Out today in paperback is Louise Walter’s first novel Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase, which I’ve been wanting to read since I heard about it. I love timeslip novels and the blurb looked right up my street – but my rules about not buying hardbacks except in extremis (and anyone who’s seen a photo of my to-read pile knows that I’m not in extremis!) meant I had to hold my horses and wait for the paperback! I was thrilled to get a copy ahead of its release – and wanted to share my thoughts about it.
Firstly the plot: Roberta collects letters left inside the books that she sells, but when she discovers a letter from her grandfather written after he was supposed to be dead, family secrets start to unravel. The book moves between Roberta in the present day (or near enough) and her grandmother, Dorothy, in the 1940s as the reader discovers what really happened during the Second World War.
I absolutely gobbled this book up – all done in two train journeys. I would have tried to make it last longer, but I was too desperate to find out what happened to pace myself. Roberta’s story is slighter than Dorothy’s but is no less fascinating. I thought both the leading ladies were engaging and believable and I really wanted to know what the solution to the puzzle was.* World War II isn’t usually my first choice of historical period to read about, but this has made me think that I need to read some more books set in this period.
This is a really impressive first novel – I’m passing it straight on to my mum (and then probably my sister) and I will be looking forward to more books from Louise Walters.
If you want to read Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase it should be available in all good bookshops (and I hope nice and prominent) like Foyles and also Kindle and other e-readers.
My copy of Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase was sent to me by Bookbridgr in return for an honest review.
* I’m trying not to give details about the plot away because I’m sure there will be other people out there who’ve been waiting for this the way that I have.
Finishing off a busy week over here on the blog with a review of Kate Williams’ The Storms of War – which I started during #Sunathon and has taken me longer to read than you’d expect considering how much I enjoyed it – because of the fact that it’s a hardback and I can’t lug it around with me on the train.
Firstly, I love a good saga – I worked my way through Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Woman of Substance trilogy when I was 16 (back when it was still a trilogy!) and then moved on to Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet books, which I adored – so this looked just up my street, especially when you consider that I studied First World War Literature for my A-Level English Literature.
It’s a big hardback – but it’s got such a pretty cover
So, the plot: The de Witts are an Anglo-German family, who, at the start of the Great War, are preparing for the marriage of their eldest daughter to a member of the English Nobility. Rudolph, the father, is from Germany and has made his money through meat factories. Verena, the mother, is the daughter of a lord and they have four children Michael, Emmeline, Celia and Arthur (who is away from home at the start of the war). The book follows them through the war, as Rudolph suddenly becomes an outcast in the country he considers his home and the children face not only the consequences of that – but the effects of the war in general.
I really enjoyed this – as I’ve already said on Twitter – I would describe it as Cazalets do World War One, but with added tensions caused by the family’s German links. The characters were interesting and engaging and having read a lot of books about World War One over the years, both novels and non-fiction, their experiences seemed realistic and rang true with what I have read – which to be honest is only what you’d expect as Kate Williams is a “proper” historian. The fresh angle here is that Anglo-German twist that I’ve already mentioned – and I thought that was handled really well. Book two is promised for next year – and I look forward to seeing how the family fares in the post-Great War world. I foresee interesting possibilities – particularly as there are ends left untied here and a development at the very end of the book creates potential for fresh conflict within the family.
I’ve read some of Kate Williams’ historical biographies in the past – but it was a few years ago and I found the writing style a little harder to get on with than some others in that genre. This, however is an absolute joy to read – and very difficult to put down (despite its size!) – and it has inspired me to bump one of her other books that’s still sitting on the to-read pile up to the top of the list. The front cover has a quote from Alison Weir recommending it to fans of Downton Abbey and although I think that’s a bit of a simplistic view of the market for this book, I think that it is a great way of getting people to pick up what is a large and intimidating looking hardback.
There’s a wealth of books about World War One out there (and lots of new ones appearing at the moment because of the anniversary) so there are lots of other books to read if you like this – I’ve already mentioned the Cazalets which is a slightly later period, but is a similar sort of family saga – but there are also books like Pat Barker’s Regeneration and a wealth of accounts written by people who lived through the Great War – like Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Robert Graves’ Goodbye to All That.
Kate Williams’ The Storms of War should be in all good bookshops – as the phrase goes – and here are my traditional links to Foyles for the hardback and Amazon for the more portable Kindle edition. This is the sort of book I always want an actual copy of though – as I know I’ll want to lend it to my mum and sister if it’s any good.
