🌞 Summer Reading ~ The Hollywood Runaway by Alexandra Weston

Boldwood
30 August 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this novella to review

Liverpool, September 1932.

Miner's daughter Olivia Swift believed her future was clear-cut: a steady husband, a home, and a family of her own one day. But when a shocking secret shatters her wedding plans, Olivia makes a desperate, irreversible choice. With a one-way ticket to America, she abandons everything familiar for a terrifying unknown.

Far from England and her family, Olivia is adrift in a strange new world, the promise of excitement overshadowed by a growing dread. Can this runaway forge a new life from the ashes of her old one, or will her American dream remain just out of reach?

A reckless journey of escape...or a chance to start living again?

🌞My Review..

Having a narrow escape from an ill fated marriage night club singer, Olivia Swift makes a hasty decision to leave Liverpool on a one way ticket to America. Gradually over the 5 day voyage we learn more about Olivia, the fiancé she left behind and her growing friendship with two of her fellow passengers.

This is an ideal summery sort of read and coming in at just 131 pages, it’s great escapism for a sunny afternoon by the pool or in the garden. The author captures the excitement of a long sea voyage and introduces us to the unpredictable world of the night club singer in 1930s.  Olivia, and her friends, are all off to make a fresh start in a new world and this heady excitement is captured really well. 

Small, but perfectly formed, The Hollywood Runaway compliments the other books in this enjoyable golden age of Hollywood series by this talented writer of historical fiction.

About the Author

Alexandra Weston writes historical fiction. She has a MA in Creative Writing from York St John University. She has a lifelong passion for history and loves visiting stately homes, museums and old churches. She also writes fantasy as Alys West. She lives with her partner and a ginger cat called Wilf in East Yorkshire. She sings with her local community choir and loves live music, hanging out in bookshops and eating cake.

Facebook

Twitter #TheHollywood Runaway

Instagram
X@BoldwoodBooks

Book Review ~ Birds Don't Cry by Sandy Day

 

2020

My thank to the author for my ecopy of this book

Sometimes sisters and brothers don’t get along – even when they’re middle aged.

Kaffy Sullivan lives and works in the business her grandparents began in the 20th century. Reclusive and offbeat, Kaffy hopes to inherit the inn and, with the help of her sister-in-law, operate it for the rest of her life.

When an important publication makes a reservation, Kaffy is under pressure to get Sullivan House spruced up in time for the review. But Sylvia, who Kaffy depends on, has disappeared. She hasn’t shown up for work, and Kaffy’s bad-tempered brother doesn’t seem to care that his wife is missing.

Cracking under the pressure to get the inn ready, and more urgently, find Sylvia, Kaffy struggles through a harrowing nest of repressed memories and traumatic family rivalries.

For readers of women’s fiction and domestic thrillers, Birds Don’t Cry is a page turner that drops you directly into one family’s conflict and search for survivors.

What did I think about it..

Sometimes family secrets run deep and in this dysfunctional family there are lots of pressures  especially when conflict between family members threatens to ruin everything.

Kaffy Sullivan is hoping to inherit the aptly named Sullivan House and then run it with her sister-in-law, Sylvia. Kaffy is an interesting character, introspective by nature and the complete opposite to Sylvia, and yet the two women compliment each other, unlike Sylvia's husband, who seems to thwart everything with his own complicated agenda.

Birds Don't Cry is a family driven/character driven novella which explores the drama which comes from people who all have different motives and I think the author succeeds in bringing a certain amount of tension into the story whilst at the same time allowing the plot to build slowly. The author writes with enthusiasm and obviously enjoys story telling and bringing interesting characters to life, the mystery at the centre of the story is nicely explored and kept my attention.

About the Author

Photo Credit : Tony Hicks

Sandy Day is the author of Fred's Funeral, Chatterbox Poems, An Empty Nest, Head on Backwards Chest Full of Sand, and Birds Don't Cry. She graduated from Glendon College, York University, with a degree in English Literature sometime in the last century. Sandy is a trained facilitator for the Toronto Writers Collective’s creative writing workshops. She lives in Georgina, Ontario, Canada.

