Blog Tour ~ The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host the final stop on the 

Stars are Fire Blog Tour

Little, Brown Book Group
2 May 2017

What's it all about...

1947. Fires are racing along the coast of Maine after a summer-long drought, ravaging thousands of acres, causing unprecedented confusion and fear.

Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her difficult and unpredictable husband Gene joins the volunteers fighting to bring the fire under control. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, the women watch in horror as their houses go up in flames, then walk into the ocean as a last resort. They spend the night frantically trying to save their children. When dawn comes, they have miraculously survived, but their lives are forever changed: homeless, penniless, and left to face an uncertain future.

As Grace awaits news of her husband's fate, she is thrust into a new world in which she must make a life on her own, beginning with absolutely nothing; she must find work, a home, a way to provide for her children. In the midst of devastating loss, Grace discovers glorious new freedoms - joys and triumphs she could never have expected her narrow life with Gene could contain - and her spirit soars. And then the unthinkable happens, and Grace's bravery is tested as never before.

What did I think about it ...

Set in Maine USA, The Stars are Fire focuses on the effects of the devastating wildfire which raged through this area in the autumn of 1947. Homes and lives were ruined forever and whilst this catastrophic event brought more than its share of tragedy into the life of Grace Holland, it also brought an opportunity to explore a life she could never have imagined. I was entranced by Grace’s story. I wanted life to be everything she ever wanted because she deserved so much happiness and just when contentment seemed to be within her grasp something comes along to shatter her expectations.

Beautifully written from start to finish this story has all the trademarks of this author writing at her absolute best. The narrative never falters; there are no superfluous words, no unnecessary waffle, just wonderful story telling from beginning to end. The succinctness of the writing only serves to showcase the absolute strength of an author who can say so much in just a few words.

There is something both profoundly sad and hugely uplifting about The Stars are Fire which, whilst a strange dichotomy, serves to accentuate the overall strength of the story telling. The author does a fine job of allowing the main characters to evolve with such precision that you can't help but become emotionally attached to them, and even though one character, in particular, is not at all likeable, such is the power of writing that you can’t help but be moved, emotionally, by his plight. She infuses the narrative with such a sense of empathy and understanding that by the end of the novel I felt like I was saying goodbye to close friends.

I am delighted to see that the author has returned to her beloved Maine for the setting of The Stars are Fire an area which featured so prominently in her earlier books.  I am especially fond of The Pilot’s Wife and Fortunes Rock. There is no doubt that fans of Anita Shreve's excellent writing will love this book, and for those readers who haven’t read any of her work, well, picking up a copy of The Stars are Fire is a good place to start.

Best Read With...the tang of grapefruit and the smell of coffee, gently infusing

About the Author

Anita Shreve is the acclaimed author of seventeen novels, including Rescue, A Change in Altitude, Testimony, and The Pilot's Wife, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club. She lives in Massachusetts.

Visit the author on her website  

Twitter
#StarsAreFire

My thanks to Amelia at Little, Brown for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour and for providing a copy of the book to review.

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Review ~ The Little Breton Bistro by Nina George

Abacus
Little, Brown Book Group
2017

Translated by Simon Pare

What's it all about..

Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as the end of the world.

Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life s small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along. 

With all the buoyant charm that made The Little Paris Bookshop a beloved bestseller, The Little French Bistro is a tale of second chances and a delightful embrace of the joys of life in France.

What did I think about it...

At the start of the book we meet Marianne Messmann , a rather sad and lonely figure who feels that, aged sixty, her life is over. On a trip to Paris with her boorish husband, Lothar, Marianne makes the momentous decision to jump from the Pont de Neuf Bridge into the river Seine below. However, for Marianne, the fickle finger of fate has a funny way of intervening and rather than this being the end of her life, by a strange quirk of fortune, she is rescued by a stranger.  This unexpected opportunity starts a journey of self-discovery, which will take Marianne away from ill-mannered Lothar and a glorious escape to the beautiful Breton coastline, and into situations she never would have believed possible.

The story is beautifully written and sensitively translated so that nothing is lost in switching from its original German. There is an almost old world charm to the narrative which looks at life in all its many guises and which introduces us to heart-warming characters that make you smile and laugh out loud. The author has a distinctive style of writing which is both charming and thoughtful. She delights in looking at the minutiae of people's lives and she gently unravels the complexities of relationships with such empathy and warmth that it is difficult not to be captivated by the story as it gently unfolds.

I have spent holidays in this quiet part of Northern France and the author captures to perfection both its beauty and charisma. Brittany and the area, around Corncarneau, so thoughtfully described in the story, really comes alive. I could easily re-imagine the sun drenched streets and the hustle and bustle of its quaint harbours and colourful markets.

The Little Breton Bistro is a delight to read from start to finish.

Best Read With...Buckwheat pancakes and a cup of apple cider, gently sweet from the Breton sunshine..

About the Author

Born in 1973, Nina George is a journalist and an author of numerous best selling novels which have been translated into several languages. The Little Paris Bookshop was a phenomenal hit around the world. The author lives in Hamburg.

