My enormous thanks to Natalie Clark at Impress Books for an advanced reader copy of Widdershins by Helen Steadman in return for an honest review.

Widdershins will be published in paperback on 1st July 2017 and is available for pre-order here.

Widdershins

‘Did all women have something of the witch about them?’

Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane will soon learn that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world.

From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft.

Inspired by true events, ‘Widdershins’ tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them.

My Review of Widdershins

Jane learns the ways of natural healing from her mother. John is an orphan affected by his bad luck. Each is a product of their time.

Widdershins is absolutely brilliant. Read it.

I’m not sure I can bring myself to say anything else, so wonderful was this story, but I’ll try.

Set in the mid seventeenth century, Widdershins paints the most vivid and disturbing portrait of the times. Helen Steadman shows humanity (or frequently the lack of it) nature, superstition, the church and authority, relationships and life at all levels in a totally absorbing and disturbing read. On occasion I could hardly bear to continue and I kept stopping to put down the book and recover my composure before I read the next part so enraged was I by the attitudes displayed. I had a good idea intellectually about the era and how women were treated, but I’ve never experienced that knowledge so viscerally and emotionally as I did when reading Widdershins.

The characters of Meg, John, Jane, Tom, Annie et al were described so wonderfully through their speech and actions that they came alive as I read. I utterly loathed John but understood him completely so that alongside my hatred, Helen Steadman made me feel sorry for him too. That is masterful writing. I don’t want to reveal any of the plot for fear of spoiling the read for others but there were elements in Jane’s story that had me exclaiming aloud and giving her advice until my husband thought I’d gone quite crazy.

Widdershins is inspired by actual events but this is no dry retelling of our history. Helen Steadman is as much a witch in her spellbinding ability to enthral the reader as any of those in the story. I’m not usually overly fond of dual narratives but the stories of Jane and John absorbed me entirely and as their lives began to converge my heart genuinely thumped louder. Widdershins is historical fiction at its best, but it’s also a roller coaster read of emotion and thrills too.

I really like the way Widdershins is divided into three sections, perhaps representing the superstitious number three and its significance in the holy trinity and folklore that underpin the story.

However, an aspect that I think really took Widdershins from a very good read to an outstanding one for me was the overall quality of the prose. There’s a cracking plot, historical accuracy, naturalistic dialogue befitting the era and wonderful characterisation, but best of all is the beauty and rawness of the language. The natural descriptions took me back to my childhood and I felt there wasn’t a word out of place. I was there with Jane picking elder flowers for example.

Initially I wasn’t especially looking forward to reading Widdershins as I thought it might be dry and ‘worthy’. Instead I discovered a vivid and dynamic story that transported me back in time it and cannot recommend Widdershins highly enough.

About Helen Steadman

Helen Steadman lives in the foothills of the North Pennines, and she particularly enjoys researching and writing about the history of the north east of England. Following her MA in creative writing at Manchester Met, Helen is now completing a PhD in English at the University of Aberdeen. When she’s not studying or writing, Helen critiques, edits and proofreads other writers’ work, and she is a professional member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.

You can follow Helen on Twitter and visit her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

It gives me great pleasure to support Faye Rogers in bringing you The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat by Coral Rumble today. Published on 4th April 2017 by Wacky Bee Books, this children’s story is available for purchase here.

There’s more about The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat on Goodreads.

The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea, in a box on the living room floor. They sailed away for a year and a day and these are the things that they saw… Join two curious children on a quirky adventure, loosely based on the classic Edward Lear poem, The Owl and the Pussycat​.​

My Review of The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat

Based on Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat, The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat is a delightful modern take on the poem.

The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat takes very little time to read, but the text rhymes well and provides some lovely new vocabulary for young children with words such as ‘dangling’ and ‘jangling’. Despite the textual brevity, I can see hours of fun and educational value in this book. it’s not just the main text that has wit and rhyme, but the small touches that reward extra time spent in reading the story are lovely. The fact the boat, with a nod to Lear, is called the ‘Petit Pois’, the passport stamps (especially for Pirate Cove) and the wanted poster for the seagull all add layers of detail and language that appeals to adults and children alike.

I love the focus on nature as so many children live in inner city environments and there is so much joy in the discovering new creatures like the swordfish, puffin and lobster. The way in which the little boy wears glasses is a real benefit to those with children struggling with sight early on and I liked the fact the two children are dressing up and using their imaginations as they ‘sail’ away in their cardboard box.

However, it is the wonderful illustrations that give verve to the book and bring the text to glorious life. They are simply glorious. I also think they add to the numeracy too, perhaps counting the audience members at the flute concert, or the number of times the naughty seagull appears.

In The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat both text and illustration combine to make a wonderful read that children of all ages can enjoy. It’s a really lovely book.

About Author Coral Rumble

I have worked as a poet and performer for many years and I’m proud to have my work featured in Favourite Poets (Hodder). I have three published poetry collections of my own and have contributed to more than 150 anthologies. I am also one of the writers of the popular Cbeebies programmes ‘Poetry Pie’ and ‘The Rhyme Rocket’. I have given workshops in some fairly unusual venues as well…the grandest of which being Buckingham Palace!

You can find out more about Coral on her website.

About Illustrator Charlotte Cooke

I was thrilled and proud when my picture book The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat was highly commended for the Macmillan Children’s Prize in 2010. Since then I have gone on to illustrate many other picture books and I enjoy making the occasional card too. When I’m not in my studio I’m usually outside running or playing referee to my two kids.