Website

Facebook

Amazon UK

🎄Blog Tour ~ Christmas at the Farmhouse by Rebecca Boxall

 

Thrilled to host one of  today's stops on this Blog Tour

Wild Fox Press
24 October 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and to Rachel's random Resources for my invitation to be part of this blog tour today

Can peace be made with the past this Christmas?

As the anticipation of Christmas builds in the Nielsen family’s cosy farmhouse, Jo, Magnus and their grown-up children begin to congregate for a hybrid Danish-Jersey festive season, each with a surprise of their own – though the surprise that arrives on Christmas Day is something nobody could have predicted.

Fifty years earlier, in 1969, Susan finds herself being pursued by Mr Jenners, her former English teacher, and at the age of seventeen is packed off to a Home for Unmarried Mothers in London by her uncompromising father. As Christmas approaches, all she can do is desperately hope to be rescued, but will anyone be able to reach her in time,

The two timelines of this festive story gradually weave together in a tale that examines whether love and hope can eventually triumph over even the deepest sadness.

🎄What did I think about it..

This story is so Christmassy that you can almost smell the chestnuts roasting and Christmas lunch gently steaming in the Aga. Throughout this gentle drama there is a lovely feel of family, true, this is definitely a family with secrets, but when it counts they all pull together, with parents, Jo and Magnus, doing their best to keep their Jersey-Danish family traditions alive.

It's not all about the here and now as there's also an intriguing story arc which features teenage  mother, Susan, who on discovering that she is pregnant in 1969 is sent off to have the baby at a home for unmarried mothers, a story which is both poignant and heartbreaking in equal measure. The author does a wonderful job of bringing these two stories into sharp focus, I was equally interested in joining in with Christmas at the Farmhouse with Jo, Magnus and the family as I was in travelling with Susan on her rather sad story in the 1960s.

The author writes well and builds up towards the Christmas surprise with a lovely light touch, making Christmas at the Farmhouse such a cosy, warmhearted, festive read.

About the Author

Rebecca Boxall was born in 1977 in East Sussex, where she grew up in a vicarage always filled with family, friends and parishioners. She now lives by the sea in Jersey with her husband, three children and Rodney the cat. She read English at the University of Warwick before training as a lawyer and also studied Creative Writing with The Writer’s Bureau. She is the bestselling author of Christmas at the Vicarage, Home for Winter, Christmas on the Coast, The Christmas Forest and Christmas by the Lighthouse and was nominated for the Romantic Novelist Association Awards in 2020.

Website

Facebook

Amazon UK

Book Review ~ Beach Hut Surprise - Sarah Mallory, Sophie Weston, Lesley Cookman,Liz Fielding,Joanna Maitland and Louise Allen ☼

Libertà
July 2020 

Who's there? Lovers, vampires… A body?

Little Piddling—now renamed Little Piddling sur Mer—is a resort with ambitions.

But odd things keep happening in Little Piddling. Especially among its delectable beach huts. They are a magnet for lovers and other, stranger, visitors.

Take a romantic stroll along the beach after dark and you might encounter more than you bargained for.

Six favourite authors let their hair down on the Piddling sands...

What did I think about it..

It’s been such a treat, over the past few days of this summer heatwave, to spend time in Little Piddling sur Mer with this bunch of talented authors. Each of the six stories, whilst all very different in content, share a common theme of being based around a row of beach huts nestled in this rather special coastal resort, all of which add an air of jollity and delight to each of the stories. 

Little Piddling sur Mer could be any number of seaside resorts I’ve visited over the years and in the hands of these six talented authors the place comes alive, whether it be at the height of its Edwardian splendour, an other worldly encounter in 1973, a mystery with a dark past, a troubled ghost with a hidden secret, a tale of vampires, or the case of the missing brewer, all are guaranteed to be quirkily different but equally entertaining. I found each novella really easy to get into and even before the first chapter was ended I felt like I was amongst some rather special friends who had just been waiting in the shadows and who were more than happy to brush away the dust from the nooks and crannies of the beach huts and were ready to reveal their story to me.

