The Little Board Game Café by Jennifer Page.

 

The Little Board Game Cafe by Jennifer Page.

Published 13th April 2023 by Aria.

From the cover of the book:

An irresistible story of love, friendship and the power of Games Night, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Christie Barlow.

When Emily loses her job, house and boyfriend all within a matter of days, she's determined to turn a negative into a positive and follow her dream of running a small cafe in the gorgeous Yorkshire village of Essendale.

But she quickly finds she's bitten off more than she can chew when the 'popular' cafe she takes over turns out to secretly be a failing business. Emily desperately needs a way to turn things around, and help comes from the unlikeliest of places when she meets local board game-obsessed GP Ludek. But when a major chain coffee shop opens on the high street, Emily is forced to question if she'll ever be able to compete.

Has she risked everything on something destined to fail? Or can a playful twist, a homely welcome, and a sprinkle of love make Emily's cafe the destination she's always dreamed of?

***********

Emily has always dreamed of having her own little café one day, but childhood tragedy has shaped her into someone who is afraid to take a risk. Her life has not taken the turns she thought it would, but she loves living in the picturesque Yorkshire village of Essendale, and she is happy enough working in a boring office job for her very conventional fiancé Peter... isn't she?

When Peter unexpectedly makes her redundant, Emily is forced to take stock. She begins to realise that she might not be as happy with her life as she thought. Encouraged by her best friend Kate, Emily makes a decision that sets in motion a series of events that find her newly single and homeless, but also about to take on the biggest project of her life - running her own little café off the beaten track in beautiful Essendale.

Emily is totally unprepared for the challenge, and quickly realises that not all is rosy with the business she has taken on, despite putting her all into offering delicious cakes for her tiny group of regulars. She needs to think fast about how she can turn things around, especially given the competition from not just the well-established rival café Sweet Delights, but also the brand new Costa about to open in the high street...

Serendipity offers a helping hand when Emily quite literally falls at the feet of Essendale's very attractive GP Ludek, who happens to be a board game fanatic. She transforms her failing cafe into an entertainment venue, where her customers can enjoy a game with their refreshments, and with a little help from her friends The Little Board Game Café is born. Will the idea bring Emily happiness, or will her hopes and dreams come crashing down?

The Little Board Game Café is a glorious tale of love, friendship, having the courage to follow your dreams... and board games! It follows the story of Emily, as she leaps off the safe path to pursue her childhood ambition to run a welcoming café, but it is also the tale of a young woman learning how to allow herself to be vulnerable in other areas of her life too - especially when it comes to affairs of the heart. 

The road to success is a winding one for Emily, and she has to learn to navigate many twists and turns on the professional and personal fronts before she can reach her happy ending. Page weaves a delightful little community around her as she goes on her journey, building on the core of Emily's self-help-book-loving bestie Kate and her grief stricken father, to create a burgeoning Little Board Game Café family full of lovely characters who work their way into your heart. At the same time, Page touches beautifully on issues of loneliness, connection, and second chances that hit all the emotional sweet spots - and of course, there is a delightful 'will-they-won't-they' romance between Emily and Ludek too.

If you are a board game fan, then you will discover a veritable smorgasbord of entertaining delights to tickle your competitive fancy, both old and new, and these pages are filled with mentions of delicious edible fancies to tempt your taste-buds too. Page does not shy away from laying out how trying it is to run a small business, particularly when the threat of corporate giants loom large, but the overwhelming themes are of heart, humour, healing, boundless warmth, and coming together. There are so many funny touches with spot-on comic timing as well - look out for the titles of the books that make their way onto Emily's bedside reading pile for a few giggles!

I did not want this story to end. It is perfect curl up on the sofa, escapist loveliness, that fills your heart with joy. 

The Little Board Game Cafe is available to but now in paperback and ebook formats.

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

About the author:

Jennifer Page wrote her first novel - a book about ponies - when she was eight. These days she prefers to write romance. When she isn't writing, Jennifer can usually be found playing board games which are the inspiration for her first novel. She has worked as a television producer, a music teacher and has even run a children's opera company. She now lives near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire with her husband and his large collection of games.

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

 

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 9th February 2017 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

A beautiful heiress is fatally poisoned in a West End restaurant…

Six people sit down to dinner at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary – in solemn memory of Rosemary Barton who died at the same table exactly one year previously.

No one present on that fateful night would ever forget the woman’s face, contorted beyond recognition – or what they remembered about her astonishing life.

***********

When beautiful heiress Rosemary Barton dies at a dinner table in a swanky London restaurant, after consuming cyanide in her champagne, there is nothing to suggest her demise is anything other than the result of a dramatic suicide. 

