It’s my pleasure to welcome back John Fullerton to Linda’s Book Bag today to chat with me all about his new novel Armistice Day. I’m delighted to begin the blog tour and my thanks go to both John, and to Anne of Random Things Tours, for inviting me to take part.

You’ll find other posts featuring John here on the blog. Let’s find out what John told me about his new book:

Staying in with John Fullerton

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag John and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me once more.

Delighted to be invited.

Tell me (though I have a pretty good idea!) which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Armistice Day, my latest thriller. It’s a complete break from my earlier Cold War spy trilogy. It’s contemporary, with a new set of characters and issues. The ‘us’ versus ‘them’ isn’t quite what it was; issues of loyalty and duty have become more diffuse and complex.

Sounds fascinating and as it’s out today, Happy Publication Day. How did you choose the title?

The action begins at the Cenotaph in London on Armistice Day, which is always marked by two minutes’ silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, commemorating the civilian and military dead of two world wars.

That makes sense. What gave you the idea for Armistice Day?

I suspect I’m not alone in beginning with a ‘what if?’ I have the digital equivalent of a drawer full of failed and incomplete ‘what if’ manuscripts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I think life is like that too John!

I don’t plan. If I know what’s going to happen, I get bored and stop. My ‘what if’ has to keep me engaged, let alone the readers. After all, like most writers of fiction, I write for myself.

So what triggers a ‘what if’ manuscript?

I might overhear a remark in a pub, or spot something odd on the streets. In this instance, it was a quick look at the newspapers, and a couple of photographs of last year’s Armistice Day parade. It showed politicians parading in black, with their Flanders poppies, trying to look serious and respectful towards the fallen. What a parcel of rogues, I thought. What if…?

Hmm. Given some recent commemorative events with rogues I have a feeling Armistice Day might be more pertinent than you originally envisaged!

What can we expect from an evening in with Armistice Day and who or what else have you brought along and why?

I’d like to introduce two friends of mine from Armistice Day. First, the laconic Bridie Connor, talented director of counterintelligence and security at the Secret Intelligence Service, a woman who’s broken through the ramparts protecting the ruling cabal of white, male, privately educated officers who have so long dominated her Service.

Second, Septimus Brass, senior investigator from the National Crime Agency. He’s no Jack Reacher, but an introvert, someone underpaid and overworked who chips away quietly but insistently at corruption and crime in high places without drawing attention to himself.

It sounds very much to me as if both those characters are much needed John! They are very welcome. I think Armistice Day sounds just the book we need in today’s world and I hope it’s a huge success. You get Bridie and Septimus settled and I’ll give readers a few more details:

Armistice Day

We trained him. We armed him. We sent him off to war.

Now he’s coming for us.

During the two minute silence on Armistice Day, a sniper hidden in a building opposite the Cenotaph guns down the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and two ministers. He escapes, disguised as a police officer.

In charge of the manhunt is Bridie Connor, laconic head of counter-intelligence at the Secret Intelligence Service. Reporting to her is Septimus Brass, National Crime Agency investigator.

Their adversary turns out to be neither terrorist nor foreign agent but a vengeful British ex-special forces soldier.

Septimus has just one question: why?

A compelling novel of love, betrayal and revenge.

Armistice Day is published today, 28th June 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here as well as from Amazon.

About John Fullerton

As I think Anna Mazzola is one of the best historical fiction writers around, I was thrilled to be sent a hardback copy (with the cover above) of her latest novel, The Book of Secrets. My enormous thanks to Frankie Banks (previously at Orion) for that copy. With paperback release day on 11th July fast approaching, it’s my absolute pleasure to share my review of The Book of Secrets today.

You’ll find my reviews of Anna’s The Clockwork Girls and The Story Keeper here.

The Book of Secrets is published by Orion and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Book of Secrets

Rome, 1659.

Some secrets are worth dying for…

Girolama Spana lives west of the river Tiber in a house marked by a lily and a garden full of herbs. Many women in Rome seek her help – although they would never admit it – eager for her mysterious balms, her love potions, and her ability to predict their futures.

Even against the splendour of the Eternal City, Giroloma’s secret recipes are the women’s most precious possessions – and their husbands’ most feared. So when men are reported dying in unnatural numbers, the gaze of Stefano Bracchi, prosecutor for the papal authorities, falls quickly on Girolama and her suspected sorcery.

Soon she will face the greatest danger she has ever known – but Girolama has always vowed that in life there are secrets we write down, secrets we pass on, and some that we carry to our deaths…

The Book of Secrets is inspired by real events that took place in 17th century Italy.

My Review of The Book of Secrets

Stefano Bracchi is investigating a series of deaths.

The Book of Secrets is brilliant. The quality of Anna Mazzola’s writing is incredibly impressive; partly due to the fact that her narrative is based in meticulously researched real events, partly because of the perfect plotting, short, gripping chapters and the mix of realism with possible witchcraft, and partly as a result of the faultless narrative tone which is accessible and yet just right for the 1600s era. Combined, these elements mean that The Book of Secrets becomes far greater than the sum of its parts and is a fascinating, mesmerising and enthralling story.

