One of the lovely aspects of blogging is belonging to a supportive community and I’m fortunate to be part of Book Connectors on Facebook where I ‘met’ today’s featured guest author Tara Guha.

Tara’s novel is available in e-book and paperback and was published by Legend Press on 1st September 2015.

Tara and I discussed our experiences of reading and how it had been affected by studying or teaching English. We agreed that a love of the subject isn’t all plain sailing. Here’s what Tara thinks:

Stop – don’t read!

If you want to write, read. That’s what we’re told, isn’t it? To write well you should read everything you can get your hands on, and then read some more. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen that advice.

Well, dear reader, it didn’t work for me. For three years of my life I read non-stop. I read for a minimum of eight hours a day and frequently much more. I read 14th century romances, 20^th century American fiction, 19^th century poetry and pretty much everything in between. I read small print, large page, old English prose at a rate of one page per minute: I know this because that was the rate I had to maintain in order to get my weekly reading done. Every 60 seconds, turn. Keep reading!

I was doing an English degree at Cambridge. In those days, and these too, English meant English literature. The greats. The iconic heavyweights of literature that have shaped our relationship to reading (and life) ever since. Each week I would read the main work in question and then several books of context and criticism before attempting to condense all the various viewpoints, my own included, into a hand-written essay.

Oh, the enviable life of the English student. Sitting out in the sunshine browsing a book while everyone else is in lectures. Reading up on the roof when the rest of the year is doing exams (and hates you). Reading alongside fellow English students, tucked up in college rooms, sipping tea and coffee and more tea.

What a breeze.

It had its moments, I’ll admit. I’ve loved reading since the moment I could do it, so having a mandate to discover more and more wonderful books should have been a dream come true.  Doing what is for most of us a hobby and calling it studying gives English students the reputation of dossers, and I can see why it looks that way. But the truth is that reading in such a pressurised way started to erode the joy of it, and the need to maintain a critical stance denied me the wonder of getting properly lost in a book. In fact, for a good year after my degree I barely picked up a book. I couldn’t help analysing everything I read; I felt as if I’d eaten from the tree of knowledge and lost my innocence. It left a strange hole in my life.

But the rot didn’t stop there. While I eventually started reading again – in a somewhat faltering way, but gaining momentum – the more lasting damage was to my writing. As a child I wrote reams – poetry, stories, songs and random musings. But after three years of immersing myself in all the great works of literature my overriding thought was, what on earth can I have to say that hasn’t been said already (and better)? As soon as I started writing something, the critic in me sneered at it and I usually ended up eating biscuits or watching TV instead. I have a lot of two sentence-length pieces of writing from that time.

Several years later it dawned on me that being creative and being a critic are two diametrically opposed impulses. Many creative children who write well are encouraged to study English, ie to learn to be a critic instead of nurturing their own creativity. Looking back, I’d say that although I loved the whole university experience, English was probably the worst possible subject I could have chosen because I’m fundamentally someone who likes to create rather than critique. It seems counter-intuitive and perhaps people who have more confidence in their own ability to write would not experience this as extremely as I did. But I suspect I’m not alone in having this reaction.

It wasn’t until a friend bought me The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron for my thirtieth birthday that I began to re-engage with my own creativity. Interestingly, one of the exercises she suggests is to stop reading altogether for a week. No newspapers, websites, books, cereal packets – nothing. A complete detox in order to access your own voice, your own thoughts and feelings. I followed the programme religiously and at the end of it I had succeeded in opening the door just a bit on the part of me that had effectively been shut away.

Several years down the track and that door is open most of the time. I’ve just had my first novel, Untouchable Things, published and I’ve brought music back into my life too. I’ve made peace with my internal critic and acknowledge that he (yup, he’s a he) is important but can’t be allowed to dominate, or I’ll never write another word. And in a nice loop back to that English degree, Untouchable Things is peppered with literary references and I realise that my characters’ reverence for those great works of literature mirrors my own. The years of intensive study taught me to truly appreciate them, but those magnum opuses are no longer a block to my own writing. They exist as entirely separate, timeless, self-contained works of mastery that enrich my life but bear little or no relation to my own tortuous works-in-progress.

