Now that we are back in lockdown and travel denied us once again, my thoughts turn to the far off places I’ve had the chance to visit in the past. One of the countries I loved was Cambodia where, in spite of its quite recent history, I found the people to be utterly charming. When I realised that Gabrielle Yetter’s book Whisper of the Lotus could transport me back to Cambodia and its people I simply had to ask Gabrielle to write a guest post for Linda’s Book Bag.

Whisper of the Lotus was published on 22nd October 2020 and is available for purchase here.

Whisper of the Lotus

A buzz sounded from inside Charlotte’s handbag, so she stopped and fumbled for the mobile phone she’d switched on after landing. Surely nobody would be contacting her here.
Her fingers curled around it and she flipped open the case and checked the message: Welcome to Cambodia, Charlotte. You have 57 days

Sometimes you have to go a long way from home to come full circle back to discover what was right in front of you..

Charlotte’s mundane, dead-end life lacked excitement. She never imagined that sitting on a plane to Cambodia, struggling with her fear of flying, would lead to her being befriended by Rashid, an old man whose tragic secret would take her on a mystery tour of discovery.

In a land of golden temples, orange-clad monks, and smiling people, Charlotte discovers nothing is as she’d expected. She also never imagined the journey would take her back to the night when her father walked out on the family.

And who was Rashid? Was he just a kindly old man, or was there something deeper sewn into the exquisite fabric of his life?

From the author of The Definitive Guide to Living in Southeast Asia: Cambodia and Just Go! Leave the Treadmill for a World of Adventure, Whisper of the Lotus is a multi-layered story about friendship and family, love and identity, set in an exotic, magical country in Southeast Asia.

Deeper Than Words

A Guest Post by Gabrielle Yetter

The first time we met SomOn was in June of 2010. My husband, Skip, and I had just flown across the world to begin new lives in Cambodia, and SomOn’s face was the first we saw. He stood at the airport gate, clutching a board displaying our names, ushered us into his bright orange tuk-tuk, and drove us to the simple guesthouse that would be our first port of call.

Ten years later, when I published Whisper of the Lotus, SomOn was one of my central characters. His sunny personality and childlike spirit embodied so many of the people we met during our four years in Cambodia and it was only fitting he’d be part of the book.

The story is about the journey of a young woman named Charlotte who goes to Cambodia to visit her best friend and escape from personal challenges back home. On the way, she meets a mysterious old man who changes the direction of her life, causing her to question everything she’d ever believed in. And, when she arrives in Phnom Penh, guess who drove the tuk-tuk that came to meet her?

When Skip and I settled into Cambodia, SomOn’s role became as significant in our lives as it was in Charlotte’s fictional world. A sole breadwinner and father of two beautiful children, SomOn always had a smile on his face and a moment for anyone in need. Once, when visiting a local zoo, we noticed a blind beggar playing a flute nearby. SomOn leapt up, reached into his pocket, and handed him a bundle of notes. Another time, he swerved in the middle of the street, backed up the tuk-tuk and handed money to a widow who was squatting on the corner of the road. This, from a man who made nine dollars on a good day. He would return our cash if we mistakenly overpaid him, invite us to his one-room home for dinner, bring us “happy new year” gifts, and unfailingly show up at our front door every day for almost three years to drive us to work.

In Whisper of the Lotus, he’s Charlotte’s guide and watchdog. He’s also the embodiment of typical Cambodian quirkiness. He speeds through Phnom Penh, “dodging cars and SUVs like an ant between elephants”, insists Charlotte visits the horrifying Tuol Sleng genocide museum on her first day, and tells her “not to worry” when the tuk-tuk becomes trapped in gridlocked traffic on the way to the airport.

Charlotte gasped as they narrowly missed a dog, then groaned out loud when they were forced to stop at another traffic light. Cars, buses, and bikes streamed across the road in front of them, jamming the passageway. The light turned green. Nothing moved.

She leaned forward again. ‘SomOn, how much farther to the airport?’ Her palms were sweaty. This wasn’t looking good.

‘Not long. You fine.’

Aware of the Cambodian tendency for understatement, she looked at her watch. ‘I don’t think we’re fine at all,’ she said. She scanned the street for any sign of traffic movement and saw none. They were stuck.

Since Skip and I left Cambodia five years ago, SomOn has kept in touch through Facebook. He updates me in broken English about his new venture into the guesthouse business, tells me about the challenges of the recent flooding, and sends photos of his family and their activities. So, when I sent him a note telling him I’d written a book and that he was in it, his reply was “Ohh really I’m very happy to hear that,” with two smiley-face emojis.

The following day, his Facebook profile photo had changed. It now showed a smiling SomOn holding a copy of Whisper of the Lotus in front of the Phnom Penh riverside. And even though we may not speak the same language, I know our communication goes deeper than words.

*

That’s just wonderful Gabrielle, thank you. Finding out about SomOn brings back many happy memories for me, such as racing through the streets of Phnom Penh in a rickshaw being driven by a manic, laughing one eyed driver who couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group, as well as the more sobering ones of visiting the genocide museum and the Killing Fields. Hearing about SomOn has made me desperate to read Whisper of the Lotus too.

About Gabrielle Yetter

Gabrielle Yetter has lived in India, Bahrain, South Africa, Cambodia, England and the USA. She worked as a journalist in South Africa, owned a dining guide in San Diego, wrote a cookbook about traditional Cambodian desserts and freelanced for publications and online sites in the US, The Netherlands, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.

In 2010, she and her husband, Skip, sold their home in the US, quit their jobs, gave away most of their possessions, and bought a one-way ticket to Cambodia.

In June 2015, she co-authored Just Go! Leave the Treadmill for a World of Adventure, with Skip. In May 2016, she published her first children’s picture book, Ogden, The Fish Who Couldn’t Swim Straight followed by Martha The Blue Sheep in 2017.

She lives in Eastbourne, England and her first novel, Whisper of the Lotus, was released in November 2020.

For more information, visit Gabrielle’s website, find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @gabster2.

