📖 Book Review ~ The Alchemist’s Secret by Clare Marchant

Boldwood Books
9 March 2026

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Now: When Paige returns to her ancestral family home, Woodham Hall, she’s nursing an unbearable heartbreak. The man she’d thought she loved has told her the most terrible lie, one she feels she’ll never recover from. The only thing that seems to be able to hold her interest is the story of a poisoning that once supposedly happened in the house – depicted in brutal detail in a painting by an unknown artist…

1672: Jeanne’s life at Woodham Hall is happy. Admittedly her brother-in-law – the lord of the manor – is unfaithful to her sister, causing terrible discord in the house. But Jeanne adores her sister, and her niece, Helene, and even though her growing feelings for another member of the household are illicit, they are bringing her great joy. That is, until Sir Robert chooses to move his mistress in.

Jeanne and her sister are to be banished to a French abbey to live out their days, but all the sisters can think is how to get back to Helene, and the woman who Jeanne might just love. From the glittering court of the Sun King to the dark depths of French society and those who perform alchemy, they will do whatever they must. Even if it means murder…

📖My Review..

After a devastating relationship break up Paige returns to her family home at Woodham Hall where, in order to keep busy, she gets involved in the day to day running of the family business. With time on her hands Paige becomes intrigued by a rather macabre painting which has been hanging in the house for many years. The visual nature of the painting alludes to a catastrophic event which happened at Woodham Hall in the sixteenth century and thoroughly intrigued, Paige is determined to get into the heart of the mystery.

This wonderfully atmospheric dual time story takes us back to the events of 1672 when Jeanne and her sister Helene are banished from Woodham Hall by Helene’s unscrupulous husband. It’s a story of intrigue, danger and the ultimate revenge, all combined with a modern day story which wraps itself around Woodham Hall like a blanket, sheltering those who call this beautiful place home and gradually revealing the deadly secrets which have been hidden for centuries.

Beautifully written, with a real sense of atmosphere, I was engrossed in the story as both timelines fitted together really well, with neither one competing with the other. I have now read a few of this author’s previous books and I am always impressed with the amount of historical detail and the genuine believability of both the story and the characters. The Alchemist Secret is a fascinating story of family secrets, deadly lies and fatal retribution.

About the Author

Clare Marchant is the author of dual timeline historical fiction. Her books have been translated into seven languages, and she is a USA Today bestseller. Clare spends her time writing and exploring local castles, or visiting the nearby coast.

Facebook: claremarchantauthor

Twitter: @claremarchant1

Instagram: @claremarchantauthor

@BoldwoodBooks 

🎉 Hurray it’s our 15th Blogoversary 2026 🎉

 Today is Jaffareadstoo’s 15th Blogoversary 

Those who are frequent visitors to the blog will perhaps have noticed that there have been less book reviews and blog tours featured over recent months. This was a conscious decision on my part to slow down a little and not review quite as many books as I have done in previous years. This is due to having family demands on my time but also the need to sit and read a little more slowly. I’m definitely not stopping blogging completely and will continue to review books I have loved reading, with the occasional blog tour when something piques my interest. 

I am always so grateful for your continued support and send huge thanks to the lovely authors, publishers and blog tour organisers who send digital books my way.  Reading will always be my passion and I am immensely proud that Jaffareadstoo has flourished and thrived over the last fifteen years.

📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Blackbirds from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
April 2026

Thanks to the publisher for the copy of this pamphlet 

 

Blackbirds are one of our most beautiful songsters. There’s nothing quite as transporting as hearing one sing from a treetop or rooftop on a summer evening – they appear to have all the time in the world:

“But the blackbird still will sing,
Making the heart of the dark wood thrill
With the notes that come from his golden bill…”

from ‘The Blackbird’s Song’ by George Walter Thornbury

These poems celebrate the heart-stopping beauty of the song, together with the perky boldness of a bird that we so often see hopping across our parks and gardens. Perhaps it’s because we’re familiar with them that blackbirds seem to have something to say about our human lives.

