Katharine Johnson's Blog, page 19

Book review – Sophia by Anita Anand

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Sophia – Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: non fiction, history

A shocking story of disposession and discovery. Sophia Duleep Singh was born in 1876 after her father the Maharaja Duleep Singh’s Sikh kingdom (as well as the Koh-i-nor diamond) was taken by the British and he was exiled to England. Queen Victoria was godmother to Sophia who as a child was quiet and genteel – so what changed the princess into a militant suffragette?

This is an amazing story. If it was a novel it might seem a little far-fetched but it’s true, and an absolutely compelling book. It’s meticulously researched but told in a novelesque way which makes it a joy to read.

We follow Sophia from her aristocratic, socialite lifestyle at Hampton Court Palace to her travels in India where she learns about her roots and the injustices facing her people, to her fight for female justice, leading marches and getting arrested. I’d recommend this untold story to anyone with an interest in British history and especially the suffragette movement.

my rating

My Love Affair with an Ape

This has been such an exciting week. For one thing, my edits have just come back so I’ll be going into hiding for a day or two while I go through these. A top notch editor makes such a difference to a book and I’m so pleased to be working with Christine McPherson again who edited The Silence.

Secondly, the artwork for the cover of The Secret has just come in. I hope you like it.

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I love the ancient Tuscan street with the shutters, the iron balconies, stone arches and most of all the cute little Ape.

Just to avoid any misunderstanding among people not familiar with Tuscany, I’m not talking about a monkey here but a bee. Not a real bee either but that’s the name given to the tiny three-wheel pickup truck made by Piaggio that’s become synonymous with Italy and was born in Tuscany.

Just as Vespa means wasp and is the name of Piaggio’s iconic motor scooter, the Ape or bee, by the same designer, d’Asciano, is aptly named because it buzzes about doing essential work.

The word Ape (pronounced AHpay) is one of the many “false friends” English-speaking people encounter when learning Italian. But if you think of apiary it’s not actually so strange.

First made in 1948 in Pontedera, the motorcycle van was the perfect solution for cash-strapped post-war Italy, giving thousands the freedom to create their own business with a low cost, low fuel consumption, compact vehicle that was easy to manoeuvre in narrow city streets and steep winding mountain lanes.

Although the design has been modified a few times over the years, incorporating a steering wheel instead of the old motorcycle handlebars, the heroic little van is still seen in rural villages all over Italy. As well as providing transport, it’s also used for promotion with an advertising hoarding in the back, and versions have been used as mini ice cream or coffee vans and even taxis.

It’s just the sort of van that Flávio d’Olivo, the woodcutter who first appeared in The Silence published last year but who also features in The Secret, would drive.

There’s a Piaggio museum at Pontedera (between Pisa and San Miniato) showing the history of the Vespa and Ape with some super-stylish and gorgeously nostalgic designs https://www.museopiaggio.it

The lane that borders our garden in Tuscany is only fractionally wider than a family car, extremely steep, heavily potholed and with no safety barrier to protect you from the vertiginous drop if you misjudge the “gomito” or “elbow” bend halfway up. Most locals know better than to use it and visitors who do so have been known to emerge white-faced and shaking.

But Ape vans trundle up and down with ease.

So if it sounds as though I’m a bit in love with the Ape, it’s true. I want one. But for now, just looking at the one on my cover brings a smile to my face.

I think it’s the bee’s knees!

The Secret will be published by Crooked Cat Books on 1st June.

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Book review – Hunter’s Chase by Val Penny

Hunters Chase, Val Penny, Crooked Cat Books

[image error]The story: When a burglary turns into a murder enquiry, DI Hunter Wilson is called to investigate. Shortly after the grisly post mortem, he witnesses a second murder. A young woman’s life hangs in the balance and her physical similarity to the first victim raises questions. To add to Hunter’s difficulties the new man on his team Tim Myerscough happens to be the son of Hunter’s nemesis, Sir Peter Myerscough, the former chief constable and also the victim of the attempted burglary. Hunter’s perseverance and patience are put to the test many times in this first adventure in the Edinburgh crime series.

This book has been getting some brilliant reviews so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I’m glad I did – it’s a fantastic debut novel – cleverly constructed with plausible characters and brilliant twists and turns. There are one or two grisly scenes and some heartbreaking moments but plenty of warmth and humour too. I really got a feel for the characters and the book didn’t fall into trap that some procedural crime stories do of getting bogged down in day-to-day detail at the expense of the drama. I’ll be looking out for the next book in this series and would recommend the book to anyone who loves crime fiction.

My rating:

 

Letters from Elsewhere: Irena

Meet one of the characters from The Secret – Carlo’s mother Irena has always been reluctant to talk about her past but a photograph has sparked some memories she can’t get out of her head. Today she’s the guest of Miriam Drori, whose blog features letters from book characters – such a brilliant idea!