It’s a real pleasure to welcome back Anne Goodwin to Linda’s Book Bag today. There’s a very special event happening at the moment with one of Anne’s novels and I simply had to invite her back to tell me all about it.

Staying in with Anne Goodwin

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

Thanks, Linda, I’m delighted to be here again. You’ve generously hosted me twice before, with posts about how the narrators of my first two novels were shaped by childhood experiences and the dynamics of their families of origin.

Yes indeed. The post linked to Sugar and Snails is here and the one for Underneath is here.

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought my debut novel, Sugar and Snails, a midlife coming-of-age story about a woman who has hidden her past identity for thirty years, afraid she’ll lose everything if her secret gets out. It was published in 2015 but I’m sharing it this evening because it will be free throughout February. Anyone who’d like a copy can reserve it here.

How brilliant. We all love a free book. I know Sugar and Snails has been incredibly well received Anne. Tell us, what can we expect from an evening in with Sugar and Snails?

A bumpy journey with an uplifting ending. Sugar and Snails received advanced praise from a consultant psychiatrist, a trans campaigner and a Booker-prize-shortlisted author, among others. Readers have called it a “fascinating portrait of a struggle with unusual demons” that turns out to be “about much more than you realise”. It’s “a well written novel dealing with a difficult subject sensitively and with compassion” that “takes a close look at how secrets and lies can affect our entire life, down to the heart of who we are” and is “destined to open hearts and minds to an experience that’s rarely explored in the realms of fiction”.

I think it sounds brilliant Anne! I’ll definitely be heading here to reserve my free copy! What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought my walking boots and a First Aid kit! Sorry my boots are rather muddy – I’ve left them by your back door – but walking is fundamental to my writing process, and I’ve included a scene in Sugar and Snails in which Diana, my main character, recalls a childhood walk with her father in the Peak District National Park.

I can see from the photo you’ve brought how walking is inspirational Anne, but why the first aid kit?

The First Aid kit is for Diana, and it’s not only blisters from ill-fitting boots I’m worried about. She’s self-harmed since childhood and, although she hadn’t cut herself for some time, it’s always a risk when she’s stressed. And she’s pretty stressed when the novel opens: she’d planned to give Simon (whom she’s been dating chastely for a few months) a night to remember, but he’s likely to remember it for all the wrong reasons. I don’t want her getting blood on your furniture.

Oo. Neither do I. 

I’ve brought an extract too, so you can see what Diana is like:

The front door slams. I rise stiffly and stumble down the remaining stairs. Dragging my fingertips along the dado rail, I reach the kitchen and flick the light switch on the wall. I note the lustre of the sunshine-yellow cupboards and the chill of the tiles on my bare feet, but from a distance, as if I’m researching a stranger’s home.

I pull out drawers and rummage through the contents. I select my best knives and rank them by length along the worktop, the way a toddler might arrange her toys: breadknife; chef’s knife; carving knife; the whole gamut of blades, right down to the fruit and veg knife with the yellow handle, still smeared with dried threads of pumpkin from our supposed romantic meal. Pushing back my sleeve, I test each one against my forearm. None of them up to the job.

I fumble in the cupboard under the stairs for my torch and beam it around until it highlights an old shoebox stuffed with tools. The Stanley knife is a work of art in its simplicity, with its green plastic casing and satisfying heft in my hand. The blade seems sharp enough but it’s freckled with dirt-coloured paint. Taking a crossed-tip screwdriver, I unleash the blade and turn it over. The triangle of pristine steel peeping out from the sheath gives me an artisan’s sense of accomplishment.

My ears are abuzz with white noise as I push back the sleeve of my dressing gown to the crook of my arm. Flexing my wrist, the blood vessels reveal themselves below the surface like waterways on a map. The pads of my fingers trace a raised blue-green vein, from the middle of my forearm, through crossings of taut white scar tissue to the base of my thumb where it branches out with arteries and purple capillaries in a sanguineous river delta.

I locate a patch of clear skin amongst the tangle of old scars and apply the blade. At first there’s nothing more than a puckering at either side. As with sex, I’m sorely out of practice. I press harder, digging the tip of the knife so deep that by rights it should reach bone. Still nothing. Pressing harder still, a tiny red bauble bubbles at the tip of the blade.

Maintaining an even pressure, I scrape the knife along my arm. The bauble clones itself over and over, beads on a rosary that multiply and merge into a glistening red band. Dropping the knife, I bring my arm to my mouth: the vibrant colour, the taste of hot coins, the pain as sharp as vinegar spearing the fug of nothingness with the promise of peace. When Simon left, I was drowning. Now I’m floating on a sea of calm.

In the kitchen, I bind a folded tea towel round my forearm, gripping one end in my teeth to brace the knot. Secure as a swaddled baby, I mount the stairs to bed.

My word, that’s a powerful piece Anne. Thank you so much for sharing it with us and for staying in to tell me more about Sugar and Snails. While you’re lacing up your walking boots and heading off, I’ll tell readers more about Sugar and Snails and remind them about how to get a free copy of the book:

Sugar and Snails

At fifteen, she made a life-changing decision. Thirty years on, it’s time to make another.

When Diana escaped her misfit childhood, she thought she’d chosen the easier path. But the past lingers on, etched beneath her skin, and life won’t be worth living if her secret gets out.

As an adult, she’s kept other people at a distance… until Simon sweeps in on a cloud of promise and possibility. But his work is taking him to Cairo, the city that transformed her life. She’ll lose Simon if she doesn’t join him. She’ll lose herself if she does.

Sugar and Snails charts Diana’s unusual journey, revealing the scars from her fight to be true to herself. A triumphant mid-life coming-of-age story about bridging the gap between who we are and who we feel we ought to be.

Don’t forget to reserve your free copy of Sugar and Snails here. You can also buy Sugar and Snails here.

About Anne Goodwin

Anne Goodwin is the author of two novels and a short story collection. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, about a woman who has kept her past identity a secret for thirty years, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize. Throughout February, subscribers to her newsletter can read Sugar and Snails for free. Subscribe here.

