Robert Crouch is one of the loveliest authors I know so that when he told me he’d another Kent Fisher mystery coming out I knew I had to break my current self-imposed blog tour ban and participate. The latest book, No Going Back, number 7 in the series, is released today and I am delighted to share an extract with you.

There are lots of other Kent Fisher posts on Linda’s Book Bag:

You’ll find my review of No Love Lost here.

There’s a guest post from Rob about daring to be different when No Mercy, was published. You can read that post here.

Robert featured again when No More Lies was released, in a post you can see here.

I ‘stayed in’ with Rob in a post you can read here, and he’s been kind enough to provide a guest post (here) shortly after his Fisher’s Fables was released and another here to celebrate No Bodies.

No Going Back is available for purchase here.

No Going Back

What you don’t do will torment you.

When journalist Harry Lawson is pulled from a private swimming pool, his drowning looks like a tragic accident, but for one small detail – he knew someone was going to kill him.

The three text messages he fired off to an old flame the night before confirm he’s a troubled man. But former friend and sleuth, Kent Fisher, believes the messages hint at something deeper and more sinister – an investigation that cost Harry his life.

When a second reporter dies, it’s clear there’s a killer with unfinished business. As Kent inches towards a breakthrough he clashes with close friend Detective Inspector Ashley Goodman. She instructs him to stop investigating, knowing full well he won’t.

For Kent there’s no going back. He has to finish what he started, even though he risks losing a friend, and maybe his own life.

In the seventh murder mystery of the series, Kent Fisher digs deep to complete an investigation that’s far removed from the one he started.

An Extract from No Going Back

One

“Harry Lawson’s dead.”

I’m not sure why Sarah’s telling me as Harry and I fell out over ten years ago.

“The police were waiting for me when I returned home.” She folds her arms across her baggy sweater and stares at me, as if it’s my fault. “I’ve been out all night on an emergency call.”

That explains the smells of cattle shed and Jeyes fluid, and why she’s on my doorstep at seven fifteen on Sunday morning. Her jeans and wellingtons are speckled with muck and straw, suggesting she drove straight here after talking to the police.

“They want me to formally identify the body.”

Is that why she’s here? Does she want me to go to the morgue with her? I can’t think why. She’s a veterinary surgeon. She’s seen and operated on enough sick and injured animals in her time.

Maybe she wants me to identify Harry.

“Harry had my business card in his wallet,” she says, sounding put out. “They asked me about my relationship to him. They asked about relatives, someone close they could contact.” She sweeps back her auburn hair, revealing grey roots. “Did he tell you he grew up in a home after his parents overdosed on heroin?”

Harry told me his parents were kidnapped and executed during a conflict in the Middle East in the 1970s. It inspired him to follow in their footsteps and become an investigative journalist.

I’m not sure writing kiss and tell stories about celebrities quite hits the mark.

“Did the police say how he died?”

“They said investigations were ongoing.” She glances at her chunky wristwatch, but shows no sign of leaving. “I thought you should know. You and Harry were close once.”

I remember the night Harry silenced everyone in the saloon bar of the Red Lion with a drunken outburst. He’d been out of sorts for days, making sarcastic jibes, taunting and provoking me. When Sarah intervened, he pushed her away, accusing her of always taking my side. When I tried to calm him, he thrust me against a wall, pressing his face close to mine.

“Thanks for destroying everything that’s good in my life,” he said.

Then he crashed out of the pub. The following morning he left for London.

We haven’t seen each other or spoken since that night.

“Did you tell the police about the argument in the Red Lion?” I ask.

She gives me a cheeky smile – the one that says she’s misbehaved. “There’s a lot of things I haven’t told them.”

***

And that’s what I love about Robert Crouch’s writing. There’s mystery and a dash of romantic entanglement but most of all, there are real, vivid people!

About Robert Crouch

Robert Crouch is the author of the Kent Fisher murder mystery series. Set in today’s world, the books pay homage to the traditional murder mystery and classic whodunit.

Based on his career as an environmental health officer, Kent Fisher is a different kind of detective, described as ‘unique in crime fiction’ by one reviewer.

Having left environmental health, Robert now writes full time from his home on the East Sussex coast. He loves walking on the South Downs with his wife, Carol, and their Westie, Harvey, reading crime fiction and photography.

You can find out more on Robert’s website, by following him on Twitter @robertcrouchuk or by finding him on Instagram and  Facebook.

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I thoroughly enjoyed two very different, but equally impressive, children’s books by Julia Stebbing – The Lost Smile and Remarkable Women in Verse that I reviewed here – so that when Julia asked me if I’d review When Moggie Met Froggie I simply had to agree. My thanks to Julia for sending me a copy of When Moggie Met Froggie in return for an honest review.

Published on 2nd April 2021, When Moggie Met Froggie is available for purchase here.

When Moggie Met Froggie

A scruffy cat goes… in search of mice to eat, a scrummy, yummy, tasty treat… Instead, he meets a very outspoken, rather feisty, frog.

Find out what happens when Moggie works up the courage to confront the frog, only to end up completely humiliated.

When Moggie Met Froggie is about moving past first perceptions and finding the good in the heart of a person. It tells a tale of building a good friendship after a disagreement and the possibility of finding a friend wherever you roam. This book is charming, delightfully illustrated and written in rhyming verse. It will bring parents and children together for a whirlwind of fun and laughter.

My Review of When Moggie Met Froggie

A scruffy cat makes an unusual friend.

When Moggie Met Froggie is a smashing book to share with young children either at home or in the classroom.

