Regular Linda’s Book Bag visitors will know how much I enjoy being part of the start of a book’s journey. I’m also a huge fan of the award winning independent press Fly on the Wall and of short stories. Consequently, I’m delighted to participate in the cover reveal for Your Sons and Daughters are Beyond by Rosie Garland

Your Sons and Daughters are Beyond will be published by Fly on the Wall Press on 17th January 2025 and is available for pre-order here.

Your Sons and Daughters are Beyond

“Who’s afraid of a girl who shines bright?” Rosie Garland’s spellbinding short story collection explores extraordinary people defying expectations. Blurring natural and supernatural, these enchanting yet disquieting stories unveil the extraordinary within ordinary people. Garland deftly unveils our deepest fears and desires, embracing transformative potential. Brace for a journey pushing imagination’s limits, where the impossible becomes reality…

****

Your Sons and Daughters are Beyond sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to read it.

About Rosie Garland

Rosie Garland writes short and long fiction, poetry and hybrid works that fall between and outside definition. She’s lead singer in post-punk band The March Violets. Her poetry collection What Girls Do In The Dark (Nine Arches Press) was shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2021, and her novel The Night Brother was described by The Times as “a delight…with shades of Angela Carter.” Val McDermid has named her one of the most compelling LGBT+ writers in the UK today. Her novel, The Fates (Quercus) is a retelling of the Greek myth of the Fates. In 2023 she was made Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

For further information about Rosie, visit her website, follow Rosie on Twitter/X @rosieauthor or find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Given that M.W. Craven is one of my favourite crime writers, when a surprise copy of his latest Washington Poe book, The Mercy Chair, arrived some months ago I could hardly contain my excitement. My enormous thanks go to Beth Wright at Little Brown for sending me a copy. It’s my absolute pleasure to share my review of The Mercy Chair today.

You’ll find my reviews of Mike’s other Washington Poe books here.

The Mercy Chair will be published by Little Brown imprint Century on 6th June 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Mercy Chair

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin . . .

Washington Poe has a story to tell.

And he needs you to listen.

You’ll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .

He’ll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He’ll tell you how the man’s murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family. 

And finally, he’ll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . . 

Poe hopes you’ve been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .

My Review of The Mercy Chair

There’s a man in therapy.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to review The Mercy Chair. I’m sitting here stunned, trying to process what I’ve just read. The Mercy Chair is a magnificent crime thriller and really, all that there is to say is ‘Buy the book.’ Although The Mercy Chair can be read as a compelling stand alone with sufficient back story to Poe and Bradshaw uncovered by the presence of Linus, I’d urge readers to start from the beginning of the series, so that the emotional impact has all the more power. There are too many books published for me to bother with a series normally, but M.W. Craven’s Washington Poe books are ones I’d never miss. I have absurdly high expectations of the series and the multi-layered The Mercy Chair is, I think, the best yet. 

The plot is sensationally good. With trademark short, pacy chapters, a real sense of place, witty dialogue and numerous cliff hangers and twists, M.W. Craven builds and builds the tension so that the story is enthralling and mesmerising. This is one of those stories that genuinely removes all free will from the reader. Certainly it’s a police thriller, but it has the added mystery of what Linus is there for, as well as Poe’s condition and how that came to be, making it all the more absorbing. Even given the breaks I needed to recover my equilibrium at what I was reading, I consumed The Mercy Chair over two days because I could not put it down. Meals, conversations – indeed, all normal life – were put on hold until I’d finished it. I’m not going to say anything further about the plot as I don’t want inadvertently to reveal anything, except to say that I don’t think I’ve ever been more successfully manipulated by a writer and I was certainly listening carefully! I thought the narrative was outstanding. I am, however, outraged and aghast too and desperate for the another book, but you need to read The Mercy Chair to find out why, and why I cried! 

It’s also quite difficult to say too much about themes in The Mercy Chair because they are so intricately connected to the plot. There’s family, loyalty, relationships, religion, extremism, mental health, sexuality and so much more here. Each aspect is incorporated with mature understanding and is written about vividly, terrifyingly and convincingly. The Mercy Chair reverberates through the reader’s mind.

As in the other fabulous books in the series, the relationship between Washington Poe and other characters, especially Tilly Bradshaw, is riveting. I love the way Poe has evolved as a person over the series as a result of his interaction with Tilly and Estelle and yet he is still absolutely the curmudgeonly, tenacious Poe we expect, admire and love. I find it hard to accept that Poe is a fictional character and not a real person because he is so realistically depicted. Tilly, too, is simply wonderful and although in this story she is less present than Poe, her importance in forwarding the story, introducing light relief and adding emotional depth cannot be exaggerated. 

