📖 🎧 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.

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📖 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

📖 Favourite Read of the Month ~ The Sea Stone Sisters by Eleanor Buchanan

Headline 
12 March 2026

My thanks to the publisher for the copy of the book 

 

Four great stones once stood on a remote Scottish headland - the Sisters of Skara.

Legend has it they were raised by a grieving father, to guide his abducted daughters home.

A curse was placed on anyone who laid the stones low:

their family, too, would be scattered to the winds, never to find their way home.

1931. When Iris Blackmore's father knocks down the Sisters of Skara standing stones, a dark shadow falls on the Blackmore family. With his fortune lost and wife dead, his four daughters are forced to leave their home, taking only the rings they inherited from their beloved mother.

Iris is the first to depart, travelling east in search of an uncle who might be able to help the family.

Present day. Roz Chatton moves to London from Australia, bringing very little with her other than her mother's old ring. Grieving and adrift, she stumbles on a painting of four ancient standing stones which ignites an uncanny connection to the ring on her finger.

Determined to learn more about the origin of the painting, Roz unearths the full story of Iris Blackmore, unravelling a family history she could never have imagined.

Four lost sisters. A family scattered. An epic journey home. Will you follow?

📖 My Review..

In the 1930s the four Blackmore sisters live with their parents in a remote part of Scotland near to the site of the ancient Sisters of Skara stones. When their father deliberately knocks down the stones an ancient curse is released and the Blackmore family start to suffer the consequences of this rash action. 

Following the story of the eldest of the sisters, we leave Skara with Iris as she sets out a difficult journey to find an uncle, in Ceylon, who might be able to help restore the family fortune. Moving seamlessly between two times frames we not only follow Iris as she sets out on this hazardous journey of a lifetime but we also meet Roz Chatton, in the present day, who, having moved from Australia to London is inexplicably drawn towards a painting of the Sisters of Skara that she finds in a London art shop.

This multi-layered, multi-generational, story takes us on a sweeping journey between 1930s Ceylon and Australia, to modern day Scotland. We learn about the secrets of Skara and discover more about the journey Iris undertook and the people she met along the way. Both timeframes are spellbinding, I particularly loved Iris, her 1930s story really captured my imagination and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and see her develop as character. The modern day element is also beautifully described, and Roz’s journey of discovery is just as beguiling as she starts to uncover some of the secrets of the Blackmore family which have been hidden for far too long.

Alive with mystery and filled with intrigue, The Sea Stone Sisters is a beautifully written dual time, family drama which lingers in the imagination long after the last page is read. For that reason I am delighted to make The Sea Stone Sisters my Favourite Read of the Month for March.

About the Author

After many years of travelling the world, Eleanor Buchanan has turned her hand to a brand-new series of enthralling stories that combine her passion for travel, her belief in the power of evocative love stories and her enduring fascination with the relationship between the past and the present. Now based in York, she still searches for wide horizons whenever she can.

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📖 Book Review ~ The Boleyn Curse by Alexandra Walsh

Boldwood Books
15 March 2026

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

The court of young King Henry VIII seethes with secrets and scandals, but every ambition has its price. Elizabeth Boleyn, loyal wife to Thomas Boleyn  and devoted mother to Anne, Mary and George, believes she can navigate the shifting tides of court life. But when she catches the eye of the lascivious king, Elizabeth is drawn into a perilous game and the cost of her defiance will echo through the generations.

In present day Hampshire, Tabitha Mundy has found a haven in Cerensthorpe Abbey. Since the death of her husband, her work as archivist for the abbey’s owner, Edith Swanne, has been her refuge. When her research uncovers hidden clues rumoured to lead to a lost manuscript of The Canterbury Tales and a connection to the Boleyn family, Edith is eager to investigate. With the help of Gulliver, Edith’s enigmatic nephew, Tabitha begins to decipher the riddles and before long a mystical thread binds Elizabeth and Tabitha across the ages – two women destined to protect the truth.