Well written in rhyming verse, When Moggie Met Froggie exemplifies various forms of rhyme, from sight to homophones, so that the story models good spelling and vocabulary, enriching the learning experience. This is enhanced by more challenging words that young children may not necessarily know, like ‘admission’, but that are easily understood in the context so that children can increase their vocabulary as they are entertained. I liked the fact that direct speech in When Moggie Met Froggie is properly punctuated even though many target age children may not have reached that level of writing yet, because it is never too early to exemplify good practice.

When Moggie Met Froggie is a charming children’s book with a powerful message that violence isn’t the answer and just because we may look very different that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Exemplifying the fact that disputes can be settled amicably, it also touches on hygiene so that children can learn that keeping clean and fresh smelling is helpful! They’ll also come to realise that pets are a responsibility because the reason Moggie is as scruffy and dirty as he is, is because the family he lived with moved away and left him behind.

With themes of friendship, belonging and difference at its heart, When Moggie Met Froggie can be enjoyed as a straightforward narrative with, and for, young children, but it has huge potential for classroom use too. I thought it was great.

About Julia Stebbing

Julia has always lived in north London and was brought up in Stanmore. Opposite her house were only fields and the local school was a mere 5-minute walk. The spinney nearby provided opportunities for jumping a stream, picking blackberries, and hiding in the woods. Switch to three children later, husband David, and seven grandchildren – 3 girls and 4 boys. She used to write song lyrics and now loves writing children’s stories, especially in rhyming verse. S

he has published two books, The Lost Smile, a picture book which is the first in a series of The Fabulous Five. Remarkable Women in Verse tells the story of Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and her governess Anne Sullivan, and also Florence Nightingale.

Find out more on Sticky Bun’s website here and on Facebook. You’ll occasionally find Julia on Twitter @stickybunpub and Instagram too.

My enormous thanks to the lovely team at Bookends for sending me a copy of The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall and to Jenny Platt at Hodder for inviting me to participate in this blog tour. I’m delighted to share my review of The Secret Bridesmaid today.

The Secret Bridesmaid was published by Hodder on 13th May and is available for purchase through these links.

The Secret Bridesmaid

Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.

As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is secretly hired by brides to be their right-hand woman, ensuring their big day goes off without a hitch. From wrangling rowdy hen dos to navigating last minute portaloo cancellations, there’s no problem she can’t solve.

So when she’s employed by an actual Marchioness to help plan the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.

Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Cordelia, is rude, difficult and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient when Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. And when a rival society wedding is announced, things get even more complicated . . .

Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career, follow her heart and maintain her reputation – all while keeping her true identity hidden?

My Review of The Secret Bridesmaid

Sophie Breeze has her most challenging assignment yet!

My goodness I enjoyed Katy Birchall’s The Secret Bridesmaid. It was fun, innovative, entertaining and sheer escapism. Just at the very moment when the world felt as if there would never be another wedding, social event or party again, The Secret Bridesmaid afforded me the opportunity to enjoy them through Sophie’s work and I enjoyed every moment.

I thought the structure of The Secret Bridesmaid was excellent. Although this is a romantic comedy, there is depth to the narrative and Katy Birchall has a deft touch at lightening the more serious moments through texts, emails and WhatsApp group messages so that there’s a realism and humour running through the story. I laughed aloud several times and felt a tear in my eye at others. I loved the way the plot sped along, keeping my attention absolutely throughout.

The characterisation works brilliantly. I had initially feared Cordelia might be irredeemable, but the Shakespearean connotation of her name, that her words might belie an honest and loyal individual, was wonderfully explored and led me to understand her and to want her to be happy. Indeed, I was more rapt by her relationship with Sophie than I was in any of the romantic relationships, although I thoroughly enjoyed them too. In The Secret Bridesmaid, Katy Birchall shows a real understanding of what makes us behave as we do.

Aside from excellent entertainment and vivid and engaging characters, however, are some surprisingly weighty and though-provoking themes that make Katy Birchall’s writing all the more attractive. The Secret Bridesmaid considers loyalty, betrayal and trust, friendship, relationships and family, professionalism, celebrity and manipulation in several different ways so that I was completely engaged with the narrative.

I fear my review hasn’t truly conveyed what a smashing read this is, but I don’t want to spoil this super book for others by revealing too much. Katy Birchall has written a cracker of a story in The Secret Bridesmaid that deserves to be packed into every beach bag and suitcase because it would be a perfect holiday read. And if we can’t get away or attend a wedding this summer, The Secret Bridesmaid is the next best thing. It is completely immersive entertainment and I finished The Secret Bridesmaid feeling happy and uplifted. What could be better?

About Katy Birchall

Katy is the author of several young adult novels including The It Girl series, the Hotel Royale series and Morgan Charmley: Teen Witch. She is the co-author of the middle grade Lightning Girl series and Star Switch with Alesha Dixon, and the Find the Girl teen series with YouTube stars Lucy and Lydia Connell. Katy was proud to be the author of a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma for the Awesomely Austen series, a collection of Austen’s novels retold for younger readers. She has also written a non-fiction book, How to be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines. Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono. The Secret Bridesmaid is her first adult novel.

For further information, follow Katy on Twitter @KatyBirchall and visit her website. You’ll also find Katy on Instagram.

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Recently Hannah Bright at Midas PR got in touch to see if I would be interested in reviewing one of the 2021 Reading Agency Quick Reads in support of the 15th Anniversary of the scheme. Obviously, I was more than interested and I am delighted to share my review of The Motive by Khurrum Rahman today. Before I do that, however, let me tell you a little bit about Quick Reads.

One in six adults in the UK – approximately 9 million people – find reading difficult, and one in three people do not regularly read for pleasure. Quick Reads, which celebrates its 15^th anniversary this year, plays a vital role in addressing these shocking statistics by inspiring emergent readers, as well as those with little time or who have fallen out of the reading habit, with entertaining and accessible writing from the very best contemporary authors.