Unsurprisingly, all the authors of Beach Hut Surprise are successful in their own particular genre but in this anthology each of them have stepped out of their respective comfort zones and have delved into areas a little bit different to their norm, however, there is no doubt that each of the stories work really well and entertain from start to finish.

It would be difficult and entirely remiss of me to choose a favourite story from the six on offer as each have their own special appeal, and it becomes rather like choosing your favourite chocolate biscuit from a box of gourmet chocolate biscuits. There something deliciously different about each of them and yet collectively they become a perfect variety of entertaining stories. All six novellas are a perfect length for reading in an afternoon in the garden, or whiling way an hour or so socially distanced in the park.

You can read more about the background to the stories and the authors by clicking here

Follow on Twitter #BeachHutSurprise

@SarahMRomance

@sophiewestonbks

@CookmanCrime

@lizfielding

@joannamaitland

@LouiseRegency

@LibertaBooks

Amazon UK

Review ~ Butterfly In Frost by Sylvia Day

Montlake Romance
27 August 2019

My thanks to Midas PR for my copy of this book

Teagan Ransom has finally settled in a place she can call home, spending time with new friends she adores, focusing on a fulfilling job, whilst reconciling the past and laying the groundwork for the future.

That is until Garrett Frost moves in next door. He’s obstinate and too bold, a raging and disruptive force of nature. Teagan recognizes the ghosts that haunt him, the torment driving him. Garrett would be risky in any form, but wounded, he’s far more dangerous. Tegan fears he could pull apart everything she has worked so hard to build, but Garret’s too determined…and too tempting.

Emotional and heartrending, Butterfly in Frost marks a brilliant return by global sensation Sylvia Day, the No.1 international multi-million bestselling author of the Crossfire saga.

What did I think about it...

Teagan Ransom and Garrett Frost are new neighbours but their relationship is far from settled and despite there being an uneasy truce between them, there is, at times, a smouldering attraction which threatens to engulf them. And as the story progresses and we get to learn more about Teagan and Garret so an interesting story starts to emerge. There are some great moments within the story and for those who have read the Crossfire series there are a couple of references towards the characters who featured in this best selling series.

Fans of this author's work will already know that she writes about alpha males and feisty females and Butterfly in Frost is no exception, with the erotic content fairly sizzling on the page, and yet, far from being merely gratuitous sexual encounters, her novels are invariably imbued with heat, heart and passion. Teagan and Garrett are both fascinating characters, each with their own particular brand of angst which the author explores and during the course of the story we find out just how damaged they have both been by life circumstances.

Butterfly in Frost is a quick read, more novella length than novel, but I think that the author says everything she needs to within the space of the story. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised, now that the author has tested the waters with Teagan and Garrett, to see a full length novel, about these two fascinating characters, to emerge at some point in the future.

Read an extract from Butterfly in Frost by clicking here.

About the Author

Sylvia Day is the No.1 New York Times, No.1 USA Today & No.1 international bestselling author of over twenty award-winning novels translated into 41 languages. With tens of millions of copies of her books in print, she is a No.1 bestseller in 28 countries. Sylvia served as the 22nd President of Romance Writers of America and presently serves on the Authors Guild’s Board of Directors. Sylvia’s work has been coveredin Time, Variety, People, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Associated Press, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly.

Twitter @SylDay #ButterflyInFrost

@midaspr

Review ~ NEXUS by Alison Morton (Giveaway)

📖 Happy Publication Day 📖

12 September 2019
Novella
Roma Nova #4.5

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this book

Mid 1970s. Ex-Praetorian Aurelia Mitela is serving as Roma Nova’s interim ambassador in London. Asked by a British colleague to find his missing son, Aurelia thinks it will only be a case of a young man temporarily rebelling. He’s bound to turn up only a little worse for wear.