As Henry’s vengeance consumes Elizabeth, she sets his treachery down in writing, determined her voice will not be silenced. But another man’s secrets mean that Elizabeth’s tale has been hidden. Can Tabitha finally unlock the mysteries of the past or will the Boleyn Curse haunt Cerensthorpe Abbey.

📖 My Review..

In the present day, Tabitha Mundy takes up the role of archivist at the beautiful Cerensthorpe Abbey where together with members of the family she attempts to piece together intricate, and at times macabre, clues which will hopefully lead to the discovery of a long lost manuscript. However, the search is complicated and throws up more questions than it does answers. 

Back in Tudor Times the Abbey once belonged to Elizabeth Boleyn, wife to Henry VIII’s trusted ambassador, Thomas Boleyn, and mother of Mary, Anne and George. It details Elizabeth’s complicated relationship with King Henry VIII and poses the question whether Elizabeth and Henry were ever intimately acquainted. The Tudor element is particularly well done and offers an imagined glimpse into what life could have been like with an irascible King, who hated being thwarted, and of a beautiful woman who wanted her family’s story to be told.

It has been a real pleasure to read this rather unusual slant on the usual Boleyn story. The clever time slip element allows a strong sense of history and combining it with a modern day mystery about the search for a lost copy of The Canterbury Tales gives the author room to manoeuvre through time with seamless effect.

🍷Best read with..a glass of good red wine

About the Author

Alexandra Walsh is the bestselling author of dual timeline historical mysteries, previously published by Sapere. Her books range from the fifteenth century to the Victorian era and are inspired by the hidden voices of women that have been lost over the centuries. Formerly a journalist, writing for national newspapers, magazines and TV, her first book for Boldwood will be published in Spring 2023.

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📖 Publication Day ~ The Girl with the Suitcase by Lesley Pearse

Penguin
Paperback 26 February 2026

My thanks to the publisher and EDPR for the copy of this book

 

London, 1941

When Mary meets a glamorous stranger named Elizabeth she realises their lives couldn’t be more different. 

Elizabeth is beautiful and charming, about to set off on a dazzling adventure to Ireland where she’s inherited a grand house. 

Mary, shy and meek, has nothing to look forward to but the dreary life of a maid in Hampstead.

But when an air raid forces them to take shelter underground Mary’s life is suddenly changed forever. 

After waking up in hospital, injured but alive, the nurse mistakes her for Elizabeth and hands over her suitcase with Elizabeth’s money and tickets to Ireland inside.

This is Mary’s chance to escape the hardship of her life and start afresh.

Will she take it and what could go wrong?

📖My Review..

A chance meeting with a total stranger alters the course of Mary’s life forever and with the unexpected chance of a completely fresh start, Mary grabs the opportunity to move away from her life of drudgery and hardship. Set against the backdrop of WW2 we travel between war torn London, rural Ireland and affluent Bristol in a story which tugs away at the heartstrings with a remarkable young woman who takes whatever life throws at her and does so with that innate steadfastness of all those who’s survived wartime.

Beautifully written as only this author can, it is very easy to be drawn into the world which she recreates so sensitively. I loved Mary’s character, she’s such a strong person and yet it’s also the other characters who bring the story to life, especially Kathleen in Ireland and Rose in Bristol. A story of strong women  who support Mary in everything she does. At its heart are a couple of empathic love interests, good and kind men who take away Mary’s doubts about the shadows of her past with an indifferent mother and an abusive stepfather.

The Girl with the Suitcase is the author’s 33rd novel and is another lovely story from this sensitive and considerate writer. 

☕️ Best Read with…a pot of tea and poached eggs on toast

About the Author

Lesley Pearse is a global No.1 bestseller with fans across the world and sales of over 10 million copies of her books to date. One of the nation’s best-loved storytellers – a Lesley Pearse book is sold every 4 minutes in the UK – Lesley is a master of the gripping story line, always introducing her readers to characters that are impossible to forget. Although there is no set formula or easily defined genre for a Lesley Pearse novel, strong heroines and jeopardy are pervasive, and she always engages the reader completely. 