Six months later, her husband George receives anonymous letters suggesting that Rosemary was actually murdered. If Rosemary did not kill herself, then the person responsible can only be one of their fellow diners at the table that fateful night, and he is determined to find out which one of them it is.

George plans to unmask the killer by holding a dinner one year after Rosemary's death in the restaurant where she died - ostensibly, as a birthday celebration for her younger sister Iris, who is now his ward. But when these six people sit down at the same table, laid with an empty place for the missing Rosemary, his plan goes horribly awry.

Sparkling Cyanide is a murder mystery with a twist on the 'locked room' scenario, that revolves around the death of the beautiful and rich Rosemary Barton, after she dies in spectacular style one night at the glamorous Luxembourg restaurant - in the company of her husband George, her sister Iris, two of her lovers (American hustler Anthony Browne and MP Stephen Farraday), Farraday's aristocratic wife Sandra, and George's secretary Ruth Lessing.

The story begins some months after the fateful night, when letters provoke Rosemary's nearest and dearest to look at her death in a different light: her sister Iris finds a note written by Rosemary to her mysterious lover called 'Leopard', and George receives an anonymous tip-off that his wife was murdered. It then it explodes into an array of narratives exposing the true feelings towards Rosemary of all the characters present on the night she died. Intriguingly, you only ever see Rosemary through the eyes of the other characters, and as her flaws are laid bare, you learn that despite her acknowledged beauty, the inner woman was far from perfect.

George becomes consumed by his need to find the person responsible for Rosemary's death, and against the advice of his wise old friend Colonel Race, he plans an anniversary dinner intended to force the killer to unmask themselves - which of course, goes wrong in true Christie style. The story then morphs into a twisty police investigation, headed up by the capable Chief Inspector Kemp with Colonel Race at his side.

This is a Christie mystery that keeps its cards very close to the chest, as everyone here is a convincing suspect. They all have something to hide, and what they reveal through their inner monologues and their conversations with each other informs and misleads in equal measure. The suspects spend their time being as elusive as they can while Kemp and Race try to get to the bottom of the affair, and unexpected allies eventually prove to be the key to solving the whole mystery.

Christie throws in a little bit of everything in this tale, with family drama, passion, secrets and lies deliciously flooding the whole story. She deftly explores the notion that still waters run deep, and that the face people show to the world can be very different to what lies under the surface, especially when it comes to the female cast. She also has some very caustic things to say about the kind of women who have a beautiful facade, but are hollow within. 

I absolutely loved this story. It really kept me guessing, as I found myself constantly sifting through all the motives and possible opportunities to commit impossible murders without being able to identify the killer - until all became clear at the finale. This is Christie at the top of her devious game!

This book is my April choice for #ReadChristie2023 showcasing poisoning as a method for murder. I alternated between reading the paperback and listening to the first-class audio book voiced by one of my favourite Christie narrators Hugh Fraser.

Sparkling Cyanide 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.

After Paris by Nicole Kennedy (Paperback Release)

 

After Paris by Nicole Kennedy.

Published in paperback 6th April 2023 by Aria.

From the cover of the book:

Three best friends. A weekend away. And a whole lot of baggage.

Alice, Nina and Jules have been best friends for twenty years. They met in Paris and return there once a year, to relive their youth, leave the troubles of home behind, and indulge in each other's friendship and warmth. 

But this year, aged thirty-nine, the cracks in their relationships are starting to show...

After their weekend together in Paris, the three women never speak again. Each claims the other two ghosted them. 

But is there more to the story?

***********

Alice, Nina and Jules have been friends for twenty years, after meeting during a debutantes' ball at the swanky Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. In the following years, they have taken annual trips to Paris to relive their youth, but it is getting harder to ignore the fact that the different directions their lives have taken means they have gradually grown apart.

This year, the weight of all the baggage that has built up over time leads to significant cracks in their relationships. Each of them is consumed by their own problems, but unable to share what troubles them, and the reunion is a disaster. Although they arrived together, they make solo journeys home, and the many misunderstandings that have arisen lead to them falling out of contact. What happened to their friendship?

We first meet Alice, Nina and Joules in 1999 when they bond over their desire to escape from a fancy debutante ball. The story then plays out over the years, cutting back and forth between significant episodes of their annual visits to Paris, and their disastrous reunion twenty years later. Kennedy slowly weaves together the many threads about how their visits to Paris have changed their ability to confess their true feelings to each other, and very cleverly uses this to show of how the cummulative 'after Paris' ripples break their friendship.

