Review ~ The First Vet by Linda Chamberlain

Create Space
Independent Publishing Platform
2014

Taking its inspiration from the first veterinary college and its students, The First Vet opens in London in 1794, and focuses on the true story of Bracy Clark, an inspirational young vet who is passionate about his training, and more than a little concerned about the management of the college by the esteemed surgeon in charge. When Bracy sets out to confront Professor Edward Coleman about his management skills, he is unprepared for the effect that this meeting will have on his life and future happiness.

What then follows is an interesting and well-developed story which considers all the challenges of learning a new and vital skill in a time when veterinary practice, and horse husbandry in particular, was largely undervalued and viewed with more than a hint of suspicion. This is obviously a subject the author feels passionately about and therefore writes with great conviction and enthusiasm. The story flows well and there is a nice combination of the factual details which, when combined with a dash of illicit romance, adds an interesting dimension and helps to carry the story along.

Professionally produced to a high standard, with evocative cover art, the story sits very comfortably within the historical fiction genre and I have no hesitation in recommending this as an interesting and informative historical read. 

More about the author here
Twitter @lindyloocher

I reviewed this book for the Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews

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Review ~ Treason's Daughter by Antonia Senior

Atlantic Books
June 2015

The English Civil War pitted fathers against sons, brothers against brothers and whole families suffered as a result of a conflict which changed England forever. The cavalier army of King Charles I was no match against the rough and tumble of Cromwell's New Model Army.

The story opens in 1640 when Henrietta Challoner,  the beloved only daughter of  London merchant, Richard Challoner, is coming of age in a world where only sons really matter. However, Richard readily admits that his bright and beautiful daughter is more than a match for her brothers. When civil war beckons, the Challoner family face some tough decisions, and as father and sons find themselves on opposing sides, the prospects of the family looks decidedly grim and Henrietta is faced with an uncertain future.

What then follows is a compelling and beautifully written account of how the English civil war affected ordinary families. How daily living was turned upside down and of how the natural order of life was altered beyond repair. Henrietta is a feisty heroine, she is spirited and determined in the face of great danger. Her brother's Ned and Sam, both equally courageous, have difficult choices to make and it is their very different war experiences which add  depth to the story. Richard Challoner has his own very personal battle to face, which is equally disturbing.

The story draws you in from the beginning and conjures a time of great uncertainty. The politics of the time is explained well, with fine attention to detail and, if you have an interest in English history then this really is a compelling read.

Treason's Daughter is the author's debut novel. It it is interesting to learn that the she is already working on a sequel.

Antonia Senior

Amazon UK

 My thanks to Alison Davies at Atlantic books for my copy of this book.

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The author in my spotlight is .... Lorna Gray

Author 

of

Harper Impulse
21 May 2015

Lorna - I'm so pleased to welcome you to Jaffareadstoo...Can you tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing and what got you started?

To answer the last part first, like many authors, I wrote stories as a child. Of course I'd cringe if anyone got their hands on them now! But the love of writing has been a part of my life for a very long time. History has always been a big source of inspiration and latterly this has focused on the post-war period. It all finally came to the fore about six years ago when the first seeds of inspiration were sewn that became 1947 adventure In the Shadow of Winter.

And just to give you the full picture of Lorna Gray, I am also a book illustrator and archaeological illustrator. So creativity and reconstructing the past appear to have worked themselves into every aspect of my life! I live in the Cotswolds in a tiny house with my partner, our chickens (who are not allowed in the house though, no matter how that reads), a dog and a cat who are inseparable, and also a field full of ponies and goats.

 Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for your novel, In the Shadow of Winter?

I can still remember that first moment of inspiration vividly. I was out in the field with the animals late one wintery night when I first discovered a sense of the isolation and danger experienced by lead character Eleanor. I'd just been talking to an octogenarian neighbour about his experiences (he was fourteen at the end of WWII) so my mind was full of the hardships witnessed by these fields over sixty years before. It was very lonely in the valley and absolutely freezing, and in my imagination I saw her stumbling through the storms of 1947 to discover former love Matthew Croft and helping him, and subsequently finding that a police manhunt is set to follow him right to her door.

 Tell us three interesting things about your novel which will pique the reader’s interest?

