Theresa Smith's Blog, page 30
January 14, 2023
The Week That Was…
This week we started with summer and closed out with winter – and here I was thinking that only happened in Melbourne!
What Zeus has been up to:
The hide and seek shenanigans continue on…
What I’ve been watching:
Two really good movies that I highly recommend…
What I’ve been reading:
Until next week…
January 12, 2023
Book Review: After Paris by Nicole Kennedy
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?
Published by Head of Zeus
Released November 2022
My Thoughts:‘Her heart ached that she hadn’t been there for her friend. How had they let things get this far? she thought, crossly. What were they all playing at, not speaking? It was ridiculous.’
After Paris was an absorbing read about long-term friendships, what we share and what we hide, and all the things left unsaid in-between. Alice, Nina, and Jules are an unlikely trio, yet after meeting in Paris one night in their late teens, they form a bond that sees them becoming best friends for the next two decades. After their most recent weekend in Paris though, the three don’t speak or message again for almost nine months after. Within this time of silence, their differences seem more apparent than their similarities.
I found this novel so easy to read and enjoyed it immensely. It took an unexpected plot turn when it dived into the world of online gambling, something I knew existed in essence, but really knew nothing about at all. I’m not going to lie; I was shocked at how easy it was for people to gamble away everything they have and then some from the couch using their phone. It shouldn’t be legal.
The dynamics of female friendship were on full show within this novel, and I enjoyed the honest portrayal by the author. There was plenty of relatable material within this one, that’s for sure. I recommend After Paris for book clubs and readers of life-lit. Four stars.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for the review copy.
January 8, 2023
Book Review: When I First Held You by Anstey Harris
Silence tore them apart. Can the truth bring them back together?
In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.
More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy—so different and yet somehow the same—reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.
Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?
Published by Amazon Publishing UK Lake Union Publishing
Released 24th January 2023
My Thoughts:The latest novel from Anstey Harris is a deeply personal one, so it’s better if I start this review with a quote from the very end of the novel, from the author note, for context:
‘I wrote Judith and Penny’s story to give me – and the half a million like me – a voice, and to remind those of you who have not been through this that it is an inhumanity we must never return to.’
When I First Held You is a story about the forced adoptions that were prolific throughout the 1960s and 1970s. I have previously read about this within novels set in Australia, America, and Ireland. It was interesting to read it within a UK setting. Interesting most of all to see the similarities – all involved parents who were acting out of shame, all involved girls being sent to homes run by the Catholic church, and all involved a total lack of regard for what the young women actually having a baby wanted, much less needed.
‘I struggle to remember the difference between forgiving and forgetting, I know that you can live with one and that the other will eventually destroy you.’
This story is told from the perspective of Judith, who was forced to give up her baby, and Ruby, her biological granddaughter. These two perspectives allowed for a sensitive balance within the story. James – aka Jimmy – has his perspective included via his interactions with both Judith and Ruby. You see, as the story progresses, just how much of an injustice was done to both Judith and Jimmy, by their own parents, whose well-meaning intentions caused nothing but grief with far-reaching consequences.
‘It’s partly that I haven’t shared this time with her – I have missed it and it can never be replayed. But it’s more than that – it’s the secrets and the joys. The memories of the conversations, the holidays, even the dark moments: none of which are mine.’
This story is so good though because it isn’t a simple blame game. It also outlines the social policies of the era, the lack of welfare, birth control, and independent options for young women who were pregnant and wanting to keep their babies. While you can acknowledge that what their parents did was entirely wrong, you also can acknowledge that they were acting out of a place where they too, didn’t know what else to do.
‘I am reminded of what I have always known: that it isn’t hope that moves mountains – mends hearts – it is unity.’
Entirely heartfelt and not given to melodrama, When I First Held You is a beautiful story about love, family, and forgiveness. It’s a fascinating look at a period of history that is best kept exactly where it is – in the past. Five stars to this one from Anstey Harris, who always seems to know just how to tug on your heartstrings. Thanks to her bravery as well for sharing, through the medium of fiction, aspects of her own personal family history.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
January 7, 2023
The Week That Was…
A fresh new year. I’ve spent some time this last week making the most of long summer days, enjoying my pool, tidying up the gardens, and catching up with friends.
After a thorough weeding, my front garden bed finally looks like I envisaged when I started the project during winter of last year. This garden bed used to be roses but then they died and I got my eldest son to dig them out and then it was a weedy patch of nothing for quite some time. I wanted a bit of a cottage garden look, shrubby flowers and ground cover. The shrubs have now taken hold and are spreading out splendidly. It won’t be long before it’s all filled up.
