When Steve Aylett got in touch about his latest book, I knew it was one I simply had to feature on Linda’s Book Bag. I’m so disappointed not to have time to fit in a read yet, but, as many of you know, there’s just too much going on in my life at the moment. However, Steve kindly agreed to stay in with me instead so let’s find out more:

Staying in with Steve Aylett

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Steve 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 brought my new book The Book Lovers, which is a sort-of-steampunk satire about intellectual love and revolution. I think it’s the best thing I’ve done, and even normal people can read it!

I hope abnormal ones can too! What can we expect from an evening in with The Book Lovers?

It’s a very rich philosophical caper with a Pythonesque humour to it, as well as being a love story of the mind. There’s a lot about the very intense, sometimes physical effects a book or notion can have on a person. 

Interesting. Tell me more.

Many of the characters are synaesthetic, which means they experience ideas as colourful shapes, bursting geometries and flavours. These characters pass books around covertly like contraband. They value ideas and the real power of words. 

This sounds a bit like me at my U3A book group, Steve!

And it’s set in a world where books are very nearly illegal, leaving certain people with a thirst they can barely explain in public. These people recognise each other and work together like a kind of underground, while casually firing epigrams around like bullets. But we see how it’s a very human, juicy desire, this hunger for a connection of ideas. We see that someone can literally be in love with someone’s head and what goes on inside it. It’s an intensity I don’t often see expressed. I think it’s beautiful.

The Book Lovers sounds brilliant. How has it been received?

Grant Morrison said it was “a box of fabulous surrealist eclairs” and Robin Ince says “Every sentence is a wonderland, every phrase a treat.” I like to compress as many ideas as possible into a story, a sort of multi-coloured rush, so it can be re-read and come across differently each time.

You must be very pleased with those comments. I love a book that operates on many levels, Steve. I really am going to have to find time to read The Book Lovers. Thank you so much for sending me a copy.

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

I’ve also brought along my battered copy of my favourite book in the world, The Horse’s Mouth by Joyce Cary. It’s all seen through the eyes of a painter, so it’s a visually rich book – you see these glowing paint-thick visions of London as the narrator shambles about. He’s a scamp who does anything to get paints and a surface to paint on, so he steals and rips people off – you might not like him in real life but he’s a great character for adventures. The book is funny and wise and amazing, while being real. I love it.

I think art and literature are often perfect bedfellows – creatives painting with words and artistic media. And that sounds like another book I need to add to my towering TBR. 

Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about The Book Lovers Steve. I love the sound of it and will give Linda’s Book Bag readers a few more details:

The Book Lovers

The kidnap of a rebellious heiress leads Inspector Nightjar into a steampunk underworld of brain love, greed and revolution.

Can the Raven Method uncover the big Truth? What powers Thousand Tower City? Why are books telling unfamiliar stories? How cosy is anarchy?

Published in December 2024, The Book Lovers is available online and from all good booksellers like Blackwells and Waterstones.

About Steve Aylett

Steve Aylett is the author of LINT, Heart of the Original and Fain the Sorcerer. He lives in the Highlands of Scotland.

For further information, visit Steve’s website, or find him on Bluesky.

My enormous thanks to Robert Bryndza for sending me a surprise copy of his latest Erika Foster novel Chasing Shadows. I’m delighted to share my review of Chasing Shadows today.

It’s far too long since I reviewed one of Robert’s books, but you’ll find my thoughts on Devil’s Way here. 

Chasing Shadows is published by Raven Street on 5th June and is available for purchase here. 

Chasing Shadows

In a deadly game of cat and mouse, Detective Erika Foster confronts her greatest nemesis-where the lines of justice blur and secrets unravel. A collapsed ceiling. A dead body. What starts as a routine 999 call takes an unexpected twist when Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster arrives on the scene and discovers the body of a woman in an empty flat, with all DNA evidence scrubbed away. 

When forensics find cocaine residue coating every surface of the ceiling, Erika calls in the drug dogs, who lead her to a mysterious parcel locker on the outside wall of the property. Chasing down the locker’s owner leads Erika back where she never expected to be – staring into the eyes of Jerome Goodman, the drug dealer who murdered her husband, Mark, ten years ago. She arrests him on the spot, but there’s just one problem. His passport and his solicitor say his name is Kieron Bagshaw, and his record is squeaky clean. 