But a spate of high-level killings pulls Aurelia away into a dangerous pan-European investigation. Badly beaten in Rome as a warning, she discovers the killers have kidnapped her life companion, Miklós, and sent an ultimatum: "Back off or he’ll die."

But Aurelia is a Roma Novan and they never give up…

What did I think about it..

Nexus means a connection which links one or more things and that is just what happens in this clever novella which fits expertly between AURELIA and INSURRECTIO in the Aurelia Mitela Roma Nova adventures, and those readers who have read these alternate history novels will certainly recognise some of the characters who bring this story to life.

We catch up with Ex-Praetorian, Aurelia Mitela in the 1970s when she is serving as Roma Nova’s interim ambassador in London. Living with her eleven year old daughter, Marina, and continuing her close relationship with Miklós, Aurelia's life should be on an even keel but then she has a conversation with Harry Carter, a senior intelligencer, who is deeply concerned about his son, Tom, who has been missing for three days. Once she learns more about Tom's disappearance, Aurelia is determined to do all she can to discover his whereabouts, but, in doing so, puts her family at risk, and herself in grave danger.

I rather like this idea of connecting existing novels with a well placed novella and the author does this really well, bringing such attention to detail that you don’t feel cheated by reading a shorter story which doesn’t meet expectations. NEXUS is packed with everything we have come to expect, strong and determined women, a central plot which is both dramatic and exciting and a whole host of bad guys who come straight out of central casting.

With her usual panache the author has given us another exciting Roma Nova adventure which is filled with all the trademark details we know and love about ROMA NOVA. Whilst, of course, it is completely possible to read NEXUS as a standalone story, I read this one comfortably over the space of an afternoon, however, my best advise would be to start at the very beginning and enter the Roma Nova of this talented writer’s imagination.

About the Author

Author of INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, INSURRECTIO and RETALIO Roma Nova alternate history thrillers, CARINA (novella) and ROMA NOVA EXTRA (short stories). NEXUS (novella) out 12 September

Audiobooks available for the first four of the series: click here 

Subscribe to the author's newsletter: click here   (Free ebook!)

Twitter @alison_morton #RomaNova

✨✨Thanks to Alison's generosity here's the chance to win an e-copy of NEXUS✨✨

 (open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


✨✨ GOOD LUCK EVERYONE ✨✨

Instagram and Blog Tour ~ Fairlight Moderns

I'm really thrilled to be part of the Fairlight Moderns Blog Tour  

The Nail House by Gregory Baines

Fairlight Moderns
1 August 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this novella and the opportunity to be part of this blog tour

Lindon, an Australian project manager with a failed marriage behind him, is lured to China with the promise of a lucrative salary. His task: to solve the problem of a ‘Nail House’, the home of a stubborn old man who refuses to relocate, even as the bulldozers move in and the skyscrapers grow around him.

But as Lindon negotiates with the old man’s family, he finds sense where there is none. And love where there is war.

My thoughts..

Lindon has relocated to China having left a failed marriage behind in Australia. He soon finds that his new role as a project manager for a construction company hits problems right from the start as he discovers, to his cost, that he must first demolish a building which is known as a 'Nail House', a term  used when the owner of a property is offered money, so that the house in which they live can be demolished, but they refuse to budge despite a financial incentive.

Zhen Yi's parents live in the eponymous Nail House, and whilst Zhen is hoping to move away to live with her fiancé, she gets caught up in the complications concerning her family home, and so the repercussions linger, with both Lindon and Zhen Yi being drawn together over the space of the story. I was drawn into the complicated process of both of their lives, Lindon seems rather a gloomy individual, he's definitely out of his comfort zone in an unfamiliar environment, and struggles with lots of complicated emotions. Zhen Yi's confusion at her family's involvement only add to her overall sense that her life is spinning out of control.