Point number one: The History. In the Shadow of Winter is set in a real timeframe, immediately after the Second World War when Britain was in a very tight spot. It's the most fantastic period in which to set an adventure. Food shortages were worse than ever before and then the weather decided to hit the whole country with extraordinarily low temperatures, deep snows and incredible danger. Cities and urban areas were hit by power cuts (rural areas were exempt because they didn't have mains electricity anyway!) and one town ended up getting its electricity from a kindly submarine that moored up nearby and acted as generator. It would sound like fiction, only it isn't!

Point number two: The mystery. I can't tell you what happens because then it wouldn't be much of a mystery but I can say that suspicion, the police and the panicked flight of a desperate man beat a path to Eleanor's door … The adventure has been described as 'unputdownable', 'chilling', 'gripping' and variations to that effect.  Hopefully you'll agree.

Point number three: the romance. You know how these things usually go, where the main character and her hero meet in a chance encounter? The sparks fly and they just start to get along swimmingly and then something happens to cause a bust-up before, at long last, they finally work it all out? Well, in this book, we meet Eleanor after the bust up. The romance in her life is the acceptance of the past and coming to terms with it, and learning how to put her heart, and her feelings for the very enigmatic Matthew, back together again. I didn't set out to write it this way, but I really loved discovering how her sense of the past influenced her reactions now - now that she has the chance to begin again, if only she can weather the storm.

 What was the best experience you had while writing In the Shadow of Winter?

I'm not entirely sure this can count as the best experience, but it was certainly the funniest. I noticed that when I got to a stage where I was writing a conflict or argument between the hero and Eleanor, I start to have silly little arguments with my real world partner. I kept getting angry with him and I couldn't quite tell him why, until I realised that somehow I was blaming him for the things fictional hero Matthew had done. Which is daft given that I was the author of Matthew's actions in the first place! Sometimes it is possible, I've realised, to empathise a little too much with one's characters ...

In your research for the novel, did you discover anything which surprised you?

Very simply, the thing that surprised me the most was how willing people were to share their memories, and how different each person's perspective was of a major historical event such as that terrible winter.

When do you find the time to write, and do you have a favourite place to do your writing?

I write at any time of day I can - it squeezes itself in with sheer determination around many other things. I have a fantastic desk upstairs with a window looking out over the very countryside that is my inspiration. If I ever lose my way, I just look out and there it all is, ready to remind me.

Can you tell us if you have another novel planned?

Absolutely I can. I'm working on one at the moment. The latest work is set in a similar period, but warm. Definitely warm. I can't face any more blizzards for now, even imaginary ones!

More about Lorna on her website 

Follow Lorna on Twitter @MsLornaGray
Folow Harper Impulse on Twitter @HarperImpulse

Sharing my thoughts on In the Shadow of Winter

There's a real sense of danger in this suspenseful novel which focuses on the events which happen in a small Cotswold village over a short period of time in the winter of 1947.  

The end of the war has not brought prosperity for Eleanor Phillips, and as she ekes out a meagre living on her farm, she struggles to keep body and soul together. During a violent snowstorm Eleanor rescues a man who is clearly in need of shelter, but this man has secrets which will put Eleanor, her beloved farm and those closest to her in real danger.

What then follows is a beautifully written suspenseful story which reads comfortably, almost like Eleanor's memoir. You feel she is speaking just for you and in a few short words conjures a real sense of the freezing cold, the secluded isolation and the inherent danger. The mystery at the heart of the novel is well thought out and had me on the edge of my seat from the beginning. I really wanted everything to work out well for Eleanor and felt that she deserved some happiness.

I won't spoil any of the story by relating more of the plot as you really should read this for yourself to find out what happened. It's a perfect book to curl up, preferably with a huge pot of tea and some comforting homemade biscuits.

My thanks to Hayley Camis at Harper Impulse for my copy of this book.

And  also to Lorna Gray for her insightful answers to my questions and for sharing her book with Jaffareadstoo.

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Bloggers on the Blog....The Book Addicted Housewife

Bloggers on the blog


My latest feature showcases some of the best of the book blogging community. 

These are the unsung heroes who are constantly on the look out for new and exciting books 

and who give so generously of their time ,energy and expertise.

I am delighted to welcome

Lisa 


from the excellent blog


The Book Addicted Housewife

What makes you want to blog about books?

