Blog Tour ~ The Black Earth by Philip Kazan

Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to host today's stop of The Black Earth Blog Tour

Allison & Busby
19th April 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book and to Random Things Tours for the invitation
 to be part of this Blog Tour

Whats it all about...

1922. When the Turkish Army occupies Smyrna, Zoë Haggitiris escapes with her family, only to lose everything. Alone in a sea of desperate strangers, her life is touched, for a moment, by a young English boy, Tom Collyer, also lost, before the compassion of a stranger leads her into a new life. Years later when war breaks out, Tom finds himself in Greece and in the chaos of the British retreat, fate will lead him back to Zoë. But he will discover that the war will not end so easily for either of them.

My thoughts about it...

This atmospheric and evocative novel takes us back to the dark days of the Greek occupation during WW2. We follow the fortunes of Greek singer, Zoe Valavani and British Officer, Lieutenant Tom Collyer, two very different characters, whose shared wartime experiences become an absolutely integral part of the story. 

That Zoe has had a difficult start to life is beautifully observed, but it is her absolute tenacity to survive which will see her through the worst of what life has to offer. Tom is on active duty in Greece when he rescues Zoe from a road side tragedy, and even though their lives are so very different, fate links them in ways that they could never have imagined. 

The Black Earth is on all levels an emotional story. Beautifully written by an a writer who really knows how to get right into the heart and soul of a story, the narrative is really well controlled, so that it never becomes overly graphic or overly sentimental, but with eloquent precision it certainly gets its message across. 

From the very start of the novel, Zoe is a worthy protagonist, feisty, determined and so beautifully depicted that her character literary leaps off the page, and even as a child facing the most devastating loss imaginable, her strength of character and formidable spirit will see her fight to survive in a world that seems to have gone mad. Tom is very much a product of his British upbringing, his loyalty and bravery knows no bounds and throughout the story, he will need every ounce of his  British stoicism and military training to survive. 

Zoe’s eventful life in Greece, her relationship with her brother, Pavlo and her connection to Tom, form an emotional backdrop to a story which is both heart breaking and dramatic in equal measure. There is an absorbing intensity to the novel which I found compelling and the detailed and emotional description of living life in a war zone comes across so vividly that I could picture everything so very clearly; it was as if the place and the characters came alive in my imagination. 

Caught within the boundaries of an occupied war zone, there is much to consider in The Black Earth, not just about the effects of war on a country and its people, but also about the loss of connection and identity and of the constant struggle for survival.

About the Author

Facebook

Twitter @pipkazan #TheBlackEarth

@AllisonandBusby

Website

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ Secrets of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the 

Secrets of the Shipyard Girls Blog Tour

Arrow Books
21 September 2017

The third book in the compelling saga series The Shipyard Girls 

Perfect for fans of Donna Douglas and Ellie Dean

Sunderland, 1941

As the world war continues the shipyard girls face hardships at home, but work and friendship give them strength to carry on.

Gloria is smitten with her newly arrived bundle of joy, but baby Hope’s first weeks are bittersweet. Hope's father is missing at sea, and with their future as a family so uncertain, Gloria must lean on her girls for support.

Meanwhile, head welder Rosie has turned her back on love to keep her double life secret. But her persistent beau is determined to find out the truth and if he does, it could ruin her.

And there is finally a glimmer of hope for Polly and her family when Bel and Joe fall in love. But it isn’t long before a scandalous revelation threatens to pull them all apart.

My thoughts:

Even if you haven't read the previous books in this wartime saga series it is very easy to pick up the gist of the back story as the author is very good at explaining what has happened before and I quickly became accustomed to the central characters and enjoyed reading of their lives and loves in war time Sunderland. That these women were able to keep such a vital industry, as the shipyards functioning, and doing so with great success, is testament to their strength of spirit.

In this third volume of stories about The Shipyard Girls we focus on lives of Gloria, Rosie and Bel. All are strong and feisty women, but they each have something hidden in their backgrounds which threaten their future happiness. They are all employed at the shipyard of J. L. Thompson in Sunderland and even though their work is tough and often fraught with danger, the camaraderie between the women is palpable and heart-warming and, as they all look out for each other, so their lives become intertwined.