For more information about Anne visit her website, follow her on Twitter @Annecdotist, visit her Amazon author page or find her on Link tree and YouTube.

I might be ever so slightly excited today as it’s Without a Trace publication day and the fabulous Mari Hannah is staying in with me to chat all about this latest Kate Daniels book. I’m delighted to be part of these launch celebrations and would like to thank Alainna at Orion for inviting me to participate. Let’s see what Mari told me about her latest book:

Staying in with Mari Hannah

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

Hello Linda. Thanks for inviting me to your wonderful site and for all you do for writers and readers. In the current climate we need you more than ever.

It’s a pleasure to help share bookish news Mari. I rather think I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’d like to share a DCI Kate Daniels title with you today, her seventh. Without A Trace is out in hardback, e-book and audiobook. Due to the current pandemic, the paperback launch was delayed and will now take place today, January 7th. It’s been a long time coming and I’m very excited.

Congratulations and happy publication day Mari. It must be such a frustration to have publication dates changing in the current climate, although from what I hear, Without a Trace is well worth waiting for and I’m delighted to have a copy waiting to be read! What can we expect from an evening in with Without A Trace?

On these dark winter nights, nothing beats curling up in front of the fire with a glass wine and a page-turning crime thriller. I hope your readers find it intriguing and compelling.

Oh, absolutely, and if these reviews are anything to go by I think we’re in for a treat:

Tell me a bit more about what’s happening with Kate in Without A Trace.

Kate Daniels’ world is imploding. She’s out of her comfort zone, out of control, far from her Northumberland base. Without A Trace is as much about love and loss as it is about an investigation over which she has no jurisdiction. That doesn’t stop her.

This is a very personal story for Kate that will resonate with readers. It’s about never giving up. It asks how far you’d go in order to find a missing loved one – or at least find closure. It also has an international element involving US Homeland Security, the FBI and the Metropolitan Police’s Casualty Bureau – Aviation Security Command.

Ooo. Interesting! I think never giving up might need to be the anthem for the decade!

Kate breaks every rule in this one, going off-book, ignoring orders and a whole lot more to achieve her aim. I threw everything at her and she responded, as I knew she would, to a crisis that spans both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

So as well as a cracking thriller in Without A Trace, we get some vicarious travel too. Brilliant!

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

I’ve brought along a guest . . .

Gabriele Torres is an army veteran, experienced law enforcement officer and the special agent in charge of the US side of the investigation. Like Kate, she’s no slouch.

I had a lot of fun watching these formidable women collaborate on a major disaster that has taken many lives. Inevitably, they don’t always see eye-to-eye – I may have understated this! – but in a search for the truth they join forces. Who knows? Maybe Kate and Gabriele will get together in a future book.

Now that would be interesting. Thanks so much for being here, Mari, and telling us all about Without A Trace and a slightly belated Happy New Year.

Thanks Linda.

Without a Trace

A FATAL CRASH

A plane on route from London to New York City has disappeared out of the sky. This breaking news dominates every TV channel, every social media platform, and every waking hour of the Metropolitan Police and US Homeland Security.

A PRIVATE TRAGEDY

The love of DCI Kate Daniels’ life was on that aircraft, but she has no authority to investigate. This major disaster is outside of her jurisdiction and she’s ordered to walk away.

A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH

But Kate can’t let it lie. She has to find out what happened to that plane – even if it means going off book. No one is safe.

And there are some very dangerous people watching her…

Published by Orion, you’ll find Without a Trace for purchase here, through these publisher links, and there are signed copies of Without A Trace available for purchase here.

About Mari Hannah

Mari Hannah is a multi-award-winning author whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari’s debut, The Murder Wall, won her the Polari First Book Prize. Her second picked up a Northern Writers’ Award and her body of work won her the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017, an incredible honour to receive so early in her career. In 2019, she was Programming Chair of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and was awarded the Diva Wordsmith of the Year. In 2020, Mari won Capital Crime ‘Crime Book of the Year’ for Without a Trace. Her Kate Daniels series is in development with Sprout Pictures.

For further information, visit Mari’s website, follow her on Twitter @mariwriter, or Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’ve reviewed several children’s books that I’ve received from Books2Door here on Linda’s Book Bag but I haven’t ever really said much about the company who have sent them to me for review.

With schools opening and closing, online learning, the inability to meet up with friends and all the restraints that our children are dealing with, now seems the perfect time to engender a love of reading. Through books children can escape the everyday world and the lovely folk at Books2Door have some fabulous new worlds for children to discover. I’ve found Books2Door really fabulous in offering a wide range of books and I love the fact that the more books you buy, the more points you get to redeem against future purchases.

Established in 2004, Books2Door provide discounted children’s books and there really is something for everyone on their website. You can search by age (and yes, there are books for adult readers too), price (starting at 99p), popularity and so on, so that there is the chance you’ll find a book for any reader.

You’ll find the my reviews of books I’ve received from Books2Door as follows:

Michael Morpurgo’s 8 Book Collection here

Calming Art Therapy Colouring Book here

The World of David Walliams Book of Stuff here

Horrid Henry’s Mischievous Mayhem here

Evie in the Jungle here

Latest Order

Most recently I was offered a choice of books for review on 22nd December and I chose a box set of Anthony Horowitz’ Alex Rider books because in the past I have written teaching resources for Hodder for other of Anthony Horowitz’s Power of Five books (available from Books2Door here) which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I’m excited to read this series (which you can also buy here and which is cheaper than on a well known online store!). Having placed that order on 22nd December, I received a confirmation on 23rd and the books arrived on 24th. Given the Christmas post I thought this was absolutely brilliant service and is exactly the service I have had every time I’ve had books from Books2Door. Indeed, I think it says something about the level of service they provide when they have an average score of 4.9/5 on Trustpilot from over 14,000 reviews.