Talking of which, there’s a document open alongside this one entitled “novel number two” that I really should get back to. And you, if I might say, have been reading for more than long enough. It’s been nice to chew the fat – but don’t you have some writing to do?

————–

I totally understand Tara’s viewpoint and can’t wait to lose myself in reading the outcome of her regained creativity, ‘Untouchable Things’.

You can find out more about Tara here. She is also on Twitter and Facebook

I was delighted to be sent this slim volume of poems after National Poetry Day. ‘Poems for the Common Man’ by Angelique Forbes was published by Austin Macauley on 30th September 2015 and is available in both paperpack and ebook.

I rarely read poetry these days after a lifetime of studying and teaching it, so it was a great pleasure to be reminded just how evocative and moving poems can be.

With just a couple of exceptions, Angelique Forbes writes from a first person perspective, making her words all the more intimate and affecting. There are poems of great love, passion, loss and memory. I loved ‘The Pages of Time’ which contains thoughts we’ve all had at some point – do past loves remember us and the line ‘Will his ears’ memory drum with the beat of my voice’ summed up that question perfectly for me.

Angelique Forbes creates a real sense of who she is as a person and her background comes through especially strongly in ‘Childhood Memories’, ‘Mum’ and the dialect written ‘Yuh Waan Cum A Englan?’

The intensity of feeling is conveyed through many references to the abyss, volcanic eruption and oblivion which show just how passionate the writer is. I also liked the variety of style with the use of enjambment as in ‘Mystery’, the staccato lone breaks and repetition for effect so that the depth of emotion, including love and hate, becomes clearer the more times a poem is read.

Angelique Forbes’ poems are moving and accessible. No matter what your attitude to poetry, I think few would argue with the sentiment at the end of KY-ANDREI:

GIVE ME A WORLD WITHOUT/ DEATH, PAIN, HEARTACHE/ AND I GIVE YOU A/ NON-EXISTENT WORLD

My grateful thanks to Lydia Gittings at Titan Books for a copy of ‘Harry Potter: The Character Vault’ by Jody Revenson in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 25th September 2015.

‘Harry Potter:The Character Vault’ is the third in a series of books written by Jody Revenson and published by Titan including ‘Harry Potter: The Creature Vault’ and ‘Harry Potter: Magical Places from the Films’.

The book is divided into nine chapters and moves through the Hogwarts’ students and staff, and other elements like tournaments, celebrations and dark forces. It is a real coffee table delight, so that even the end papers are gorgeous. At the back there is a special pocket containing two posters of portraits: one of The Order of the Phoenix characters and the other the Death Eaters.

I was totally unaware of this series of books associated with the Harry Potter films until I received this sumptuous book. I can see it being absolutely essential for Harry Potter fans. It would also be a fascinating read for those studying media and film as it has extensive details about how the characters were created visually through fabric, colour, hair and makeup. It is interesting to see, for example, how Rupert Grint was dressed so terribly at the yule ball so that there would be greater sympathy for his character Ron Weasley in having to wear out moded clothes. I can’t imagine the Lucius Malfoy that was originally envisaged until his actor, Jason Isaacs, had input to the clothing to become the iconic villain we all know.

There are first person anecdotes from the actors alongside the ‘technical’ details which give a vitality and freshness to the text. I liked the brief quotations form the J K Rowling books too that support the text and illustrations. The illustrations are a triumph, with full colour plates (the one of Voldemort on p.167 is amazing), photographs, line drawings and film stills. I found the separate little Death Eater Masks booklet quite disturbing!

I particularly enjoyed the ‘behind the scenes’ details explaining how choices were made and why some details were different to the characters as they are presented in the JK Rowling books. I had no idea that Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter himself) couldn’t wear coloured contact lenses to turn his blue eyes green or that Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix) perforated Matthew Lewis’ (Neville Longbottom) ear with her wand. Even though I’ve read all the Harry Potter books twice and seen all the films at least once, there were some characters I’d forgotten like Kingsley Shacklebolt so that reading ‘Harry Potter: The Character Vault’ really brought back those experiences fully.