What Zeus has been up to:
Not entirely sure what he’s up to here but it seems to involve hiding in the bushes in the pool area. He’s either spying on youngest son or planning on jumping out at him as a surprise…
Despite his best efforts at camouflage, he gave himself away.
What I’ve been watching:
I can highly recommend this new Australian series on Stan, Black Snow. Excellent cast, thought provoking storyline, and atmospheric setting. I predict some television awards for this one.
What I’ve been reading:
Until next week!
January 4, 2023
Book Review: The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
Be careful what you wish for… it may just come true.
At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse.
It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees.
What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in nature. On stage, it’s as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the Muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumours are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing – Raven Books
Released 10th January 2023
My Thoughts:The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell is by far her best yet. I’ve enjoyed her others, immensely, but this one has the aura of a classic about it. Set in Victorian London, it follows the goings on at the Mercury Theatre in London’s West End. Jenny has been given a job there, as dresser for the principal actress, yet right from the beginning, nothing is as it seems.
When the principal actress, Lilith, is gifted a cursed timepiece once belonging to a famous actor who died a grisly death on stage, her performances seem to take on a new level of energy that leaves her in a state of deterioration as the season progresses. Jenny, who is no fan of Lilith, can’t help but begin to feel concern, that slowly gives way to dread, as more and more, it seems as though the timepiece is possessed of a power that reaches beyond Lilith’s grasp.
This is a brilliantly paced gothic horror story, its setting within the London Victorian era so fitting and atmospheric. Laura Purcell has a talent for writing within this genre and era and delivers in a way that many promise yet don’t quite achieve. The sense of dread that filled me as I progressed through the story was met time and again with flinching purpose. I was fascinated, horrified, gripped, and reeled in, held spellbound right up until the unexpected ending.
Five solid gold stars for this one. It just does not get better than this.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
January 1, 2023
Book Review: The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legend– but, ultimately, doomed.
When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.
Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.
Rachel is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home.
Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn.
And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core.
The Garnett Girls, the captivating debut from Georgina Moore, asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes of their parents.
Published by HQ Fiction GB
Released February 2023
About the Book:
‘Why are you calling your mother Margo now? You never used to.’
Rachel and Imogen looked at each other sadly. Rachel spoke for them both. ‘Because – well…it sounds bad – but calling her Ma doesn’t feel right anymore. She isn’t being our mum. There have always been two Margos, one who is Ma, just ours, and the other who is Margo who belongs to everyone else or who is in her own world. She’s Margo now – she doesn’t think of us.’ Rachel felt suddenly angry just thinking it and guilty for saying it.
Aunt Alice was looking at her as if she understood, as if she knew this about Margo too. ‘Don’t forget, I’ve been her sister for a long time. I know about the two Margos. I think you’re very smart the way you put your feelings into words, Rachel, and that’s something Margo’s taught you to do. She’ll come back your Ma, I promise you. And she does think of you and love you. She’s just looking for the way back.’
This one was a most surprising debut. I am always partial to a good family story that focuses on sibling/parent relationships and this one was rich in both. Three sisters, their relationships with each other and their mother complex and heavy with so much love, so much history, and so much unsaid. I really loved this story and was immediately swept up into their lives.
It was hard to not dislike Margo. After being left by her alcoholic husband, she fell into a deeply depressed state and became an alcoholic herself, self-medicating and neglecting her three daughters, the eldest eleven and the youngest four, for the months on end. The girls relied on their aunt, the goodwill of neighbours, and their own devices to get through. The impact this neglectful period had on them was profound and followed them into adulthood. Even taking Margo’s mental health into account, I still found her a hard character to feel any empathy for. In the present day, she was an overbearing, overly critical, and generally dishonest mother. It’s like I could understand her, but not like her, not fully accept her behaviour. There was a streak of selfishness that ran through her, I even saw it in her relationship with her own sister – who, incidentally, was a splendid character!
The dynamics between Margo and each of her daughters was incredibly interesting. Each had their own relationship with her, and each had their own opinions on the stain their childhood had left upon them. None of them had a relationship with their father, and in fact, Margo insisted that he be wiped out of their lives, never to even be spoken of again.
Out of all the relationships woven throughout this novel, it is that of the sisters with each other that I really enjoyed reading. Three very different women, all with their own trauma wounds from their shared childhood. The way in which the dynamics between them were portrayed was wholly realistic. I really loved this story for that.
The Garnett Girls is a fine debut, and I will be keen to read more from this author in the future. Highly recommended – a five star read!
Thanks to the publisher for the early review copy.
December 31, 2022
Book Review: Beach Read by Emily Henry
TWO WRITERS, ONE HOLIDAY. A ROMCOM WAITING TO HAPPEN…
He doesn’t believe in happy endings. She’s lost her faith that they exist. But could they find one together?
