I can’t thank Alison Davies and Corvus books enough for providing an Advanced Reader Copy of Cesca Major’s The Silent Hours which is published on 11th June 2015. The Silent Hours is available for purchase here.

The Silent Hours

An epic, sweeping tale set in wartime France, The Silent Hours follows three people whose lives are bound together, before war tears them apart: Adeline, a mute who takes refuge in a convent, haunted by memories of her past; Sebastian, a young Jewish banker whose love for the beautiful Isabelle will change the course of his life dramatically; Tristin, a nine-year-old boy, whose family moves from Paris to settle in a village that is seemingly untouched by war. Beautifully wrought, utterly compelling and with a shocking true story at its core, The Silent Hours is an unforgettable portrayal of love and loss.

My Review of The Silent Hours

‘The Silent Hours’ is a tragic story based on the true massacre that took place in Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10th 1944 and is constructed around three main characters, Adeline, Sebastien and Tristan.

I’ve been sitting staring at the screen wondering how to review this incredible book and finding it difficult to write as my eyes are still blurred by tears. I think what makes it all the more emotional, taking nothing away from the fantastic writing and storytelling, is the fact that it is based in a true event.

Told partly through the first person voices of Adeline, Sebastien and Tristan, Cesca Major weaves a spellbinding narrative by adding layer upon layer of information and detail through memories and letters alongside these three main voices so that ‘The Silent Hours’ becomes an intimate, haunting and utterly compelling read. Whilst their tone is often conversational with humour, the writing manages to be intense and personal at the same time. It is sheer genius.

The settings are vivid and evocative, like looking at a film clip rather than merely reading words on the page. The writer has the ability to alter the reader’s emotions through one simple word or phrase and I would urge readers to return to the quotations at the start of the book once they have read it to understand fully their meaning and impact.

The further I read, the more involved with the characters as real people I became. I could not bear the ending of this novel and my heart was pumping with fear and horror.

The themes here resonate still – love, loss, guilt and the desperation of ‘if only…’ and ‘The Silent Hours’ is a book I will remember for a very long time.

My huge thanks go to Natasha Harding at Pan Macmillan for providing a review copy of ‘Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Lifetime’ by J B Morrison.

82 year old Frank Derrick has a daughter with cancer in Los Angeles and decides he needs to see her, so he sets off without really thinking through the implications of his actions. The story tells us of his adventures.

Not having read the first of the Frank Derrick books by J B Morrison (‘The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81’), I had no expectations about ‘Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Lifetime’ but I absolutely loved it. There is a warmth and wittiness that ranks alongside one of my favourite books ‘A Man Called Ove’ by Fredrik Backman and readers who’ve enjoyed Backman’s books will adore ‘Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Lifetime’ too.

Frank Derrick made me laugh out loud with his pragmatic and straightforward approach to life – even when he’s trying to avoid telling the truth. Indeed, all the characters in this highly entertaining novel are incredibly well drawn and human – including Bill the cat. Alongside the humour is wonderful depth of feeling. There are some moments so touching they brought a tear to my eye.

The plot is simple – Frank goes to stay with his daughter and grand daughter for a couple of weeks and they show him around the sights of LA. However, that is not to say the plot is simplistic. J B Morrison creates scenarios that are entirely plausible but hugely enjoyable – even taking a passport photo becomes like sharing a joke with an old friend. The skill of the writing is in making the reader want to know what happens next and drawing them in to Frank’s life so that they don’t want to leave. I will be reading the first book about Frank’s life as soon as I can.

I can’t recommend ‘Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Lifetime’ highly enough for those who want a book to lift their spirits and make them feel all is right in the world. It’s genius.

I am extermely grateful to Netgalley for a copy of ‘You, Me and Other People’ by Fionnuala Kearney which is out in Harper paperback on 18th June 2015.

Adam has been unfaithful to Beth – again. And this time it looks as if their lives are irreparably changed. They both need to learn what is important in life and finding out may not be easy.

At the start of the novel I hated Adam. I thought he was a complete idiot who didn’t recognise what was important in life. His cynical betrayal of Beth and their marriage, hurting their daughter Meg in the process, made me glad when his life began to free-fall.  Fionnuala Kearney, however, had other ideas. She wanted me to be drawn to Adam, to understand him and to care about him and such is the skill of her writing I did just that.

‘You, Me and Other People’ is a super summer read. It has everything a reader wants to engage them. Kearney explores human nature and love in all their flaws and triumphs so that the reader totally believes in each of the characters and understands why they behave as they do.

