One of the pleasures of having finally retired after 55 years of working in some form since my paper round when I was 10, is that I finally have the chance to read without so many other constraints taking up my time. As a result, I am delighted to have read my July U3A book group book, The Familiars by Stacey Halls, on time! 

I’ve previously reviewed Stacey Halls’ Mrs England here and The Foundling here. 

The Familiars was published by Bonnier imprint Zaffre on 7th February 2019 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

The Familiars

To save her child, she will trust a stranger. To protect a secret, she must risk her life . . .

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn’t supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy.

Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong.

As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the North-West, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye?

Soon the two women’s lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood’s stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake.

Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other…

My Review of The Familiars 

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is pregnant.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Familiars because it explores the historical element of the Pendle witch trials from a different perspective. In a sense, the event leading to the trials are one step removed from the very personal first person narrative presented by Fleetwood so that the novel felt different and fresh.

That said, Stacey Halls weaves in historical and geographical detail that simultaneously creates a vivid, realistic and immersive image of the early 1600s. Food in particular is conveyed highly effectively. Settings too transport the reader to the places Fleetwood finds herself so that there is a cinematic quality to the writing and the era is clearly defined.

I confess I didn’t take to Fleetwood initially. I found her rather childish and occasionally petulant. However, once I’d grasped the concept that she actually was a child of seventeen, despite dealing with marriage and her latest pregnancy, I found her resilient, intelligent and passionate. She defends her friendship with Alice with fervor despite the personal risks it creates. Her love for Richard and the way in which she handles him and other powerful men is admirable. By the end of The Familiars when her past is uncovered, and her prickly relationship with her mother explained, Stacey Halls had shifted my opinion from slight irritation to real admiration. That is such clever writing. 

I think one of the elements that makes The Familiars so absorbing and fascinating is the fact that the themes incorporated feel pertinent and relevant to the modern reader. Stacey Halls explores marriage, family, the patriarchy and societal convention and control with true understanding. The witch hunts and trials that are used to enhance political careers and which whip up a frenzy of awful behaviour feel every bit as real as the internet trolls and career politicians of today’s world who will spout any nonsense if it brings then power. I thoroughly appreciated the depiction of female relationships too. Fleetwood and Alice come from very different strata of society and yet the links between them are indisputable. All these aspects make The Familiars a thought-provoking read. 

Assiduously researched, innovatively presented and with an absorbing, entertaining plot, The Familiars is a super book. It may have been Stacey Halls’ debut historical novel and is perhaps not quite as polished as her later fiction, but those who like me love her writing, will find all the seeds of perfection present in her later books. I thought is was excellent. 

About Stacey Halls

Stacey Halls was born in 1989 and grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and has written for publications including the Guardian, Stylist, Psychologies, the Independent, the Sun and Fabulous. Her first book, The Familiars, was the bestselling debut hardback novel of 2019, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year. The Foundling, her second, was a Sunday Times bestseller, as was her third Mrs England. Mrs England was longlisted for the Portico Prize, the Walter Scott Prize and won the Women’s Prize Futures Award.

For more information about Stacey, visit her website. You can follow Stacy on X @stacey_halls, and find her on Instagram too.

My grateful thanks to Laura Sherlock for sending me a surprise copy of Ask Me What I’m Reading by Eleanor Goymer. I’m delighted to share my review of Ask Me What I’m Reading today. 

Published by Harper Collins imprint One More Chapter on 2nd July 2026, Ask Me What I’m Reading is available for purchase through the links here. 

Ask Me What I’m Reading

Perfect for fans of One Day and Talking at Night.

Every morning, Sophie boards the same train.

Every morning, she spots him – tall, unreadable, always with a novel in hand…often the same one she is reading.

Soon, their commute becomes a silent exchange of titles, a game only they seem to be playing. But how long can a love story stay between the lines before someone dares to take it off the page…

Ask Me What I’m Reading is a slow-burn romance about chance encounters, the love of books and the quiet thrill of meeting someone who just gets it.

My Review of Ask Me What I’m Reading

Sophie Hart reads on her morning commute.

What a lovely, lovely book. I thoroughly enjoyed Ask Me What I’m Reading.

Ostensibly this is a conventional love story that proves ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’ and which is filled with the aspects of romantic fiction readers like me love. There’s a slow burn of attraction as Sophie and Max gradually pluck up courage to do more than simply glance at one another across a train carriage. There are ups and downs in their emergent relationship that becomes thwarted by half truths, omissions and assumptions. There is a wonderfully depicted developing romantic attraction. All these features would make Ask Me What I’m Reading a perfectly wonderful story.

But Eleanor Goymer has this as her foundation for so much more too. The layers in the narrative add depth to plot, character and theme. 