There are engaging and entertaining twists and turns in an exciting plot that is historical, magical and has mystery at its heart so that it appeals to lovers of many genres. However, it was the themes of the story that I found so fascinating. Anna Mazzola tells an eternal story of man’s inhumanity to women with a freshness that doesn’t moralise bluntly, but rather educates and informs with such clarity that I found myself enraged every bit as much as entertained. The role of women in society, the fine balance between right and wrong, the concept of the end justifying the means, and the way perception and self-delusion can distort our behaviour and morality are intelligent, compelling and relevant to the modern reader, every bit as much as they are to the characters of the story.

Indeed, the characterisation is complex and thought provoking. At the opposite ends of events, Stefano and Girolama have far more in common than they may imagine, though you need to read the book to understand why as I’m not going to spoil the story. The impact of gender and social class, and the reasons why we become what we become are aspects underpinning all the characters, and these are illustrated with sensitivity and conviction, making for such a fabulous story. I particularly loved the Shakespearean Marcello. He is the voice of reason, a kind of touchstone against whom we can measure and judge the likes of Baranzone. There’s quite a cast of characters and each is distinct, layered and believable – indeed some are all too authentic and elicit a range of violent and emotional responses in the reader because they are so impactful.

I absolutely loved The Book of Secrets. It’s so hard to review without giving away too much of the plot, but it’s hard to imagine a better depiction of the poison inquisition in Rome in 1656. It’s one of those books that calls to the reader when they aren’t actually reading it and it reverberates in the mind after it is finished because it is immersive, entertaining and completely superb. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Anna Mazzola

Anna Mazzola is an award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist. Her debut novel, The Unseeing, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award, and her third novel, The Clockwork Girl, was a Sunday Times historical fiction pick for 2022.

You can follow Anna on Twitter/X @Anna_Mazz and visit her website for more information. You’ll also find her on Instagram and Facebook.

It’s my very great pleasure today to hand over Linda’s Book Bag to Charlie Laidlaw so that he can introduce his brand new novel The Days of Our Birth that I think sounds wonderful. I’m only sorry I haven’t been able to fit in reading it. Sadly life has been getting the better of me recently and reading has taken rather a back seat.

The Days of our Birth is published on 27th June 2024 by Rampart and is available for purchase here.

The Days of Our Life

Theirs was the most important relationship of their life…

It was a perfect relationship until time pulled them apart. A beautiful story sensitively told about how love and friendship can conquer everything, including time, to a point.

The Days of Our Birth delves into the intricate bond between Peter and Sarah as they navigate their formative years. Spanning from their sixth birthday through two decades, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of Sarah’s placement on the autism spectrum. With a blend of humour and poignancy, the book intricately weaves together themes of love and friendship, unravelling the tale of two individuals who grapple with their emotions for each other, even though they remain unacknowledged.

Let’s allow Charlie to tell us a bit more:

Introducing The Days of Our Birth

A Guest Post by Charlie Laidlaw

My new novel, The Days of Our Birth, is a coming-of age and romantic book that, I hope, balances humour and poignancy in equal measure.

Peter and Sarah grow up living next door to one another in a small town in the east of Scotland.  They also share the same birthday.  He’s not so bright, but she’s formidably intelligent.  She’s also autistic, and can’t understand why nobody except Peter likes her.

The book begins on their sixth birthday.  Peter is having a birthday party in his back garden; she is having hers in her back garden.  One is a boys’ party; the other, a girls’ party and they agree that, maybe one day, they’ll have a joint party.

But, even then, Peter and Sarah are good friends.  He walks to and from school every day, and they hold hands.  He hangs around at her house until his parents get back from work.  She helps him with his homework.

Told in the first and third person, The Days of our Birth is an exploration of how people change, the things we could have said and done and, sometimes, how we can make things right again.

It’s not about autism spectrum disorder – about one in one hundred people are on the spectrum – but about the differences between us and how those differences can drive people apart or, sometimes, bring them closer together.

The book follows Peter and Sarah as they grow from childhood through adolescence to adulthood.  They’re still best friends and Peter wants it to stay that way, because only by staying just friends, he thinks, will they stay together.

But Peter and Sarah are forced apart.  Sarah’s grandmother falls ill, and Sarah’s mum moves to Brighton to look after her.  It’s a convenient move because her marriage is falling apart.  Sarah goes with her, and is enrolled in a boarding school for gifted autistic children.

Peter scrapes into university in Edinburgh while Sarah sails into university in London.  Now free to see her, Peter travels south to meet up with her for the first time in years.  It doesn’t go well because Sarah finally understands the depths of her feelings towards him.  It’s only when she waves him off does he realise that she’s saying goodbye.

The book ends as it began, with Sarah travelling by train from Clapham Junction into central London. Her phone pings and it’s a text message from Peter.  Now a journalist, he’s supposed to be covering a story in New York but he’s there, in London, waiting for her.

On their different journeys, they both have learned that the differences between them can also, finally, bring them together.

Like my other novels it’s mostly set in East Lothian near Edinburgh.  It’s where I live and, as my novels are character driven, why set them anywhere else?

****

Why indeed? I think The Days of Our Birth sounds such an emotive and affecting read Charlie. Thanks you for telling us more about it.

