Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting this first stop
on the exciting Blog Tour
for
for
Valentina by S E Lynes
 |
| Blackbird Digital 1 July 2016 |
A bit of book blurb
When Glasgow journalist Shona McGilvery moves with her partner Mikey and their baby to an idyllic cottage in rural Scotland, they believe that all that lies ahead of them is happiness.
But with Mikey working offshore, the frightening isolation of the Aberdeenshire countryside begins to drive her insane...
That is, until she is rescued by a new friendship with the enchanting Valentina.
She has the perfect home, the perfect man, and a charismatic new best friend – or does she?
As her fairytale life begins to unravel, the deep dark wood becomes the least of her fears...
My thoughts
Shona McGilvery is like the girl
you meet on the bus, she's funny and feisty, not afraid to stand up for what
she believes in and she loves her man, Mikey and their tiny daughter, Isla. But
when they move to an isolated cottage on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Shona is
left alone whilst Mikey works as an engineer on an offshore oil rig. For the
two weeks each month that Mikey works away from home Shona is really lonely, so
when she meets the enigmatic Valentina, who also has a baby son, you can
imagine that Shona is only too keen to make friends, and Valentina quickly adapts herself to
Shona's life and very soon becoming everything that Shona thinks she needs in a friend.
What then follows is a very
clever psychological thriller which lulls you into a sense of security only to
rip the comfort blanket away from you in a story which literally had me on the
edge of my seat. Such was the compulsion to read just a little bit more, I
literally carried my kindle from room to room and read and read without a break until I had finished the
story in one sitting.
I was lulled and beguiled by the
relationship between Shona and Mikey and Valentina and Shona, I wanted to like them all, but
before too long I had misgivings about one of them, which then made me question
what was happening, made me seek answers and had me flipping back in the story
to see if I had missed anything vital ....I hadn't. And the fact that the book kept me guessing right until the end is where the absolute strength of the story lies.
What happens throughout the whole
of this clever novel is not for me to divulge as that would be to do both book
and author a complete disservice, but what I will say, is this, that such is the emotional pull of
this intelligent and finely observed domestic noir, I would argue that no-one
who reads the story will be disappointed.
Without doubt, one of the best debut novels I’ve
read this year.
Best Read with….A fish and chip
supper and a bottle of Sancerre..
About the Author
After graduating from Leeds University, S. E. Lynes lived in London for a couple of years before moving to Aberdeen to be with her husband. In Aberdeen, she worked as a Radio Producer at the BBC before moving with her husband and two young children to Rome. There, she began to write while her children attended nursery. After the birth of her third child and upon her return to the UK, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She now combines writing with teaching creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College and bringing up her three children. She lives in Teddington, SW London.
Visit her on her Facebook page
Follow her on Twitter @SELynesAuthor
My thanks to the publisher Blackbird Digital for my e-copy of this book and of course, to the author for writing such an addictive and compelling psychological thriller.
|Do visit the other stops on this exciting blog tour.
~***~
Sounds really good, Jo!
ReplyDeleteHi Peggy Ann - it is a very good read. Highly recommended !!
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