I loved meeting Max and Sophie. Both have flaws and insecurities that make them appear all the more human. Their relationships with their parents and the effect of events from their pasts help create rounded, complex characters that are so much more than potential partners for one another. I also adored their friends. Sophie’s friend Anna is feisty, somewhat devious and fiercely loyal and Max’s friend Josh is the perfect antidote to the toxic manosphere of today’s world in his support of Max. I wanted to step into the pages and embrace him. Through Anna and Josh the reader is given even greater insight into Sophie and Max.

The themes of the plot are just wonderful. Obviously romance features, and it is presented with humour, thought and sensitivity as Sophie and Max stumble their way into getting to know one another – mostly through books. However, I found the themes of family, friendship, grief, guilt, corporate business and the impact of inertia absolutely fascinating. Ask Me What I’m Reading delivers brilliantly in so many ways. I can’t spoil the read by adding more, but trust me, there’s so much to discover in Ask Me What I’m Reading.

And of course, running through the narrative, as suggested by the title, are books. I found childhood favourites, classic and modern authors and new to me titles. This might be a love story, but it is also a love letter to the power of fiction that resonates deeply with any reader. What better name for an overindulged bookshop sausage dog than Vonnegut? 

Any reader looking for the perfect romantic story with books at its heart need look no further. Eleanor Gaynor has captured the concept brilliantly. I loved this one and recommend Ask Me What I’m Reading most highly!

About Eleanor Goymer

Eleanor Goymer is the author of The Plot Twist and The Fallback. Her upcoming novel Ask Me What I’m Reading is being published in July 2026. Born and raised in the UK, Eleanor now lives in the USA. For further information, find Eleanor on Instagram @eleanorgoymerwrites.

When my mum was a few weeks old, my grandmother died as a result of Mum’s birth and, as her father married again just a few weeks later, Mum was given to her aunt and uncle in an unofficial adoption. We also have an adopted child in our family. As a result, I am fascinated by the adoption process, so when my fabulous friend Carol Atherton dropped by with an early proof of her latest book, So Many Ways to Belong: A Personal History of Adoption, I knew I had to read it immediately – not least because I adored Carol’s previous book, Reading Lessons, my review of which you’ll find here. I am also incredibly touched to find myself in the acknowledgements at the end of So Many Ways to Belong.

So Many Ways to Belong is published by Penguin Figtree on 9th July 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

So Many Ways to Belong

Twenty years ago, Carol Atherton and her husband, Matthew stood together on the doorstep of a suburban house waiting to meet the small, red-headed toddler who would soon be woven into the fabric of their lives.

But that moment was only one of many thresholds they crossed on their journey to becoming adoptive parents. In the years leading up to it, they had found their path strewn with countless questions and clouded by the myths that have shaped our collective ideas about adoption.

What was the truth behind the sensationalist headlines and the dramatic depictions in books, film and television? What level of scrutiny would Carol and Matthew face? Who would their child be, and how had they come to be adopted? And what would they need from the family who were going to give them a home?

In the months following the first nervous call to the adoption agency, all Carol and Matthew’s assumptions would be upended. They would meet social workers, judges, support networks and foster carers, learning not only about the process, but also about the wider social and political realities of adoption – its complicated history, past injustices and ever-evolving future.

So Many Ways to Belong is the handhold Carol wishes she’d had two decades ago, when doubt and uncertainty shadowed every step. Honest and illuminating, it tells both a deeply personal story and the larger story of adoption itself―challenging stereotypes, exploding myths, and examining what it truly means to build a family.

Essential reading for those whose life has been―or may yet be―touched by adoption, and for anyone wanting to better understand its story, this is an empathetic exploration of belonging, identity and our very human need for rootedness: to know who we are, where we’ve come from, and how we fit in. 

My Review of So Many Ways to Belong

A personal and historical exploration of the adoption process. 

Now look. I’m the least maternal person I know and am not even sure I like children all that much, but reading So Many Ways to Belong hit me like a physical blow to the solar plexus because Carol Atherton layers her text with such humanity that it’s impossible not to be moved, shaken, and totally transfixed by her writing. It’s superb.

So Many Ways to Belong is multi-layered and fascinating. What ought to be dry information about the history of adoption is rendered relevant, entertaining and fascinating because Carol Atherton weaves it seamlessly into her personal experiences. So Many Ways to Belong is universal history and personal memoir blended beautifully. There are references to literature and culture that ensure readers can relate to the adoption process even when they have absolutely no link to it at all. The interest inspired by Carol Atherton’s words is astonishing. What I found so impactful is the way in which the author lays bare her own experience. Through So Many Ways to Belong we might find out about adoption, but we also encounter a woman who is a contradiction of strength and vulnerability, of confidence, resilience and tenacity as well as fragility and self-doubt so that her personality leaps from the page. Reading So Many Ways to Belong means the reader finds out about the reality of adoption, but also makes them feel they have encountered a real friend. 