Told with Lesley's trademark warmth, wit and poignancy The Long and Winding Road is the extraordinary story of a remarkable woman fighting against the odds to achieve her dreams and finally winning.

Lesley lives in Torquay where she enjoys walking on the beach with her grandchildren. A fantastic speaker and committed and passionate fundraiser for the NSPCC, Lesley is a much sought after guest at literary lunches, library events and festivals up and down the country.

Twitter @LesleyPearse #LoveLesley #TheGirlWithTheSuitcase

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Ripples Through Time by Christina Courtenay

Headline Review 
20 November 2025

Thanks to the publisher and Rachel’s Random Resources
for the book and invitation to the tour

A love that will change them forever

A treasure that will bring them home

West Mercia, AD 873 – Merewen's settlement is on guard against the outside threat of the ‘Heathen’ Norsemen. But for Merewen, the real threats come from within, as her future is cruelly snatched away from her.

Eirik, a Norseman, finds himself abandoned and injured after his uncle’s plunder of Mercian land goes wrong. He thinks his fate is sealed – until Merewen saves his life.

Hereford, Present Day – Left reeling after a huge betrayal, Alix moves to her grandfather's farm in Hereford to heal her broken heart. There, after being given a family heirloom, she soon finds herself haunted by memories of a life she never lived, a relationship she never had, and a time in which she never existed.

Local farmer Noah is being hounded by the police to find the Viking hoard that his sister and her criminal boyfriend stole from his farm. Noah must prove his own innocence while struggling to decipher the curious connection he has to newcomer Alix – a bond that seems to transcend their own reality.

As they search for the lost treasure, Alix and Noah start to feel the whispers of a love they never expected, one powerful enough to echo through history.

📖 My Review..

Echoes of the past feature strongly in this dual time story between Merewen and Eirik in West Mercia in AD 873 and of their modern day counterparts, Alix and Noah, in rural Hereford. Whilst each story is quite separate there is a definite thread of connection running throughout the narrative especially when Alix and Noah experience some  unexpected sights and sensations from this long ago era.

I’ve enjoyed spending time in both time frames especially discovering more about Merewen’s life, the dangers she faced from within her community and her undeniable attraction to Eirik, a fierce Norseman, who is more used to combat than living in peace. Whilst in present day Hereford both Alix and Noah are facing challenges, especially for Alix as she leaves her old life behind to make a new start and also for Noah as he discovers more about the land he calls home and the Viking hoard which was once buried on his farmland.

The transition between the two time frames is seamless and with neither one seeking to outshine the other I was equally enthralled in spending time in AD 873 as I was in the present day. There’s a real sense of authenticity and the author does a great job in bringing history alive, I could well imagine being with Merewen as she goes about her duties in the settlement and yet was also just as comfortable with Noah on his Herefordshire farm. 

Ripples Through Time is a beautifully written dual timeline story, with lovely characterisation and two heartfelt romances both of which give us a glimpse into the power of a love affair which transcends time.

About the Author

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip/dual time and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a Vice President and former chairman and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. RIPPLES THROUGH TIME (dual time historical romance published by Headline Review 21st November 2025) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety)

Website: http://www.christinacourtenay.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor?fref=ts

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PiaCCourtenay

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Letter from the Island by Rose Alexander

Bookouture
24 October 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

 

Every week Calliope writes a letter to her twin sister who died sixty years ago. One day, she receives a letter back… 

Present day, London. Now an elderly lady and living alone in her basement flat, Calliope desperately misses the sun-soaked olive groves of her Greek Island home. It has been over sixty years since she ran away. When the letter postmarked from Crete lands on her doorstep, she is shocked to the core by what it says. Her twin sister is alive: We need to talk about what happened.

Now Calliope must make a confession to her beloved granddaughter Ella. Calliope needs to lay her lifetime of secrets to rest, and she needs Ella’s help…

1944, Crete. Calliope clutches the baby to her chest as they run down the cliff path to the blue water of the harbour. She is all the little one has left now, and they must escape. The boat the Allies sent won’t wait forever. If only she’d reached the village sooner, her twin sister would still be alive. She will never forgive herself, but she must stay strong for the baby.

