His Fic Saturday ~ Lancelot by Giles Kristian

On His Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ....Arthurian Britain

Corgi
2 May 2019

My thanks to A M Heath, Author's Agent,  for my Twitter prize copy of this book

Set in a 5th century Britain besieged by invading bands of Saxons and Franks, Irish and Picts, Giles Kristian's epic new novel tells - in Lancelot's own words - the story of the most revered yet reviled of all Arthur's knights, the warrior who fought at his lord's side - yet stole his wife. This is the story of one of the great figures of British myth and legend - a story ready to be re-imagined for our times.

What did I think about it..

The myths and legends of our isles and islands form the backdrop to our history and there is no legend finer that that of Lancelot, King Arthur and Guinevere. Born in Gaul, son of King Ban and Queen Elaine, Lancelot and his family are forced to flee following the destruction of their court by the villainous, King Claudas. However, for Ban's straggling court taking refuge is no guarantee of safety and Lancelot soon discovers that his life is about to take a very different turn. His association with the Lady Nimue and his first introduction to the druid, Merlin, is done with fine attention to detail both in using what is known in legend, and also by describing realistically what it may have been like to grow to maturity in 5th century Britain, when marauding Saxons, Franks and Picts were constant sources of danger.

There's a sense, right from the start of the story, that Lancelot is bound for greatness and the author takes us through Lancelot's progression from green boy, to glorious knight, with such a perfect eye for detail that the rich appreciation of this warrior knight's contribution to the mythology of our landscape is embedded with every word.

I was quickly drawn into the story and mesmerized by the richness of the historical detail which is wonderfully descriptive and yet, there's also a magical lyricism to the language which reflects the storytelling ability of those troubadours who sat in smoky halls recounting tall tales of forgotten lands and brave warriors. What emerges, in sublime detail, is a complete picture of Lancelot, the man of legend, who grew from frightened boy, into a man of worth, and whose love for a beautiful and captivating woman would eventually bring down a kingdom.

There is no doubt that the author is absolutely at the top of his game and continually brings history alive in stunning detail. It is my belief that Lancelot is one of his strongest books to date and I don't say that lightly, as I still think that his novel The Bleeding Land about the English Civil War is one of the best historical novels I have read on that difficult subject, and yet, in terms of emotional connection and bringing complicated mythology to life, Lancelot surpasses everything I thought I knew about the Arthurian legend. It's brilliant and bold, strong and tender, and re-imagined so beautifully that you feel as if you have stepped back in time with Arthurian Britain opened up to scrutiny and with Lancelot's destiny as painful and as poignant as ever.

About the Author

Family history (he is half Norwegian) and a passion for the fiction of Bernard Cornwell inspired the author to write. His best selling trilogies 'Raven' and the 'Rise of Sigurd' have been acclaimed by his peers, reviewers and readers alike. The novels The Bleeding Land and Brothers' Fury tell the story of a family torn apart by the English Civil War and he co-wrote Wilbur Smith's No.1 best seller,Golden Lion. With  his Sunday Times bestseller Lancelot Giles plunges into the rich and swirling waters of our greatest islands 'history': the Arthurian legend. Giles Kristian lives in Leicestershire.

Website

Twitter @GilesKristian

@TransworldBooks

@AMHeathLtd

Review ~ Sven and the Purse of Silver by Michael E. Wills

Silverwood Books
May 2019

Illustrated by Viviene Shepphard

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

Sven’s father is a prisoner in a faraway country. There is a way to get him free and Sven knows how to do it, but he will need help. An offer of assistance comes from a very unexpected and frightening source. Will Sven be brave enough to accept it?

What did I think about it..

Our introduction to nine year old Sven, who lived a thousand years ago in a place called Sweden,  starts this adventurous story which is aimed at younger readers.