The author writes with a real sense of history and using her local knowledge of the area is able to bring both the place and its people to life. The characters are entertaining and appealing with some perhaps more likeable than others. But always, there is a real sense of purpose and an authenticity, bringing everything to life in such a vibrant way, that you can’t help but become emotionally involved in each of their stories. The plot weaves together well, and there are more than enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages until all the hidden secrets are revealed.

The fourth book in the series, Shipyard Girls in Love publishes 22nd March 2018 and is available to pre order now.

About the author:

Nancy Revell is a writer and journalist under another name, and has worked for many national newspapers, providing them with hard-hitting news stories and in-depth features. She has also worked for just about every woman’s magazine, writing amazing and inspirational true life stories.

Nancy has recently relocated back to her home town of Sunderland,Tyne & Wear, with her husband Paul and their English Bull Mastiff, Rosie.

They live a short walk from the beautiful, award-winning beaches of Roker and Seaburn, within a mile of where The Shipyard Girls series is set. The subject is close to Nancy’s heart as she comes from a long line of shipbuilders, who were well-known in the area.

Follow the rest of the Blog Tour on Twitter @arevellwalton

@arrowpublishing

Thanks to Clare at Penguin Random House for my review copy of Secrets of the Shipyard Girls and the kind invitation to be part of this blog tour.

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Review ~ Map of Stars by Catherine Law

Zaffre
Bonnier Publishing
2016

A bit of blurb...

Love and duty, codes and spies - a tear-jerking wartime romance for fans of Rachel Hore, Kathryn Hughes and Leah Fleming

Kent, 1939. Eliza is to be married to Nicholas, her companion since she was a child. But when the pair are involved in a car crash, Eliza is rescued by a stranger, Lewis Harper, who she struggles to forget.

As the war begins, Eliza's world begins to fall apart: her beloved brother Martyn is killed in action, and her once-beloved husband grows increasingly distant. And then, when her efforts to help the Dunkirk evacuees take her to the south coast, she spots Lewis in the crowd.

Torn between passion and duty, Eliza must choose whether to follow her conscience or her heart. But wartime has plenty of its own dangers, and with spies infiltrating even the country houses of Kent, Eliza must find the courage to serve her country in even the most heart-breaking circumstances.

A beautiful story of star-crossed lovers, Map of Stars is another brilliant wartime saga from Catherine Law.

My thoughts about the story..

Map of Stars opens in 1967 with a lengthy prologue which introduces us to Eliza Staveley and her life at Forstall Manor, an Elizabethan house which gleams in the sunshine. Life for Eliza appears, on the surface, to be settled, but her daughter, Stella’s return to Fortsall opens up long forgotten memories for Eliza, and when an unexpected event occurs, Eliza is immediately taken back in time to 1939 and to the war years spent as a young wife at Forstall.

The book is nicely written with a well plotted mystery which looks at Eliza’s life in wartime Kent, it observes her relationship with her husband Nicholas, and of her attraction to Lewis Harper, an enigmatic stranger who once rescued her from harm. Interspersed throughout is the story of how people adapted to the changed circumstances of wartime and showed just how quickly events could spiral out of control. 

I like the way that the author has brought her characters to life, particularly Eliza, who I rather liked from the start. I admired her feistiness and in a world which was all too often dominated by her male counterparts, Eliza was able to find her own voice in this emotive story about war time romance, the danger of espionage and the thrill of forbidden love. War time England with all its associated problems is well explained and there is a nice sense of time and place.

Best read with …strong tea from enamel cups and a slice or two of Eliza’s cinnamon cake, warm from the oven.

More about the Author

Photo credit :David Berger

Catherine Law was born in Harrow, Middlesex and has been a journalist for twenty-two years, having trained first as a secretary at the BBC an then attending the London College if Printing. She now works on a glossy interiors magazine and live in Buckinghamshire.

There is more about the Author on her website Click here

Find her on Facebook Click here

Follow on Twitter @cathmarialaw

My thanks to Carmen at Bonnier Zaffre for my review copy of Map of Stars

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