It’s almost three years since I stayed in with Ralph Webster to chat all about his book One More Moon in a post you’ll find here. I so enjoyed that experience that I simply had to invite Ralph back to tell me all about his latest book.

Staying in with Ralph Webster

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag Ralph. Thanks so much for staying in with me. 

First Linda, please let me thank you for the invite.

You’re most welcome. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I am grateful to have the chance to spend another evening together and share with you a little about my newest book, The Other Mrs. Samson. I hope readers will find the story of Katie, Hilda, and the husband they share compelling and emotional – a bird’s eye view of what it was like to survive the world wars of the last century. While neither a romance novel nor a war story, their story is about privilege, struggle, and love. And the thing about love, as most of us know, is that it can sometimes be complicated. I think that makes The Other Mrs. Samson an engaging conversation that book clubs will enjoy. My wife Ginger even gave me book club discussion questions to include in the book.

Your wife sounds like a very useful person to have around. I’m in a book group so I’ll have to tell them about your book. I understand that The Other Mrs. Samson was released yesterday so a belated Happy Publication Day Ralph.

Thanks Linda!

What can we expect from an evening in with The Other Mrs. Samson?

I thought your readers might enjoy the introduction because it does explain how I came to write this story.

2020

Perhaps it was the pandemic, because I do have a lot of time on my hands, but my search for furnace filters more likely explains how I happened upon the long-forgotten small black lacquered cabinet. It had been carefully tucked away in the corner of the attic, along with a few other items we brought back from Katie’s New York apartment the week after she died.

The cabinet was curious, something others might consider an antique of some value or perhaps even a work of art. Age and travel had given it a few dents and bruises, but it seemed to have survived intact from a journey that must have been quite far. It was not exceptionally large, little more than fourteen inches tall, sixteen inches wide, and twelve inches deep. The face and sides were inlaid with various symbols, intricate designs trimmed with silver and gold. Behind two beautifully decorated doors were seven small shallow drawers, three pairs of two with a larger single beneath.

As I recall, neither of us had any idea why Katie had kept it, where it came from, or what its use may have been. The drawers were empty when we retrieved it from her apartment, and we had no recollection of her ever speaking of the cabinet’s existence. At the time, our only observation was that it was out of place. Her furniture tended to be more in the art deco style, not of Oriental origin, as the cabinet appeared. And to be perfectly honest, I am unable to remember why we saved it and didn’t consider consigning it to a reputable auction house where, despite its wear, it might have fetched a good price.

When we returned from New York, it went to the attic because, like many things, there was no other place to put it and we didn’t have the heart to give it away. I imagine our attic was no different from most, out of sight, out of mind, where we stored assorted things of questionable worth, objects of little use but too sentimental to part with, saved from the past with the unfounded hope that the next generation might claim them.

That afternoon, almost absentmindedly, I decided to dust it off. I must have tugged a little too hard on the bottom drawer or done something to cause its release because, when I pulled it open, the drawer slid out of the cabinet frame. That’s when I was surprised to discover the hidden compartment located below the drawer and was even more amazed by its contents. Inside were batches of letters wrapped in ribbons, a small leather-bound notebook with gilded pages, and a sheaf of pages tied together with a piece of brown string.

Most stories start at the beginning. But as you can see, this one begins at its end. I was given no choice. The answers were found in that order.

That’s brilliant Ralph. Of course I immediately want to know what happens. So, what else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought the cabinet of course Linda.

That looks wonderful I can quite see why you kept it. 

I suppose most of us have things like this in the attic.  Sometimes all one needs to do is look below the drawers and find the secrets that have been left behind!

Thanks so much for staying in and telling me about The Other Mrs. Samson Ralph. As soon as I have given blog readers the information they need about your new book I’m off into the attic to see what I can find!

The Other Mrs. Samson

Surviving two wars, sharing one husband, searching for answers.

A hidden compartment in a black lacquer cabinet left in an attic reveals the secrets of two incredible women: Hilda, born and raised in one of the wealthiest Jewish families in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, and Katie, whose early life in Germany is marked by tragedy and death. Their lives are forever entwined by their love of the same man, the brilliant and compassionate Dr. Josef Samson.

From the earliest, rough-and-tumble days of San Francisco, through the devastation of the Great War in Berlin and the terrors of Vichy France, and then to a new yet uncertain life in New York City, their stories span the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. In the end, one of these women will complete the life of the other and make a startling discovery about the husband they share.

The Other Mrs. Samson is available for purchase here.

About Ralph Webster

Award winning author Ralph Webster received worldwide acclaim for his first book, A Smile in One Eye: A Tear in the Other, which tells the story of his father’s flight from the Holocaust. Voted a Goodreads 2016 Choice Awards Nominee for Best Memoir/Autobiography, A Smile in One Eye: A Tear in the Other, his second book, One More Moon, and now his third book, The Other Mrs. Samson, are proven book club selections for thought-provoking and engaging discussions.

