I’m a huge fan of Gill Paul’s writing as you’ll see if you follow this link. Consequently, I’m thrilled that my latest My Weekly magazine online review which is of Gill’s latest book, Scandalous Women.

Scandalous Women was published by Harper Collins imprint Avon yesterday, 29th August 2024, and is available for purchase through the links here.

Scandalous Women

1966: In London, Jackie Collins‘s racy The World is Full of Married Men hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann‘s debut novel Valley of the Dolls is published, and she’s desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.

Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house. But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter.

When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back?

My Review of Scandalous Women

My full review of Scandalous Women can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that Scandalous Women is an absolute belter of a book and possibly my favourite Gill Paul to date. It’s interesting and compelling, filled with the most perfect blend of fact and imagination so that every moment is a real joy to read. I loved it.

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Gill Paul

Gill Paul is an author of historical fiction, specialising in the twentieth century and often writing about the lives of real women. Her novels have topped bestseller lists in the US and Canada as well as the UK and have been translated into twenty languages. The Secret Wife has sold over half a million copies and is a book-club favourite worldwide.

You can follow Gill on Twitter/X @GillPaulAUTHOR, visit her website and find her on Instagram and Facebook for more information.

It was my absolute pleasure to meet lovely Claire Wilson at Harrogate International Crime Festival earlier this year and my huge thanks go to Claire for ensuring I received a copy of her debut crime novel Five by Five.

I’d heard Claire read from the beginning of Five by Five at Noir at the Bar and was completely hooked. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Five by Five today.

Five by Five is published by Penguin’s Michael Joseph on 29th August 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Five by Five

Just because the most dangerous criminals in society are caught and locked up, doesn’t mean they stop committing crime.

That’s where Kennedy Allardyce comes in – working in one of Scotland’s toughest prisons, monitoring not just the prisoners, but also the staff.

And she’s just stumbled across her most dangerous foe yet – rumours of a corrupt guard, nicknamed Scout, with lethal influence. And what’s worst, it seems they’ve already realised Kennedy is on their tail.

Despite her growing fear, there is one thing going right for Kennedy. The enigmatic new prison officer Molly is beautiful and ready to sweep her off her feet.

But Kennedy can’t afford to let her guard down. Because with Scout hiding very close by, her next mistake might just be her last . . .

My Review of Five by Five

Kennedy Allardyce has criminals to catch.

What a cracking debut thriller. Claire Wilson writes with a fast paced authority that immediately gains and holds the reader’s attention. I loved Five by Five because it provides a completely fresh perspective. Whilst other police procedural stories might concentrate on catching criminals and putting them behind bars, here they are already in prison and not all the criminals are conscripts. It’s as if Claire Wilson lifts the skin of the justice system and invites the reader right to its beating heart. 

I had no idea that the role Kennedy fulfils actually exists so that Five by Five not only entertained me completely, it gave me real insight that felt authentic and fascinating. The depiction of prison life is hugely unsettling and there’s a creeping sense of tension and menace underpinning the narrative that I found highly effective. There’s violence and a considerable number of expletives in the story, but they all feel placed naturally and realistically in the prison setting. With Kennedy in danger so cleverly depicted, I found myself viewing those I encountered in the street with great suspicion and wariness!

Kennedy is a really interesting  character. She’s dogged to the point of stubbornness. She’s flawed and believable. She’s also self-aware and vulnerable so that I finished Five by Five feeling as if I’d been in the presence of a real person, not just a character in a story. Her developing relationship with Molly and her life with Ellie both add a softness to Kennedy’s character belied by her public persona at work and give a real sense of same sex attraction that is completely convincing. I’m so glad that the end of Five by Five suggests there’s more to come about her.

But for me, the absolute success of Five by Five is the sense of corruption and betrayal that is depicted on so many levels. I loathe unfairness and corruption with a passion so that Claire Wilson made me rage and fume. I found the story made me livid. The nepotistic, self-serving attitude of so many in all layers of society who are prepared to betray and hurt others for their own gains makes Five by Five a book that seeps into the reader’s brain until they can’t stop wondering how the narrative will end and how far retribution might be served. It makes for a fascinating book. 