About Charlie Laidlaw

Charlie Laidlaw is a PR consultant, teaches creative writing, and lives in East Lothian. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and was previously a national newspaper journalist and defence intelligence analyst. He has lived in London and Edinburgh, and has two children. His other novels are Everyday Magic, The Things We Learn When We’re Dead, The Time Between Space, Being Alert! and Love Potions and Other Calamities.

You can follow Charlie on Twitter/X @claidlawauthor and visit his website.  You’ll also find him on Instagram and  Facebook.

Lovely Amanda James has appeared here on Linda’s Book Bag on several occasions, most recently when I reviewed her gorgeous Wish Upon a Cornish Moon in a post you’ll find here. I had hoped that, as well as sharing an excerpt from Amanda’s latest book, The Garden of Memories, I’d have my review ready to share today too. Sadly of late there has been a bit too much life happening beyond my ability to deal with it and I simply ran out of time. I’m determined to get to it as soon as I can and when you read the information about it, you’ll understand why!

Published on 20th June 2024 by Harper Collins imprin’t One More Chapter, The Garden of Memories is available for purchase through the links here.

The Garden of Memories

With nothing but time on her hands, retired nurse Rose Lanyon finds herself drawn to the garden that had once been her husband’s pride and joy.

It may have started as a means of honouring her husband’s memory, but her little Cornish garden soon becomes so much more – a place where the lost and lonely can find solace, the forgotten can be remembered, and second chances take bloom. Because, as long as new life is growing, there will always be hope and new memories to make…

An Excerpt from The Garden of Memories

Apparently, forty years should seem longer. Before people speak about the passing of large measures of time, they shake their heads in bewilderment, click their tongue against the roof of their mouth and sigh. Shortly after that, they say things like, ‘I can’t believe it’s been forty years!’  Next, some repetition to emphasise their surprise, ‘Forty. I mean, who would have thought it?  Well, Rose would. Because when she started nursing, her eyes were bright, her skin was line-free and she had enough energy to power a hospital ward. Now her batteries are flat, and the majority of creases around her eyes aren’t made of laughter lines. They’ve mostly been created by exhaustion and burnout. Forty years of nursing will do that. Forty years of staying on past the end of your shift, caring, mending, lifting, guiding and healing. Forty years of carefully ironed uniforms, precisely tucked hospital corners, sensible shoes and quiet footsteps. A gentle smile, the touch of a hand, and a well-placed word.

The last shift. Forty years of a career that will end today.  To Rose, this ending is much harder to believe than the passage of all that time. Since the age of twenty-two, she’s known nothing else. Nursing is who she is. It defines her. Rose Lanyon, the nurse. After today, what will she be? Who will she be? The words, ‘I used to be a nurse’ will find their way into her conversation. She’s not sure she’s ready for that – a ‘used to be’. She tells herself she needn’t worry too much, because she’ll only have to explain to those who don’t know her. Most do know her in this little Cornish community of which she’s part. For the past thirty years Rose has been a nurse in the local GP practice. A drawer of blood, a shoulder to cry on, a dresser of wounds. Before that, she walked the wards of The Royal Cornwall Hospital, until she swapped that for walking the bedroom, her baby daughter falling asleep on her shoulder, just as the dawn rose over the ocean.

Rose’s uniform is hanging on the wardrobe door, ready. Unlike her. Though her long career has taken its toll, she’s no regrets. None. She’s loved being a nurse. Though not all of it, because some parts have broken her. Sometimes she lies awake at night, remembering the faces of those who passed before their time. Rose thinks about the kind words offered to her by grieving relatives. Little gifts on parting. Thank you. You were there for my loved one. We will always remember you… At the time, she watched them go, never imagining that she would also remember them, in the still, quiet of the night. But she does.

The uniform waits. Under her fingers the material is cool, navy, no-nonsense. The uniform represents professionalism, inspires respect, garners trust and confidence. And sometimes she’s been grateful for this uniform, this barrier between the personal and professional. Rose would hide behind it to protect herself, especially during the hard times, but much more often, there have been happy times. Joy, even. The maternity ward was full of it, new life spreading light, its echo in the ringing bells of the cancer clinic. The love of the job and the people she met carried her up, over and through – knitting a pattern, a pathway along a working life for her to follow.

Acknowledging all that happiness, Rose finds herself smiling as she slips the uniform free of the hanger. Acknowledging too, that she’s grateful for such a long and happy career. It registers like a thump in her gut that this is the last time she’ll wear this bit of cotton. This bit of cotton that’s so much more. On the dressing table, from a photo taken on their local beach, her husband, Glen smiles too. His grey curls ruffling in the wind, his eyes, blue chips, squinting in the sun. She has the fleeting impression that he’s about to say something. Probably get your uniform on, go to work and stop all this pondering, Rose. Glen always said pondering on things too much was no good for you. He might have been right. She takes a breath, slips the uniform on, touches her fingertips to her lips and then to his. ‘See you later, you old grump. Love you.’

****

Doesn’t that sound utterly wonderful? So relatable. I am thrilled that I have The Garden of Memories on my TBR.

About Amanda James

For more about Amanda, follow her on Twitter @amandajames61 and find her on Facebook and Instagram.