This year’s short books include:

– a dark domestic thriller from British Book Award winner Louise Candlish (The Skylight), who thanks reading for setting her on the right path when she was ‘young and adrift’

– an uplifting romance by the much-loved Katie Fforde (Saving the Day), who never thought she would be able to be an author because of her struggle with dyslexia

– the holiday from hell for Detective Roy Grace courtesy of long-time literacy campaigner and crime fiction maestro Peter James (Wish You Were Dead)

– a specially abridged version of the feminist manifesto (How to Be a Woman) by Caitlin Moran: ‘everyone deserves to have the concept of female equality in a book they can turn to as a chatty friend.’

– an introduction to Khurrum Rahman’s dope dealer Javid Qasim (The Motive), who previously found the idea of reading a book overwhelming and so started reading late in life, to find ‘joy, comfort and an escape’

– Oyinkan Braithwaite’s follow-up to her Booker nominated debut sensation My Sister, the Serial Killer – a family drama set in lockdown Lagos (The Baby is Mine)

About The Reading Agency and Quick Reads

The Reading Agency is a national charity that tackles life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading. We work closely with partners to develop and deliver programmes for people of all ages and backgrounds. The Reading Agency is funded by Arts Council England.

Quick Reads, a programme by The Reading Agency, aims to bring the pleasures and benefits of reading to everyone, including the one in three adults in the UK who do not regularly read for pleasure, and the one in six adults in the UK who find reading difficult. The scheme changes lives and plays a vital role in addressing the national crisis around adult literacy in the UK. Each year, Quick Reads commissioning editor Fanny Blake works with UK publishers to commission high profile authors to write short, engaging books that are specifically designed to be easy to read. Since 2006, over 5 million books have been distributed through the initiative, 5 million library loans (PLR) have been registered and through outreach work hundreds of thousands of new readers each year have been introduced to the joys and benefits of reading.

From 2020 – 2022, the initiative is supported by a philanthropic gift from bestselling author Jojo Moyes. This year, for every book bought until 31 July 2021, another copy will be gifted to help someone discover the joy of reading. ‘Buy one, gift one’ will see thousands of free books given to organisations across the UK to reach less confident readers and those with limited access to books – bring the joy and transformative benefits of reading to new audiences.

All of the Quick Reads are available for purchase in all the usual places at just £1.

The Motive

A Jay Qasim short story and prequel to EAST OF HOUNSLOW written for Quick Reads 2021

Business has been slow for Hounslow’s small time dope-dealer, Jay Qasim. A student house party means quick easy cash but it also means breaking his own rules. But desperate times lead him there – and Jay finds himself in the middle of a crime scene.

Idris Zaidi, a Police Constable and Jay’s best friend, is having a quiet night when he gets a call out following a noise complaint at a house party. Fed up with the lack of excitement in his job, he visits the scene and quickly realises that people are in danger after a stabbing.

Someone will stop at nothing to get revenge . . .

My Review of The Motive

Jay’s evening will be more exciting than he anticipated.

Before commenting on the narrative of The Motive, I must comment on the perfect font and text size in the book. It is accessible to more reluctant readers, including those who have difficulty in reading.

The Motive starts off in a seemingly innocuous manner with Conrad and Sahira chatting together and builds throughout into an exciting and fast paced drama that would make a fabulous television story. In around 110 pages, Khurrum Rahman packs a huge punch; both literally in the story and metaphorically in reader enjoyment. Whilst the scenario and plot are very much outside my own experience, I loved the way drug dealing, violence, racism and corruption are woven in to the story because I think these are topics young men in particular can relate to, making the Quick Read purpose of the book completely fulfilled. However, that isn’t to say The Motive isn’t a captivating and heart racing story for those of us who love to read – it is!

The characterisation is compelling. Khurrum Rahman made me back Jay all the way even though his actions are not entirely legal. Now I have been introduced to him, and to Idris, I really want to know what other adventures and experiences they will have because I feel I have only just begun to know them and they have a depth I want to uncover. Consequently, The Motive is a tantalising read as well as an engaging one.

I also thought the frequent use of expletives actually worked really well. The direct speech is natural so that the characters feel real and vivid to the reader. Indeed, the brilliance of The Motive is that Khurrum Rahman doesn’t patronise his readers or present difficult issues like interracial relationships in an idealised way. Rather, the real-life issues of society are played out on the page in an authentic manner. This is a story that is eye opening and thought provoking as well as hugely entertaining.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Motive and think it is a great addition to the Quick Reads series. It’s cracking crime fiction for all readers.

About Khurrum Rahman

Born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1975, Khurrum moved to England when he was one. He is a west London boy and now lives in Berkshire with his wife and two sons. Khurrum is currently working as a Senior IT Officer but his real love is writing. His first two books in the Jay Qasim series, East of Hounslow and Homegrown Hero, have been shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger.

You can follow Khurrum on Twitter @KhurrumRahman and Instagram for more information.

Some books deserve to be shouted about and I was devastated not to have time to fit in reading Susan Mihalic’s debut Dark Horses because it sounds like a very moving and compelling story.  However, I’m thrilled that Susan has agreed to stay in with me to tell me more about her book. Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Susan Mihalic

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Susan and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

It’s my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.

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

I’ve brought along Dark Horses, my debut novel, published just this year by Welbeck Publishing Group in the UK and Scout Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, in the US. Although I’m working on another novel, this one is hot off the press, as they say.

How exciting to be out on both sides of the pond at once. Congratulations on your debut. What can we expect from an evening in with Dark Horses?

Dark Horses is a page-turner. Set against the backdrop of the equestrian sport of three-day eventing, it follows 15-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery, but it’s more than a “horse girl” book.

Oh. Tell me more.