So Many Ways to Belong is potentially also a highly uncomfortable read. The responses the author describes from others to her infertility and how she and her husband came to adopt, the attitudes to adoption outlined, and the reactions many have towards birth parents raised difficult issues for me. Had I been guilty of blase, ill-informed comments, or unthinking hurt and prejudice in my own reactions? This means the book resonates long after it is read. Whatever a reader’s view of adoption, So Many Ways to Belong draws in the reader with its personal approach, contrasted with meticulously researched historical and geographical detail, so that it is impossible not to be affected by reading it. Carol Atherton shines a light on the reader as well as adoption and her own experience.

Much of the information presented is terrifying. There’s no sugar coating of the adoption process. As a result of reading So Many Ways to Belong I have not only an enhanced understanding of the process, but also an increased respect for every person involved – yes even those birth parents who might be considered outside the parameters of social acceptance. 

Informative, emotionally intelligent and brutally honest, So Many Ways to Belong should be essential reading for any person involved in the adoption process, from potential new families, through professionals steering adoption, to adult adoptees who have always felt somewhat ‘other’. It entertained me even as it educated me.  At times it made me rage. On other occasions I read with tears streaming down my cheeks. I found it completely mesmerising and hugely moving and ended the book feeling a little bit broken. If you never read non-fiction, read So Many Ways to Belong. You might just find it life changing…

About Carol Atherton

Carol Atherton has taught English since 1996 and is currently Head of English at a secondary school in Lincolnshire. Originally from Merseyside, she read English at Oxford before doing a PGCE at Manchester Metropolitan University and a PhD at the University of Nottingham. She is a Fellow of the English Association and a member of the National Association for the Teaching of English. Atherton has written for a range of publications aimed at teachers and students, and she co-authored Teaching English Literature 16–19 (Routledge, 2013). Reading Lessons is her first trade publication.

For further information follow Carol on X @CarolAtherton8.

My enormous thanks to Rhiannon Morris at Harper Collins for sending me a surprise copy of Mr Sidhu’s Post Office by Amman Brar. Having been a sub-post master in my university holidays, I was fascinated to read this book and I’m thrilled to share my review today.

Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is coming from Harper Collins imprint Juniper on 2nd July 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Mr Sidhu’s Post Office

For years, Mr Sidhu’s post office has been a place of small rituals and quiet mercies: news exchanged, kindnesses remembered, a haven for all. Mr Sidhu is confidant, caretaker and witness to a community revealing itself in its loyalties and secrets.

But Mr Sidhu is caught between the life he has inherited and the one he has scarcely allowed himself to imagine. When his ordered world begins to shift, he is drawn towards a new future and an unexpected love, forcing him to navigate family tensions, shifting identities and the question of who stands beside us when everything changes. And soon, the life Mr Sidhu tended so carefully may no longer be enough …

Tender, wise and beautifully observed, Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is an unforgettable novel about love, duty and the communities that shape us – and save us.

My Review of Mr Sidhu’s Post Office

Mr Sidhu is caught up in the Horizon post office scandal.

I adored this narrative. I began reading Mr Sidhu’s Post Office with a slight feeling of dread as I abhor unfairness and thought I might be enraged by the plot. I was. However, I was also utterly charmed, thoroughly entertained and completely uplifted. Amman Barr’s prose is mesmerising. It’s relatively simple in style, which partly reflects Mr Sidhu’s own use of English, and has the effect of delivering incredible impact in a surprising way.

Whilst the backdrop to the story is the Post Office scandal, with which we’re all familiar, what Amman Brar does is to show at an intimate and personal level just how one person, Mr Sidhu, is affected. This helps the reader engage with the story and fully understand what a terrible scandal Horizon was and remains. It’s a story to entertain but also to leave the reader outraged.

Mr Sidhu himself is a brilliant character. He is only referred to by various first names in direct speech by others which itself illustrates the theme of identity and belonging as well as societal attitudes to our immigrant population. In general prose he is always called Mr Sidhu, giving him the status he deserves and showing his proud and formal character. Whilst he is certainly more sinned against than sinning, Mr Sidhu is no perfect individual which makes his story all the more relatable. Suffering a range of prejudices himself, even from his own family, he also has his own – not least his determination that his daughter Meenu should marry and have a family as soon as possible. His other flaws show Mr Sidhu behaving selfishly and thoughtlessly towards others so that it is all the more poignant when he has moments of self-awareness. As a result of these character traits, Mr Sidhu is absolutely real and rounded.

The relationships between Mr Sidhu, his Sikh and local community, Rose, Jay, and his children Meenu and Raji are beautifully handled with a lightness of touch that belies their intensity. At times I wanted to shake him, especially in his dealings with Rose and Meenu, but at other times I wanted to hug him tightly. All the time I cared about what happened to him because he felt so real.

