion hit you as each successive piece of the puzzle falls into place.

This novel is spellbinding. It deftly explores love, loss, identity, coming of age, and the relationship between mothers and daughters, while also confronting some very uncomfortable history. It will both profoundly move you and send you down multiple rabbit holes about the things you discover...

Where Waters Meet is available to preorder now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Amazon Crossing for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to FMcM Associates for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Zhang Ling is the award-winning author of nine novels and numerous collections of novellas and short stories, including A Single Swallow, translated by Shelly Bryant; Gold Mountain Blues; and Aftershock, which was adapted into China’s first IMAX movie with unprecedented box-office success. 

Born in China, she moved to Canada in 1986 and, in the mid-1990s, began to write and publish fiction in Chinese while working as a clinical audiologist. Since then, she has won the Chinese Media Literature Award for Author of the Year, the Grand Prize of Overseas Chinese Literary Award, and China Times’s Open Book Award. 

Where Waters Meet is her first novel written in English.

Crossing Over by Anne Morgan

 

Crossing Over by Anne Morgan.

Published 26th April 2023 by Renard Press.

From the cover of the book:

Edie finds the world around her increasingly difficult to comprehend. Words are no longer at her beck and call, old friends won't mind their own business and workmen have appeared in the neighbouring fields, preparing to obliterate the landscape she has known all her life. Rattling around in an old farmhouse on the cliffs, she's beginning to run out of excuses to stop do-gooders interfering when one day she finds an uninvited guest in the barn and is thrown back into the past. 

Jonah has finally made it to England - where everything, he's been told, will be better. But the journey was fraught with danger, and many of his fellow travellers didn't make it. Sights firmly set on London, but unsure which way to turn, he is unprepared for what happens when he breaks into Edie's barn. 

Haunted by the prospect of being locked away and unable to trust anyone else, the elderly woman stubbornly battling dementia and the traumatised illegal immigrant find solace in an unlikely companionship that helps them make sense of their worlds even as they struggle to understand each other. Crossing Over is a delicately spun tale that celebrates compassion and considers the transcendent language of humanity.

***********

Edie lives alone in an old farmhouse on the clifftops, and now in her eighties is starting to lose her grip on the world around her. Words do not come easily to her anymore, and she is often confused, but she is determined to hide her deteriorating faculties from the do-gooders in the village.

Jonah has made the long and perilous journey from Malawi to Britain, looking for a better life for himself and his family. Not all of the people he has met along the way have survived, and he is haunted by the things he has seen. Having completed the final terrifying stretch of the journey across the Channel in a small boat, his goal is to head for London where he can get lost in the crowds. In the meantime, he finds refuge hiding in Edie's ramshackle barn.

When Edie comes across Jonah unexpectedly, she is thrown back into her past, confusing him for someone who was once very dear to her. Jonah, terrified he will be captured, and dogged by PTSD reacts violently at first, but over time they fall into an unconventional relationship with Jonah taking on the role of Edie's carer. Both of them are afraid of the outside world, and are plagued by their past experiences, and somehow they forge a connection.

Crossing Over is a deeply affecting story about the collision of two very different lives, when a desperate young man from Africa finds himself living with a confused and reclusive old woman. Morgan has written this story with the intention of confronting people's notions about the differences between refugees and economic migrants, and she does an excellent of job of exploring how difficult it is to draw a line between the two when the experiences of people distressed by poverty can be very similar to those who have suffered the fall-out of war.

Throughout the story Joshua expresses his bewilderment at the things people in this unfamiliar country take for granted, and recalls incidents from his past to illustrate the stark differences between the life he has left behind and the place he now finds himself. There is such poignancy and pain in his narration, but there are also darkly funny moments, especially when his illusions about Britain are burst by the reality he sees around him.