The books are well presented in a cardboard holder that gives any child an instant bookshelf. I forgot to photograph the packaging they came in, but the parcel arrived in pristine condition. I confess I haven’t actually opened the collection yet as I didn’t want to spoil it! That said, I’m desperate to get reading this series so there will be a review of Stormbreaker soon! The set contains:

Stormbreaker

The first book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the first book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, fourteen-year-old Alex is forcibly recruited into MI6. Armed with secret gadgets, he is sent to investigate Herod Sayle, a man who is offering state-of-the-art Stormbreaker computers to every school in the country. But the teenage spy soon finds himself in mortal danger. Stormbreaker is available individually here too.

Point Blanc

The second mission in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the second book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex is sent by MI6 to infiltrate the exclusive Point Blanc Academy. But the academy hides a deadly secret. Can Alex alert the world to the truth before it’s too late? Point Blanc is available separately here too.

Skeleton Key

The third, explosive mission in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the third book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex faces his most dangerous challenge yet. Teaming up with the CIA, Alex must go to a remote Caribbean island called Skeleton Key, where the insane general Sarov is hatching explosive plans to re-write history. Skeleton Key is available separately here too.

Eagle Strike

The fourth, thrilling episode in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the fourth book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex is in the South of France, hoping to sever his links with MI6. But when a sudden attack on his hosts plunges Alex back into a world of violence, he soon uncovers a plan called Eagle strike – a discovery more terrible than anything he could have imagined. Eagle Strike is available separately here too.

Scorpia

The deadly fifth mission in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the fifth book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex travels to Venice to discover the truth about his past. But the truth lies with a criminal organization known as Scorpia, and Alex must make a choice… work for MI6 once more, or betray everything he believes in. Scorpia is available separately here too.

Ark Angel

The action-packed sixth adventure in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. In the sixth book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex has a chance encounter with the son of multi-billionaire Nikolei Drevin. Soon Alex finds himself in the middle of an international crime hunt. The connection – Ark Angel, a revolutionary space hotel with catastrophic potential. Ark Angel is available separately here too.

Snakehead

Undercover in a poisonous world, teen spy Alex Rider is back for his seventh adrenalin-rush adventure! In the seventh book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex is forced into the Australian secret service. His target is the criminal underworld of South East Asia, and a ruthless organization known as the Snakehead. Snakehead is available separately here too.

Crocodile Tears

My enormous thanks to Jenny Platt at Hodder for inviting me to participate in the launch celebrations for Will Dean’s The Last Thing to Burn. I’m delighted to share my review today.

The Last Thing to Burn will be published on 7th January 2021 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Last Thing to Burn

He is her husband. She is his captive.

Her husband calls her Jane. That is not her name.

She lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows how she got to the UK: no one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen.

Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn’t like what he sees, she is punished.

For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting . . .

My Review of The Last Thing to Burn

About Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at the LSE and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. The second Tuva Moodyson mystery, Red Snow, was published in January 2019 and won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019. The Last Thing to Burn is his first standalone novel and his first book with Hodder.

You can follow Will Dean on Twitter @willrdean, on Instagram and on his YouTube Channel for further information.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m ever so slightly obsessed by the weather and so when Abi Walton got in touch from DK Books to see if I’d like a copy of Fraser and Judith Ralston’s children’s book, What’s the Weather?, in return for an honest review, I couldn’t resist, despite my attempts not to take on new blog materials!

Published by DK on 7th January 2021, What’s the Weather? is available for pre-order through the links here.

What’s the Weather?

See how snowflakes and lightning storms form and learn the real effects of climate change in this kids book about weather.

At a time when extreme weather is becoming more and more common, get clued up on the science behind it and the ways in which it’s changing. Learn about all kinds of weather and marvel at how powerful it can be. Discover what the weather was like when the Earth was born and what it could be like in the future. Find out how weather is predicted and the inventions that harness its power.

This eco-focussed book is packed with facts and illustrations showing how weather forms, the ways in which it changes over time, and how we can use its power.

My Review of What’s the Weather?

About Fraser and Judith Ralston

Judith Ralston has been a BBC weather presenter since 2002, and is a well-known news personality with over 27,000 followers on Twitter. In 2017, she was voted the UK’s third most popular weather presenter, in a poll by the Radio Times. Judith lives in Scotland with her husband Fraser Ralston, a
chartered meteorologist. Fraser’s 35-year career in meteorology has included visiting and studying the extreme weather in Antarctica.

You’ll find Judith on Twitter @JudithRalston.

My enormous thanks to Ben Cameron at Cameron Publicity for sending me a copy of Homeward Bound by Richard Smith in return for an honest review. What better time to share a review of a book called Homeward Bound than on a day when many of us will wish we were doing exactly that – travelling home…

Homeward Bound is available for purchase in all the usual places including here.

Homeward Bound

George is a recently widowed seventy-nine-year-old. He nearly made it as a rock star in the 1960s and he’s not happy. Tara is his teenage granddaughter and she’s taken refuge from her bickering parents by living with George. Toby is George’s son-in-law and he wants George in a care home.

George has two secrets. 1) He’s never revealed why his music career stalled. And 2) No-one knows just how much the disappointment of opportunities missed still gnaw at him. He craves one last chance, even at his age. When it presents itself, through the appearance of a long-lost distant relative – whose chequered past should set alarm bells ringing – he can’t resist.

For Tara, living with her grandfather is a way to find her own path and develop her own musical ambitions. She isn’t prepared for the clash between different generations and living in a strange house full of her grandfather’s memories – and vinyl records.

They get off to a shaky start. George takes an instant dislike to the sounds from her bedroom that seem more suited to Guantanamo Bay than anything he would call musical. But as time plays out, they find there are more similarities – neither know how to operate a dishwasher – than differences, and parallels across the generations slowly bring them to recognise their shared strengths. But when Toby inadvertently sets in motion a chain of events, it leaves Tara with the same dilemma her grandfather faced five decades before with the same life-changing choice to make.

My Review of Homeward Bound

Tara and George are unlikely housemates.