My goodness, there is a lot to unpack in this novel. What starts as an intriguing look at privilege via a youthful escapade behind the scenes of one of the events of the Parisian social calendar, burgeons into a story that delves deeply into how our pasts, and the twists and turns of modern life, affect the decisions we make.

Alice, Nina and Joules are from very different backgrounds, and in many ways their expectations and opportunities are poles apart. There is genuine warmth and tenderness between them, but as the years go by they find themselves telling lies and putting up barriers that really complicate how they relate to each other, and their partners and families. The excuses they make (especially to themselves) are based on good intentions, and are the kind of ones we have all made at some time or another. This makes these women and their dilemmas very relatable, and Kennedy shows real insight into the dynamics of close female friendships as the tale unfurls. I like how she paints these women in authentic shades of grey, balancing out their positive and negative emotions, and their strengths and vulnerabilities. There are times when you do not like them or what they are doing, dying to tell them to stop and think; and others when you feel such empathy for the situations they find themselves in that you want to enfold them in a hug. It makes them seem curiously real somehow.

I am not about to go into the veritable buffet of themes Kennedy touches on in the telling of this tale, as there is real enjoyment the way in which she employs them through such a character driven story. I particularly enjoyed how she explores motherhood, father-daughter relationships, and female addiction, but there is so much more to ponder on too - and she has some very thought-provoking things to say about neuro-diversity, especially in adults.

This has all the secrets, lies and drama you want from a compelling summer read, but it also takes you to some unexpectedly deep and poignant places.

After Paris is available to buy now in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audio formats.

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

*Review originally published July 2022 for the hardcover release of this book.

About the author:

Nicole Kennedy grew up in Essex. She was the first person in her family to go to university, and won a place to study Law at Bristol.

During Nicole's second maternity leave she began writing poems and rhymes on motherhood and family life, which she posted to her blog 'The Brightness Of These Days'. She completed her first novel during her third maternity leave (because by then it was easier than leaving the house).

Nicole lives in Kent with her husband and three sons.

Infinity Gate (Pandemonium Book One) by M.R. Carey

 

Infinity Gate (Pandemonium Book One) by M.R. Carey.

Published 30th March 2023 by Orbit.

From the cover of the book:

From the international bestselling M. R. Carey comes a thrilling novel set in the multiverse - the tale of humanity's expansion across millions of dimensions, and the AI technology that might see it all come to an end . . .

INFINITY IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds - except that they're really just the one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they'll eradicate it by whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to human life.

Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is looking for a solution to her own Earth's environmental collapse when she stumbles across the secret of inter-dimensional travel. It could save everyone on her dying planet, but now she's walked into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of.

And she needs to choose a side before it kills her.

***********

Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is desperately looking for a way to save Earth from catastrophic environmental disaster. While Lagos collapses around her, and her fellow researchers abandon the university, Hadiz toils away in her lab, but any useful solution eludes her. Then something very surprising happens - she accidentally stumbles across a way to travel between dimensions.

With the help of an advanced AI called Rupshe, the only other working mind left behind in the deserted university, Hadiz perfects a way to control movement between the dimensions, figuring that at least she can save herself if no one else - but what she does not know is that this is technology that already exists and is closely monitored.

The Pandemonium, a political and trading alliance, is in control of multi-dimensional travel between a million diverse iterations of Hadiz's Earth, and they jealously guard all operations through the strong arm of their military force, the Cielo. They have the unwitting Hadiz in their sights, and will not rest until they have put a stop to her unauthorised meddling.

Hadiz is about to stumble into a war of unimaginable proportions, and the choices she makes will decide the fate of millions of worlds...

Infinity Gate is the first foray of best-selling author M.R. Carey into the sci-fi realm of the multi-verse, and it is an absolute knockout. The roots of this novel lie squarely in Carey's previous work exploring apocalyptic scenarios, which is where this story begins, but curiously it is also a natural extension of the idea of sentient Artificial Intelligence that he explored in the Rampart Trilogy. Using this familiar ground, he takes a leap into a far-reaching and ambitious adventure that echoes some of the classic sci-fi concepts of masters like Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov, and nods to bits and pieces of some epic books and movies, with an added twist all of his own.

The direction of this story evolves slowly, with threads that link together in unexpected ways. Through them Carey builds an intricate literary world made up of fragments of multiple universes that are all intriguingly different versions of Earth - some like our own, and some mindbendingly different. 

At its heart this is a character-driven story, with a set of central characters with compelling back-stories that steer the individual strands of the tale as they weave and touch, forming a complex framework. There are heroes and villains, but the are often morally grey, and as the story expands it is not easy to see which side of the good-evil line they sit, which is hugely enjoyable.

