Veronika Jordan's Blog, page 65

Awakening by Abby Wynne

When Marissa’s fiancé leaves her unexpectedly, she is left trying to put the broken pieces of her life back together again.

The magical years of her childhood are now lost or long forgotten and, trapped in a downward spiral of worry and anxiety, nothing seems to be bringing the magic back any time soon.

Training to become a therapist, Marissa discovers an unforeseen talent for helping others and, for a while at least, she puts her own needs and concerns to one side. An unexpected windfall prompts a spontaneous trip to Peru, and an encounter while she is there triggers an astonishing series of events.

#Awakening @AbbyNrgHealing #InnerCompassTrilogy #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour 

Shaken but excited, Marissa embarks on a wonderful journey of revelation and adventure – after which, her life will never be the same again. Marissa’s story is your story, is my story, is everybody’s story: we each must find our own true path through life, our one true way.

Abby Wynne, author and Shamanic Psychotherapist, brings all her wisdom to bear on Marissa’s amazing tale of discovery and healing. A catalyst for people’s healing processes, Abby is a problem solver, a creative artist, an alchemist, a healer, a mother, a daughter, a lover of life – and it shows in this, her first novel.

My Review

When I started reading Awakening, I knew nothing about Shamanism or spiritual healing, other than once visiting a Reiki practitioner (so I could review my experience for a magazine). Awakening is quite an eye-opener. I learnt so much.

I was very excited by the idea of the oracle cards and purchased a set as soon as I finished reading the book. I wish I could have ‘Bear’ as my spirit guide all the time. I also purchased a sage smudge stick. I love the smell, it’s gorgeous. Sorry, I’m rambling.

Marissa is struggling to get over the break-up of her relationship with James. They were going to get married, have two children – a girl and a boy – and spend the rest of their lives together. Then James left her and she still doesn’t know why. He married someone else and started a family with her.

Marissa has a boring job in an office, where she works with Sarah. She is also training to be a psychotherapist. Sarah persuades her to go to Peru and having just received some money from an uncle, she can afford to go. It’s not the kind of thing she usually does. And while for Sarah, it’s a holiday with the hope of finding romance, for Marissa, it’s the trip of a lifetime. She discovers her talent for healing and it changes the direction that her life is taking.

Her spiritual adventure will lead her to Shamanism, Reiki and guardian angels, amongst other paths. The ‘journeys’ she takes as part of her training are described in such detail and are wrapped around a story of lost love, being an outsider in a Jewish family (my Jewish mother married a Polish Catholic so this I understand), finding oneself and learning to love and trust again. It’s a beautiful book with a message for all of us: ‘we each must find our own true path through life, our one true way.’

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Abby Wynne is the bestselling author of the One Day at a Time Diary, How to Be Well and Energy Healing Made Easy. She helps people release what is in the way of living an empowered, wholehearted life. She lives in Ireland with her husband, four children, and their dog and cat! The Inner Compass Trilogy is her first major work of fiction. Look out for Expansion, the final book in the series, in early 2023. Join Abby for pre-recorded sessions, self-paced healing programmes and live group healing sessions via www.abbysonlineacademy.com

SOCIAL MEDIA:
You can join Abby via 
Telegram: https://t.me/abbywynneauthor
Substack: abbywynne.substack.com
Facebook at Abby’s Energy Healing Page and Abby Wynne’s Book Page
Instagram @abbynrghealing
Twitter @abbynrghealing
Websites: www.abby-wynne.com & www.abbysonlineacademy.com

The Girl In The Red Coat by Kate Hamer

She is the missing girl. But she doesn’t know she’s lost.

Carmel Wakeford becomes separated from her mother at a local children’s festival, and is found by a man who claims to be her estranged grandfather. He tells her that her mother has had an accident and that she is to live with him for now. As days become weeks with her new family, 8-year-old Carmel realises that this man believes she has a special gift…

While her mother desperately tries to find her, Carmel embarks on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is – and who she might become.

My Review

I loved this book. I know there are many books written about children being abducted, but this was quite different.

Eight-year-old Carmel often hides from her mother Beth, but this time she can’t be found. A man who claims to be her grandfather has taken her. He tells her that her mother has been in a devastating accident and he is to take care of her for now. Her mother doesn’t get any better, so she has to stay with him. He also tells her that her father doesn’t want her because he has a new family now with Lucy.

But ‘Gramps’ has another agenda. He believes that Carmel has a special gift of healing and together they can travel and make people better. And make a living. Who is this man as he is clearly not her real grandfather. Or is he?

