📖 🎧 Book Review ~ A Far-Flung Life by M L Stedman

 

Transworld Digital 
Audible
March 2026

Own purchase

 

Western Australia, 1958. A truck rumbles along a lonely outback road. A moment’s inattention, and in a few muddled seconds the lives of the MacBride family are shattered.

Instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.

Set in the expanse of a vast and flat landscape, where the weather is a capricious god and a million-acre sheep station is barely a dot on the map, A Far-flung Life explores the hearts of a handful of isolated souls and the secrets they shield in order to survive.

📖  My Review..

I read this author’s debut novel way back in 2012 and remember being completely blown away by The Light Between Oceans so I was especially excited to learn of the publication of her much awaited second novel.

A Far-Flung Life is set in the author’s native Australia and follows the fortunes of the MacBride family on their remote sheep farm in Western Australia. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Laura MacBride must continue to keep the farm functioning whilst at the same time keeping the shattered fragments of her family together. Spanning forty years and multiple generations this is an ambitious story which reveals much about life in Australia during the middle years of the twentieth century. There is the inevitable isolation from living, and tending, such a vast and often drought ridden landscape, all of which is dramatically set against a family who are burdened by secrets and scarred forever by overwhelming sadness which forms the very backbone of the story.

I made the decision to listen to the Audible version and I wasn’t disappointed. Expertly narrated by Lewis Fitz-Gerald the 13hrs and 40 minutes of the recording never felt burdensome as the narration, such an integral part of the story, flowed beautifully. There were moments of huge sadness, with a devastating family secret, which could have made the novel emotionally difficult but it was expertly navigated by an author who knows how to weave and twirl a story into something which becomes almost tragically beautiful.

A Far- Flung Life is an emotional read, with a gut-punch as big as the endless skies above the MacBride Homestead. It has been a long time in coming, but, my goodness, the wait was well worth it and I am sure this fully deserves its place on my Book of the Year List.

About the Author

M L Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. Her first novel, The Light Between Oceans, was a Sunday Times, New York Times and international bestseller and won the Goodreads Choice Best Historical Novel Award and the HWA Goldsboro Crown Debut. It was also longlisted for the Women’s Prize and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin literary award and shortlisted as an Amazon Rising Star. In Australia, it won the Indie Best Debut and the Indie Best Book awards and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Literary Society Gold Medal. The Light Between Oceans has been published in around forty-five languages and has sold nearly five million copies worldwide. It was made into a Dreamworks film starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, produced by Heyday Films. A Far-flung Life is M L Stedman’s second novel.

X @TransworldBook

#MLStedman  #AFarFlungLife

📖 Favourite Read of the Month ~ The Secret Thread by Eve Chase

Penguin Michael Joseph 
28 May 2026

My thanks to the publishers for the invitation to read this book

Even the darkest secrets unravel in time . . .

Mimi Mott, celebrated designer and famously private style icon, is auctioning off her legendary estate, intent on telling the true story of her life in objects. 

In London, her new assistant, Jo O’Mara, is determined to win Mimi’s trust. But Jo carries a secret of her own, and time is running out to unpick the past before the auctioneer’s hammer falls. 

Who is Mimi, really? A woman who rose from humble beginnings to build an interiors empire – but at what cost? What happened in that remote Wiltshire manor house where Mimi and her family worked during the summer of 1969? Who died the night of the glittering party that stole the headlines?

As the auction countdown begins, Jo is drawn into an intoxicating world of obsession, sisters and secrets – and must risk everything to unravel the truth, one thread at a time.

📖 My Review

 

Jo O’Mara is given the task of cataloguing a series of very personal items which the celebrated designer, Mimi Mott feels encapsulates her eventful life. As Jo becomes immersed in Mimi’s story, she begins to learn more about her childhood, growing up at Rushwood, a remote Wiltshire estate, where Mimi’s parents worked as gardeners. The story works really well and as we move back towards Mimi’s time spent at  Rushwood we start to learn about hidden family secrets, of Mimi’s difficult relationship with her parents and siblings, and of her dangerous connection to the wealthy family who call Rushwood home.