Roan juggles her Olympic ambitions with a terrible home life. Her self-absorbed mother is addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol, which is traumatic enough, but her father, who is also her trainer and coach and an Olympic champion himself, has been sexually abusing her since she was six. Despite Roan’s age, Dark Horses was written for an adult audience. I chose to portray the abuse explicitly, because I wanted the reader to experience, as closely as possible, what Roan experiences. I wanted readers to understand first-hand the choices she makes.

Dark Horses sounds very dramatic and all too resonant in today’s world Susan. I think it seems like a very important book.

So, what else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought my horse, an American Warmblood gelding named Goldmark.

My goodness Goldmark is handsome. How long have you had him?

I leased him for a few years before buying him last spring. Since then, I’ve ridden almost every day. Goldmark is to me what Roan’s horse Jasper is to her. He’s funny, smart, and well-trained, and he makes me a better rider. He’s trained in dressage, but he’s also a great trail horse. I think trail-riding is his favourite discipline. Both of us love riding out from the barn and getting on the trail, much as Roan loves riding out on Jasper—although she and Jasper live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the eastern part of the US and we live in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, in the American Southwest.

Trail riding sounds the perfect antidote to the experiences Roan has Susan. Thank you so much for brining Goldmark along and for telling me all about Dark Horses. Dark Horses is on my TBR pile and I hope to get to it very soon as I think I’ll find it a disturbing and compelling book. 

Dark Horses

As selected by Jodi Picoult for #TeamWorkTuesdays

‘A heart-pounding, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it debut’ O, The Oprah Magazine

‘[A] sweeping and raw story of courage, resilience, and clear-eyed grace [that] will never leave me’ Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author

A dark, compelling story about one girl’s fierce struggle to reclaim her life from her abusive father. Perfect for fans of My Dark Vanessa and Room.

Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and out.

Both are ruled over by her father, who demands strict obedience in all aspects of her life. However, the warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan’s relationship with her father has long been incestuous.

A ruthless ambition for the Olympics allows her to compartmentalise this dark aspect of her life, until she meets Will Howard, a boy her age, who brings everything into focus.

Dark horses is available for purchase in the US through these links and in the UK in all the usual places including here.

About Susan Mihalic

Susan Mihalic is a writer who lives in Taos, New Mexico. She has worked as an editor for a major publishing house and as a freelance writer. She has also taught therapeutic horseback riding. Dark Horses is her debut novel.

You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @SusanMihalic. (https://twitter.com/SusanMihalic).

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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?

My Review of Under the Italian Sun

Zia is looking for answers.

Under the Italian Sun is Sue Moorcroft at her most sublime. I loved every word and found this was one of those books I was desperate to finish because I wanted to know how it would end, whilst simultaneously not wanting to finish it because I was enjoying it so much.

The plot of Under the Italian Sun romps along and has just as many twists and turns as any thriller. It opens in dramatic fashion and doesn’t let up, sweeping the reader along in the narrative. There’s brilliantly (and often sexily) depicted romance, but there’s mystery and drama too so that Under the Italian Sun is an absolute cracker of a read. I think what makes it so successful is that Sue Moorcroft researches her novels so thoroughly – this time with wine growing and property ownership forming the foundation of her writing – so that the reader feels they are in authoritative and safe hands and can relax into being royally entertained. Indeed, I think this might be one of this author’s most well-crafted books. I was never entirely sure how Under the Italian Sun might end, even if I was expecting a happy resolution from the genre, and I found Sue Moorcroft’s story-telling utterly compelling and engaging. I was surprisingly emotionally invested in the story and shed a tear or two along the way because I was so captivated.

The characters are brilliantly crafted. There’s a real sense of Italian-ness about them with such a range of people and personalities that there is a character for any reader to identify with. Although Under the Italian Sun is very much Zia’s story and I loved and admired her from the very first page, I found the more minor character of Brendon totally fascinating. He is a lurking menace throughout so that whilst Under the Italian Sun is a light-hearted summer read, Brendon adds a depth and counterpoint that I thought was brilliant. As you might imagine, with a Sue Moorcroft hero, I was rather in love with Piero because he is so warmly and vividly depicted.

However, brilliant plots and compelling characters aside, what is so utterly wonderful about Under the Italian Sun is the sense of place. All of the senses are provided for so that descriptions place the reader right in Italy without them having to leave their armchair. Most successful is the sense of taste. In fact, reading Under the Italian Sun is a dangerous occupation for anyone trying to lose weight. The food is so evocatively depicted I found myself craving the items Sue Moorcroft describes. Add in smatterings of fully accessible Italian language and reading this story is akin to taking a holiday.

Alongside all of this wonderfully crafted narrative are some weighty themes so that whilst Under the Italian Sun can be read for sheer entertainment, there’s plenty to think about should readers want to. Themes of friendship and loyalty, identity and belonging, family and friendship, trust and betrayal, independence and control, amongst others create layer upon layer of added interested that I thought was fantastic.

Utterly captivating from the first moment, Under the Italian Sun is a must read and Sue Moorcroft writing at her very best. I loved it and it is my favourite of this author’s books to date. I cannot recommend Under the Italian Sun highly enough.

About Sue Moorcroft

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author and has reached the number one spot on Kindle UK. She’s won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary. Published by HarperCollins in the UK, US and Canada and by other publishers around the world.

You can follow Sue on Twitter @SueMoorcroft, find her on Instagram and Facebook and visit her website.

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I get offered all manner of books for review and feature here on Linda’s Book Bag, and sadly I have to refuse most simply because there are only 24 hours in a day! However, when Jonathan Straight FRSA got in touch about his book Vegans in Iceland I was so intrigued by the title and the fact that sales go towards supporting the work of Sea Shepherd in Iceland that I had to accept it in return for an honest review. I was meant to be away this week and not blogging but events have conspired against me so I thought I’d return to a country I loved visiting and I’m delighted to share my review of Vegans in Iceland today.