With its fast pace, vivid characters and dramatic plot, Five by Five is gritty, compelling and surprisingly affecting. I thoroughly enjoy it and have a feeling Claire Wilson is going to be an author to watch! 

About Claire Wilson

Claire Wilson is from central Scotland. Her debut novel, Five by Five, was the inaugural winner of the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize. The book is based on her day job as an Intelligence Analyst in a Scottish Prison.

For further information follow Claire on Twitter/X @ByClaireWilson, find her on Instagram.

Goldsboro Crime Collective

For just £20 a month (plus shipping) subscribers will receive a hand-picked, signed, first-edition crime & thriller collectible book.

Goldsboro Crime Collective is more than just a subscription service. It’s a vibrant community of crime fiction enthusiasts. Subscribers will receive the UNCOVERED newsletter, offering insights, recommendations, and opportunities to share thoughts on favourite reads. Exclusive member events will further foster connection and lively discussion within the community, making every subscriber feel a part of something special.

At Goldsboro Books they understand that not every book is going to suit everyone’s taste. Crime Collective members will benefit from the ability to opt-out of monthly choices two times a year (counted from your initial month) without cancelling. We require a month’s notice to opt-out – you cannot opt-out once the month in question has begun.

In addition to your monthly collector’s edition book and newsletter access, the Goldsboro Crime Collective will also give you 10% discount off all crime books in store and online at Goldsboro Books.

The first Goldsboro Crime Collective book selection is just being announced for September, so be sure to register your interest here to keep up to date with Goldsboro Crime Collective announcements with no obligation.

As I know Renard Press have the most amazing books, when Will asked if I’d like to read and review another of their publications, Fledging, by Rose Diell, I was delighted to accept. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

Published by Renard Press on 28th August 2024, Fledging is available for purchase here.

Fledging

When Lia lays an egg she doesn’t know what to do. At her age, it’s impossible to escape the baby question, and all her friends seem to be having children. She feels her heart’s not in it – but all the same, there’s the egg, impossible to ignore, lying in a nest of towels in the living room.

Her partner on tour on the other side of the world and her mother diagnosed with a terminal illness, Lia finds herself torn, unsure whether she’s ready to give up on her songwriting dreams; but time is running out, and she must make one of the biggest decisions of her life.

Beautifully written and brilliantly original, Fledging is a riveting tale and resounding call for a woman’s right to make her own choices, whether that means embracing motherhood or living child-free.

My Review of Fledging

Lia has laid an egg.

Fledging is an incredible extended metaphor for motherhood and choice that is delivered with mesmerising skill in perfectly crafted prose by Rose Diell. I found it utterly fascinating. With the protagonist having given birth to an egg, the entire concept of the book is innovative and captivating.

Beautifully and yet sparcely written, there’s depth, allegory and enormous sensitivity in Fledging so that whilst this is a novella in length, there’s a profound intensity. Bird’s arrival causes Lia to question her attitudes to motherhood and allows her to make an informed decision about whether she wants to have a baby. As someone with absolutely no maternal instinct myself, I was riveted by Lia’s inability to separate herself from Bird and wondered just how the narrative might end. This is a story of choice, demands, and decision making, presented with skill and an emotional integrity.

As Lia’s own mother is unwell, the complexities of being potentially both parent and child, whilst trying to maintain a long distance relationship with David, hold down a job and develop her songwriting, ensure Lia feels so very true to life. Her predicament of being pulled in several directions at once and in trying to be all things to all people is a universal one so that Fledging feels as if it has been written for all women, regardless of their maternal desires. 

I loved the way Lia so often has to carry Bird like a physical burden, and yet when she is away from Bird, the tug of connection pulls at Lia’s emotions. Fledging is a narrative driven by turmoil, doubt and indecision, and it feels tender and compassionate so that it’s a highly affecting read. 