I loved the theme of community in Mr Sidhu’s Post Office that reverberates throughout. The early Indian parts that give insight into Mr Sidhu’s upbringing and background enhance just how much he has achieved as he moves country and creates his own community via the post office and shop in Richmond. As a result, what happens to him is indeed enraging. Corporate cover up and corruption destroys lives like Mr Sidhu’s and those he supports. This community theme also shows that, no matter where we are in the world , or where we come from there are echoes and links between us all regardless of background. Indeed, Amman Barr’s Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is about humanity as much as anything else.

It’s quite hard to convey just what a fantastic book this is without spoilers. Yes, I was outraged and angered, feeling as impotent as Mr Sidhu in the face of the Horizon corruption, because it WAS Mr Sidhu’s post office, that he’d built into a safe environment for the vulnerable. That said, I loved everything about Mr Sidhu’s Post Office – plot, character and theme. I loved meeting those like Jay who don’t always conform. I loved being given a privileged glimpse into the life and character of Mr Sidhu. And I loved the concept that, above all else and whatever life throws at us, we always, always have our humanity. 

Don’t miss this fantastic debut. It’s wonderful.

About Amman Brar

Amman Brar is a writer and theatre maker. He has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA. He was one of the inaugural winners of the BBC Writersroom 10 Award for his play Punjabi Boy with Tamasha Theatre Co where he was also Artist in Residence.

Amman’s father was a sub-postmaster during the 1980s and 1990s, and as soon as he was able, Amman was ‘encouraged’ to work in the shop after school and at weekends. He saw how respected his father was and how the locals loved having a post office as a hub for the community. Mr Sidhu’s Post Office is Amman’s debut novel and pays tribute to his father and the community he served for decades, while also honouring the struggle of the victims of the Horizon scandal.

For further information about Amman, visit his website or follow him on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Sian Baldwin at Orion for sending me a surprise copy of The Love Library by Sarra Manning. It’s my pleasure to share my review of The Love Library today.

Published by Orion on 25th June 2026, The Love Library is available for pre-order through the publisher links here.

The Love Library

What if you could date your favourite book boyfriend?

“All loans are at the borrower’s own risk…”

After a series of dating disasters, Tess Hardy wonders if she’ll ever find the man of her dreams – or if he only exists on the pages of her favourite novels. So when she’s invited to visit The Love Library, a 200-hundred-year-old institution which promises dates with her favourite romantic heroes in real life, Tess can’t resist!

But handsome head librarian Gabe Sharma seems grumpily determined to keep the library under lock and key. And as soon as Tess steps into the beautiful building crammed full of books, she realises why – it’s not just dust in the air… it’s magic. Here she really can grab drinks with Heathcliff, dine with Rochester and cosy up to her one true literary love, Darcy.

There’s just one problem: Gabe. He’s determined to sabotage all of Tess’s dates! And why is it that she has more fun fighting with Gabe than flirting with any of her book-bound suitors…?

Heartwarming, hot and hilarious, The Love Library is a must-read for anyone who wishes they could step into the pages of their favourite book. Perfect for fans of Ashley Poston, Lucy Jane Wood and Kirsty Greenwood.

My Review of The Love Library

Tess Hardy is looking for love.

Yes! Yes! Yes! The Love Library is absolutely brilliant. I didn’t so much read it as gulp it down. It might just be the most perfect example of enemies to lovers in modern commercial romantic fiction that I’ve read.

The slightly magical premise of a library where readers can borrow characters from books is superb and the right side of believable to make the story so engaging. (Let me take out Angel Clare and give him a piece of my mind!) And I thought naming the protagonist Tess Hardy was inspired!

Tess is fantastic. Self-deprecating, overweight and frustrated by her job, with a mother not slow in pointing out her faults, she embarks on a quest to find romance, borrowing men from out of copyright fiction. Tess is, like so many of us, unable to see her positive attributes too, so that she is relatable and endearing. Her ability to empathise with others and to give them her whole-hearted attention made me want to climb into the pages and hug her. I especially loved the moments in the story where food is involved for Tess because they felt so real.

Gabe is the perfect romantic hero too. Darcy-like to some extent with his somewhat rigid approach to running the inherited library with his twin sister Ella, he is never mere pastiche. I adored that he is also a philosophy professor because the blend of life lessons from the great thinkers positioned alongside the fictional lessons in books illustrates what those of us who read romantic fiction already know – all life is to be found between the pages of a book. Both Tess and Gabe are a little prejudiced against one another’s approaches, but it’s that finding of common ground that makes the story so engaging.

Of course there’s the expectation of a happy ending, especially when Pride and Prejudice forms the backdrop of The Love Library’s actions, but the route to that ending is fabulously entertaining. The humour (meet Mellors), the heartbreak, the fizzing attraction between Tess and Gabe all mean that it’s impossible to put the book down. There is some strong language and occasional moments to bring a blush to the reader’s cheeks, but these elements are in perfect balance to enhance the plot and just perfect in execution.