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she’s the lead in a blockbuster movie. Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.
But January and Gus have more in common than you’d think:
They’re both broke. They’ve got crippling writer’s block. And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first.
The risk? In telling each other’s stories, their worlds might be changed entirely…
Published by Penguin Books Australia
Released August 2020
My Thoughts:It didn’t take me long to pick up another Emily Henry! Her books have the right holiday vibe that I’m seeking at the moment and then I realised I had an unread Net Galley copy of Beach Read sitting on my Kindle, so, here we are, another one read.
I enjoyed this one immensely, the dialogue was snappy and fun, the characters likeably flawed, and once again, it’s a book about books – you can’t get much better than that. I particularly enjoyed the whole ‘inside the mind of a writer’ aspect to this one and how both characters were struggling with writer’s block and then decided to work together as a means of overcoming it. That it was a love story alongside this was a nicely played out bonus, but of course, it was far from cliche, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Another one I recommend. I probably liked Book Lovers a nudge more, but this one was right up there as a good read.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
December 30, 2022
Top 15 Books of my 2022 Reading Year
In no particular order, here are my top 15 books of the year. Over the year, I read 90 books, and quite a lot of them were five star reads, so it was no mean feat to whittle down to a list of 15. But here it is, the favourites of the favourites. All titles link back to my reviews.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland
The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
There’s Been a Little Incident by Alice Ryan
The Making of Her by Bernadette Jiwa
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
December 29, 2022
A Month of Reading: December
Another month of reading has passed, so too, has another year. First up, let’s look at December. I read six books in December, unsurprising that the total is low, December is a notoriously busy month for everyone. Two of my December reads were real chunksters though, so overall, I didn’t do too badly and it felt like I was reading regularly.
22 in 2022:
Two more added to the total for this challenge. I didn’t reach the target of 22 books, but I did hit 20, which is honestly a lot more than I thought I’d read. Just to refresh, my rule for the books included in this challenge was just that they not be review books, but rather, own purchases, as a means of reading some from my tbr shelves, both physical and digital.
Review Books:
So, that means the remaining four for December were review books. One of these was a January release I read in the last days of December. The review will be up in the New Year.
2022 Overall:
Every year I set my Goodreads target at 100 books. Some years I exceed this, some I fall short. This year I’ve fallen short, but not by too many. My total books read for the year was 90. Every month I’ve felt like I haven’t been reading as much as I should/could/want to but looking back at having read 90 books over the course of what has been an incredibly busy year, feels satisfying. The target will be the same again for 2023.
Some Stats:
The longest book I read was Demon Copperhead at 560 pages
The average book length was 306 pages
My average rating for 2022 was 4.5 stars – so, a terrific year for quality over quantity!
Next Year:
No challenges. I find them stressful. Even the 22 in 2022 was making me feel hemmed in. I’ll set my Goodreads to 100 books and leave it at that. I will still focus on reading a few classics again, I find these most enjoyable when read with a companion and I have the perfect one for that, she’s always up for a classic buddy read (looking at you Brooke). I’m also beginning a book club, an actual in-person one again. I’ve missed that and am looking forward to seeing what we read and how that all pans out. I also really enjoy reading on my Kobo, particularly during my lunch breaks at work, it’s a lot more convenient than reading a paperback while eating. The Kobo is filled with own purchases, so I’ll still be making inroads on my tbr shelves.
Happy New Year to you all. Wishing you a 2023 of good reading!
December 28, 2022
Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books.
Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he’s Nora’s work nemesis.
Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she’s the woman men date before they find their happy-ever-after. That’s why Nora’s sister has persuaded her to swap her desk in the city for a month’s holiday in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. It’s a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into…Charlie.
She’s no heroine. He’s no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?
Published by Penguin Books Australia
Released May 2022
My Thoughts:‘Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either.’
I don’t read a lot of romance. There are a few authors of this genre whose books I love – Josie Silver, Paige Toon – but generally speaking, I don’t seek romance books out. I was feeling like something different though after a run of heavy reads and I liked the title of this one, plus, you’d have to be living under a rock to have not noticed how popular Emily Henry has become. She’s all over Instagram and her books are everywhere. A book about people who love books…totally my thing. And now I am adding Emily Henry to that (very short) list of authors who write the sort of romance books I enjoy.
This one had all the feels. The conversation banter between the characters was brilliant and sparked right off the page. I really liked the main character, Nora, and felt quite protective of her as the book progressed. While it is a romance, it’s also a story about sisters and family, grief, and the many ways we try to control our own lives as a means of coping with past trauma. I loved this novel and have already pre-ordered her 2023 release. I’m keen to slot her previous ones into my lunch time reading routine as well. Highly recommended!
Book 20 in my 22 in 2022 challenge.