In parallel, Morgan does an astounding job of portraying the fear and confusion of a woman succumbing to the ravages of dementia, especially in the way Edie gets lost in the past and struggles with aphasia. It is Edie's side of the story where the biggest secrets lie, and the truth about why she is so taken with Joshua is revealed slowly over the course of the novel - through bits and pieces of her scattered memories, the heart-rending jottings Joshua discovers in her notebooks, and from letters she has received but not read.

The two threads of the story weave around each other as Morgan teases out experiences on both sides, and for the most part this flows well, although Joshua's story is clearly the dominant one given Morgan's intent. However, there are times when it feels like she is attempting too much with Edie's story in pursuit of common ground, and this distracts from the message of the book. I enjoyed the look back in time to Edie's wartime experiences, but parts of this storyline feel out of place with the overall themes, and the sexual awakening element of the tale is handled somewhat clumsily given the deft way in which the more impactful plotlines are wielded.

Nonetheless, this is a book that is intended to elicit an emotional response straight out of the gate, and it does that in gut-punching style. It is not a warm, fuzzy read about a cosy relationship between an elderly woman and her carer, although there are moments of wry humour and touching compassion. There are multiple episodes that are distressing to read on both sides of the story, and I especially struggled with several of the scenes where Joshua acts with cruelty towards Edie, even though they develop an understanding over the course of the story. I would advise caution if you are navigating caring for a loved one with dementia or a degenerative condition, or if your feelings in this regard are raw, as these scenes are extremely upsetting. 

There is no doubt that this is a powerful book, and there is a lot to talk about in terms of the themes Morgan forces you to examine around humanity, immigration, prejudice, and racism, as well as in connection with the care of those with dementia. This novel is unashamedly thought provoking, which makes it an ideal candidate for book clubs and reading groups who are open to having their boundaries pushed.

Crossing Over is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Renard Press for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Ann Morgan is an author, speaker and editor based in Folkestone. In 2012, she set herself the challenge of reading a book from every country in a year - a project that led to a TED talk and to the non-fiction book Reading the World: How I Read a Book from Every Country. 

Her debut novel, Beside Myself, has been translated into eight languages. Crossing Over, her latest novel, draws on her experience living just a few minutes from where many of the small boats crossing the Channel land. 

She is Literary Explorer in Residence of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for 2022 and 2023.

Kitty Fisher: The First Female Celebrity by Joanne Major

 

Kitty Fisher: The First Female Celebrity by Joanne Major.

Published 11th November 2022 by Pen and Sword Books.

From the cover of the book:

‘Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it, not a penny was there in it, only ribbon round it.’ 

Generations of children have grown up knowing Kitty Fisher from the nursery rhyme, but who was she? Remembered as an eighteenth-century ‘celebrated’ courtesan and style icon, it is surprising to learn that Kitty’s career in the upper echelons of London’s sex industry was brief. 

For someone of her profession, Kitty had one great flaw: she fell in love too easily. Kitty Fisher managed her public relations and controlled her image with care. In a time when women’s choices were limited, she navigated her way to fame and fortune. Hers was a life filled equally with happiness and tragedy, one which left such an impact that the fascinating Kitty Fisher’s name still resonates today. She was the Georgian era’s most famous – and infamous – celebrity. 

This is more than just a biography of Kitty Fisher’s short, scandalous and action-packed life. It is also a social history of the period looking not just at Kitty but also the women who were her contemporaries, as well as the men who were drawn to their sides… and into their beds. In this meticulously researched, lively and enjoyable book we discover the real woman at the heart of Kitty Fisher’s enduring myth and legend.

***********

Kitty Fisher was a celebrated courtesan from the eighteenth century, immortalised in the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket, with the satirical line ‘Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it, not a penny was there in it, only ribbon round it.’ . In this book, historian Joanne Major looks beyond the stories of Kitty's notoriety, teasing out well researched details about her life to paint a nuanced picture of the woman behind the high class sex worker reputation.