The story flows beautifully, with a cast of characters who quickly make their mark on the story. I was equally at home in the past with Mimi as she grows from feisty teenager into the style icon who becomes Mimi Mott. Jo’s own personal story is just as compelling and the hidden secret which she is keeping from Mimi is explored well and adds a different dimension to this cleverly plotted family drama. Reminiscent of time and place, the latter years of the 1960s come vibrantly to life and sit very comfortably alongside Mimi’s story in the subsequent years of her life. 

Fast becoming one of my favourite authors this latest novel from this talented writer captured my interest right from the start, the pages practically turning themselves as I raced through the story eager to learn more. The Secret Thread is a beautifully written family drama which moves effortlessly between past and present and which captures the essence of sibling rivalry and some deeply buried secrets. This is such a lovely read I am delighted to make to make The Secret Thread my Favourite Read of the Month for May.

About the Author

Eve Chase writes bestselling, page-turning mysteries. Her novels include The Midnight Hour, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and Amazon no.1; The Glass House, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and Sunday Times bestseller; The Birdcage, The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde and Black Rabbit Hall. A winner of the Saint-Maur en Poche prize in Paris for Best Foreign Fiction and longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown Award, her work has been translated into twenty languages. She lives in Oxford.

📖 Blog Tour ~The Woman with All the Answers by Linda Green

Boldwood Books
February 2025

Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to the blog tour

Alexa knows your family better than you do. Now you're about to get to know her... 

Fifty-two-year-old Michelle Banks is struggling to keep all the plates spinning. She’s a perimenopausal district nurse, caring for elderly parents. Her husband is wasting their money on children’s TV memorabilia, her teenage daughter is riddled with anxiety and her sixteen-year-old son is behaving secretively.

Alexa is the only one who knows how much Michelle is juggling. Listening in via four smart speakers, she also knows that it’s about to get even worse.

So, when Michelle pleads for help from the woman with all the answers, Alexa decides to go rogue and reveal her true identity as Pauline – a sixty-five-year-old former voice-over artist from Halifax – to teach Michelle everything she knows…

📖 My Review..

They stand like silent sentinels in our living spaces, only speaking when spoken to, filling in the gaps in our knowledge with comprehensive answers to random questions, nonjudgmental and unquestioning but what if the Alexa in the corner of the room was a real person and not an AI controlled device.

This delightful family drama introduces us to Michelle, a harassed working mother, one of the sandwich generation, who is caring not just for her angst ridden teenagers and a husband who has lost his get up and go, but also for elderly parents who are struggling with failing health and an increasingly technological world. The Woman with All the Answers gives us the story not just from Michelle's point of view which is both troubled and funny but also that of Alexa, aka Pauline, a sixty- five year old woman from Halifax, who takes it upon herself to try and sort out Michelle’s chaotic life with far reaching consequences.

Warm hearted, funny and sad and filled with an assortment of relatable family issues I found that I could easily identify with Michelle and I’m sure that there are many women who have found themselves in similar circumstances, juggling the demands of modern life and losing sight of what’s really important. The Woman with all the Answers reminds us to be kind to ourselves and whilst we don’t have all the answers to life’s many problems, with a little bit of help we can navigate the ups and downs and  after meeting Pauline, I’m sure that I’ll never look at my Alexa in quite the same way again.

About the Author

Linda Green is the million copy Sunday Times bestselling author of eleven novels including The Last Thing She Told Me.

​Follow Linda Green

Facebook: @LindaGreenAuthor

Twitter: @lindagreenisms #TheWomanWithAllTheAnwers

Instagram: @lindagreenbooks
X @BoldwoodBook #BoldwoodBloggers
X @rararesources

 

📖 Book Review ~ The Secret Orchard by Sharon Gosling

Simon&Schuster
12 September 2024

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book 

Can a return to the past be the start of something new? 

Bette and Nina Crowdie have never been close – they’re too different, the ten-year age difference doesn’t help, and Bette’s rarely been back home since she left for university at eighteen. When their father passes away and unexpectedly splits the family farm between them, Nina is furious and afraid. She’s been working at the farm for the past five years. It’s the only stable home her young son Barnaby has ever had, and she’s convinced that Bette, who never wanted anything to do with the family business, will sell at the first chance she gets. When they discover the huge debt their father has been hiding from them both, Bette reluctantly agrees to help her sister. But that means they have to find a way to work together, and Bette must face up to the real reason she left all those years ago. Could the discovery of an ancient orchard on their land be the key to saving the farm – and the sisters’ relationship?

📖My Review..