The themes of Fledging are important for today’s society and are explored here with mature intelligence. Guilt, choice, motherhood, relationships, professionalism, partnership, identity, family and societal expectation swirl around Lia’s looking after Bird, making for a story of thought-provoking significance and importance. This is book to generate discussion and wider of motherhood.

I found Fledging intense, relatable and essential reading for any woman contemplating motherhood but ambivalent about whether she really wants a child. Just don’t expect Rose Diell to make that decision for you because the powerful Fledging illustrates choice is personal and, frequently, inequitably decided so that every potential, actual, or denied, mother is as unique as this book. 

About Rose Diell

Rose Diell was born and raised in London but her heritage stems from various places beyond the British Isles. A lover of language in all its forms, she speaks French, Italian and Arabic, and has lived on three continents.

Rose writes in her spare time, with the encouragement and support of her writing circle, the Southbank Scribblers. She now lives in London again, with her civil partner and Tolstoy, an extremely fluffy ginger tabby.

For further information about Rose, visit her website, follow her on Twitter/X @RoseDiell or find Rose on Instagram.

Once again I am disappointed not to be able to find time to read a book. I just loved the sound of Sam Martin’s latest and, although I’m struggling to keep all the plates spinning at the moment, I simply had to invite Sam onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me all about it. Luckily, Sam agreed to stay in with me!

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Sam Martin

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

I’ve chosen Bitterblue. It is the latest of my three novels, published at the end of July 2024. I’ve chosen it because it is my latest book, and also because it is my very best work. At least, that’s how I think of it. My previous two novels both picked up book awards, and they are both film projects – one in development, and the other (a Czech-German co-production) in pre-production. But as a piece of work, Bitterblue is what I’m most proud of – and the one I surprised myself with the most.

That must be an amazing feeling Sam. I think authors do develop over their writing. And congratulations on the film projects for your other books too.

What can we expect from an evening in with Bitterblue?

You can expect a bit of a roller-coaster ride and I think you’ll get one because Bitterblue is a multi-narrative/multi-plot, multi-genre novel which weaves in and out of its cast of characters’ lives as they are confronted with their various conflicts and concerns which ‘life’ and circumstances have thrown up at them. In parts emotional and moving, in others thrilling, and at times not without its humour – Bitterblue is light – it is dark – it’s all the bits in between. If you have ever seen Robert Altman’s movie ‘Short Cuts’ you might get a rough idea of what the Bitterblue world of my book looks like…. maybe.

I haven’t seen the film but I love books that cross genres and don’t fit neatly into one aspect. Bitterblue sounds just my kind of read!

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

I wrote Bitterblue partly, but not all, in Marrakesh with the hotel rooftop terrace as my office and the all-out attack on the senses which the colours and never-ending din of the Medina below me provided, and with the Atlas mountains as a backdrop (although the novel has nothing to do with Morocco). I’ve brought along the only photograph which I have of my laptop, with the text of Bitterblue as I was working on it visible – and alongside it, what the work eventually ‘became’ (i.e. a physical book to hold and read). ‘Creation’ and ‘product’ together, if you will.

And I’ve brought along a whole lot of hope that you might like my story – or “stories”, because Bitterblue is a tapestry of stories woven together to form its ‘whole’.

I think Marrakesh’s blend of sensory experience sounds the perfect backdrop for writing a muliti-strand novel Sam. I love it there.

And importantly, I’ve brought along a heavy heart, which is a part of me because it is a part of the territory when you’ve had someone who you love so much hit with the fatal hammer which is motor neuron disease – and Bitterblue is part of my quest in life to raise money for the scientific research into an illness which the scientists sadly have no clue about. What I earn from my work – from film, from books – is part of my fight. If someone like yourself wishes to join the battle too – however small a role it might be – however seemingly insignificant – then you have my eternal gratitude. And if in years to come, someone can say “I once had motor neuron disease”… “had” – past tense – meaning that there really is a cure for the most cruel of fates – then you’ll have played a part in that, and you can feel proud about yourself. And on behalf of all those who have to suffer, you’ll have my ‘thanks’.

