Blog Tour ~ The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

 

Delighted to open this blog tour today 

Amazon Publishing
#Lake Union

21 September 2021

My thanks to the publishers and FmcM Associates for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home—and Josie loves it.

Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling—with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca.

It’s not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart

My thoughts..

This dual time story starts off with a real sense of time and place as all the heat and colourful atmosphere of modern day of Casablanca comes vibrantly to life. Zoe Harris is relatively new to Casablanca and we immediately start to see the city through her, rather uncertain, eyes as she tries to become accustomed to living in this strange new country. Whilst her husband is at work Zoe is left much to her own devices and she cuts something of a lost, and rather lonely, figure and with deepening cracks appearing in her already troubled marriage, she turns for comfort to the pages of an old journal that she found hidden beneath the floorboards of her baby's daughter's bedroom.

In 1941 during the momentous years of the Second World War, twelve-year old Josie Duval and her family have fled France and escaped to Casablanca to escape Nazi persecution. In Casablanca, they find a peace, of sorts, but although their diminishing wealth gives them a life of some comfort it is far from settled especially when Josie discovers that her family are being drawn into clandestine activity which places them all in grave danger.  In her journal, Josie shares her hopes and dreams, her love for books and storytelling, and her fears for her family's safety in a world which seems to be increasingly dangerous.

This is such a strong story which works perfectly well as a modern day look at a marriage which is going nowhere and where sadness is a barrier to future happiness, whilst at the same time bringing to life the fear, and confusion, of living through a time of great change, when danger lurked in hidden corners, and when deadly enemies were sometimes people who you knew well. I was equally absorbed in both time frames for although  Zoe and Josie are separated by age, time and circumstances reading Josie's journal gave Zoe the confidence to make changes to her own way of life. Josie found so much comfort in adding her private thoughts of what it was like to be in Casablanca during such a dangerous time. 

Meticulously researched, The Storyteller of Casablanca a heartwarming, and absorbing, story by an author who truly knows how brings the past alive. The story combines an authentic sense of time and place and brings to life two fascinating female characters whose individual stories will remain with you long after the last page is turned.

About the Author

Source: Goodreads

Fiona Valpy spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007 before returning to live in Scotland. Her love of both these countries, their people and their histories, has found its way into the books she has written. She draws inspiration from the stories of strong women especially during the years of the Second World War, and her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with a wonderful sense of time and place.

Website

Twitter @FionaValpy #TheStorytellerOfCasablanca #BlogTour

@AmazonPub #LakeUnion

@FmCMAssociates

Blog Tour ~ The Puzzle Woman by Anna Ellory

Lake Union Publishing
20 October 2020

My thanks to the publishers and to edpr for my copy of this book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Berlin, 1989. 

Siblings Rune and Lotte are awakened by Mama and told to follow her quietly into the night. Last time they snuck away from Papa, with Mama bruised and broken, they were back within a week. But this time they are starting a new life, Mama says—where nobody can hurt them again. 

Ten years later, the memories of their escape are blurry; Mama is long gone and the siblings are back at Papa’s house. But when they receive a mysterious notebook that seems to have come from Mama, Papa tears it apart. Could there be more to their past than they’ve been led to believe? With Rune paralysed by fear, Lotte takes their fate into her own hands. 

When she learns about the ‘Puzzle Women’ working tirelessly to reconstruct files shredded by the former secret police, she begs them to help her piece Mama’s story back together. But as Papa’s threats against both siblings escalate, can they unite to learn the full, brutal truth in Mama’s own words at last?

What did I think about it..

This is one of those stories which grabs you right from the start with an emotional connection to the characters, particularly, devoted siblings, Rune and Lotte, and which doesn't let go of your heart until the whole of this compelling story is told.

Beautifully written, with strong characteristaion and a powerful sense of time and place, we come to share in Lottie's quest as she tries to put together the pieces of ripped paper which make up her mother's journal. However, Lotte can't do this alone, so she enlists the help of the amazing 'Puzzle' women. A group of workers who have a special talent for reassembling shredded secret police files, piecing together the shards of lives which have been shattered and broken. 

Moving, silently and swiftly, forwards and backwards in time, between the momentous year of 1989 when Berlin's wall finally crumbled, to a time, ten years later, when Lotte and Rune are having to live with the frightening knowledge that their mother is gone from them. I know that I am being deliberately vague about the whole premise of the story but this is such a powerful read that I fear to spoil it would do the author a great disservice. More than once I read with tears in my eyes at the injustice that was meted out, not just to those who lived in the shadows of Berlin's secret police, but also of the abuse suffered by wives and mothers who were destroyed by their violent and uncaring men.

Whilst The Puzzle Women is about state injustice, domestic violence and abuse, it's also about love in all its many guises and, eventually, there's a sense of hope even when all the odds are stacked against you. This is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination but it's so beautifully written that parts of it, I am sure will stay with me for a very long time.

About the Author

Anna Ellory is a former nurse from Bath. She completed an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, where she was mentored by author Fay Weldon. Anna was inspired to write The Puzzle Women by her own experience of surviving domestic abuse, her research into the first women’s refuges in Europe, and the real- life ‘puzzle women’ who pieced together the Stasi’s shredded past.