In the meantime, Beth’s life has come to a standstill. Every day she looks for Carmel, holding on to every sighting, every crank who claims to have seen her and every new lead. Carmel’s body has never been found, so there is no reason to believe she has been killed.

I read this in 11 staves with The Pigeonhole book club. I couldn’t wait for the next instalment to be released. I loved reading about Carmel’s life probably more so than Beth’s. It was so unusual. Most children in stories nowadays are kidnapped for ransom, sex trafficking etc. Not to be hiked round another country as a ‘healer’.

I know there are a few things that are marginally far-fetched like how did Carmel and Gramps leave the country, though that is kind of revealed or hinted at much later on. Why did Carmel never try to run away or tell anyone who she was? Was no-one ever suspicious enough to report what they had witnessed?

I’m always been fascinated by religious fervour, cults etc, so this book was perfect for me. I now want to read the sequel.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Kate Hamer grew up in the West Country and Wales. She studied art and worked for a number of years in television. In 2011 she won the Rhys Davies short-story prize and her short stories have appeared in various collections. Her debut novel The Girl in the Red Coat was published in 2015. It was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize, the British Book Industry Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, and the Wales Book of the Year. It was followed by the acclaimed The Doll Funeral in 2017 and Crushed in 2019. Kate now lives with her husband in Cardiff.

Lost & Found by James Gould Bourn

Ronnie has resigned himself to a life of loneliness.
 
His life in the crumbling seaside town of Bingham-on-Sea never seemed that bad, but since the loss of his father, the highlights of Ronnie’s solitary days include manning the lost property office at the bus station where he works, and plaguing his local GP with increasingly outlandish ailments. Forgotten or underestimated by all those around him, Ronnie is lost, and he’s not expecting to be found.

#LostAndFound @JPGouldBourn @orionbooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour

But when a chance encounter leads Ronnie to reluctantly foster Hamlet, an unwanted stray dog, his empty days begin to fill with all manner of new responsibilities and experiences.
 
Can these two lost souls help each other to find a new lease of life?

My Review

I literally read this in a day, finishing at one o’clock in the morning. It has everything. It’s sad, hilariously funny at times, poignant, includes an ugly but lovable dog called Hamlet (no not after the Prince of Denmark – after the next town where he was found, which happens to be called Hamlet) and a group of mismatched lonely protagonists.

‘He likes you,’ said Cate. ‘I can see it in his eyes.’
Ronnie looked at Hamlet. Hamlet’s dodgy eye also looked at Hamlet.
‘Really?’ said Ronnie. ‘And which eye would that be exactly?’
‘The gammy one. It only rolls around like that when he likes someone.’

Ronnie has lost his shadow. He has no idea how or why, only that he can no longer see it. Maybe that is why Hamlet is so wary of him. Dogs can sense things. Ronnie also visits the doctor – the only medical professional (loosely speaking) in run-down Bingham-on-Sea – every couple of weeks, having consulted Google and convinced he has everything from tetanus to a lump on his bum and a tropical disease only caught in a country he has never been to (or even heard of). He can’t tell the doctor about his missing shadow though as it’ll make him sound even madder than the doctor already thinks he is.

The doctor scenes are hilarious. ‘Yes,’ said Dr Sterling. ‘I can feel it.’
Ronnie swallowed and braced himself for the news. ‘What do you think it is?’
‘I think it’s your bum cheek.’
Ronnie sighed. ‘Not that round thing, the other round thing?’
‘That’s your other bum cheek.’
‘I don’t think you’re taking this very seriously.’
‘I’m not.’
‘Well that’s comforting,’ said Ronnie.
‘I’m not here to comfort you. Watch The Golden Girls if you want comfort. I’m here to tell you whether or not you have a legitimate medical complaint, and as per usual, you do not.’

Ronnie is a hypochondriac. And lonely since his father died. His mother had run off with the neighbour 35 years ago and his dad became his only friend. Ronnie works at the bus station with Carl and their boss Alan. He has been put in charge of the Lost & Found office, except no-one wants to claim any of it back. Except homeless woman Pearl that is, only none of it belongs to her. In the end Alan tells him to get rid of it. Ronnie can’t just dump it, so he takes most of it to the charity shops, but they don’t want the part chewed dog toys, so he takes them to the dog shelter and that’s where he meets Cate … and Hamlet. And somehow Cate manages to persuade him to take Hamlet home with him for a few days.

I love Cate. She’s knowledgeable about everything, a mine of useless trivia, unless you are a contestant on University Challenge, everyone tells her.