An' de walls came tumblin' down

What an honour! I’ve been joined today by an venerable old woman. I’m not sure how old Irena is, but I’m told she’s the oldest resident in the Tuscan mountain village of Santa Zita. She’s brought a letter to her son, Carlo, who’s been pressing her to help him piece together a mystery that’s puzzled him all his life and which he’s come back to the village to solve after living abroad for many years.

Irena’s chaperone is Katharine Johnson, whose first two novels, Lies, Mistakes and Misunderstandings and The Silence were very much enjoyed by yours truly. Here’s the letter:

Dear Carlo,

That wedding photograph I said I didn’t remember – I may as well tell you the truth, I suppose. The bride was Martina. And yes, I was the bridesmaid. And the one of the two girls sitting on the wall of the fountain eating ice cream? Martina…

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Free book – The Moonchild by Heidi Catherine

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As a bookworm I’m always tempted by book bargains but when I saw this story by Heidi Catherine was available for free I was really excited as it’s the prequel to her award-winning novel The Soulweaver, and the Truth Seeker which has just been released in paperback,

The Story: It’s a story of an unlikely friendship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. When two children, Charlie and Essie, meet in outback Australia, they feel an instant connection despite their differences. As they kick up the red sand of the desert by day and sit stargazing on the porch at night, they learn they’re capable of so much more than they’d imagined. Never forgetting the time they spent together, they meet again as adults and realise the impact they’ve had on each other’s lives.

But when Essie’s star threatens to fall, Charlie refuses to believe he won’t be able to catch her this time.

My review: Described as a novelette, this is a quick read but a powerful story that I know will linger with me – a charming, mystical, uplifting tale that’s beautifully told.

To get this ebook for free go to http://myBook.to/themoonchild 

Book review: Chosen Child by Linda Huber

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Chosen Child, Linda Huber

The story: Ella longs for a child and thinks she’s found the answers to her prayers when at an adoption party she and husband Rick are introduced to Soraya. Amanda discovers she’s pregnant but doesn’t know if the baby’s her husband Gareth’s or her lover James’s. These two seemingly unconnected situations become intertwined when a disappearance leads to a gruesome find.

My review: I was gripped from the start, wondering at what point these two stories would come together. I didn’t have long to wait and it wasn’t in the way I expected. What starts as a tragedy turns into a crime. This is a deliciously suspenseful story where one awful secret leads to another and the characters start to wonder how well they know each other and should trust each other. There are lots of near-miss moments and I was kept guessing about how it would end. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers and domestic noir, you should definitely read this book!

My rating:

 

Book review – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, HarperCollins

The story: Eleanor’s the office oddball. She’s prim, set in her ways and very judgemental. Not yet thirty, she’s out of touch with so many things in the modern world, wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same food, and has very little understanding of how relationships work. She’s also a vodkaholic with a sinister event buried in her past connected with her overbearing and abusive mother. But an act of kindness is about to shatter the walls she’s built around herself and force her to face the past.

My review: This is one of those books you hear so much about that you wonder if it’s going to live up to expectations. Well for me it certainly did. I’m writing this review a few weeks after reading the book but it’s stayed with me as I’m sure it will for a long time. It’s very funny in places, heartbreaking in others. I loved Eleanor and found her story compelling. I’d have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who likes character-based literary stories and can’t wait to see what Gail Honeyman writes next.

My rating

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Struggle and Suffrage in Windsor

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Today is Suffragette Day – 100 years since (some) women were given the right to vote.

After decades of campaigning, setbacks and sacrifices, 6th February 1918 must have been an incredible day. The 8.5 million newly-enfranchised women were over 30 and owned property. It would be another ten years before women were given the same voting rights as men, but it was a huge step forward.

For several months I’ve been researching for my book Struggle and Suffrage in Windsor, which is part of a series to be published by Pen and Sword celebrating the contribution made by women in different towns around the country during a period of enormous social and political change.

Windsor’s story’s unique in that it encompasses both princesses and paupers.

[image error]Queen Victoria kick-started Windsor’s transformation from squalid slum town to genteel tourist destination by choosing to make it her main home.

In many ways Victoria provided a role model for nineteenth century women. At only 18 years old and 4ft 11in tall, she proved it was possible for a woman to excel in a male-dominated arena.

She came to the throne amid anti monarchy demonstrations, was hissed and booed at during Ascot races after the Hastings Affair and called Mrs Melbourne by Tories, furious at her apparent Whig sympathies.

She also had to cope with a stalker, and at least seven assassination attempts.