It’s quite hard to define what wonderful romantic fiction The Love Library is. Filled with hope over expectation, literary and philosophical reference, brimming with humour and a passionate understanding of real people, I thought it was excellent. I’d defy anyone who loves romantic fiction not to adore it too. Don’t miss it because it is a truth (about to be) universally acknowledged that a reader in possession of the need for a superb romcom must be in want of The Love Library by Sarra Manning! Sensationally good!

About Sarra Manning

Sarra Manning has been a voracious reader for over forty years and a prolific author and journalist for thirty. Her many novels, which have been translated into numerous languages, include Unsticky, London With Love and The Last Days Of Summer. Sarra has also written a number of YA novels, and several light-hearted romantic comedies under a pseudonym. She started her writing career on the iconic Melody Maker and Just Seventeen and has written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, ELLE, Grazia, Stylist, You Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar. She is currently the Literary Editor of Red Magazine. Sarra lives in London surrounded by piles and piles of books.

For further information about Sarra follow her on Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook.

It was my privilege to interview Charlotte Butterfield about her novel The Second Chance for a podcast a couple of years ago (you can listen here) and I love her writing. Consequently, when a surprise copy of her latest novel The Life I Didn’t Plan dropped into my post box I simply had to read it straight away. My huge thanks to Becky Hunter for sending it to me.

You’ll find my reviews of two of Charlotte’s books, The Second Chance and The Sister Switch along with an interview celebrating By This Time Tomorrow on Linda’s Book Bag here.

The Life I Didn’t Plan is published by Harper Collins imprint Avon on 18th June 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

The Life I Didn’t Plan

Beth didn’t expect to get pregnant at seventeen.

Nor did she think she’d lose the name and address of the father of her child. Swept up in romance on her French exchange, all she remembers is that his hair smelt like mangoes.

Now, in 2026, at her school reunion, she opens the time capsule she wrote to herself at that time. Inside she finds a letter that alters everything Beth thought she knew about her past, and provides an all important clue for finding the father of her 19-year-old daughter, Maisie.

Hit hard by the difference between the life she hoped for and the one she’s living, Beth is faced with a choice: chase the adventures she once dreamed of, or embrace the new opportunities life presents?

My Review of The Life I Didn’t Plan

Getting pregnant at 17 wasn’t quite what Beth had planned.

What a fabulous book. I loved every moment of The Life I Didn’t Plan. I found it convincing, emotional and completely engaging. It’s an absolute belter.

The plot is super as Beth decides now is the time to begin to live a little. The fact that her ‘journey’ through The Life I Didn’t Plan doesn’t always happen in a straightforward manner, frequently stalls and more often than not terrifies her, ensures that the reader is on her side throughout. 

Beth is such a brilliant character. Having spent her entire adult life focused on Maisie, when Maisie heads to university she finds herself somewhat adrift. This is hugely relatable. Whilst she adores her daughter, there is also the poignant sense that she has missed out on her own life in the interim of bringing up Maisie. She has an uneasy relationship with her own parents which provides contrast and depth.

Her job is quite wonderful as she works in palliative care at the end of people’s lives. It’s this profession that leads to so much humour in The Life I Didn’t Plan. Charlotte Butterfield explores the links between life and death, between joy and sadness, and between grief and relief with remarkable dexterity so that the reader feels as if she might be describing their own life, drawing them in and making them feel ‘seen’. 

I thought the dynamic between Beth and her daughter Maisie was brilliantly handled because the closeness of their relationship is warm and loving and the direct speech between them is so natural that it’s like eavesdropping on their conversations. At the same time, both have secrets and opinions that they don’t always express fully for fear of hurting one another so that there’s the capacity for tension and change, giving added interest to this fabulous story. 

There’s also a wonderful romance in The Life I Didn’t Plan. I was completely enamoured of Jack myself. Charlotte Butterfield is fully aware of Beth’s flaws and presents her unreasonable side as well as her humour as she gets to know Jack, making for fun, frustration and laugh aloud moments that ameliorate some of the more emotionally charged events. I thought this aspect of the book was magnificent. 

Whilst The Life I Didn’t Plan is totally wonderful, for me the most fabulous aspect was the exploration of second chances, and of the realisation that what we think we want isn’t necessarily what we truly want  – or need. Reading Beth’s story helps the reader to reflect on their own life, assess their own priorities and give thanks for successes, however small they may be. This makes the story incredibly impactful and touching as well as funny and entertaining. 

The Life I Didn’t Plan is a cracking read. It made me laugh aloud, brought an occasional lump to my throat and held me captivated from start to finish. I cannot recommend it highly enough. And now I’m off to stick my bucket list on the fridge – or am I? 