The plot is fast paced and totally gripping. The structure of switching chapters alternately  between Adam and Beth from their first person point of view keeps the writing fresh and interesting. I found it hard to believe that this is a debut novel.

The novel does not end as I wanted it to (but I’m not going to spoil the plot by saying more). It did, however, end with humanity, realism and a desperate need in this reader to know what happens next!

I can totally recommend ‘You, Me and Other People’ as a wonderful summer read.

Having read a review of ‘Bomber Boy: Rise of the Underwear Bomber’ by Ike Pius on another blogger’s site (Sarah Hardy’s https://bytheletterbookreviews.wordpress.com/)  I commented that I didn’t think this was a book for me. As a result, Ike Pius contacted me and suggested I read it and then decide. I was happy to do so.

Farouk Omar Muttab is on a suicide bombing mission to destroy North-Western Airlines Flight 253. When his bomb fails to detonate, he finds he has some serious choices to make.

The story is a quick read as it was initially intended as a magazine or radio feature and so the prose is quite sparse which adds to the effect of speed in events. This means that it feels more like a screen play than a narrative and I would have liked more development of the prose, but the story is interesting and engaging.

There are some serious themes that are obviously very close the the author’s heart and Ike Pius is not afraid to explore how we give our loyalties and our lives to a variety of causes. As a result of ‘Bomber Boy: Rise of the Underwear Bomber’ the reader is challenged to question their own attitudes and beliefs.

I felt ‘Bomber Boy: Rise of the Underwear Bomber’ has real potential and think it could be developed into a very successful full length thriller.

You can get a copy here in the UK and here in the US.

I was lucky enough to win A Song For Issy Bradley in a competition on The Book Club on Facebook #TBConFB run by Tracy Fenton  @Tr4cyF3nt0n.

A Song for Issy Bradley is available for purchase in all formats here.

A Song For Issy Bradley

Meet the Bradleys.

In lots of ways, they’re a normal family: Zippy is sixteen and in love for the first time; Al is thirteen and dreams of playing for Liverpool.

And in some ways, they’re a bit different: Seven-year-old Jacob believes in miracles. So does his dad.

But these days their mum doesn’t believe in anything, not even getting out of bed.

How does life go on, now that Issy is gone?

My Review of A Song for Issy Bradley

A Song For Issy Bradley concerns the Mormon faith Bradley family who are coming to terms with tragedy in their lives when Issy dies from meningitis.

I didn’t think a book with religion as a central premise would be particularly engaging for me, but I read the first page and just kept reading. I could not tear myself away from the pages of this beautifully written story.

Carys Bray tells the story through the eyes of each of the characters, the mother Claire, father Ian, and children Zipporah (Zippy), Alma and Jacob in turn. What she does so brilliantly is make the reader believe totally in each of the perspectives to weave a tapestry of family life, belief and grief. It doesn’t matter if the reader has, like me, no faith at all, because what ‘A Song for Issy Bradley’ has is true life with all its imperfections, foibles and challenges.

Whilst there are serious themes underlying the story, those of religion, family, sex, death and truth, this is not a morbid or self-righteous book. It is a multi-layered, beautiful story that makes the reader laugh and cry. There is great humour, especially in the behaviours of Alma and Jacob as well as intense sadness. The end of the novel is so satisfying that I’m desperate to know what happens to these characters who have become real people to me.

I found the writing exquisite. There didn’t seem to be a word out of place. Thoughts and dialogue were natural and engaging. I loved the use of past and present tense to convey memory and immediacy. However, what I loved most about A Song for Issy Bradley was Carys Bray’s ability to convey humanity in all its layers, its imperfections and truths.

I can honestly say A Song for Issy Bradley has touched me as a reader because of its warmth, humour and emotion and I would recommend anyone to read it.

About Carys Bray

Carys Bray was brought up in a devout Mormon family. In her early thirties she left the church and replaced religion with writing. She was awarded the Scott prize for her début short story collection Sweet Home. A Song for Issy Bradley was her first novel. She lives in Southport with her husband and four children.

You can follow Carys on Twitter @CarysBray, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

An Interview with Fredrik Backman

I was so excited  when I was asked by Nikki Barrow at Sceptre Books if, I would like to meet Fredrik Backman, author of ‘A Man Called Ove’ and ‘My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises’. Both books are amongst the best I’ve ever read.

It’s slightly disconcerting when you are about to meet a writing hero. Will they be as wonderful as their writing suggests? fortunately yes – and more. It turns out Fredrik Backman is not only a highly talented writer whose books are some of my most favourite ever, but he’s also charming, witty and a fabulous raconteur in real life too.