In the interests of complete honesty, I have to admit my review of Homeward Bound might be coloured slightly by the fact that my much missed Dad was called George and could always be heard singing or whistling, so that I might be predisposed to view the narrative favourably, but I so enjoyed this story. Richard Smith writes with such passion about music without it ever feeling contrived so that George’s record collection and love of music not only drives the plot, but adds an extra dimension of interest – even to readers like me who are tone deaf! I found myself Googling some of the references as I read and can genuinely say that I have found new music through reading Homeward Bound.

The plot is smashing. The balance of sadness and happiness, ambition and diffidence is so well done. There are moments of incredible tension that had me worrying what might become of George and moments of fabulous humour too. For example, I laughed aloud at George’s first solo encounter with the Internet!

I loved meeting George. He epitomises the way modern society can try to side-line the elderly even though they have so much to offer. I found it sad that his marriage had served to curtail his creativity slightly but equally I felt uplifted by his rediscovery of his musical passion through Tara. George teachers the reader that as long as we have spirit and passion, we have life, even if physically we are no longer in peak condition. Richard Smith illustrates so effectively and frequently poignantly how the different generations actually have much in common if only they gave one another a chance. Indeed, the theme of family is incredibly realistic. There’s a caring and insightful exploration of family dynamics in Homeward Bound that makes it a very realistic as well as entertaining book.

Speaking of family, I loathed Toby. I think it says something for the quality of Richard Smith’s writing that I could cheerfully have climbed into the pages of Homeward Bound and beaten Toby senseless with a care home brochure! Tara, however, is a perfect accompaniment to George and I think one of the real successes of Homeward Bound is her increasing maturity, her sense of responsibility and her surprising personal values. Homeward Bound may be a book written by an ‘older’ author with an older protagonist in George, but it holds attraction for readers of all ages.

I’d say Homeward Bound is a surprising read. I expected it to be gentle but it is also incisive and thoroughly entertaining. I really enjoyed it.

About Richard Smith

Before embarking on his new writing career, Richard Smith was a producer of TV commercials, sponsored documentaries and educational and promotional films. It took him around the world and into places not normally accessible to visitors – up to the top of the Elizabeth Tower to see Big Ben strike twelve, on a speed boat around the Needles and North Sea oil platforms, and to the Niger Delta in Africa . . . to name but a few. Worryingly two of them were featured in a British Library annual exhibition, ‘Propoganda’! Richard lives in London.

Homeward Bound is Richard’s first book, at age 71. While the story is entirely fictional, George’s record collection really is Richard’s.

You can find out more by visiting Richard’s blog or following him on Twitter @RichardWrites2.

I absolutely love Jo Thomas writing and it gives me enormous pleasure to share my review of her latest book Finding Love at the Christmas Market today. I still have Jo’s summer book Escape to the French Farmhouse waiting for me to read and I can’t wait!

You can read my reviews of Jo’s books Coming Home to Winter Island here, A Winter Beneath The Stars here, Sunset Over the Cherry Orchard here, The Olive Branch here and Late Summer in the Vineyard here. I also have a smashing post about Jo’s top 5 holiday destinations that you can read here.

Published by Transworld imprint Corgi, Finding Love at the Christmas Market is available for purchase thorough these links.

Finding Love at the Christmas Market

Residential-home caterer Connie has had one online-dating disaster too many. Hurt in the past and with her son to consider, now she’s feeling hesitant. Then one of Connie’s residents sets her up on a date at a beautiful German Christmas market – with the promise she’ll take a mini-bus full of pensioners along with her…

Amongst the twinkling lights and smell of warm gingerbread in the old market square, Connie heads off on her date with a checklist of potential partner must-haves. Baker Henrich ticks all the boxes, but when Connie meets Henrich’s rival William, she starts to wonder if ticking boxes is the answer.

Will Connie’s wish for love this Christmas come true, and if so – with who?

My Review of Finding Love at the Christmas Market

Connie needs to tick things off her list to find her perfect partner.

Finding Love at the Christmas Market is another lovely, lovely book from Jo Thomas. It has all her trademark elements with mouth watering food, evocative settings, and believable characters blended into a glorious, escapist read that I thought was wonderful. With so many experiencing Christmas alone or in reduced circumstances, missing family, travel and new memories, Finding Love at the Christmas Market is the perfect way to experience all the positive aspects we are denied.  Every sense from sight to sound, touch to taste and scent is catered for here. The title couldn’t be more apt because although one might expect romantic love, other forms are splendidly woven through the narrative with platonic, filial and community love playing their part in making Finding Love at the Christmas Market such a smashing story.

In fact, I thoroughly appreciated the sense of community illustrated in this motley group of pensioners led by Connie. Although she is no longer alive, Elsie is the catalyst for the action and Finding Love at the Christmas Market felt like a tribute to a real person and to so many who have left us in 2020. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Pearl holds such wisdom as she subtly steers Connie in the right direction. As for Connie herself, by the time I had finished reading Finding Love at the Christmas Market, I was feeling her emotions every bit as much as she was. She holds a kind of Everywoman quality that appeals completely. It’s such a positive experience to read about older characters who are not side-lined, but who are very much at the heart of the action.

There are such beautiful themes here. Jo Thomas understands that what we all need is human connection, friendship and the chance to follow our hearts. Relationships in Finding Love at the Christmas Market are not perfect. Characters are affected by self-doubt, illness, grief and disability and yet we are shown that there is always love even in the bleakest of times. Finding Love at the Christmas Market is exactly the kind of book we all need, especially in the difficult times we’ve been experiencing.

Distil the essence of Christmas – love, simplicity, family and friends and this is what you have in Jo Thomas’ writing. Finding Love at the Christmas Market is a wonderful, heart-warming read for any time of year and I loved it.

About Jo Thomas

Jo Thomas worked for many years as a reporter and producer, first for BBC Radio 5, before moving on to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Radio 2’s The Steve Wright Show. In 2013 Jo won the RNA Katie Fforde Bursary. Her debut novel, The Oyster Catcher, was a runaway bestseller in ebook and was awarded the 2014 RNA Joan Hessayon Award and the 2014 Festival of Romance Best Ebook Award. Jo lives in the Vale of Glamorgan with her husband and three children.