One of the pleasures of blogging is discovering new-to-me books and authors and today I’m delighted to discover another – Margot Shepherd, who has kindly agreed to stay in with me to chat about her debut novel.

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Margot Shepherd

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Margot and thank you for staying in with me.

I’m delighted to be here. 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 Never Closer because it’s my debut novel.

Congratulations on your debut! What can we expect from an evening in with Never Closer?

Two stories that are woven together. A story set in the 1940s about Alice who works on the development of penicillin and a story set in the present day about Jo whose daughter, Jessie, is hospitalised with bacterial meningitis. The two stories are linked by Alice’s diary which Jo finds in a vintage handbag in her friend’s vintage shop.

That sounds such an interesting premise. 

It’s a book about families, love, grief and above all resilience. It is also about two women striving to be who they want to be.

It was Editors’ choice in the May quarterly magazine of the Historical Novel Society where it was described as ‘a novel for our times.’

It certainly sounds as if it might well be Margot. Tell me more about Jo and Alice.

Jo is a mother of two daughters, both studying for degrees. She is married to an unreliable, insensitive and at times domineering husband. She became pregnant with Kate in her final year at university and abandoned training for her dream career, as a clinical biochemist, to be a full-time mother. Two years after Kate arrived, Jessie was born. Now her children have left home Jo desperately wants to do more with her life but is hindered by an unsupportive husband and a feeling that she has lost her way. The novel begins when Jo receives a phone call from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Jessie, a student at Oxford University, is in a coma.

Alice is seventeen years old and working at the Dunn School of Pathology for Professor Howard Florey in Oxford. She was made to leave school at sixteen by her mother to contribute to the family income. Her ambition had been to be a teacher and she is angry that she has been thwarted in this goal. She is very intelligent and determined to learn as much as she can from her job so is forever asking questions. She often has to take penicillin to the hospital, an environment she has never encountered before. When she realises that nursing sisters have important and respected roles, she is determined to use the knowledge she has gained in the laboratory to pursue nursing as a career.

Both Jo and Alice sound hugely relatable.

How did you come to write Never Closer?

I read an article in a newspaper about the work of The Penicillin Girls in the 1940s and immediately thought how interesting to tell the story of penicillin from the point of view of one of those girls. Alice is fictional but all the other characters in the Oxford laboratory are based on real people. I did a lot of research about how penicillin was developed and the more I read the more I realised how important this story was. I thought it would be interesting to contrast the 1940’s story with the treatment of bacterial infections in the present day when antibacterial resistance is a growing problem and we are in danger of squandering the gift that the Oxford scientists gave the world.

I think Never Closer sounds fascinating. So, what have you brought along and why have you brought it?

It is a 1940s dress similar to the one that Alice makes in the novel. Alice is a very good dressmaker, something she learned from her mum. Because she plans to go to a dance with her friend, she wants to have a pretty dress to wear. In the novel we see Alice visit the drapers and choose the material and the pattern and then make it when she has the house to herself. It was just before clothes rationing (which included fabric) came in. Alice writes in her diary-

‘Mrs Foster said she had some new fabric just come in that she hadn’t unwrapped yet. She disappeared into the back room and I heard a rustling of paper. She reappeared with a bolt of rayon crêpe with a pattern of a scarlet rose, and grey hatching on a white background. It was beautiful and I knew at once that it was exactly right. I felt so lucky. Who knows when I’ll be able to buy such lovely material again. Mrs Foster measured out the yardage specified in the pattern then cut with her large scissors; the kerch-kerch sound of the scissors made me want to rush home and start making it.’

The dress is an important link between the two stories. It finds its way to the vintage shop owned by Jo’s friend. Jo loves 1940s clothes and is overjoyed when her friend gifts her the dress. At the time Jo doesn’t know the dress was made by Alice. She doesn’t find out until she reads Alice’s diary. The dress becomes very special to Jo. ‘It is as if the past is seeping into the present.’ It reminds her how she used to make clothes herself when she was a teenager. Like Alice she comes from a working-class family where there wasn’t a lot of money. Jo becomes totally absorbed in Alice’s diary and it inspires her to make some big changes in her life.

Did you bring anything else?

Some 1940s dance music, Joe Loss and his band playing ‘Oh Johnny’. This music features in both stories. Alice goes to a dance where this is played, and it is where she meets Frank, a young soldier who is about to be sent abroad. Alice knows all the dance steps as she has been taught by her father. Frank is also a good dancer as he was taught by his mother. There is an immediate connection between Alice and Frank. Their relationship develops via letters they send to each other.

In the present-day story Jo reads the diary to Jessie when she is convalescing. Jessie becomes fascinated by Alice. When Jo reads about the dance, she plays this music to Jessie on an old shellac record and record player. These had belonged to Jo’s grandmother who had been a clippie during the war in Barnsley where Jo comes from.

‘Jo pulls out a record in a brown paper sleeve. The red centre label reads His Master’s Voice: Joe Loss and his band playing ‘Oh Johnny’.

 After slotting the centre hole over the prong in the middle of the turntable she releases a switch and the record starts turning. Carefully she lowers the stylus onto the edge of the record. Within seconds the tinny noise of a big band fills the room.’