Kitty was born Catherine Maria Fischer in June 1741 into a respectable family, and was doted upon by her German immigrant, silver chaser father. She was brought up to aspire to finer things, and her personal charms were enhanced by the education her parents deemed essential for her future success. By the age of fifteen, Kitty was working as a milliner - a trade which many looked upon as a thinly veiled cover for prostitution, but although she would have been well aware of the life of the Covent Garden Ladies who plied their trade near her home, catching a wealthy husband was the aim.

Kitty's head was turned by a handsome prospect, and she fell in love with Anthony Martin, an officer in the Coldstream Guards. Martin pursuaded Kitty away from the safety of her family home, but the promised marriage failed to materialise, although Kitty adopted the title Mrs Martin (which she often used in the years that followed). When she was eventually abandoned, she was smart enough to realise that if she was to be consigned to the ranks of 'fallen women' then it would be on her own terms - among the upper echelons of London society.

Major goes on to detail Kitty's career as a highly prized courtesan, exploring how she navigated her way through the pitfalls of her profession to surround herself with the trappings of wealth. Major paints a picture of a young woman who knew exactly how to exploit the men who vied for her favour, and how to tightly control her image to maintain her allure, but she also takes great pains to show you that Kitty was also unlike many of the other women who lived the competitive life of the courtesan. The Kitty we got to know is a clever, cultured and complex woman, albeit with a fiery streak. Major shows that Kitty also had vulnerabilities, and how her desire to find true love turned her from the life she had embarked upon after only a few short years - even if her reputation lingered long after she had retired from the public gaze.

Much more than simply being the story of Kitty's tragically short life, this book delves deliciously into the social history of the age in which she lived too. Major brings in lashings of information about the society in which Kitty resided, including about the women who were her friends and rivals, both within the sex industry and among the wives and of her conquests. Major also takes a good hard look at the rakes and lotharios of the cream of society who thought nothing of paying Kitty and her compatriots for their favours - and of dropping them like hot cakes at the first sign of trouble, consigning them to an unknown fate.

Kitty leaps from the page as a fully formed character, and the tragedy of her life, and the lives of women like her, whose choices were limited in a world ruled by men, makes this a surprisingly emotional book to consume. The way Major contrasts and compares Kitty's life and times with what we think of as 'celebrity' in this modern age is intriguing too. I was particularly struck by the sections that detail Kitty's status as muse to the famous English painter Joshua Reynolds and his contemporaries. The information about how engravings were produced in huge numbers from paintings of Kitty to fulfil the demand for images of her amongst the masses; how scandalous stories about her (often fictional) antics were circulated in print; and how her style was slavishly emulated by those who wanted a little bit of her fame is fascinating. It is all so relatable for the modern age!

Kitty's life story would make an excellent drama series, and I devoured this engrossing book in a single sitting. It is so engaging, and is packed with historical detail. Highly recommended for those interested in the hidden lives of women in history. 

Kitty Fisher is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook.

Thank you to Pen and Sword Books for sending me a hardback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Joanne Major, author and historian, is fascinated by the eighteenth century and in exploring the hitherto undiscovered women’s history of the period. She holds a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Lincoln and is returning to study for an MA. Joanne lives in Lincolnshire, with her family and dogs, spending most days with one foot in the present and one in the past.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us by Fiona Collins

 

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us by Fiona Collins.

Published 3rd April 2023 by Lake Union Publishing.

From the cover of the book:

Four decades. Four seasons. Four chance encounters with the same man.

Spring 1986, Oxford. Rachel has landed on her feet: engaged to handsome author Jonny, soon to be stepmother to his young daughter Teddy, and with a dream to open her own art gallery. It’s everything she wished for during her unsettled childhood. So when she meets candid and carefree American artist Gabe at a party and feels a familiar spark, she knows she needs to resist.

But as her perfect life moves forward, Gabe is never far away, and there’s no denying the lure of the spontaneous, wildly adventurous existence he seems to offer. His is a world of endless possibilities—ones Rachel can’t let herself be tempted by if she’s ever to stay the safe course with Jonny. But how can she focus on the life she thought she wanted when she can’t help imagining the alternative?

