Many thanks to Hannah Robinson at Quercus books for providing a copy of Amy Snow by Tracy Rees in return for and honest review. Amy Snow was published on 9th April 2015 and became a Richard and Judy Best Seller. Amy Snow is available for purchase here and from Quercus.

Amy Snow

Abandoned on a bank of snow as a baby, Amy is taken in at nearby Hatville Court. But the masters and servants of the grand estate prove cold and unwelcoming. Amy’s only friend and ally is the sparkling young heiress Aurelia Vennaway. So when Aurelia tragically dies young, Amy is devastated. But Aurelia leaves Amy one last gift. A bundle of letters with a coded key. A treasure hunt that only Amy can follow. A life-changing discovery awaits . . . if only she can unlock the secret.

Amy Snow is so named after being found in the snow as a baby by wealthy heiress Aurelia Vennaway. Aurelia’s stubborn persistence forces her parents to take in this foundling as long as they do not have to encounter her. When Aurelia dies as a young woman, Amy is ejected from the house and so begins a letter based treasure hunt set for Amy by Aurelia.

‘Amy Snow’ is a thoroughly deserving winner of the first ‘Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller’.

My Review of Amy Snow

From the first word of the Prologue to the final word off the Epilogue this book holds the reader’s attention. As I read it I thought what a fabulous BBC period drama series it would make. Short chapters race along and there are mini cliffhangers and twists and turns in Amy’s journeys that have been so well constructed and written that it is as if you are travelling with her as you read. I really appreciated the variety of construction with a range of sentence lengths that fit the different situations perfectly.

One of the great strengths of this novel is the creation of character. None is perfect, from Amy and Aurelia to Mrs Riverthorpe and Lady Vennaway, which makes them totally realistic and appealing. Amy herself is often stubborn or naive and frequently behaves in a manner with which I could fully empathise.

There is also subtle humour underlying the narrative, and the use of the first person with entirely realistic dialogue and memory makes Amy’s story vibrant and engaging like listening to that of an old friend.

I really enjoyed ‘Amy Snow’. It was intelligently and vividly written, well researched and realistic whilst managing to be a real page turner. Lovers of historical fiction must read this as soon as possible.

I can’t thank enough Kerry Hood at Hodder, Bookbridgr and Lindsay Hawdon for providing a review copy of this wonderful, wonderful book.

I can hardly bring myself to produce a blog post about ‘Jakob’s Colours’ by Lindsay Hawdon as I feel anything I write will only besmirch the memory of having read it. None of my words can conjure up the emotional experience of reading this book.

The narrative concerns 8 year old Jakob’s fight for survival and is based around the Second World War treatment of Roma people. It spans back into the past to give the reader a full understanding of Jakob’s heritage through the childhood lives of his parents, Lor and Yavy. We see that ‘We live in a time of angels and devils, but not a single one of us is either’ as Hawdon explores great cruelty and great kindness in her writing.

Meticulously researched, I found this novel highly effective and deeply affecting. Not a single syllable seemed out of place as the beauty of colour and description drew me in to the story. I could feel, for example, the tenderness of Lor’s caress of Jakob’s face, and the sense of loss running throughout was almost too much to bear. The writing is sophisticated and totally convincing. The prose is beautiful on many levels, from the visual imagery of colours, through Lor and Jakob’s allegorical story telling to the exploration of humanity. Reading ‘Jakob’s Colours’ has made me look at the colours of life with a renewed perspective.

‘Jakob’s Colours’ is by far the most emotional and incredible book I’ve read this year and, truthfully, it may be the best book I’ve ever read. I cannot praise it highly enough.

I am hugely indebted to Frances Gough at Headline, Bookbridgr and Tinderpress for allowing me to read and review this incredible text.

It has taken me several days to read ‘The Snow Kimono’ because Mark Henshaw’s writing is so beguiling, intricate and multi-layered I needed to keep stopping to reflect on what I’d read.

Set initially in Paris in 1989, but weaving across the past of Japan and Algiers too, the story concerns newly retired Inspector Jovert who encounters the enigmatic Tadashi Omura in their apartment block. The two talk together and Omuru reveals a tale of the exceptional Katsuo Ikeda and the women in his life.

I found the plot a little like gathering smoke. It kept slipping from me and leading me astray so that the final fifty pages or so gave me the same revelations and shocks as they give to Jovert. The style is totally hypnotic. Looking back, whilst writing this review, I can see the hints and connections that I missed at first. This is one of the skills of Henshaw. His themes of truth, betrayal and deception are woven so successfully into the narrative that the reader is forced to consider their own perception of memory and truth.

What completely drew me in was the poetic, mesmerising language. I found some of it so beautiful I felt it could have been set out as poetry. Each of the senses is indulged by reading this book, from ‘the tock, tock, tock of a water clock’ to the ‘fat padded toes of a lizard’.

To be honest, ‘The Snow Kimono’ is not an easy read. Written with sublime care and attention to detail, it deserves the same attention in its reading. It won’t be for everyone, but I thought it was well worth the wait of its creation.