About Charlotte Butterfield

A former magazine editor, Charlotte Butterfield was born in Bristol, England and studied English Literature at the University of London, and a Masters in Gender and Women’s Studies at Birmingham. She moved to Dubai by herself on a one-way ticket with one suitcase in 2005 and left for Rome twelve years later with a husband, three children and a 40ft shipping container. After four years in Italy working as a freelance journalist, living the dolce vita and eating tiramisu with every meal, she now lives in the Cotswolds teaching and writing.

Her first novel won a Montegrappa award at the 2016 Emirates Festival of Literature, and she went on to publish three romantic comedies before pivoting to high-concept women’s fiction with heart. Her second novel in this space, The Family Fix (previously You Get That From Me) was The Times Book of the Month upon publication, and later one of The Times Popular Fiction Books of the Year in 2023. She currently publishes with Avon at Harper Collins UK. Her novel, The Second Chance, has been optioned for film by a major Hollywood studio, and her next book, The Sister Switch (aka grown-up Parent Trap) was released in May 2025.

For further information, visit Charlotte’s website, or find Charlotte on Facebook and Instagram.

I’m a huge fan of Vaseem Khan, both as a writer and a fabulous human being. Consequently it was a real treat to catch up with Vas at my local literary festival and have him sign a copy of the first in his spin-off series from the Fleming James Bond books; Quantum of Menace. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Quantum of Menace today.

You’ll find other posts on Linda’s Book Bag featuring Vaseem here. 

Published by Zaffre, Quantum of Menace is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Quantum of Menace 

Q is out of MI6 . . .

. . . and in over his head

After Major Boothroyd (aka Q) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6’s Double O agents, he is adrift, unsure of his place in a world where the stakes aren’t always life or death. But when he learns that his childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, Q is drawn back to his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. 

Frustrated by the police, who consider the case closed, Q is compelled to investigate, starting with a cryptic note Napier sent him on the day of his death. Q soon discovers that Napier’s ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces . . . but can he decode the truth before danger closes in?

My Review of Quantum of Mencace

Recently ousted from MI6, Q is at a loose end. 

Having long been a fan of Vaseem Khan’s historical Malabar House series, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a James Bond spin-off as I’ve never read one of the original books. What I found was enough familiar reference to 007 to please any Bond fan, but without overwhelming or alienating those of us without any depth of knowledge. Quantum of Menace is a skilful and carefully crafted start to a series that I fully expect to be equally as popular as Fleming’s books. I loved it.

The plot is a belter. It romps along, blending mystery, science and organised crime with conventional policing, alongside intelligent sleuthing from Q. I must mention too the smashing wit threaded throughout and the variety of sentence structure that means tantalising hooks draw in the reader, making them desperate to know what happens next. There’s impressive insight into the world of quantum physics and espionage too so that Quantum of Menace is multi-faceted, providing something for any reader. 

Q is a brilliant creation as he is obsessive in believing his childhood friend Peter Napier was murdered and he has a strong sense of justice and what is right. At the same time, he’s more than willing to circumvent the rules, pull in favours or behave in an underhand manner. In effect, he’s human. I loved the potential for romance with Kathy; the woman Q spurned years before and am hoping that might develop in future books. Equally appealing is his upbringing, relationship with his father and the insight into why Q behaves and thinks as he does.

Indeed, Q has a marked sociological and emotional depth. Q’s understanding of Zak for example, illustrates how we all have potential and provides a subtle insight into immigration, single parent families and prejudice. I loved these emotionally intelligent asides to the main plot because they added depth and texture to Quantum of Menace. There’s also an unnerving gravitas beneath the lightness of touch. Big tech, cyber security, international threat and control, all bubble under the surface, echoing elements that we hear about every day so that there’s an unsettling authenticity to this romp of a book. 

Bridging the gap perfectly between gritty thrillers and cosy crime, Quantum of Menace is a triumph. Hugely entertaining, filled with both realism and surprise, this story is a real corker. It’s packed with drama, stylishly written and completely addictive. I thought it was absolutely excellent. 

About Vaseem Khan

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 16 languages. The second in the series won the Shamus Award in the US. In 2018, he was awarded the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Literature. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger, the world’s premier award for historical crime fiction. 

For more information about Vaseem visit his website, or follow him on X @VaseemKhanUK, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook.

My enormous thanks to Alara Delfosse at Headline for sending me a surprise copy of The Sea Stone Sisters all those months ago. It’s my pleasure to share my review today. 

Already available in other formats, The Sea Stone Sisters will be released in paperback by Headline on 27th August 2026 and is available for purchase through the links here. 

The Sea Stone Sisters

Like the stones in their rings, the sisters were meant to stay together. 

Now they were scattered across the world.

1931. When Iris Blackmore’s father knocks down the Sisters of Skara standing stones, a dark shadow falls on her family that will echo down through generations. With their fortune lost, the four Blackmore sisters are scattered to the four winds, taking only the rings they inherited from their beloved mother.