A lot of people blog about books and I think that my opinion is a valid as anyone else’s, so why not.  It’s a way of making a book I have loved last a bit longer, sharing it with other book lovers, maybe having a discussion, whereas if I didn’t blog I wouldn’t be able to ramble on about a book as I do, it would end and that would be that.  This way I can look back at my thoughts on a particular book so it’s also a bit of a journal for me.  I also love being involved with various authors through social media and they are all so grateful for reviews and recommendations that it makes it a double pleasure to write about their work. And it’s writing!  I always loved to write – letters, essays, stories and that has really fallen by the wayside with social media so it combines my love of reading with my love of writing.

What type of book makes you happy?

Most.  I’m not often disappointed by a book.  Sometimes it depends on my mood so I might like something light and romantic with a happy ending, sometimes a really good thriller with lots of twists and guesswork leaves me happy because it has really gripped me.  Sometimes I read something a bit darker that can make me feel sad but in a good way – like The Blind Assassin – I cried buckets but felt quite morbidly pleased afterwards!

Which book have you recommended the most?

I really don’t know but if someone were to ask me now for something original I would recommend Michelle Lovric’s The Book of Human Skin in a heartbeat.  It’s amazing.  It has history, intrigue, love; it’s dark, it’s witty, it’s captivating.  I haven’t read anything like it.

Which is the best book you received as a gift?

I have had many books as gifts but the three that stick in my mind the most were gifts from a family friend who I called Auntie; she bought me my first classic, Jane Eyre after I sat on Sunday afternoons watching the dramatization with her, I was about 8 then.  It was a really good copy.  Later she bought me Rebecca and The Scarlet Pimpernel, also really good copies because she knew I would look after them, read them and love them.  She always encouraged my reading and I still have those books and think of her when I look at them.

Which book has sent a shiver down your spine?

Michelle Paver’s Dark Matter genuinely made me shudder.  It is easily the eeriest, most atmospheric, playing-with-your-head book I have ever read.  As ‘ghost’ stories go it’s one of the best and possibly the most scariest thing is that the writing makes you imagine so much, she doesn’t even have to write anything scary, it’s all in your own head as you read.

How many books do you have, as yet unread, on your book shelves?

I'm guessing around 400 which is nothing compared to some people I know!

Tell me about a book you’ve read more than three times?

When I was 9 0r 10 I was infatuated with a book called Little O by Edith Unnerstad and every couple of months I would get it out of the school library and re-read it.  I loved it.  Little O was set in Sweden and she was the youngest child in a large family, her sisters were named after characters from Shakespeare - Desdemona and Miranda and she was Ophelia.  Little O was always getting into scrapes and adventures, it appealed because of the unknown (ie Sweden) and because of the large, happy family.  I'd love to read it again!

What’s your idea of book heaven or book hell?

I’m tempted to say book hell would be anywhere where books had been tossed on the floor and basically ill-treated.  I would have to pick them up and make them all good.  Even when I go in a shop where books have been rammed onto shelves and their covers are bent, I have to tidy them and straighten them up.  However that’s also a bit of book heaven because there’d be lots of books to look after and look at!  Real book hell would be to walk into a shop that only sold books by Jeffrey Archer and Zadie Jones!  Real book heaven would be to be able to have enough room to have every book I have ever read and loved on display.

Where is your favourite reading place?

I have my place where I always sit and anyone in the family who sits there knows to shift as soon as I make an entrance!  It’s the left hand corner of the sofa, next to the sofa table where I have everything essential to book reading – lamp, notebook for recording the books I have read, the book I am currently reading, my Kindle and quite possibly other books too.  I sit curled up in my corner with cushions piled around me and a drink to hand.

What has been your favourite book of the year...so far ?

 I seem to have read an awful lot of crime /psychological thriller books this year, so far, which have all been excellent but I recently read The Ice Twins by L.K Tremayne and found it fascinating and very cleverly done.  It certainly kept me guessing and a little freaked out.

Huge thanks to Lisa for giving so generously of her time.

Jaffa and I love visiting your blog

Long may it continue.





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A huge thanks to all the bloggers who have taken part in this feature over the last couple of months.

It's been such fun getting to know everyone.

A huge thanks to all the bloggers who have taken part in my recent Blogger on the Blog feature.