There comes a point when all the threads collide in a gripping cat and mouse chase through the multi-verse that had me on the edge of my seat, and this sets up a glorious hook into the next part of the duology. There are still so many questions about what is really happening at the core of the Pandemonium, and how the war to end all wars might be prevented by the errant little band of unlikely co-conspirators that come together in the final section of the book. I am itching to read the concluding part of the duology, and will await its arrival with bated breath.

I adore a multi-verse story, and this one is beautifully crafted. This is a direction that really suits Carey, showing off all his skills as an accomplished story teller, and offering a glimpse of a side of his imagination that I have not seen before. More please, Mr Carey! 

Infinity Gate is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

M. R. Carey has been making up stories for most of his life. His novel The Girl With All the Gifts was a word-of-mouth bestseller and is now a major motion picture based on his own screenplay. Under the name Mike Carey he has written for both DC and Marvel, including critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Hellblazer and X-Men. His creator-owned series The Unwritten appeared regularly in the New York Times graphic fiction bestseller list. He also has several previous novels, games, radio plays, and TV and movie screenplays to his credit.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

 

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh.

Published 13th April 2023 by Orbit.

From the cover of the book:

Some Desperate Glory the highly anticipated debut novel from Astounding Award and World Fantasy Award-Winner, Emily Tesh; a thrillingly told space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and the path you must forge when every choice is stripped from you.

All her life, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the destruction of planet Earth. Raised on Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet.

Then Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons, and she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr must escape from everything she's ever known. If she succeeds, she will find a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could ever have imagined.

***********

The only existence Kyr has ever known is that on Gaea station, the last bastion of humanity, following the destruction of Earth at the hands of the alien Majoda and their mysterious weapon The Wisdom. She and her fellow Gaeans have been raised for a single purpose - to wreak revenge on the enemy that destroyed their home.

Kyr is the finest warrior of her generation, which is unusual for a female on Gaea, and she hopes to be assigned to a combat role that allows her to use the skills she has honed to near perfection. However, when the time of assignment comes, she is shocked to discover that Command has relegated her to the nursery to give birth to sons - something she sees herself supremely ill-suited for.

This is not the only bad news to come her way - her beloved brother Magnus has been assigned to a combat unit, but is said to have refused his commission and chosen exile from Gaea as a traitor. Kyr knows in her bones that something is not right about this, and when she discovers from Magnus' rebellious friend Avi that he has actually been sent on the kind of secret suicide mission she has always dismissed as rumours, she is determined to embark on a rescue mission to save him.

With the help of Avi, and an alien Majoda called Yiso who has recently been captured, Kyr engineers a perilous escape from Gaea. Her plan is to simply to rescue Magnus from harm, but in the process she will learn that everything she has been raised to believe is a lie...

It is difficult to know where to even begin with a review for this glorious debut novel. It is one of the most exciting space operas I have read in recent years, and it kept me spellbound from start to finish. Emily Tesh does an incredible job of world-building, creating dystopia and utopia alongside each other, and cleverly flipping your perspective on reality to keep you unsure which is which. Space and time turn in unexpected ways, and just when you think you have a handle on where Tesh is heading she floors you with twist and twist again story-telling that keeps you on your toes - all the way to the incredible conclusion.

Kyr is so fixated on forging herself into a weapon for humanity, that she is blind to what is going on around her, and her epiphany forms the central core of the story. Tesh builds layer upon layer of complex, interconnecting plot-lines, as lies are stripped away and the story reforms in different iterations of reality for Kyr. She has been so fully indoctrinated in the cult-like ethos of Gaea that it takes time for her eyes to be opened to not only the true nature of the universe, but also to the kind of person really she is. The emotional depth in the story blossoms as Kyr allows herself to feel compassion for those she has been brought up to think of as her enemies, and to see the darkness in those she thought were her heroes. The relationships between the characters morph too as the story twists, especially between Kyr, Magnus, Avi, and Yiso (who is much more important a character that you realise at the beginning), and alternate versions of them arise in the course of the story. There is a lot going on, but everything comes together in a perfect storm.

I absolutely love the thought Tesh has put into the history of this universe, and the way she imparts knowledge about it through snippets from fictional reference books at the beginning of each part of the story. There is curious pathos and humour in these extracts as they show different interpretations of the past depending on the perspective of their authors. The sections reflecting on the nature of humankind from an alien perspective are especially insightful.