And it’s through Hamlet that he meets Brian who wants to train his cat to be a dog, Harriet who sits on the beach every day atop what looks like a life guard’s watchtower, and how he befriends the neighbour whose husband ran off with his mum.

This is such an enjoyable read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a book in 2023 that will make their spirit soar.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour 

About the Author

James Gould-Bourn is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist from Manchester, England. His debut novel, Bear Necessity, has been published in 13 languages and his short films have been screened at several international film festivals. His most recent film, Champ, qualified for consideration at the 2022 Academy Awards. It was directed by Emmy award-winning director Ben Tricklebank and premiered at Cinelounge in Hollywood. James currently lives in Bristol, UK.

Green Shoots by Ben Westwood

OUT OF THEIR ASHES, GREEN SHOOTS WILL GROW

The Constant Gardener meets Dexter – Green Shoots is a gripping conspiracy thriller with an ecological heart.

Brought back from the brink of suicide by a mysterious phone call, grieving journalist John Adamson is on a quest for the truth about his wife Christina’s death in South America.

#GreenShoots @benwestwood @CranthorpeBooks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

A private investigator provides John with clues to what really happened, but also tips him off to investigate a spate of deaths of businessmen, all found with the same cryptic message: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.‘

From the protest-filled streets of London to the ravaged jungles of Ecuador, John is unwittingly drawn into a lethal plot.

There seems to be a vigilante killer on the loose, but who is behind these murders and what is the connection to his wife’s death?

My Review

Originally, I wasn’t even going to read Green Shoots. It didn’t appeal to me. I was afraid it would be too political. It’s not that I’m not interested in politics or the environment – I am – I just prefer to keep it separate from the fiction I read.

But then I did and I was literally blown away. It was nothing like I expected. So much heart and emotion. And then the locations I was familiar with – Beachy Head (though I’ve never tried to jump or take a selfie on the edge), Birling Gap and the steps leading down to the pebble beach, Brighton, Hove, The Seven Sisters (I hiked up and down those for the Macmillan Cancer charity). Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Ecuador, but I can see the beauty in my mind’s eye and despair for the birds, the jaguars and the monkeys.

Green Shoots is quite a simple story really. Journalist John Adamson has lost his beautiful wife and no longer able to cope, he takes himself up to Beachy Head. But he receives a call which stops him literally going over the edge. The man on the line knows where he is and why and tells him that he knows the truth about Christina’s death. He also persuades him to investigate the mysterious, seemingly unrelated murders of successful businessmen, all found with the same cryptic message: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.’

Desperate to find out what happened to Christina in Ecuador, John is drawn into a dangerous world, where someone has a personal vendetta against these men. But is it enough to kill them and is it because they were all involved in plundering the Ecuadorian forests in order to make money from oil, timber, leather etc.

The scenes where John witnesses the destruction of the environment and the unbalancing of the delicate ecosystem were very harrowing – more harrowing that the grisly murders, because it’s really happening.

I can’t even begin to say how much I loved this book and everything it represents.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Ben Westwood is an author, lecturer and performer. He has worked for many years as a journalist, writing for publications including The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. He lived for several years in South America and has authored travel guidebooks to Ecuador, Galapagos and Peru. Green Shoots is his first novel and draws on his own experience of grief and of living in Ecuador.

Ben now lives in East Sussex with his two children and lectures at the University of Brighton. In his spare time, he is a singer-songwriter and has released two self-funded albums.

To accompany the release of his debut novel, Ben is releasing a Green Shoots Soundtrack of 10 original songs on the themes of grief, loss, love and healing, available on Spotify, iTunes and all major music channels from September 2022. For further information on all Ben’s writing and music, benwestwood.net or music on benwestwoodmusic.com.

Follow him at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/benwestwoodwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benwestwood
Instagram: www.instagram.com/benwestwoodwrite
Website: www.benwestwood.net
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62898865-green-shoots
Buy Link – https://geni.us/QDyqA43

If I Can’t Have you by Louise Mullins (DI Emma Locke #3)

Have you ever wanted something so much you’d do anything to get it?

I wanted her from the moment I laid eyes on her. I promised to do anything to make her mine.

#IfICantHaveYou @MullinsAuthor #LouiseMullins @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

But like a caged bird all she wanted was to fly away. Have you ever wanted someone so much you’d do anything to keep them? When you love someone, you should never let them go.

This is Book 3 of the DI Emma Locke series, but it can be read as a standalone.

My Review

You don’t need to have read the first two books in the series, but to be honest, it would have helped. However, there are two threads going on here – the first is the crime, the lost child, the missing persons, the murders. This is totally standalone.