I am fully aware I’ve said nothing tangible about The Mercy Chair. When you’ve read it for yourself, and read it you must, you’ll see why I say it is going straight on my list of books of the year for 2024. Often brutal, surprisingly sensitive, totally brilliant and utterly captivating, The Mercy Chair must not be missed. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I thought it was fabulous.

About M.W. Craven

Multi-award winning author M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author. The Puppet Show, the first book in his Cumbria-set Washington Poe series, was published by Little, Brown in 2018 and went on to win the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger in 2019. It has now been translated into twenty-one languages. Black Summer, the second in the series, was longlisted for the 2020 Gold Dagger as was book three, The Curator. The fourth in the series, Dead Ground followed in June 2021, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Novel of the Year 2022, and went on to win the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2022. The Botanist, the fifth  instalment, released in June 2022 was also an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Book six in the series, The Mercy Chair, will be published on 6th June 2024.

The gap is due to the publication of Mike’s new US set series starring ex-US Marshal, Ben Koenig …

Fearless was published in the UK in June 2023 and in the US in July 2023, and stars Ben Koenig, an ex-US Marshal with an interesting story. It has been picked up by a major streamer, further announcements to come in due course.

You can follow M.W. Craven on Twitter/X @MWCravenUK and visit his website for more information or find him on Facebook and Instagram.

My grateful thanks to Libby Haddock at Harper Collins for sending me a copy of Whisky Business by Elliot Fletcher in return for an honest review. 

Published in paperback by Harper Collins on 6th June 2024 Whisky Business is book one in the Mccabe Brothers series and is available for pre-order through the publisher links here.

Whisky Business

One flirty Hollywood actress. One grumpy Scottish islander. One magnetic connection.

When her acting career hits rock bottom, Hollywood star April Sinclair returns to her Scottish hometown on the Isle of Skye to lick her wounds. In desperate need of distraction, she sets her sights on restoring her family whisky distillery to its former glory. But she wasn’t expecting short-tempered and totally irresistible Malcolm Macabe to be the one in charge.

Master distiller Mal has three loves in his life: whisky, his dog, and silence. He has no time for the pampered princess poking her nose around, even if said princess is the one who got away. Mal is content to wait her out. She’ll grow bored and run back to her glamorous world eventually.

But their shared desire to save the distillery will mean working a lot closer than either of them might wish …

With a stunning rural Scottish setting, a healthy measure of steaminess, and a rugged heartthrob to die for, opposites definitely start to attract in this spicy enemies-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine romcom.

My Review of Whisky Business

I had meant to include Whisky Business in one of my My Weekly reviews but I think it is a little too raunchy for the demographic so I’m reviewing here instead! 

Film star April Sinclair is back on the Isle of Skye.

Phew! That was spicy – and a whole lot of fun. I will say from the beginning that until half way through Whisky Business I found it as I’d anticipated, with mounting romantic attraction between April and Mal, but in the second half of the book I certainly got more that I’d bargained for. It’s highly entertaining, that’s for sure! That said, I didn’t think the sex scenes were overdone as the relationship has been building between April and Mal since they were teenagers, so that it felt a natural progression once they had broken down the emotional and psychological barriers between them. Physical attraction aside, Elliot Fletcher also presents true emotional love and connection in a highly convincing manner.

And that for me is the strength of the book. Whilst I enjoyed the plot very much as they work to save the whisky distillery, it is what April and Mal learn about themselves and each other that has the most impact. They are flawed and human characters. Both suffer terrible anxiety and have been traumatised by aspects of their pasts so that as the story unfolds they each take on a truly authentic persona. There’s a very strong message about truth, self acceptance and identity underpinning what might at first glance appear to be a frivolous narrative.

The themes of coercion, physical attractiveness and deformity, guilt and betrayal, along with the impact of fame, society and the role of family in shaping who we are all blend into a vintage every bit as tasty as the whisky Mal is creating. There’s a super balance in the story too between April’s experience of a Hollywood lifestyle and the reality of small community living on the Isle of Skye, enabling readers to consider what truly is important in life.

Whisky Business is not my usual kind of read and I must say it’s far more sexually explicit than I had anticipated. Readers who want a very convincing level of sexiness in their enemies-to-lovers romance will absolutely adore it and I found it hugely engaging and entertaining.

About Elliot Fletcher

Romance writer Elliot Fletcher resides in her too-small flat in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her husband, cat and dog. When she isn’t writing about swoon-worthy, lovable men and the captivating heroines they fall for, you can find her browsing second-hand book shops, collecting pebbles on the beach, or re-watching the 2005 Pride & Prejudice.