Vegans in Iceland is available for purchase here. and on ArtBukz.

Vegans in Iceland

Are there vegans in Iceland?

Photographer Jonathan Straight hoped to find out when he visited the volcanic island. This collection of portraits documents a remarkable and thriving community; each person’s journey is different but reaches the same conclusion. From a pioneering chef to a footballer, from a former sex worker to an octogenarian, this book gives a sensitive insight into their world.

As they say in Icelandic, njóttu!

My Review of Vegans in Iceland

A series of photographs and biographies of vegans in Iceland!

Before my review proper, I must comment on the physical properties of this non-fiction hardbacked book, Vegans in Iceland is beautifully produced. The weighty hard backed cover provides long lasting durability and the smooth, thick, glossy pages give a sensation of exquisite quality as they are turned. Contrast the stark black and white photography against the white space surrounding the clear and engaging text and this is a book to savour. I love the fact that its sales help support environmental work in the seas around Iceland too.

Vegans in Iceland is a dramatic, compelling and compassionate portrayal of the vegan community in Iceland who frequently find themselves at the margins of society because of their eating preferences. I had no idea, for example, that some restaurants are afraid to list vegan dishes for fear of reprisal and I’d never previously heard of the Cube of Truth. Although the focus is on people, Jonathan Straight provides a fascinating insight into the country too. His portraits cover Icelandic elements ranging across a wide range of subjects from football to weightlifting, sex work to television and grief to protest, so that the book provides a multi-layered insight into a relatively unknown country.

However, it is the people who make Vegans in Iceland such an interesting book. Artistic photographs show them at their best and provide an intimate understanding of who they are as individuals. Here we have a wide range of creative, passionate individuals sensitively portrayed by Jonathan Straight. I found Alda the most affecting because they are furthest from my own experience.  I liked the fact that the portraits are slightly more weighted towards women too with more women than men featured because I felt this gave a voice to those not usually associated with the Icelandic persona. The text accompanying the excellently composed photographs works so well because it is simply factual. These are pen portraits provided without judgement or authorial comments so that readers can make up their own minds and respond individually to the people presented in Vegans in Iceland.

Vegans in Iceland is never going to be a mainstream book, but it is intriguing, high quality and fascinating. It’s important too because it raises awareness of vegan issues without preaching or patronising, so that it is thought-provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and viewing it and it has certainly made me consider some of my own food preferences and practices.

About Jonathan Straight

Dr Jonathan Straight is a British writer and photographer based in Yorkshire. He specialises in documentary, portrait and street genres, generally working in black and white. He had no formal training in photography, rather learning at the knee of his late father who was a keen and talented amateur. Receiving a 35mm camera for his 10th birthday and carefully watching his father at work in a home darkroom gave him sufficient grounding to go on and make his own work.

Having enjoyed a successful career as an entrepreneur, he now continues to work on various photographic projects as well as being involved in different businesses and charities.

He was shortlisted for Portrait of Britain 2019, has had photographs published in various places and has held several exhibitions of his work.

In 2018, he published Blood, Sweat, Tears and Helicopters, a documentary study of the Israeli ambulance service. This followed two weeks embedded with different ambulance crews around the Country, and successfully demonstrated the diversity of the organisation and the population it serves.

In 2020, he published Vegans in Iceland, a series of portraits of members of the Icelandic vegan community interspersed with images of Icelandic vegan food and associated messaging. His initial visit to Iceland was inspired by the work of writer Hallgrímur Helgason.

For more information, follow Jonathan on Twitter @planetstraight, visit his website and find him on Facebook and Instagram.

I can’t believe how long it is since I last featured Emily Midorikawa here on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I was reviewing her book A Secret Sisterhood: The Hidden Friendships of Austen, Bronte, Eliot and Woolf jointly authored with Emma Sweeney. You’ll find my review here and a super guest post from these two ladies concerning sisterhood in modern times here. Now, it’s the first of two publication days for Emily’s latest book, Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice and I’m thrilled she has agreed to stay in with me today to tell me all about it.

Staying in with Emily Midorikawa

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

I’m delighted to be here, Linda. Thanks so much for having me.

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

I’ve brought my latest book, Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice, which comes out today, 11th May 2021, in the US and on 20th May in the UK.

Happy US publication day! What’s Out of the Shadows about?

It’s a group biography about several nineteenth-century women who achieved rockstar-like levels of celebrity, and enormous political and cultural clout – all thanks to their supposed abilities to contact the dead.

Gosh – that’s quite a subject! Tell me, what can we expect from an evening in with Out of the Shadows?

An unusual insight into the late nineteenth century, at least I hope so. My book focuses on six women who can be regarded as leading lights of the Victorian Spiritualist movement. American sisters Kate, Leah and Maggie Fox left behind relatively humble backgrounds to become the talk of New York society, and spark an international séance craze. But things would eventually go spectacularly wrong for the Fox sisters and their lives would end in bitter infighting and mutual recrimination.

The Fox sisters sound like many families I think! What about the other women?

London-born Emma Hardinge Britten, a renowned orator, famous for delivering her speeches while in a trance, became so popular that she was asked to deliver New York City’s first public commemoration to the assassinated president Abraham Lincoln. Victoria Woodhull used her reputation as a clairvoyant to ultimately make an even bigger political splash. Following a trailblazing career on Wall Street as the proprietor of the first female-owned brokerage firm, she went on to become the first woman to run as an American presidential candidate. And as for Georgina Weldon, after her husband tried to have her locked away in an asylum, she retaliated in a very public way, fighting him in the courts and the press, and becoming a prominent campaigner against Britain’s archaic lunacy laws. Georgina became so famous, in fact, that she ended up as the face of the iconic Pears soap brand.

