Joy In The Morning (Jeeves And Wooster) by P.G. Wodehouse

 

The Jeeves Collection Vol 1: Book Five - Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse.

Narrated by Sephen Fry.

Released 17th December 2020 by Audible Studios.

From the cover:

“I have the honour to offer up to you, thanks to the good people of Audible, a selection of some of my very favourite Wodehouse. If these stories are new to you I hope it will be the beginning of a lifelong pleasure, if some or all are familiar I hope you will welcome them like old friends.” (Stephen Fry)

Audible Studios presents this brand new performance by Stephen Fry of some of his favourite Jeeves stories from P.G. Wodehouse, with an exclusive introduction.

Book 5: Joy in the Morning

Bertie is persuaded to brave the home of his fearsome Aunt Agatha and her husband Lord Worplesdon, knowing that his former fiancée, the beautiful and formidably intellectual Lady Florence Craye will also be in attendance.

***********

I am a late-comer to the work of P.G. Wodehouse as I only read my first one a couple of years ago, but it was literary love at first sight! So far, I have only ventured into the Jeeves and Wooster stories, but what better way to enjoy them than through the excellent narration of the incomparable Stephen Fry?

The Jeeves Collection (P. G.Wodehouse Volume One) has been a delight to listen to from beginning to end, covering five of Stephen Fry's own favourite Jeeves and Wooster stories about the loveable, but hapless, Bertie Wooster and his extremely capable valet Jeeves. The collection includes five books - The Inimitable Jeeves, Carry On Jeeves, Right-Ho Jeeves, The Code of the Woosters, and Joy in the Morning.

I have been saving the last story, Joy in the Morning, as a little treat, and it has been a fabulous way to round off the collection. They all pretty much follow the same formula, with Bertie getting into scrapes, generally as the result of trying to 'help out' friends and family with a variety of dilemmas, and having to be rescued by Jeeves. They evoke everything I love about that golden age when wealthy, bright young things spent their time enjoying high-jinks up town and on country estates.

In this particular episode, Bertie has been recruited on behalf of his step-uncle Lord Worplesdon (husband of Bertie's dreaded Aunt Agatha) to aid him in arranging a clandestine meeting with American businessman Chichester Clam, but he gets distracted by trying to get his pal, author 'Boko' Fittleworth, into Lord Worplesdon's good books so Boko can marry his ward 'Nobby' Hopwood. Throw in some awkward scenes with Bertie's former fiancée Florence, her new suitor local copper 'Stilton' Cheesewright, and Florence's troublesome little brother Edwin, and you have all the ingredients for mishaps and mayhem.

You can normally tell right from the beginning where Bertie is going to come a cropper, but this somehow makes things all the more enjoyable, especially as you know Jeeves will come up with a plan to put everything right in the end - including extricating Bertie from an accidental engagement, which seems to happen all too often.

The stories are narrated by Bertie himself, full of lingo suitable for a fine fellow of his age and class, which absolutely zings. Wodehouse's prose just glides, perfectly enunciated by Stephen Fry, and the humour drips from the increasingly absurd predicaments that unfold and Bertie's lack of self-awareness in making matters worse as he tries to do good.

I highly recommend any of these books if you love delicious use of language, laugh out loud capers, and a good rummage in the tweed-clad, what hoi-ng, jolly old past.

About the author:

P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.

About the narrator:

Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director and all-round national treasure. 

Whilst at university, Fry became involved with the Cambridge Footlights, where he met his long-time collaborator and friend Hugh Laurie. As half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. 

Fry’s acting roles include Blackadder, Kingdom, Bones, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Hobbit trilogy. He has written and presented several documentary series and as a proudly out gay man, the award-winning Out There, documenting the lives of lesbian, bisexual gay and transgender people around the world is part of his 30-year advocacy of the rights of the LGBT community. 

Fry has written four novels: The Liar, The Hippopotamus (made in to a feature film in 2018), Making History and The Stars’ Tennis Balls. Translated into many languages, they have never been out of print. The most recently published works are Mythos, Heroes and Troy, a trilogy retelling the Greeks myths from the Creation to the aftermath of the Trojan War. 

One Moment by Becky Hunter (Paperback Publication)

 

One Moment by Becky Hunter.

Published in paperback 31st August 2023 by Corvus.

From the cover of the book:

One moment in time can change everything...

The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn't feel fair that she'll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams. And now, she's still ... here - wherever here is - watching the ripple effect of her death on the lives of those she loved the most.

Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend's death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie's life in directions she'd never let herself imagine possible. Ways, perhaps, even those closest to her had long since given up on.

If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of that one moment in time, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

***********

Scarlett and Evie have been inseparable since childhood, certain that whatever life throws at them they will always be able to rely on each other. But Fate has other ideas. On a day that promises the realisation of everything Scarlett has been working toward, she is involved in a fatal accident. Scarlett's death leaves Evie overwhelmed by grief, and struggling to get beyond blaming Nate, the man she considers responsible for what happened... and yet, these things are never black and white.

After the accident, Scarlett is unable to leave the world behind, even though her life is over. She hovers unseen on the edge of Evie's struggles, and watches over her with conflicted feelings while Evie and Nate, who would never have met if she had not died, develop a friendship that could become so much more. Scarlett finds herself revisiting moments from the past, gathering insight on the decisions she has made, and begins to understand that her relationship with Evie was not all it should have been. Would she go back and make different choices if she could, now she can see everything more clearly?

One Moment is an absolutely gorgeous debut novel from Becky Hunter that takes you on a deeply emotional journey through love, loss and the moments that define us. The story focuses on an intimate cast of characters dealing with loss in different ways, and it has a very clever twist reminiscent of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, because one of them is watching on from the outside, witnessing the profound impact of her death on those who remain behind.

Although Scarlett is dead throughout almost all of this story, she becomes the guide that leads you onwards from tragic beginning to heart-wrenching end. There is a lot of (quite literal) 'soul' searching, as Scarlett learns more about herself and her relationships with others, through being drawn to moments from past. Meanwhile Evie has revelations of her own about her friendship with Scarlett as Nate persists on inserting himself into her life and dragging her out of her comfort zone when she wants to hide from the world - and as she makes a new friend in Astrid, the young girl that reminds her so much of how she used to be.