But despite her own experience Queen Victoria was no suffragist sympathiser, writing,

“I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can write or speak to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of women’s rights.”

Although as monarch she was unable to involve herself in politics, it could be argued that, had the Queen shown approval for suffragists, women may have been given the vote earlier.

But her daughters, especially Louise, whose sister-in-law Lady Frances Balfour was a leading figure in the movement, did show sympathy for women’s suffrage and Queen Victoria’s goddaughter Sophia Duleep Singh would become a suffragette.

[image error]Lady Florence Dixie

One of Windsor’s most colourful characters was Lady Florence Dixie. The first female war correspondent, she also helped establish women’s football and wrote feminist novels including Gloriana in 1890, in which women have the right to vote.

She also wrote about her adventures in Patagonia, and brought back a jaguar from her travels. (After Affums was caught eating the royal deer in Windsor Great Park he had to be put in a zoo.)

Florence held strong views on female emancipation and spoke publicly about these, arguing that women should have equal rights in marriage and divorce, equal inheritance rights and that they should be entitled to wear the same clothes as men.

Meetings and marches

From the turn of the century, support in Windsor for the suffragist movement grew, but was up against fierce anti-suffrage support. The local suffrage society started as the Windsor and Eton branch of the London society but became large enough to exist in its own right. The train line which Queen Victoria had approved made it easy for Windsor women to take part in events elsewhere including the London marches.

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Regular At-home and Drawing Room meetings of the suffrage society were held in the Guildhall and private homes, and included speakers from London and abroad.

These often turned into “lively discussions” with opposition from anti-suffrage supporters such as Revd Keightley who declared that women’s suffrage would be “the thin end of the wedge.”

The hon secretary of the suffrage society, Florence Gibb of Claremont Road, frequently gave polite but robust arguments against views expressed by anti-suffrage supporters.

In a letter to the Windsor and Eton Express following a recent anti-suffragist meeting at the Guildhall, she wrote,

“The Countess of Desart said women want to be women. Exactly – that’s why we want the vote. Women are half the nation and we maintain that their view should be respresented.”

On another occasion she wrote,

“Lord Cromer says women’s suffrage has only been tried in small places for a short time. Does Lord Cromer call Wyoming’s 45 years or New Zealand’s 17 years a short time, or Australia and New Zealand small places?”

And she challenged the view that men knew better than women about politics. “What does Mr Burns know of the hunger of the expectant and nursing mother? Yet he deprives her of wages and makes no provision for her nourishment during her compulsory idleness.”

Emily Wilding

The closest university to Windsor is Royal Holloway, on the edge of Windsor Great Park, where Emily Wilding Davison was a student. She later became a key member of the militant WSPU and was imprisoned in Strangeways for throwing rocks at Lloyd George’s carriage. She went on hunger strike but was subjected to force feeding. In 1913 she died after being trampled by the King’s horse at Epsom.

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Suffragette activity in Windsor included setting fire to pillar boxes and an arson attack on a house during the same night that a church in Wargrave was burned down. Windsor Castle had to be closed to visitors in 1913 because of the threat of attack by suffragettes.

There’s so much more! I’ll be doing other posts on this subject during this centenary year but for the full story look out for the book later this year, and other titles in the series.

Book review: the woman in the window by AJ Finn

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The story: Anna Fox was until recently a happily married mother and successful child psychologist. Now she’s an agoraphobic, classic movie-obsessed, heavy drinker who fills her day by chatting on an online forum and spying on her New York neighbours.

Staring into the house opposite, she witnesses a murder. But when she reports the crime to the police things take a bizarre turn, forcing her to question what’s real and what isn’t. Battling to prove her version of events, Anna doesn’t know who to trust.

My review: This book was given to me by a friend because she was sure I’d love it. That, coupled with the hype the book’s received made me slightly nervous in case I ended up being disappointed and judging it unfairly. But the first chapter pulled me in and I stayed reading late into the night.

There are lots of references to films in the book, especially Hitchcock’s 1950s film Rear Window in which a similar Peeping Tom situation backfires. If you’re one of those people who thinks that plot has been overused, and especially if you didn’t like Gone Girl or Girl on the Train then I have to say you might be

But if you’re a fan of domestic noir, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a taut, twisty, nightmarish tale which zips along and which has some refreshing differences. Even though I saw some of the twists coming I had to keep reading. Highly addictive!

The Woman in the Window is published by HarperCollins

 

Author Visit – Val Penny, author of Hunter’s Chase

[image error]Today I’m super excited to have Val Penny as my guest. Her Edinburgh-based debut detective story comes out on 2nd February. Erin Kelly, author of one of my favourite books ever, The Poison Tree, as well as the Broadchurch says it’s “A gripping debut novel about power, politics and the importance – and danger – of family ties. Hunter Wilson is a compelling new detective and Val Penny is an author to watch.” Endorsements don’t come much better than that!