‘Harry Potter: The Character Vault’ by Jody Revenson is a perfect book for Harry potter fans, although with one proviso. I think the text is too complex for many under 10s who are Harry Potter fans, but it would suit others completely.

I’m delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for Fleur Smithwick’s book ‘How to Make a Friend‘ which was published in paperback by Black Swan on 8th October 2015. It is also available as an ebook.

The Story

As a lonely child, Alice found comfort the same way so many others do – she invented a friend. Sam was always there when she needed him, until one day… he wasn’t.

Now, Alice has a happy, normal life; she has a handful of close friends and a career as a photographer.

But when a tragic accident shatters the world Alice has constructed, the sense of isolation that haunted her in childhood returns. And with it, so does Sam.

To Alice, he looks and feels like a real person, but how can that be?

And who will decide when it is time for him to leave again?

Praise for How to Make a Friend:

‘An intriguing and extremely sinister debut’ – Woman&Home

‘An absolute must-read’ – OK!

‘An original idea, cleverly executed’ – Sunday Mirror

‘A great winter read’ – Woman’s Own

‘A fascinating story about the power of the mind’ – IMAGE

‘A tense, intriguing and must-read debut’ – Irish Country Magazine

As part of her paperback book launch celebrations, Fleur has provided me with a list of her five favourite and most read childhood and teenage books. She says they are her ‘comfort books’:

‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis

‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte

‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen

‘These Old Shades’ by Georgette Heyer

‘Gone With the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell

I’ve read four of Fleur’s choices and I have to agree that they are amazing.

FLEUR SMITHWICK was brought up in London and studied French Literature & Language at Southampton University. She worked in various jobs, before becoming a full-time writer. As well as novels, Fleur writes short stories and has won The Writers’ Village and Segora competitions. She lives in Richmond with her husband and two children.

Find her on Twitter: @FleurSmithwick

For further information, please contact:

Sarah Harwood • SHarwood@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk • 020 8231 6738 • @SarahHarwood_

There are some other lovely blogs taking place too so you might want to have a look.

I encountered Chris Cherry via Facebook and when I realised he writes about a period of history that fascinates me and he donates money to the Royal British Legion from his books I was delighted when he agreed to be a guest on my blog. Today he’s talking about the human impact of the First World War.

Chris’s books are available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback, but if readers would like signed copies they can be found on Chris’s website. Mentioning lindasbookblog will get you 20% off too!

Love and War – Historical Novels

by Chris Cherry

Where to start? I think I need to start from the beginning – that is France in 1898. So a question – why France and why then?

My first understanding of the First World War was when All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque was put on to my school reading list. I had no understanding of the War, its origins, motives and legacy. I knew nothing of the trench, of the humour and of course, the suffering. I read the War poets – some had a political message, others simply told of a brutal reality though alliterative rhyme. Remember the haunting words of Wilfred Owen in Dulce et Decorum Est – “To hear, at every jolt…” How could one not be moved to know more, when John McRae pours out his love for his lost friend and comrade by the side of the Yser canal In Flanders Fields. So it was that one little boy was hooked, transfixed and transported to a time long ago, but not quite forgotten.

You see, it is a period that can still be touched to this day. A golden thread of family surviving through history. Each day a reader may send me a picture of their lost relative, perhaps killed or missing. Looking back at me from the sepia dignity of a tattered portrait print are their unmistakably shared family features – of course they are us. They had lives, loved and were loved as McRae goes on to say in his immortal poem. I want to tell their stories. I cannot be them, they had a personality all of their own. So I tell a greater truth through fiction.

It can be tempting to focus on the army in France or Flanders. Indeed, to many, the war itself was just that – mud and gore on the Western Front. But it was a truly World War, fought on land, sea and air across a great deal of Europe, Africa and Asia. Most certainly it touched lives across the globe, missing no-one in its path of desolation.