Tesh explores a wealth of themes in this page-tuner of an adventure, which is incredibly impressive. Power, control, propaganda and the subversion of the past are central to the story, but there are many more - connection; what it means to be 'human'; sexual abuse and coercion; gender roles and sexuality; blood and found family; eugenics; environmental issues; racism and xenophobia are all threaded through the novel to thought-provoking effect. It is especially interesting to see how Tesh uses Yiso to examine the xenophobia aspect with aching poignancy too. 

I consumed this book in huge, compelling bites. As a debut it is stunning, and I cannot wait to see where Emily Tesh's imagination leaps next. 

Some Desperate Glory is available to order now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orbit for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review and to Compulsive Readers Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Emily Tesh is the author of the Greenhollow Duology, which begins with Silver in the Wood and concludes with Drowned Country. Tesh is a winner of the Astounding Award and of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella.

March 2023 Reading Round-Up

 

Books about romance, mystery, classics, historical fiction and speculative delights have all been on my literary menu this month, and I have really enjoyed each and every one!

You can find my reviews by clicking on the individual photos below...

One Enchanted Evening by Katie Fforde

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

The Last Party at Silverton Hall by Rachel Burton

No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

One Moment by Becky Hunter

Together Again by Milly Johnson

Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus

Bellevue by Alison Booth

Ouroboros by CR Berry

Summer at Green Valley Vineyard by Lucy Coleman

The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone

The Translator by Harriet Crawley

So Close by Sylvia Day

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Lots more great books coming up next month.

If you have enjoyed my photos, head to my instagram account for more HERE.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.

Published 31st March 2020 by Tinder Press.

Audio book narrated by Daisy Donovan.

From the cover of the book:

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

***********

In 1596, a young boy longs for death to take his life instead of that of his twin sister. This boy is Hamnet, the only son of one of the most famous playwrights the world has ever know, William Shakespeare. His wish is granted.

Although very little is actually known about the home life of Shakespeare and his family, Maggie O'Farrell channels her fascination with them to spin a fictional tale that speculates how the death of Hamnet might have affected those left behind.

The structure of the story is rather fragmented at the beginning, moving between scenes of Hamnet's distress as his twin sister Judith is struck down with a violent illness, and flashbacks to the history of his parents' relationship. The pattern continues up to the terrible scenes in which Hamnet dies unexpectedly in place of his frailer sister, and then follows the story of how his death impacts the household.

It took me a while to get into this story, as I found the constant back and forth a bit disorienting, especially as O'Farrell immerses you immediately in such heart-wrenching pain on the part of characters you do not yet know. I flipped back and forth between the audio book and the hardback, determined to discover what it is about this book that has garnered so much praise, but I admit I did struggle. Once the voice of the fierce and unconventional Agnes comes to the fore though, I began to feel a connection to them all through her experiences as a wife and mother, and slowly became immersed in the story.

O'Farrell does an amazing job of portraying Tudor family life, and I very much enjoyed how she pieces together what little we know about this family to make such a compelling story. Her use of the name Agnes, rather than the more familiar Anne, is intriguing, and gives her the freedom to make this woman all her own - which she does beautifully, fashioning her as a wise woman with uncanny abilities.

It is the human side of these characters that focuses your attention, and the way O'Farrell examines the effect of Hamnet's loss on them all is intensely poignant. This is very much a tale about the women in Shakespeares' family, especially his wife and mother, and how they find common ground through the losses that have affected them, even though their relationships are difficult. 

Interestingly, Shakespeare himself is not named at all in this novel, although his inner turmoil and drive to release the creative impulses within him is a central theme. I think O'Farrell does a fabulous job of describing how someone with his formidable genius cannot be a character who it is easy to live with or love. In many ways, his self-absorption makes him the villain of the piece, and this has left me with feelings about him as a man which I find difficult to reconcile with the sensitivity and insight of his work.

However, it is the place where O'Farrell leads you at the end of this story, where Agnes finally comes to understand the side of her husband that has been hidden from her for so long, that gives this book such power. I adore how she brings meaning to the play that bears Shakespeare's son's name by placing so much significance on the theme of ghosts - and whether this was Shakespeare's intention of not, it has undeniably preserved his memory for posterity. Even though this is a book that I did not come to easily, the emotional intensity that this story brings at its conclusion makes everything worthwhile. I found myself sobbing by the time I closed the cover.

This is a book that has been languishing on the shelf for a considerable time, and I am glad to have finally picked it up. There are many things about it that will stay with me, even if it has left me with conflicted feelings about Shakespeare himself. If you have visited Stratford-upon-Avon then it definitely adds an extra dimension too.