There is no way to do this book justice in a short review. It deftly explores the pivotal moments that dictate the direction our lives take, and the preoccupations that can get in the way of seeing the bigger picture. There is real maturity in Hunter's writing that is very impressive for a debut author, as she spins bittersweet magic that wraps you up completely in this story, touching on a wealth of themes about expectation, self-awareness, chronic illness, mental health, friendship, family, and different aspects of love.

I cried my way through this one, building up to a full on sob fest at the end when all the threads come together in a final breath-taking moment that hits you right in the feels. One Moment is a contender for my book of the year, and I predict that Becky Hunter is a rising star to watch. If this book is not on your reading pile yet, then it should be.

**Review originally published March 2023 for hardback release.

One Moment is available to buy now in paperback, hardback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Corvus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blogger day.

About the author:

Becky Hunter lived and worked in London for several years before moving to Mozambique to volunteer with horses and try her hand at writing. A few years, a few destinations, and a few jobs later she had the idea that would become One Moment.

Alongside writing, she now works as a freelance editor and publicist, splitting her time between Bristol and London, and constantly trying to plan the next adventure.

Mirror Image (Varg Veum) by Gunnar Staalesen

Mirror Image (Varg Veum) by Gunnar Staalesen.

Translated by Don Bartlett.

Published 31st August 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.

Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide.

As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost...

A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best.

***********

Bergen PI, Varg Veum, is offered an intriguing case when a lawyer asks him to track down her missing sister and brother-in-law, who seem to have disappeared without a trace. In a stroke of good fortune for Veum's empty bank account, he also finds himself involved in the case of a ship on its way to Norway with a suspect cargo.

At first these cases seem to have no apparent connection, but curious links between the two begin to emerge. The husband of the missing sister worked for the same company operating the cargo vessel, and there are odd echoes between the sudden disappearance of him and his wife and a case of a double suicide in the family over thirty years before.

As events unfurl, Veum is pulled into a complex web of secrets, lies and desire, and the shadowy world of subterfuge around nuclear waste and illegal immigrants... putting him squarely in the way of a past adversary's spiteful revenge.

My favourite Norwegian PI, Varg Veum, is back in a brand new twisty mystery that takes a considerable amount of good old-fashioned, gum-shoe leg work to get to the bottom of. At the heart of the tale is an anxious relative, concerned about the fate of her sister, but as Veum trudges around Bergen and its environs the story burgeons into one which connects past and present events through the timeless trouble-makers of affairs of the heart and greed. 

The threads of this story are far reaching in time and place, flipping between the present and intimately described scenes of the past that ooze with atmosphere and tension. It is hard to see how all these threads can possibly resolve into a coherent picture, but in his capable way Staalesen does an excellent job of keeping track of them all as they draw together towards the slickest of endings - one that makes the absolute most of the consequences of what the darker emotions of passion, jealousy, avarice, and revenge can lead to. This kept me guessing right to the delicious denouement, when Veum puts the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that suddenly has you looking at the whole chain of carefully contrived events in an entirely new light. Well played, Gunnar Staalesen, well played!

The translator, Don Bartlett, does an excellent job with Staalesen's text once more, retaining every ounce of the fabulous Humphrey-Bogart-does-Philip-Marlowe vibes that I know and love in Varg Veum, right down to the sardonic humour and sassy comebacks - with some clever little nods to the great man himself. I think this story shows a more reflective side of Veum too, especially when it comes to his views on romance, and his love of jazz thrums throughout.

Staalesen is one of the Nordic noir giants, and this book has the mark of another hit on the Norwegian crime front. I loved it from start to finish, and cannot wait for the next one.

Mirror Image is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support the best of indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

About the author:

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. 

He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted in 2019. 

He lives with his wife in Bergen.

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.

The Good Daughter by Laure Van Rensburg

 

The Good Daughter by Laure Van Rensberg.

Published 3rd August 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Abigail is a proud member of the New America Baptist Church. Living miles away from the nearest town in South Carolina, she is safe from the depraved modern world.

She is a good daughter. A valued member of the community.

So when she is the sole survivor of a fire that burns her family's home to the ground, it seems like a tragic accident.

Until a surprising discovery is made: before the fire, Abigail let a stranger in.

Who was the stranger? What started the fire? And was the outside world always the threat - or did danger lurk within the community's walls?

***********

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Heywood is a member of the ultra-orthodox New America Baptist Church. She is proud to be living her life as God intended in the community of Newhaven, South Carolina, away from the sinners of the outside world. But then she meets Summer, a pod-cast host who seems very interested in the way the New America Baptist Church runs its operation out on the old Newhaven Plantation estate. Abigail is convinced that her way of life is pure and worthy, and she is excited to be given the chance to persuade Summer to see the advantages it offers, but events do not go quite as she anticipates.

When a fire rips through her home in Newhaven, killing her parents, Abigail cannot remember the events of the days leading up to the tragedy. As she struggles to make sense of flashes that come back to her, she begins to realise that being a good daughter is not as easy as she thought and life here might not be the haven it pretends to be.

The Good Daughter is Laure Van Rensburg's follow up to her brilliant debut Nobody But Us. Van Rensburg chooses a very different setting and story for her second novel, but it is every bit as compelling at the first, and in some ways it explores many of the same themes.

The story follows two tense timelines which intertwine - one lays out the events of the days that lead up to the fire that kills Abigail's mother and preacher father, and the second follows the fall-out after the apparent tragedy. As the action moves back and forth from past to present, the flow is also broken up by transcripts of incomplete interviews about aspects of the Newhaven community (with host and subjects only identified as male or female), and disturbing letters that pass back and forth between the New America Baptist Church elders about Abigail. 

With perfectly pitched pace, tension, and glorious sense of menace Van Rensburg tells the story of the darkness that lies at the heart of the Newhaven community, and how the arrival of Summer on the scene is the catalyst for Abigail to not only question her beliefs, but rebel against the strictures placed on her as a young woman - with violent results. The story twists and turns, keeping you guessing about the true nature of many of the characters, before the parallel timelines collide in a beautifully conceived double climax of breath-taking proportions. 