You can find Elliot on Instagram and TikTok.

Many, many moons ago I attended a creative writing class with Kitty Johnson’s alter ego Margaret Johnson but I never got round to reading one of her books. I’m delighted to rectify that today by sharing my review of Kitty Johnson’s Prickly Company. My enormous thanks to Sophie Goodfellow at FMcM Associates for sending me a copy.

Prickly Company is published by Lake Union today, 28th May 2024, and is available for purchase here.

Prickly Company

Friendships, feuds, romance, and unexpected secrets shake up a small community in this sharply funny and compassionate novel by the author of Five Winters.

Frances Mathews doesn’t get out much since her husband died, but that doesn’t stop her from jump-starting a campaign to create a hedgehog highway in Hilltop Place―feeding stations, holes at the bottoms of gates and fences, and wild garden areas for hibernation. To Frances’s delight, her neighbours are on board. Mostly.

There are Jess and Michael, whose marriage is cracking under the unanticipated strain of a recent adoption. And Ryan, a wounded war reporter struggling to connect with his son after a divorce and forced to return to an exasperating parental fold. Plus, a very forthright single mum new to the neighbourhood and an exceedingly proper couple not about to upend their picture-perfect garden for prickly nuisances.

As relationships―from the romantic to the nerve-racking―form and secrets are unearthed, Hilltop Place is threatened in ways that affect them all…unaware hedgehogs included. What Frances and her charitable neighbours soon discover about themselves and each other is hardly what any of them expected.

 My Review of Prickly Company

There’s a campaign to save hedgehogs in Hilltop Place

I confess that I wasn’t initially sure I would enjoy Prickly Company because before I read it, I feared it might be too anthropomorphically twee, but I was wrong and ended up thoroughly enjoying it and fully appreciating the parallels between the trials and tribulations of hedgehog and human life, and the impact one can have on the other. Kitty Johnson slips in hedgehog facts effortlessly so that the reader is educated as well as entertained. I really appreciated the information about hedgehogs included at the end of the book and the author questions too as they added depth and colour and are inspiring for those interested in wildlife

There’s a smashing plot in Prickly Company as Frances mounts her campaign for a hedgehog highway between her neighbours’ gardens. Looking like a middle aged has-been, Frances has hidden depths, some of which are revealed to be more surprising than others so that Kitty Johnson inverts the concept that such women are bland and easily ignored. 

Although a brief novel, Kitty Johnson packs Prickly Company with super interest. She considers different kinds of marriage, with the trials of real family life feeling very authentic. Jess’s difficulties in blending adopted Toby into her family work really well in making sure readers realise there isn’t always an immediate panacea for all ills. 

Because the action and characters are confined almost entirely to Hilltop Place, there’s a real sense of cohesion. I thought the theme of Ryan’s PTSD was maturely and sensitively handled, making the reader care about him completely. Indeed, I loved meeting all the folk in Hilltop Place as they are varied, interesting and engaging. I think there’s someone here for any reader to relate to.

From being uncertain at the start of Prickly Company, I ended up feeling I had enjoyed a highly entertaining read, that is sensitively and humorously written with mature themes that thoroughly appealed. And with hedgehogs woven throughout, what more could a reader desire? Great stuff.  

About Kitty Johnson

Kitty Johnson is the author of Five Winters. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and teaches occasional creative writing classes. A nature lover and artist, Kitty enjoys walking in woodland and on the coast with her dog and makes collages and paintings from the landscape. She loves a challenge and once performed stand-up comedy as research for a book—an experience she found very scary but hugely empowering. Kitty lives in Norwich, Norfolk, in the UK with her partner and teenage son.

For further information, visit Kitty’s website. Kitty can also be found on Facebook, and Instagram and you can follow Kitty on Twitter/X @kittyjohnsonbks.

It’s my pleasure to welcome back Leslie Tate to Linda’s Book Bag today. Leslie has been a huge supporter of the blog over the years and has featured here.

Today Leslie provides a thought provoking guest post to celebrate the release of his latest book Ways To Be Equally Human.

Published on 20th May 2024, Ways To Be Equally Human is available for purchase as a signed copy from Leslie’s website, or from The Black Spring Press here.

Ways To Be Equally Human

In Ways To Be Equally Human Leslie Tate tells the inside story of coming out as a non-binary person, from being ‘othered’ in gendered toilets to stepping up on stage & radio and taking action with Extinction Rebellion.

Leslie’s poetic life-fiction takes us on a journey through crazy childhood dreams and gender dysphoria into personal growth. Full of lyrical writing, humour and quirky insights, this is a book for lovers of language, nonconformists and passionate thinkers. It’s a clear-eyed account of how we live today, including computer stress, noisy neighbours, guided meditation and the spirit of rebellion inside the machine.