Out today (that’s Thursday 31st July) is this great chick-lit novel by Claire Sandy. If you’re a Great British Bake-Off fan, this may be the book for you if you’re getting panicky before the start of the new series next week. And if you’re not a baker or a cook, What Would Mary Berry Do? may still be the beach book for you this summer.
What Would Mary Berry Do? and some of my Bernadette Strachan collection…
So, first, the setup: After a disastrous school bake sale, Marie Dunwoody decides that by this time next year it will be different. With a Mary Berry Baking Bible in hand, she sets out to conquer cakes – and change her outlook on life thinking “What Would Mary Berry Do?” At the same time, husband Robert is struggling with office politics – where a muffin is worth more than sales figures and son Angus is struggling with problems at school – something his nine-year old twin sisters are determined to get to the bottom off…
I loved the cast of characters in this book – the Dunwoody family are a hoot and there’s a set of fully rounded supporting characters too, I particularly loved Marie’s employees at her dental surgery. The different strands of the plot work very well – and whilst I was frequently laughing, I also had a tear in my eye at one point too. You don’t have to be into making your own baked goods to enjoy either – the plot and characters are engaging enough to interest people who don’t know their Croquembouche from their Crème Anglaise.
The blurb says it’s ideal for fans of Jenny Colgan and I’d agree with that – but I’d also add that fans of Trisha Ashley and Alexandra Brown would probably enjoy this one too – and anyone who likes their chick lit with a dose of humour. And as Claire Sandy is a pen name for the fabulous Bernadette Strachan, if you haven’t read any of her work, can I point you in the direction of my favourite of hers – The Reluctant Landlady – where you’ll find loveable characters (Bing! Bernard!), a great plot, lots of humour but a bit less baking.
I’m hoping you’ll be able to get hold of a copy of What Would Mary Berry Do at all good bookshops, but in case you can’t get to an actual shop, here it is on Foyles website and Kindle. I’m hoping it will do really well – it’s my favourite book I’ve read this month.
A busy week here on the blog – because a lot of my advance copies come out this week! Today I’m doing American Blonde by Jennifer Niven (published this very day) and tomorrow is my favourite book of the month so far (and there isn’t much reading time left in July) – What Would Mary Berry Do?
So I discovered a little way into this book that there have been three previous books featuring the leading character Velva Jean, which I of course haven’t read. And that did explain the start which seemed to plunge you right into Velva Jean’s life without giving you much detail about what is clearly a fairly complicated back story! But that said, I don’t think you need to have read the previous stories to enjoy this one – I haven’t (duh) and I still liked it.
Velva Jean Hart returns to the US after serving in the WASP as a pilot in Europe. She’s had some adventures there (about which I’m hazy and I wouldn’t want to give away anyway) and is a war heroine. She’s promptly snapped up by Hollywood giant MGM after the publicity surrounding her return. At the studio, she joins up with one of her former WASP colleagues – who is a film star – and navigates the tricky waters of stardom, with a new name, a new image and a studio who wants to control every aspect of her life. But when she witnesses a suspicious death and starts to investigate, she discovers how far the powers-that-be will go to maintain Hollywood’s perfect image.
I picked this on Net Galley because I have a bit of a fascination with studio-system-era Hollywood – and it really delivered. I loved the studio intrigue, the cover-ups and the machinations, although with such a huge cast of characters – many of whom had stage names – I did occasionally find it a little hard to keep track of who was who. I did like the leads, although I felt like I was missing out a little bit on the back story to some of them, which would have explained why she preferred one suitor rather than the one that I liked best!
But this is a really good read – and if you’re a fan of Hollywood’s Golden Age there’s plenty for you here, but equally, I think the murder mystery is good enough to hold your interest even if you’re not fascinated by the machinations of the studio system. Once I’ve got the to-read pile more under control I may well try and go back and read some of Velva Jean’s previous adventures.
American Blonde is available through Foyles and Amazon although I can’t see it as an e-book in the UK. My copy was provided by Net Galley in return for an honest review.
Just a quick post about some of the Children’s and YA fiction that I’ve read recently. I may be a grown-up, but I’ve never grown out of children’s books and teen fiction. I love buying picture books for the little people in the extended family – and I still collect several series of books that I used to read when I was at primary school. So it follows that if I hear about some good books in the Young Adult genre I’ll pick them up!