As in Van Rensburg's debut, this is very much a story about control, abuse of power, submission, gaslighting, and dark intent hidden beneath a benign exterior. She delves deep into the concepts of blind faith, strict religious beliefs, and traditional gender roles, channelling the consequences of hatred and injustice into a story that fills you with a real sense of fear. My heart was in my mouth for almost all of this book, as Abigail's fate lays in the balance, and the way Van Rensburg threads more than one mystery to be solved amongst the drama is an absolute masterclass in story telling. There is another side to this tale which explores themes of family, protection, and the lengths people go to to shield those they love too. And if all this was not impressive enough, she also asks some very timely, and discomfiting, questions about the relationship between the rise in extremist churches in the US and the alarming spread of incel culture amongst disaffected males. Thought-provoking and scary stuff indeed.

I absolutely consumed this book. It is one of the best thrillers I have read all year, with real power and complexity in a story that holds you fast from beginning to end. I cannot wait for book three.

The Good Daughter is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio book formats.

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

About the author:

Laure Van Rensburg is a French writer living in the UK and an Ink Academy alumna. Her stories have appeared in online magazines and anthologies such as Litro Magazine, Storgy Magazine, The Real Jazz Baby (2020 Best Anthology, Saboteur Awards 2020), and FIVE:2:ONE. She has also placed in competitions including 2018 & 2019 Bath Short Story Award. Her debut novel Nobody But Us was released in 2022.

Always By Your Side by Julie Haworth

 

Always by your Side by Julie Haworth.

Published in paperback 31st August 2023 by Simon and Schuster.

From the cover of the book:

WINNER OF THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS' ASSOCIATION KATIE FFORDE DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2023.

When school teacher Rose loses her dream job at a London primary school, her self-confidence takes a knock. Worse still, her stockbroker fiancé, Ollie, sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to join his firm, which only adds to the feelings Rose has that their relationship might be coming to an end.

An unexpected phone call, and an elderly aunt who’s taken a fall, means Rose must drop everything – including Ollie - and return to Blossom Heath, the Sussex village she grew up in.

With no job to rush home to, Rose decides to stay in Blossom Heath for the Summer, trading London for the idyllic countryside. Here Rose finds herself reconnecting to the village life of her childhood in more ways than one, including falling head-over-heels for local farmer, Jake.

So when her London life comes calling, Rose is faced with an impossible choice… to return to the high-pressure life of her past, or embrace the joy of a new life in the country.

***********

Rose loves being a primary school teacher in London, so when she loses her dream job, her confidence takes a hard knock. It does not help that her stockbroker fiancé Ollie is less than supportive, seeing it as an opportunity to get her on the fast track to the highlife by joining him in his city firm.

Rose is not keen on Ollie's hints about a career change, but when she receives a call telling her that her beloved Aunt Jean has had a fall, she forgets her own troubles and heads to her childhood village of Blossom Heath, in rural Sussex, to see what she can do to help. Since Rose is at a loose end, she decides to stay in Blossom Heath for a few weeks until Aunt Jean is back on her feet, despite Ollie's obvious disapproval. Being back in the village reminds Rose of all the things about country life she has missed. She begins reflecting on how she and Ollie have grown apart - and there is no denying that local farmer, handsome Jake, has turned her head. But London life does not seem done with Rose yet. She has some decisions to make. Should she listen to her head, or her heart?

Always by your Side is a glorious debut romance from Julie Haworth, about love, friendship, following your heart... and dogs! When Rose unexpectedly finds herself with some time on her hands, the charms of Blossom Heath, and all that it offers, make her realise that she and Ollie want very different things from the future. And who can blame her when the attractions of this lovely little country village are so many - the warm welcome of old and new friends, the possibility of a new life, and all fabulous memories she has of her childhood... not to mention the chemistry between her and Jake.

I adore a rom-com with a fabulous community spirit, and the supportive bunch of residents in Blossom Heath fit the bill to perfection, coming through in times of need to get Rose through the inevitable bumps in the road that come between her and her destiny. The developing friendship, with delicious will-they-won't-they vibes, between Rose and Jake is gorgeous, and Haworth throws in just the right number of mishaps and misunderstandings required to make the heart-flipping ending one to make your eyes brim over with happy tears. And if you are a fan of adorable canine companions, you need this book in your life - I guarantee you will fall in love with Scout and her doggy pals.

Haworth cleverly touches on a lot of themes in this story, particularly around facing up to the truth when a relationship is not going as you hoped and being brave enough to take a different path, and she injects a sub-plot around the callous thefts of furry friends that has real emotional punch. She sums up so much about devoting yourself to a job which is a vocation too, with all the nicely written school-based scenes, and I really enjoyed how she pokes bitter-sweet fun at the pretentious city crowd that Ollie is desperate to be a part of.  

This was such a joy to consume, with all the threads coming together in a splendid heart-shaped package, and it is easy to see why it was the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023. I cannot wait to read more from Julie Haworth!

Always by your Side is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Books and the City for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Julie Haworth writes uplifting stories about friendship and community, bursting with romance and charm, from her home in the bustling city of Chelmsford, Essex. Her debut novel, Always By Your Side, was published by Simon & Schuster in digital format in August 2022, and is now coming in paperback. Julie is still pinching herself that she’s realised her lifelong dream of becoming a published author!

When she’s not busy writing or running her copywriting business, Julie can mainly be found shopping, drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and hanging out with her two rescue cats. Julie is also a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.

Dirty Geese (Kanha and Colbey Book One) by Lou Gilmond

 

Dirty Geese (Kanha and Colbey Book One) by Lou Gilmond.

Published 6th July 2023 by Armillary Books.

From the cover of the book:

WHAT CAN SEE WATCHES... 

WHAT CAN HEAR LISTENS... 

- the gripping first instalment of the Kanha and Colbey thriller series.