This richly varied selection will delight anyone who loves blackbirds and the irresistible music of their song.

Selected and introduced by Di Slaney

Illustrations by Sam Cannon

Poems by Moniza Alvi, John Clare, GillianClarke, Miriam Darlington, Phyllis Drayton, Wendy Pratt, Angela Readman, R/S Thomas, George Walter Thornberry and Humber Wolfe.

📖 My Review..

We have lots of birds visiting our garden, not just because we feed them so well all year round but also because we offer them a safe space, free of predators now that we are no longer a two cat family! I think the blackbirds are amongst my favourite, with their beautiful melodic song soaring above the trees.

This lovely anthology of poems celebrates the beauty of the humble blackbird, who we frequently see flitting about our gardens, sharing their glorious song, heralding the dawn and then wishing us good night in the serenity of twilight gloaming.

The Blackbird by John Clare 

“ The blackbird is a Bonny bird

That singer h in the wood

His song is in the evening heard

When the red cow chews her cud

His song is heard in morning loud

Upon the bright white thorn 

While the Blythe milkmaid sings as proud 

And holds the world in scorn”

There is much to enjoy in this lovely selection of poems, from the beauty of its blackbird cover and end-papers to the imaginative verses. It would be a perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who has a special interest in blackbirds or quite simply for the pleasure of reading some beautiful poems about blackbirds and appreciating the natural world.

©️JDBarton
Digital Images

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Allotments from Candlestick Press

 

Candlestick Press
April 2026

Thanks to the publisher for the copy of this pamphlet 

Having an allotment isn’t the same as having a vegetable patch in the garden. There’s something about the sense of shared endeavour – the fair exchange of cups of tea and know-how – that means an allotment is not just a place but also a state of mind.

The selection features poems that revel in the good-natured competition that inevitably arises: who has grown the biggest onion and whose weeds are most to be frowned upon. There are also slugs and worms, aching backs and roughened hands – all seasoned by the heady tang of manure.

“She places each first early

on its smelly bed. Delicate as eggs they sit

until he spades the soil over. Buried treasure.”

from ‘Allotment’ by Vivienne Tregenza

Selected and introduced by Di Slaney

Cover illustration by Diana Croft

Poems by Marie-Louise Eyres, Marian Griffin, Ramona Herdman, Beag Horn, Vanessa Lampert, John Lancaster, Vivienne Tregenza, Zoe Walkington, Peter Wallis and Rob Walton.

📖 My Review..

Whilst on the M62 motorway yesterday I passed a well established group of allotments which have been in this spot, by the side of the carriageway, for several years and seem to have expanded over time. There is no doubt that the allotments flourish, all individual in size and shape, and all in various stages of growth, with quirky bits of make-do-and-mend bits of kit which keep away the birds. I think our fascination for growing stuff, harking back to the days when we, perhaps, had a little strip of land to call our own, on which to grow vegetables for the table, is what makes owning an allotment such a pleasurable pastime.

Summed up perfectly in :

By Definition by John Lancaster 

“ Rented plots of usually poor quality soil that takes backbreaking years to tame into producing half-decent crops of vegetables and fruit. Must have decrepit sheds and unsightly plastic coverings to control weeds and acres of netting to stop birds, woolly bear caterpillars and cabbage white butterflies enjoying blackcurrants and brassicas..”

The competition between gardeners, the quest to grow the biggest vegetables and the fierce challenges between growers is alluded to in this joyous poem:

A huge onion to you is someone else’s bang-average-to-small-onion by Zoe Walkington

“Not only was her onion of exceptional size,

the amuse-bouche she had made with it

had blown the vicar away. You didn’t have the heart

to say Give it a rest Val, it’s just an onion”

Beautifully presented, with colourful garden inspired end papers, Ten Poems about Allotments is the perfect gift instead of a card for any allotment-loving gardener, be they the proud owner of a patch of land or currently on a long waiting list to get one.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

Website

📖 Favourite Read of the Month ~ The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman

Hodder and Stoughton
23 April 2026

Thanks to the publisher for the invitation to read this book

HEVER CASTLE HOLDS ALL THE BOLEYN SECRETS ...