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green – I was very late to the party on this one, only getting around to reading the book a couple of weeks before the film came out. I found it really readable and suprisingly upbeat for a book about cancer – right until the final act, which left me a weepy snotty mess at nearly 3am after I stayed up to get to the end and find out what happened.
Death Cloud (Young Sherlock Holmes) by Andrew Lane – This was an impulse request on Net Galley because I’ve always had a soft spot for children’s versions of adult characters. And actually it was really readable – enough of a thriller to satisfy the reader and with Sherlock doing a lot of the leg work, but not so much that it seemed unrealistic for what a young boy could have accomplished. Definitely a good set up for a series – and I’ll be bearing these in mind when I’m picking books out for my godson next time.
Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume – which was put up as a Net Galley download after a vote on favourite books by Blume. And re-reading this 20 years after I first encountered it, I really think it still works. I worry that some of the books that I loved as a child won’t attract children today because the world they portray is so different to the one that they live in – no mobile phones, no computers let alone the internet. And then I re-read a book like this and realise that good story telling is universal and timeless. it might take me a lot less time to read it these days, but I still enjoyed it – and if you have a girl in your life about 9 or 10 years old who hasn’t read this – why not?
Red by Alison Cherry – A rare book that I gave up on (I really hate not finishing books) but I just couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for this one once I started reading it, which was a shame as I’d liked the look of the blurb. Set in a redhead sanctuary, it’s the story of the town’s queen bee – who is hiding the fact that her red hair isn’t natural. I grew up on classic school stories and Sweet Valley High, Babysitters club etc none of which are completely focused on looks and external appearances and mostly focus on the underdog rather than the Prom Queen which may explain why this didn’t draw my attention.
Waiting on the shelf to be read at the moment are Flambards – which was on a list of classic children’s books and which I hadn’t read – Philippa Gregory’s Fool’s Gold which I picked up in a shopping spree in The Works and How To Love by Katie Cotugno – which was part of the same competition prize as Red and which I’ve been putting off reading as I didn’t enjoy Red! I really need to read some Rainbow Rowell and I want to look at some more John Green. Any other recommendations for Children’s/YA novels that I should try, please put in the comments – I think I’ve done the most of the obvious (Harry Potter, Hunger Games) but I’m always looking out for stuff I’ve missed.
Anyone who has read my review of Part One of Harriet Evans’ latest novel will know that I’m not the best candidate to read serialisations, or stories in parts, but when this popped up in my timeline as being available on Netgalley I snapped it up as I’ve seen a lot of good things about Ivy Lane which is a serialised novel from Cathy Bramley.
And I enjoyed it as I read it on the train in to work. It’s light and easy to read – which is exactly what you want at 4.30 in the morning (don’t ask) and it zips along at a nice pace. I like the characters that have been introduced and the setting and Tilly is an engaging female lead. My only grip – if it is one – is that I don’t know what Tilly’s secret is (I can’t be more specific than that without giving away plot points) and it’s starting to feel a little dragged out. But that just be me and my need to know!
This is the sort of book that I’d usually leave until all four parts have been released to sample – so that if I like it I can read my way through the whole lot and find out the resolution. But if you can cope with the waiting better than me, then the anticipation may be just what you’re looking for and this series will be a nice treat for you to dip into as the seasons pass and the new instalments appear.
Ivy Lane: Spring is available here from Amazon and Summer is also already available. Autumn is due on September 4 and Winter at the start of November.
I am not a good candidate for serialisations. I am your classic binge reader – find me something I like and I’ll gorge on it until there is nothing left. I don’t like having to wait. Anticipation is not my friend. I count myself as anticipated out after waiting to find out what happened next in Harry Potter for years at a time from the end of Chamber of Secrets onwards.
I’m writing this on my phone, on a train in the early hours of the morning because I’ve just finished the first part of Harriet Evans new book which I was pre-approved for on Netgalley and I need to know what happens next. Now. Preferably about 10 minutes ago.
Part one of this serialisation has set up a cast of characters designed to captivate, has dangled enough clues about secrets to tantilise and then FOUR sentences from the end dropped a great big enormous bombshell and then left me hanging. To quote one of my favourite TV shows (involving a Miss B Summers of Sunnydale, California) Inquiring minds need to know. And this one needs to know now.