When Chief Whip Esme Kanha learns of the sudden death of the Minister for Personal Information, she bitterly regrets missing his desperate calls the previous evening. Unconvinced by the verdict of suicide, and suspicious that corrupt colleagues played some part in the man's death, she decides to investigate - but she must tread carefully in a near-future world dominated by technology, where 'what can see watches, what can hear listens, and what can be followed is tracked'.

Meanwhile, Big Tech executive Henri Lauvaux arrives in London. His mission: to ensure the new minister, Harry Colbey, will not prove as problematic as the last. As the West inexorably slides towards an Orwellian 'Big Brother' future, Harry Colbey and Esme Kanha join forces in a deadly cat-and-mouse game against political corruption - at great cost to themselves.

***********

Back bencher Harry Colbey suddenly finds himself appointed to the lofty heights of Minister for Personal Information, after the post's previous incumbent Percy Dvořáček blows his brains out in his Westminster office. The Prime Minister, Ewan MacLellan, is sure that Colbey will be the safe pair of hands they need to get the new Personal Information Bill passed into law, hopefully avoiding the recent near-disaster that Dvořáček attempted before his death.

Chief Whip, Esme Kanha regrets missing Dvořáček's call the previous evening. The strange phone messages he left her hint at something fishy about his apparent suicide, and more to his meddling with the Personal Information Bill than the erratic actions of a broken man. Kanha begins a covert investigation into Dvořáček's death, being as careful as she can to avoid detection in a world where technology watches your every move and listens to your every word. She is horrified to find that the corruption she uncovers goes to the very top of the government.

Meanwhile, Colbey soon finds that his new role is a poisoned chalice. When Big Tech executive Henri Lauvaux arrives in London, Colbey becomes embroiled in a trap that ties him to the shady shenanigans playing out behind a facade of truth and openness. But Colbey is a rare thing in government... an honest man, and he finds an ally in Kanha. Together they team up to do what they can to prevent the slide of the western world into a terrifying Orwellian future.

Dirty Geese is an absolutely gripping near-future, political novel that delves beautifully into the knotty issues of privacy versus security in a world dominated by surveillance. Lou Gilmond does a cracking job of taking you deep into the workings of government, with all the ambition driven power games that go on behind the scenes in Westminster, embroidering them into a thriller that is so realistic you can taste it. Human frailty, secrets, lies, devices and desires combine to drive a story that examines what can happen when corruption within the corridors of power seduces those who should be protecting public interest into dark deeds.

This is a thriller that thrums with tension as our unlikely heroes, the thoroughly decent Harry Colbey and cynical Chief Whip Esme Kanha, come together in a common aim to stop the elegantly depicted villain Henri Lauvaux realising a plot of deliciously Bond-like proportions. There is real danger in their mission, as they must do their utmost to avoid detection in a setting where they are constantly being monitored, and it is not easy to tell who they can trust. The plot twists and turns, and carries you along to the slickest of endings that will have you punching the air with glee. There is a lovely supporting cast for you to love and hate, including the delightful tech whizz Mani, and on the other end of the scale the despicable PM Ewan MacLellan and his henchman Tirrell, as well as a few characters who fill out the  story with an intriguing glimpse into the tricky personal lives of MPs and civil servants and their working relationships. 

I am seriously impressed by the way Gilmond fashions a fast-paced and compelling thriller that keeps you turning the pages, while also making the complicated issue of privacy versus safety so engaging, and it adds an extra slice of menace to know that the very technological nightmares she uses to great effect in this story are only a step away. If that does not give you the chills and have you side-eyeing your gadgets, then I do not know what will.

This is the best political thriller I have read in ages, and I love how Gilmond baits the hook into the next Kanha and Colbey thriller with the tastiest of tempting morsels. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to book two! 

Dirty Geese is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

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

About the author:

Based in Oxford, UK, Lou Gilmond is an author of mystery and thriller fiction, screenplays and travel books. She came to writing late in life having already suffered a long career which roughly went: shop girl, waitress, data processing clerk, telesales team leader, spreadsheet monkey, commodities trader, political lobbyist, publisher.

She loves film, boxsets, spaniels, Lara Croft, rose-covered pergolas, and cycling up mountains.

Elephants Can Remember (Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie

 

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 8th September 2016 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict…

Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies – a husband and wife – shot dead.

But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that ‘old sin leave long shadows’.

***********

Famous novelist, and part time associate of Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver is accosted by a very persistent stranger during a literary dinner. The unpleasant Mrs Burton-Cox demands to know whether Ariadne has the inside information on the mysterious death of the parents of her god-daughter Celia Ravenscroft, citing the interest of her son Desmond, who is engaged to Celia.

Ariadne does not know quite what to make of this, especially as she was not in England at the time of the demise of the Ravenscrofts, who apparently died in a cliff-top suicide pact twelve years ago. She decides to consult her friend Poirot to see if she should take this approach seriously. Poirot sets Ariadne the task of talking to her contacts from years before who knew General and Mrs Ravenscroft, to see if they can remember anything about the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Meanwhile, Poirot undertakes to speak to the police detectives involved in the investigation of the apparent suicide.

Ariadne. bolstered by Celia's revelation that she would actually quite like to know the truth, gathers an odd collection of erratic testimonies from her 'elephants'. They seem to her to reveal little in the way useful facts, but Poirot's little grey cells detect sinister shenanigans that point to murder. 

This is one of Christie's more reflective mysteries that looks back in time to events which have already been investigated by the police, very much like the very entertaining cases in Five Little Pigs and Mrs McGinty's Dead (which both get a mention in this text, and one of which Poirot also worked on with the charming Ariadne). 

The theme of elephants as having excellent recall of past events runs throughout the story, with Ariadne and Poirot on the trail of clues from a mixed bag of human pachyderms among old friends and colleagues, former domestic staff, a psychiatrist, a hairdresser, and even Ariadne's very aged childhood nanny. Poirot's acumen is tested, but titbits about dogs, wigs, twins and broken promises lead him to the truth about what really happened all those years ago - and to the nefarious side quest of the awful Burton-Cox woman too!