You can find out more by visiting Ralph’s website and finding him on Amazon and Goodreads. You can also follow Ralph on Twitter @Ralph_Webster.

My grateful thanks to Emma Dawson at EDPR for inviting me to participate in the launch celebrations for You, Me & The Sea by Elizabath Haynes. I was so pleased to accept as I have heard Elizabeth speak at a local literary event at which she was sensational so I knew I’d be in for a treat. I’m delighted to share my review of You, Me & The Sea today.

You, Me & The Sea was published by Myriad Editions earlier this month and is available for purchase in all the usual places including here.

You, Me & The Sea

Compelling, moving and teeming with feral desire: contemporary story of love and redemption set on a remote, windswept Scottish island from the bestselling author of Into The Darkest Corner and The Murder of Harriet Monckton.

Rachel is at crisis point. A series of disastrous decisions has left her with no job, no home, and no faith in herself. But an unexpected job offer takes her to a remote Scottish island, and it feels like a chance to recover and mend her battered self-esteem.

The island’s other inhabitants are less than welcoming. Fraser Sutherland is a taciturn loner who is not happy about sharing his lighthouse – or his precious coffee beans – and Lefty, his unofficial assistant, is a scrawny, scared lad who isn’t supposed to be there at all.

Homesick and out of her depth, Rachel wonders whether she’s made another mistake. But, as spring turns to summer, the wild beauty of the island captivates her soul. For the first time in years she sees the hope of a better life – if only she can break the deadlock between two men who are at war with one another, and with themselves.

My Review of You, Me & The Sea

Rachel’s life is a mess.

Oh dear. I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to review You, Me & The Sea because I loved it so much it’ll be difficult to articulate how wonderful it is. You, Me & The Sea is one of those books you can’t put down, but you don’t want to end, because it seeps into your soul and mesmerises you. It’s such a beautiful, emotional and completely satisfying read that I simply want to tell everyone to buy it and read it. When I was made to do other things instead of reading You, Me & The Sea I was so resentful. It consumed all my waking thoughts.

Firstly, there is the totally glorious setting of Must that utterly transported me from the flat fens where I live to the rugged Scottish island. Elizabeth Haynes captures it so vividly, and employs nature and weather to counterbalance and underpin the narrative with such brilliance that the island is every bit as much a character as are Rachel, Fraser and Lefty. Descriptions are evocative and realistic with all the senses catered for in an immersive and convincing way. Frasers cooking in particular is so realistic I was ravenous and I felt as if I were there on the cliffs, breathing in the salt air with the others. You, Me & The Sea is a bewitching maelstrom of sensory delight.

Whilst there are a few minor characters such as the birders staying in the observatory, or Rachel’s Norwich based family, it is Rachel, Lefty and Fraser who hold the reader spellbound. The dynamics of their relationships ensure the reader has no free will of their own but simply has to accept them as the author portrays them. I worried about them the whole time I was reading. They broke my heart and filled it with hope. I absolutely loved the interplay between them and the developing romantic and sexual relationship between Rachel and Fraser. And You, Me & The Sea is surprisingly sexual. Often the physical side of relationships in writing feels contrived, but here it is fabulously created with intimacy and passion. I read You, Me & The Sea rather wishing I could be Rachel!

I thought the plot was wonderful too. There’s drama and tension, quieter moments and heightened emotion so that I finished reading You, Me & The Sea feeling as if I’d experienced every emotion possible. This is such a wonderful love story but it is so much more besides. Elizabeth Haynes explores love, grief, depression, identity, feelings of inadequacy, violence and tenderness with absolute skill. It’s so hard to explain, but I felt I had lived and breathed this book rather than simply read it.

I absolutely adored You, Me & The Sea. It took me out of my own life and consumed me completely. I honestly felt as if I’d been away on the most fabulous adventure, meeting people whom I cared about and leaving the cares of the world behind. Reading You, Me & The Sea brought me utter joy. I cannot recommend Elizabeth Haynes’ You, Me & The Sea strongly enough. It has gone straight on my list of books of the year for 2021. I loved every moment reading it. Just wonderful.

About Elizabeth Haynes

Elizabeth Haynes worked for many years as a police intelligence analyst. Her debut novel, Into the Darkest Corner, won Amazon’s Book of the Year in 2011 and Amazon’s Rising Star Award for debut novels.

Elizabeth grew up in Sussex and studied English, German and Art History at Leicester University. She now lives in North Norfolk. Elizabeth is a regular participant in, and a Municipal Liaison for, National Novel Writing Month – Nanowrimo – an annual challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November.