Present day.  Grieving and adrift, Roz Chatton leaves her home in Australia, arriving in London with little other than her late mother’s ring. When she stumbles upon a painting of four ancient standing stones, she feels the past calling to her. Drawn to Scotland, Roz begins to unearth a long-forgotten mystery, and a secret that lies waiting for her within her mother’s ring …

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

My Review of The Sea Stone Sisters

When four sisters are abducted from Skara in c. 2800bc their father erects four standing stones in their memory and curses any who might remove the stones in the future.

The Sea Stone Sisters is a glorious book. It’s what might be termed a ‘proper story’ that draws in the reader and holds them spellbound. It truly has everything; there’s romance, history, society and travel all underpinned by a mystical thread that treads the line between superstition, magic and reality in a way that is breathtaking. I loved this story.

The plot is fabulous. As The Sea Stone Sisters is the start of a series, it is the eldest, Iris, who is the focal point with her 1930s narrative echoed by the present day timeline of Roz. There’s danger, strength and vulnerability for both women so that the strands of the past weave effortlessly between the two time frames, illustrating just how the past impacts the present. I was utterly entranced. I’m not going to spoil the story by saying what happens and I know it’s a cliche to say that I could not put this book down, but genuinely, I was desperate to be reading it every moment I could. 

I loved Iris. Whilst we are fed enough detail about her sisters Rose, Lily and Daisy to make them rounded and interesting and to make me desperate to read more about them in future books, in The Sea Stone Sisters it is Iris who really pulsates with life. Her fierce determination to keep her family together ironically sees her travel far and wide in settings that vibrate with detail and realism. The senses thrum through Iris’s experiences so that what she sees and experiences in Ceylon and Australia are very much part of who she becomes. Eleanor Buchanan’s eye for detail in transporting her readers to her settings is every bit as artistic as Iris’s skill in drawing and I felt as if I were walking alongside Iris. 

Equally, Roz is fabulous. Her difficulties are highly relatable in a world of coercive control and social media, so that she feels realistic. I adored the pull of Skara linking her to Iris and the past. There’s a convincing and compelling exploration of visceral DNA and memory that is just fascinating and the exploration of what constitutes home and belonging is sensitively expressed.  

I thought The Sea Stone Sisters was brilliant. I could not have enjoyed it more. It’s beautifully written, full of heart and the most perfect escapist read with sufficient reality to persuade even the most challenging reader. Just fabulous. 

About Eleanor Buchanan

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.

For further information, follow Eleanor on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Christian Lewis for sending me a copy of The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. I so loved Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library (reviewed here) that I was thrilled to receive The Midnight Train. It’s my pleasure to share my review today. 

You’ll also find my review of Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay alive here, and of his children’s book Evie in the Jungle here.  

The Midnight Train was published by Canongate on 21st May 2026 and is available for purchase in all good bookshops and online including 

The Midnight Train

When your life flashes before your eyes, what will matter most?

For Wilbur it was his time with Maggie, the love of his life. Their honeymoon in Venice. Before he threw it all away.

Years later, on the brink of his own death, a train arrives. It can take Wilbur back in time. To relive his most important moments. Soon he realises just how much he would have changed…

An adventure through time, The Midnight Train is a story of love and second chances, from the world of The Midnight Library.

My Review of The Midnight Train 

Wilbur’s life is flashing before his eyes.

What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful book! 

Whilst The Midnight Train has echoes of The Midnight Library with the theme of life choices, the two books are totally separate and succeed brilliantly as a pair or in isolation. I loved The Midnight Library but The Midnight Train transcends my ability to review it. 

In order to give space to the importance of theme, the plot of The Midnight Train is, essentially, simple. When Wilbur dies his life literally flashes before his eyes as he is aboard a magical train with stops representing moments in his life. But that simplicity belies the profound, emotional and completely mesmerising story. I was transfixed throughout. 

Wilber is a total triumph. His death in his eighties comes at the end of a very successful business life as a bookshop owner. As the train takes Wilbur on his journey to eternity, we see him as damaged by his childhood, idealistic and intelligent and whilst flawed in his choices, capable of great love and of total selfishness. Indeed, he is what we all are; a mess of contradictions, successes and missed opportunities. The reader’s heart breaks for him over and over again. As a result, The Midnight Train hits right to the heart and soul of who we are.

Central to the story is the contradiction that is the all consuming love between Wilbur and Maggie that is simultaneously ignored as Wilbur erroneously chases the wrong priorities in his life. The reasons for this are sensitively and sympathetically explored at the same time as sparing Wilbur nothing when it comes to blame and fault so that it is impossible not to love him whilst wanting to shake him until his teeth rattle! 

With books at the heart of Wilbur’s life (until they aren’t!) The Midnight Library is partly a beautiful love letter to literature, to the power of reading and to the way books can transport us and fire our imaginations. Regardless of the rest of the fabulous narrative, book lovers will thoroughly enjoy discovering old literary friends and new ones alike. 