When Bette Crowdie returns to the family farm after her father’s death she meets with the usual animosity from her younger sister, Nina. The Crowdie farm has been in the family for generations but with their father’s death, and much to Nina’s annoyance, both sisters now have an equal share.  However, with the farm in financial difficulties, it would appear that Bette, with her lawyer background, is going to have to figure out a way to save it from ruin. 

What then follows is the story of the fight to save the farm and the way in which the sisters must not only reconcile but must also pull together if they are to have any sort of future. Delightfully combining little snippets about the history of the farm, the fascinating insight into cider production and with its very own super hero, there is so much to enjoy. I especially loved reading about the secret orchard and the way in which this took on a whole personality all of its own. The author writes with such careful detail, and perfect characterisation, carefully blending snippets about the past, with their connection to the present.

Totally immersive, and with a smattering of danger and intrigue, everything weaves together so beautifully into a delightful family drama and into a story which captures the imagination from start to finish.

About the Author 

Sharon Gosling is the author of multiple middle-grade historical adventure books for children. She is also the author of YA Scandi horror as well as adult fiction. Sharon lives with her husband in a very small village on the side of a fell in the far north of Cumbria.

Twitter X@SharonGosling #TheSecretOrchard

X@simonschusterUK

📖 Blog Tour ~ The Memory of Us by Dani Atkins

Head of Zeus
15 February 2024

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

A twist of fate. An unexpected love story...

If she had been found moments later, Amelia's heart would have stopped and never recovered. Instead she was taken from the desolate beach to the nearest hospital just in time to save her life. When her sister Lexi arrives from New York, Amelia's heart is beating, but the accident has implanted a series of false memories. These memories revolve around a man named Sam, and a perfect love story that never existed.

Determined to help her sister, Lexi enlists the help of Nick, a local vet who bears a striking resemblance to Sam. Together, Lexi and Nick recreate and photograph Amelia's dream dates in the hopes of triggering her true memories.

But as love starts to stir between Lexi and Nick, they must navigate a complex web of emotions. How can Lexi fall for Amelia's dream man without hurting her sister?

📖 My Review..

Amelia is found unconscious on a deserted beach, only moments from death. She is taken to the nearest hospital deeply unaware of the seriousness of her condition. however, when her younger sister Lexi arrives from New York, Amelia confuses her family with her apparent connection to a man called Sam who her family have never heard of before.

What then follows is a beautiful family drama about the connection between these special siblings and the abiding love between Amelia and Lexi gives the book its heart and soul. It is both heart warming and heart wrenching in equal measure and there were times when the author took every ounce of emotion and wrapped the story around my heart so that it will stay there long after other stories are finished and forgotten. Beautifully written, and sensitively explored, there is a steadfast family connection, some laugh out loud funny moments and a beautifully written love story which had me wiping away tears on more than one occasion.

Some books are so special that its difficult to describe them without giving far too much away and The Memory of Us  is one those stories which needs no spoilers from me, just read it.

About the Author

Dani Atkins has won the RNA Award three times and her books are sold in twenty countries. Born in London, she now lives in Hertfordshire with her family. Her emotionally charged novels explore the intricacies of human relationships and the power of love. Her writing journey comes from a lifelong passion for storytelling where she blends drama and romance. 

Her debut novel ‘Fractured’ led her to literary acclaim and followed with a bestselling repertoire of novels such as ‘The Story of Us’, ‘Our Song’ and ‘This Love’. Her latest novel ‘The Memory of Us’ reveals profound truths of the human experience and encourages readers to look at the key themes of family, love and sacrifice. The compelling narrative draws from her own personal experiences where a heart attack during lockdown led her to consider her own mortality and the pain and anguish that comes with that. 

In The Memory of Us the protagonists Amelia and Lexi hail from Dani’s own relationship with her best friend and the inseparable bonds of sisterhood, especially at times of trauma.

Twitter / X @AtkinsDani #TheMemoryofUs

Instagram @daniatkinsauthor

@AriaFiction

 

📖 Book Review ~ What We Thought We Knew by Claire Dyer

 

Pegasus
25 January 2024

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

The families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights are connected by work, friendship, the loss of a child and a secret truth which has sat in the bedrock of their lives for years. In the centre of this tight-knit group is Faith, who believes her job is to act as a paperweight, keeping them all safe. And she does this until someone from her past reappears and threatens to sabotage everything. And, as the pieces fall, these families, these friends, realise that what they thought they knew about one another was nothing more than make-believe. They also discover that trust is illusory and for Faith, at least, that keeping other people’s secrets can be more dangerous than keeping her own.