 Jo shows Jessie how to dance the foxtrot and it reminds her of how much she used to love dancing. Despite her unhappy marriage Jo has always thought she couldn’t cope without Rob, her husband. We see Jo become gradually stronger as the novel progresses until she decides to pursue a career she wants and to take up dancing again.

I think Never Closer sounds really immersive Margot. Thank you so much for staying in to tell me all about it. I think we’d better play some Joe Loss whilst I give readers a few more details about it. 

Never Closer

On an ordinary day in 2017 Jo is devastated by news that every mother dreads.

In 1940, Alice enters a laboratory to harvest a new drug, called penicillin. Made to leave school at sixteen and abandon her aspiration to be a teacher, she learns instead about microbes and miracles and how curing people may be her destiny.

The lives of the two women become entwined when Jo finds Alice’s diary in a vintage handbag. Past and present overlap and merge as life-changing events resonate across the gulf of time.

This is a story about a diary opening a door on the past, chronicling Alice’s fierce determination to succeed against all odds. It’s a story about how Jo emerges from darkness into light and discovers a strength she never knew she had.

Can Alice’s diary inspire her to step into a better life?

Never closer is available for purchase on Amazon, Kobo, Apple and Blackwells.

About Margot Shepherd

Margot Shepherd was born and spent her childhood in Yorkshire, in the north of England. She now lives in the south of England but still feels her roots are in the north. Margot is a scientist so when she started thinking about her first novel, she knew she wanted it to include some science and as a woman she wanted it told from a female point of view. There are so few books which do this.

Margot works part-time in medical research but is tapering this off as she wants more time to write. She is addicted to reading and always knew she wanted to write a novel when she had the time. Six years ago, Margot semi-retired, studied for an MA in Creative Writing and then started writing her novel. Her leisure time is spent gardening, walking in the countryside where she lives, accompanied by her Springer Spaniel, Genni, and of course reading! Margot also loves travelling to new places mainly in other European countries.

For further information visit Margot’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @MargotShepherdW and find Margot on Instagram.

My huge thanks to Rachel Kennedy for sending me a copy of The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood in return for an honest review. I can’t believe that this is my first Kirsty Greenwood book and I’m delighted to share my review today.

The Love of My Afterlife is published by Penguin’s Century on 20th June 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Love of My Afterlife

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. She’s entered the afterlife wearing the sort of pyjamas you don’t want anyone to see and finds herself face-to-face with the most handsome man she’s ever encountered. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise – until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth.

In a twist of fate, Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to her previous life and reconnect with the mysterious man she’s sure is her soulmate.

The challenge? She only has ten days to find him.

Ten days to make him fall for her.

Oh, and he has no recollection of them ever having met…

My Review of The Love of My Afterlife

Delphie Bookham has just choked to death on a burger.

What a brilliant, brilliant story. I found The Love of My Afterlife unbridled entertainment from start to finish. It has a slightly mystical premise as Delphie is given a second chance at life when she’s sent back to Earth to try to get Jonah voluntarily to kiss her, but it is still absolutely grounded in realism, making it a total triumph.

I thought the plot was brilliant and Kirsty Greenwood had me invested in it from the very first page. As Delphie attempts to track down Jonah, with the reluctant help of her curmudgeonly neighbour Cooper, she finds herself in a range of unusual situations that help unlock the mysteries of her own life to her. This might be a diverting and fabulous romcom read, but it has captivating and mature themes at its heart too. 

The Love of My Afterlife looks hard at how we live our lives – or rather, how we don’t. Kirsty Greenwood considers risk taking, making ourselves vulnerable, using our talents and being open to friendship and love of many kinds. Through this super story she illustrates how making the most of our chances, even when we’re afraid, can lead to all kinds of benefits. I adored this aspect of the narrative.

Delphie is a brilliant character. She’s spikey, awkward and insular. She’s also witty, caring and both physically and metaphorically beautiful. Her personal growth when faced with death feels natural and engaging. I was desperate for her to have her happy ending, because I cared about her completely. 

In fact, I thought all the characters were super – even the obnoxious, bullying, Gen because Kirsty Greenwood imbued them all with enough detail and realism to make them feel totally believable. I especially loved Delphie’s neighbour because, through him, not only do we get to see the softer side of Delphi, but we are given convincing insight into the way society frequently write off the experience and talent of the elderly. 

The Love of My Afterlife is absolutely perfect summer reading and I adored it. Make sure you put it in your suitcase! 

About Kirsty Greenwood

Kirsty Greenwood is a best selling author of funny, fearless romantic comedies about extraordinary love. When she’s not writing books she composes musicals and explores London where she lives with her husband.

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

My huge thanks to Kelly Pike for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for We Will Be Forest by Ilaria Bernadini, translated by Livia Franchini and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Published by Whitefox on 13th June 2024, We Will Be Forest is available for purchase here.

We Will Be Forest

A universal recipe for when life feels barren. A botanical tale of closeness and caring.

Anna is mourning the end of her marriage when she runs into Maria by chance at her mother’s gallery in Milan. When Maria suddenly collapses and is taken to hospital, the pair’s lives are irrevocably changed.