With top brass demanding she take leave to deal with her PTSD and even her closest colleagues questioning her sanity, Erika decides to use the time off to do some digging of her own. Trawling for clues through old newspapers, encrypted messages, and secret underground passageways, Erika makes a series of shocking discoveries that move Mark’s murder from cold case to active investigation, all while flying under the Met’s radar. 

The revelations will push Erika to the brink, forcing her to confront the trauma of her past and the truth about what happened the day Mark died – and who among her friends was involved from the shadows.

My Review of Chasing Shadows

With a Robert Bryndza Erika Foster thriller, the reader knows that it will be an engrossing and fast paced read, but the opening of Chasing Shadows is a real triumph. Not only is it dramatic, it answers questions about what happened to Erika’s husband some ten years previously. That said, this story can be enjoyed as a stand alone narrative too.

The plot is an absolute belter. Ripples from Erika’s past permeate the story and the pace is breath-taking. I had no idea if Erika and her team would be able to resolve the case – or the other tendrils of crime that snake into the story. The title couldn’t be more appropriate as Erika is chasing shadowy memories of the past, people whose identities seem to dissipate and reform like smoke and she discovers murky half-truths and lies. I found the whole of Chasing Shadows exciting, engaging and absorbing. 

Settings are akin to characters. There’s a truly evocative sense of place with a visual element that enabled me to visualise where the action occurs. There’s a filmic quality that means Chasing Shadows would make a superb television series. 

The characters themselves are so well drawn. Erika is the star of the series, but other recurring personalities ensure even more interest and depth. I even loved George, Erika’s cat. But it is Erika’s grief over her husband’s death that adds such texture to who she is. All the human emotions are illustrated by her. Alongside that grief is rage, guilt, determination and self-doubt, making Erika such an intriguing and memorable individual. 

The themes present in the story feel authentic and actually rather disturbing. Of course there’s crime and murder, by the very nature of the genre, but the exploration of identity, organised crime, the exploitation of foreign workers, and the presentation of layers of corruption hidden in plain sight in society feel realistic and unsettling. Chasing Shadows is a book that made me think. 

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Chasing Shadows, not least because the author displays a humanity and sensitivity towards his characters. He may expose the dark underbelly of crime and corruption, but he tempers it with people of integrity so that in the bleakest of times there is always hope. Chasing Shadows is jam packed with action, entertainment and, perhaps surprisingly for a police procedural crime thriller, quite a lot of emotion. I thought it was brilliant. 

About Robert Bryndza

Robert Bryndza is the author of the multi-million selling Detective Erika Foster and Private Investigator Kate Marshall series, as well as a bestselling stand alone crime novel. Before he turned to crime, Robert wrote a series of romantic comedy novels. He has sold over 7 million copies of his books and is published in 30 countries.

For further information, visit his website or find Robert on Facebook and Instagram. 

I have absolutely no idea which lovely publicist sent me a copy of By Your Side by Ruth Jones, but my enormous thanks to them for doing so. It’s my pleasure to share my review of By Your Side today. 

By Your Side is published by Bantam and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

By Your Side

Because second chances come when you least expect them . . .

Linda Standish has been a friend to the friendless for the past thirty-three years, in her role at the council’s Unclaimed Heirs Unit. And now she’s looking forward to the joys of an early retirement.

But before she hangs up her lanyard, Linda takes on one last case – that of Levi Norman – a Welshman who made his home on a remote Scottish island for the five years before he died. Linda must visit Storrich to track down Levi’s remaining relatives . . .

What brought Levi here? And who did he leave behind? Obliged to travel (by hearse!) with her arch nemesis, and helped (and hindered…) by the local residents, Linda searches for clues to a life now lost. And in the process unexpectedly makes new friends, and discovers things about herself she never knew.

Bursting with all the heart and humour that has made Ruth’s name as a screenwriter and author, By Your Side is a joyful celebration of friendship, love and community.