📖 My Review...

Penwood Heights is home to three families whose lives intertwine, their children play together, and the husbands drink in the local pub whilst their wives host movie nights and dinner parties. They pick blackberries in the woods and picnic in summer meadows. They laugh together, celebrate successes together and then ultimately they grieve together when tragedy rocks the foundations of their close knit group. Moving forward and backwards in time we get a sharp view of these three families, we witness the after effects of the tragedy and we move with them as they pick up the pieces, some coping better than others but always seeming to remain a cohesive whole. Faith is the one person who seems to holds them all together but when something happens to disturb the equilibrium, it is Faith who bears the brunt of the fallout.

Beautifully written and sensitively explored this story unpicks the myriad threads of interconnected friendship and family life, revealing tangled secrets which would be better if they had been left hidden. However, the  inevitability of secrets being exposed and dissolved reveals much and these revelations are what gives the book its absolute strength and makes the story compelling reading. I raced through the story in a couple of sittings as I really couldn’t put the book down and wanted to know how this tangled web of secrets would evolve and eventually play out in the wider scheme of events.

I’ve now read several books by this talented author and each one leaves me wanting more. What We Thought We Knew will remain with me for quite some time and has already secured its place on my Book of the Year list. 

About the Author

Claire Dyer’s poetry collections are published by Two Rivers Press, her novels by Quercus, The Dome Press, Matador and Pegasus. Her latest novel is ‘What We Thought We Knew’, and a further collection, ‘The Adjustments’, is forthcoming with Two Rivers Press in April 2024. She teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. She is Poetry Consultant to the Council of the SWWJ, has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and is represented by Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency.

X/Twitter @clairedyer1

Website Facebook Instagram

Amazon UK

📖 Blog Tour ~ The Summer of Lies by Louise Douglas

Boldwood Books
7 February 2024

My thanks to the publisher and to Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to the tour

The summer is the hottest yet in the Brittany coastal town of Morranez, but when a new case lands on the desk of the Toussaints detective agency, there can be no time to relax. As wild fires bear down on the town, the alert goes out for a missing girl.

Nineteen-year-old Briony Moorcroft has seemingly been taken from her sleepy Welsh village and brought to France. Her parents are baffled and scared – Briony needs her life-saving medicine or this case will become even more sinister, and with the police dragging their heels, the Moorcrofts are relying on Mila Shephard and Carter Jackson’s sleuthing skills.

Meanwhile there are mysteries troubling Mila’s life too. Two years after the accident that swept her sister Sophie and brother-in-law Charlie away and left their daughter Ani in Mila’s care, new evidence resurfaces that makes Mila doubt everything.

Can Carter and Mila find Briony before it’s too late? And is the truth about Sophie and Charlie finally about to be revealed…

📖 My Review..

Working for the Touissaints Detective Agency in Brittany, Mila Shepard and Carter Jackson are charged with searching for Briony Moorcroft who is missing from her home in England and is presumed to be in France with a woman who may do her harm. With nothing much to go on, and with time ticking away, Mila and Carter must do all they can to find the missing girl as soon as possible.

The story moves along at a cracking pace and I enjoyed following not just Mila and Carter’s quest to find Briony but also the snippets of information about a recent tragedy in Mila’s life which has resulted in her being based in France and caring for her niece Ani. I liked very much the emotional aspect of the story especially the details of Mila’s life and her struggle to come to terms with the sadness which surrounds her. I also followed the missing person investigation with trepidation, enjoying how the author controlled the tension whilst allowing all the complicated strands of the story to come together.

What I love about this author’s skilful writing is her ability to capture the reader’s imagination right from the start and her strength in bringing a multilayered and complex story to life is done with huge insight into what makes people tick.  I was really sorry when the story came to end but was delighted to discover that the ending lends itself to a further continuation, which will definitely be something to look forward to in the future. 

The Summer of Lies is a follow up to The Lost Notebook which I read and enjoyed in 2022.

About the Author

Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author and an RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.