Ariadne Oliver is one of my favourite Christie characters, and I love it when she and Poirot work together. The journey to the solution was very entertaining, but even though Poirot ties up all the ends beautifully, and sends the young love-birds Celia and Desmond off to a bright future, somehow this ending falls a little flat for me. I am not sure why as it has all the elements that should make it sing. 

Even so, I consumed the audio book of this mystery, narrated by one of may favourites Hugh Fraser, old Captain Hastings himself, which is perfect comfort listening.

This book is my August pick for #ReadChristie2023 which explores a fall from a height as a method of murder.

Elephants Can Remember 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.

Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald

 

Fayne by Ann Marie MacDonald.

Published 17th August 2023 by Tramp Press.

From the cover of the book:

Fayne, a vast moated castle, lies to the misty southern border of Scotland, ruled by the Lord Henry Bell, Seventeenth Baron of the DC de Fayne, Peer of Her Majesty’s Realm of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The mysterious Lord Bell keeps to his rooms by day, appearing briefly at night to dote over his beloved and peculiarly gifted child. 

But even with all her gifts – intelligence, wit and strength of character – can Charlotte overcome the violently strict boundaries of contemporary society and establish her own place in the world?

***********

Charlotte Bell, daughter of Lord Henry Bell, Seventeenth Baron of the DC de Fayne, has grown up in the wild border region between England and Scotland on the vast, boggy estate of Fayne. She is a gifted child, driven by the need to learn all she can, but has been kept away from the world outside of Fayne by her doting father because of her 'condition'. 

On her twelfth birthday, her father goes against tradition when it comes to female offspring and hires a tutor for her to broaden her knowledge. The things she learns inspire her to want more than the isolated existence that is her lot, and when her father tells her that there is a 'cure' for her condition she looks forward to following her dreams. Instead, this leads to a chain of events that uncover dark secrets at the heart of the Bell family.

Fayne is a sweeping and ambitious novel set in nineteenth century Scotland. At the beginning of the story you meet the wonderful character Charlotte Bell, who has been born with a mysterious 'condition' that keeps her apart from the world outside. She spends her days in the company of a small group of servants, including her nurse Mrs Knox and the strange Bryn who has a close connection with the bog that surrounds their home. Charlotte's fiercely protective father lives a nocturnal existence, and she has never known any other family, believing her older brother died in childhood and her mother did not survive giving birth to her. 

Charlotte is smart and curious, with an astounding ability to retain information, and she soon outgrows her father's library of classical tomes. In an unexpected twist Lord Henry decides to break tradition by employing a tutor to live at Fayne, which opens up Charlotte's mind to scientific and mathematical concepts beyond her experience - it also sets her on the path of questioning exactly what happened to her mother and older brother, who stare balefully at her from a grand portrait in the remote castle.

The heart of the story is Charlotte's 'condition', which is gradually revealed, and the life she leads in isolation is one that has come about through secrets and deceit within the Bell family. For Charlotte, her life is a normal one, but her characteristics have distorted the limited freedoms she can expect more than she knows. As the story unfolds, MacDonald follows both Charlotte's experiences, and those of her American heiress mother Mae, in dual timelines that bleed into each other, and lay bare the way the truth has been subverted to maintain appearances. Mae's letters to her friend Taffy back home are particularly heart-rending, delving into pain and desperation as time goes on, and Charlotte's naivety hits you hard. Many of the scenes described are difficult to read when it comes to the barbaric treatment of Charlotte, Mae, and a number of other (mostly female) characters, but there is love, warmth, and humour too. Charlotte's budding relationship with her friend Gwendoline is especially touching.

For me, the best parts are those which centre around the atmospheric environs of Fayne itself, which oozes with Gothic vibes and underlying magic and mysticism - which have significant bearing on the final destination. There are times when I felt the exploration of the gritty side of Victorian Edinburgh would have been better saved for a different novel, and some of Mae's story could have been condensed to maintain pace. Charlotte is the most important character, and a few literary nips and tucks would have been beneficial in keeping the focus on her.

There is no doubt that this the slowest of slow-burn novels. so expect to be in for the long haul for its treasures to be revealed. It weighs in at a mighty 736 pages, and touches on a myriad of subjects around gender identity, expectation, isolation, and discrimination in Victorian Britain with enormous skill. I really enjoyed how MacDonald uses mystery and cleverly reflects her themes through the timelines, and the way she echoes a state of in-between in Charlotte's life and the curious location of Fayne itself is superb. This thrums with whispers of well-loved classics that have stood the test of time, and if a Victorian novel with a twist is your bag you will adore this book.

Fayne is available to buy now in ebook and paperback.

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

About the author:

ANN-MARIE MACDONALD is a novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. She was born in the former West Germany. After graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, she moved to Toronto where she distinguished herself as an actor and playwright. Her first play won the Governor General’s Award, the Chalmers Award and the Canadian Authors’ Association Award. 

In 1996, her first novel Fall on Your Knees became an international bestseller, was translated into nineteen languages and sold three million copies. It won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Fiction, the People’s Choice Award and the Libris Award. In 2002, it became an Oprah’s Book Club title. In 2003,The Way the Crow Flies appeared, and in 2014, Adult Onset, both of which also enjoyed immense international success. 

In 2019 Ann-Marie MacDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contribution to the arts and her LGBTQ2S+ activism. She is married to theatre director, Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott

 

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott.

Translated by Marina Sofia.

Published 1st August 2023 by Corylus Books.

From the cover of the book:

A series of bizarre murders rocks the beautiful Carpathian town of Braşov. At first there’s nothing obvious to link what appear to be random killings.

With the police still smarting from the scandal of having failed to act in a previous case of a serial kidnapper and killer, they bring in forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa to figure out if several murderers are at work – or if they have another serial killer on their hands.

Ambitious, tough, and not one to suffer fools gladly, Gigi fights to be taken seriously in a society that maintains old-fashioned attitudes to the roles of women.

She and the police team struggle to establish a pattern, especially when resources are diverted to investigating a possible terrorist plot. With the clock ticking, Gigi stumbles across what looks to be a far-fetched theory – just as she realises that she could be on the murderer’s to-kill list.