My Review of By Your Side

Council worker Linda has a final case to solve before she retires.

What a completely wonderful book. I adored By Your Side because Ruth Jones balances humour and sadness so effectively that the story hits right to the very heart of who we are. I could not have been more delighted to find that I share the same first name as the main protagonist.

Linda is a fabulous creation. She is a blend of vulnerability and confidence; overweight, opinionated (make sure you read the bonus material of her pet hates), witty and determined to do a good job in honouring those who die without known family. Her relationship with her son Struan is glorious and although I’m not remotely maternal, so good is Ruth Jones’s ability to convey human feelings, that I experienced every emotion with Linda as Struan tries to rebuild his marriage and moves away from her. 

I adored Brodie and Fergus Murray too because they help reveal Linda’s full personality. Brodie’s initial appearance in oil stained clothing epitomises the fact that we shouldn’t judge by appearances and it was quite glorious to have a middle aged, slightly weather-beaten hero. I loved the maturity and pragmatism of the way Brodie and Linda develop their relationship, but equally I adored their physicality too. By Your Side is proof positive that middle aged folk still have life in them! 

However, it is Levi who is the total triumph. Loyal, a wonderful father, resourceful and grief-stricken, he restores the reader’s faith in humanity and yet breaks their heart at the same time. A few of his actions are almost unconscionable and yet they are completely understandable and create a bond of understanding between him and the reader. He is the catalyst for the fabulous plot and provides a sensitive glimpse into how we never truly know other people – even those closest to us.

The plot of By Your Side is sheer perfection. Its depth and quality lie in the fact that not everything is resolved as the reader might want, but instead it is realistic and all the more emotional as a result. The story feels authentic, moving and touching.

I thought the setting of Storrich was glorious. There’s a witty irony that Linda travels to a remote Scottish island to discover the intimate details of Levi’s life and to experience her own renewed chance of happiness, because the further she travels, the more she comes home. It is, in fact, the people who create a sense of place, community and atmosphere, every bit as much as this fabulous Scottish island. 

With themes of family, truth, belonging and deep, abiding, love, By Your Side is utterly wonderful. A story of mistakes and second chances, it’s moving, enchanting and packed with wit and humanity. I absolutely loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s one of my top reads this year.

About Ruth Jones

Ruth Jones MBE is well known for her television work, most notably BBC One’s multi-award-winning Gavin and Stacey, co-written with James Corden, in which she played Nessa Jenkins. The 2019 and 2024 Christmas specials of this well-loved show garnered viewing figures of 18 million and 21 million respectively. Ruth also created and co-wrote several series of Stella for Sky TV, for which she was BAFTA nominated. Other TV work includes Hattie, Nighty Night and Saxondale. In 2024 Ruth played Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical at London’s Dominion Theatre. Her latest acting role is Elena Ravenscroft in Harlan Coben’s Run Away for Netflix.

Ruth’s novels have sold over a million copies. Never Greener was a Sunday Times bestseller for fifteen weeks, three weeks at number one, as well as WHSmith Fiction Book of the Year 2018, a nominated Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. Her second novel, Us Three, and her third novel, Love Untold, were also instant Sunday Times bestsellers. Love Untold was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year, as well as a Richard & Judy Book Club pick.

For further information, find Ruth on Instagram. 

My enormous thanks to Aoifke at Penguin Random House for sending me a surprise copy of Love At First Sight by Laura Jane Williams. It’s my absolute pleasure to share my review today.

I have previously reviewed Laura Jane Williams’s Enemies to Lovers here.

Published by Penguin on 19th June 2025, Love At First Sight is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Love At First Sight

She’s found the one. He’s just not the one for her.

Jessie doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Until one sunny Saturday in London, a fire alarm in Whole Foods throws her into a stranger’s arms. Cal is charming and funny: their chemistry is instant.

Quick-fire flirting turns into the most romantic day of Jessie’s life. But that evening they’re forced apart before swapping numbers. Jessie is devastated – has she just lost the one?

After weeks of searching, Cal turns up on her doorstop holding two dozen red roses. It feels like fate.

The only thing is, they’re not for her…

My Review of Love At First Sight

Jessie meets Cal, the man of her dreams.