Calliope must make one final journey home. And what her and her granddaughter discover in Crete will change the course of their lives forever.

📖 My Review ..

Calliope has kept a devastating family secret for over sixty years and when a letter arrives unexpectedly it brings all her old wartime memories to the surface and it would seem that the time is now right to lay down the ghosts of the past. Returning to her childhood home on the beautiful island of Crete is filled with emotion but as we are led gently into the past so the binds of family are rekindled and it’s a chance for Calliope and her twin sister, Calista , to reconcile.

Well written, with a lovely sense of both the past and present, the history of Crete during its occupation in 1944 is brought to life. The hopes and fears of Calliope and Calista and the frantic struggle for survival is brought to life so beautifully that you can’t help but form an emotional attachment to both of them. The dual timeline is done well, I could equally imagine Calliope’s rather lonely life in her present day London apartment alongside the sunshine and beauty of her once Cretan homeland.

With secrets, lies and reconciliation as its main themes The Letter from the Island is a lovely dual time story with interesting characters and a beautiful setting.

About the Author 

Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn’t always as often as she’d like. She’s a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.

Contact details 

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📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ The Marriage Contract by Sasha Butler

Salt Publishing
6 October 2025

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

 

‘Once she had thought of them, their love, as a fortress that nothing, not giants nor dragons nor men with fists and minds of gore could tear down. She realises now, that their love is malleable, mouldable, breakable. As soft as dreams

Summer in Worcestershire, 1577. Eliza Litton, a talented artist, is in love with childhood friend, Francis. But her tyrannical father, who rules the household with insults and fists, has other ideas. As summer comes to an end, Francis vanishes after a drunken night at the inn and Eliza’s father forces her to marry a gentleman, Edmund.

Thrown into a new, unfamiliar life with her husband who appears distant and cold, Eliza cannot tear herself from the memory of Francis. Yet her feelings for Edmund soften with time; he presents a life to her better than she ever dreamed. He provides her a safety she never had beneath her father’s roof and encourages her to paint, to pursue the things she loves.

As she begins to fall for Edmund, Francis is adrift on his own voyage, doing all he can to survive, fixated on returning to Eliza.

But as Eliza grows closer to Edmund, she uncovers a deceit she never imagined, causing her to question her own loyalties and commit her own betrayals. After everything, who will Eliza be? And what choices will she make?

The Marriage Contract vividly portrays life in the precarious and unforgiving Elizabethan era, exploring love’s many forms; how we can betray the ones we love, and how we can find forgiveness; and explores a woman’s fight to follow her desires and find her autonomy.

📖My Review..

Eliza and Francis, are childhood sweethearts, they dream of a life together however, Eliza’s abusive and controlling father has very different plans for his daughter and marriage to a blacksmith’s son is never going to happen. Setting his sights on a far grander match for his only daughter, Eliza has no choice but to obey her father’s wishes and so enters into a marriage contract with Edmund Cecil, a young man of means who has a gentle nature, and a lifetime of secrets of his own.

Delicately written, and with a quiet lyricism, The Marriage Contract brings Elizabethan England to life, from the rather forlorn wattle and daub house of Eliza’s childhood in rural Worcestershire, to her much grander moted marital home at Cecil Hall in Warwickshire, every part of the story flowed beautifully. I absorbed every word, went back to passages I found so beautifully written that I needed to re-read them and, in reading, I sensed a much older world around me, one that was filled with love, but overshadowed by grief and the hint of angry betrayal. Immersed in Eliza’s life I allowed her sorrow to consume me, noticed her small moments of triumph, and watched as she began to unburden her sadness, blossoming in a way that she could never have imagined when once she ran free, with Francis, in the fields around her childhood home. And what of Francis, well therein lies a another tale of loss and heartbreak, adrift and alone, he dreams of what might have been.