A Place for Us (so far) is the story of three generations of the Winter family who have been summoned to the family home for Martha the matriarch’s 80th birthday party. Previously very close, the family has fractured apart and during part one we get to know them – find out who they are and some of what they’re hiding, and guess at other secrets as yet unrevealed. Then, at the end of Part 1, we find out the bombshell that is about to be dropped at the party (or at least I think we do, unless it’s a masterpiece of misdirection) and your brain starts frantically trying to work out what happens next – and whether this will bring them closer together or send them spiralling further apart – because although this secret is huge, there are lots of other things lurking beneath the surface too.
I’ve read a couple of Harriet Evans’ books before and enjoyed them. She mentions Georgette Heyer (always a good way to my heart) and I like her heroines. This book has so many characters I don’t know who is my favourite yet, but I want to read more so I can decide! (I hope my message is getting through, though I fear it may sound like the deranged rantings of a sleep-deprived woman, it’s not. Honest. I just Need To Know). If the rest of the book lives up to this first part (of FOUR – how am I going to cope with this?!) I believe then it is going to be a great read (and possibly somewhat epically long) and deserves to be gobbled up by fans of Harriet Evans and new readers alike.
It’s Thursday morning and I’ve re-read my rantings from last night before publishing. I don’t think I sound too crazy. I’m hoping I sound enthusiastic and excited about the book rather than plain loopy, although I fear it’s a fine line. But I didn’t want to alter too much of my post – because this was my genuine response to finishing Part One of the book. And it was 1am, on a train, at the end of a 10 hour shift and that sort of sleep-deprived creativity cannot be faked!
I was offered an e-copy of this book in return for an honest review – and as you know, I’m never influenced by the fact that the book was free when I’m writing my thoughts on it.
So, I’ve been reading Katie Fforde’s books for about a decade now – and have settled into a nice pattern of buying her latest paperback as soon as it comes out. Now this review of her latest hardback means that I’m out of sync with her paperback releases, but it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make…
Bella, the heroine of The Perfect Match, is an estate agent who moved in with her godmother three years ago, when she moved towns because she’d fallen in love with a man she couldn’t have. She’s now seeing Nevil – her boss – who wants to take their relationship to the next level. But he’s been growing increasingly secretive and something doesn’t quite feel right to Bella about the whole situation. Then when the man she was running away from returns to her life, her questions really start to mount up.
One of the things I particularly like about Katie Fforde’s books (and I am planning an Authors I Love post on her) is that while they’re all love stories, the heroines always have such interesting jobs – that Fforde seems to have researched really thoroughly. Bella is no exception to this – she’s just the sort of estate agent you would like to have. She doesn’t seem to be out for her commission – but is always trying to find the perfect house for her clients. Like a lot of Fforde women, she has a kind heart and does her best to help people (but without being sickly or do-goody) and you really do want her to find a “Perfect Match” of her own (sorry, terrible pun, but it had to be done).
Nevil is obviously wrong for Bella – and my only quibbles with the book were that I would have liked Bella to have stood up to him more, rather than being trampled over and letting him run her down and I would like to have seen more of his eventual comeuppance. But I did enjoy the book – in fact I was actually quite grumpy when my train was on time and I had to stop reading it and go to work! I particularly liked the subplot with Bella’s godmother and her love life, which was sweet and realistic portrayal of love later in life which rang true without being either twee or pensioners-do-Fifty-Shades.
It’s not my favourite of Katie Fforde’s books – there’s not enough of Dominic in this book for it to reach the giddy heights of my favourites like Stately Pursuits and Flora’s Lot, but it’s still a fun romantic read which I’m sure will be very popular on the beach this summer and I’d happily recommend to people who like a good light romantic read. Now all I’ve got to do is twiddle my thumbs (or start re-reading) until her next one comes out!
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway (I know! Two giveaway reviews in a week! This doesn’t usually happen – I’ve only won three giveaways ever!) but that doesn’t influence what I write.
Back on more familiar territory for me here, with a fun murder mystery story from American author Jenn McKinlay. Death of a Mad Hatter is the second book in the Hat Shop Murder series (and is the first book I’ve read by this author) and centres around American Scarlett Parker and her cousin Vivian Tremont, who run a hat shop in London. As usual I’m trying to avoid spoilers in my synopsis, and I can’t say too much about the set up without giving away the plot of the first book (or at least I think I can’t!), so here goes: In Death of a Mad Hatter, an unpleasant man dies at a themed party which the girls have provided the hats for. When a trace of poison is found in the hat, the girls get involved in trying to track down who was really responsible.