You can follow Charlotte on Twitter and visit her website.

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I love hosting new to me authors, and it gives me great pleasure to welcome Lucie Wheeler to Linda’s Book Bag today to help celebrate her lovely new book, The First Time Mums’ Club. Lucie has written a smashing post about friendship which is at the heart of The First Time Mums’ Club.

The First Time Mums’ Club was published by Harper Impulse on 5th May 2017 and is available for e-book purchase and paperback pre-order here.

The First Time Mums’ Club

Meet Pippa…

After years of trying and a failed IVF attempt, Pippa is thrilled to see two little lines appear on a pregnancy test. Finally a precious baby to call her own. This is all Pippa has ever wanted…if only husband Jason could show just a little excitement.

Imogen…

A baby is the icing on the cake for Imogen and Alice – proof that their love for each other can overcome any obstacle. But when Imogen starts receiving malicious texts, it’s clear that not everyone is thrilled about the girls’ good news.

And Ellie…

A drunken one-night stand and Ellie’s life is ruined! Pregnant, jobless and the relationship with her best friend, Chris, over- forever. Because Chris just happens to be the father of Ellie’s baby…and potentially the love of her life!

For these first time mums the road to motherhood is bumpier than most!

Friendship

A Guest Post by Lucie Wheeler

I’ll be there for you….

I love the saying that “friends are the family we choose ourselves”. I even have a plaque …

Friendship was always a crucial element that I wanted to include in my writing. All the stories I write, involve friendship on a multitude of different levels. And friendship plays a key role in The First Time Mums’ Club with Ellie, Pippa, Imogen and Zoe forming an amazing friendship bond.

My friends are there to hold me when I am sad, congratulate me when I achieve, laugh with me when I am silly and kick me into shape when I go off the rails. I honestly do not know what I would do without them in my life. And I think it is important to have different groups of friends too. I have a number of groups of friends who help me in all sorts of different ways:

The Romaniacs

   

These girls are my lifeline in writing and a lot of the time, personally too. They are always there to push me harder to achieve what I want to achieve, career wise. They are my shoulder of support, my inspiration and my sisters. I class each and every one of these lovely ladies as my family. Thank you Celia, Laura, Catherine, Sue, Vanessa, Debbie and Jan.

My long term friends

Kayleigh: she’s my longest best friend. We have known each other since we were toddlers and she has been my rock. My daughter calls her ‘auntie Kayleigh’ and she really does hold a special place in my heart. She has been the most stable thing in my life prior to having my daughter and I know she will be my best friend forever. She is one of those people who has so many friends and is always socialising with someone – and I can understand why, because she knows how to be a great friend. I am very lucky to have her in my life. She holds an element of Zoe’s social side and, like Zoe, Kayleigh is the type of person that people feel able to open up to and go to for advice.

She gets married this year too and I am honoured to have been asked to be her Maid of Honour!

Tarnya: I have known Tarnya since we were at college doing our Performing Arts Diploma. Tarnya has always been there for me, through thick and thin, and I know she always has my back. Regardless of whether I am right or wrong in a situation, Tarnya is the girl that will be at the front, fighting my corner and then asking me afterwards what actually happened! Her unwavering loyalty is amazing. She has an element of Ellie in her!

Hannah: An incredibly special human being. We have been friends for about 8 years and I know she is going to be in my life forever. She is the weirdest person I know! Never before have I met someone so crazy, yet sane. So full on, yet passionate. So honest, yet supportive. Hannah will tell me if I have done something wrong, but she will be by my side to put it right again. She keeps my feet on the ground but equally, pushes me to fly. She makes me feel like part of her family. We go holiday with Hannah and her children at the end of this month and I am SUPER excited. Hannah has Pippa’s caring side and Imogen’s love for children. If I owned a nursery, Hannah would be my first employee because her love for children and making them laugh is incredible. She also makes me laugh – a lot!

My university friends

I knew it would take a lot of juggling going to university and I resigned myself to that fact that I wasn’t there to make friends! How wrong I was. I’m very lucky that my year group, as a whole, are fantastic and we all get on so well. Naturally, we do have our little close friendship groups within the year but I honestly feel like all of them are my friends and I could walk in and sit with any of them and not feel uneasy. I do have my close friends though and so I would like to shout out to Leanne, Abi and Alex for always being there for me and helping to keep me sane! Also special thanks to Claire, Ben, Louise, Esther, Katie and Hannah for giving me the laughs needed to get through a degree. I know I have made some friends for life.

My virtual friends

Well, this group of people play a massive part in my everyday sanity. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful group of online friends. Most of these online friends are authors, agents, editors and bloggers. And each and every one of them play a huge part in my everyday life. I couldn’t possibly name everyone but I just want you to know that you are all wonderful people. I wish I could post photos of you all.

About Lucie Wheeler

Lucie Wheeler lives in Essex with her husband and daughter, and her English Bull Terrier, Dame, who loves to sit under Lucie’s desk as she writes and keep her feet warm. Never one to sit still, Lucie always has lots going on in her life. Currently, she’s writing her novels alongside studying for a degree. She is also one of The Romaniacs.
Lucie loves reading, spending time with friends and eating chocolate – when she gets to do all three, she’s a very happy lady!

You can follow Lucie on Twitter, find her on Facebook and visit her website.

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