For more information, follow Elizabeth on Twitter @Elizjhaynes, visit her website or find her on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s far, far, too long since I stayed in with Rachel Abbott to discuss Come A Little Closer in a post you can read here, and so, with Rachel’s latest Tom Douglas psychological thriller out today, I simply had to invite her back to tell me all about it. Luckily Rachel agreed to come!

Staying in with Rachel Abbott

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Rachel. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Hi Linda – and thanks for inviting me. It’s great to be chatting with you, and I hope you and all your readers are coping well in these very difficult times.

I hope so too! I’m not sure I am!

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought Close Your Eyes to share. It’s the latest case for my favourite detective Tom Douglas, so it’s very close to my heart! It’s out in ebook, paperback and audiobook and it’s the 10^th book in the series.

Close Your Eyes is out today isn’t it? Happy publication day. But your 10th book! My goodness Rachel, I have some catching up to do.

I find it almost impossible to believe that myself, to be honest!

They don’t have to be read in order, though. The only character in all stories is Tom, and each one is written from the point of view of the victim or perpetrator of a new crime, so you don’t need to know what’s come before.

That’s reassuring as I hear such wonderful things about your writing that I really want to dive right in. So, what can we expect from an evening in with Close Your Eyes?

Well, it’s a psychological thriller, so it’s probably as well to curl up with something to cling to for when it gets tense.

Like all the books in this series, it’s Tom’s job to solve the crime – in this case a murder which happens in the opening pages (so I’m not giving too much away!). But it becomes clear very quickly that the story is about much more than a dead body. Much of it is told from the point of view of Martha – a young woman who is suspected of the murder. All the evidence points to her, and she has no choice but to run.

At first, readers may think that Martha is aloof, distant, and probably quite a difficult character. But as the book progresses, they will hopefully begin to understand her as they discover more about her early life and what has brought her to this place and time.

That sounds fascinating. I love character driven books and I really like the sound of Martha.

I like to write about women who find themselves facing terrible dilemmas, who perhaps make mistakes, but who ultimately find strength they didn’t know they had. It’s a recurring theme in all my books – and even Tom sometimes has to make a difficult decision, because there are moments when the difference between right and wrong is blurred.

I think that sounds very true to life Rachel. It isn’t always clear cut.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

My lovely German Shepherd – Coco – is always close by. She brings herself along to most of my chats! After having a good sniff around my office for treats, she usually resorts to going outside to sit on the roof to ward off anyone who might disturb me!

I hope she won’t be too disturbed by all the cat related item in my home!

And of course, what would a launch day be like without a glass of bubbles to celebrate with.

Well quite! I’m always ready for a celebratory glass of fizz.

I always try to thank my most supportive readers by holding a bit of a party on Facebook – lots of silly puzzles and quizzes to make them smile. They will be my guests today, and I’m grateful for their continued loyalty. I’ll be busy sharing the fun with them as I swig the occasional glass (and if I’m honest, probably eat a piece of cake or two).

It might be dark, cold and windy outside, but I’m snug and warm in my office – an old gunpowder shelter, a short walk from my back door.

As my home – a Victorian fort on the wonderful island of Alderney – was inhabited initially by Victorian soldiers and subsequently by German soldiers during the second world war, I am constantly expecting to hear whispered plots in my ear. It hasn’t happened yet, but some ghostly guests would be interesting too.

That office looks amazing Rachel. Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about Close Your Eyes. It sounds brilliant and happy publication day again. 

Cheers everybody and I hope you enjoy Close Your Eyes as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I’m sure we will. Here are the details everyone needs:

Close Your Eyes

Don’t let him under your skin. He’ll destroy you.

Don’t fight him. He’ll win.

Run. Never let him find you.

I thought I was safe here, but I’m not. I’ve stayed too long. Now Genevieve is dead, and the police are on their way. It’s time for me to go.

I must stick to the plan – the one I made the day I arrived in this city. My bag is packed. It always is. I will destroy every shred of evidence of my existence. The police must never find me. If they do, so will he.

I made a mistake, and someone had to die. But I’m the one who has truly lost her life.

I need to make a choice. If I keep running, I’ll never stop. If I go back, he will make me suffer.

How many lives can one person ruin?

A Tom Douglas thriller

Close Your Eyes is available for purchase here.

About Rachel Abbott

Rachel Abbott is a British author of psychological thrillers. As a self-published author, her novels have sold over four million copies and have all been bestsellers on Amazon’s Kindle store. In 2015, she was named the number one bestselling self-published author in the UK and the 14th bestselling author (both published and self-published) over the previous five years on Amazon’s Kindle in the UK.

In 2017, following a five-way auction, Rachel Abbott signed a two-book deal with Headline Publishing Group. The first book, And So It Begins, was published in 2018 and features Sergeant Stephanie King. The second book in this series, The Murder Game was published in April 2020.