You can visit Jo’s website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @jo_thomas01.

Well 2020’s been a bit of a year hasn’t it? I don’t usually share my books of the year until 31st December but have decided as of today I am taking a break from blogging and social media until 2021.

For me 2020 actually began to go pear shaped at 1.35AM on Boxing Day morning 2019 when we got an emergency call out to my Mum and had to dash round to sort her out. She was unwell for several weeks and looking after her has been an ongoing issue throughout the year. Between then and New Year I discovered the slight discomfort in my cheek was actually coming from an abscess in a tooth. Several visits to a specialist in Cambridge, another in Melton Mowbray and many hundreds of pounds poorer, it transpires the infection has probably been dormant for years as I had a rogue hidden canal between two tooth roots. I’ve had the tooth extracted and the one event in the diary for 2021 so far is an indirect sinus lift and an implant to look forward to, although with the spiralling cases of Covid I may postpone that treatment until I’ve had the vaccine!

Speaking of Covid, some of you know that my husband and I are nick-named the CLASHes – the Curse of Linda and Steve Hill – because, although we love travel, wherever we go there seems to be a problem. For example, we’ve had a car bomb in Spain, an earthquake in Cyprus, massacres in Egypt, floods after 27 years of drought in Africa and all kinds of ‘adventures’. I was even beaten up by a kangaroo in Australia and of course, when we visited Uluru, one of the driest places on earth, it rained.

When I tell you that we were meant to be touring China in September this year, flying into Wuhan and then, after the tour, we should have been boarding The Diamond Princess for a return to Japan on a cruise, you might see what those friends mean about the kind of luck we bring! We had intended to return to Barcelona in May and cruise the Norwegian Fjords in June after heading back to India for most of March as we’ve only ever been to Mumbai, and the centre of India to tiger reserves, before. Sadly none of those things came to pass.

We did, however, decide to blow my forthcoming lump sum from when I turn 60 in April 2021 on a motorhome. We collected it on 1st October and, before the second lockdown and then being slammed into tier 3, we managed to have a day trip to Hunstanton, two nights in Sutton-on-Sea and two nights in the Norfolk Broads as we didn’t have to use any facilities that brought us into contact with others. Oh the glamour! Not quite the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall of China but we saw an otter, a seal and a marsh harrier and we appreciate how lucky we are to have been able to get away at all.

I have been exceptionally cautious during the Covid pandemic, to the extent that I have been ridiculed and vilified by some! But when one of its consequences is to thicken the blood and my husband has already had a stroke when he was 56, I’m happy to be scorned if it means it keeps him safe. Add in my 87 year old mother whose shopping I take twice a week and I know I’m doing the right thing until we are all vaccinated.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom though. I was thrilled to feature in both Woman’s Own and Woman’s Weekly this year and in a local magazine The Village Diary as well as on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour that you can listen to here if you’re remotely interested! I’m on about 20 minutes in after Justine Green and Kate Humble!

I’ve ‘attended’ all manner of online book events and it was a great honour to interview Elly Griffiths for the Deepings’ Literary Festival November Nights a few weeks ago.

With gardening, and the home gym, books have been a complete distraction in 2020. Like many others, for a while I couldn’t settle to reading, and at one point when I was getting upwards of 200 email requests a day for blog slots I thought hard about continuing to blog because about two hours a day were spent just trawling through and answering emails, but eventually I settled into a pattern and when I simply couldn’t concentrate on reading I did something else. I have made the decision not to accept new blog tours in 2021 aside from those I have already accepted, books I’m desperate to read or if requests come directly from authors.

That said, I have managed over 150 reads and 293 blog posts in 2020. I never give stars for a book on Linda’s Book Bag because it feels like too blunt an instrument to me. I do, however, keep a spreadsheet where I score books out of 100. Those attaining 95+/100 become my books of the year so I don’t have any limits like top 20. It simply depends on what I enjoyed the most and it is those books I’d like to highlight here today.

They are presented in the order I read them, NOT in rank order! If you click on the titles, you will be able to read my full reviews.

Three Hours – Rosamund Lupton

Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.

It is a morning’s lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.

It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.

It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. From the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

The First Time I Saw You – Emma Cooper

Lost:
Six-foot-two Irish man who answers to the name Samuel McLaughlin.
Has weak shins and enjoys show tunes.
If found, please return to Sophie Williams.

Before Sophie met Samuel she saw the world in grey.
Before Samuel met Sophie, he never believed in love at first sight.

When they first meet, something tells them they are meant to be.
But fate has other ideas.

Now they have lost each other and can’t see a way back.
But they’ve already changed each other’s lives in more ways than they ever expected…

Dear Life – Rachel Clarke

As a specialist in palliative medicine, Dr Rachel Clarke chooses to inhabit a place many people would find too tragic to contemplate. Every day she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives and to help make dying more bearable.

Rachel’s training was put to the test in 2017 when her beloved GP father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She learned that nothing – even the best palliative care – can sugar-coat the pain of losing someone you love.

And yet, she argues, in a hospice there is more of what matters in life – more love, more strength, more kindness, more joy, more tenderness, more grace, more compassion – than you could ever imagine. For if there is a difference between people who know they are dying and the rest of us, it is simply this: that the terminally ill know their time is running out, while we live as though we have all the time in the world.

Dear Life is a book about the vital importance of human connection, by the doctor we would all want by our sides at a time of crisis. It is a love letter – to a father, to a profession, to life itself.

The Snow Collectors – Tina May Hall

Haunted by the loss of her parents and twin sister at sea, Henna cloisters herself in a Northeastern village where the snow never stops. When she discovers the body of a young woman at the edge of the forest, she’s plunged into the mystery of a centuries-old letter regarding one of the most famous stories of Arctic exploration—the Franklin expedition, which disappeared into the ice in 1845.