Hamnet is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

About the author:

Maggie O’Farrell, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is the author of HAMNET, Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020, and the memoir I AM, I AM, I AM, both Sunday Times no. 1 bestsellers. 

Her novels include AFTER YOU’D GONE, MY LOVER’S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE and THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, and THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT. 

She is also the author of two books for children, WHERE SNOW ANGELS GO and THE BOY WHO LOST HIS SPARK. She lives in Edinburgh.

Doctor Thorne (The Chronicles Of Barsetshire Book Three) by Anthony Trollope

 

Doctor Thorne (The Chronicles of Barsetshire Book Three) by Anthony Trollope.

This edition published 13th November 2014 by Oxford University Press.

Audio book narrated by Timothy West.

From the cover of the book:

The squire of Greshamsbury has fallen on hard times, and it is incumbent on his son Frank to make a good marriage. But Frank loves the doctor's niece, Mary Thorne, a girl with no money and mysterious parentage. He faces a terrible dilemma: should he save the estate, or marry the girl he loves? Mary, too, has to battle her feelings, knowing that marrying Frank would ruin his family and fly in the face of his mother's opposition. Her pride is matched by that of her uncle, Dr Thorne, who has to decide whether to reveal a secret that would resolve Frank's difficulty, or to uphold the innate merits of his own family heritage.

The character of Dr Thorne reflects Trollope's own contradictory feelings about the value of tradition and the need for change. His subtle portrayal, and the comic skill and gentle satire with which the story is developed, are among the many pleasures of this delightful novel.

**********

The squire of Greshamsbury has seen his fortune dwindle under the constant pressure of keeping his family in the style which his wife Lady Arabella's aristocratic De Courcy family considers necessary. Having sold what he can and borrowed as much as he dare, it now falls to his only son and heir Frank to marry for money and save the Gresham name.

However, young Frank is in love with the squire's friend Doctor Thorne's niece Mary, a girl he has grown up with in the company of his many sisters, and he insists that she is the only woman for him despite the mystery surrounding her birth and the fact that she does not have a penny to her name. 

And so begins a souring between the Gresham and Thorne households, as Lady Arabella does all she can to keep her darling son away from the young woman who she thinks is determined to bring them all to penury. As Frank is sent away to places where his parents hope he will rub shoulders with heiresses that may tempt him away from his ideas of marrying Mary, she is confined to suffer social isolation at home in Greshamsbury, cut off from the friends and pursuits she has been used to enjoying.

Meanwhile, steadfast Dr Thorne, who loves his niece dearly, has a secret that would solve all their problems and allow the young lovers to have the happy marriage they both desire... but he finds himself in a dilemma about the wisdom of confessing to what he knows...

It has been a long time since I picked up an Anthony Trollope book, to my great regret, as I absolutely adored returning to Barsetshire in Doctor Thorne, the third book in the delightful Chronicles of Barsetshire.

My favourite of the Barsetshire novels I have read and reread has always been the second book in the series, Barchester Towers, which continues the story of the ecclesiastical side of Barchester life that begins in The Warden. Doctor Thorne shows a more rural side of life in the county of Barsetshire away from the matters of Cathedral Close, instead focusing on the troubles of a down-at-heel squire and his family as they look for a way to improve their fortunes.

This story revolves around issues of class, blood and money, and the contradictions that arise when the pursuit of fortune in marriage leads to former principles being put to one side. Frank Gresham's family need money and they are determined to overlook the question of birth if the coffers of the potential marriage partners of their children are full enough - however, beware a marriage partner who offers neither, as in the case of lovely Mary. This leads to some heart-rending and humorous situations throughout the story, with Trollope breaking the fourth wall on numerous occasions to make us aware of his own views on the matter, which I enjoyed very much.

There is a delicious element of suspense that arises from you being party to the secret that Doctor Thorne is keeping about Mary's prospects, and his struggles of conscience throughout the story. There is also much humour to be derived from the interactions between many of the characters, especially between both the Thornes and the deeply hypocritical Lady Arabella.

Despite there being a lot of very entertaining scenes in these pages, there are moments when the pace of the story becomes painfully slow, and Trollope does not really give his characters enough to do in the lulls when Frank is off gadding about while Mary languishes back in Greshamsbury. There comes a point where the destination of the story is patently obvious, but it takes Trollope such a long time to get there. I also have to say that when it comes to the young lovers Frank and Mary, I was not entirely convinced about their suitability, as Frank is too flighty and Mary so annoyingly passive at times when you want her to have courage. However, there are still scenes which resonate with all the things I love about Trollope in the way he reminds me so much of a cross between Austen and Dickens with a side-order of Thackeray - I just wanted more of them!