Sven watched his father set sail to the Land of the Rus with his words echoing that he would return to Sven.. "when the birds fly south before the winter.. I will be coming home with silver and presents for your mother and you.." But although he watched and waited, Sven's father did not return as promised, and therein starts Sven's intrepid adventure to rescue his father from the Land of the Rus.

The story is aimed at younger readers and is simply told but with enough adventure to hold the imagination and there are some quite beautiful illustrations which really help to bring the narrative alive. I can well imagine that young readers will thoroughly enjoy Sven's adventures because he is quite an intrepid character. His quest to find his father is filled with a sense of danger and a lovely magical element which reminded me of an adventuresome fairy story.

Coming in at 35 pages, Sven and the Purse of Silver is just the right length of story for a comfortable bedtime read and I am sure that confident young readers will find much to enjoy when Sven's adventure gets underway. Equally, it's also the right sort of length to be comfortably read over a couple of evenings as a bedtime story and I would imagine that the grown up will enjoy it too, I know I did !

Sven and the Purse of Silver is out now and published by Silverwood Books

About the Author

Michael Wills was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight and attended the Priory Boys School and Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter’s College, Birmingham, before working at a secondary school in Kent.

Website

Twitter @MWillsofSarum

@SilverWoodBooks


Purchase Link

Summer Read ~ The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson

 ✨ And it's a very Happy Publication Day for this wonderful summer read ✨

Simon&Schuster

11 July 2019

My thanks to the publishers and edpr for my copy of this book

Behind every successful man is a woman. 

Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

Sophie Mayhew looks like she has the perfect life. Wife of rising political star John F Mayhew her glamour matches his looks, power, breeding and money. But all is not as it seems on the surface. And Sophie has had enough.

Stepping out of his shadow and taking time away to think, she finds herself part of a community that warms her soul and makes her feel as if she is breathing  properly for the first time. Now she must decide where does her future lie?

What did I think about it..

Blonde, beautiful, and with impeccable breeding, Sophie Mayhew is the perfect trophy wife for an up and coming politician. Always relied upon to do and say the right thing, Sophie astounds the gathered media when the words she utters are not those of her husband's spin doctor, whose attempt to mitigate John's latest misdemeanor backfires spectacularly. Fleeing to a place of safety, Sophie takes a good long look at her life, and finds comfort and friendship in the most unlikely of places.

In many ways this is a very timely novel especially in light of the political shenanigans which, quite possibly, go on behind the scenes as spin doctors seek to mitigate mistakes made by those who seek high office, and yet, this is not a political book. It's a lovely warmhearted story of a magnificent woman who has, quite simply, reached the end of her tether, and who looks to heal the wounds of indifference by going to the one place her husband would never look to find her.

As always, the author writes with an instinctive eye for what makes people tick and with such warmth that I can hear her characters speaking very clearly to me as they go about their literary adventures. Sophie is, perhaps, one of my favourite characters ever and I found that I was cheering with glee one minute as she deals with a dreadful situation, and then reading with a huge lump in my throat the next as she attempts to find out just what she wants from her life. Such is the pull of the story that, I quite literally, carried the book from room to room as I didn't want to put it down. There's an amazing cast of strong characters and I won't say too much about them as I don't want to give any thing away but I found that my heart melted on more than one occasion ♡

I think, as readers, we all have a literary first aid box, you know it well, it's that group of authors who will never let you down, whose stories bring you entertainment and laughter, and whose words comfort you when you're feeling down and a bit jaded. Milly Johnson is, most definitely, in my literary first aid box, she makes me laugh out loud, she also makes me cry, but consistently her good Yorkshire commonsense and sound judgement make her novels, for me, such a joy to read.

The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew kept me engrossed from start to finish and it's high on my list as a magnificent summer read.

About the Author

MILLY JOHNSON is a Sunday Times Top 5 bestselling author of sixteen novels with millions of copies of her novels sold to date. Known as the‘Queen of Feel-Good Fiction’, Milly’s novels always feature friendship,family, love, betrayal, good food and that little bit of magic in life that sometimes visits the unsuspecting. Milly is a columnist for her local newspaper and is an experienced broadcaster on radio and TV. She is also patron of several local charities with community, literacy and animal welfare issues close to her heart.