Bittersweet and utterly beautiful, The Marriage Contract is an exceptional debut novel from a talented writer whose love for storytelling shines with every carefully considered word. It is one of the best books I have read this year.

It’s so good I have decided to make it my Book of my Month for November.

About the Author

Sasha Butler is a writer based in the West Midlands. Her first novel, The Marriage Contract will be published in 2025 and was shortlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize 2022 and the Bath Novel Award 2022, under the former title, As Soft as Dreams. 

She is interested in writing historical novels focusing on ordinary people who, despite living in eras so different from our own, are ultimately recognisable in their humanity - with desires, hopes, loves and fears.

In addition to novels, she occasionally writes short stories. Her short story Map of an Affair featured in Floodgate Press’ anthology, Night Time Economy (September 2024).

In her spare time, Sasha enjoys exploring National Trusts and planning trips to far-flung places. She lives with her partner in a little apartment with an ever-growing collection of books and plants.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The President’s Wife by Anna Stuart

Bookouture
23 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book
And the invitation to the blog tour

 

December 1941: ‘Pearl Harbor has been bombed.’ My husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, voice shakes as he tells me the devastating news. We both know what this means: America is at war.

Eleanor Roosevelt takes a deep breath. This is her third term as First Lady and she knows what it takes to lead her country alongside charming and charismatic Franklin. She’s dedicated to her role as an activist having spent her life working towards a vision of a better America. But the attack on Pearl Harbor shatters everything. Entering the war that’s been raging across the world will be their greatest challenge yet.

Eleanor and Franklin have been married for over thirty years; supporting each other through all the highs and lows and now they will need to pull together more than ever. But whilst their working relationship has always been strong their marriage has had its troubles. Will a more personal threat tear them apart right when they need each other the most?

With war now at America’s shores, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. This is a moment that history will never forget, and all eyes are on them. Will Eleanor succeed in her role as the president’s wife and help to save her beloved country? Or will tragedy strike before the war is won…?

📖 My Review ..

I had heard, of course, of Eleanor Roosevelt, the indomitable American First Lady, who together with her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt led the American people during the momentous years of WW2. 

This fictional account is told in alternate chapters which link the Roosevelt’s early married life, along with their struggles, as they prepare for one of the greatest roles of their lives. Although born into privilege, Eleanor’s life had been far from easy, orphaned quite young and brought up by an assortment of relatives she thought she had found her anchor in her marriage to Franklin only for this to be left wanting in some areas and yet Eleanor’s steadfastness and stoical nature would see her blossom in America’s darkest hour.

I’ve really enjoyed reading about Eleanor and following on her journey as she stepped up when Franklin’s disability hampered some of his activities. She really was a force to be reckoned with and the author has done a great job of bringing this formidable woman to life. Having read the author’s previous novel, The English Wife, about Clementine Churchill, it was especially interesting to have a sense of continuity when these two influential woman come into contact with each other in war torn London in 1942.

Beautifully written, with historical accuracy and a real a sense of time and place, the history of WW2 comes to life, especially the involvement of America following the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was especially interesting to read of Eleanor Roosevelt’s loyalty not only to her public duty as the President’s Wife but also her utter commitment in helping to bring about a safer world.

About the Author

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers.

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📖 Book Review ~ The Devil’s Draper by Donna Moore

Fly on the Wall Press
1 May 2025
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book 

When whispers of abuse at Arrol's department store reach Mabel, a determined policewoman, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Johnnie, a cunning thief, and Beatrice, a savvy businesswoman, they embark on a perilous journey to uncover the truth.

Set against the backdrop of 1920s Glasgow, where women's voices are often silenced, this thrilling tale weaves together crime, justice, and the fight for equality. As the trio inches closer to exposing the scandal, they realize that in a world where women are rarely believed, their very lives may be at stake.

📖 My Review..

After reading The Unpicking in 2023 I was delighted to be given the opportunity of reading this second book in the series which takes us into the heart of Glasgow and to a department store which is abusing its female employees.