My grateful thanks to Veronique Norton at Hodder and Stoughton for providing this lovely book for review.

When Jason loses his job, he and his wife Libby move back to Jason’s home town to run the family hotel with Jason’s widowed mother, Margaret. A car accident outside the hotel brings a young woman into their lives and so ‘One Small Act of Kindness’ begins.

Lucy Dillon has written a delightful book that I read in a weekend as I found her characters so warm and convincing that I wanted to see what happened to them. I think keeping the palette of characters relatively small is a real triumph as they are truly three dimensional. Each is gradually revealed and the reader gets to know them thoroughly – even (or perhaps especially) Lord Bob, the basset hound.

The plot is well constructed so that there are twists and turns, false leads and hints engaging the reader throughout. The ending is hugely satisfying.

Lucy Dillon’s other great skill lies in her ability to paint pictures with words. I could envisage every aspect of the hotel from her descriptions.

I had initially worried that ‘One Small Act of Kindness’ might just be a sugary chick lit read and I wonder if men would enjoy it as much as a female audience, but it is definitely so much more. It does make the reader think hard about their own behaviour, and indeed, want to live their lives better. This is the kind of book that makes for a fantastic feel good read. It does truly warm the heart. In fact, if I were ever to become a writer, this is exactly the kind of book I wish I had the talent to produce.

I can’t wait to read another of Lucy Dillon’s works.

My great thanks to http://www.lovereading.co.uk for providing this review copy. ‘The Heat of Betrayal’ is out on 23rd April.

I’m a real lover of Douglas Kennedy’s writing so it was with excitement and not a little trepidation that I began ‘The Heat of Betrayal’. I was anxious that I might be disappointed as my expectations were high. I need not have worried. From the opening two sentences, ‘First light. And I didn’t know where I was any more.’ I was completely drawn in to the story of Robin and her feckless husband Paul as they live out their personal drama in a trip to Morocco. The betrayal of the title is explored on so many levels, not least our own betrayal of ourselves, so that there is something for all readers to relate to. Other themes to make the reader think include the nature of corruption, love, revenge, culture and death, making us stop in our tracks as personal truths resonate in the reading.

Douglas Kennedy excels at writing from the first person perspective of women and Robin’s voice is clear and strong so that the reader empathises with her from the start.

The writing is so eloquent, with natural dialogue and a pace that grabs the reader and pulls them along relentlessly. I found the twists and turns highly engaging and exciting. The ending is realistic and satisfying whilst leaving questions for the reader to ponder about the truth of their own lives.

A great joy in reading ‘The Heat of Betrayal’ is the exquisite description of Morocco. Anyone living there or who has travelled in Morocco will instantly recognise the scenes Kennedy describes.

Readers of strong contemporary fiction and thrillers will love it as much as I did.

There have been so many rave reviews of ‘Adult Onset’ that tells of a week in the life of author Mary Rose as she struggles to care for her children and come to terms with the relationships she has had with her family, that I was delighted to receive a copy for my blog. I loved ‘Fall On Your Knees’ by the same author.

However, I struggled with ‘Adult Onset’; so much so that initially I gave up and read a couple of other books before returning to it. It wasn’t until this second attempt at reading that I realised what is so clever about Ann-Marie MacDonald’s writing. I didn’t like Mary Rose, I couldn’t empathise with her and I hated the toddler Maggie. I found the day-to-day life they lead tedious and frustrating. And that’s the point. MacDonald has created a world where daily life can be mundane to the point of breaking a person’s soul, making them question how they got to be where they are and whom they have become.

The themes explored in ‘Adult Onset’ are huge. Our relationships with out parents, siblings, with our children and lovers are dissected and examined. Our neuroses and our fears are laid bare. As I read there was very much the horrible realisation that, in Mary Rose and Dolly’s situations, I may very well have behaved as badly or even worse.

Although I can’t say I enjoyed reading ‘Adult Onset’, I would say that I appreciate how clever and incisive a novel it is. Others, I’m sure, will love it.

My grateful thanks to Georgina Moore (@PublicityBooks) for generously providing this text.

It took me a while to get used to the rhythm of this story, told in the first person by Katie, an 18 year old living in Long Island in the summer of 1972. Set in a time of decay and depression in the town, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War all the characters are struggling to find happiness and peace; whether through love, sex, drugs, relationships or alcohol. There are some very big themes explored through Katie’s eyes from abortion and homophobia to post traumatic stress disorder, but these themes are skilfully woven into the story in a way that makes them integral to our understanding of the time in which ‘If I Knew You Were Going To Be That Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go’ is set.

Initially, I found the frequent use of expletives jarring, but as I read on I became used to which characters spoke in which way and their language choices actually made them more real to me.

Once I attuned to the structure of introducing characters and events and weaving them into Katie’s experiences and her memories, the narrative seemed to build and build like classical music, almost hypnotising the reader into its cadences. The further I read, the more engrossed I became.