Oh! I think we all know that image. Goodness. I’m thrilled to have Out of the Shadows on my TBR as I think it sounds utterly fascinating.

What else have you brought along this evening Emily, and why have you brought it?

As you might imagine, my research has taken me to many unusual and out-of-of the-way locations. Here I am, four months’ pregnant with my first baby and ankle-deep in snow, at the site of the Fox family’s former home in the rural hamlet of Hydesville, in New York state. Even close to two centuries on, this is still a site of pilgrimage for believers in the sisters’ powers, and also people like me who are interested in the Foxes’ historical legacy. On this site, so the story goes, the youngest sisters, Kate and Maggie, first began to communicate with the spirit of a travelling salesman, said to have been murdered and buried beneath the cellar by a former occupant of the house.I’ve also brought along this pair of my late Great Aunt Jessie’s opera glasses, which, although not directly related to my book, seem to me to symbolise a couple of its key themes. One is the very human desire to want to retain a link with departed loved ones, one which the women I write about certainly made the most of – and some would say exploited. The other theme is that of theatre. Two of my six subjects had a background in performance.

That would make sense…

Before establishing herself as a ‘trance lecturer’, Emma Hardinge Britten had a West End and Broadway career. And Georgina Weldon, who hailed from an aristocratic background, had been a real favourite at the musical soirées and amateur theatrical performances of Britain’s high society. In the case of the other women, too, there was more often than not a sense of heightened drama at their private spirit readings and the mass séances in packed concert halls of their wildly popular public tours.

And last but not least, I’ve got some tea and biscuits for us to enjoy. I’m pregnant again at the moment, with the baby due next month, so I can’t have anything much stronger than that. But in a way, the tea is an apt choice, as it’s the drink that’s most sustained me through the research, writing and seemingly endless rewriting of Out of the Shadows.

As someone addicted to tea and biscuits I’m more than happy with that Emily. Congratulations – on your forthcoming child and on Out of the Shadows. I think I’m going to love it when it hits the top of my TBR pile! Thank you so much for staying in with me and chatting about these extraordinary women.

Thanks for having me Linda.

Now, you pour the tea and I’ll give Linda’s Book Bag readers a bit more information about Out of the Shadows: 

Out of the Shadows

Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice

Queen Victoria’s reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women to express themselves. But not so within the social sphere of the séance – a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own.

Out of the Shadows tells the stories of the enterprising women whose supposedly clairvoyant gifts granted them fame, fortune, and most important, influence as they crossed rigid boundaries of gender and class as easily as they passed between the realms of the living and the dead. The Fox sisters inspired some of the era’s best-known political activists and set off a transatlantic séance craze. While in the throes of a trance, Emma Hardinge Britten delivered powerful speeches to crowds of thousands. Victoria Woodhull claimed guidance from the spirit world as she took on the millionaires of Wall Street before becoming America’s first female presidential candidate. And Georgina Weldon narrowly escaped the asylum before becoming a celebrity campaigner against archaic lunacy laws.

Drawing on diaries, letters, and rarely seen memoirs and texts, Emily Midorikawa illuminates a radical history of female influence that has been confined to the dark until now.

Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice is be published by Counterpoint LLC today, 11th May 2021 in America and will be released in the UK on 20th May. Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice is available in all the usual places including Amazon, Blackwell’s and Book Depository

About Emily Midorikawa

Author image courtesy of Rosalind Hobley

Emily Midorikawa is the author of Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice, published by Counterpoint Press on 11 May 2021. She is also the co-author of A Secret Sisterhood: The Hidden Friendships of Austen, Brontё, Eliot and Woolf (written with Emma Claire Sweeney). Emily is a winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. Her journalism has been published in, among others, the Daily Telegraph, the Paris Review, The Times and the Washington Post.

You can find out more about Emily at emilymidorikawa.com. She’s also on Twitter @EmilyMidorikawa, Instagram @midorikawaemily and Goodreads.

My enormous thanks to the lovely folk at  to Team Bookends for sending me a surprise copy of Three Weddings and a Proposal by Sheila O’Flanagan. I’m a huge fan of Sheila’s writing and it’s an irony that I haven’t managed to read as many of her books as I would like since I began blogging.

It has been my pleasure to listen to Sheila speak about her writing on several occasions both virtually and in real life, most recently on 21st April, when I was thrilled to be in a select Zoom group call organised by Ellie Morley, Marketing Executive at Headline.

Previously when Sheila celebrated the paperback publication day for The Women Who Ran Away, I was delighted to be able to share an extract from the book here.

Sheila and I stayed in together here to chat about Her Husband’s Mistake.

Also on the blog Sheila previously told me all about her inspiration for another of her books My Mother’s Secret in a guest post that you can read here. I reviewed My Mother’s Secret here.

Today, however, I am sharing my review of Sheila’s latest book, Three Weddings and a Proposal.

Three Weddings and a Proposal will be published by Headline Review on 20th May 2021 and is available for purchase here.

Three Weddings and a Proposal

At the first wedding, there‘s a shock

The second wedding is unexpected

By the third, Delphie thinks nothing could surprise her. But she’s wrong . . .

Delphie is enjoying her brother’s wedding. Her surprise last-minute Plus One has stunned her family – and it’s also stopped any of them asking again why she’s still single. But when she sees all the missed calls that evening, she knows it can’t be good news. And she’s right.

Delphie has been living her best life, loving her job, her friends, her no-strings relationships and her dream house by the sea. Now she has to question everything she believed about who she is and what she wants. Is her mum right – is it time to settle down? Or does she want to keep on trying to have it all?

Each wedding of a glorious summer brings a new surprise. And as everything Delphie thought she had is threatened, she has the chance to reshape her future . . .