But the second thread is when DI Emma Locke arrives, part way through the book, and she has history. She has obviously had a sketchy past before becoming a police officer. She is now with Johnno and helps take care of his son Jaxon, after his wife virtually abandoned the child. She is also worried about her friend Craig, who is a single parent, his son Ethan’s mother having died of an overdose. Craig is an alcoholic and things have become worse since their friend Jimmy died. All this is imported from books one and two, I guess.

I didn’t really warm to Emma. The investigation into the child’s sudden discovery is being led by DS Dafydd Tomos and I adored him. Fifty years old and suffering from PTSD after his stint in the SAS where his friend Mo was blown to pieces, and a wife in a wheelchair after a car accident, he is still so caring and empathic. His team is good too. The child whose name we discover later on, doesn’t speak and while she likes the male officers, she appears to be scared of women.

She’s slightly older than she looks and somewhat malnourished, but her clothes are new, clean and expensive, at least they would be clean if she didn’t have blood on her dress. Whose blood we don’t know at this stage.

This was a really exciting, fast-paced read. It’s also quite involved so I can’t say much more without revealing the plot. It is told in two timelines – the past from the point of view of ‘Laura’ – we initially have no idea who she is and the present which starts with the police being informed that a young girl is wandering around in the dark on her own. We swap back and forth until the past and present meet.

It’s a quick, easy read and I hope we’ll get to see more of DS Tomos in the future. He’s brilliant. In fact he deserves his own series of books.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Louise Mullins writes full-time using the experience she gained in a prior life working in the field of forensic mental health, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes.

 To keep up to date with her latest releases, visit her website: www.louisemullinsauthor.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as: @mullinsauthor. 

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Louisemullins80
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mullinsauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MullinsAuthor
Website : www.louisemullinsauthor.com

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61110920-if-i-can-t-have-you

Buy Link – https://geni.us/AAiQ

In A Pickle by Cat On A Piano / Theatrephonic

‘Who put that manhole there?’

Poor Pickle! I laughed and laughed.
First it’s the ‘accidents’ in his postal van. Then it’s the animals and not just the dogs. The funniest is the randy cockerel, probably because when my husband was young they had a cockerel. It chased people round the garden, trying to peck the backs of their legs, especially if they had bare legs.

But Pickle had other dreams before he became a postie. Will he realise those now? He’ll have to get out of the manhole first.

Written and directed by Emmeline Braefield, based on the life experiences of Anthony Young

Starring Anthony Young as Pickle

Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions 

Music:
Whistling Down the Road by Silent Partner

The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield

Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.

Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.

For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram @theatrephonic, or visit their Facebook page.

And if you really enjoyed this week’s episode, listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…

So Pretty by Ronnie Turner

When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.

Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.

#SoPretty #EvilAlwaysComesHome @Ronnie__Turner @OrendaBooks
#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it. As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife-edge.

Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it always has. And before long, it will find Ada too.

My Review

Part way through this I had to make a family tree so I could remember who was whose son or daughter. There are some unsavoury characters in each family – Teddy’s father, Ada’s mother and her mother’s mother. Then we have Mr Vincent, who is creepy and evil – at least that is what the townspeople think. I don’t disagree. He owns a shop called Berry & Vincent, but no-one goes in or shops there. Many years ago there was an antique shop in Cheltenham called Summerfields. It was jam-packed with stuff and he never sold anything. When he passed away, it turned out he was a millionaire. But I digress. I’m certain he was a very nice man and a trust was set up in his name.

When Teddy arrives in Rye, he hopes no-one will recognise him and it appears they don’t. He sees a job advertised in the window of Berry & Vincent and applies. He gets the job immediately. All he has to do is dust and keep the place tidy. There are no customers to serve.

At first we feel sorry for Teddy. He’s looking for friendship. He’s very stressed all the time – he keeps scratching till his skin bleeds. But he is nice to Ada and her four-year-old son Albie.

Ada is also looking for friendship, but no-one wants to be friends with her. Except Teddy. They go for walks, take Albie to the park, have lunch together, until things start to take a sinister turn.

I loved this book so much. It is unique and brilliantly written, and asks so many questions. Can Teddy escape his father’s legacy or are we predestined to inherit our parents’ genes? I hate to think you can never escape your destiny and that nurture can never win over nature. Secondly, do people really blame the spouse – the ‘Devil’s Mistress’ as they called Teddy’s mother – or do they see her as yet another victim. The idea that the wife always knows and keeps quiet really bothers me. Think Peter Sutcliffe (his wife Sonia had absolutely no idea that her husband was a serial killer), and not Rose West who was as bad as her husband.