Her books have now been translated into over 20 languages.

Rachel’s writing career began in 2009, when she decided to write a book about an average, everyday woman facing a situation which gave her no option but to commit murder. In November 2011, Abbott published the story – Only the Innocent – on Amazon.

Abbott followed up Only the Innocent with The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Kill Me Again, The Sixth Window, Come A Little Closer, The Shape of Lies, Right Behind You – and now Close Your Eyes. All her thrillers focus on relationships and crime, and feature the same detective, Chief Inspector Tom Douglas.

You’ll find all Rachel’s books here.

Rachel Abbott grew up near Manchester, England. She worked as a systems analyst, and then founded an interactive media company, developing software and websites for the education market.  She sold the company in 2000. Following the sale, she moved to Italy, where she restored a 15th-century Italian monastery that for a time she and her husband operated as a venue for weddings and holidays. She now lives and works on the Channel Island of Alderney in a Victorian Fort where she has an office in a former gunpowder shelter.

You can find out more about Rachel on her website, or by following her on Twitter @RachelAbbott. You’ll also find Rachel on Facebook and on Instagram.

I have a confession. I have only just discovered The Barbellion Prize which is designed to celebrate the writings and voice of ill and disabled writers. I’m delighted to bring the work of The Barbellion Prize to your attention today.

The full longlist of books for this years’ prize can be found here, but I would like to share the shortlist with you. The prize will be awarded tomorrow, Friday 12th February 2021, and I can’t wait to read all four books. My thanks to the organisers of The Barbellion Prize and to the publishers who have sent me copies of the books.

Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer

‘A hymn to life, love, family, and spirit’ DAVID MITCHELL, author of Cloud Atlas

The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD and THE BARBELLION PRIZE

In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. At the time, most such children are not expected to survive. Her parents and doctors are determined to ‘fix’ her, sending the message over and over again that she is broken. That she will never have a job, a romantic relationship, or an independent life. Enduring countless medical interventions, Riva tries her best to be a good girl and a good patient in the quest to be cured.

Everything changes when, as an adult, Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark-it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening, or worthless. They insist that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Emboldened, Riva asks if she can paint their portraits-inventing an intimate and collaborative process that will transform the way she sees herself, others, and the world. Each portrait story begins to transform the myths she’s been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal.

Written with the vivid, cinematic prose of a visual artist, and the love and playfulness that defines all of Riva’s work, Golem Girl is an extraordinary story of tenacity and creativity. With the author’s magnificent portraits featured throughout, this memoir invites us to stretch ourselves toward a world where bodies flow between all possible forms of what it is to be human.

‘Riva Lehrer is a great artist and a great storyteller. This is a brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty, and wonder‘ AUDREY NIFFENEGGER

Published by Virago Golam Girl is available for purchase here.

You can visit Riva Lehrer’s website for further information, and follow her on Twitter @riva_lehrer.

The Fragments of My Father by Sam Mills

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

In the vein of the Costa-winning Dadland, with the biographical elements of H is for Hawk, The Fragments of my Father is a powerful and poignant memoir about parents and children, freedom and responsibility, madness and creativity and what it means to be a carer.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BARBELLION PRIZE

My life had been suspended, as though I had inhaled and was still waiting to let out that gasp of breath. I set aside my dreams for a future time when life might be normal again. But that night, on my mother’s birthday, as I sat and watched the sky turn from blue to black, I wondered for the first time if it ever would …

There were holes in Sam Mills’s life when she was growing up – times when her dad was just absent, for reasons she didn’t understand. As she grew older, she began to make up stories about the periods when he wasn’t around: that he’d been abducted, spirited away and held captive by a mysterious tribe who lived at the bottom of the garden. The truth – that he suffers from a rare form of paranoid schizophrenia, and was hospitalised intermittently – slowly came into focus, and that focus became pin-sharp in 2012, when Sam’s mother died and Sam was left as his primary carer.

In this powerful, poignant memoir Sam triangulates her own experience with the stories of two other carers, one she admires and one, on some days, she fears she might become: Leonard Woolf, husband to Virginia and F Scott Fitzgerald, husband to Zelda, and a man whose personality made him ill-equipped – in a great many ways – to be a carer for his troubled wife.

A mesmerising blend of literary biography and memoir The Fragments of My Father is a compelling and moving account of what it means to be a carer.

Published by 4th Estate, The Fragments of My Father is available for purchase here.

You can find out more on Sam Mills’ website and follow her on Twitter @sammillsauthor.