Oh goodness Sam. I am so sorry to hear this. I’m including the link here to the Motor Neuron Disease Association site in case any readers would like to make a small donation. It must be something that is with you constantly. 

It is Linda. It’s something which has come to shape and direct and influence my own life and what I do with it at every single moment.

Thank you so much Sam, for staying in with me to chat about Bitterblue and in so doing to raise awareness of a terrible disease that affects not just the person but their friends and family too. I hope our staying in together will go some way to helping.

Let me give readers a few more details about Bitterblue:

Bitterblue

Love and hate―a beautiful combination. These emotions consume Liam MacMurray as he struggles with the question, “What do I do about Nina?” But is Liam really who he says he is?

“Bitterblue” is a unique, multi-plot, multi-narrative roller-coaster that takes readers on a thrilling journey with characters forced to make decisions that challenge their beliefs and principles―even life or death choices, like the one Liam must face. Enter this gripping tale where nothing is as it seems, and every twist makes you question the true nature of love and loyalty.

Published by Arrow Gate in paperback on 30th July 2024, Bitterblue is available for purchase in all the usual places including here and directly from the publisher here.

About Sam Martin

Sam Martin is an author and screenwriter from the north east of England. He has written three full-length novels: Pictures Of Anna and One Day In June, which won first prize i.e. the Gold Award at the US 2023 BookFest Awards and was shortlisted for the Hemingway Awards in the US. Bitterblue is his third novel.

Sam’s last movie ‘Stand Up’, directed by Timo Jacobs, picked up 62 major awards at international film festivals in 2021, including Best Picture at the New York International Film Festival and in LA/Beverley Hills. It received its premier and nationwide cinema release in Germany in June 2022. One Day In June is also in pre-production as a movie project.

F0r further information, find Sam on Goodreads.

My enormous thanks to Amy Turnbull at Luath Press for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for the children’s book The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly by Emma Grae illustratit by Bob Dewar and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review as part of the blog tour today.

The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly is published by Luath and is available for purchase here.

The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly

Ah want tae check she’s awricht. Ah kin luik there fur Brodie an aw.

Burds are meant tae fly.

Brodie the hoolet goes missin. Bein a hoolet wi a bad wing, the young lass Iona is feart fur Brodie’s safety. Her mammy is busy tryin tae get hur ready for school and the snaw is settlin in. But Brodie must be foond.

Iona sets aff, runnin through the gairden and explorin Mad Billy’s fairm. Brodie couldnae huv gone faur. Efter aw, she wis a hoolet thit couldnae fly.

A fantastic book by award-winning Scots author Emma Grae, it explores themes of confidence and celebrates the idea that it is okay to be different.

Learn Scots and meet all the animals we encounter searching for Brodie in this bonnie wee book. Perfect for readers aged 7-10

My Review of The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly

Iona’s hoolet Brodie is missing.

What a smashing children’s book. Written in Scots vernacular The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly has a real charm and vibrancy. There’s an immediacy to the story and I loved the chance to get a glimpse into a language I had only really thought of as dialect. 

The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly would be a fantastic book to share aloud with young readers as it gives status to Scots and, for those of us unfamiliar with the vocabulary, is more easily accessed by hearing the words. It could also be a real catalyst for classrooms where children can consider language, accent and dialect, sharing words from their own mother tongues. I’d love to see it as a drama performance too, so that it has use and longevity beyond simply being a story.

The narrative is charming because whilst it celebrates language, it also considers animal welfare, loneliness, grief and judging by appearance. Iona’s neighbour Mad Billy is mocked by society, but he is actually kindness personified. Consequently, as well as entertaining children, The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly educates them too, without being sanctimonious. 

Bob Dewar’s illustrations are super, and again, they could be used to spark other artwork by young readers. Add in the discussion questions at the end of the book there’s potential for further research and creative writing so that this short narrative offers all kinds of interest and potential. 

The Hoolet Thit Couldnae Fly is a cracking children’s book and very well worth adding to home or classroom bookshelves. I really enjoyed it! 