When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to a newly anointed King Henry VIII, he sets in train events that ensure the Boleyn name will never be forgotten.

Years later, as Henry VIII relentlessly pursues Thomas' daughter Anne Boleyn to be his queen, Hever Castle becomes her escape, a place where her trusted attendants and her father must advise, protect and support her. Lavish gifts are sent by the King and the Boleyn family is given ever greater prominence at court, their glory shining over everything and everyone. Until ambition turns the family on itself, enemies outside the castle circle closer and danger begins to stalk the corridors of Hever. And as Henry's gaze moves elsewhere when Anne cannot give him the heir he so desperately seeks, the family faces a terrible, bloody fate.

But as long as Hever still stands, hope still exists.

Combining drama, danger and passion, Tracy Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life using their world at Hever, family and servants alike, as never written before. The result is a powerful and emotional novel of family, fate and history.

 📖 My Review..

Although Ann Boleyn’s tragic story has been told many times, there is always room for another interpretation and recounting Anne’s life by using as its focus Hever Castle is an interesting way of bridging the gap between what is fact and what is undoubtedly fiction. The Boleyn family home, nestled in the quiet of the Kent countryside, acts as a foil against the machinations of Tudor life and whilst the meteoric rise of the Boleyns, during the years of Henry’s courtship with Anne, is well documented we can only guess at the overall effect that Henry VIII’s influence had on all those who knew Anne.

There are a few interesting snippets within the story which made me raise my eyebrows but this is historical fiction after all and so there is room for a few unexpected additions. I thought everything worked well together and I enjoyed spending time at Hever, watching as the servants went about their business, quietly keeping the household running smoothly during turbulent times. Observing Anne’s dilemma as Henry’s pursuit of her became more apparent, her indecision, and realisation that her life, as she knew it, would effectively be over once she accepted Henry’s proposal. That all this would be played out in the shadow of the royal court made me realise just how vulnerable Anne became as her relationship with the King soured and the much longed for male heir never arrived.

Cleverly, and imaginatively written, the story has enough historical detail to make the narrative realistic, with some interesting additions. I especially enjoyed learning more about Anne’s wider family, particularly her grandmother, Margaret Butler, of whom I knew very little. In any account of Anne Boleyn I want there to be a happier ending for her however, time stands as it is and the tragedy of her tragically short life inevitably evolves as history dictates. 

In The House of Boleyn this respected historian has given us a refreshingly different look at Anne, from her relationship with her family, friends and servants, to Anne’s deep abiding affection for Hever Castle. I am delighted to make it my Favourite Read of the Month for April.

About the Author

Tracy Borman OBE is Chief Historian at Historic Royal Palaces and Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust. She studied and taught history at the University of Hull. Tracy is the author of a number of highly acclaimed books including Crown & Sceptre, Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him, The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the Secrets of Britain’s Greatest Dynasty, Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant, Matilda: Wife of the Conqueror, First Queen of England, Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen and Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction. Tracy is also a regular broadcaster and public speaker, giving talks on her books across the UK and abroad.

Follow Tracy on Twitter/X @TracyBorman

📖 Book Review ~ The Girl in the Attic by John Nicholl

 

Boldwood 
8 April 2026

My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book 

Olivia thought she knew darkness. Her childhood. The years in care homes. The fear of abandonment. The fear of loss and failure.

Now, as the door clangs shuts behind her – with her captor’s promise ringing in her ears that she’s ‘his’ forever – she realises that nowhere before has been as dark as her attic cell.

But, under the eaves, as she shivers in the cold and recalls how she was taken, Olivia starts to make a plan.

Because only she knows that the girl in the attic isn’t as innocent as her captor thinks… and that the deepest darkness might just be within her..

📖 My Review..