Oh yes! This is what romantic fiction is all about. Love At First Sight is brilliant and I thoroughly, thoroughly, enjoyed it because it is written with wit, warmth and realism.

Of course there’s all the expected elements of romantic fiction, with gorgeous men like Cal and Leo and a path to true love that doesn’t run smoothly, so that Love At First Sight is huge fun, highly entertaining and wonderfully escapist. If it’s read on this level alone, it is a perfectly diverting narrative.

However, it’s a whole lot more too. Other than seven year old Henry who is a wonderful and consistent lynchpin to enable much of the action, every character develops throughout, so that these feel like real people and not mere works of fiction. I loved the way their reactions and interactions with Henry help the reader understand them, making him a kind of moral touchstone. I confess that I really don’t like children in real life, never mind in fiction, but here Henry feels perfect.

Jessie herself is so well drawn. We have very little about her physical attributes so that there’s no superficiality, but far more about her feelings, emotions and reactions, making her fully rounded and relatable. Her insecurities, her relationships and her hopes and dreams engage the reader completely. She’s the kind of character that you think about long after the book is read, wondering how she’s getting on.

I thought the themes in the story were explored with sensitivity and accuracy. Self-deception, over-diffidence, trust, the nature of family and marriage as well as loyalty and consistency are just a few aspects. As a result, Love At First Sight is incredibly interesting as well as a fabulous read. There’s also wise guidance for those who do have young children in their lives through Jessie’s interaction with Henry.

Love At First Sight is the perfect summer read. Romantic certainly, but so much more besides. It deserves a wide audience – particularly one that normally denigrates romantic fiction – because it has depth and emotion far beyond what those readers might expect. I loved it.

About Laura Jane Williams

Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. As well as the author of rom-coms, she is also the author of three works of non-fiction.
The rights to Laura’s international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.

Find out more about Laura Jane Williams on her website, and find her on Instagram.

Having been a very late reader because no-one actually realised I couldn’t see the words on the page, children’s fiction feels especially important to me as an adult. Consequently, it’s my pleasure today to share details of a festival especially for children – Barnes Children’s Literature Festival.

Here are the details:

On Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June 2025, the UK’s largest children’s literature festival, Barnes Children’s Literature Festival returns to London for its 11^th year with more than 100 inspiring events, workshops and performances for young book fans and their families, taking place on beautiful Barnes Green in SW13.

Headline authors at the 2025 festival will include David Walliams, Cressida Cowell, Stephen Mangan, Adam Kay, Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, Janice Hallett, M.G. Leonard and MC Grammar.

Children can get involved in an endless number of exciting interactive activities including creative writing, comedy, art and craft, puppetry, live music, film, debating, clay-making workshops, yoga and more. There will also be Manga illustration masterclasses, skateboard drawing (where every child designs their own skateboard to take home), LEGO making, chess, pop up performances and even circus acts.

Highlights of the 2025 Barnes Children’s Literature Festival include:

·       Multi-million selling author and comedian David Walliams who will be delving into what inspires his stories and best-loved characters like the infamous Gangsta Granny, bringing his hilarious new book about The World’s Worst Superheroes to Barnes, starring the bravest, strongest and silliest superheroes the world has ever seen!

·       Award winning author and illustrator, Cressida Cowell, the creator of the How to Train Your Dragon series and DreamWorks film phenomenon, for the launch of How to Train Your Dragon School, her first novel in the Dragon world for ten years! Unmissable!

·       The funniest author-illustrator, brother-sister duo Anita and Stephen Mangan will join the festival for fun and games, draw-alongs and silly sibling stories. The bestselling creators of The Fart that Changed the World are back with a hilarious new adventure, The Fart that Saved the Universe. Giggles guaranteed!

·       Legendary author and illustrator Axel Scheffler returns drawing his most famous characters, including everyone’s favourite The Gruffalo, and some new delightful characters from his new book Welcome.

·       Drop the mic! Award-winning teacher, Sky Kids superstar and viral book-rapping sensation MC Grammar will introduce his brand-new series, The Adventures of Rap Kid, with jam-packed with jokes, tunes, wicked rhymes, a rap battle, and the greatest dance-off of all time!