Ways To Be Equally Human is also a love hymn to Leslie’s partner and the planet.

WHO’S HIDING BEHIND THAT BOOK?

A Guest Post by Leslie Tate

Behind every book there’s an author like me with a story. Sometimes it’s about finding a first-line hook or unique selling point (helped by agents & publishers); at other times it’s the outcome of a creative writing course, or a thesis, or it’s written in a month with NaNoWriMo; sometimes in a few high-profile cases, it follows the money (with goods and merchandise and spinoffs); but in my case, Ways To Be Equally Human wasn’t written to grab C1readers, chase fame or get adapted for TV. (Quick disclaimer: writing best sellers takes a lot of time and skill, it’s just not for me.)

If you want a 16-wordsummary of Ways To Be Equally Human, it’s a ‘no-holds-barred psychological investigation into gender and XRactivism using poetic realism, lyrical essays and behind-the-mask stories’. But in case you’re looking for something shorter and punchier, how about: ‘get down with this must-read book from a 75-year-old member of Gen Z!’.  Blurb-writing, of course, is part of the indie author’s toolkit.

So, is it just a book for literary types? And what’s in it for me, you ask? To give you a flavour, here’s pp.22-24 from the Extinction Rebellion section:

“What are you, man or woman…?”

It was Friday lunchtime and I was with a group outside Barclays speaking to people about fossil fuels. We’d been inside, acted a die-in, filled the pavement with bodies and placards and been taped off by the police. It looked like a crime scene. Now we were preparing for part two of our protest.

The question – or statement – came from a young overweight spectator-man standing at the front of the crowd. He was staring at me with a dirty grin. I could picture him ogling girls and winding up kids at school

Behind me, two demonstrators, one male, one female, were kneeling in front of a large black-and-white sign. They were getting ready.

My answer popped out without thinking. “Neither.”

Part of me had always considered myself male, softened by the non-binary label, but to be neither took it further. I’d become myself, a resister picked out by my difference. I could hear in my mind the words of Where the Streets Have No Name.

It had happened before. I’d been called a lady – sarcastically, aimed from behind – whistled and shouted at, and once, kerb crawled while shopping. Being catcalled was no surprise and the man in the van was a Bluto-type, but it took some getting used to. It was a lesson in what women had to put up with.

“Wha’ the fuck,” my spectator-man said.

In my head, I completed his phrase with …are you?

A thin woman in a red top stepped up to the kneeling demonstrators. She was holding a bottle of thick, dark liquid.

“Climate breakdown,” I called. “This bank funds it.”

I stared at the man. With his bristly chin and leery expression, he was acting a part. I could see him in later life, leaning on a bar and swearing at women on TV.

“Crazy,” he said, screwing one finger into his temple.

Behind me, the woman had raised her bottle to head height. As the spectator-man glared, my thoughts flashed back to a bully at school. It was all about swagger and overstated gesture. There was nothing underneath.

“F… F… bank,” the woman called, anointing the protestor’s head.

As the liquid oozed across flesh, the spectator-man laughed. “Weird,” he shouted, waving one arm. “Weirdo man. Weirdo people.” Choosing his moment, he began to walk away.

“No. Beautiful,” I said, as the liquid spread like gravy. “But also… not beautiful,” I called as it hardened to a crust. “Neither, really,” I added. “Just human and wanting to live.” In my mind I heard the phrase That’s why I’m here.

His question had been answered.

And the story behind that? I poured the oil onto my wife’s head, a crowd gathered and some of them were rude, I was wearing a dress and leggings but no one questioned my gender. The other experience that found its way into the piece was being picked on at school. As a repeat theme in Ways To Be Equally Human, it’s both seminal and formative. It’s also part of the book’s ‘inside report’ on masculinity.

Here’s one example, taken from p.104:

The old one-two

I

Class 5C were playing in the rain.

As they kicked and went down,

they shouted, calling it a dirty match.

 

Someone got stomped on. With the wind against them

they threw up their arms and yelled PENALTY.

 

Being 5C they were famous.

 

So who were their heroes and what did they stand for?

 

As squaddies they were on target.

As escaped POWs they hit the ground running.

As the team out of hell they took route one.

 

Between runs they held their sides and scowled.

 

What did they say, splashing through mud?

Ref. Replay. Wrong. Fix. Offside. Foul. Unfair.

Mostly, they just floundered.

 

At half time, changing ends,

they dragged their feet as if they’d been wounded.

The rain had filled their boots.

 

And their names?