Follow on social media

Twitter @LouiseDouglas3 # TheSummerOfLies

Instagram

Facebook 

@BoldwoodBooks #BoldwoodBloggers

@rararesources

 

 

📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ The Hidden Letters by Lorna Cook

 

Avon
2 March 2023

My thanks to the publishers for the invitation to read this book

On the eve of a world war, a forbidden love will blossom in the garden of a stately home and one young woman will make a choice that will change her life forever…

As the storm clouds of war gather, Cordelia seeks refuge in the grounds of her family estate.

Isaac has recently arrived to tend to the gardens, and the connection between him and Cordelia is as immediate as it is forbidden.

Isaac begins to secretly teach her how to cultivate the gardens, so when he and all the young men are called away to war, Cordelia takes over.

From the battlefields of Europe, Isaac sends her letters, that give her hope for a future in peacetime.

But when these messages abruptly cease, Cordelia must face up to the worst and take her future – and the fate of the garden they both loved – into her own hands...

📖 My Review...

Isaac Leigh has been employed to make improvements to the garden at Pencallick House and under normal circumstances would never come into contact with Cordelia Carr-Lyon who, as the daughter of the big house, has limitations placed upon her, and a burgeoning friendship with a handsome gardener is strictly out of bounds. However, the country is on the brink of war and social restrictions whilst still in place seem to melt into insignificance as Isaac and Cordelia gradually get to know each other. It is this secret friendship and clandestine bond which must sustain their relationship through some deeply troubling times especially as the storm clouds of WW1 gather their inevitable momentum over Europe. 

Lorna Cook writes the most wonderfully detailed historical dramas which are filled with an abundance of emotions, from love and passion, through to sadness and despair and, believe me, there were many times during this beautiful novel when I had to reach for the tissue box. The story moves from the wild and windswept Cornish coast, to war ravaged Europe and from stately manor house to humble cottages and all the while keeping at its heart a love story which beguiles, entertains and tugs away at the heartstrings.

The Hidden Letters is every bit as good as I hoped it would be from this talented author and I have no hesitation in making it my Featured Book of the Month for March.

About the Author

Lorna Cook is the author of the Kindle bestseller The Forgotten Village. It was her debut novel and the recipient of the Romantic Novelists' Association Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers as well as winner of the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Lorna lives in coastal South East England with her husband and two daughters.

Twitter @lornacookauthor

@AvonBooksUK

The Hidden Letters is published today by Avon Books

 and is available from wherever you buy your books.

📖 Book Review ~ The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

 

HQ
16 February 2023

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legend– but, ultimately, doomed.

When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.

Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.

Rachel is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home.

Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn.

And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core...

📖My Review...

Right at the heart of the story are strong women who collectively make up The Garnett Girls, three adult sibling sisters who have each been damaged by the events of their upbringing at Sandycove, the idyllic family home on the Isle of Wight. Their mother’s doomed relationship with their alcoholic father has left its mark on each of the girls and as the story unfolds and we get to know more about Rachel, Imogen and Sasha so we understand the destruction nature of witnessing a tremendous love which ultimately destroyed everything.

The story flows seamlessly introducing us to each of the sisters, getting to know more about them as adults and yet glimpsing within the vulnerable children who had been so let down by family secrets and lies. Their mother, Margot, is a force of nature, not always likeable and very often exasperating and yet I was fascinated by her and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about her and her ill-fated love affair with the girls’ father, Richard,  and her subsequent attempt to remove him totally from their lives.

The story is beautifully accomplished and almost magical in places, bringing place and people so vividly alive I felt as if I stood in the grounds of Sandycove looking out across the bay. The stultifying nature of living within a close community where everyone seemed to know each others’ business only reiterates the sense of atmosphere and makes the story quite memorable.

The Garnett Girls is that special story I was waiting to read and devoured it in the space of a couple of days. It proved to be both fascinating and thought provoking and is such a wonderfully presented debut by a talented writer who knows how to hold the reader in the palm of her hand.

About the Author

Georgina Moore grew up in London and lives on a houseboat on the River Thames with her partner, two children and Bomber, the Border Terrier. The Garnett Girls is her first novel and is set on the Isle of Wight, where Georgina and her family have a holiday houseboat.

Twitter @PublicityBooks #TheGarnettGirls

@HQstories

📖 Book Review ~ Exiles by Jane Harper

 

Macmillan
2 February 2023

Aaron Falk #3

My thanks to the publisher and Laura Sherlock PR for my copy of this book

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.