Sanatorium by Abi Palmer

A young woman spends a month taking the waters at a thermal water-based rehabilitation facility in Budapest. On her return to London, she attempts to continue her recovery using an £80 inflatable blue bathtub. The tub becomes a metaphor for the intrusion of disability; a trip hazard in the middle of an unsuitable room, slowly deflating and in constant danger of falling apart. Sanatorium moves through contrasting spaces bathtub to thermal pool, land to water, day to night interlacing memoir, poetry and meditations on the body to create a mesmerising, mercurial debut.

‘There is a dreamlike quality to Abi Palmer’s exquisite Sanatorium. In lucid, gorgeous prose, she tells the story of a body, of illness and of navigating the complicated wellness industry, but ultimately this is a book about what it means to be alive. A striking, experimental debut that will stay with me.’ Sinéad Gleeson

Published by Penned in the Margins, Sanatorium is available for purchase here.

You can find out more on Abi Palmer’s website and follow her on Twitter @abipalmer_bot.

Kika and Me by Amit Patel

Amit Patel is working as a trauma doctor when a rare condition causes him to lose his sight within thirty-six hours. Totally dependent on others and terrified of stepping outside with a white cane after he’s assaulted, he hits rock bottom. He refuses to leave home on his own for three months. With the support of his wife Seema he slowly adapts to his new situation, but how could life ever be the way it was? Then his guide dog Kika comes along…

But Kika’s stubbornness almost puts her guide dog training in jeopardy – could her quirky personality be a perfect match for someone? Meanwhile Amit has reservations – can he trust a dog with his safety? Paired together in 2015, they start on a journey, learning to trust each other before taking to the streets of London and beyond. The partnership not only gives Amit a renewed lease of life but a new best friend. Then, after a video of an irate commuter rudely asking Amit to step aside on an escalator goes viral, he sets out with Kika by his side to spread a message of positivity and inclusivity, showing that nothing will hold them back.

From the challenges of travelling when blind to becoming a parent for the first time, Kika & Me is the moving, heart-warming and inspirational story of Amit’s sight-loss journey and how one guide dog changed his world.

Published by Pan Macmillan, Kika and Me is available for purchase here.

You can follow Amit Patel on Twitter @BlindDad_Uk.

*

I have a feeling that I’m going to fine each of these books totally fascinating and would like to wish all four authors all the very best for tomorrow. I think they all deserve to win The Barbellion Prize.

You can find out the result by visiting The Barbellion Prize website, following them on Twitter @BarbellionPrize or Instagram. You’ll also find The Barbellion Prize on Facebook.

It gives me enormous pleasure to help Sue Moorcroft unveil her latest book, Under the Italian Sun, today. Sue is a regular here on Linda’s Book Bag and I’m honoured to be part of her street team.

Under the Italian Sun

The number one bestseller is back with an uplifting, escapist read that will brighten the gloomiest day!

A warm, sun-baked terrace.

The rustle of verdant green vines.

The sun slowly dipping behind the Umbrian mountains.

And the chink of wine glasses as the first cork of the evening is popped…

Welcome to Italy. A place that holds the answer to Zia-Lucia Costa Chalmers’ many questions. Not least, how she ended up with such a mouthful of a name.

When Zia discovers that her mother wasn’t who she thought she was, she realises the time has come to search out the Italian family she’s never known.

However, as she delves into the secrets of her past, she doesn’t bargain on having to think about her future too. But with local vineyard owner, Piero, living next door, Zia knows she has a serious distraction who may prove difficult to ignore…

This summer, join Zia as she sets out to uncover her past. But can she find the future she’s always dreamed of along the way?

Now doesn’t that sound utterly wonderful? I can’t wait to escape and find myself Under the Italian Sun and if you pop back here on 14th May you’ll be able to find out what I thought of the book!

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome Jane Haynes to Linda’s Book Bag today. My thanks to publicist Grace Pilkington at Quartet Books for putting us in touch with one another. With life having been led vicariously, often via Zoom, for almost a year and my usually cheerful public persona sometimes belying my actual mood, I’m fascinated to see what Jane has to tell me about her latest book.

Staying in with Jane Haynes

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

In the Consulting Zoom: A Psychotherapist’s Journal of Lockdown I have chosen it because of its ongoing relevance to our collective COVID lives and because it is unusual. It records the daily life of a psychotherapist who, used to being sequestered in her Marylebone consulting rooms, suddenly found herself working from the chaos of a multigenerational home.

That must have been quite demanding!

Also, everyone has become more dependent on technology whether that is Zoom/Face Time/Skype and in the case of therapy it has changed everything. One example of this is that while the therapist opens and closes the sessions they have no idea at all where the patient/person will receive them. In the past I didn’t know anything about people’s lives except what they wanted to tell me. Since Zoom and Lockdown I have conducted therapy in people’s bedrooms, kitchens, even bathrooms and beds. I have seen what they have on their walls and sometimes what their children and dogs look like. Finally, looking back I have no idea at all how, at the end of a busy day conducting five therapy zooms, looking after children, cleaning the house, dealing with the recycling (for which you need a PhD get it right in Camden) I ever found the time to write a daily diary entry.