***********

It is autumn in Braşov, and the tourist season is coming to close, but life in this picturesque Carpathian town is about to be anything but quiet. Braşov has become the location for a bizarre series of murders, and although they seem unconnected, the police force is nervous about being caught wanting in the wake of a previous embarrassing, serial killer related episode. The police decide to bring in forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa to consult on the case, hoping that her brilliant mind can help them discover if the strange murders are linked. 

Feisty and resourceful, Gigi sets her mind to the task, wading though the usual nonsense that comes with the old-fashioned attitudes to women that frustrate her. Working together, Gigi and the police struggle to detect a pattern to the crimes, and their work is made even harder when an explosion in Bucharest diverts their resources to a potential terrorist incident. As the bodies pile up, Gigi begins to see that there may be a tenuous link to the murders after all, and that she might be on the killer's list too...

Deadly Autumn Harvest is a cracking, twisty thriller set in the beautiful Carpathian town of Braşov. It features forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa, from Tony Mott's Romanian crime series, now being published for the first time in English in an excellent translation from Marina Sofia.

It did take me a little while to get into the rhythm of the novel, as there is quite a lot of backstory around Gigi's work and relationship history that you have to pick up, as a result of this book not being the first one in the series. However, the combination of an intriguing murder mystery and Gigi's compelling characterisation soon grabs you by the scruff of the neck, and pulls you into a story that oozes tension on the rain-soaked streets of Braşov. 

Mott's tautly plotted story is delicious, as it keeps you on the edge of your seat as the seemingly unrelated threads begin to weave together, and she does not shy away from throwing in a few nicely conceived red herrings along the way. The story flips between Gigi's often chaotic lifestyle, her inspirational flashes, and realistic teamwork with the police around her; segueing into glimpses into the mind of the disturbed individual going about his gruesome mission. There are also occasional points of view from the victims who become his prey, which adds a curiously emotional edge to the proceedings. Slowly, a shocking picture takes shape, and the atmosphere of menace ramps up notch by notch as Gigi begins to see her own involvement in the tableau the serial killer is trying to create.

I adored Gigi in all her fierce, colourful, quick-minded and sharp-tongued glory. She does not suffer fools gladly, and longs to be left to her own devices most of the time, and yet she is consumed by the push and pull of mixed up emotions that come with her troubled childhood and the legacy of her rocky romantic relationships. She makes for the perfect protagonist in a noir crime story, and Mott builds a really interesting team around her that promises great things in a continuing series - including Morty the cat. 

It is always a pleasure to read translated fiction with flow, and I tip my hat to Marina Sofia for her stellar work here. I cannot wait for more Gigi Alexa books to be published in English.

Deadly Autumn Harvest is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

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

About the author:

Tony Mott was born and bred in Braşov, which often forms the backdrop for her novels. She has
worked internationally as a coach and HR professional, but her real passion remains writing. In
2022 she received the Romanian Mystery and Thriller Award. Deadly Autumn Harvest is the first
novel in the Gigi Alexa series to be translated into English.

About the translator:

Marina Sofia is a translator, reviewer, writer and blogger, as well as a third culture kid who grew
up trilingual in Romanian, German and English. Her previous translations for Corylus Books are
Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu and Resilience by Bogdan Hrib. She has spent most of her
winters in Braşov skiing, so is delighted to translate a book set in her favourite Romanian town.

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher

 

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher.

Published 17th August 2023 by HQ.

From the cover of the book:

The one decision you can’t take back...

Prosecutor, Justine Boucher has only asked for the death penalty once, in a brutal murder case.

In doing so, she put her own life on the line. Because, if the convicted are later found innocent, the lawyer who requested the execution will be sentenced to death.

Justine had no doubt that the man she sent to the chair was guilty.

Until now.

Presented with evidence that could prove his innocence, Justine must find out the truth before anyone else does.

Her life depends on it.

***********

Justine Boucher is a prosecutor in the commonwealth (once state) of Virginia. She has only asked for the death penalty for one of her cases - the brutal murder of a child. It is a case that haunts her for a number of reasons, not least because the introduction of the controversial Remedies Act meant putting her own life on the line too.

She has always been sure she sent a guilty man to chair, but now she is not so sure. A piece of evidence has cropped up that calls the trial verdict into question, and the clock is counting down for Justine to discover what this means for her own survival.

Set in near-future USA, The Sentence delves into the morass of knotty issues around the death penalty. Told through the eyes of prosecutor Justine Boucher, a woman formerly involved in a campaign to abolish the death penalty, this explores what would happen if the decision to subject someone to state-sanctioned execution is boiled down to a single question - whether or not the prosecutor is 100% certain that they are guilty of the crime. The introduction of the Remedies Act dictates that should any prosecutor calling for the death penalty subsequently be proved to be wrong, then they will forfeit their own life in recompense, so this is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Justine suddenly finds herself questioning whether she was right to send Jake Milford, a man who entered a guilty plea, to the chair at a time when her personal life was in free-fall, especially when it appears she may have been wrong. There are those who would dearly love to see her pay for a mistake, and their sinister intent adds a delicious sense of menace to what is already a tense situation, as Justine frantically tries to make sense of the unexpected.

The narrative moves back and forth in time, creating a picture of how and why Justine is now in such a perilous situation, but the whole truth only comes to light when Dalcher works storytelling magic by weaving together the threads of Justine and Jake Milford's stories. This happens by the flow of the novel being periodically broken up by glimpses into the mind of Jake Milford himself, in his written 'death-bed' testimony, as the condemned man awaits his fate on death row. This brings about a way for Justine to make amends in a very clever twist.

Dalcher has really done her research here, and in the telling of this gripping tale she forces you to confront the many issues that surround the arbitrariness of sentencing any human being to the death penalty, laying them out in such an accessible way. Intriguingly, she never answers any of the intelligently posed questions she throws at you herself, merely presenting the complexities, the contradictions, and the nitty gritty of both sides of the argument for you to make up your own mind. Growing up in the UK where the death penalty was suspended before my birth, this really made me think about the differences between our legal system and that of the USA too. 