For me, what was so personally affecting was the glorious exploration of choice and chance, of the potential for redemption, for other potential lives despite the one we choose to lead, and the layered approach to dealing with love, grief, responsibility, commercialism, creativity and loyalty. What Matt Haig does so beautifully is to present these themes without judgment. Through Wilbur, the reader can reflect on their own lives with the effect that The Midnight Train has the potential to impact a reader’s destiny at the same time as watching Wilbur reflect on his own. This truly is a narrative of second chances and being true to ourselves. 

Reflective, restorative and utterly remarkable, The Midnight Train is absolutely brilliant. Read it merely as a diverting and entertaining story if you wish, but be prepared to have your whole life outlook shaped and enhanced by Matt Haig’s glorious writing. I could not have loved this more. It’s sublime. 

About Matt Haig

Matt Haig is the internationally bestselling author of the novels The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Radleys, children’s novel A Boy Called Christmas, and memoir Reasons to Stay Alive. His The Life Impossible, was published in summer 2024 and his latest book is The Midnight Train. His work has been translated into over fifty languages.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @matthaig1. Visit his website for further information and find him on Instagram.

My grateful thanks to Louise Court at Hodder for sending me a surprise copy of Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

Villa Coco is published by Sceptre on 9th June 2926 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Villa Coco

A coming-of-age novel, a love story and a tale of life-enhancing friendship: Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer showcases his wit and warmth in this magical tale set amidst the Tuscan hills.

Broke and directionless, our young protagonist takes a job in the Italian countryside as the assistant to Lisabetta – better known to her friends as Coco – a strong-willed, wealthy aristocrat of great local renown.

Trained as an archivist, he thinks he’s been hired to catalogue the contents of the beautiful, crumbling mansion nestled in the green Tuscan hills. But what are his actual duties? Days are spent in a series of increasingly eccentric pursuits: entertaining an endless carousel of guests (from bohemian painters to elderly princesses to unnervingly handsome nephews), attending a funeral in order to make off with the urn, and aiding and abetting Coco’s great and final plan – to reunite with the lost love of her life before it’s too late.

As summer turns into autumn and the Italian countryside begins to work its magic, the secrets of Villa Coco and its inhabitants are slowly brought to light – and with them, an unforgettable story of the enduring power of friendship.

My Review of Villa Coco

A young man is going to discover more than a house of objects!

Villa Coco is such an accomplished novel and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought it was inspired that the ‘young man’ is mis-named from the beginning. As Giovedi he can become anyone he wants, leaving behind the disapprobation of his parents and finding his own identity. There’s a delicious irony that his true name is spoken once – when he finally accepts who he has become in his new identity.

The plot of Villa Coco is fascinating because it has a defined timescale for the young man’s stay with Baroness Lisabetta, or Coco, in order to catalogue the contents of her Tuscan home, and yet it has a fragmentary feel as stories are told and memories revealed that are not always as clear cut as they might appear. This has the effect of enhancing the experience the young man has, drawing in the reader. There’s an underpinning mystery too which leads to a wonderful resolution making for a hugely satisfying read. Add in the three part structure and Andrew Sean Greer draws on classical framing to create drama and attraction, especially as this first person narration reads like a confidential memoir making the reader feel an intimate affinity with Giovedi.

Equally convincing and skilful is the use of description. Reading Villa Coco truly immerses the reader in the landscape, eating eel or anchovies, and being controlled by the weather. It isn’t just the young man who finds insight and understanding, but there are so many references to art, history and culture woven in that the author makes the reader want to find out more, with the effect that the book lingers far beyond the final page. At the same time, none of these aspects ever leaves the reader alienated. Rather, they form a bond with Giovedi as he navigates the wilful nature of Coco and gets to grips with the Italian language.

And what a character Coco is. I adored her. As uncontrollable and changeable as the wind, she is also contrarily constant, loyal to her friends and, like us all, actually desperate for love and understanding, making her a kind if Everywoman. Her audacious reasoning for the inventory of her home is brilliant but I’m not spoiling the plot by telling you why!

Other characters too feel Shakespearean in nature with Ghazel every bit the humorous light relief at the same time as the wonderful Oscar is a kind of Greek chorus, leading Giovedi to the truth. And throughout, moral ambiguity adds layers to both character and plot.

From the endorsements for Andrew Sean Green’s writing I had expected high quality prose. I got it. I also got beauty, truth, humour and affecting themes as he explores sexuality, social expectation and convention as well as family, friendship and the glorious concept of carpe deum. Villa Coco makes the reader want to grasp every opportunity that comes their way. It’s entertaining, and filled with heart. I thought it was wonderful.

About Andrew Sean Greer

Andrew Sean Greer is the bestselling author of eight works of fiction, including the novel Less, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. His latest novel, Villa Coco, comes on June 9th. Greer lives in San Francisco and Venice, Italy.

For further information, visit Andrew’s website.