·       Expert model makers Aardman Animations, known for Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Chicken Run will be sharing how to form their famous Aardman characters in hands-on workshops.

·       BAFTA-award winning The Brothers McLeod, known for their Disney and Nickelodeon shorts and their animation work with Netflix, Disney XD, Channel 4 and BBC will introduce the wacky world of Knight Sir Louis with an entertaining and fun-packed event which includes drawing, comics and lots and lots of laughs.

·       RAMZEE will host an interactive cartoon drawing workshop, sharing his experiences as a Marvel cartoonist, storyteller and how coming to the UK as a refugee inspired his book series, The Cheat Book.

Tickets are now on sale and this year’s Festival will be launched by award-winning and bestselling Australian author Andy Griffiths at Richmond Theatre as part of his UK tour – the ultimate Festival kick-off event!

Festival director, Amanda Brettargh said “In eleven years we’ve grown from a conversation at the school gate to become the UK’s largest dedicated children’s book festival. As well as celebrating all our favourite authors and illustrators, we’re always pushing the boundaries of traditional literature festivals to create more space for the family-friendliest fun. It’s what keeps us going – and growing! Because every year we discover all these brilliant new books, or we’ll see an event that has gone down a storm somewhere else, and we’ll think ‘oh they’re just going to love that!’ It’s the best job in the world!”

For full details on the 2025 Barnes Children’s Literature Festival as well as ticket details, please visit the website.

BARNES CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL

SATURDAY 21^ST & SUNDAY 22^ND JUNE 2025

WWW.BARNESKIDSLITFEST.ORG

Regular visitors to Linda’s Book Bag know how much I like being part of a book’s early journey, and so it’s my pleasure to help share details of the brand new Kiara Fox thriller, Black Gold, by Rob Starr.

My thanks to Maddy Dunne-Kirby at Midas PR for inviting me to participate.

Let’s find out all about Black Gold:

Black Gold

After the sudden death of her husband, fraud investigator Kiara Fox is thrown into a high-stakes case that pulls her halfway across the world.

In South Africa, oil tankers are mysteriously arriving at port with far less cargo than when they left – leaving the insurance company boss Tyrone haemorrhaging money. Despite her grief, Kiara can’t turn down the opportunity to help him work out what is happening as she knows this case could secure her family’s future.

At the heart of the problem is Adesco Oil, a family-run empire. CEO Gavin Adriaanse wants to transform the company into an eco-friendly powerhouse, but his brother Tony will stop at nothing to protect the family’s wealth. Tensions are rising, especially with the launch of Neptune, a revolutionary new oil rig poised to change the industry forever.

But when Kiara arrives, the case becomes far more dangerous than she ever anticipated. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a web of corporate deceit, betrayal, and espionage – both within Tyrone’s insurance company and Adesco Oil. With powerful enemies lurking in every shadow, Kiara realises that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried. The closer she gets to the heart of the conspiracy, the more deadly the game becomes.

In a race against time, Kiara must navigate a world where profit meets power and uncovering the truth could cost her everything.

****

Sounds exciting doesn’t it? Published by a on 10th July 2025, Black Gold is available for pre-order here.

About Rob Starr

Rob Starr is an author, chairman of the charity Starr Trust and CEO. He has co-written two full-length musicals and written two plays, all of which have been staged.

In 2013, Rob wrote a book about his English Channel swim in 2012 called From Starr to Starrfish and in 2022 he released his first fiction novel, What the Tide Brings Back. The First Widow, published in 2024, was the first book in the new Kiara Fox series.

Apart from writing, Rob’s passion is open water swimming. He also loves a challenge and, in 2022, completed the 52-52 challenge, which consists of 52 Olympic Triathlons in 52 consecutive weeks. Rob lives in Brighton with his wife and their three children.

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

My enormous thanks to Karen at Orenda for a surprise copy of Dangerous by Essie Fox. Having so loved Essie Fox’s The Fascination, reviewed here I was thrilled to receive it. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Dangerous today. 

Dangerous was published by Orenda on 24th April 2025 and is available for purchase here. 