My final query is why Rye? It’s a lovely place if you are referring to the real one. I presume you are, as the nearest town/city is Hastings, which is mentioned more than once.

I feel that we are going to hear a lot more from this author. I certainly hope so.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in the South West with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller and a barista, and her youth belies her exceptional, highly unusual talent.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.

My Year in Books 2022

It’s been a successful year for reading. I’ve read some brilliant books. My reading challenge was 130 and I just made it with 132.

My 6 Most Read Reviews of 2022

This is a new one for me, but I do love a good list. These books were not necessarily published in 2022 – in fact Miss Benson’s Beetle has been top for the last two years.

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
There’s hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t visit this review and I am not sure how or why. It was published in 2021 but it’s still top by a mile.

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
Again this is visited constantly. It’s a great book but it wasn’t one of my favourites as to really appreciate the book you have to play along and I don’t want to work that hard!

The Trial of Lotta Rae by Siobhan MacGowan
Dropped off a bit now – I initially thought that it may have had something to do with the author’s rather well-known sibling, but that would be unfair. This was a really good read and she deserves the recognition in her own right.

It All Comes Back To You by Beth Duke
I didn’t love this as much as Tapestry (which has just made my Top 4 books of 2022), but it was certainly well visited when I posted it in 2021, and still is. The follow-up is out soon.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
A very well-known author so not surprising. This was quite recent so may keep going up.

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon
The author of the brilliant The Trouble With Goats And Sheep so it’s bound to have had an impact.

My Top 4 Books of 2022

It’s approaching the very end of 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of the year.

Last year it was hard but this year is even harder. There were instant standouts again – about 10 of them but I had to cut it down to four. I have tried to include a mix of genres but failed yet again. I read a lot of crime fiction, which often make my Top 8 selections, but my Top 3 or 4 of the year tend to be something a bit different.

My first three therefore are all slightly ‘whimsical’ while the fourth is a gothic mystery.

The Unravelling by Polly Crosby

‘The sea is made up of unspeakable sadness.’ This is a sentence you will read many times in this extraordinary book.

Tartelin, a young woman who has recently lost her mother, travels to the tiny, remote island of Dohhalund in the middle of the North Sea, to work for Miss Stourbridge. Her job will be to catch butterflies and kill them, so they can be pinned and studied. It’s a strange request and one that Tartelin doesn’t realise will have such a profound effect on her.

For my full review click here

Tapestry by Beth Duke

“We’re all part of a tapestry bigger than any of us can imagine, weaving in and out and creating a glorious picture. All of us from the beginning of time.”

What a lovely thought. My brother had his DNA done and assuming he and I are exactly the same ethnicity, it was quite revealing. Not the 49% Ashkenazi Jew – we kind of guessed that – but the rest. Eastern European, Scandinavian and 6% African. We are all descended from the slaves brought over from Africa, but most of us don’t have Creek ancestors, more’s the pity. Both are very important in Tapestry.

For my full review click here

Nothing Else by Louise Beech

I cried. I admit it. In fact I probably cried for most of the last third of the book. But don’t be put off by silly old me. This book is wonderful, tender, beautiful and uplifting but it’s also very sad. It broke my heart at times.

Louise Beech is one of my favourite authors and this book is one of my favourite reads of the second half of 2022. It pulls at the heart strings as well as the piano strings – see what I did there – the characters are so well drawn. I loved Heather, but I probably loved her little sister Harriet even more if that’s possible.

As children the two sisters were inseparable, playing the piano to drown out the violence in their home. Heather was trying to protect Harriet from hearing what was going on – their father hitting their mother. That two such young children should have to witness such horror is unimaginable. It really did break my heart.

For my full review click here

The Parlour Game by Jennifer Renshaw

This is the book I have been waiting for! A gothic tale of sinister goings-on, mysterious disappearances, hauntings and macabre artefacts with special powers.

The Parlour Game really was a book I could not put down. I’m so glad I read it on holiday so I didn’t have to. There is an underlying spookiness in every page, just waiting for the darkness, the bumps in the night, the voices in the walls.

Following the death of her beloved mother and the attendance of the celebrated spiritualist Miss Earnshaw at the funeral, Ivy Granger’s life will never be the same. The spiritualist tells her that she knew her mother and that Ivy’s life is in peril and gives her a card with her address. But Ivy’s father tells her it’s all nonsense and has decided that Ivy is to be married to the local undertaker. Her dream of studying to be a botanist is fast fading.

For my full review click here