At the center of the mystery is Franklin’s wife, the indomitable Lady Jane. Henna’s investigation draws her into a gothic landscape of locked towers, dream-like nights of snow and ice, and a crumbling mansion rife with hidden passageways and carrion birds. But it soon becomes clear that someone is watching her—someone who is determined to prevent the truth from coming out.

 Suspenseful and atmospheric, The Snow Collectors sketches the ghosts of Victorian exploration against the eerie beauty of a world on the edge of environmental collapse.

Wild Spinning Girls -Carol Lovekin

If it wasn’t haunted before she came to live there, after she died, Ty’r Cwmwl made room for her ghost. She brought magic with her.

And the house, having held its breath for years, knew it. Ida Llewellyn loses her job and her parents in the space of a few weeks and, thrown completely off course, she sets out for the Welsh house her father has left her. Ty’r Cwmwl is not at all welcoming despite the fact it looks inhabited, as if someone just left..

It is being cared for as a shrine by the daughter of the last tenant. Determined to scare off her old home’s new landlord, Heather Esyllt Morgan sides with the birds who terrify Ida and plots to evict her. The two girls battle with suspicion and fear before discovering that the secrets harboured by their thoughtless parents have grown rotten with time. Their broken hearts will only mend once they cast off the house and its history, and let go of the keepsakes that they treasure like childhood dreams.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda – Elisabeth Gifford

A sweeping novel set on the Scottish island of St Kilda, following the last community to live there before it was evacuated in 1930.

When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St Kilda in 1927, little does he realise that he has joined the last community to ever live on that desolate, isolated island. Only three years later, St Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near-dead from starvation. But for Fred, that summer is the bedrock of his whole life…

Chrissie Gillies is just nineteen when the researchers come to St Kilda. Hired as their cook, she can’t believe they would ever notice her, sophisticated and educated as they are. But she soon develops a cautious friendship with Fred, a friendship that cannot be allowed to develop into anything more…

In Five Years – Rebecca Serle

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan has been in possession of her meticulously crafted answer since she understood the question. On the day that she nails the most important job interview of her career and gets engaged to the perfect man, she’s well on her way to fulfilling her life goals.

That night Dannie falls asleep only to wake up in a different apartment with a different ring on her finger, and in the company of a very different man. The TV is on in the background, and she can just make out the date. It’s the same night – December 15th – but 2025, five years in the future.

It was just a dream, she tells herself when she wakes, but it felt so real… Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four and a half years later, when Dannie turns down a street and there, standing on the corner, is the man from her dream…

The Switch – Beth O’Leary

Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena’s tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it’s time they swapped places…

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

The House at Silvermoor – Tracy Rees

England, 1899. A new century is dawning, and two young friends are about to enter into a world of money, privilege and family secrets…

Josie has never questioned her life in a South Yorkshire mining village. But everything changes when she meets Tommy from the neighbouring village. Tommy has been destined for a life underground since the moment he was born. But he has far bigger dreams for his future.

United by their desire for something better and by their fascination with the local gentry, Josie and Tommy become fast friends. Wealthy and glamorous, the Sedgewicks of Silvermoor inhabit a world that is utterly forbidden to Tommy and Josie. Yet as the new century arrives, the pair become entangled with the grand family, and discover a long hidden secret.

Will everything change as they all step forward into the new dawn…?

We Begin at the End – Chris Whittaker

‘You can’t save someone that doesn’t want to be saved . . .’

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

A Wedding at the Beach Hut – Veronica Henry

Escape to Everdene Sands, where the sun is shining – but is the tide about to turn?

Robyn and Jake are planning their dream wedding at the family beach hut in Devon. A picnic by the turquoise waves, endless sparkling rosé and dancing barefoot on the golden sand . . .

But Robyn is more unsettled than excited. She can’t stop thinking about the box she was given on her eighteenth birthday, and the secrets it contains. Will opening it reveal the truth about her history – and break the hearts of the people she loves most?

As the big day arrives, can everyone let go of the past and step into a bright new future?

 

Hello, Again – Isabelle Broom

Philippa Taylor (Pepper to her friends) has big dreams. When she closes her eyes, she can picture exactly who she ought to be. The problem is, it’s about as far away from her real life in a small coastal town in Suffolk as she can imagine.

So when her elderly friend Josephine persuades Pepper to accompany her on a trip to Europe, she jumps at the chance to change her routine. And when Pepper bumps (literally) into the handsome Finn in Lisbon, it seems as though she might have finally found what she’s been looking for.

But Pepper know all too well things are rarely as they seem. Her own quiet life hides a dark secret from the past. And even though she and Finn may have been destined to find each other, Pepper suspects life may have other plans as to how the story should end.

A romantic and sweeping story about friendship, love and realising that sometimes it’s about the journey, not the destination.

A Saint in Swindon – Alice Jolly

When a stranger arrives in town, with a bulging blue bag and a whiff of adventure, the neighbourhood takes notice. When he asks for his meals to be sent to his room and peace and quiet for reading, curiosity turns to obsession.

Each day he stays there, locked in his room, demanding books: Plath, Kafka, Orwell, Lawrence, Fitzgerald, James, Bronte (the eldest), Dickens, Dumas, Kesey – on and on, the stranger never leaving his room. Who exactly is he? What is he reading? And will it be able to save us from the terrible state of the world?

Written by award-winning author Alice Jolly, and based on an idea by the book lovers of Swindon town, this funny and, ultimately, dystopian tale, reminds us of the importance of literature in an increasingly dark world.

A Hundred Million Years and a Day – Jean Baptiste Andrea

Stan has been hunting for fossils since the age of six. Now, in the summer of 1954, he hears a story he cannot forget: the skeleton of a huge creature – a veritable dragon – lies deep in an Alpine glacier. And he is determined to find it.

But Stan is no mountaineer. To complete his dangerous expedition, he must call on loyal friend Umberto, who arrives with an eccentric young assistant, and expert guide Gio. Time is short: the four men must descend before the weather turns. As bonds are forged and tested, the hazardous quest for the earth’s lost creatures becomes a journey into Stan’s own past.