The novella comes in at just around 152 pages and can be comfortably read in an afternoon, however, whilst it is a quick read, it's definitely not light on content. It's interesting to see how the story plays out with both Lindon and Zhen Yi's alternate chapters giving great insight into what is evolving from their own perspective.

The author writes knowledgeably, and manages to convey both atmosphere and intrigue. whilst at the same time keeping alive the integrity of the culture in which the story is set.

For Summer 2019 a collection of new short modern fictions from around the world

from Fairlight Modern

   

 

About the Author

Gregory Baines lives just outside Canberra, Australia. He has an arts degree from Newcastle University. He lived in China for thirteen years, where he also met his wife. There he wrote his first novel and had short stories published in anthologies and online.

Twitter @FairlightBooks #FairlightModerns

Author spotlight ~ J J Marsh

Today on the blog I am delighted to welcome back the author

 J J Marsh

The Story of a Story

There’s nothing new about stories begetting stories. We’re familiar with the frame story, where a larger narrative houses many smaller stories, such as The Canterbury Tales or Scheherazade’s 1001 Nights. Fan fiction is hugely popular, the most well-known example being Fifty Shades of Grey. We also have spin-offs, in which a minor character from one narrative strikes out alone, or another author picks up where the plot left off. At least ten authors, including Sebastian Faulks and Anthony Horowitz, have written new Bond novels since the death of Ian Fleming. This is a story of a book with a book.

One day while I was walking the dogs, an idea popped out of nowhere. It was the story of Nancy Maidstone. As the old adage goes, writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. True, but when inspiration does strike, it’s a rush like nothing else. When I got home, I wrote down the basics of the tale as a short story and gave it a title: An Empty Vessel. Then I went back to writing my crime novels, The Beatrice Stubbs Series. 

But it kept turning up, almost against my will. A character waiting in a hotel bar is reading a book called An Empty Vessel. My lead detective writes the combination to her safe next to the fourth line on page 44 of the fourth book on her bookshelf. The book? An Empty Vessel, by Vaughan Mason. In my most recent release, Snow Angel, an author is poisoned. His fame is long-distant yet Vaughan Mason was a darling of the literati in the 1960s, thanks to his sensitive portrayal of women in An Empty Vessel. When the true provenance of his most famous work is revealed, a whole new story opens up.

Finally, I had to write this mysterious book which flits in and out of my European detective series. It was time to sit down and turn that short story into a novella. After eight crime novels, I was ready to try writing in another genre. Why not literary historical fiction? Diving into research on the 1950s, studying speech styles according to class, finding a completely different authorial style and bringing these pencil sketch characters into full colour was certainly a learning curve, but also a pleasure. 

An Empty Vessel by Vaughan Mason was published on 7 March 2019. Finally, I felt I’d done my duty to Nancy Maidstone.

Prewett Bielmann Ltd
7 March 2019

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this book

Today’s the day Nancy Maidstone is going to hang.

In her time, she’s been a wartime evacuee, land-girl, slaughterhouse worker, supermarket assistant, Master Butcher and defendant accused of first degree murder. Now she’s a prisoner condemned to death. A first time for everything.

The case has made all the front pages. Speculation dominates every conversation from bar to barbershop to bakery. Why did she do it? How did she do it? Did she actually do it at all? Her physical appearance and demeanour in court has sparked the British public’s imagination, so everyone has an opinion on Nancy Maidstone.

The story of a life and a death, of a post-war world which never had it so good, of a society intent on a bright, shiny future, and of a woman with blood on her hands.

This is the story of Nancy Maidstone.

My thoughts..

With the passage of time I think we have forgotten about the dreadful impact of having the death sentence in operation, and the effect it had on the general population. Reminiscent of a very different time in our culture, the author has captured both the sombre mood of speculation, and also the prurient curiosity, and yes, animosity towards a woman who could allegedly kill someone in cold blood.