One thing’s for certain: Gabe is more than a minor character in Rachel’s life. And as their paths intersect over seasons and decades, each meeting presents Rachel with a choice that could alter everything, and she has to wonder whether the life story she once fought for is the version she’s meant to be living…

***********

Spring 1986. Rachel believes she has finally found everything her heart desires, and is looking forward to a long and happy life with her fiancé, aspiring author Jonny, the man who promises the safe and secure life she craves. But her calm assurance that she is on the right path is thrown into disorder when she meets handsome American artist Gabe, and feels a spark between them that she is determined to ignore.

Over time, Rachel doggedly sticks to the path she has mapped out for herself as loving wife, and step-mother to Jonny's trouble daughter Teddy. She takes on the local art gallery and transforms it into a growing enterprise, but somehow her success is always overshadowed by Jonny's burgeoning career. 

As the years fly by, bringing trials and tribulations, Rachel and Gabe's lives touch in different seasons, and each time they feel the undeniable pull of an attraction between them. Whenever they meet, Rachel sees the possible other life she could be living, but is the chance of another life worth leaving behind all she has built with Jonny?

I am a massive fan of Collins' previous wonderful book Summer in the City, which is one I frequently recommend far and wide as a story that ticks all those 'in the feels' boxes, so I could not wait to dive into her brand new novel Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us. I was a little apprehensive, since I loved the last book so much, but I really should not have worried because this book is every bit as emotionally rewarding.

Our story begins in the 1986, and is filled with every conceivable spot on popular culture reference that my 80s loving heart could wish for. Against this back drop, Rachel is a young woman with a painful childhood, whose only wish is to be with a man who will offer her a secure future - and she is sure she has found this with the man of her dreams Jonny... but then she meets American visitor Gabe. Gabe is unlike any other man Rachel has met before, and she finds herself opening up to him in a way that surprises her. There is a spark between them that both of them feel, but Rachel is determined to resist his charms and their brief acquaintance ends with many things left unsaid.

Over the next forty years, Rachel's professional success is acknowledged by almost all, but her personal life is not quite as picture perfect as she would like. Fate decrees that Rachel and Gabe meet again, and each time they do they are forced to confront the fact that something magical could happen between them if only they would let it. Each time life intervenes to keep them apart, by accident or design. 

This is very much a story about the path not taken, and it is filled with an atmosphere of yearning so thick that you could cut it with a palette knife. Collin's beautifully explores the dilemma Rachel faces in trying to decide where true happiness lies with heart-wrenching poignancy. How do you decide whether it is best to stick with the life you have created, even if it turns out not quite as you expected, or if you should take the plunge into the unknown based on a feeling, however strong? It takes forty years for Rachel to decide, but when she does you know she has finally made the right choice.

Collins touches on lashings of complex themes in this story, focusing on controlling relationships, infidelity and betrayal, and the impact these have on mental health. The way Collins examines how the relationships that surround us in childhood shape our own notions of what makes a healthy romantic partnership is especially striking. I also love the way in which Collins echoes the theme of seasons throughout the story in literal and metaphorical ways.

This is an epic, and somewhat unconventional romance, filled with light and shade, love and destiny. It looks at relationships from many different perspectives, and really makes you think about the myriad little moments that define the directions we take. It is another absolute winner from Fiona Collins, and I loved it from captivating start to sob-fest ending.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Fiona Collins for providing me with a Netgalley copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Fiona Collins grew up in an Essex village and after stints in Hong Kong and London returned to the Essex countryside where she lives with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Film and Literature and has had many former careers including TV presenting in Hong Kong, traffic and weather presenter for BBC local radio and as a film and TV extra.

Second To Sin (BlackJack Book Two) by Murray Bailey

 

Second to Sin (BlackJack Book Two) by Murray Bailey.

Published 6th March 2023 by Three Daggers.

From the cover of the book:

"It only takes a second to sin," Father Thomas said.