I love it when you get some extras with a book!
This is a cozy murder mystery with a fun premise and an ingenious solution. The plot is well worked out, the dialogue snappy, the humour works and the characters are engaging. I was never bored and always wanted to know what was going to happen next. In fact the book almost seemed to wrap up too soon – although that’s not to say that the denouement was in anyway rushed, I just couldn’t believe that the book was nearly over (which is always a good sign). I read the book in a day and enjoyed it.
For me it ticks similar boxes as Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow series, although this series is obviously set in the UK. And therein was my only problem with it – as a Brit there were a few things that jarred for me as being just not “right”. Now I know that this book is written for the US market – and in fact I don’t think it has been picked up by a publisher over here – so for the vast majority of people reading it, this won’t be an issue. Mainly the problems came with things that the British characters said that weren’t “right” – although as we have the NHS here the idea of a British family having a event to raise money to build a new wing at a hospital struck me as a bit odd – but hey, it could happen, after all Great Ormond Street Hospital’s charity is probably one of the most famous charities in the country!
Now this is me being really very nit-picking – because the “wrong” moments were my only problem with the whole book and it’s really a very minor issue in the grand scheme of things, because in the main the British characters and British bits were so well done that the bits that weren’t “right” bit surprised me! And I’ll still be looking out for more from Jenn McKinlay – from the cards and bookmarks that came with my copy I think her other series may be right up my street too!
Death of a Mad Hatter is presumably available all good bookshops and book retailers who stock Mass Market paperbacks in the US and over here in the UK you can get it from Foyles and Amazon (and presumably anyone else who’ll order in from the US). Jenn McKinlay’s website is jennmckinlay.com, she can be found on twitter as @JennMcKinlay and on Facebook
Disclosure: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway – not that that influences what I write…
So, as you may have noticed from the previous posts, I’m not a big thriller reader. Detective or mystery stories, yes, lots of them and preferably set in any period not now (I’m not a CSI girl). I have read some John le Carré before – because before watching the film of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I wanted to have read the book – to see if it was going to be too violent for me to cope with (for my post about the contradictions of my job and my aversion to violence in films see this post on my other blog). I enjoyed it so much that I not only watched the film and most of the Alec Guiness TV adaptation, but also read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – which is also really good. I’ve been keeping my eyes out for more of his Smiley series at the library – but hadn’t read any of his newer books* – hence my entry into the Goodreads giveaway (despite the enormous size of the to-read pile) and I was really pleased when I won a copy.
Paperback copy of A Delicate Truth by John le Carré
I’m always very careful not to give away plot spoilers in my synopsis, and it’s quite hard with A Delicate Truth to say much about the plot without saying too much, so I’ve taken my cue for this from the Goodreads synopsis. The story centres around a top, top secret counter-terror operation in Gibraltar – what happened, how it was set up and whether it was the success that it was meant to have been.
The intertwining plots are carefully and meticulously constructed – I never thought that I knew what was coming next and at the end I still had questions (in a good way) and wanted to know more. The characters are believable – in some cases horribly so – and you really can imagine that these events could possibly have happened – although you hope fervently that they haven’t.
Le Carré still has the knack for describing the workings of government in a way that feels real, and in addition, in this book he turns his focus on the world of private defence contractors. I’ve read a lot of news articles about this new aspect of the military world and I can’t claim to know first hand what any of them are really like, but it’s clear that the author isn’t keen, shall we say, on this latest development. And if anything near of the shenanigans that go on in this book have gone on in real life (and I devoutly hope they haven’t) then he’s got reason.
This is an exciting and page-turning book – which I gobbled up in a day’s commute and an evening’s reading. I would recommend it to anyone who has read his earlier works or people who like a thriller at the cinema and want a book for their summer holiday. I’m not surprised this has done so well – I’ll certainly be passing it on to the thriller readers in my family (my dad and The Boy).
A Delicate Truth by John le Carré can be found on Kindle or as a proper book all over the place (although my link is Foyles, for reasons previously explained) and you can also see more reviews on Goodreads.
* I nearly put “contemporary books” but then I remembered that the Smiley books were written at the time that they were set in, it’s just me that’s reading them now!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 