From the start of An Empty Vessel we know what Nancy Maidstone is facing because right from page one the judge utters those fateful words, 'hanged by the neck until you are dead'  and just how she got to this point in her short life is what makes this story such a fascinating read, as not only do we get Nancy's version of events, we also get to witness what others around her thought about what was happening, and of course, in a situation like this everyone, from her friends at work, to the warders in the jail, all had their own opinion.

As the story progresses I found that I was becoming increasingly fond of Nancy. She's a strong woman whose situation in life hasn't always been the easiest, and yet, thanks to this author's clever writing, there's also an aching vulnerability which made me constantly speculate about the inevitable outcome.

There's sometimes a tendency when reading a novella to feel a bit let down when the story ends, because its either been too short a read or, in some cases, too long and would have been better being a novel. However, in An Empty Vessel, I think the author has got the balance just right, there's more than enough content to make the story flow really well, and even though the 1950s are still very close to us, historically, I think that the author has captured the ambiance of this very different time to perfection.

About the Author

Writer, journalist, teacher, actor, director and cultural trainer, Jill has lived in Africa, the Middle East and all over Europe.

Nowadays, she is a full-time writer, founder member of Triskele Books, co-editor of Zürich literary hub The Woolf, European correspondent for Words with JAM,reviewer for Bookmuse and professional copywriter.

She lives with her husband and three dogs in a small Swiss village, where in an attic overlooking a cemetery, she writes.

Twitter @JJMarsh1

Facebook

Purchase Link

Book Feature ~ The Darkest Hour Anthology, WWII Tales of Resistance

22 January

WW2. When the world falls to terror and tyranny reigns…

...how far would you go to resist?

Would you risk your own life or the lives of the ones you love?

From a young Jewish woman in love fighting her way out of the Warsaw ghetto, to a Czech assassin rising above his fears for an attempt on a Nazi Hangman’s life, to a daughter who vows to avenge her family by taking down a Japanese commander, and a French boy's touching act of defiance no matter how small.

Come and get a glimpse of the invisible side of WWII - the Resistance, those who refuse to bow down to brutality.

Hold your breath and hope for the best in the darkest of times, when our heroes and heroines risk all to defy evil so the light of freedom will shine over their countries again.

The Darkest Hour Anthology, WWII Tales of Resistance includes ten never before published novellas by ten of today’s bestselling WWII historical fiction authors.

Bubbe’s Nightingale by Roberta Kagan

Catriona’s War by Jean Grainger

Reluctant Informer by Marion Kummerow

Killing the Hangman by Ellie Midwood

The Moon Chaser by Alexa Kang

Enemy at the Gate by Mary D. Brooks

The Occupation by Deborah Swift

Code Name Camille by Kathryn Gauci

V for Victory by John R McKay

Sound of Resistance by Ryan Armstrong

All proceeds will be donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

 in Washington DC 

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this novella

I was approached by John R. McKay the author of one of the novellas which can be found in this anthology.

V for Victory tells the story of thirteen year old Charles Mercier who has a fierce determination to see his beloved Paris free of Nazi oppression.

There's a tendency to suppose that all resistance fighters during WW2 were adults but this novella shows that young people, who we would consider still to be children, had just as much passionate zeal when it came to fighting for what they believed to be right. Thirteen year old Charles Mercier is moved to dramatic action when one of his schoolteachers draws a V for Victory sign on the blackboard and so with a fierce determination Charles sets out to do his bit for the war effort.

For a novella, V for Victory packs a powerful punch both in terms of creating the scene, which it does very well, I especially enjoyed the vivid description of the German army's triumphant march along the Champs Élysées, and also in terms of story content which is filled with a real sense of both history and adventure. It's quite poignant in places which goes to show just how scary it must have been to live during this dark time in world history and how brave Charles was as he tried to put right some of the wrongdoings.

V for Victory is just one of the ten stories on offer in this anthology and from reading the descriptions of each of the individual stories I am sure that they all do justice to the subject of the resistance during WW2.