Find out more on the author's website by clicking here 

Follow on Twitter @nina_george

My thanks to Hayley at Little Brown.co.uk for my review copy of this book

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Blog Tour ~ Burned and Broken by Mark Hardie

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of the Burned and Broken Blog Tour

Peter James meets James Oswald in this gripping, gritty British crime debut

Now available in eBook

Sphere

The charred body of an enigmatic policeman – currently the subject of an internal investigation – is found in the burnt-out shell of his car on the Southend sea front.

Meanwhile, a vulnerable young woman, fresh out of the care system, is trying to discover the truth behind the sudden death of her best friend.

As DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine Russell from the Essex Police Major Investigation Team are brought in to solve the mystery of their colleague's death, dark, dangerous secrets begin to surface. Can they solve both cases,  before it's too late?

My thoughts about the book...



The story starts with a rather brutal prologue which sets the scene for this dark and gritty crime novel which investigates the murder of a serving police officer and the unexplained the death of a vulnerable young woman who has recently left the care system. On the surface these two deaths should be unrelated but as the Essex Police Major Investigation Team find out, nothing is ever as it should be when dealing with the complexities of major crime incidents. Set in the seaside town of Southend-on -Sea, there is a definite air of faded gentility to a town that is going downhill fast, and for police investigators DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine Russell the more they delve into the events leading up to both these deaths, the more deadly secrets they start to unravel.

As with any new police procedural crime series there is a certain amount of getting to know the major characters and both Frank Pearson and Catherine Russell are written with more than enough going on in their private lives to be able to make an emotional connection to them. However, I thought that some of the other characters lagged behind in the personality stakes a little, but that's no bad thing, as sometimes, inevitably, you will like one character above another, that's the way life goes. The police procedural element to the story is well written with more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader guessing until the end, and I must say that I enjoyed trying to second guess the investigation.


Burned and Broken is this author's debut novel and I am sure that as the series progresses we will see the writing go from strength to strength. 

Best Read With...  A few prawns, some crusty bread and a large glass of Chardonnay

About the Author

Mark Hardie was born in 1960 in Bow, East London. He began writing fulltime after completely losing his eyesight in 2002. He has completed a creative writing course and an advanced creative writing course at the Open University, both with distinction.

Mark lives with his wife Debbie in Southend-on-Sea.

Follow on Twitter @Markhardiecrime

#BurnedandBroken @TheCrimeVault

My thanks to Clara at Little, Brown for the invitation to be part of this exciting blog tour.

Burned and Broken will be out in paperback in May 2017

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Blog Tour ~ Relativity by Antonia Hayes

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the 

Relativity Blog Tour 

Corsair
Little, Brown
17th January 2017

A bit of book blurb..

Ethan is an exceptionally gifted young boy, obsessed with physics and astronomy.

His single mother Claire is fiercely protective of her brilliant, vulnerable son. But she can’t shield him forever from learning the truth about what happened to him when he was a baby; why Mark had to leave them all those years ago.

Now age twelve, Ethan is increasingly curious about his past, especially his father’s absence in his life. When he intercepts a letter to Claire from Mark, he opens a lifetime of feelings that, like gravity, will pull the three together again.

Relativity is a tender and triumphant story about unbreakable bonds, irreversible acts, and testing the limits of love and forgiveness.

My thoughts about the book..

Twelve year old Ethan is remarkably gifted. His knowledge of particle physics and the universe far exceeds his age limit. However, life is never going to be easy for Ethan or for his single mother Claire especially in light of a tragedy that happened when Ethan was just a baby. What actually happened to cause this tragedy is explained in the course of the story which is sympathetically told in three viewpoints, namely that of Ethan, Claire, and Mark, Ethan's father and Claire's estranged husband.

The individual voices of these three very different narrators are incredibly strong but each is no less compelling and as their individual stories start to unfold therein lies the strength of the novel which looks at the very minutiae of life and dissects just how tragic misfortune can either shape us, or make us.

Ethan's story is a joy to read, his twelve year old self just on the cusp of adolescence is beautifully described, as is his overwhelming knowledge of physics. I expected to be bamboozled by some of Ethan's theories but the author does a really good job of explaining just how a gifted twelve year old would see the universe rather than, perhaps the more complicated way that Mark, his particle physicist father, would view events.

Relativity is an exceptionally good first novel, taking what could so easily have been a subject filled with angst and despair but this talented author turns it into a story filled with hope and goodness and the joy of simply being alive in a world which seems to get ever more complicated

I am always intrigued by the choice of a one word book title so much so  I looked up the definition of relativity and found Einstein's theory that states that..

 "..all motion must be defined relative to a frame of reference and that space and time are relative, rather than absolute concepts: it consists of two principal parts .. "

Ok, so not having a particular penchant for physics I am perhaps no wiser however, what I am sure of is that this incredibly well written novel eventually allows you understand just how important everyone is in the scheme of things, and of how that in the universe every single one of our actions has a greater effect in the long term.