 

Baggy, Messy, Clever Clogs, Chop Chop,

Fidget, Burper, Dodger, Pimple,

Big Foot, Fixer and Lout.

 

II

All that summer the boy at the back had dreamed

of being in charge.

 

He’d be the cannonball striker who scored

with a high-dive backflip somersault.

 

Later he blocked all shots

by turning his body into a No Entry sign.

 

He was the comeback kid who wore the armband

as bully repellent.

 

Turned Pied Piper, he drew off the other side’s defenders.

 

And when he launched his tackles

he became the spade that dug up gold.

 

Afterwards, his legend lived on.

Nicknamed Long Shot, he was in the air

nodding in the equaliser when the ground

came up and hit him.

 

He missed. Nobody cheered.

 

As for class 5C: when the final whistle blew

they quick-marched him to the changing rooms

where they all piled in with penalties

while grinning madly

as if their lives depended on it

I’ll end this blog with a confession. You may have noticed that I still haven’t told you the hidden story behind the book. That’s because it’s complex but in its own way simple. So, it’s written in different styles as a series of linked stories & reports, all of them taken from those watershed moments in life, dealing with transformations and metaphors of growth and resistance. On the way, it explores wild childhood fantasies, the highs and lows of coming out, performance anxiety on stage and radio, modern lifestyles, and the inside story of climate rebellion. But what drives the book are the personal fears of my life and others, set against the bigger picture. Or to put it another way, taken from p.192:

In writing, time slows down at the climactic moments. We’ve worked so hard to reach this point we want it to go on. And as we pause at the top, the aim is to see the big picture. That can be through the ripple effect: to maximise an incident and follow what comes next; or it can be through selective focus – a single garment or a closeup from a view – and the rest is for the reader to fill in.

And, however you use them, words are definers. They pinpoint the world. So the task is to hint at something wider while nailing things down. The generic singular. And the flow? That comes with the voice – the stops and starts and sounds that merge; the up and down signals; the own way of putting it.

****

As always, Leslie, it’s a pleasure to read your writing and to note the humanity behind everything that you do. Thank you for sharing this with us. (And apologies that my formatting didn’t do proper justice to your poetry!)

About Leslie Tate

Leslie Tate is a non-binary author and University of East Anglia graduate who interviews creative and community-active people weekly on radio and in writing at https://leslietate.com. Leslie played the lead role in Heaven’s Rage, a film that was screened at 34 international film festivals. Leslie hosts Extinction Rebellion stages, has been shortlisted for the Bridport, Geoff Stevens and Wivenhoe poetry prizes, was British under 21s Chess Champion and is a Quaker. Ways To Be Equally Human is Leslie’s fourth novel.

For further information about Leslie, visit his website, find him on Instagram and Facebook and follow him on Twitter/X @LSTateAuthor.

I’m fast becoming a huge fan of Sarah Morgan’s writing (most recently I reviewed Sarah’s The Christmas Book Club here) and my enormous thanks go to Isabel Williams for sending me a copy of Sarah’s latest book The Summer Swap in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

The Summer Swap was published by Harper Collins imprint HQ on 23rd May 2024 and is available for purchase here.

The Summer Swap

A summer escape

When Cecilia Lapthorne’s 75th birthday celebrations take an unexpected turn, she seeks solace away from the festivities and escapes to Dune Cottage – without telling her family where she’s going.

A new friendship

Lily Thomas, a struggling artist, has secretly been staying in the unoccupied cottage. When Cecilia discovers Lily during a late-night visit, an unexpected bond forms between the two women.

A chance to start over

Then Cecilia’s grandson, Todd – and Lily’s unrequited crush – shows up, sending a shockwave through their unlikely friendship. Will it inspire Lily to find the courage to live the life she wants? Can Cecilia finally let go of the past to find a new future? Because as surely as the tide erases past footprints, this summer is offering both Cecilia and Lily the chance to swap old dreams for new . . .

My Review of The Summer Swap

Lily has a temporary cleaning job.

It’s only fairly recently that I’ve got round to reading Sarah Morgan’s books and I’m delighted that’s the case because it means I have a whole back catalogue waiting for me. The Summer Swap is just wonderful. 

The story is very much character driven with family, marriage and relationships at the heart of the story, ensuring that we get to know the people here so thoroughly. The Summer Swap works so emotionally well because as Lily, Cecelia and Kristen reveal their innermost thoughts, aspirations and insecurities, they are recognisable and relatable. Sarah Morgan writes with such sensitivity and understanding that on almost every page I found an aspect of Lily, Cecelia and Kristen’s lives that resonated with me. 