Dangerous

Fiction can be fatal…

 Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city.

 SCANDAL

But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…

MURDER

As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…

MYSTERY

Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron’s life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

My Review of Dangerous

The poet Byron finds himself accused of murder.

Dangerous is not a novel. It’s a complete work of art written by an author at the top of their game. I loved it. 

With both real and created characters, I can’t begin to imagine the time and effort that has gone into researching Dangerous. As well as being thoroughly entertained by the story, I discovered so much about which I had previously been ignorant so that this is a story that takes the reader back in time on a journey just as vividly as any time machine might manage .  

Of course Byron is the star. He is depicted as a multi-faceted, complex man who feels as dynamic and charismatic on paper as he obviously was alive. The aspects of the novel in the first person – letters, diary entries – give a fascinating insight into his personality. I found Essie Fox’s Byron completely mesmerising. Arrogant, a flawed womaniser, careless with the needs of others such as his sexual partners and his daughters, he is also shown to be vulnerable, sensitive and deserving of pity as well as admiration. With the narrative structure bookended by Reverend Barber, I confess I finished Dangerous shedding a brief tear over Byron. 

Byron aside, however, all the minor characters feel just as convincing. The reader will, of course, recognise some names, but fabricated others are woven in so skilfully that it’s impossible to separate fact and fiction. They all add depth and richness to the historical setting to this wonderful tapestry of a book. 

Speaking of setting, Dangerous is a sublime feast for the senses. Venice is a pulsating, living creature. The miasmas, the filth, the grandeur – think of any aspect of Venice and Essie Fox has illustrated it to perfection. There’s an opulence to the writing in a style that fits the era and yet it is completely accessible. I thought this was incredibly skilful writing.

The plot is so clever. With smatterings from Byron’s poetry framing the fast paced chapters, in Dangerous there is intrigue and drama so that I found myself swept up in the story.

If you are looking for beautifully wrought literary fiction, read Dangerous. Read Dangerous too if you love historical fiction, or gothic fiction, or murder mysteries or if you want to travel vicariously. If you want to be steeped in a sense of time and place through meticulous research and imaginative storytelling, Dangerous is equally the book for you. I thought it was astonishingly good and simply not to be missed. 

About Essie Fox

Essie Fox was raised in Herefordshire, on the borders of Wales. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University she worked in magazine and book publishing, before developing a career in commercial illustration. 

Always an avid reader, Essie now writes gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the 2012 National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. This was followed by Elijah’s Mermaid, and then The Goddess and the Thief. The Last Days of Leda Grey was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. The Fascination became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Just published in April 2025 is Dangerous – a dark mystery set in Venice and based on the life of Lord Byron. 

Essie has been a guest on UK radio stations, including Woman’s Hour. She has lectured at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the National Gallery in London, as well as appearing at many literary festivals and events.

For further information, find Essie on Instagram and Facebook or visit her website and follow her on Bluesky and Twitter/X @essiefox.

My grateful thanks to Elizabeth Allen at Orion for sending me a surprise copy of Breasts: A Relatively Brief Relationship by Jean Hannah Edelstein. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Breasts today.

Breasts: A Relatively Brief Relationship was published by Orion imprint Phoenix on 3rd April 2025 and is available for purchase here. 

Breasts A Relatively Brief Relationship

In this short, striking memoir, Jean Hannah Edelstein charts the course of her unexpectedly brief relationship with breasts.

As she comes of age, she learns that breasts are a source of both shame and power. In early motherhood, she sees her breasts transform into a source of sustenance and a locus of pain. And then, all too soon, she is faced with a diagnosis and forced to confront what it means to lose and rebuild an essential part of yourself.

Funny and moving, elegant and furious and full of heart, Breasts is an original and indispensable read. It is both an intimate account of one woman’s relationship with her own body and a universally relatable story for anyone who has ever had – or lost – breasts.

My Review of Breasts: A Relatively Brief Relationship

The story of one woman’s relationship with her breasts.

Let’s me be clear, I am not a mother, nor have I ever wanted to be and I’m not a great lover of memoir so a book that is a memoir with a third of its text related to breastfeeding was a book I was not expecting to engage with. It isn’t possible to stress how wrong I was. Breasts is a magnificent volume that ought to be compulsory reading for everyone. I thought it was astonishingly good.