 I did love the characters in this tale. There are heroes, heroines and villains and Trollope does not stint on giving us a look at the debauched side of life through some of them, which is rather revealing in terms of his own views of the demon drink. There are some delicious cameos from familiar faces from the earlier books in the series too - it was a joy to see the Proudies putting in an appearance (oh Bishop Proudie how I chuckled at your mockery of a man deemed henpecked in an amusing moment of complete self-awareness), and mentions of the Thornes of Ullathorne (distant cousins to the Thornes in our story), the Grantlys and the newly installed Dean's wife Mrs Arabin (formerly Mrs Bold). I found myself missing them all.

I am glad I have decided to take up Trollope once more as there was a lot to enjoy in these pages, but Barchester Towers remains my firm favourite. Doctor Thorne does not approach its dizzy heights, but I have revelled in consuming Trollope's writing once again and am looking forward to more in the next book in the series Framley Parsonage, which I will be reading in April. I have high hopes in terms of meeting some more of my friends from the environs of Barchester cathedral!

Doctor Thorne 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.

The Secrets Of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Kumsden.

Published 30th March 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

1852.

Margaret Lennox is offered a position as governess at Hartwood Hall. She quickly accepts, hoping this isolated country house will allow her to leave her past behind.

But Margaret soon starts to feel there's something odd about her new home, despite her growing fondness for her bright, affectionate pupil, Louis.

Strange figures move through the dark.

Tensions rise between the servants.

The east wing sits eerily abandoned . . .

Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs Eversham, Louis's widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted by the nearby village.

Margaret is certain that everyone has something to hide.

But as her own past threatens to catch up with her, she must learn to trust her instincts before it's too late . . .

***********

1852. Newly widowed Margaret Lennox is offered the position of governess at remote Hartwood Hall, which she accepts gladly in the hope that it will banish the memories of her unhappy marriage.

Margaret takes to her ten-year-old-charge Louis at once, sensing that by teaching this lonely little boy she can heal her own pain, but it is not long before she is aware that things at Hartwood Hall are not quite right. The locals are deeply suspicious of Louis' widowed mother Mrs Eversham, who seems weighed down by worries she cannot share, and rumours are rife about goings on at the Hall where there is an unusually small number of staff. 

Talk of ghosts and unexplained disappearances have Margaret jumping at shadows, and she is unnerved by the bumps in the night coming from the closed off east wing of the house where she has been told she must not venture. However, despite her misgiving she feels that this is a place where she could be happy, especially when she finds herself developing feelings for the young gardener Paul who stirs within her emotions she never thought she would feel.

But Margaret's past cannot remain hidden for long from the prying eyes of someone at the Hall who delights in trading in secrets... someone whose ambition spells disaster for all at Hartwood Hall.

With lashings of Gothic loveliness, Katie Lumsden takes her passion for the classics and spins a tale of secrets, misplaced guilt, forbidden love, and betrayal that holds you fast from beginning to end. Hartwood Hall has all the dark and creepy vibes you could ever want in a setting, and Lumsden knows how to make the most of its environs to enhance the atmosphere of something supernatural lurking within its walls and gardens, with shadows that dance at the edge of your consciousness in twilight and guttering candle light. 

Lumsden channels her obvious love of the Brontës, especially Jane Eyre in her choice of characters and backdrop, adding in a sprinkle of Sarah Waters, and an unexpected touch of Lady Chatterley's Lover. The relationships between the female characters are complicated, with women brought low by patriarchal Victorian society, and Lumsden's themes are rife with male control and women who long to be free to decide their own fate. But intriguingly she does not confine her antagonists to the male persuasion, and not all her male characters are of the dastardly sort, which really adds complexity to the whole.

The threads of the individual stories of these women are shaded in mystery and Lumsden drops her reveals slowly over the course of the book with suspenseful aplomb, so we only come to know the shocking truth at the conclusion - and it is a truth I did not see coming, which was hugely enjoyable. There is great poignancy in the way the women we come to know find strength and healing in each other, overcoming the terrible misfortunes that have shaped them in an ending that makes your heart soar. 

This is an impressive debut, that serves as a love letter to the Victorian novel, with oodles of atmosphere and many layered characters. I consumed this book in a single sitting, unable to tear myself away until the bitter-sweet end that works perfectly with Lumsden's Jane Eyre-esque feminist themes. I adored it, and cannot wait for whatever comes next from Katie Lumsden.

The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Katie Lumsden read Jane Eyre at the age of thirteen and never looked back. She spent her teenage years devouring nineteenth century literature, reading every Dickens, Brontë, Gaskell, Austen and Hardy novel she could find. 