Crikey, neither do I! In the Consulting Zoom: A Psychotherapist’s Journal of Lockdown sounds fascinating though. What can we expect from an evening in with this book?

You will not only hear my voice, but with their permission given, you will hear excerpts of my ‘patient’s’ (I don’t like to use that word except for simplicity) lives and their fears and anxieties. You will also find an interview with my eight-year-old granddaughter talking about what COVID meant to her. You will hear about how I woke up one day in late March to find that a neighbour across the road had died of COVID and how their house was being guarded by police in full hazmat and PPE. Also you’ll read my rage with Dominic Cummings for his arrogance and how I nicknamed him Rumpelstiltskin.

I have kept my Covid related views fairly quiet Jane, but the Dominic Cummings fiasco absolutely enraged me too and I hold him responsible for many, many deaths.

Apart from various voices and your own rage, what else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I have brought my dog Dido and my cat Zen who have helped to keep me sane throughout Lockdown and who both tell their own stories in the journal.

I think many people have needed their pets more than ever Jane.

I’m also bringing a pack of cards. I have never been someone who played games and I only recently bought a pack of cards, but learning to play bridge on line on BBQ has been another accomplishment that would not have happened without COVID as I am useless at maths.

Me too. Took me three goes to get a C in maths at O’Level although I think having 8 different teachers in a year didn’t help!

Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about In the Consulting Zoom: A Psychotherapist’s Journal of Lockdown Jane. I think it sounds a really interesting read. 

In the Consulting Zoom: A Psychotherapist’s Journal of Lockdown

As suicide rates rocket during Lockdown all royalties from this edition are being donated to CALM: The Charity Against Living Miserably.

‘If the origin of the word ‘patient’ was linked in Greek to the word: ‘suffering’ we are all patients now, regardless of whether or not we have the virus’

After suffering from a bout of writer’s block, Jane re-read Defoe’s A Journal of a Plague Year and was inspired to write her own journal of a Covid-19 lockdown. Starting at the beginning of March, as Jane experiences symptoms, this diary captures the fear and uncertainty of Spring 2020. Unable to get tested, Jane vividly conjures the national frustration and tightness in the chest the early days of the pandemic induced. As lockdown continues, we follow Jane through previously uncharted territory; the life of a full-time psychotherapist.

In the Consulting Zoom will take you on a trip into one of psychotherapy’s most original minds. It will make you, laugh, smile and scowl at all the governmental mistakes. Interesting, informative, philosophical, political, honest and heart-warming, we watch Jane unravel the mysteries of Zoom, online bridge and innovative ways of getting food delivered, while emotionally navigating her way through the terror of the virus.

In the Consulting Zoom is available for purchase here.

About Jane Haynes

Jane Haynes is a writer and relational psychotherapist who lives and practises in London, and more recently on Zoom. Jane co-founded the Blue Door Practice in Marylebone.

In 2008 her book Who is it that can tell me who I am? (Little, Brown) was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize for literary autobiography. If I Chance to Talk a Little Wild (Quartet Books) was published to critical acclaim in 2018. As the UK is clouded by Covid-19, Jane has written articles on how to survive lockdown for Vogue and given tips on how to cope with our new reality on Times Radio and BBC London. In the Consulting Zoom is her latest work.

For more information, follow Jane on Twitter @janehaynespsych or visit her website. You’ll also find her on Instagram.

I’m so sorry I couldn’t fit in a review of This Changes Everything by Helen McGinn ready for today’s launch as I think it looks completely wonderful. Sadly, with over 900 physical books and many more again in e-book awaiting review I just couldn’t manage it. However, as I think This Changes Everything looks exactly my kind of rea, I simply had to share the details with you.

Published today, 9th February 2021, by Boldwood Books This Changes Everything is available for purchase here.

This Changes Everything

Should first love be left in the past, or is first love, forever love?

Sisters Annie and Jess are used to their mother Julia being spontaneous. But when Julia announces she’s flying off to Rome to meet her first love Patrick, whom she hasn’t seen for fifty years, it’s an adventure too far. So, her daughters decide the only way to keep Julia safe, is to go too – without actually telling their mother she has chaperones!

Julia and Patrick’s love story was everything – epic, once-in-a-lifetime, with a tragic ending and life-long consequences. First love is hard to forget, but sometimes, just sometimes, life delivers a chance to rewrite your story.

As the eternal city of Rome works its magic, old secrets, old friends and old loves become new possibilities and new dreams. And when the four travellers return home, nothing will ever be the same again.