The 1920s was very much a period of social change particularly in the aftermath of The Great War when women were pretty much sidelined in favour of men especially in the work place and even Mabel Adair in her role as a policewoman is very much relegated to a minor role, so when an opportunity presents itself to get to the bottom of what is going on at Arrol’s department store in Glasgow Mabel is determined to do her very best. With the help of a skilful thief and a methodical business woman they start to uncover a web of deceit and violence against vulnerable women and are determined to bring the perpetrator to face justice.

Beautifully written, the story flows well and I was soon caught up with the intrigue and immersed in the Glasgow scene of the 1920s. I enjoyed meeting up again with some of the characters from The Unpicking and thought that Beatrice and Johnnie were worthy additions to this story about strong women doing what they can to fight for those women who are all too easy prey for unscrupulous individuals.

About the Author

Donna Moore is the author of crime fiction and historical fiction. Her first novel, a Private Eye spoof called Go To Helena Handbasket, won the Lefty Award for most humorous crime fiction novel and her second novel, Old Dogs, was shortlisted for both the Lefty and Last Laugh Awards. Her short stories have been published in various anthologies. In her day job she works as an adult literacy tutor for marginalised and vulnerable women, facilitates creative writing workshops and has a PhD in creative writing around women’s history and gender-based violence.

X @BadsvilleBroad

X @fly_press

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📖 Blog Tour ~ A Gentleman’s Offer by Emma Orchard

Boldwood Books
22 March 2025


Thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book
And to Rachel’s random resources for the invitation to the tour

June, 1817

Sir Dominic De Lacy – one of the season’s most eligible gentlemen – has recently proposed marriage… to a woman he scarcely knows. But his father’s choice for him, Miss Maria Nightingale, seems amiable, and at 29, Dominic cannot live the life of a bachelor forever. He hopes he can provide a happy future for her as they learn to care for each other.

Maria, however, has other ideas. Midway through their engagement celebrations, she confesses to Dominic that she is not Maria at all, but her identical twin sister, Margaret. Maria has disappeared, and Margaret’s been persuaded to take her place until she’s found – and for that she needs Dominic’s help. The pair quickly find they make a formidable team, but with just three weeks to avoid the biggest scandal of the season, time is against them.

But even if they find Maria, can they really hope the wedding will happen? Because, as they are starting to realise, chemistry can’t be arranged – and Sir Dominic might just be engaged to the wrong Miss Nightingale...

📖 My Review..

Dominic De Lacy is indifferent to marriage however, at the age of twenty-nine, it is his duty to take a wife and his late father’s wish is that he marries Miss Maria Nightingale, a young woman he doesn’t know well but who accepts his proposal with no resistance and little enthusiasm. With the marriage only weeks away Dominic is astonished to discover that his fiancé is actually not his fiancé at all but is in fact her identical twin sister, Margaret. The reason for this subterfuge becomes evident as the story progresses and as we become more involved in the consequences of this masquerade so we get to learn more about both Dominic and Margaret (Meg).

The door opens into this regency world with all the lovely attention to detail we have come to expect from this author’s historical novels. It’s a delightful romp, beautifully imagined, with sparkling dialogue and all the wit you would associate with a classic Regency romance, and if you have to suspend belief a little, isn’t that what good fiction is all about? Stepping into this world which the author brings so vividly to life is a real delight, her characters leap fully formed from the page, taking you into their confidence and all the while tender little snippets of romance start to twirl around, making the sizzle of sexual attraction between Dominic and Meg all the more tantalising.

A Gentleman’s Offer is pure historical escapism from start to finish, I enjoyed trying to work out how all the threads would come together and I finished this lovely story with a satisfied smile.

About The Author

Emma Orchard grew up in Salford and was given tickets to the grown-up library at the age of 11 because she’d read all the children’s books and the librarians were sick of the sight of her. She became obsessed with Georgette Heyer and hasn’t stopped reading her novels since. She studied English Literature at university and went on to work at Mills & Boon and behind the scenes in television and in publishing.

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