Best Read with...A MacDonald Cheeseburger , heavy on the pickle..

About the author

Antonia Hayes, who grew up in Sydney and spent her twenties in Paris, currently lives in London with her husband and son. Relativity is her first novel.

Find out more about the author on her website by clicking here

or on Twitter @antoniahayes

My thanks to Clara at at Little Brown for the invitation to be part of this blog tour. 

Review ~ The Traitor's Mark by D K Wilson

Sphere
March 2015

Based on the true, and rather bizarre, story which surrounds the supposed death of the Tudor court painter, Hans Holbein, who purportedly died from the effects of plague in the autumn of 1543, and yet, there is no evidence to support this theory. This second book in the Thomas Treviot series of Tudor mysteries takes Holbein's mysterious disappearance as its starting point and develops a well thought out historical whodunit set around a series of clues which take the reader on an historical adventure through Tudor London.

Thomas Treviot is a young London goldsmith, who inadvertently, whilst awaiting an important jewellery commission from Holbein, gets drawn into a world of intrigues, danger and deceit.. Holbein's disappearance on the eve of Treviot's commission unleashes a whole series of catastrophic events, which lead Treviot inexorably into the dark and dangerous world of the Spanish spy master, those deadly figures who control the puppet strings of some of the greatest names at the Tudor court of Henry VIII.

I thought that, overall, this was good historical mystery, the sights sounds and smells of Tudor England come alive in the imagination and the reader embarks on a journey into the past, a place where political intrigue at the highest level, had repercussions on those who were trying to live an ordinary life.

I enjoyed getting to know Thomas Treviot and his companions, and even though this is book two in the series, it doesn't detract from the story by reading the series out of order, as this book sits comfortably on its own.

Well worth a read if you enjoy the Shardlake mysteries by C J Sansom as this author bears favourable comparison and The Traitor's Mark sits comfortably within the historical mystery genre.

More about the author 

My thanks to Sphere Publishing and The Crime Vault for my copy of this book

Thomas Treviot #1

2014

Review ~ The Lady of Misrule by Suzannah Dunn ..

Little, Brown Book Group
7 May 2014

The Lady of Misrule is the tragic story of Lady Jane Grey, the enigmatic teenager, who, due to the dangerous plotting of her family, found herself in the unenviable position in 1533, of being declared Queen of England. With a reign that lasted only nine days, Jane soon found herself removed from power and was forced into imprisonment at the new queen, Mary Tudor’s, pleasure.

In The Lady of Misrule, the onerous task of supervising the deposed young Queen’s imprisonment, is Elizabeth Tilney, a young woman who has grasped the opportunity of escaping her own family, on the understanding that she will guard Jane and watch her every move. The two women are forced by circumstances to live in detention together although neither could be more different. Protestant and studious Jane, is in direct contrast to the more exuberant and staunchly Catholic, Elizabeth. And as the weeks of Jane’s imprisonment stretch out, Elizabeth is unwittingly drawn into the deadly politics between, Jane’s in-laws, the Dudley’s, whose dangerous meddling in the royal succession is the main reason why Jane is incarcerated.

The author has a distinct style of writing which I find rather refreshing. I enjoy the way she concentrates on her characters and whilst she never gives them twenty-first century traits, she does enrich them with a rather modern way of dialogue which can take a while to become accustomed. For me, the Tudor age comes alive with all the frightening possibility of living so close to the throne of England, and whilst the story and eventual outcome of Jane Grey's sorrowful young life is no secret, this book adds something of a new slant to the story and succeeds in showing the vulnerability of both Jane and her young husband, Dudley, who, by tragic circumstances are caught up in events far beyond their control.

This is a  commendable historical novel and one which I am sure will engage fans of Tudor history and also for those who enjoy well written historical fiction.

My thanks to Little, Brown Books and NetGalley for this advance copy of The Lady of Misrule.

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Review ~ The May Bride by Suzannah Dunn

Little, Brown Book Group
March 2014

I am always interested to read Suzannah Dunn's interpretation of history as I know that her modern way of recounting the past is not always to everyone's taste, but for me her novels work as a refreshing change from the more conventional historical narratives.

The May Bride is recounted by Jane Seymour, whose recollections of her sister in law, Katherine Filliol's arrival at Wolf Hall in the early days of her marriage to Jane's brother, Edward, forms the foundation for the story. Jane is irresistibly drawn towards the charismatic older girl and is devastated when that trust is later betrayed in a scandal which rocks the family’s foundation forever.

Refreshingly different, this book looks at the dynamics of a family divided, not just by infidelity, but also by the betrayal of trust, and the alteration of a family’s love and loyalty to each other.

If you want a conventional Tudor saga with the royal family playing a pivotal role, then this book may well be a disappointment to you, but if like me, you want something refreshingly different which brings the Tudor age alive in a very different way, then I am sure you will enjoy The May Bride as much as I did.

My thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for my review copy of this book.

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The Author

Suzannah Dunn