She has a degree in English literature and history from the University of Durham and an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the London Short Story Prize and the Bridport Prize, and have been published in various literary magazines. Katie's Youtube channel, Books and Things, has more than 23,000 subscribers. 

She lives in London and works in publishing.

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James

 

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James.

Published 30th March 2033 by HQ.

From the cover of the book:

July 1981. As the country prepares to celebrate Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana, Libby wants to be as far away from royal wedding fever as possible.

Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside.

At Larkspur House, with its magical garden created by renowned garden designer and one-time socialite Elfrida Ambrose, and its comfortingly familiar kitchen presided over by Libby’s great-aunt Bess, she hopes to find a way to put her life back together.

But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby’s arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…

***********

July, 1981. The world is working itself into a frenzy in the run-up to the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, but the last thing Libby wants to think about is weddings. Having just discovered, three weeks before their wedding, that her fiancé Marcus has been sleeping with her best friend Selina, Libby heads for the comforting presence of Larkspur House, the home of famous garden designer Elfrida Ambrose and Libby's great-aunt Bess - the only place where she has ever felt truly at home.

Libby's arrival tips Elfrida and Bess' calm routine on its head, and as she tries to make sense of where she goes from here Libby's unhappiness stirs up the memories of their own painful losses. Perhaps it is time to address the secrets they have been keeping, so they can all find a way to lay the ghosts of the past to rest.

The Secret Garden Affair immerses you in the world of beautiful gardens, and difficult family relationships through the eyes of three women - young Libby who has had her heart broken, and the two characters who have been a steady influence on her throughout her life, Elfrida and Bess. Libby heads to Larkspur House looking for stability as a time when she cannot trust her own feelings, but little does she know that former socialite Elfrida and her close friend (and her former lady's maid) Bess have been keeping secrets from her too.

The story plays out from the point of view of the three women, while also delving into the past lives of Elfrida and Bess from the time of their meeting in the 1920s. James does a sterling job of dropping little hints about the secrets that they have been keeping over the years, but does not reveal the full truth until almost the end of the story. She moves back and forth between the present, where the impact of these secrets has torn family relationships asunder, and evocative episodes from the 1920s onwards that tell of the shared experiences that have bound Elfrida and Bess together. 

There are some great characters to get your teeth into in this tale, but my favourites are Elfrida and Bess. A wonderful closeness grows up between them over the years after everything they have been through together, even though they begin the story in very different places socially. Elfrida has always been the unconventional rule breaker, misunderstood by almost everyone except Bess, and their fierce protectiveness of each other is enchanting. Their interactions give rise to many humorous and poignant episodes.

James floods this story with regret and aching loss, exploring how grief and misplaced guilt can divide families, and you feel every heart-wrenching moment with real force - especially the impact of these emotions on mental health. There is a lot of pain being carried around by these characters, and my heartstrings were well and truly tugged, but there is also romance, glamour, warmth, and friendship - and over the course of the story the threads come together in forgiveness and hope. 

I love how you can feel James' own passion for gardening through this story. There is a wealth of interesting information about garden design, and designers, which I really enjoyed. It also took me right back to the Royal wedding fever of 1981, which I remember well. Setting the story at this time adds a curious level of pathos to everything that is quite intriguing given the hindsight that we now have about the golden marriage that proved to be anything but.

It is always a joy to consume an Erica James novel, and this proved to be the perfect escapist read that hits that emotional sweet spot, tied up with a rich historical drama. I think it might be my favourite of her books yet.

A Secret Garden Affair is available to but now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

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

About the author:

Erica's first novel - A Breath of Fresh Air - was published in 1996 and was selected by WH Smith as a finalist for their Fresh Talent promotion. Since then she has written many more novels, most of which have been bestsellers, including Gardens of Delight which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and features Lake Como, one of her favourite places to visit. Her novel Summer at the Lake also features Lake Como and was a No.1 bestseller in Norway.

Her twenty-fourth novel - Mothers and Daughters - was published in March 2022 and is her first book to be published by HQ Stories. It's set on the south coast of England where recently widowed Naomi lives at Anchor House in the harbour village of Tilsham. Her eldest daughter, Martha, has decided that it's time for her mother to sell Anchor House and downsize to be nearer her. But Naomi has plans of her own, which she fears will come as a shock to her daughters.

She is a big fan of F1 and loves to mess about in her garden. She also have a serious knitting addiction. In Norway where she published by Bastion Forlag, you can even buy a knitting pattern based on a Fair Isle cardigan she designed.