It is perhaps, all too easy to forget. I am not so focused on who was or is to blame, who to judge harshly and whose piety to extol. For me, it is simply a balancing act trying to treat history with remembrance and respect but yet to still to be able to tell a story, a fiction in context. I write dialogue for real people, imagining their true character and hope that whatever their motive and true nature, I neither dishonour, nor celebrate. I write characters that are evil, beyond redemption and who may have living family somewhere in this world. It is a challenge, as I have written in the voice of a soldier in the trenches, a young girl stolen from France and imprisoned in Germany and a Nazi, lost inside the madness of the time. Their language may not have been complex or cultured and for me it would be a mistake to write with a modern tongue or ear, with a modern sensitivity. For this, I may sometimes be criticised – and so be it. They lived then and not now, in our time. That time is theirs to keep.

For me, the true story is of the people. They are just like us, felt like us andsuffered as we would. I could talk about understanding the history, using my novels as an educational tool, perhaps even entertaining along the way. But, for me, it comes down to one thing. A family. A family needs love, care and an investment of time and emotion to nurture. Imagine that for a moment. Not all families survive. Some are lost to relationship breakdown, loss or other cause. Now imagine that a War emerges and strikes at the heart of your life. Now you may find yourself on the first page of my novel – where I find my own mind as I write.

I have seen so little written about the effects of War in other countries – imagine the battlefield in your own town. I once wrote a short story at school entitled “The Battle of The Ouse”, in which the trenches were not in France and Belgium, the East or Turkey, but in England and Scotland. Imagine opening your front door to a cemetery with ten thousand Unknown Soldiers and you can begin to feel it a little I am sure.

So, I set the Mad Game stories in France – which I hope offers a unique perspective on the War and its impact.

The Great War is surrounded by myths and misunderstanding; emotions on the subject still run high. Some may focus on the facts and figures and some on the stories. All of these standpoints hold a validity in the commemoration of the conflicts past. I try not to use my novels as a lectern or blackboard, but as a mirror on our own lives. How did Kurt lose his humanity so absolutely? How did a timid little girl survive the camps to grow up into a strong and fine woman? It is because they held on to something deep and precious – or lost it along the way.

The period holds a deep interest for me, the thread is the poppy and its symbolism to us all. For me it isn’t just this time of year – October and November, but all year. I visit the battlefields often, researching and learning, speaking to those that live there and documenting my feelings along the way. It is a pilgrimage, if that is not too emotive or presumptuous, my small way of showing respect and comradeship to those left behind.

So it was that The Mad Game series was written to benefit the Royal British Legion. I have spent many a day with veterans of both World Wars and tried to capture their stories and tell them on again to a new generation. The money that I raise is used to support those that are left and those of more modern times in need of comfort and financial or emotional support.

I am now working on a new series of novels – the Silent Brothers trilogy, still forming part of the Love and War theme. Meet on Waggon Road is nearing completion and will be the first book of the three. A Girl in the Shop Window will follow (named after a line I heard from a Normandy veteran in 2014) and the final book will be called Rest My Silent Brothers and this could be out before the end of 2016.

I’d like to thank Chris for taking the time to write such a though provoking guest post about a time in history we shouldn’t forget.

I cannot express sufficient gratitude to Louise Rhind-Tutt of lrtpublicity.co.uk for providing a review copy of this glorious hardback edition of ‘Pristine Seas – Journeys to the Ocean’s Last Wild Places’ by Enric Sala and with a foreword by Leonardo DiCaprio. It was published by National Geographic in hardback on September 22nd 2015.

I am obsessed by the sea, having been in the water with a manatee, swum with manta rays in the Maldives, sharks in the Galapagos and dolphins in the Caribbean and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Consequently, I was beyond excited when I received this glorious book – so much so that I actually cried. I was meant to be doing many other things when the book arrived but it so captivated me that they were all set aside until I had consumed it avariciously in one go.