My Review of Three Weddings and a Proposal

Delphine Mertens has life fully under control – probably.

My goodness I enjoyed Three Weddings and a Proposal. It’s simply gorgeous and is a perfect example of women’s fiction at its very best, because of Sheila O’Flanagan’s consummate story telling. I loved Delphie’s conversational tone from the very beginning because it was like I was listening to a friend chat with me, or even as if I were inhabiting her mind so that I found myself becoming her and seeing everything through Delphie’s perspective. I thought the couple of allusions to the Covid pandemic as if it were in the past were deftly done, so that whilst it didn’t play any part in this narrative, Sheila’s O’Flanagan’s story seemed more realistic and credible because the pandemic was mentioned in passing rather than ignored. But most of all I loved the narrative itself because it’s a hugely entertaining, utterly believable story with some major weight behind it. The plotting is razor sharp, often surprising and always captivating with just enough descriptive detail to enhance and colour the text beautifully.

That weight and depth of Three Weddings and a Proposal comes through the exploration of what it means to be a modern woman; to have relationships, a career, parenthood and family responsibilities. Sheila O’Flanagan’s story is actually quite feminist without deriding any counter perspectives,  but rather illustrating how we can be supportive of one another so that Three Weddings and a Proposal felt mature, interesting and above all else, a story with characters I could relate to entirely. In illustrating how Delphie learns to be comfortable in her own skin whilst stepping out of her comfort zone I thought Sheila O’Flanagan had achieved more for female self esteem and self-help than any non-fiction book might have managed.

Indeed, I thought Delphie was fantastic. Her experience of working in a male dominated environment, her relationship with Ed and her friendship with Sheedy and Erin held my attention completely. Reading Three Weddings and a Proposal completely transported me into their world. What I thought worked so well was that the men are not all useless idiots that sometimes happens in women’s fiction. Here they have identity, flaws and attractions that made the whole story all the more real.

Three Weddings and a Proposal Is a fabulous book. Rounded characters experiencing real life events that any reader can relate to in a superbly plotted narrative mean this book is ideal for escaping into. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it completely. I thought it was brilliant.

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is the author of bestselling chart-toppers, including Her Husband’s Mistake, The Hideaway, What Happened That Night, The Missing Wife, My Mother’s Secret and All For You (winner of the Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year Award). After working in banking and finance for a number of years, Sheila’s love for writing blossomed into curating stories about relationships in all their many forms.

You can follow Sheila on Twitter @sheilaoflanagan, or find her on Facebook or Instagram and visit her website for more details.

With Punch, the only children’s novel by Barbara Henderson I’ve yet to read but which is sitting waiting on my TBR, I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour for her latest book The Chessmen Thief. My grateful thanks to Antonia Wilkinson for inviting me to participate and for sending me a copy of The Chessmen Thief in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today along with a wonderful guest post on writing action scenes from Barbara.

The Chessmen Thief was published by Cranachan’s imprint Pokey Hat on 29th April 2021 and is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from the publisher here.

To see why I love Barbara’s writing so much you can find:

My review of Fir For Luck here (also one of my books of the year in 2016).

A smashing guest post from Barbara about Fir For Luck publication day here.

Another super post from Barbara about why a book launch matters to celebrate Punch here.

A guest post from Barbara about nature and my review of Wilderness Wars here.

A guest post about novels and novellas and my review of Black Water here.

My review of The Siege of Caerlaverock alongside a guest post from Barbara about Heraldic poetry here. The Siege of Caerlaverock was also one of my 2020 Books of the Year.

The Chessmen Thief

Win. Lose. Survive.

I was the boy with a plan. Now I am the boy with nothing.

From the moment 12-year-old Kylan hatches a plan to escape from his Norse captors, and return to Scotland to find his mother, his life becomes a dangerous game.

The precious Lewis Chessmen―which he helped carve―hold the key to his freedom, but he will need all his courage and wit to triumph against Sven Asleifsson, the cruellest Viking in the realm.

One false move could cost him his life.

The Chessmen Thief

Action scenes and how to write them

A guest post by Barbara Henderson

The final edits for The Chessmen Thief were complete. My editor and I had spent almost two hours on the final phone call, the one where we haggle over hyphens and discuss semi-colons, sometimes removing them only to put them back in. The book was a wrap. I leaned back into my chair and asked her: ‘Now that we’re done, can you tell me – which bit of the book do you actually like best?’

She thought for a moment. ‘The action scenes,’ she answered simply.

‘Me too.’

It really is strange – I am not particularly drawn to action films, but in children’s books, these pages of increased pace and raised stakes are essential to engage today’s young readers. Moreover, their magic seems to reel in readers like me in the same way. An action scene works like a quick turbocharge of energy, giving the plot new momentum.

I am not suggesting that I am an expert at all – there are far more experienced authors for children around. But I am more than happy to share what I have learned so far. Ladies and gentlemen, according to my limited wisdom, here is how an action scene should work. I am drawing on chapters 13 and 14 of The Chessmen Thief to show what I mean. 😊

Number 1: Come from a place of calm before introducing the threat.

When the wind picks up and carries us in the exact direction we want to go, we step away from the oars and relax. I climb the first level of the mast where I like it the best. No one judges me there or asks me questions.

Until I see it in the distance. Unmistakeable: another vessel, making straight for us.

Number2: Take a moment to describe your character’s reaction. It works best if the other characters do not recognise the danger. This technique is called dramatic irony – the reader understands more than the characters do, heightening the tension.

My stomach tumbles and my lungs do something they have never done before: refuse to inhale and exhale. Instead, a strange kind of panting is all I am capable of, with the weight of all the oceans in the world on my heart.