Over the course of the long, dry summer that follows, the pair come together to convalesce. Maria, an avid gardener, observes half-dead plants on Anna’s terrace, and finds solace in teaching Anna how to care for them. In doing so, the pair also begin to care for each other’s loneliness, and find in the natural world a deeply restorative power – one that will open them up to new love and life.

In We Will Be Forest, Ilaria Bernardini draws on a private affair – illness, the end of a marriage, a child to protect – to bring to life a powerful poetic universe in which words sprout like branches and leaves.

My Review of We Will Be Forest

Anna’s life is changing.

We Will Be Forest is an intense, beautiful book that is so steeped in meaning that I’m sure my reading has only scratched the surface. I found it simultaneously prosaic, yet magical, deeply sad and wonderfully uplifting. Equally dichotomous, the prose is both sparse and intricate in a blend that has been wonderfully translated by Livia Franchini. 

The iterative metaphor of nature as life works to perfection. As Anna learns about the plants on her balcony, as she comes to understand their most basic needs, so she begins to understand herself and to come to terms with the events that have led to this point in her life. As a result Anna is able to move on. Ilaria Bernadini has such a sensitive touch that she illustrates how sheer happiness can be just a touch away from deep despair and vice versa. As a result, We Will Be Forest is a mesmerising tale of pain and hope. I loved it. 

Anna’s personality is complex, layered and thoroughly engaging. Her first person voice shines through the text as she reveals herself to be selfish, demanding, caring, nurturing and so on in a maelstrom of emotion. I’m not entirely sure I understood the psychic character in her story, but assume they are her innermost voice and personality, the very essence of who Anna truly is, her conscience and her guide. Who or whatever the psychic is, they steer Anna through her memories, her choices and her growth. I found this aspect profound and moving. 

Rich in imagery and theme, We Will Be Forest is a story that explores our complex identities, how we respond to trauma, how we are affected by our families, our relationships and the seasons. I loved the way the weather moved from extreme drought to inundating rain as Anna learnt to live again. The theme of connection is threaded through the narrative like organic mycelium, giving a sense of belonging that is both fascinating and healing. 

We Will Be Forest defies review. It’s less a narrative than an emotional experience. If you’re looking for a fast paced, heart thumping and thrilling read, We Will Be Forest is not the book for you. If you want to experience a voice that articulates your deepest, previously undefined feelings and emotions, and helps you understand your true self whilst reading an emotional and profound text, then We Will Be Forest is absolutely perfect. 

Oh, and as an aside, read the chapter headings in one go (preferably aloud) as they create a poem of life to live by! 

About Ilaria Bernardi

Ilaria Bernardini is a prolific talent. A writer and screenwriter, she is the author of nine novels, two graphic novels and two collections of short stories. Her novels Faremo Foresta (We Will Be Forest) and The Portrait were longlisted for Italy’s prestigious Strega Prize. Both are being adapted for film. Ilaria has also created TV shows for MTV, Paramount+, The Apartment and Fremantle. She has written for Rolling Stone, Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ. Her acclaimed novel The Girls are Good has been adapted into a six-part TV series

Ilaria is writing new movies as she continues to develop Bernardo Bertolucci’s final script (which Ilaria co-wrote with him) The Echo Chamber.  She splits her time between London and Milan.

For further information, follow her on Twitter/X @faremoforesta or find Ilaria on Instagram.

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Given how much I adore Will Dean’s writing (see my reviews of his books here) I was thrilled to be asked if I’d like to participate in the blog tour for Will’s new book, The Chamber. My enormous thanks to Alainna Hadjigeorgiou for inviting me to take part and for sending me a copy of The Chamber in return for an honest review.

Published by Hodder and Stoughton on 6th June 2024, The Chamber is available for purchase through the links here.

The Chamber

HIGH PRESSURE OUTSIDE
On a boat heading out into the North Sea, Ellen Brooke steels herself to spend almost a month locked inside a hyperbaric chamber with five other divers. They are all being paid handsomely for this work – to be lowered each day inside a diving bell to the sea bed, taking it in turns to dive down and repair oil pipes that lie in the dark waters. It is a close knit team and it has to be: any error or loss of trust could be catastrophic.

EXTREME PRESSURE INSIDE
All is going to plan until one of the divers is found unresponsive in his bunk. He hadn’t left the chamber. It will take four more days of decompression, locked away together, before the hatch can be opened. Four more days of bare steel, intrusive thoughts, and the constant struggle not to give way to panic. Mind games, exhaustion, suspicion, and, most of all, pressure. And if someone does unlock the door, everyone dies…

My Review of The Chamber

Ellen Brooke is going on a dive.

Oh goodness! What a book…

There’s a glossary of technical terms at the start of The Chamber which induced a feeling of panic and claustrophobia in me and which simply didn’t abate. This book is terrifying for those of us who don’t enjoy confined spaces and, equally, for those who do! I genuinely had to stop reading at times to allow myself to decompress. 

Will Dean incorporates enough technical detail to create authenticity and atmosphere without slowing the narrative, but what is most terrifying is the way the chapter endings heighten the tension incrementally until I found I was reading and holding my breath. The writing in The Chamber is so skilled. The balance of exposition to highly natural and convincing direct speech, the range of sentence structure, with brevity often meaning increased edginess, the pacy chapters – all these elements combine with a narrator, Ellen Brooke, who may or may not be reliable, into a menacing, compelling read. In addition, the genuine historical events that are mentioned make what is happening in The Chamber feel all the more real. 