He believes in saving souls, but Charles Balcombe is beyond saving. His control over his killer instinct appears to be weakening. BlackJack has killed again and more questions are being asked of Detective Inspector Munro. He is under increasing pressure to solve the murders, especially when he picks up more cases from Kowloon rather than solving his own.

As Balcombe battles with his demon, he investigates the death of a young woman. Was it an accident or did she kill herself? At first Balcombe thinks it's straightforward but as he digs, other cases reveal an evil in Hong Kong. One that could consume them all.

Set in 1954, this is book 2 of the series. It can be read as a stand-alone but the author recommends book 1 (Once a Killer) first.

**********

Hong Kong, 1954. The man that calls himself Charles Balcombe is struggling to keep his alter ego BlackJack under control, as the arrangement he has made with Detective Inspector Munro to find an outlet for BlackJack's talents is not going quite as smoothly as hoped. BlackJack is getting reckless, and Detective Inspector Munro is walking a fine line coping with the pressure to somehow solve his crimes while preventing them being linked to Balcombe. 

Balcombe needs a distraction. Fortunately, an investigation into the death of a young Catholic woman, who may or may not have committed suicide, comes his way at just the right time. At first, this case seems unremarkable, but Balcombe becomes increasingly concerned that the deaths of other Catholic young women may not be a coincidence. Is there evil at work in Hong Kong?

Meanwhile, Munro has the added headache of being under the beady of eye of a man who wants his job, and he gets embroiled in a case that sent his former colleague off the rails...

Second to Sin is the second book in the excellent BlackJack series, which takes the villain from one of Bailey's Ash Carter books, Singapore Killer, and lets him run free in his own thrilling adventures in 1950s Hong Kong.

The first book in the series, Once a Killer, established BlackJack's adopted cover as canny investigator Charles Balcombe, the debauched lounge-lizard hiding a compulsion to protect the vulnerable. By the end of that book, Balcombe forms an unconventional partnership with Detective Inspector Munro who hopes to use BlackJack as a tool to target organised crime. But BlackJack is not a force that can easily be controlled, and at the beginning of this second instalment, the boundary between Balcombe and his inner demon is becoming dangerously blurred.

Balcombe needs to channel his energy into a new investigation to stop BlackJack's murderous urges taking over, and this one is quite different from anything he has encountered before. Bailey weaves his magic to create a twisty mystery around the deaths of young Catholic women in Hong Kong, that has Balcombe gradually uncovering a pattern that has been missed by the authorities. It is a mystery that beautifully explores notions of sin and redemption, and in getting to the bottom of the crimes Balcombe also reflects upon his own capacity to cast aside his transgressions and seek absolution through a more conventional existence. Of course, BlackJack needs to come out to play too, and Bailey has him once again pursuing the undesirables that inhabit the dark underbelly of Hong Kong's criminal class in parallel with Balcombe and Munro's investigative storylines, with entertaining blood-soaked results. 

Balcombe's continued tussle with his true nature is central to this story, as he wavers between the light and shade that make up his identity. But it is Munro's character that develops in leaps and bounds in this second book, making him a very engaging foil for Balcombe. You get to learn a lot more about what makes him tick, and his determination to see things through. He becomes consumed by the unsolved case of a missing girl, making it his personal crusade, and intriguingly it pushes him into his own dark place where he fears for his sanity. Munro's investigation easily carries enough weight to make his side of the tale equally as absorbing as Balcombe's, and I found myself absolutely gripped as I flipped back and forth between the separate threads of their inquiries.

The tension in this book builds with exquisite slow burn, ending in a delicious trade-off between Munro and Balcombe/BlackJack that is immensely satisfying. There is a lovely flash of dark humour in the way Munro deals with the unscrupulous character who tries to oust him from his job too - with a little help from his conflicted help-mate Balcombe, and Balcombe's ever resourceful assistant Albert, who it was great to see back in the thick of it.