Reading the foreword, I had not previously had any idea of Leonardo DiCaprio’s own fascination with the sea, early ambitions to be a marine biologist or activist support which was interesting in itself, but, famous actors aside, it is Eric Sala’s journey, from a young boy idolising Jacques Cousteau to becoming an expert advising international organisations and governments on how to protect our oceans, that is the central pull of ‘Pristine Seas’.

The book is divided into geographical regions with brief scientific and factual details about each area, the most startling of which is that, at the time of writing, only 1% of the ocean was fully protected in no-take marine reserves.

The text is Enric Sala’s first person account of the places he has explored, gathering data and totally absorbing the reader in the descriptions of where he and his team have been and what they have seen. This is no clinical, dry non-fiction writing, but an exhilarating experience often written with prose approaching poetry. I wouldn’t have thought of juvenile masked boobies as being ‘like a bunch of teenagers gathering around a flashy new car that just arrived in town’, for example. It is also often desperately sad such as when we learn that Mediterranean red coral is all but extinct except for a pocket in Corsica’s Scandola Nature Reserve. However, there is much to be hopeful for too in Enric Sala’s writing. If American presidents are beginning to show an interest and to understand that oceans can repair themselves if we manage and protect them, then maybe there is a chance to retain and regenerate what we have before it is really too late.

Above all, the greatest delight in ‘Pristine Seas’ is the photography, almost all of which has been taken by the author. Photographs are breathtakingly beautiful and completely moving. The intimacy of mating turtles, the vivid orange of great star coral, the old-man appearance of walruses in Arctic ice or the dramatic landscapes of the Arctic are just some examples that make ‘Pristine Seas’ a book to be treasured. Anyone who has dived or snorkeled would be completely enthralled by seeing these images.

‘Pristine Seas’ is a book that I feel privileged to own and I would urge anyone with the slightest interest in nature and a love of the sea to read it too..

I was delighted to be offered the chance to read ‘Merry Mistletoe’ by the author, Emma Davies, via Netgalley. I have seen so many positive comments about Emma’s writing since I started blogging but hadn’t got round to reading any of her work so I was intrigued as to what style I might find.

Freya’s four year relationship with Gareth is breaking down and her life long home is under threat as she can no longer afford to live there following the death of her father, so the only person she can rely on is the enigmatic and itinerant Amos. When neighbours put in a bid to buy her home, Freya’s past is about to catch up with her and her heart is in danger of being broken again.

I really enjoyed this novella. Emma Davies’ writing style is easy and fluent so that the story develops beautifully and is easy to read. She captures a scene very effectively, using the senses evocatively to create a truly Christmassy atmosphere.

Whilst this is a traditional feel good Christmas story, there is also an underlying mystery that is only gradually revealed, adding even more layers of enjoyment. I also liked the way plot devices worked naturally without the awkward contrivance of some women’s fiction so that every action was believable. As the story progressed I really wanted Freya to have a happy ever after ending.

‘Merry Mistletoe’ is a super story to get readers in the mood for a romantic Christmas and I heartily recommend it.

I am indebted to Lydia Gittings at Titan books for providing a copy of Deanna Raybourn’s ‘A Curious Beginning’ in return for an honest review. It was published in paperback on October 2nd 2015.

Having just buried her last remaining relative, her Aunt Nell, Veronica Speedwell returns to the cottage they had shared to find it being ransacked by a villain who attempts to abduct her. Rescued by the mysterious Baron Maximilian von Stauffenbach, Veronica’s adventures begin in England 1887.

I absolutely loved this story. Deanna Raybourne writes sparkling, witty prose that entertains from the first word to the last. There is often great humour amongst the peril, especially in the highly natural dialogue.

The plot races along, twisting and turning along the way, assisted admirably by the lively first person narrative. I thought the way Deanna Raybourne gradually uncovered information about both Veronica and Stoker was masterful. The reader becomes as much involved in the story as they do and it is exciting to find out a little bit more at the same time as the characters.

I loved both Veronica and Stoker. Veronica Speedwell is instantly likeable and realistic, despite not conforming to the stereotypes expected for the Victorian era in which the novel is set. She is a woman any reader would like to meet in real life, being feisty and intelligent and, as Stoker says of her at one point, ‘She is entirely her own woman’. Stoker too is brilliantly portrayed. The story crackles with sexual tension between these two main characters and their sparky repartee is utterly engaging for the reader.