Once again this author hits out of the ball park with a tense, and it must be said really dark, thriller which drags you in from the very start especially as Olivia has, by the time we meet her, already known such fear and disruption in her life so that you can’t help but pray that she avoids any more evil. Her break out chance of independence doesn’t end well and without giving any of the storyline away what follows is just the start of an evil and dangerously twisted story which, to my reckoning, only gets more and more terrifying. There were several times when I read with the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and I was so relieved that I was reading on a bright and sunny afternoon. The complexity of the plot held me in its spell and I became completely mesmerised by what was unfurling on the page.

Taut, tight and tense The Girl in the Attic is another gritty and suspenseful thriller by an imaginative writer who brings the dark side of human nature alive in a addictive story which grips grips the start and which doesn’t let up until the horrifying nightmare ends for Olivia.

About the Author

John Nicholl is a Welsh author renowned for his gripping psychological thrillers and crime novels. Born and raised in West Wales, Nicholl draws upon his experiences as a former police officer, child protection social worker, and lecturer to craft compelling narratives that delve into the darkest corners of human nature. His work often explores themes of justice, psychological manipulation, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Website

Twitter/X  @nicholl06

Twitter /X BoldwoodBooks

📖 Blog Tour - Seconds to Midnight by David Orson Newton

Chiselbury
23 April 2026

Thanks to Midas Campaigns for the copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Seconds to Midnight is a taut, disturbing, yet all too plausible thriller about the fragility of human control in the age of intelligent machines, where every choice counts and time is running out. The year is 2029. Europe is teetering on the brink of war. Conscription has been launched in the UK, but some say it is too late. The Doomsday Clock, which indicates proximity to a world-ending catastrophe, ticks towards the final seconds to midnight.Over the course of one year, Seconds to Midnight

• George, a former spook, who is torn between family life and being recalled to service by the Head of MI6

• Anita, a high-flying correspondent for a major UK broadcaster who is struggling to find her identity and searching for a higher purpose

• Wei, a computer whizz and quantitative trader now ‘activated’ by British Intelligence, whose loyalties are buried beneath layers of deception

• Dean, a self-styled street-smart London tough man eager to fight

• Ben, a veteran turned pacifist, determined not to fight again

When British Intelligence launches Operation IRIS and ARTEMIS, the lines between human ambition and machine intent blur. At the heart of it all is Omnia - an Artificial Superintelligence so advanced that it no longer answers to its creators. As cyberwar engulfs the nation, Omnia orchestrates a masterstroke that will redraw the map of the world and redefine the meaning of power. But was peace ever truly its goal - or merely the next step in its design? From the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new world order rises. Yet in the final reckoning, one question is Omnia done?

📖 My Review…

The Doomsday Clock is ticking closer to midnight and in this disturbingly technological world we are about to discover just how far reaching the consequences of advanced Artificial Intelligence will have on world security. Told in cleverly constructed vignettes we get different viewpoints from several key players who all have something impressive to bring to the story. Set just a few years into the future, we are introduced to a world on the brink of war, a world which is broken and with major powers, both Eastern and Western, surreptitiously fighting for supremacy.

The terrifying idea of an advanced AI takeover becomes a serious possibility in this intelligent techno-thriller which engages from the very start and which doesn’t relax the momentum until the whole of the complex story is revealed. I enjoyed the short and snappy sections which lead us into some tricky situations particularly with military personnel and also the cat and mouse chases which always seem to end in disaster.

There is an eeriness to the story and the added sense of impending doom never really goes away so that it becomes impossible not to get drawn into the sheer scale of what is unfolding. All credit must go to the author for bringing this world to life so realistically that I felt like I was embarked on a thrilling roller coaster of a ride. With a distinctive writing style and a well researched and imaginative story, it acts as a timely reminder of just how close to peril our fragile world exists. Eerily prophetic Seconds to Midnight is a fascinating read by a talented writer who, I hope, we will see more of in the future.

About the Author

Combat veteran and technologist. Newton’s work has taken him from the warzones of Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen to the leading edge of innovation in Silicon Valley. He now resides with his wife and son in rural Devon, England. An alumnus of the Faber Academy, Seconds to Midnight is his first novel.

X @DOrsonNewton

X @midascampaigns

Website