‘Raiders!’ I shout, but all that emerges from my throat is a croak. The men below are singing and sharing a quick horn of ale before their muscle power is required again, and a couple are relieving themselves over the side of the boat. ‘Raiders!’ I yell, a little louder, but still no one pays me any heed.

Number 3: Up the jeopardy. The reader needs to understand what is at stake.

As the ship approaches, I can see the straggly beards of men who have lived long apart from any kind of company. Their swords are rusty but sharp. There are spears, axes and halberds, and all manner of weapons.

At the front, almost leaning over the hull of their galley, are three raiders with coils of rope around their bodies, ready to throw weighted hooks across—and only now do I see what the front of their ship is made of! It’s not water glistening on the wood—it’s reinforced with iron spikes and they mean to ram us! ‘TURN THE SHIP!’ I yell down with all my might.

Number 4: Give your protagonist something to do.

Suddenly, I am pulled off my feet backwards, the huge hand of the Jarl on my shoulder. ‘Here, boy!’ He thrusts something into my hand, slicing into my palm a little as he does: a dagger, and oh Lord, it is sharp!

Number 5: The best action scenes have an active protagonist.

With a terrible clang, a huge metal hook lands over the side of our ship, a rope attached. It tautens almost immediately: the raiders are pulling our ship towards theirs, weapons in hand.

Our men scatter and take refuge, but something possesses me to do exactly the opposite. Darting to avoid the missiles and arrows, I run towards the hooks.

This, I am sure, is why the good Lord provided the dagger. I slash at the hook-rope attaching the ships to one another.

Number 6: You can’t beat a cliff-hanger.

With a final gasping effort, this rope, too, snaps. The enemy ship is only two horse-lengths away. Soon a warrior of strength and stature will be able to jump. Oh no: they are readying themselves!

But then something happens that I have not foreseen. Behind me, there is a commotion; a box is knocked over, heavy footfalls thud on the deck. And then, right past me, Jarl Magnus raises his shield as he runs, mounts the gunwale and, literally, leaps into the air over the whirling waves.

Number 7: Know when to stop.

Relentless action scenes can be exhausting to read. Follow any action scene with a chapter or so of calm – it’s an opportunity for deeper characterisation and perhaps moments of light-heartedness too. Your readers need a break. Let them have it! My protagonist Kylan is going to spend the next chapter learning to play chess!

***

And what a magnificent job he does of that Barbara. Thank you so much for this wonderful guest post. I think you’ve given Linda’s Book Bag readers a real taste of The Chessmen Thief. It also helps put my review into conext!

My Review of The Chessmen Thief

Thrall Kylan’s life is about to change.

Barbara Henderson wastes no time in plunging her readers into a fast paced, action packed, thrilling story that had my heart beating fast even if I am half a century older than the target audience for The Chessmen Thief. With fights and fugitives, enslavement and escapes, this book is an absolute cracker of a read.

One of the aspects that always impresses me in a Barbara Henderson children’s book is the absolute authority of her writing, arising out of assiduous research, and her wonderful ability to present her narrative at the perfect pitch for her target audience without patronising them. The author is unafraid to include difficult issues like death but does so with such a deft touch that The Chessmen Thief feels organic and natural, allowing for consideration of feelings and emotions in a safe environment for young readers. I confess The Chessman Thief brought a tear to my eye as well as making my heart thump! The narrative voice is also perfect for the era and yet is simultaneously accessible so that there’s a vivid sense of history behind the story too.

The plot of The Chessmen Thief is so exciting. It races along, sweeping the reader with it, so that even the most reluctant young reader couldn’t fail to be entranced. With the Viking myths and legends underpinning the narrative, The Chessmen Thief deserves its place in the canon of storytelling every bit as much as those traditional tales. Much is often said about twist and turns in narratives, but there was a point in The Chessmen Thief when I was stopped in my tracks at an unexpected moment that matches any adult book I’ve read.

I loved meeting Kylan and watching his development. He is by no means perfect, as the title of the book might suggest, but my word he’s vivid, vibrant, realistic and multi-faceted. Through Kylan Barbara Henderson gives status to the young, the underdog and the oppressed, providing hope for those who feel similarly diminished in society making The Chessmen Thief an important as well as an entertaining book. It’s educational too, with a glossary of terms and author’s note so that the story could be used in all manner of ways to develop vocabulary, history, geography, research and literacy in a school or home environment. I envisage that the chess theme coupled with the smashing illustrations to begin each chapter will lead to an increased interest in playing the game amongst readers of all ages. Other characters are equally as compelling. I think middle grade children in particular would find immense enjoyment in acting out scenes from the book; in being Jarl Magnus or Asleifsson because they feel so real.

As well as discovering Kylan’s personality, I also loved the themes woven through The Chessmen Thief. Trust and betrayal, family and belonging, religion and corruption, violence and diplomacy, all provide depth and quality that is, quite frankly, astounding.

The Chessmen Thief is an absolutely excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it because not only is it skilfully written, dramatic and compelling, it made me remember what it was like to be young again, to be completely captivated by reading and to find a childlike joy in a book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Barbara Henderson

Barbara Henderson has lived in Scotland since 1991, somehow acquiring an MA in English Language and Literature, a husband, three children and a shaggy dog along the way. Having tried her hand at working as a puppeteer, relief librarian and receptionist, she now teaches Drama part-time at secondary school.

Writing predominantly for children, Barbara won the Nairn Festival Short Story Competition in 2012, the Creative Scotland Easter Monologue Competition in 2013 and was one of three writers shortlisted for the Kelpies Prize 2013. In 2015, wins include the US-based Pockets Magazine Fiction Contest and the Ballantrae Smuggler’s Story Competition.

Follow Barbara on Twitter @scattyscribbler or Instagram for more information, and read her blog. You’ll also find her author page on Facebook.

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