About Emma Grae

Emma Grae is a Scottish author and journalist from Glasgow. She is a passionate advocate of the Scots language and breaking the stigma around mental illness. She has published fiction and poetry in the UK and Ireland since 2014 in journals including The Honest Ulsterman, From Glasgow to Saturn and The Open Mouse. Her debut novel, Be Guid tae yer Mammy, was published by Unbound in August 2021.

As a journalist, she writes under her birth surname, Guinness, and has bylines in a number of publications including Cosmopolitan, the Huffington Post and the Metro.

Emma was recently awarded Scots Book of the Year for her debut novel Be guid tae yer Mammy at the Scots Language Awards 2022.

For further information, follow Emma on Twitter/X @emmagraeauthor. You’ll also find Emma on Instagram.

About Bob Dewar

It’s my absolute pleasure to share my latest My Weekly review of Enemies to Lovers by Laura Jane Williams and I must thank Marie-Louise Patton at Penguin Random House for originally sending me a copy.

Enemies to Lovers is published in paperback by Penguin on 15th August 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Enemies to Lovers

Flo Greenberg: highly strung. Over-achiever. And desperate for a relaxing Greek holiday with her family.

Jamie Kramer: her brother’s best friend. Pain in the arse. And somehow on Flo’s relaxing Greek holiday too…

With two surprise weeks of sharing meals, boat trips and sun-loungers, Flo must endure the company of this irksomely chiselled Lothario. But after what happened last year, she’s determined not to let him get the better of her.

In fact, spending time with the enemy will be the perfect cure for Flo’s all-consuming anger towards Jamie, right?

(Spoiler alert: wrong…!)

My Review of Enemies to Lovers

My full review of Enemies to Lovers can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that Enemies to Lovers is a witty, engaging story of family, love and relationships. With both sun and plot sizzling, it is a perfect beach read.

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Laura Jane Williams

Known as the queen of the meet-cute, Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is the author of twelve books. Her romantic comedies for adults include Lovestruck, Our Stop and The Lucky Escape, and she has written several non-fiction titles. She is also the author of the Taylor Blake series for teens. Laura’s work has been translated into several languages all over the world.

For further information visit Laura Jane’s website.

Having loved The Book of Beginnings by Sally Page, reviewed here, I was thrilled when a copy of Sally’s latest book, The Secrets of Flowers arrived. My enormous thanks to Libby Haddock for sending me a copy.

Published in paperback on 29th August 2024 by Harper Collins, The Secrets of Flowers is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

The Secrets of Flowers

Follow the flowers and you will find your way home…

One year after her husband’s death Emma has become a wallflower, hiding among the brighter blooms in the florist where she works.

But when a colleague invites her to a talk on the Titanic, she begins a quest to uncover who arranged the flowers on board.

As Emma discovers the lost story of the girl and the great ship, she realises that flowers may unlock long buried secrets in her own life…

Will she be able to unlock the mystery of the Titanic and heal her heart too?

Escape into the world of Sally Page with the perfect summer read for a weekend away or cosying up in your favourite armchair! From the author of phenomenal bestsellers The Keeper of Stories and The Book of Beginnings comes another novel that will warm your heart.

My Review of The Secrets of Flowers

Emma is drifting through life after the sudden death of her husband, Will.

The Secrets of Flowers is a wonderful book that works brilliantly on so many levels. It is a fascinating dual era, partly historical, partly modern, book that has been assiduously researched and brought to vivid life by Sally Page. It has mystery at its heart. It is also a love story and a tale of loss and forgiveness. But those descriptions don’t do justice to the emotional, absorbing and compelling narrative. It feels like a book written by an author who understands the full spectrum of personality and human emotion.

The characters are truly realistic with the broken, vulnerable, grief stricken Emma, the resilient Violet, the stoic Les, Emma’s selfish mother and the magnificent, if garrulous, Betty. Whilst it is Emma who develops most over the narrative, even the more minor characters like Tomas are as rounded as any usual protagonist. I loved meeting them and ended the story feeling as if I’d spent time with real people. I keep wondering how they are doing – not least because some of Sally Page’s characters were, in fact, real people.