I loved the fact that The Summer Swap breaks away from the usual 30 somethings to characters in younger, middle and older adulthood. It’s glorious to find a woman in her seventies like Cecelia having autonomy over her life. I think it says something about the gorgeous quality of the writing that I really didn’t like Kristen at the beginning of The Summer Swap, but by the end I understood her as she gained both my sympathy and empathy.

With the focus on brilliant, layered and vivid characters that doesn’t mean there isn’t a compelling and riveting narrative here too. There are some very dramatic moments, but for me the absolute success of the story comes through the more ordinary aspects of these people’s lives. Cecelia’s reluctance at being bullied into a party she doesn’t want to attend, Kristen’s need to be proficient, noticed and to organise, and Lily’s guilt at not following the path set out for her as she develops her artistic talents is totally convincing. And whilst The Summer Swap is brilliantly resolved at the end as one might hope, there’s a true sense of these lives continuing far beyond the confines of the story. Much of the plot is precipitated before the story starts and will continue after this particular time frame is over. I found this such wonderful storytelling.

The themes of The Summer Swap are equally compelling. Our sense of self and what makes us who we are as we try to accommodate the demands of family, profession, marriage and so on, at the same time as we also strive to be true to ourselves, is at the heart of this warm, compassionate and understanding story. 

I fear there will be those readers who dismiss The Summer Swap without ever picking it up because they assume it is too lightweight for their intellect. They could not be more wrong. The Summer Swap is absorbing and diverting as a story, but it is also a sensitive, mature insight into what makes us human. Sarah Morgan teaches tolerance, empathy and acceptance even as she entertains us so fabulously. I’d defy anyone reading The Summer Swap not to love it just as much as I did. 

About Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan is a USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She has sold more than 21 million copies of her books and her trademark humour and warmth have gained her fans across the globe. Sarah lives with her family near London, England, where the rain frequently keeps her trapped in her office.

For further information, visit Sarah’s website. You can also find Sarah on Facebook or Twitter/X @SarahMorgan_ and on Instagram.

As I hurtle through my 60s, it’s always a pleasure to discover books that feature more mature protagonists. With The Unretirement by Penny Mirren out today and waiting for me on my TBR pile, I simply had to chat with Penny all about it. My huge thanks to Laura Sherlock for putting us in touch with one another.

Here’s what Penny told me:

Staying in with Penny Mirren

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

Hi Linda! Thanks for inviting me along.

Tell me (as if I didn’t know!), which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought along my debut novel The Unretirement. It’s published today, the 23^rd May with Avon Books UK, and I’m hugely excited to share the book with readers everywhere. It’s an uplifting story, that will hopefully appeal to anyone looking for feel-good fiction.

Happy publication day Penny. So, what can we expect from an evening in with The Unretirement?

What I really hope readers will come away with after reading the book, are lovely warm feelings and a renewed zest for life, because it’s a book about new beginnings, about community, family, love, resilience and chasing your dreams – no matter your age.

That sounds like a really important message. Tell me more about Maggie.

I think many readers will empathise with Maggie, the main protagonist, as she grapples with her new and unexpected status as a recently widowed retiree. Because, although Maggie might be grieving, she is still very much alive and kicking and the story follows her and her daughter Hannah (who has also found herself at a crossroads in life), as they both grab life by the horns and redefine themselves. And as Maggie sets out to save her beloved local restaurant from closure and follows her dream to return to a long abandoned catering career, she embarks on an unexpected adventure with new friends and old, that becomes so much bigger than saving a small business.

The Unretirement sounds lovely. What was it like writing it?

I had so much fun writing this story, with its large and diverse cast of characters. They became like friends I still expect to see whenever I visit Saffron Walden, the characterful medieval Essex town that I used as the setting for the book. And I hope readers will love Maggie as much as I do, with her no-nonsense ways and mischievous sense of humour. I’ve been so thrilled with early reviews, which have described The Unretirement as a ‘big hug of a book’ and ‘funny, heartwarming and hopeful’, which is exactly what I was hoping to achieve in these often, trying, times. It’s also very important to me to give a voice to older protagonists who have so much to say, teach and inspire us.

Absolutely – don’t write off we oldies! I have a copy of The Unretirement waiting for me to read and I’m very much looking forward to it.

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

I’ve brought along a hearty plate of piping hot, aromatic and richly bubbling Keema Shepherd’s Pie, which becomes Maggie’s signature dish as she breathes new life into the restaurant in the book.

That looks scrummy. You can come again!