As ever, Bailey has produced another a top-class crime thriller that is steeped in evocative vibes of his setting - in this case, bringing 1950s Hong Kong alive. He also looks back to how the wartime occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese affected the lives of many of the characters here, with perfectly pitched poignancy. I always find myself learning something new about the historical period in which Bailey sets his stories, and this was no exception.

This is the most exciting book I have read of Murray Bailey's yet, which is saying a lot. I consumed this latest one in a single, breath-taking session, and did not want it to end. I cannot wait for BlackJack book three!

Second to Sin is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Murray Bailey for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Murray Bailey Is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series however is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father's experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray is well traveled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.

Murray lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.

I, Julian by Claire Gilbert

 

I, Julian by Claire Gilbert.

Published 13th April 2023 by Hodder and Stoughton.

From the cover of the book:

'So I will write in English, pressing new words from this beautiful plain language spoken by all. Not courtly French to introduce God politely. Not church Latin to construct arguments. English to show it as it is. Even though it is not safe to do so.'

From the author of Miles to Go before I Sleep comes I, Julian, the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story, battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations to do so. Compelled by the powerful visions she had when close to death, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church - and to write of what she has seen. The result, passed from hand to hand, is the first book to be written by a woman in English.

Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'

***********

As part of the blog tour for I, Julian, it is my pleasure to bring you an extract from the book:

I stand resistant to my mother’s words.

‘You are eighteen years old, a woman now, and you must marry. I will look for a husband for you from your father’s guild.’

Watching my face, which shows only too well what I think of this, she says,

‘You have a duty to bear children. Our people are stricken, we must have new life to bring us hope, and you are of age. And what else is there for you, if not marriage, than to enter a convent?’

I see in my mind’s eye a recently married woman at mass one Sunday wearing her newly acquired, ill-fitting, heavy wimple on her head. She wanted to linger and converse with others after the service but her older husband did not, and he bade her come away. Now. She had to run after him, clutching her wimple, as he strode swiftly out of the church. She was no longer her own mistress.

I do not want to run after a man and serve him and bear his children, and live in the city probably. But to be a nun, enclosed and silenced? Living with all those other bodies according to a rule that measures out each moment of each day?

I cannot abide either prospect. I crave my own company. I do not want to leave my home and the quiet warmth of my mother’s hearth and the comfort of nature. I love my long solitary walking, listening to the trees and feeling the soft earth under my feet, beholden to none before God.

And then the pestilence returns. At first my mother and I keep away from the city, fearful of further loss, but eventually we go to mass at the cathedral, praying with others for mercy and deliverance. In the shifting crowd of worshippers I find beside me a man I think I recognise. I keep my eyes fastened on the priest but all my attention is drawn to the broad-shouldered strong presence beside me, black- haired like my father, and I feel his protection too but differently: this with longing and heat like a physical thing between us. Then I remember him: on the few occasions when I visited my father’s wool house he was there as an apprentice. He does not speak to me and I will not look at him, but after the mass he falls into step with my mother and I can see, walking a short distance behind, that he is supplicating her. In spite of myself, my heart moves and the feeling is pleasurable.

‘Martin has a wool house of his own’, says my mother when we have reached our cottage. ‘And a merchanting business with ships that pass to Flanders with his wool.’

And in the midst of the pestilence-fear for which I have little patience, foolish young woman as I am, believing my strong body to be beyond all such terrors, this trembling, the first stirrings of love for a man, bring delight and distraction. I start to think that perhaps, if Martin is kind and not overbearing, I can be his wife. I should at least find out. I consent to see him, and the stirrings of love deepen when we meet and walk together and he opens his heart to me. Beneath his strong appearance he is tender and I become comfortable in his presence. The city will be bearable if I am with him, I think.

*****

I, Julian is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook formats from your favourite book retailer, or via the link HERE.

About the author:

Claire Gilbert grew up in London of English, Jewish, Scottish and Spanish heritage. She writes and speaks about ethics and spirituality in politics and public service, medicine, ecology and on Julian of Norwich. She is founding Director of Westminster Abbey Institute for ethics in public life. With her husband Seán she divides her time between London, Hastings and the west of Ireland.