I loved the structure and tone of Jean Hannah Edelstein’s writing. The three sections felt part of the dramatic tradition of a three act play and the build up to the author’s diagnosis of cancer follows that traditional narrative arc perfectly. But this isn’t fiction. It’s one woman’s experience of life in relation to her breasts told with honesty, humour, self-deprecating awareness and in a style that is accessible and gripping. I read this slim volume in one sitting because it held my attention so completely. The prose is sparse and yet all encompassing. The simple repetition of a phrase or a rhetorical question conveys profound meaning. This is a masterclass of understated writing and deeply affecting to read.

With the author’s first person voice ringing through the text it feels as if the reader is listening to a very dear friend relating aspects of their life. Jean Hannah Edelstein comes across as a kind of Everywoman. She represents compliance and subversion, rage and acceptance, fear and bravery. I thought not only was Breasts fantastic, but the author probably is too.

Reading Breasts ensures the reader contemplates just what is important in life, illustrating how a slight change of interpretation can completely invert how we might feel. It made me rage for the sexism and misogyny some women have encountered. It educated me about motherhood. It made me laugh and it made me shed a tear. Above all, it captivated me completely. Breasts is a book that, through one woman’s perspective, shines a light on the whole of society and our expectations in the western world.

It feels a privilege to have read Breasts and I’d urge anyone to read it. It’s fantastic.

About Jean Hannah Edelstein

Jean Hannah Edelstein is a British-American writer. Her memoir This Really Isn’t About You was published by Picador in 2018. Her journalism has been published in numerous UK and US outlets, including the Guardian, Elle and New York Magazine. 

For further information, visit Jean’s website or find Jean on Instagram and Bluesky. 

My enormous thanks to Sophie Ransom for sending me a copy of the thriller Sun Trap by Rachel Wolf. I’m delighted to share my review of Sun Trap today.

It’s a while since I read Rachel’s fantastic The Fall under her other persona of Rachel Blok which I reviewed here. 

Sun Trap was published by Bloomsbury imprint Head of Zeus on 8th May 2025 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Sun Trap

BE CAREFUL

Ellie has wanted to be an actor since she was a child so, when a role in a blockbuster film presents itself, she grabs it.

WHAT YOU

On the plane to Abu Dhabi to begin filming, Ellie overhears something she shouldn’t – two people discussing plans for murder.

WISH FOR

Unsure if it’s a misunderstanding, and not wanting to ruin her big break, Ellie remains quiet. Then ten members of the cast become nine…

Ellie needs to be careful – it’s more than just her career on the line.

Because she isn’t who she says she is.

And liars are always the prime suspect.

My Review of Sun Trap

Ellie is chasing her big break.

Crikey! Sun Trap is one heck of a thrilling read. Yes, you’ll need willingly to suspend your disbelief as there is so much packed into the story, but I suggest you do so that you can enjoy this brilliant narrative as much as I did. I gulped it down in a couple of days because I found it so exciting and entertaining. 

Firstly, there’s a real sense of place in both New York and the luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi that transports the reader right into the settings. As a result of reading Sun Trap I can’t decide if I’m desperate to visit Abu Dhabi or determined to stay as far away as possible. The heat, the sand, the hotel ambience all feel perfectly drawn.

The plot is breathtakingly fast paced and there was a moment when I genuinely exclaimed ‘What?’ because I had been so taken in by the story. Its episodic nature means that it is impossible not to want to read on and I think it would make a fantastic television series or action film. 

The characters are exactly what we might expect from over-privileged famous actors, but that belies the complexity of inter-relationships between them and their fascinating hopes, fears, ambitions and desires. These are flawed, often equally repugnant and appealing, people that make the reader desperate to find out who is genuine, who’s a threat and what personal demons are driving them on. I had no idea what would happen next and who might do what – and to whom! 

Of course it is Ellie we learn about most, and what I found so intriguing is that, even at her most dislikeable, she is compelling and appealing. I didn’t always approve of what she did, but it didn’t stop me wanting her to succeed. That’s very clever writing.