Food plays a huge part in The Unretirement, so be prepared for that if you read it whilst hungry! And as anyone who knows me will testify, I love my food too, so believe me – it was no hardship to devise dishes for the book, then go off and (ahem) research them. My long-suffering husband was subjected to many tasting sessions of the dishes as I experimented and I thought it would be a shame for all that ‘research’ to go to waste, so I’ve included some of the recipes in the back of the book in case readers fancied having a go at recreating them.

Should your husband need a break, I could be persuaded to help out… just saying!

I’ve also brought along a Mango Mojito if you fancy a tipple? It’s tropical and summery and features in the book. Such a chore practising and perfecting those, as I’m sure you can imagine.

Oh I imagine so. Again, I’ll help relieve you of the chore…

If we’re putting a bit of background music on as we chat, I’m partial to a bit of disco (huge Abba fan over here), or anything from the 80’s and 90’s. Nostalgia is another theme explored within the book, particularly the 90’s, as being back in her hometown reminds Hannah of her teenage years, and whilst both food and music have the power to transport us back to happy times, as well as sad ones, they are often instrumental in creating new memories too. After all, is there anything more special than sharing good times, and great food, with the people you care about? (Other than settling down with a good book, that is!)

Wise words indeed! Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about The Unretirement Penny. You’ve made me desperate to read the book and ravenous! You dish up some shepherd’s pie and I’ll give readers a few more details:

The Unretirement

Meet foodie Maggie Lawford.

After spending her retirement travelling the world, she’s home again – and ready for a new adventure.

When Maggie’s daughter, Hannah, takes her to visit their favourite local restaurant, Maggie is heartbroken to find the place empty. But the last straw comes when Maggie realises the chef is at his wit’s end – she can’t resist charging into the kitchen and taking matters into her own hands.

Never one to give up without a fight, Maggie resolves to save their beloved restaurant from failure, and it’s not long before she has a military-grade plan to turn the place around again. Finding herself back at work, all she’ll need is support from Hannah and her cheeky granddaughter, Alice, as well as a little help from her neighbours.

After all, Maggie’s golden days aren’t behind her just yet…

The Unretirement is published today, 23rd May 2024, by Harper Collins imprint Avon and is available for purchase through the links here.

About Penny Mirren

Penny Mirren is the pen name of Samantha Pennington. Sam writes light-hearted, uplifting fiction and romantic comedy. She was selected for the inaugural Kate Nash Literary Agency Mentorship program in 2020 and is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association. Sam lives in North Essex and when she’s not writing, enjoys being first mate on her husband’s tiny fishing boat and reading books for her wine club.

For further information about Penny visit her website, follow her on Twitter/X @sjpenno or find her on Facebook and Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Caitlin Raynor for sending me a surprise copy of The Toffee Factory Girls by Glenda Young in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today. 

The Toffee Factory Girls is published by Headline on 23rd May 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here. 

The Toffee Factory Girls

Discover the engaging new trilogy from the author of The Sixpenny Orphan, about three women working in a WWI toffee factory in the North-East!

In 1915 three women start work at a toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham.

Anne works for the enigmatic owner Mr Jack. She is highly efficient and whips Mr Jack’s disorganised office – and Mr Jack himself – into shape. However, behind her business-like façade, Anne hides a heart-breaking secret.

Elsie is feisty, fun and enjoys a good time. However, her gadabout ways get her into trouble when she falls for the wrong man in the sugar-boiling room. 

And there’s dependable Hetty, who’s set to marry her boyfriend when he returns from the war. But when Hetty is sent on an errand by the toffee factory boss, her life changes in ways she could never imagine and a whole new world opens up.

The toffee factory girls begin as strangers before forging a close bond of friendship and trust. And, as the war rages on, they help each other cope through the difficult times ahead.

My Review of The Toffee Factory Girls

The first book in a brand new trilogy. 

The Toffee Factory Girls is a total smasher of a book. Set in the early days of WW1 there’s a sense of history underpinning the narrative, especially with the Belgian village of Elisabethville, but it doesn’t over dominate. Rather, Glenda Young allows her characters to tell their own stories. 

The plot is wonderful. Three very different woman, Anne, Elsie and Hetty forge a friendship that is ripe for further adventure by the end of the book. Their lives are very different as Anne hides a terrible secret, Elsie finds her flirtatious personality leads to all kinds of trouble and Hetty struggles with a difficult family life with her unloving mother and wayward brother. As Jack’s toffee factory needs to adapt to the challenges of rival toffee makers and the constraints of a global conflict, the story is entertaining and absorbing. I loved learning about the process of toffee making as I got to know the people working in the factory.

I also loved meeting Anne, Hetty and Elsie because they are actually quite ordinary which makes them hugely relatable. The events that befall them ensure the reader cares for them and is completely invested in the story. By the end of The Toffee Factory Girls, their personalities and friendships are brilliantly established, leaving the reader desperate to find out more. 