No Place To Hide by J.S. Monroe

 

No Place to Hide by J.S. Monroe.

Published 13th April 2013 by Aries, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

You might be paranoid, but that doesn't mean they're not watching you.

Adam lives a picture-perfect life: happy marriage, two young children, and a flourishing career as a doctor. But Adam also lives with a secret. Hospital CCTV, strangers' mobile phones, city traffic cameras - he is convinced that they are all watching him, recording his every move. All because of something terrible that happened at a drunken party when he was a medical student.

Only two other people knew what happened that night. Two people he's long left behind. Until one of them, Clio - Adam's great unrequited love - turns up on his doorstep, and reignites a sinister pact twenty-four years in the making...

No Place to Hide is a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together the dark web, murder, and blackmail...

***********

From the outside, successful paediatrician Adam appears to have an idyllic life. He has a beautiful wife, and two young children, and they seem to live a contented existence in south London next to the wide open space of Greenwich Park. But Adam hides a secret about a tragedy that happened during his time as a medical student: a secret that makes him afraid he is being watched all the time, and the surveillance society that surrounds him feeds his paranoia.

Only two other people know what happened all those years ago, and when one of them walks back into his life 24 years later, he is sure it cannot be a coincidence. The arrival of Clio, the woman he was once obsessed with, heralds a series of increasingly worrying events that threaten to derail Adam's life... and to put him and his family in danger.

This is one of those psychological thrillers that plays on your worst nightmares, and it gripped me from unsettling start to breathtaking ending. Adam is a man who has made mistakes and these come back to bite him in sinister style. I cannot give too much away here, as it would spoil the beautifully crafted surprises that Monroe floors you with, but as the story flips back and forth between the present and 1998 when the fateful events of Adam's past are revealed, the terrifying pieces of the mystery come together in a way that chills you to the core. 

Intriguingly, Monroe takes the theme of Christopher Marlowe's tragic play Doctor Faustus, in which Clio and Adam play opposite each other in the most prophetic of ways as a temptress Mephistopheles and a foolish Faustus during a university production, and runs headlong into a timely scenario that scares the wits out of you. Adam has a very good reason to fear being spied upon, and his Faustian devil employs every technological trick, from spying software to the horrifying activities of the underbelly of the Dark Web, to give this morality tale a very modern twist.

At times, Adam's head is an uncomfortable place to be, but somehow his fight to redeem himself and protect his family gets under your skin, and by the time you reach the final stages of the story you are very much on his side. Clio is a totured enigma for almost the whole story, which adds delicious suspense, and allows Monroe to create a very satisfying twist and twist again ending on the wild clifftops in Cornwall that makes your heart race. My favourite character was Adam's friend Ji, who proves to be a valuable asset to have in his corner, and who adds some much needed comic touches to lighten the darkness.

I consumed this book in a single feverish sitting, unable to look away for a second. I have not read anything by J.S. Monroe before, but will certainly be looking out for more of his thrillers in the future!

No Place to Hide is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook formats.

Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Ransom PR for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Jon Stock, writing under the name J.S.Monroe, is the author of five psychological thrillers, including the international bestseller, Find Me. Under his own name, he has written five spy novels, one of which, Dead Spy Running, was optioned by Warner Bros. He is currently the Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford.

After more than 25 years in journalism, including two stints as Weekend editor of the Telegraph, and working as a foreign correspondent in New Delhi, Jon became full-time author in 2015.

He lives in Wiltshire with his wife, Hilary Stock, a fine art photographer, and is on the committee of Marlborough LitFest.

The Lazarus Solution by Kjell Ola Dahl

 

The Lazarus Solution by Kjell Ola Dahl.

Translated by Dan Bartlett.

Published 27th April 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

When a courier for Sweden’s Press and Military Office is killed on his final mission, the Norwegian government-in-exile appoints a writer to find the missing documents … breathtaking WW2 thriller.