  Twitter @millyjohnson #BeMagnificent

@simonschusterUK

@ed_pr

Blog Tour ~ A Fatal Game by Nicholas Searle

It's great to be hosting today's blog tour stop for this action packed thriller

Viking
4 July 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and the invitation to host today's blog tour stop

A terrorist attack has just hit a busy railway station. Jake Winter was the British intelligence officer in charge of stopping the attack and now his career, and his conscience, are in freefall...

Jake's next anti-terror operation has to be a success. He has got himself a new source - a young British Asian man, Rashid, recently returned, apparently disillusioned, from battle, who he hopes is the key to foiling the next attack and to getting Jake to the leader of the network. But is Rashid really working for British intelligence, or has Jake put his faith in the wrong man once again?

A Fatal Game is the story of an organization, and a single man, in a state of panic. And panic is the last thing you need when you're playing a game like this...

What did I think about it..


It's testament to the sign of our times when this glimpse into the mindset of a terrorist organisation, both from the insider dealings of the terrorists and also from those who seek to protect the public from harm, is such a fascinating and timely read.

When a surveillance goes horribly wrong, Jake Winter, a British intelligence officer, feels the full force of public condemnation but with a heightened sense of danger comes an obligation to get it absolutely right next time. Using contacts within a terrorist organisation is a brave and determined move but is not without considerable danger and it is this dangerous aspect which is explored in detail. A Fatal Game is one of those stories in which you're never quite sure who is working for whom, or indeed if any of the undercover operatives are truly what they seem, and therein lies the strength of the novel and is what kept me guessing until the end.

The author writes well and maintains a high level of tension throughout the story without compromising on the believability in the way the plot unfolds.  Reading of the author's background of working in intelligence for many years, it's obvious throughout the novel that he is writing about what he knows and he does so without ever seeking to over sensationalise the after effects of a terrorist attack and always with a keen sensitivity for those people who may have been caught up in such an atrocity in real life.

To say too much about the plot would give far too much away, as this, like all suspense stories, is best read without any spoilers, and in keeping it that way, the full force of the ending will impact on you as much as it did to me.

A Fatal Game out now and is published by Viking.

About the Author

Nicholas Searle is the author of three novels. His first novel, The Good Liar was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for the best debut crime novel. Before becoming an writer, Nicholas worked in British intelligence for more than twenty five years, he lives in Yorkshire.

Twitter #AFatalGame

@VikingBooksUK

Hist Fic Saturday ~ The Highborn Housekeeper by Sarah Mallory

On Hist Fict Saturday

Let's have some Regency Romance

Mills & Boon
June 2019

Saved from Disgrace #3

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

A disgraced lady

Turned lowly housekeeper

Earl’s daughter Nancy turned her back on the aristocracy when she fled a forced marriage, working as a cook and housekeeper. But in nursing an injured man back to health, Nancy uncovers a deep longing for the dangerously attractive Gabriel, and a surprise: he’s working to protect government secrets! She wants to help him. But to do so, Nancy will have to return to the life she once cast aside…

What did I think about it...

Nancy is travelling home, with her companion, when she comes across a man who has been gravely injured. Nancy's kind hearted nature is such that she cannot leave the man to fend for himself, however, making sure that Gabriel Shaw survives, not only puts Nancy in considerable danger, but also her contact with this very handsome stranger will open up the secrets of Nancy's past which she has successfully kept hidden for twelve years.

There's no doubt that Nancy is a fascinating enigma, she has an air of delicious mystery around her, and yet, as her connection to Gabriel shows, she has a passionate nature and a real zest for life. However, circumstances have made Nancy wary and rather cautious which makes her attraction to Gabriel all the more captivating. Gabriel is every bit as charming and dangerously addictive as all of this author's fine literary heroes. He is gloriously handsome and the powerful sexual attraction between Nancy and Gabriel sizzles right from the start which very quickly make this into a sparkling, and very passionate, romance.