Here are some of the things he told me:

Fredrik began writing seriously in about 2007 when he was working in a fruit and vegetable warehouse in a friend’s business  and driving a forklift truck. He knew he loved writing and wanted to do it more and more so he even offered to write for free for publications. Bit by bit he began to be paid for his efforts and became quite proficient in writing about tanning salons!

It took him about a year each to write both ‘A Man Called Ove’ and ‘My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises’ and at one time he was working 14 hours a day at weekends to fund his time to write during the week.

It was whilst attending a book fair in Sweden, that Fredrik got a call telling him a German publisher wanted to publish his book and give him an advance on the next. This meant he could write full time.

It wasn’t long before Fredrik Backman had gone from offering to write for free to having books published in at least 32 countries with a film of ‘Ove’ being made and a third novel ‘Britt-Marie Was Here’ (to be published in the UK in 2016) on its way.

What I found so delightful about Fredrik Backman is that he doesn’t see himself as an intellectual craftsman. He just likes to tell stories. He begins with character and loves to have a joke or some humour to start. If you find yourself in the same space as Fredrik watch out – he may be observing your traits for a new book. The opening of ‘A Man Called Ove’ was suggested by overhearing a conversation in a store.

I asked Fredrik if there was an autobiographical element to his work. He said there definitely is. He’s rather like Ove in lots of ways as he can respond in a disproportionate way to problems and he feels Ove would regard him rather as he regards Patrick in the book. In’ My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises’, Elsa is very much the seven-year-old going on eight child Fredrik was too. It was interesting to hear that Fredrik is completely involved with his characters, laughing and crying with them as he writes. Fredrik also told me that there are other members of his family represented in the story. His wife had a similar experience to Parvaneh when learning to drive and the character of Parvaneh might just have a bit of his own wife and her aunts in her! Ove’s reaction to Parvaneh’s inability to derive echoed Fredrik’s own when he found his own wife couldn’t drive. It was beyond comprehension.

I loved the notion that Ove’s is a love story with one half of the couple absent. When I asked if it was difficult to write a story from two such different perspectives in his books  – a young girl and a middle aged man – Fredrik said that they are people, not genders, and  he finds these age groups interesting as they are less likely to conform to social norms through embarrassment and he believes that accepting reality is not your only choice. Fredrik Backman cares about his characters as people so that we care about them too.

What struck me as typical of this self effacing and generous man was his comment about the books when they are completed. He said ‘The book doesn’t belong to me once it’s left the printing house. It’s yours.’

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking with this warm, lovely man who has his feet firmly on the ground but his imagination flying freely. I can’t wait for his next book to be released in the UK. In the mean time, as he wrote in my copy of ‘A Man Called Ove’, along with Ove and Fredrik Backman, we should ‘remember to always read the signs!’

My grateful thanks to Bookbridgr, and Frances Gough at Headline for providing a review copy of ‘The Last Honeytrap.’

Private Investigator Florence Love is the debut creation of Louise Lee in the first of a series of books and is published on 4th June 2015.

Florence is witty, attractive and devious and spends her time trapping unfaithful men in compromising situations for their suspicious partners. She works alongside her brother Michael who is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. The two of them contrive to obtain video and photographic evidence of their targets. Florence has one golden entrapment rule; ‘one kiss, with tongues, five seconds’ and no more. However, when she is asked by Alice to ensnare the gorgeous Scot ‘Scat’ Delaney, Florence finds she gets more than she bargained for – including some surprises about her own past.

Initially I did not enjoy this book. I thought Florence was acerbic rather than sassy and I didn’t warm to her. However, the more I read, the more intrigued I became – and I actually realised I was rather jealous of Florence. I realised that waspish attitude was part of the act. The more I read, the more I came to love this book and to understand what a talented writer Louise Lee is.

There is a great plot that twists and turns so that the reader is jolted by revelations along the way. The characters are brilliant. Michael may need Florence to look after him, but she certainly needs him too. There are some real villains here, but we don’t always know who the villain is!

The writing is creative, very intelligent and incredibly well researched. I found there were so many small details dropped in to the text I wanted to follow them up (and I now know about Ayurveda!). Florence educates as well as entertains.

It’s difficult not to reveal the plot, so all I’ll say is that my initial reaction to the first 20 pages was entirely MY mistake. ‘The Last Honeytrap’ is a hugely entertaining read and I shall definitely be buying the next in the series – ‘The Last Bigamist’.