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The story: Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson knows there is a new supply of cocaine flooding his city, and he needs to find the source, but his attention is transferred to murder when a corpse is discovered in the grounds of a golf course.

Shortly after the post-mortem, Hunter witnesses a second murder, but that is not the end of the slaughter. With a young woman’s life also hanging in the balance, the last thing Hunter needs is a new man on his team: Detective Constable Tim Myerscough, the son of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable Sir Peter Myerscough.

Hunter’s perseverance and patience are out to the test time after time in the first novel in the Edinburgh Crime Mystery series

You can buy it here

Find out more at the online launch party on 2nd Feb here

Q &A

Hello Val, what can I get you today?

I would like a nice slice of coffee and walnut cake, perhaps with a latte to wash it down. That would be lovely, thank you.

My favourite cake! What are you reading at the moment?

I have just finished reading Daisy in Chains a psychological thriller by Sharon Bolton. It was excellent and, although I read a lot of thrillers, the reveal was not obvious. I really enjoyed it.

Adding it to my TBR list. Who is your hero (real or fictional)?

My fictional hero is probably Lee Child’s character, Jack Reacher. He is a one-man vigilante who constantly strives to right wrongs. My real-life heroine is my mother. She served in the navy during the second world war and found herself bringing up my sister and me as a one parent family, long before that was fashionable. In both endeavours she did a very good job, though I say so myself! She is now 91 and crocheting furiously for her first great-grandchild. That generation was made of stern stuff!

If you could invite just two authors (alive or dead) to dinner who would they be?

I have no doubt which authors I would invite to dinner, one would be Winston Churchill. In between being a journalist and serving as a politician, including Prime Minister, he wrote 51 books – before there were computers. I want to know how he did that! I would also invite Mark Billingham. I really enjoy his Tom Thorne crime novels, but he is also a stand-up comedian and very easy to talk to. I think, if Churchill became overly pompous, Mark could lighten the mood

Sounds a great evening. And how would you describe your perfect day?

My perfect day would be spent by the sea, preferably walking the beach on the West Coast of California near Pebble Beach with my husband our daughters and their partners. I enjoy being close to the sea and family is very important to me. After a lovely walk, perhaps we could all stop by and have a delicious meal in a family Mexican restaurant. I am sure we would talk the night away.

Wonderful – I love the sea too. What superpower would you choose?

I would choose the super power of invisibility. That would allow me to investigate settings for my novels even more easily.

What is your favourite tipple?

I don’t drink alcohol very often, but when I do, I like an ice cold craft gin with Fever-Tree tonic and dressed with a wedge of fresh lime, rather than lemon.

If you could be a fictional detective who would you choose?

I think it would be hard to beat Agatha Christie’s Poirot. His powers of deduction and attention to detail are delightful. The same is true of Sherlock Holmes, but Arthur Conan Doyle’s books are much harder to get through.

When did you start writing and what got you started?

I have enjoyed telling stories since I was a little girl, but there was a specifiac trigger to my novel writing. I began writing my first novel when I was being treated for breast cancer. I had taken early retirement and was beginning to wonder how I had ever had time to work when I received the unwelcome diagnosis of breast cancer. As my treatment proceeded, I started to blog about my experience. My writing here still receives considerable attention: www.survivingbreastcancernow.com. I found my treatment very tiring and had little energy to do anything but read, so I started reviewing the books I read on http://www.bookreviewstoday.info.I have always enjoyed reading crime fiction and I began to think that, as I had the time, I would try my hand at writing a crime fiction novel. It was not an easy task, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would, but the result was Hunter’s Chase.

What’s the best piece of advice on writing you’ve been given?

Peter Robinson, who writes the DCI Alan Banks crime thriller series gave me the best advice very early on in my writing journey. He said there was no such thing as writer’s block. There are people who write and people who make excuses. His way of dealing with a reticence to write on a particular day is to work on something different for a while and then move back to your main project. He is right, it works.

And finally, what are you working on next?

Only last month, I heard from my publishers, Crooked Cat Books, that they have accepted the sequel to Hunter’s Chase: Hunter’s Revenge . I am working on that now with a view to getting the novel edited and subsequently published during August or September 2018.

Thanks so much for answering my questions Val and congratulations on the book – I’m really looking forward to the launch of Hunter’s Chase.

Thank you for having me on your blog today, Katy. I really enjoyed the visit.

About The Author

Val Penny is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and two cats. She has a Law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer. However she has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballet dancer or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories and novels.

Author contact details

www.authorvalpenny.com

www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

Friends of Hunter’s Chase – www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

https://twitter.com/valeriepenny