The Highborn Housekeeper has all the trademarks of just what we have come to expect from this series. There is a large amount of danger and intrigue, especially when Nancy and Gabriel become involved in a secret investigation, but there's also a sizzling amount of passion which smoulders between the couple and which tests their burgeoning relationship to the absolute limits.

Those who have read books one and two in the Saved from Disgrace series will already be familiar with Nancy's story, indeed, she and her companion, Mrs Yelland, were active participants in Beauty and the Brooding Lord, and so, this story takes us very nicely into what happened next for them.

Of course, as with all the stories in this series, The Highborn Housekeeper is perfectly capable of standing on its own merits and is a complete story in itself but, as with all series and for greater enjoyment, it's best to invest in this series right from the beginning, and let these wonderful historical romances take you back to Regency England.

  

About the Author

Sarah Mallory was born in the West Country and grew up with a love of books and history. She has had over 40 historical novels published and won the Rona Rose Award from the Romantic Novelists Association in 2012 and 2013.

website

Twitter @SarahMRomance

Facebook as Melinda Sarah Mallory Hammond 

Amazon UK

Books for Summer Reading...

Just a taster of the exciting summer reads

 coming on the blog in the next couple of months

     

  

    

 

#summerreading

Review ~ Ten Poems about Bees from Candlestick Press

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to share this latest poetry pamphlet from

Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
July 2019

Bees work hard, and there is something in their diligence that touches us. Most of us see only a fraction of their absorbing routines but their ‘bee-lines’ through our parks and gardens are more than enough to suggest their dedication:

“…they make a life for themselves that knows

no let-up through hours of exploration and return,

their thighs golden with pollen…”

from ‘Back they sputter’ by Eamon Grennan

Here are poems about getting stung and about a bee-keeping Divinity master in a boarding school whose hives are far more appealing than PE lessons. This heady mix of poems is sure to please anyone who delights in bees, flowers and gardens – or indeed the golden taste of honey!

The selection is introduced by environmentalist and broadcaster Brigit Strawbridge Howard.

Poems by Ciaran Berry, David Briggs, Miriam Darlington, Heid E. Erdrich, Eamon Grennan, Selima Hill, Carola Luther, Paula Meehan, Pascale Petit and Jean Toomer.

Cover illustration by Abby Cook.

Donation to Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

What did I think about it...

There's something really special about watching bees meandering from flower to flower, collecting pollen as they go, and such is the power of their appeal, and indeed of their importance to our eco system, that they continue to fascinate and beguile us.

In this latest poetry pamphlet from Candlestick Press the humble bumble bee is the star of this collection of ten poems which give a varied interpretation of our fascination with the way bees open up and enrich our lives in so many different ways.

This poem, by Carola Luther perfectly captures the soporific nature of watching the lazy trail of a bee in high summer:

I watch the bees slow down the summer

"I watch the bees slow down in summer. Honeysuckle sink beneath their substance. Sunlit busbies stuffed with sleep and ochre powder making journeys, wavery, vague, full of remembered purpose..."

I have such admiration for beekeepers, and wherever possible buy local honey, so this lovely observational poem, Beekeeper, from Miriam Darlington pays tribute to all those intrepid bee keepers who work so tirelessly to protect this valuable species and bring us delicious honey.

" I know each one by heart
feel each hive beat with the need for air
crumple between sheets of cloud
like the rumble of an approaching storm..."

Ten Poems about Bees celebrates this enigmatic creature in unique way. Perusing this pamphlet is a perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon in the garden, with the gentle hum of bees to keep you company.

My thanks to ©Digital Images for my copy of this photograph

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Clouds, Walking, Birds, Home and Kindness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Connect: www.candlestickpress.co.uk 

Twitter @PoetryCandle