Join Helen McGinn for a timeless, joyous, unforgettable journey through love, family, and long-forgotten dreams.  A novel to hold to your heart and treasure, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Cathy Kelly and JoJo Moyes.

Now doesn’t that sound just gorgeous? I can’t wait to read This Changes Everything.

Why not listen to an audio clip from This Changes Everything?

About Helen McGinn

Helen McGinn is a drinks expert and the author of the award-winning Knackered Mother’s Wine Club blog and book. She spent almost a decade sourcing wines around the world as a supermarket buyer and most of the next half-decade pregnant. She writes about drinks for the Daily Mail’s Femail Magazine and appears regularly on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV’s This Morning as their wine expert. Awards for her wine blog include Fortnum & Mason’s Online Drink Writer of the Year and Red Magazine’s Best Blogger. Helen lives in the New Forest with her husband, three children and too many dogs. This Changes Everything is her debut novel.

For more information, find Helen on Instagram or visit her website. You’ll also find Helen on Facebook and Twitter @knackeredmutha.

My grateful thanks to Laura Mayer  at Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of Lightseekers by Femi Kayode in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Lightseekers was published by Blomsbury imprint Raven Books on 4th February 2021 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Lightseekers

Three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town, their killings – and their killers – caught on social media. The world knows who murdered them; what no one knows is why.

As the legal trial begins, investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo is contacted by the father of one of the boys, desperate for some answers to his son’s murder. Philip is an expert in crowd behaviour and violence but travelling to the sleepy university town that bore witness to the killings, he soon feels dramatically out of his depth.

Years spent first studying, then living in the US with his wife and children mean he is unfamiliar with many Nigerian customs and no one involved in the case seems willing to speak out.

The more Philip digs, and the more people he meets with a connection to the case, the more he begins to realise that there is something very wrong concealed somewhere in this community.

My Review of Lightseekers

Philip is doing his father a favour.

Lightseekers opens in dramatic fashion and draws in the reader immediately. I actually found it quite an uncomfortable read because it is such a compelling and horrifying narrative that is far too close to the truth to be read as pure entertainment without affecting the reader. I thought it was excellent.

Lightseekers uncovers layers of corruption and racism at every level. It isn’t just the rotten state of racist or xenophobic views and actions between nations that Femi Kayode makes terrifyingly clear, but those within nations and neighbours too. This seam of discomfort runs from student cults, through so-called state institutions like the police, and right to every individual. Add in the impact of the internet, hearsay and rumour and Lightseekers has all the ingredients of a first class thriller. Femi Kayode’s professional background in psychology shines through. He writes with elegant authority that is completely convincing, making the reader terrifyingly aware that shining a light also casts some very dark shadows. There’s very much a feeling of being part of the investigation with Philip and Chika and an unnerving sense of threat and menace permeates every page. The frequently dramatic final sentences of chapters compel the reader onwards too.

Indeed, Lightseekers is a difficult read in as much as the author leaves the reader questioning where they themselves fit in a corrupt world. Philip is investigating three brutal murders and meets barriers of obstruction and corruption at every turn, and whilst he is the positive protagonist, he isn’t above dubious and underhand tactics to get to the truth. This makes Philip fascinating. His family dynamics, his sense of displacement, his desire for approval and truth all blend into a complex and intriguing person I though seemed vivid and real.

The plot is a corker. Quieter moments with conversations between Philip an Chika balance the more dynamic aspects so that there is even more light and shade to enjoy. A smattering of recognisable real people and cult names add to the authenticity. In fact, so convincing was Lightseekers’ narrative that I did some research into Nigerian University cults and discovered that Femi Kayode’s captivating story is more firmly rooted in factual research than I might have liked, because I didn’t want to believe some of the actions could happen. As a result, I found this story even more disturbing and intelligently written. It also made me appreciate the consummate skill of the author in blending fact and fiction in order to present an utterly captivating story.

Lightseekers is a brilliant start to a new series that I found totally compelling. I want to know more about Philip and his relationship with Folake and I’m hoping Chika will make further appearances too. If you’re looking for a thriller with a new perspective, Lightseekers has it all. Don’t miss it.

About Femi Kayode

Femi Kayode trained as a clinical psychologist in Nigeria, before starting a career in advertising. He has created and written several prime-time TV shows. He recently graduated with a distinction from the UEA Creative Writing programme and is currently a PhD candidate at Bath Spa University. Femi won the UEA/Little, Brown Award for Lightseekers when he was still writing the novel. He lives in Windhoek, Namibia with his wife and two sons.

You can follow Femi on Twitter @FemiKay_Author.

I am six.