The plot is skilful and evocative. There’s an authentic sense of time and history in Violet’s sections that is enhanced by Emma’s more modern events, making it completely absorbing. I felt The Secrets of Flowers had a filmic quality so that it was as if I were watching an epic movie every bit as much as reading a book. Sally Page conveys setting with perfect detail, but without ever stalling the action. Her writing is beautiful, especially with regard to the flowers, to the senses and the opulent ships, making the narrative a real joy to read.

Woven into this glorious story are themes that have resonance for all readers. That need for connection, whether through family, marriage, friendship or interests, that all of us recognise, is highly affecting in the story. I have a feeling that many readers will be introducing pillow post! Other themes like grief, self-awareness, guilt and forgiveness add depth so that it feels as if the author has listened hard to the reader’s innermost thoughts and provided a path to overcoming problems and doubt. There’s so much humanity and understanding in this story. The Secrets of Flowers is a super, entertaining book, but it is also a wonderful guide to living. 

I’m aware my review here feels a bit vague but I don’t want to spoil the read for others. I would, however, say that you don’t really read The Secrets of Flowers so much as absorb it into your soul. It’s a wonderful book and not to be missed. I loved it.

About Sally Page

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. Sally came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, Sally continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk.

In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combined her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author, Libby Page.

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

When Douglas Bruton got in touch with me recently about his latest book I knew it would be one that I’d love. Sadly, life simply didn’t afford me the time to read and review it. However, I so loved the concept that I simply had to invite Douglas onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me more about it and I’m delighted he agreed to be here.

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Douglas Bruton

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

Thank you for asking me to do this. I love meeting new people over tea and cake – I hope you are having cake. These things are always better with cake I find.

To be honest, I think everything is better with tea and cake so I know already we’re going to be great friends. Grab a slice and then tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it? 

I’d like to share my most recent book with you. It’s called Hope Never Knew Horizon.

I love that title. How did the book come about?

The impulse that moved me to write this book came out of the deepest darkest moments of lockdown. I recall waking one morning with a thought in my head – an urgent and pressing thought: that I wanted to write something with ‘hope’ in it. I had no idea what that even meant but over the next few months the ‘universe’ just kept throwing stuff my way, stuff with ‘hope’ in it. And the stories and characters in my head began shouting louder and louder for my attention so that finally I had to sit down and write Hope Never Knew Horizon. The Glasgow Herald summed it up as ‘a book that glows with positivity’ and that’s really what I was going for. Not a book about the pandemic – it’s about as far away from that as you could get; but it’s a book that is, I think, filled up with hope.

Hope Never Knew Horizon sounds fantastic Douglas. We might be on a bit from the pandemic but the world really needs some hope at the moment. So, what can we expect Hope Never Knew Horizon?

Rope is always stronger when it is something braided rather than a single strand – indeed the braided rope is usually stronger than its constituent threads. I like that idea and so I have here braided three stories together.

That sounds very impressive. Tell me more.

The first thread is the story of the American poetess Emily Dickinson as seen through the Dickinson’s maid – and she is overly romantic and hopeful for Emily’s happiness. Emily secretly writes letters to a woman called Susan who will, later in the story, become her sister-in-law. The letters are tender and full of love and deep feeling. The maid, Margaret, thinks Emily might be in love. But there is a greater hope in Emily and only after her death is this hope realised. (Oh, and the maid has her own unexpected love story for love often comes when it is not looked for, when hope is all but gone.)

Fascinating. And the second?

The second thread involves the blue whale skeleton that hangs in the British Natural History Museum. The complete story of the whale unfolds through the voices of characters normally ignored by history books and their stories are full of hope and longing and whale-song. The whale skeleton was recently taken down, cleaned and renovated, then rehung in the splendid Hintz hall of the museum; it was also given a new name: ‘Hope’. I think this expressed the hope of everyone who worked on the project, a hope that the future will still have blue whales swimming in our oceans and don’t we all hope for that?