The Sentence is the most thought provoking book I have read since Nikki Erlick's excellent debut, The Measure, and it will stay with me in much the same way. It is astonishingly powerful novel and guaranteed to leave you thinking long and hard about your own beliefs when it comes to the question of the death penalty.

The Sentence is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Christina Dalcher is a linguist, novelist, and flash fiction writer living in the American South. She has over 100 publishing credits in the UK, US, and Australia. Recognitions include first prize in the Bath Flash Fiction Award (February 2019), second prize in the 2016 Bartleby Snopes Dialogue-Only Contest, and nominations for The Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. Her debut novel VOX was a Sunday Times Bestseller.

Her flash fiction appears in The Molotov Cocktail Prize Winners' anthology, Whiskey Paper, Split Lip Magazine, (b)OINK, Five2One Magazine, and several others.

Christina lives with her husband and the ghosts of several dogs and cats.

Someone Like Her by Awais Khan

 

Someone Like Her by Awais Khan.

Published 17th August 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Multan, Pakistan. A conservative city where an unmarried woman over the age of twenty-five is considered a curse by her family.

Ayesha is twenty-seven. Independent and happily single, she has evaded an arranged marriage because of her family's reduced circumstances. When she catches the eye of powerful, wealthy Raza, it seems like the answer to her parents' prayers. But Ayesha is in love with someone else, and when she refuses to give up on him, Raza resorts to unthinkable revenge…

Ayesha travels to London to rebuild her life and there she meets Kamil, an emotionally damaged man who has demons of his own. They embark on a friendship that could mean salvation for both of them, but danger stalks Ayesha in London, too. With her life thrown into turmoil, she is forced to make a decision that could change her and everyone she loves forever.

Exquisitely written, populated by unforgettable characters and rich with poignant, powerful themes, Someone Like Her is a story of love and family, of corruption and calamity, of courage and hope … and one woman's determination to thwart convention and find peace, at whatever cost…

***********

Multan, Pakistan, is a city mired in conservative views, steadfastly resisting change - especially when it comes to women's rights. Society here looks with disapproval at any woman over twenty-five who has yet to find a husband, but twenty-seven-year-old Ayesha is happy to go against the grain. Relieved that her family's straitened circumstances have made her less desirable on the arranged marriage merry-go-round, she is forging an independent and fulfilling existence working for a charity that helps women who have suffered from domestic abuse. Ayesha looks forward to deciding her own future with the man she loves, but then she comes to the attention of the powerful and wealthy Raza, a man who is used to getting what he wants... and when she refuses to submit, his vengeance is swift and despicable.

Ayesha escapes to London, where she attempts to put back together the tattered pieces of her life. Here she meets Kamil, someone trying to escape his own traumatic experiences. Together they embark on a journey towards healing, and their budding friendship promises so much more. But even in London, Ayesha's past threatens to derail her chance of happiness.

Someone Like Her is a stirring novel that explores powerful themes of domestic violence, and the clash between old fashioned values and the pressing need for change, especially when it comes to the rigid expectations of traditional cultures. 

The novel follows the tragic stories of Ayesha in Pakistan, and Kamil in London, beginning with their heartfelt personal histories, before a meeting in London where the threads of their individual tales collide in a way that changes the course of their lives. It is hard to talk about quite how brilliantly Khan weaves magic in this story without spoilers, but somehow he spins elements of cracking thriller, touching romance, compelling family drama, and vehicle to raise awareness, by comparing and contrasting the different experiences of Ayesha and Kamil. 

At its heart, this is a story of domestic violence, examining the visible and invisible scars left behind by those who have been through very dark times. Inevitably, this throws up a lot of gritty issues about how women are subjected to abuse without recourse to justice in Pakistan, and how the wealthy and corrupt can get away with heinous crimes, but Khan also widens his scope to open up the subject of domestic abuse in other areas too, looking beyond sex and international borders. He shows some really interesting insight along the way, and although there are many distressing scenes in these pages, Khan does more than dwell on the horror by taking his time to look at how survivors of abuse can move forward and find a way to help others too. Ayesha in particular shows such courage through all the horrible things she must endure in this story, and although my heart bled for her, there is hope too, which makes this book intensely moving.

There is no doubt that this book is hard hitting, and there is a lot to talk about, which makes it a great choice as a book club read. Khan's ability to touch on quite so many subjects in the telling of this story is really striking, delving into notions of reputation and misconceptions about the lives of others, alongside the more weighty themes, with a deft hand. The characters have real depth and complexity that translates to keenly felt emotion too. If that was not enough, the pace and tension of his storytelling is perfectly judged, particularly as the plot reaches its gripping climax. This is Khan's most ambitious novel to date, and I am impressed by how much he has grown as a writer since his debut, In the Company of Strangers. I am really looking forward to the next one!

Someone Like Her is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support the very best of indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me an ecopy 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:

Awais Khan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Durham University. He has studied creative writing with Faber Academy. His debut novel, In the Company of Strangers, was published to much critical acclaim and he regularly appears on TV and Radio. 

Awais also teaches a popular online creative writing course to aspiring writers around the world. When not working, he has his nose buried in a book. He lives in Lahore.

 

Love On The Island by Jessica Gilmore

 

Love on the Island by Jessica Gilmore.

Published 3rd August 2023 by Orion.

From the cover of the book:

One week.
Two couples.
A holiday they'll never forget...

Indi Drewe is turning thirty and is exactly where she wants to be: she's on the cusp of a promotion, lives in her gorgeous London flat and is sure her perfect-on-paper boyfriend, Will, is about to propose...

Only, on the night she'd hoped Will would present her with a sparkling diamond ring, she finds out that her younger sister Jade is getting married to a man she's known only for a few weeks!

Worried her sister is about to make a terrible mistake, she immediately flies out to visit her sister in Greece - and is shocked to discover she's sharing her villa with a far-too-handsome (and perpetually shirtless) stranger, Mikhos.

Indi and Mikhos might be each other's worst nightmare, but together, they only have days to stop the wedding before it's too late! Yet with so much love in the air on this paradise.