A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

📖 My Review..

I hadn't read any of the previous books in the Aaron Falk series but this hasn't spoiled my enjoyment of this third and final book. Federal Investigator Falk arrives in the small town of Marralee to attend the christening of his friend's son. His arrival coincides with the one year anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Kim Gillespie who went missing on the night of the local festival leaving behind her baby daughter. This gap of a year has caused local feelings to run high and Falk, together with his friend Raco, and other friends of Kim and in particular Kim's teenage daughter, Zoe, all  continue to search for clues to find out just what has happened to this young mother.

The story works well, there is a nice amount of detail to keep the mystery at the forefront of the novel and yet this character driven story focuses more on the after effects of Kim's disappearance and the consequences which may have led up to her going missing. I have enjoyed getting to know Falk, he's an interesting character, and he obviously takes his role as an investigator seriously and yet, I think, in this final novel we see a somewhat quieter side to him, especially as he has a difficult decision to make which will affect his future going forward.

I enjoyed the several twists and  turns and the involvement of other characters who add to the overall dynamic of the story and I felt that everything was wrapped up nicely at the end.  Overall, Exiles is a well written mystery and although part of a series can easily be read as a stand alone story. 

About the Author

Jane Harper is the international bestselling author of The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man. Jane is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and has won numerous top awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year, the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, and the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year. Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, with The Dry in production as a major motion picture starring Eric Bana. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK, and now lives in Melbourne.

Twitter @janeharperautho

@panmacmillan @LauraSherlock21

📖 Book Review ~ Of All Faiths and None by Andrew Tweeddale

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let’s go back to …1910

15 September 2022

My thanks to Ben Cameron PR for my copy of the book

In the autumn of 1910 Edwin Lutyens, the renowned architect, receives a letter from Sir Julius Drewe for the commission of a castle on Dartmoor – Castle Drogo. Lutyens’ design for the castle focusses on both the past and the present and reflects Britain, which at that moment is in a state of flux. His daughter, Celia, becomes enamoured with the project dreaming of chivalry and heroism. The following year Edwin Lutyens and his family are invited to a stone laying ceremony at CastleDrogo. Celia meets Sir Julius’ children: Adrian, Christian and Basil.

The novel moves to 1914, and the start of the Great War. Christian Drewe is returning from Austria where he has been working as an artist. Adrian enlists on the day war is declared driven by his sense of duty. Chrisian has reservations as to joining up unconvinced that the war was either necessary or right.

The story moves from the battlefields of France and Flanders and back to London and to Castle Drogo, where the characters are reunited for brief periods. Faith and love are stretched to their limits as each character is affected by the relentless brutality of the war. Of All Faiths & None is the story of a lost generation. It is a novel that focuses on the relationships of the characters until those relationships are shattered. It is a coming-of-age tale and a social commentary on the tragedy of a needless war.

📖 My Review.. 

In 1910, Edward Lutyens is commissioned by Sir Julius Drewe to design a castle on Dartmoor and right from the start of the novel we are there with Lutyens as he creates his design for what will, eventually, become Castle Drogo. However, even as the ideas for Castle Drogo start to take shape war clouds in Europe loom on the horizon and the eventual devastating effects of the Great War will reverberate for both the Luytens and the Drewe families. 

The author writes with such passion and conviction that it is obvious that a great deal of research has gone into the creation of such a complex story. Of All Faiths and None is a wonderfully evocative piece of historical fiction and as time and place blend together perfectly so the story becomes charged with emotion and atmosphere. Written with huge compassion and spanning the momentous years between 1910 and 1918 this story will stay with me for a long time.

I have to admit to knowing nothing at all about Castle Drogo before the start of this well written and empathetic novel. I did, however, do a little bit of internet searching to discover more, and to see images, of the finished 20th century castle for myself.

🥂Best read with…Sole bonne femme and a bottle of Pouilly-Fuissé

About the Author

ANDREW TWEEDDALE is a writer, lawyer and chef. He commenced writing Of All Faiths & None in 2004 as an anti-war novel, after visiting Castle Drogo for the first time. It took Andrew 18 years to complete the work. He is currently writing his second novel about the Mau Mau uprising. Andrew lived in Richmond and Kew Gardens for the last 30 years and now divides his time between the UK and Spain.

Website