Review ~ The Echoes of Love by Hannah Fielding

2013

Venetia Aston- Montagu has escaped to the glitz and glamour of Venice where she hopes to put aside the pain of a lost love and immerse herself in her grandmother's architectural business. However, the seductive lure of Venice is difficult to escape, especially when Venetia meets the enigmatic and rather delicious Paolo Barone, whose Don Juan reputation makes him the proverbial bad boy. The fiery passion which erupts between Venetia and Paolo forms the basis for this intense and passionate story which takes in the beauty of Venice, the glory of the Tuscan countryside and the sizzling attraction between two beautiful people.

In The Echoes of Love, Hannah Fielding has really captured the essence of romance and also manages to convey a perfect sense of time and place, her research is, as always, impeccably done but it is in the fine attention to detail where she really excels. If you enjoy romantic suspense with a hint of glamour and more than enough high octane passion, then I am sure that you will love this one as much as I did.

My thanks to the author for an ecopy of this novel.

More about the Author

Review ~ The Undertaking by Audrey Magee

Atlantic Books

6 February 2014

Honeymoon leave and the security of a war pension are all that entices Peter Faber and Katharina Spinell to marry. The couple have never met, but war time creates strange bedfellows and Peter desperate for a reprieve from the horror of the Eastern front is willing to take this unseen woman as his wife. Arriving in Berlin in the autumn of 1941 for ten days leave, Peter and Katharina attempt to forge some kind of relationship, they discover that their immediate and powerful sexual attraction offers them a brief respite from the immediacy of war.

What then follows is the story of Peter’s struggle in horrendous conditions as he and his fellow soldiers embark upon the German offensive against Stalingrad. Katharina remains in Berlin, where she and her parents enjoy the protection of a powerful Nazi family; however, they soon discover that this wartime security comes with a high price to pay.

The story is predominantly written in the form of dialogue, which allows an intimacy between the reader and the characters thus allowing their voices to be heard in eloquent detail. There is no room for sentimentality in wartime and The Undertaking clearly describes the true horror of war, from the grim uncertainty of relentless and all consuming violence, to the insecurity and utter despair of living life stripped of all its compassion.

Overall, this is a commendable and powerful debut novel. I am sure that The Undertaking will be one of those books which will be of immense interest to book groups; there is much to discuss, not just about the German involvement in the Russian offensive ,but also about the morality and principles which govern wartime behaviour.

My thanks to newbooks and Atlantic Books for my copy of this book to read and review

The Undertaking is one of my books of the year , so far !

Review - The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Penguin Books UK

2014

New York of the early twentieth century is the setting for this novel which takes the concept of the unreliable narrator and attempts to weave a story about the essence of what might have been. Rose Baker is a rather plain young woman, easily engrossed in the work she does as a typist with the police on New York’s lower East side. Following the prohibition order in 1923, the ever increasing procession of murderers and gangland hoodlums which pass through the precinct increases Rose’s workload and the need for another typist becomes paramount. Odalie Lazarre, is the other typist, and is everything that Rose isn’t; she’s beautiful, lively, sharp as a tack and from the beginning  Rose becomes obsessed with Odalie and is soon drawn into Odalie’s twilight world of prohibited booze and decadent immorality.

The dissolute and self indulgent world of 1924 New York really comes alive and the vivid portrayal of the notorious East side was, for me, rather more interesting than the character progression. We’re never really sure about the stability of Rose’s character; there is a complexity about her which I never got to grips with and by the time the book came to a close, I had rather more questions than answers.

I so wanted to like this story, however, the book had a vagueness about it which didn’t work for me and I’m afraid that but for the character of New York glossing the content, I would have given up long before the end.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for my copy of this book.

About the author

Review - Postcards from the Past by Marcia Willett

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers

2013

As always Marcia Willett conjures up the spirit of family in this story which focuses on secrets from the past. Siblings Ed and Billa share their beautiful childhood home in the fictional village of Peneglos in Cornwall. Their lives are uncomplicated, filled with small pleasures of family and friendship but when mysterious postcards start to arrive from someone who once cause ripples of unrest, both Billa and Ed find that life is about to get rather more complicated.