Summer, 1943. Daniel Berkåk, who works as a courier for the Press and Military Office in Sweden, is killed on his last cross-border mission to Norway.

Demobbed sailor Kai Fredly escapes from occupied Norway into Sweden, but finds that the murder of his Nazi-sympathiser brother is drawing the attention of the authorities on both sides of the border.

The Norwegian government, currently exiled in London, wants to know what happened to their courier, and the job goes to writer Jomar Kraby, whose first suspect is a Norwegian refugee living in Sweden … a refugee with a past as horrifying as the events still to come … a refugee named Kai Fredly…

Both classic crime and a stunning exposé of Norwegian agents in Stockholm during the Second World War, The Lazarus Solution is a compulsive, complex and dazzling historical thriller from one of the genre’s finest writers.

***********

1943. Daniel Berkåk, courier for the Norwegian Press and Military Office in Sweden is killed on a dangerous cross-border mission in German-occupied Norway, and the important documents he was carrying have gone missing. On the same day, Norwegian sailor, Kai Fredly crosses the border in the opposite direction, seeking asylum in Sweden. His story does not quite add up, and the recent murder of his Nazi-sympathiser brother puts his loyalties under suspicion.

The Norwegian government, exiled in London, is keen to find out what happened to their courier, but they need to tread carefully. In an unexpected move, the job of finding out who killed Berkåk is given to writer Jomar Kraby, who has a sharp mind, but is struggling under Swedish censorship. They hope that his unconventional methods might be put to good use in getting to the truth without attracting too much attention. What Kraby discovers is a web of deceit on both sides of the border, and he is sure that Kai Fredly knows more about the mysterious murder than he is letting on...

What a treat it is to delve into a brand new Kjell Ola Dahl book, especially one of his evocative wartime novels, which I adore. There are so many lovely elements to this book that it is hard to know where to begin, but it is essentially a wartime murder mystery threaded beautifully into a gripping espionage thriller. Kraby, a once-lauded, alcoholic Norwegian writer, is somewhat at a loss now he has been exiled from his homeland. He carries a lot of emotional baggage, but his dysfunctional attributes to make him the perfect tool for a challenging mission. 

Around Kraby, Dahl builds a network of characters with murky motivations, which makes for lashings of suspense on both sides of the Norwegian-Swedish border, and he plays cleverly with the contrast between a country openly at war on one side and one in which the battle lines are hidden under false diplomacy on the other. The tension is palpable throughout, evoking the feeling of icy fingers trailing up and down your spine. It is impossible to tell who is friend or foe, and as real intentions are exposed, the pace of the story reaches a delectable fever pitch - culminating in an impressive twist and twist again finale that reveals the hidden meaning behind the title of the book.

The themes are layered with accomplished flair, as I have come to expect from Dahl. Family dramas, shared histories, divided loyalties, and deep-seated hatred form the bare bones, which he fills out with storylines around political ideology, distorted notions of patriotism, ambition, and revenge. Many of the characters examine what they have learned about the true nature of war, expressing bittersweet reflections of sadness and regret which give the story fathomless poignancy too.

I have yet to read a book that brings alive the brittle atmosphere of the hot-bed of spies that Sweden was at this time in history so well as this does. It has everything I want from an authentic espionage thriller, with the added dark Nordic Noir charm that I love so much - and it is another fine job from translator Don Bartlett. I am already craving more...

The Lazurus Solution is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. 

Buy link: Orenda Books

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author: 

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published thirteen novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. 

His work has been published in 14 countries, and he lives in Oslo.

About the translator:

Don Bartlett completed an MA in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia in 2000 and has since worked with a wide variety of Danish and Norwegian authors, including Jo Nesbø and Gunnar Staalesen’s Varg Veum series: We Shall Inherit the Wind, Wolves in the Dark and the Petrona award-winning Where Roses Never Die. He also translated Faithless, the previous book in Kjell Ola Dahl’s Oslo Detective series for Orenda Books. 

He lives with his family in a village in Norfolk.