Right through The Chamber, as the body count increased, I had absolutely no idea who or what was causing the deaths. The mounting suspicion, the mental toll on characters and the question of who to trust kept me guessing throughout. There is, I felt, just a slight ambiguity (or maybe that’s just my poor suspicious brain after being so hooked into the narrative) at the end that made me wonder if all had been revealed in quite the way we have been led to believe. Truth is a slippery concept and is explored with manipulative brilliance here. It felt as if the surviving characters were living on beyond the confines of the story.

Themes in The Chamber are layered and mature. Alongside truth are loyalty, respect, family and compulsion. The story really examines what drives an individual to take on such dangerous work and how relationships are the bedrock of behaviour. The characterisation is developed through interactions in the diving chamber, but also through storytelling as each diver recounts memories from their past, so that we have a clear understanding of each of the six divers and yet we have no understanding of them at all. We only really know what they allow us to see. Least is known about Tea-Bag as he is the newest with the most recent experience so that the reader is manipulated more by the more experienced characters. This story messes with the reader’s mind! 

I loved the references to Shakespeare because they lent a feeling of danger and mistrust. Because many of these references are from Macbeth, it made me suspect Ellen as the perpetrator throughout, given Lady Macbeth’s role in the murder of Duncan. However, you’ll need to read The Chamber to see if I was correct.

Not only is The Chamber a gripping whodunnit, but it’s a first class howdunnit too. I’m aware that I haven’t really done it justice, but suffice it to say that I found it convincing, terrifying and believable. I found the sense of claustrophobia almost unbearable and yet I could not stop immersing myself in the book. The Chamber cements firmly in my mind that Will Dean is one of the most skilled suspense writers of the current generation. Don’t miss this one. 

About Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at the LSE and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel in the Tuva Moodyson series, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. Red Snow was published in January 2019 and won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019. Black River was shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Award in 2021. Will also writes standalone thrillers: The Last Thing to Burn, First Born, the top twenty hardback bestseller The Last Passenger and The Chamber.

For further information, find Will on Twitter/X @willrdean, Instagram and Facebook.

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It’s almost two years since I featured The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett on Linda’s Book Bag but I never actually got round to reading it. Consequently, when it appeared on the list of possible choices for the reading group to which I belong I simply had to choose it because I had so enjoyed Janice’s The Christmas Appeal (reviewed here).

The Twyford Code was published by Viper on 21st July 2022 and is available for purchase here.

The Twyford Code

Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, full of strange markings and annotations. Wanting to know more, he took it to his English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to a secret code that ran through all Twyford’s novels. Then she disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her.

Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today?

But as Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood, seeking answers, it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn’t just a writer of forgotten children’s stories. The Twyford Code has great power, and he isn’t the only one trying to solve it…

My Review of The Twyford Code

Steve Smith has a mystery to solve.

What an intriguing story! I’m not entirely sure quite what I’ve just read as The Twyford Code is part mystery and part thriller told through the eyes of a not entirely honest protagonist who can be somewhat economical with the truth, so that I feel I really need to reread the story immediately to discover all the clues laid out along the way that I missed the first time. This makes for a highly engaging and intriguing reading experience.

I found The Twyford Code really fascinating. It’s sinuous in its twists and turns so that the truth of its layers of narrative only become fully clear right at the end. Janice Hallett proves herself to be disconcertingly skilled at sleight of hand and obfuscation. Reading The Twyford Code is akin to watching a skilled magician at work and I did need to suspend my disbelief at times – just as I would when watching someone apparently sawn in half by an illusionist. 

I loved the allusion to Enid Blyton, the references to other books and the concepts of World War Two, duplicity and international history that are threaded through the story. I found the transcripts an innovative and intriguing way to convey the narrative and was beguiled by the multiple time frames and the Agatha Christie style denouement. The fact that it is Steve’s illiteracy that means he has to record his story felt authentic and affecting. And it is Steve who is the huge success of the novel.

What I hadn’t bargained for here is the depth of feeling engendered by injustice, by Steve Smith’s sad and neglected upbringing and the way justice is seen to be done but actually can be so wide of the mark that it made my blood boil. The Twyford Code may be an entertaining mystery, but it is also a social commentary that strips back how we are shaped and constructed by our lives. I was incredibly touched by Steve’s story.

The Twyford Code is deceptive and I suspect it may divide readers. It feels like a light-hearted Enid Blyton-esque romp with added murder but it has a depth that takes time to be uncovered. Whilst I enjoyed being duped and manipulated by the narrative, it was the people, the reminder of those I’ve taught who were just like Steve Smith and found themselves in prison too, that made the book successful for me.  It was the why of the story as much as the what that engaged me and made me think and I really enjoyed it. 

About Janice Hallett

Janice Hallett studied English at UCL, and spent several years as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. The Appeal was inspired by her lifelong interest in amateur dramatics. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, was published by Viper in 2022 and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels in 2023. The Examiner will be published in August 2024. When not indulging her passion for global adventure travel, she is based in West London.