 It's been great fun getting to know everyone,


Liz - Liz Loves Books
Gill - The Book Magpie
Vicki - Off The Shelf Book Reviews
Susan - Mac Adventures (with Books)
Lisa W - Book Shelf Fantasies
Anne C - Random Things Through my Letterbox
Karen - My Reading Corner
Lindsay - My Little Library
Anne W - Being Anne
Peggy Ann - Peggy Ann's Post
Kate - Books with Bunny
Lisa R - Lisa Loves Books
Lainy - SO Many Books So Little Time
Janet - Beadyjan's Books
Leah - Reflections of a Reader
Lisa W - The Book Addicted Housewife.


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Sunday WW1 Poets...

This month's theme 

The Female Poets of the First World War

Charlotte Mary Mew

1869 - 1928

June , 1915

Who thinks of June’s first rose today?

Only some child, perhaps, with shining eyes and 

rough bright hair will reach it down.

In a green sunny lane, to us almost as far away

As are the fearless stars from these veiled lamps of town.

What’s little June to a great broken world with eyes gone dim

From too much looking on the face of grief, the face of dread?

Or what’s the broken word to June and him

Of the small eager hand, the shining eyes, the rough bright head?

Charlotte Mew was an English author and poet.Born in London, in 1869, she was the eldest of seven and grew up in a family doomed by tragedy. Her poetry is rich and varied, from post- modernism to dramatic monologues, with stark and often passionate themes, she conjures a time of great uncertainty.

I thought this poem was particularly relevant by its date.

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Review ~ Night after Night by Phil Rickman

Atlantic Books
Corvus
7 May 2015

Grayle Underhill is the researcher charged with the task of looking into the possibility of using the historic Knap Hall as a venue for a proposed reality TV production. Knap Hall, once a Tudor farmhouse, and more latterly the home of a now deceased celebrity with a tragic past, is a place of dark secrets and whilst the staff are good at keeping quiet about what happened there, there is a distinct feel that all is not right with either the house, or its inhabitants. Diverse ‘celebrities’ are put together, all of them are famous, but none of them are really known to each other. What then follows is a wry look at both celebrity culture,  the obsession with reality TV and the challenging world of the paranormal.

The book starts off slowly but I am sure that this is a deliberate ploy to draw the reader into the closeted world of Knap Hall. The scene setting is done with meticulous care and with the author's usual fine attention to detail, There is much to take in, both in terms of the history of the place, especially with its association with Sudeley Hall, and of the tragic Tudor Queen Katherine Parr, and with the motley selection of so called celebrities who all have their own angst ridden agendas.

The book is nicely creepy without ever being out and out terrifying, and yet, there is a distinct air of menace, which pervades throughout the whole of the story and for that reason this is probably not a story to read late at night.

Those readers who are familiar with the Will Kingdom* novels The Cold Calling and Mean Spirit will recognise a couple of the characters in this novel, but it really is not essential to have read these books, as Night after Night  stands on its own merits.


*Will Kingdom is a pseudonym used by Phil Rickman.


About the author

Amazon UK

My thanks to Alison at Atlantic Books / Corvus for my copy of this one.

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Review ~ Recipes for Melissa by Teresa Driscoll

Bookouture
5 June  2015

Eight year old Melissa Dance never had chance to say goodbye to the mother who baked her biscuits and cream scones. Seventeen years later, Melissa is handed her mother's journal;  a book which opens up, not just her mother's far too short a life, but which also gives Melissa the chance to find out more about her own hopes and dreams.

Throughout the novel the writing is warm and loving without ever resorting to over-sentimentality and allows a realistic glimpse into just how precious are our memories and of how, even though loved ones are gone from us, we can always carry them within our heart. The precious recipes which Melissa's mother included in her journal are delightful and add so much more to the novel.

The book has a fine cast of supporting characters , particularly Melissa's father who  has coped, for so long, with his own sadness. Melissa's relationship with her boyfriend, Max, which initially, is rather overshadowed by Melissa's need to find out more about her mother, is allowed to develop slowly and the interesting nuances of their burgeoning relationship are finely observed.

This is a beautifully written family story which is filled with the heartbreak of loss and the over riding power of the love that a mother has for her child. To say more about the plot would be to spoil the story entirely, and this is one book which needs to be read over the space of a sunny afternoon, preferably with a pot of tea and cream scone close at hand.

Amazon UK

My thanks to Kim at Bookouture for my copy of this book.

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