I was lucky to receive a copy of ‘The Island Escape’, published on 21st May 2015, through @AvonBooksUK on Twitter.

Octavia and Roberta have been unlikely friends since their school days, when Octavia was the rebel that conservative Roberta would have liked to be. Now grown up, married and with children of their own, life is about to show them that we can’t always take our situation for granted and that happiness may not be where we’re looking.

I absolutely adored ‘The Island Escape’ and having tried hard to be objective and find fault, the only aspect that disappointed was the fact I couldn’t be in Corsica to read it! I read it in a day because it appealed so much.

Kerry Fisher understands and conveys perfectly what it is to be a woman. As the first person narrative switches between Roberta and Octavia in each chapter, the reader feels as if they are simply catching up with old friends because they are so realistic. One of the elements that contributed to this realism was the ease and naturalness of direct speech. I could hear Scott’s temper and Roberta’s haughtiness.

Some aspects of the narrative made me wonder if Kerry Fisher had been reading my mind as she laid out what often felt like my own thoughts. I found myself cheering out loud, laughing, shouting ‘Oh no!’ and even shedding a tear as I read. There is true emotional warmth in both characters and narrative.

The style is witty, thoroughly engaging and uplifting without being sugary or contrived. Indeed, there are some serious issues underlying the romantic prose, with loyalty, adultery, underage sex and grief subtly explored so that there is a richness to the writing that I found hugely satisfying.

Kerry Fisher’s ‘The Island Escape’ is undoubtedly the perfect summer read.

My very great thanks to http://www.lovereading.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/books.literarycontemporary?ref=ts&fref=ts @lovereadinguk for providing a reader panel copy of ‘Whispering Shadows’.

I absolutely adored ‘The Art of Hearing Heartbeats’ by Jan-Philipp Sendker and as I began reading ‘Whispering Shadows’ the emotion of the prologue as Paul contemplates the death of his son, Justin, made me think I would enjoy this book just as much. However, I was slightly disappointed. I don’t know if there was a different translator, but the writing didn’t seem to flow as fluidly and I didn’t get the same emotional pull.

However, the story is a strong and intriguing one and the book is well worth reading. The murky world of corrupt officialdom and business is very effectively described and I found the practices very distasteful as Paul Leibovich and Zhang try to discover who really murdered Michael Owen.

Descriptions of the food and the setting make this a very vivid read. There are themes of love and trust that resonate with us all so that Paul’s rehabilitation into the world becomes important to the reader. Having read ‘Whispering Shadows’ I want to know what will become of Paul and Christine in the future.

I think that readers of John Grisham would enjoy ‘Whispering Shadows’ very much indeed.

I am incredibly grateful to Lizzie Masters at Headline, Tinder Press and Bookbridgr for my review copy of Sarah Leipciger’s ‘The Mountain Can Wait’ which was published in hardback on 7th May 2015.

Tom Berry is a fixer. From a dripping tap to a bicycle, Tom can turn his hand to mending anything. However, he isn’t as talented at running his relationships with his grown up children, Curtis and Erin, whom he had been left to bring up alone when his wife Elka disappeared. When Curtis kills a girl in a hit and run accident, Tom’s life running tree planting is seriously affected. Always used to hunting, Tom finds it is his son he is now chasing.

I absolutely loved ‘The Mountain Can Wait’. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this debut novel, but it exceeded my expectations in every way.

The plot is relatively simple, opening with the hit and run accident and in a sense, very little happens after this. Sarah Leipciger turns this simplicity to profound effect. The underlying emotions in the narrative are heart wrenching. I even had to stop reading at about the halfway point to stop myself being overwhelmed. The writing is taut with feeling.

The characterisation is exquisite. At the start of the novel I didn’t particularly warm to Curtis. By the end I felt I needed to take him in my arms and hold him as I felt desperately sorry for him. I was devastated at the sacrifices Tom had to make on Curtis’ behalf too. Tom has to learn that the mountain can wait, but his children can’t. However, I think the most convincing character of all is nature. Sarah Leipciger’s writing is poetic, lyrical and beautiful. Her descriptions are cinematic and evocative without being intrusive. I can see this novel being made into a film.

The themes explored – of parent/child relationships, loyalty, trust and love are woven so intricately that I feel ‘The Mountain Can Wait’ will become a classic returned to by readers time and time again. I was so enthralled by the writing that I read the novel in one day and I’m sure I have missed some of the subtleties and nuances.

‘The Mountain Can Wait’ is fantastic. I defy anyone who reads it not to be moved by it.