Actually, that’s not quite true. I’ll personally be sixty in exactly two months, but today Linda’s Book Bag turns six. I find myself slightly surprised by that fact as I only began blogging very tentatively and somehow it seems to have become less of a casual hobby and more of an overwhelming obsession.

It’s hard to believe I’m heading to almost 2,500 blog posts published, with over 20,000 followers across my social media platforms. Blogging has led to so many opportunities and real life friends that I heartily recommend it to anyone wondering if it might be for them.

I am humbled and thrilled in equal measure that anyone might value a slot on Linda’s Book Bag or be remotely interested in my views on a book. It’s such a privilege to be trusted with the efforts writers have put in to their work.

By way of a small thank you to those of you who take the time to visit, read or share my blog posts, I’d like to offer a small giveaway to celebrate Linda’s Book Bag turning six.

Giveaway

For your chance to win either a £20 National Book Tokens e-voucher or a £20 Amazon e-voucher please click here. Open internationally. Giveaway closes UK midnight on Friday 12th February 2021.

Thank you for all your support and good luck x

I think it’s almost a year since a surprise copy of Shiver by Allie Reymolds arrived from Headline and I would like to thank Jennifer Doyle for sending me a limited edition proof. I’m delighted to share my review of Shiver today.

Published by Headline on 21st January 2021, Shiver is available for purchase through the links here.

Shiver

They don’t know what I did. And I intend to keep it that way.

How far would you go to win? Hyper-competitive people, mind games and a dangerous natural environment combine to make the must-read thriller of the year. Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver.

When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can’t seem to let go.

The five friends haven’t seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don’t know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.

In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

My Review of Shiver

Ten years on, Milla’s reunion might not be quite as she hopes.

I so enjoyed Shiver. It’s a fresh, modern example of a locked room mystery with plenty of menace and wonderful traditional elements, like lights suddenly going out, that readers recognise, so that they bring their own reading experience to the book and, thereby, the tension is heightened. Allie Reynolds has built on those traditions skilfully and effectively.

I’m not usually particularly taken with dual timeline narratives but here I loved the balance between the present day and ten years earlier because motives behind the present predicament are so compellingly uncovered in the past. I found myself exclaiming aloud as details were revealed and motives became clear. The short, pacy and exciting chapters meant I consumed Shiver in a couple of days as I was desperate to know how the book ended. I found it gripping.

The characters are superb representations of flawed and often quite unpleasant individuals. Any one of them could be behind the situation they find themselves in and any one of them could be a murderous danger to the others. With Milla’s perspective leading both the the story and the reader, I got to the point where I was totally confused as to whom I could trust, and was kept guessing throughout. I really enjoyed the way that, through Milla, Allie Reynolds manipulated me.

Speaking of reader manipulation, I was so drawn in to the characterisation that if Saskia hadn’t been already been declared dead I’d have slipped into the pages of Shiver and murdered her myself. She made my blood boil. I think it speaks for the power of Allie Reynolds’ writing that I had no idea if Saskia had actually died or if she were currently manipulating the others, but I really wanted her to have suffered and felt as vengeful as the others towards her! You’ll need to read Shiver for yourself to see if my wishes came true as I’m not spoiling the story, but I did find my own reader response quite disturbing. The underlying exploration of how competitive people like Saskia can be so driven was an added layer of fascination too, as was the exploration of gender through her and Milla. Being female does not have to mean being weak or allowing others to take away your ambition. Indeed, the themes of Shiver make it more than an just exciting and entertaining thriller. Guilt, expectation, manipulation, relationships, secrets, ambition and various kinds of desire from sexual to family recognition, ripple through character actions making Shiver a cracking psychological read too.

With the enclosed setting of the Alpine resort, Shiver has a literal as well as metaphorical coldness to it. The possible natural dangers of avalanche and crevasse make danger ever present and I had no idea if any of the party would make it out alive. I also thoroughly enjoyed the vicarious thrill of snowboarding because of the author’s absolute authority in presenting it so vividly without patronising her reader. I found myself on the slopes with the characters.

I really, really enjoyed Shiver. I found it an assured, well written and thrilling read from Allie Reynolds. It completely held my attention at a time when I’m struggling to focus and I think that speaks volumes for the power of the narrative. Loved it!

About Allie Reynolds

Allie Reynolds is the author of the thriller Shiver, which was published on 21st January 2021.

Born and raised in Lincoln, England, she moved to Australia in 2004. She lives on the Gold Coast with her two young boys and a cat who thinks he’s a dog.

Many years ago she competed at snowboard halfpipe. She spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. These days she sticks to surfing – water doesn’t hurt as much as ice when you fall on it.

Her first ever job was a Saturday job in a bookstore, at age 14. She taught English for many years and became a full-time writer in 2018.

For more information, Follow Allie on Twitter @AuthorAllieR and find her on Instagram. You can also visit her website.