Readers of Marcia Willett’s previous books will, of course, recognise the beautiful Cornish setting about which she writes so eloquently and it was nice to see characters from her previous book, The Christmas Angel, make an appearance. However, for me this book seemed to be lacking in impetus and for a time the story didn’t seem to be going anywhere important. As always the glory of Cornwall comes alive and there some nice touches which help to link the present and the past but overall the story felt a little bit tired as if the formula has been reworked too many times.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Uk, Transworld Publishers for my copy of this book

About the Author

Review - The Violet Hour by Katherine Hill

Penguin Books UK

6 February 2014

This is a story about families and the dynamics which keep them together but which ultimately force them apart. The story opens as Abe and Cassandra Green take a boat out into San Francisco Bay. The marriage is troubled and the couple argue bitterly and Abe’s anger at Cassandra’s infidelity runs like dagger through this initial commentary but then the story goes forward and becomes more of a snapshot of 21^st century American life with all its petty squabbles and inherent failures.

I thought that the story was nicely written although there were times, in the middle, when the story meandered without saying very much. However the social observations and the dissection of family life is interesting and allow an intimacy into the lives of others which is always fascinating if done properly.

A well thought out debut novel with enough potential for the author to go from strength to strength.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for my copy of this book.

About the Author

Review ~ The Silent Wife by A S A Harrison

Headline

2013

The disintegration of a relationship when one of the couple is hell bent on pressing the self destruction button should make for compelling reading, but for some reason The Silent Wife left me feeling a little bit underwhelmed by both plot and malice. On the surface Todd and Jodi seem to tick a long ok, but Todd is a serial philanderer and whilst Jodi seemingly puts up with his crass and stupid behaviour, underneath she is a simmering melting pot of bitter resentment and long held grudges. When Todd is caught up in a web of his own deceit and his world is crumbling around his ears, it would seem that Jodi eventually has had enough.

The book is not badly written far from it, there are moments of insight which ordinarily I would find compelling, however, my main discomfort lies with the characters. I found both Jodi and Todd deeply unlikeable and whilst unlikeabilty is no justification for completely writing off a novel, I am more than convinced that the book would have worked better for me, if at least one of them had been more congenial.

There are so many glowing endorsements on the cover of the book, that I really feel like I have missed the point of this novel, maybe the endorsers have read more into the ‘deliciously wicked’ aspect of the story. For me, it was neither delicious nor wicked; it was just an ok read, which was neither good nor bad,it was  merely indifferent.

My thanks to Real Readers for the opportunity to read this book.

 ***

Sadly, the author Susan Harrison passed away in 2013 just as this debut  novel was about to be published.

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Baggy Pants and Bootees by Marilyn Chapman

Publisher: Safkhet Soul (13 Feb 2014)

Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

Language: English

ASIN: B00IG90U1Q

 Book Blurb

Sophie's finally landed the job of her dreams, but her mother has suddenly fallen ill. While going through her mother's things to put some order in her life, Sophie discovers a baby bootee and the sordid past of her father, a dishonoured military man who allegedly raped a civilian.

Now Sophie wants to know the truth about her estranged father. Will she be able to discover the real story?

About the Author

Marilyn Chapman is an NCTJ accredited journalist who spent her early career on the Blackpool Evening Gazette and later freelanced for national newspapers and magazines, including the Daily Mail and Woman. She began writing for a football magazine at the age of fifteen and attributes her dry sense of humour to a very eventful life! She has worked in recruitment, training, estate agency and public relations.

Born in Guernsey, Marilyn now lives with her husband in Lancashire where she writes commercial women's fiction full time. She is a member of the Society of Authors.

Baggy Pants and Bootees is her first novel,

More about Marilyn here

Safkhet Publishing

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