For more information you can follow Janice on Twitter/X @JaniceHallett, or find her on Instagram.

I can’t believe it’s over three years since lovely Julia Roberts last appeared on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I was reviewing My Mother’s Secret in a post you’ll find here. Now Julia has a brand new book out, My Daughter’s Lies, and I’m thrilled to be able to share an excerpt with you.

Published by Bookouture, My Daughter’s Lies is available for purchase here.

My Daughter’s Lies

In the middle of my beautiful daughter’s eighteenth birthday party, silence falls as I unfold my speech, my heart bursting with everything I want to say. But when I look down I see a note, and my world stops: She’s not who you think she is.

Ruby was our miracle baby. I would have done anything to become a mother, and when she finally arrived, I held her in my arms, looked in her blue eyes and swore I would never let anything harm her. Now she’s everything I could have dreamed of. I don’t even think about all the years of heartache I went through before she was born.

So when I get the strange warning at her birthday party, I ignore it, hiding it in my bag with trembling hands. Someone is simply jealous of her.

But as I watch my daughter, things I’ve been trying to ignore come flooding back to me – Ruby’s odd disappearances, her whispered arguments with her best friend, and a memory from her sixth birthday which still breaks my heart to remember.

I need to know the truth about who she really is, but digging into my daughter’s secrets might reveal my own. As the party draws to a close and the confetti is swept away, I gather my courage. I’ve spent eighteen years trying to forget my own mistakes, and it could only take a moment for everything to fall apart.

Do I risk tearing my family apart to keep my daughter safe? Because when my secrets come out, I could lose my precious girl forever…

An Excerpt from My Daughter’s Lies

“What part of “I DON’T WANT A PARTY” did you two not get?’ Ruby demands.

      She clearly has no intention of calming down and a quick glance in Steve’s direction tells me he is now almost as wound up as she is.

      There have been very few arguments between the three of us over the years, but after a moment of shocked silence, Steve replies at a similar volume to Ruby. ‘We’ll speak to whoever the hell we like!’

      I now feel like a spectator as the two of them lock eyes, glinting dark with anger. I’m pretty sure Ruby wasn’t expecting that reaction from her normally placid dad, and to be honest neither was I.

      ‘We’re your parents,’ he continues equally forcefully. ‘While you live under our roof, you’ll show us a bit of respect, young lady.’

      ‘Respect is not a given, it’s earned,’ she flings back. ‘How can I respect people who clearly have such little regard for my feelings?’

      I’ve been holding back tears as I witness the spectacle of the two people I love most in the world hurling abuse at each other, but now they pour freely down my cheeks.

      ‘Stop it!’ I scream, stunning them both into momentary silence.

      Steve starts towards me, but I hold my hands up, the palms facing outwards as though to push him away if he tries to come any closer.

      ‘Let’s just forget it. If Ruby doesn’t want a party to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, that’s up to her.’

      He examines my face intently, searching for my true feelings. It seems like an age but is probably only a fraction of a second before he turns away from me to face our daughter. ‘No, I’m not having that,’ he says, his voice more controlled but his anger still evident. ‘It might be your birthday, Ruby, but it’s also the day your mother gave you life. You have no idea what she went through before she finally became pregnant with you; the years of negative pregnancy tests, hormone injections, miscarriages, until, when she had long since given up hope of having the one thing she craved more than anything in the world, she finally conceived you; our little miracle.’

      My chest tightens at the words ‘our little miracle’. Ruby is not the only one who has no idea of the lengths I went to in my efforts to become pregnant. My breath is coming in shallow gasps, and although I’ve never previously experienced a panic attack, I fear I’m about to have one.

      Ruby’s cheeks start to colour, but my normally mild-mannered husband hasn’t finished.

      ‘She endured thirty-six hours of torturous labour,’ he continues, emotion now fuelling his anger, ‘before conceding that she would need to have an emergency caesarean section because your life was in danger.’

      Ruby is gripping the edge of the table, and her eyes are filling with tears. I want Steve to stop, but he clearly isn’t done yet.

      ‘She literally bears the scars of giving birth to you and you want to deny her the chance to celebrate your coming of age because of something that happened twelve years ago and was totally beyond our control? The volume of his voice is increasing with every word. ‘I thought we’d raised a nicer human being than that. You’re pathetic! No, I take that back,’ he rages. ‘You’re selfish and cruel.’

      Steve has gone too far, but before I can voice my opinion he slams out of the room, leaving silence in his wake, only broken by Ruby’s sobs.”

****

I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling things are not going to go well! My Daughter’s Lies sounds brilliant!

About Julia Roberts

Julia was born in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, and began her career as a professional singer/dancer. This enabled her to travel the world in her late teens storing up experiences she has since included in her writing.

Following roles as a hostess on The Price is Right and a member of the Beadle’s About ‘hit squad’ in the 1980s, she became a TV Presenter and filmed features for Sky Sports before launching the QVC shopping channel in 1993 where she still presents today. Having always wanted to write, she penned her first book, a memoir sold on QVC, in 2013 and has since written seven full length novels, two novellas and several short stories.

You can follow Julia on Twitter/X @JuliaRobertsTV and visit her website. You’ll also find her on Instagram and Facebook.