The anthology will be published on the 22nd January 2019 and is donating all proceeds to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. The collection will be available in this  for just a few months. It is available to pre-order now from Amazon UK

Website

Twitter #darkesthouranthology

Canons ~ #TheMyths

 I am delighted to be able to feature this collection of lovely novellas in a bold retelling of legendary tales by the world's best contemporary writers

Published in August 2018

The six most popular myths have been beautifully packaged in a stunning series redesign.

In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong holds up the mirror of mythology to show us the history of ourselves, and embarks on a journey that begins at a Neanderthal graveside and ends buried in the heart of the modern novel.

My thoughts:

This is a good introduction to the concept of myth and how the history of our people has evolved through the myths and legends of our past. The author writes well and explains how myths carry us forward into our future whilst recognising the power of the past. 

Condemned to shoulder the world forever by the gods he dared defy, freedom seems unattainable to Atlas. But then he receives an unexpected visit from Heracles, the one man strong enough to share the burden.

My thoughts:

The story of Atlas and Heracles is re-told in this imaginative interpretation by Jeanette Winterson. Interesting and thought-provoking, Weight is a new slant on an old, old story. 

Penelope. Immortalised in legend and myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband’s return. Now Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story - a tale of lust, greed and murder.

My thoughts:

The deft hand of Margaret Attwood is very much in evidence in this version of the story of Penelope and Odysseus. It is not a story I was very familiar with, and so to have this very readable version was a very good introduction to this ancient story of lust, greed and murder.

This is the story of two brothers. One is impassioned and one reserved. One is destined to go down in history and the other to be forgotten.

In Pullman’s hands, this sacred tale is reborn as one of the most enchanting, thrilling and visionary stories of recent years.

My Thoughts:

In this modern retelling of the life of Jesus, Philip Pullman adds a new twist to the old story. Cleverly constructed, and with a style of writing that has universal appeal, this book has a resonance that remains long after the last page is turned.

In exhilarating and lucid prose, Grossman gives us a provocative new take on the story of Samson: his battle with the lion, the three hundred burning foxes, the women he bedded, the one he loved and who betrayed him and the destruction of the temple. It reveals the journey of a lonely and tortured soul, whose search for a true home echoes our own private struggles.

My thoughts:

The Myth of Samson and Delilah so much the subject of books and films, is such an iconic story that it is to the author's credit that he has brought something new to the table. I thoroughly enjoyed this interpretation of the struggles of Samson.

Girl meets boy. It’s a story as old as time. But what happens when an old story meets a brand new set of circumstances? Ali Smith’s remix of Ovid’s most joyful metamorphosis is a story about the kind of fluidity that can’t be bottled and sold. It is about girls and boys, girls and girls, love and transformation, a story of puns and doubles, reversals and revelations.

My thoughts:

I think of this set of Myths, this one has to be my favourite. The retelling of Ovid's story of Iphis and Ianthe seemed to have a very modern feel to it and the variability of gender, of girls who are like boys, and boys who are like girls, seems particularly apt for a modern readership.

Find out more at Canongate The Myths

Twitter @CanongateBooks #TheMyths

My thanks to Canongate for my review copies of the Myths

Blog Tour ~ Fairlight Moderns

✨ Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be involved in the Fairlight Moderns Blog Tour ✨

A collection of new short modern fictions from around the world

The books in the novella series are: Inside the Bone Box by Anthony Ferner, Travelling in the Dark by Emma Timpany, There are Things I Know by Karen B. Golightly, Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn, The Driveaway Has Two Sides by Sara Marchant. 

Most of the authors within the series are award-winning literary short story or flash fiction writers who are turning to longer fiction for the first time.

✩ Here's a taster of what they are all about ✩

Fairlight Moderns
11 July 2018

Nicholas Anderton is a highly respected neurosurgeon at the top of his field. But behind the successful façade all is not well. Tormented by a toxic marriage and haunted by past mistakes, Anderton has been eating to forget. His wife, meanwhile, has turned to drink.