The descriptions are vivid and evocative, giving a clear mental image of the setting. At times the writing was so beautiful and insightful I had to jot down quotations to return to in the future. Judy Chicural understands and conveys the longing of youth and the frequent disappointment of experience so well that I felt a real resonance with my long lost teenage self.

I don’t know if I am able to say I ‘enjoyed’ Chicurel’s ‘If I Knew You Were Going To Be That Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go’, but I was certainly ensnared by the quality of the writing and emotionally moved and affected by it – so much so I wept at the end. I would certainly read it again as I’m sure I have missed many nuances on first reading.

I am indebted to Frances Gough of Headline for providing this novel for review.

I am utterly ashamed to confess that I have not previously read any of Imogen Robertson’s novels featuring Gabriel Crowther and Harriet Westerman, but I will be rectifying that omission immediately. That said, I did not need the earlier novels to enjoy this read as a one off.

‘Theft of Life’ is an exquisitely written murder mystery story based in the murky world of London in May 1785. An ex-slave trader is found dead, partially clothed and wearing a slave mask. The race is on for Harriet and Gabriel to discover what has happened to him.

The attention to detail and the research that has obviously gone in to the background of slavery underlying this narrative makes it an utterly absorbing and convincing read. Keeping true to the niceties and manners of the time so that the text is historically accurate, whilst managing to write an accessible, entertaining and thoroughly satisfying story takes considerable skill and I felt Imogen Robertson excels in ‘Theft of Life’. I really felt immersed in London of the late 1700s. Whilst there is no shying away from a very disturbing era of British history, there is, very frequently, a warmth and humour in this book that prevents it from being ‘preachy’ and makes it all the more effective.

I loved the details of day to day life and London as a setting, being easily able to picture what was described. Similarly, I found the characters utterly real; some thoroughly despicable, others completely charming. Underpinning the several exciting twists and turns in the story is real human emotion including love, revenge, jealousy, hatred, fear and madness.

The structure of the novel over one week gave it a coherence and pace that I felt was truly cinematic. ‘Theft of Life’ is a book that can be read and enjoyed on many levels. I loved it.

I was fortunate to receive ‘Sail Upon the Land’ in a small competition run by the author. This review represents my honest opinions.

Without giving away plot spoilers, the story concerns four women in the same family over several decades and explores the meaning of family (especially motherhood), love and truth.

Initially after the prologue, the structure took me a little while to adjust to as it moves backwards and forwards rapidly through different eras and timescales. However, I soon realised this is one of the book’s strengths, creating a rich tapestry of entirely historically accurate hooks that entrap the reader, drawing them in. I felt this was one of the most well researched and intelligent novels I had read in some time. The social and cultural references are never clumsy, but serve to create atmosphere and depth to the lives of Sarah, Melissa, Damson and Mellita. Each word contributes to a highly evocative picture. I think what really works well is that every human sense is catered for in the descriptions so the reader almost experiences first hand the things the characters experience.

I found ‘Sail Upon the Land’ a totally absorbing story. Each of the four main female characters is drawn with real understanding so that I felt I knew them well, cared about them and found myself thinking of them when I wasn’t actually reading the book. In fact, it took me some time to read as the writing deserves to be savoured and appreciated.

‘Sail Upon the Land’ put me in mind of a reunion with someone I love, sharing an old photo album and reliving the stories of our joint past. If I say that Josa Young has managed to reduce me to tears with her writing it will show how powerful this novel is. I loved it.

The Grand Reopening of the Dandelion Café’ tells the story of Annie who is left a run down café by her father. As Annie attempts to leave her complicated past behind and juggle her present career she also tries to inject new life into the café and her own relationships with friends, café workers, her family and Matt – the man she meets during this journey.

OK. I admit it. When I decided to take part in the launch blog tour of this book I was prepared to be underwhelmed as it looked as if this would be the kind of insubstantial froth that it churned out by the thousands. I was wrong.

There is undoubtedly a familiar pattern to the plot structure of this story and the depiction of the characters within it, but it is none the worse for that. Annie struggles to fit back into an environment she thought she had left behind, having become an independent woman in her own right. She has had a difficult relationship in the past and typically, the male lead in this story, Matt, is tall, strong and handsome so that she is drawn to him instantly. All these feel like regular, but engaging, devices.

There are some lovely touches in the writing. The balance of long and short sentences and paragraphs means the reader is drawn along with the story as its pace ebbs and flows with the action. The plot is uncluttered but more than interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention with a couple of twists along the way. Descriptions of the café and the cherry trees in particular are vivid and cinematic so that the reader can picture them easily and feel as if they are there on Cherry Pie Island where the action takes place. Dialogue is natural and engaging, allowing the reader to get a real sense of the characters through their words and to believe in, and care about, what they are saying.

The Grand Reopening of the Dandelion Café isn’t a difficult read, but it is comforting in its familiarity and entertaining so that the reader actually cares what happens to those involved. It’s an enjoyable read that lifts the spirits and I’d certainly recommend investing the time to read it. You might even find, like me, that your prejudices about this kind of fiction are well and truly challenged!