It’s quite hard to review The Toffee Factory Girls because Glenda Young is setting up what promises to be a fantastic trilogy and I don’t want to spoil the story for others. Let’s just say there are themes of war and industry, family, marriage and friendship, romance and prejudice that create a layered, varied and totally absorbing read. 

I really enjoyed The Toffee Factory Girls because it’s filled with charm, realism and huge potential for the following books. It’s a perfect example of its genre and deserves to be a huge success. 

About Glenda Young

Glenda Young credits her local library in the village of Ryhope, where she grew up, for giving her a love of books. She still lives close by in Sunderland and often gets her ideas for her stories on long bike rides along the coast. A life-long fan of Coronation Street, she runs two hugely popular fan websites.

For further inf0ormation about Glenda visit her website, find her on Instagram and Facebook or follow Glenda on Twitter/X @flaming_nora.

My enormous thanks to Jess Barratt at Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy in return for an honest review. It’s my total pleasure to share that review today.

Already available in other formats, The Porcelain Maker will be released in paperback by Simon and Schuster on 23rd May 2024 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Porcelain Maker

Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history
A daughter’s search for the truth

Germany, 1929.
When Max, a Jewish architect, and Bettina, a beautiful and celebrated German avant-garde artist, meet at a party their attraction is instant. In love with each other and the art they create, their talent transports them to the dazzling lights of Berlin. But Germany is on the brink of terrible change, and their bright beginning is soon dimmed by the rising threat of Nazism.

When Max is arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp, it is only his talent at making the exquisite porcelain figures so beloved by the Nazis that stands between him and certain death. At first, Bettina has no idea where Max has been taken but when she learns of his fate, she is determined to rescue him whatever the cost.

Now, a lifetime later, Bettina’s daughter, Clara, sets out on a journey to uncover the truth about her identity. As she weaves together the fabric of her past, she discovers the terrible secret her mother wanted hidden forever.

For fans of Heather Morris and Kristin Hannah, The Porcelain Maker is a sweeping, epic story of love, betrayal and art, set across Europe from the 1920s Weimar Republic, to dark and glittering 1930s Berlin.

My Review of The Porcelain Maker

Max is about to meet the love of his life, Bettina.

The Porcelain Maker is an affecting, immersive story that totally captivates the reader. I found it such an authentic read that I had to research the characters in more detail afterwards and was surprised that, other than historical figures like Himmler, these vivid, artistic and rounded people are invented by Sarah Freethy.

There’s such a plethora of fiction based on World War Two that I wasn’t anticipating such a fresh approach as we have in The Porcelain Maker. Of course there are mentions of the treatment of Jews, the power of the Reich and the depiction of the Arian ideal. However, instead of a focus on the horrors of concentration camps, instead there’s an intelligent, carefully researched and imaginative consideration of art underpinning the story. With references to real life works and artists, it becomes even more difficult to accept that Max and Bettina are not real people. I found the way the story was constructed around Max and Bettina’s separation and the art of the time was fascinating.

I loved meeting these two creative artists. The sense of passion that Max and Bettina have for one another and their absolute loyalty to each other are deeply emotional aspects. Whether it’s because Sarah Freethy is writing about artists I’m not sure, but her prose has a painterly atmosphere, enabling the reader to picture both character and setting so clearly. As Clara researches her past, discovering what happened to her mother Bettina, she becomes more real too and every element of this story feels assiduously researched and authentically presented.

I thought the balance between the two timelines in The Porcelain Maker was really well achieved. There’s far more about the 1930s and 40s than the 1993 era. This is as it should be because it is very much that past that has shaped Clara’s present life, and the effect is achieved with sophistication and without sentimentality.

There are themes one might expect, such as the brutality of the Nazi regime, but The Porcelain Maker is more about the nature of family, of true love and of courage and creativity. Alongside the making of porcelain artifacts is an impactful iterative image that we all have feet of clay, that we can be turned to dust in an instant, but that we can create our own destinies too. In amongst the grief, the pain and loss presented here is a true sense of the endurance of the human spirit.

I picked up The Porcelain Maker expecting that I would appreciate yet another war story. What Sarah Freethy gave me was so much more. She has delved into a neglected area and produced a compelling narrative that is immersive, convincing and that feels written with uncompromising integrity. I thought The Porcelain Maker was excellent.

About Sarah Freethy

Sarah Freethy worked as a producer and script consultant in television before turning her hand to fiction. The Porcelain Maker is her debut novel. She lives in Hampshire, England with her family.

For further information, visit Sarah’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @freethy and find Sarah on Facebook and Instagram.