There are sniggers behind closed doors – how can a surgeon be fat, they whisper; when mistakes are made and his old adversary Nash steps in to take advantage, Anderton knows that things are coming to a head.

My thoughts...

Stressed and harassed in both his personal and professional life, Nicholas Anderton, a once respected neurosurgeon, is the total embodiment of a life that has lost all meaning. Turning to gluttonous eating is not the answer but for Nicholas it's a means of escape from the poison that infiltrates his life. Perceptively and intuitively written Inside the Bone Box is a fascinating look at the vagaries of human nature.

My thanks to the publishers for my proof copy of this novella.

_______________________________

Fairlight Moderns
11 July 2018

Travelling back to her home town with her young son, Sarah is ready to face up to what she ran away from ten years ago.

As delays and diversions force her to return to well-known places from her youth, Sarah reflects on the relationships with her family and the events of the past that have shaped her present.

Set in the wild, beautiful and unreliable landscape of southern New Zealand, Emma Timpany’s novella is an evocative story of a woman coming to terms with her past.

My thoughts...

Travelling in the Dark is a quietly reflective story which links the present whilst rationalising the past. Set against the wildness of Southern New Zealand, both the place and the people come beautifully alive. There’s a lyrical quality to the narrative which I thought beautifully expressed the emotion of returning to a place where memories run deep.

My thanks to the publishers for my proof copy of this novella.

_______________________________

Fairlight Moderns
11 July 2018

Eight-year-old Pepper sees the world a little differently from most people.

One day, during a school field trip, Pepper is kidnapped by a stranger and driven to rural Arkansas. The man, who calls himself ‘Uncle Dan’, claims that Pepper’s mother has died and they are to live together from now on – but the boy isn’t convinced.

Pepper always found it hard to figure out when people are lying, but he’s absolutely certain his mother is alive, and he’s going to find her.

My thoughts...

There Are Things I Know is a beautifully observed story which has a very dark theme at its core and yet, there is a real sense of connection with eight year old Pepper who, it must be said, is the real hero of this tale. Perceptive, insightful and succinctly written there is never a word wasted or an emotion unexpressed.

My thanks to the publishers for my proof copy of this novella.

_______________________________

Fairlight Moderns
11 July 2018

When Alina’s brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her husband become persons of interest to the secret services, causing both of their careers to come grinding to a halt.

As the strain takes its toll on their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for help – the wife of a communist leader and a secret practitioner of the old folk ways.

Set in 1970s communist Romania, Sophie van Llewyn’s novella-in-flash draws upon magic realism to weave a tale of everyday troubles, that can’t be put down.

My thoughts...

Romania in the days of its oppression is the focus for Bottle Goods which is quite a dark little story in places and yet, the whole of this novella-in-flash is tempered by some light touches of magical realism which bring the story alive in a very different sort of way. I enjoyed the short vignettes and the flash fiction approach to the individual chapters.

My thanks to the publishers for my proof copy of this novella.

 ___________________________

Fairlight Moderns
11 July 2018

On an East Coast island, full of tall pine moaning with sea gusts, Delilah moves into a cottage by the shore. The neighbours gossip as they watch her clean, black hair tied back in a white rubber band. They don’t like it when she plants a garden out front – orange red carpinus caroliniana and silvery blue hosta. Very unusual, they whisper.

Across the driveway lives a man who never goes out. Delilah knows he’s watching her too and she likes the look of him, but perhaps life is too complicated already.

My thoughts...

Delilah arrives in a small East Coast tourist town and turns the lives of three men completely upside down. Beautifully written and with a fine eye for even the smallest of detail, The Driveway Has two Sides is an interesting story about the fundamentals of identity and how we keep so much hidden, not just from ourselves but also from others.

My thanks to the publishers for my proof copy of this novella.

More Information 

 Visit the Website

Follow on Twitter @FairlightBooks #FairlightModerns

Find on Facebook Facebook