Oh we do indeed. You know, just hearing about Hope Never Knew Horizon is making me feel more positive. Tell me about the third strand.

The third thread is centred around a painting I fell in love with when I was twenty and it hangs on the wall at Tate Britain; it is a painting called ‘Hope’ by the Victorian artist G F Watts and I remember standing young and a little breathless looking up at it. I thought there must be a story in the woman who had modelled for the painting and a little research showed me there most certainly was – a wonderful story of hope and quiet ambition and love too.

Braiding these three threads together makes the hope I wanted to rediscover in the world all the stronger. I think it is there for the reader to discover also.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to find time to read Hope Never Knew Horizon Douglas as I am intrigued as to how those three strands come together in the book.

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

The first thing I have brought to our stay-in (apart from the tea and cake that is) is a ring. It is a fairly simple silver ring that I had made to celebrate the publication of Hope Never Knew Horizon. Inside the ring is a secret – I have had the title of the novel engraved on the inner ring. The words Hope Never Knew Horizon come from a poem by Emily Dickinson. Their relevance to the book is the idea that ‘hope’ is something we give birth to and maybe even say out loud or express in writing or art or film – but having expressed that hope it is then for the world to realise that hope and it is not always the case that it will do so within the lifetime of the person who has the hope but there is a sort of certainty that it will be realised at last. For example, Emily Dickinson harboured the hope of one day having a book of her poems published; this hope was fulfilled only in the year after her death. I wear my ‘Hope’ ring hoping that my book will be read and liked and that it will go on being read and liked even when I am not in the world – if that’s not too morbid a thought to have when we are drinking tea and eating cake. (btw my cake of choice would be something with almond paste in it – like Bakewell or frangipani.)

That’s not morbid at all. Hope Never Knew Horizon is out in the world. It will live on and so will you through it. I think that’s a lovely message of hope actually. (And I’m very fond of almond paste too!)

The second thing I have brought is a wooden angel that comes all the way from Chile. Isn’t she quite lovely?

She is certainly very different from conventional angel statues. I love that about her.

I have another book coming out in February 2025. It will be called Woman in Blue. It will be published by Fairlight books – my third book to be published by them; the other two are Blue Postcards and With or Without Angels. These first two books have angels in them; and the third, Woman in Blue does not… except that I was one day looking for a name for the central female character and it had to be a Dutch name and I stumbled upon the name ‘Lieke’. I fell in love with the name for its musicality and so used it. Only later in the writing did I discover that ‘Lieke’ is short for ‘Angelieke’, which means angel-like! And so angels creep into my work unawares and very welcome they are too.

That’s serendipity at its best! 

Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about Hope Never Knew Horizon Douglas. You’ve made me desperate to read the book and I think it sounds wonderful.

Thank you, Linda , for your warm hospitality. The cake and tea was fabulous.

My pleasure. Now, you pour us another cup and slice up that Bakewell and I’ll give readers a few more details: 

Hope Never Knew Horizon

Wexford County, 1891. The unlikely discovery of a beached blue whale sets in motion a series of events leading to the present-day re-installation of a fundamental piece of London’s Natural History Museum.

Amherst, Massachusetts, circa. 1850. A letter is found revealing an intimate secret about the reclusive Miss Emily and her brother’s fiancé Susan Huntington.

London, circa. 1880. A young working-class woman named Ada Alice Pullen meets the esteemed painter Frederic Leighton, beginning a relationship that will transform her and the world of art forever. Three objects of hope, their stories retold as you’ve never heard them before: in the voices of the coxswain’s girlfriend, the maid, and the model.

Hope Never Knew Horizon was published by Taproot Press on 30th April 2024 and is available for purchase here.