As ‘A Curious Beginning’ is the first in what is to be a new Victorian crime series, I honestly can’t wait to read the next. This story would make a fabulous television drama series. Historically accurate and authentic, ‘A Curious Beginning’ is for readers who like a strong female protagonist, excellently depicted relationships and a strong romp of a book. I thought it was wonderful.

Having met the author, Laurie Ellingham, at a book event, Laurie agreed to provide a guest post for my blog which can be read here. She also kindly provided a copy of her book, ‘The Reluctant Celebrity’, which was published by Austin Macauley on 29th May 2015, in return for an honest review. It is available in both paperback and ebook.

Heartbroken by the actions of her ex-boyfriend, the now famous Guy Rawson, Juliet Stewart reinvents herself as Jules and spends five years avoiding relationships and running away from the past. Unscrupulous media reports mean that her past is about to catch up with her and not necessarily how she wants.

I really enjoyed ‘The Reluctant Celebrity’ – so much so that I found myself thinking about what might happen to the characters when I wasn’t actually reading the book.

I found the writing eloquent, fresh and modern, but with the elements I’d expect of female romance literature so that it is a thoroughly entertaining and absorbing read. The plot speeds along, whilst having sufficient detail to enable the reader to participate fully in events. Once or twice I even had a tear in my eye. There’s a great balance in the third person narrative so that we understand both Jules and Guy’s perspectives brilliantly. The direct speech is so natural that it feels as if real people are talking. That takees real skill.

I loved all the characters from the taciturn Stan to the rather gorgeous Rich in the pub. I’m hoping Laurie Ellingham will write a sequel to ‘The Reluctant Celebrity’ that picks up the lives of some of these characters later.

Whilst being a light and entertaining read, there were some thought provoking elements too; the way the media can twist words and manipulate the unsuspecting, how we judge others without really knowing them and how our choices can affect not just us. These themes provided real substance to the storytelling and contributed to a totally satisfying read.

I’m sure many readers won’t have heard of Laurie Ellingham yet, but I think once they have, they are in for a real treat.

‘Harlot at the Homestead’ is the second book in the Duggans of Montana series by Molly Ann Wishlade published by Totally Bound and I was lucky enough to receive a copy from the author herself in return for an honest review.

I was delighted to read this book as I had previously read the second in the series ‘A Rancher for Rosie’ and thoroughly enjoyed it. You can read my review of that book here. I wanted to know the back story of the Duggans and especially to find out what had happened to Catherine.

Catherine turns up on the Duggan doorstep two years having been allegedly abducted and killed by Red Indians. Her fiance Kenan Duggan is desperate to know the truth of what has happened to her.

I was slightly wary that I might not enjoy this book as much as I had ‘A Rancher for Rosie’, being concerned that the author’s style might have developed for ‘Harlot at the Homestead’ and the first in the series might disappoint or that I might find it too similar. Neither was true.

There is a poetic style to Molly Ann Wishlade’s writing that conjures the sights, smells and sounds of Montana beautifully. The attention to detail paints a vivid picture for the reader and all the senses are catered for. Highly effectively executed metaphors contribute to complex themes of revenge and retribution, love and loyalty as well as the expected sensual elements from erotic fiction. There is a real sense of passion in the story.

Along with a great plot that races along, ‘Harlot at the Homestead’ has authentic social, geographical and historical contexts giving a depth to the reading that surprised me. I also really loved the balance of male and female perspectives so that we get a true understanding of events from both Catherine and Kenan’s point of view.

If, like me, you’re somewhat reluctant to read erotic fiction as insufficiently ‘literary’, I think Molly Ann Wishlade’s The Duggans of Montana might just be the series to make you re-evaluate your views. These stories are well constructed, interesting, entertaining and above all, extremely well written. I’ll be reading book three, ‘Her Montana Cowboy’ just as soon as I can.