With its modern day Christiesque locked room (or resort) feel and being packed with intrigue, twists and turns, I thought Sun Trap was terrific. I could not have been more entertained or have enjoyed it more. It’s definitely a book to take on holiday – but perhaps not to Abu Dhabi! 

About Rachel Wolf 

Rachel Wolf grew up in the North of England and studied at Durham University. Before turning to writing, she worked for a holiday company and travelled widely. Her thrillers take inspiration from some of those travels.

For further information, follow Rachel on Twitter/X @RachelWolfWritr, and Instagram and Bluesky.

My enormous thanks to Georgia Hester at Harper Collins for sending me a surprise copy of Only in New York by Melissa Hill. It’s my pleasure to share my review today. 

Only in New York is published by HQ on 22nd May 2025 and is available for pre-order through the publisher links here. 

Only in New York

LA Publicist Hannah is ready to put her broken heart behind her and start afresh. So when a celebrity client offers to lend her a luxury penthouse apartment in New York City, Hannah jumps at the chance.

But it turns out that balancing a new job and new neighbours is harder than Hannah imagined. With a troublesome – yet undeniably attractive – client making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and the secretive curmudgeon next door seemingly on a mission to get her out, Hannah has her hands full.

It’s going to take all her best PR tricks to win over each of these cynics. But it isn’t only their walls that begin breaking down. And as Hannah starts to open her own heart to all the possibilities the city has to offer, a chance at love might be closer than she thinks.

This is New York, after all.

My Review of Only in New York

Leaving a broken relationship behind, publicist Hannah is making a fresh start in New York.

Only in New York is a smashing read, just right for packing in your suitcase and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s romantic, pacy, witty and engrossing.

Of course Only in New York has romance as one of its themes, and throughout I was desperate for Hannah and her new client Wildcat Ward McKenzie to fall in love, but what Melissa Hill illustrates with such aplomb is that love is not a straightforward emotion and external events and pressures can impinge and affect it. I thought the balance of Hannah and Ward’s roles in this theme was sheer perfection, especially as we get to know them so intimately and possibly better than they know themselves. It’s rare in romantic fiction to get such an insight into both male and female roles. 

The plot is brilliant. It speeds along, and I thought the way the reader has insight into the identity of P-1 (read the book) whereas Hannah does not, gave an added frisson of enjoyment and engagement. 

But as well as being an enormously satisfying enemies to lovers narrative, Only in New York has other really interesting elements too. I found the insight into the world of public relations fascinating as Hannah attempts to rehabilitate Ward into both his ice hockey team and public opinion. The pressures of high powered jobs, being in the public eye and of the challenges faced by elite sports people are integral to the story and thoroughly engaging.

The New York setting is just perfect. Whilst the city doesn’t over dominate, there is an authentic sense of place that means the reader can experience some of it without leaving home. Equally important is the way Hannah makes assumptions about the person living in the apartment next door to her. Melissa Hill shows we shouldn’t judge others and that we never really know quite what is happening behind someone else’s front door. 

Although Hannah does jump to conclusions and can be quick tempered, I thought these flaws in her personality made her incredibly realistic, so that the story feels as if it is about a real person even though her job in public relations for the rich and famous is beyond the experience of many readers.  

I so enjoyed Only in New York. It felt like the perfect summer read, being completely absorbing. It’s packed with believable people despite their celebrity status. It’s entertaining, romantic and engaging. What could be better than that? I suggest you escape to New York with Hannah immediately…

About Melissa Hill

USA Today and Irish Times #1 bestselling author living in Wicklow, Ireland. Her contemporary novels of family, friendship and romance are published worldwide and translated into twenty-six languages. A Hollywood adaptation of her international bestseller Something From Tiffany’s, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine in association with Amazon Studios, is streaming now on Prime Video.

Adaptations of A Gift To Remember and The Charm Bracelet were also brought to screen by Crown Media Productions USA, with multiple other film/TV projects based on her work currently in development.

Melissa’s brand new novel Only in New York is coming soon!

For further information about Melissa, visit her website or find her on Facebook and Instagram.