***********

Indi Drewe is about to hit her thirtieth birthday, and her life is going just as she planned. A job promotion is on the cards, and she is pretty certain that her boyfriend Will is about to pop the question - right on schedule. But on the night when she thinks Will is going to go down on one knee, the future she has mapped out for herself (with multiple spreadsheets) goes off-key. Not only is Will not quite on the same Excel page as Indi, but her younger sister Jade is piping her to the post on the marriage front - to Nico, a man she has only known for a few weeks.

Indi may feel like her personal life is in freefall, but she is determined to prevent Jade from making a mistake in hers. She sets off to Greece to talk some sense to her sister, but when she gets there she is rather distracted by Jade's extremely handsome boss, Mikhos, who is equally keen not to see his cousin Nico getting married. While they set about persuading Jade and Nico not to rush into anything, they find it increasingly hard to to deny that there is a growing attraction between them too. Is love in the air for more than one couple on this idyllic island?

In Love on the Island, Jessica Gilmore carries you off to the beautiful Greek island of Naxos for a gorgeous rom-com adventure. The story is told through the eyes of two sisters, Indi who is a super-organised project manager in London, and her younger sister Jade who is working in an exclusive holiday resort in a tiny island off the coast of Naxos. When tragedy struck in their childhood, Indi took on the role of responsible parent to Jade, which their artist mother seemed incapable of doing, and she has been used to looking after her little sister ever since - its a role she finds hard to step back from, even though Jade is growing up. Meanwhile, Jade is beginning to find her feet out from under Indi's wing, and she is thrown by having to make some very adult decisions.

As the exclusive resort Mikhos is trying to get off the ground comes together, with help of Nico and Jade, Gilmore throws in a bevy of dilemmas for both sisters to negotiate. There is heat in more than just the Greek weather, and along the bumpy path to happiness, she strums on your heartstrings with themes of coming of age, responsibility, expectation, and learning to let go, and explores family dynamics beautifully. I laughed and cried my way through the story, all the way to the heart-warming ending, and thoroughly enjoyed all the little asides into the hard-working hospitality industry, and the weirdness of the world of social media.

This is a fabulous summer read, set against the backdrop of sun, sea, and sensuous experiences, and it hits that warm and fuzzy spot to perfection. I loved it! 

Love on the Island is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orion 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:

After several very happy years as a bookseller, Jessica Gilmore moved into the charity sector and now works in the Arts, living out her Noel Streatfeild dreams by walking through the Stage Door every morning. Married with one daughter, two dogs and two dog-loathing cats, she lives in the beautiful Chilterns where she can usually be found with her nose in a book. A lover of a happy-ever-after, Jessica loves to write emotional romance with a hint of humour and a splash of sunshine.

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker.

Published in hardcover 26th August 2021 by Hamish Hamilton.

Audio book narrated by Kristin Atherton.

From the cover of the book:

Troy has fallen and the Greek victors are primed to return home, loaded with spoils. All they need is a good wind to lift their sails.

But the wind does not come. The gods are offended - the body of Priam lies desecrated, unburied - and so the victors remain in uneasy limbo, camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed. The coalition that held them together begins to fray, as old feuds resurface and new suspicions fester.

Largely unnoticed by her squabbling captors, erstwhile queen Briseis remains in the Greek encampment. She forges alliances where she can - with young, rebellious Amina, with defiant, aged Hecuba, with Calchus, the disgraced priest - and she begins to see the path to revenge...

***********

The Women of Troy picks up where the story of Pat Barker's excellent The Silence of the Girls left off, beginning with the fall of Troy. The story is mostly told through the voice of Briseis, as in the first book. Now married to Myrmidon warrior Alcimus, at Achilles' behest, and carrying Achilles' child. Briseis is no longer a slave, and she is forced to confront where her loyalties lie when the women captured at the fall of Troy are brought to live in the camp as prizes of war - a position that was very recently her own.

As in The Silence of the Girls, there is a male narrative too. Achilles' son Pyrrhus tells us of his inner turmoil as he is expected to step into the sandals of the heroic father he never met. It is a role he is ill suited to, and he often resorts to ill-judged acts of violence - including killing Trojan King, Priam, and desecrating his body. The Greeks are trapped on the shores of Troy, unable to leave. Many believe the Gods are angered by events surrounding the fall of the city, and as frustration rises, old feuds resurface in an army no longer held together by a single purpose. The atmosphere is ripe for revenge, and not just among the Greeks. 

Barker does a splendid job of taking you into the hearts and minds of the women who have been dragged from Troy to become slaves - much as she did in the first book through the eyes of Briseis. Some are lowly, like the defiant Amina, but there are also many famous females from legend among them - wife of Priam, Hecuba; Hector's wife, Andromache; Priam's doomed daughter Cassandra; and of course, Helen, now returned to her vengeful husband Menelaus. It is their stories that hold you fast this this novel: their anxieties, their friendships, their sorrow, and their conflict, as they comes to terms with what has happened over the last ten years. 

Much of this story is heart-breaking and anger-inducing, as expected, but it sheds fascinating light on what followed the fall of Troy, filling out the myth with very real concerns of those at the mercy of a Greek army falling apart at the seams. What really strikes me about it is the courage, camaraderie, and determined resistance of the women in this novel, which drives the story much more than the acts of Greek warriors that dominate the traditional tales. They come across as so real, which makes this book such an accessible way to get to know the Greek myths, with added layers of insight from the female gaze. 

Even better that The Silence of the Girls, this is a must read if you are enjoying the wonderful explosion of books finally giving voice to the women from Greek myth. A mention here of the glorious audio book which is narrated once again by Kristin Atherton, as for The Silence of the Girls. Atherton brings these characters to life, and listening to her telling this tale was just like meeting an old friend once again in Briseis. Superb!

The Women of Troy is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

About the author:

Pat Barker, CBE, FRSL was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in 1943. She was educated at the London School of Economics and has been a teacher of history and politics.

Her books include the highly acclaimed Regeneration trilogy, Regeneration; The Eye in the Door, winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize; and The Ghost Road, winner of the Booker Prize; as well as several other novels. She's married and lives in Durham, England