About Douglas Bruton

Douglas Bruton has had short stories placed in various publications including ‘Northwords Now’, ‘New Writing Scotland’, ‘Aesthetica’ and ‘The Irish Literary Review’. His short stories have also won many competitions including with ‘Fish’ and ‘The Neil Gunn Prize’. His children’s novel, The Chess Piece Magician was published by Floris Books (2009); his literary fiction debut, Mrs Winchester’s Gun Club, was published by Scotland Street Press (2019); and Blue Postcards, longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022, was published by Fairlight Books (2021); With or Without Angels was also published by Fairlight Books (2023). A novella about the death of Dylan Thomas called Just Like Him To Die was published by Leamington Books (2022). In 2024 Taproot Press published Hope Never Knew Horizon.

For further information, find Douglas on Facebook or follow him on Twitter/X @DB14bbb.

I confess that had The Language of Birds by Jill Dawson not been my book group read for August, I’d never have heard of it! I’m very glad I have now and am delighted to share my review today. 

The Language of Birds was published by Sceptre in paperback on 16th April 2020 and is available for purchase in all formats here.

The Language of Birds

Drawing on the infamous Lord Lucan affair, this compelling novel explores the roots of a shocking murder from a fresh perspective and brings to vivid life an era when women’s voices all too often went unheard. 

In the summer of 1974, Mandy River arrives in London to make a fresh start and begins working as nanny to the children of one Lady Morven. She quickly finds herself in the midst of a bitter custody battle and the house under siege: Lord Morven is having his wife watched. According to Lady Morven, her estranged husband also has a violent streak, yet she doesn’t seem the most reliable witness. Should Mandy believe her? 

As Mandy edges towards her tragic fate, her friend Rosemary watches from the wings – an odd girl with her own painful past and a rare gift. This time, though, she misreads the signs.

My Review of The Language of Birds

Based on the infamous story of Lord Lucan.

I loved The Language of Birds. The events upon which the story is based have been fictionalised compellingly and convincingly, making for a totally riveting read. The historical social and cultural references create a vivid and authentic setting with class hierarchy examined to perfection. I thought Jill Dawson’s style was sophisticated, beautiful, slightly mystical and both firmly concrete and wispily ethereal. This is a really intense read that has been assiduously researched and fine tuned into a mesmerising story.

The plot is excellent, thoroughly engaging the reader, regardless of whether the Lord Lucan story is known. In The Language of Birds Jill Dawson creates a sense of mystery and menace as she weaves a dual first person narrative for Rosemary and third person for Mandy. This works so well because it uncovers the way one person or event can look very different to different people. As a result, readers find their own perceptions heightened and questioned.

Both Rosemary and Mandy are multi-faceted and so believable. Their hopes, dreams, mental health, their mistakes and their triumphs create real, flawed people the reader absolutely cares about. In many ways, The Language of Birds is a feminist narrative that explores the chasm between the attitudes to men and women in the era of the setting. With the unstable Katharine in a coercive and troubling marriage, the attitudes of men, of the media and of other women towards her, lay bare the ways we are conditioned by our upbringing and societal expectation. Sadly, so much of this is still relevant in today’s society so that The Language of Birds feels fresh and pertinent. 

Dickie too is layered and so provocative. He obviously has severe mental health issues and yet it is impossible to feel the empathy towards him that is evoked by Rosemary. Through Dickie Jill Dawson provides insight into domestic physical and emotional violence and yet there’s nothing gratuitous or extraneous in any of the events she describes. I found this enormously powerful.

The Language of Birds is quite brilliant. It’s wonderfully entertaining, but it’s also thought provoking and, I feel, important. I was totally absorbed by reading it and cannot recommend it enough. 

About Jill Dawson

Born in Durham, Jill Dawson grew up in Yorkshire. She has won prizes for poetry, short stories and fiction and held many Fellowships, including the Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia, where she taught on the MA in Creative Writing course. In 2006 she received an honorary doctorate in recognition of her work and in 2020 became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in an eco house designed by her husband the architect Meredith Bowles in the Cambridgeshire Fens. She runs Gold Dust a mentoring scheme for writers that you’ll find here.

You can follow Jill on Twitter/X @JDawsonwriter, and find her on Instagram.