The Puzzle Women by Anna Ellory is out now, published by Lake Union, priced £8.99 in paperback original.

Twitter @AnnaEllory #ThePuzzleWomen

@ed_pr

@AmazonPub

Book Review ~ Home Truths by Tina Seskis

Lake Union Publishing
1 December 2019

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this book

A strong marriage can cope with the unexpected. But can it survive the unimaginable?

American nanny Eleanor was never meant to meet Alex. But when she walks into his London police station to report a stalker, everything changes for them both. He’s convinced he can protect her from anything and anyone. She hopes her darkest days are behind her.

As they settle into their life together, two hundred miles away another young couple faces an uncertain future. Christie knows Paul is a decent man, but she can’t shake a clairvoyant’s warning: ‘Never trust your husband . . .’ When a work trip tests their bond, will she overcome her fears for the sake of her family?

Ten years later, both couples are still together, for better or worse. But as doubts and resentments begin bubbling steadily to the surface, all four of them start to question the choices they’ve made.

What did I think about it..

When Eleanor walks into a London Police Station she is unaware of just how her life is about to change when she meets the charismatic young police officer who takes her complaint of having a stalker seriously. What then follows is a cleverly plotted psychological thriller which keeps the story moving along at a suspenseful pace.

Intertwining two complex stories is no mean feat and yet, the author does a great job of building a rapport between the reader and the main characters so that an emotional bond is formed with all of them. On the surface we have two very different families who, seemingly, have no relationship whatsoever, and yet as things start to be revealed so the tension in the story gets tighter.

I can't say too much about the main focus of the plot as that would really give the game away and this is a complex story which is definitely best read with no preconceived idea of the direction it is heading.  I so enjoyed the challenge of trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle and, most unusually, for me, I didn't see the twist coming, so that when it hit me I enjoyed thinking over the cleverness of the overall plot.

I've now read several of this author's work and each successive story seems to get stronger, with I think, Home Truths being one of my favourites to date.

About the Author

Tina Seskis grew up in Hampshire , and after graduating from the University of Bath spent over twenty years working in marketing and advertising.She is the author of two other novels, One Step Too Far and A Serpentine Affair. Tina lives in London with her husband and son.

Website

Twitter @tinaseskis #HomeTruths

@AmazonPub

Home Truth is is available to buy from Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ The Light in the Hallway by Amanda Prowse

❆❆ Delighted to host today's stop on this lovely Blog Tour ❆❆ 

Lake Union Publishing
11 November 2019

My thanks to the publishers and ED Public Relations for the invitation to be part of this blog tour

From the ‘Queen of the Contemporary Family Drama’ comes the moving story of life-changing loss, and a father and son finding their way through grief. 

When Nick’s wife and childhood sweetheart Kerry falls ill and dies, he realises for the first time how fragile happiness is and how much he’s taken his good life for granted. Navigating parenthood alone, unsure how to deal with his own grief, let alone that of his teenage son, Olly, Nick must find a way to please his son, his in-laws, his family and his friends – while still honouring what Kerry meant to them all. Nick doesn’t know where to begin. When your life is changed in an instant, how do you start again?

What did I think about it..

When Nick loses his wife to cancer both he, and his teenage son, Oliver, have to find the strength to carry on but in the small town of Burstonbridge in North Yorkshire, a place where everyone knows everyone else, moving on is sometimes a bit of a trial. Nick and Oliver do their grieving in the full glare of local sympathy but not everyone is as sympathetic as others and both of them struggle with their sadness at the loss of a wife and mother.

What then follows is such a lovely story, not just because of the realistic portrayal of loss which tugs away at your heartstrings, but it's also about the strength of the father and son bond and of the importance of good friends and family. I loved the way the author brought both Nick and Oliver to life and I could picture them so easily as they were both such strong characters with distinct personalities and I connected with them on an emotional level.

There's a strong sense of time and the town of Burstonbridge is so typical of small towns where everyone knows everyone else's business and with only one main employer in the town everyone seems to work and live in close contact. There are two distinct threads to the story, each of them equally as compelling, as we get to know all there is to know about Nick in the here and now but also we get to learn about the momentous summer of 1992, when Nick and his two best friends, Eric and Alex, had such a special time.

The Light in the Hallway is a beautifully written family drama which has all those lovely little touches which this talented author does so well. One minute you are shedding a few tears and the next you are laughing out loud at something daft which just makes you smile and nod your head in complete agreement. And whilst the story is about love and loss and of the bewilderment of trying to carry on in the face of deep sadness, there is also hope in abundance and the knowledge that your best friends, and family, will be there for you throughout the good times and the bad.

‘The Light in the Hallway’ by Amanda Prowse is out now, published by Lake Union, priced £8.99 in paperback original.

About the Author

Amanda Prowse is one of the UK's most prolific and loved story tellers with global sales of 6 million copies and legions of loyal fans. Based near Bristol, Amanda is the author of 25 novels and novellas, with books sold in 22 countries and translated into 12 languages -  no mean feat when you consider her first novel was only published in 2012.

Website

Twitter / Instagram @MrsAmandaProwse #TheLightintheHallway

Twitter @amazonpub / Instagram @amazonpublishing

Twitter @ed_pr / Instagram @ed.pr