Mike Craven – The Curator

It’s Christmas and a serial killer is leaving displayed body parts all over Cumbria. A strange message is left at each scene: #BSC6

Called in to investigate, the National Crime Agency’s Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are faced with a case that makes no sense. Why were some victims anaesthetized, while others died in appalling agony? Why is their only suspect denying what they can irrefutably prove but admitting to things they weren’t even aware of? And why did the victims all take the same two weeks off work three years earlier?

And when a disgraced FBI agent gets in touch things take an even darker turn. Because she doesn’t think Poe is dealing with a serial killer at all; she thinks he’s dealing with someone far, far worse – a man who calls himself the Curator.

And nothing will ever be the same again . . .

Sunny days and Sea Breezes – Carole Matthews

Jodie Jackson is all at sea, in every sense.

On a ferry bound for the Isle of Wight, she’s leaving her London life, her career, and her husband behind. She’d like a chance to turn back the clocks, but she’ll settle for some peace and quiet on her brother Bill’s beautifully renovated houseboat, Sunny Days.

But from the moment Jodie steps aboard her new home, it’s clear she’ll struggle to keep herself to herself. If it isn’t Marilyn, who cleans for Bill and is under strict instructions to look after Jodie, then it’s Ned, the noisy sculptor on the next-door houseboat. Ned’s wood carving is hard on the ears, but it’s made up for by the fact that he’s rather easy on the eyes.

Bustled out of the boat by Marilyn and encouraged to explore with Ned, Jodie soon delights in her newfound freedom. But out of mind isn’t out of sight, and when her old life comes knocking Jodie is forced to face reality. Will she answer the call or choose a life filled with Sunny Days and Sea Breezes?

The Life We Almost Had – Amelia Henley

This is not a typical love story, but it’s our love story.

Anna wasn’t looking for love when Adam swept her off her feet but there was no denying their connection, and she believed they would be together forever.

Years later, cracks have appeared in their relationship. Anna is questioning whether their love can really be eternal when a cruel twist of fate delivers a crushing blow, and Anna and Adam are completely lost to one another. Now, Anna needs Adam more than ever, but the way back to him has life-changing consequences.

Is a second chance at first love really worth the sacrifice? Anna needs to decide and time is running out…

A beautiful and emotional love story that asks, how far would you go for a second chance at first love? Perfect for fans of The Man Who Didn’t Call and Miss You.

The Siege of Caerlaverock – Barbara Henderson

Betty – Tiffany McDaniel

‘A girl comes of age against the knife’

So begins the story of Betty Carpenter

Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence – both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family’s darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.

Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father’s brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.

A heartbreaking yet magical story, BETTY is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel – full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words.

Our Story – Miranda Dickinson

Otty has just landed her dream job. She’s about to join the writing team of one of the most respected showrunners in TV. And then the night before her first day, she’s evicted from her flat.

Joe has been working with Russell for years. He’s the best writer on his team, but lately something has been off. He’s trying to get his mojo back, but when his flatmate moves out without warning he has other things to worry about.

Otty moving into Joe’s house seems like the perfect solution to both their problems, but neither is prepared for what happens next. Paired together in the writing room, their obvious chemistry sparks from the page and they are the writing duo to beat. But their relationship off the page is an entirely different story, and neither of them can figure out why.

And suddenly the question isn’t, will they, or won’t they? It’s why won’t they?

An epic and modern love story for our times, we will all see ourselves reflected in Otty and Joe. We are our own biggest barriers and this novel explores what happens when we get out of our own way. And it is glorious.

Older and Wider – Jenny Eclair

‘If you’re after an in-depth medical or psychological insight into the menopause, I’m afraid you’ve opened the wrong book – I’m not a doctor . . . However, I am a woman and I do know how it feels to be menopausal, so this book is written from experience and the heart and I hope it makes you laugh and feel better.’ JE

Older and Wider is Jenny Eclair’s hilarious, irreverent and refreshingly honest compendium of the menopause. From C for Carb-loading and G for Getting Your Shit Together to I for Invisibility and V for Vaginas, Jenny’s whistle-stop tour of the menopause in all its glory will make you realise that it really isn’t just you. Jenny will share the surprising lessons she has learnt along the way as well as her hard-won tips on the joy of cardigans, dealing with the empty nest (get a lodger) and keeping the lid on the pressure cooker of your temper (count to twenty, ten is never enough).

As Jenny says, ‘I can’t say that I’ve emerged like a beautiful butterfly from some hideous old menopausal chrysalis and it would be a lie to say that I’ve found the ‘old me’ again. But what I have found is the ‘new me’ – and you know what? I’m completely cool with that.’

A Year of Living Simply – Kate Humble

If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy.  And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff – The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet – is all too often peddled as the sure fire route to happiness.  So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young?  Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt?

So what is the route to real, deep, long lasting happiness?  Could it be that our lives have just become overly crowded, that we’ve lost sight of the things – the simple things – that give a sense of achievement, a feeling of joy or excitement? That make us happy.  Do we need to take a step back, reprioritise?  Do we need to make our lives more simple?

Kate Humble’s fresh and frank exploration of a stripped-back approach to life is uplifting, engaging and inspiring – and will help us all find balance and happiness every day.

The Stolen Sisters – Louise Jensen

Sisterhood binds them. Trauma defines them. Will secrets tear them apart?

Leah’s perfect marriage isn’t what it seems but the biggest lie of all is that she’s learned to live with what happened all those years ago. Marie drinks a bit too much to help her forget. And Carly has never forgiven herself for not keeping them safe.

Twenty years ago the Sinclair sisters were taken. But what came after their return was far worse. Can a family ever recover, especially when not everyone is telling the truth…?

The Salt Path -Raynor Winn

Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, their home is taken away and they lose their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall.

Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

This Time Next Year – Sophie Cousens

Get ready to fall for this year’s most extraordinary love story

Quinn and Minnie are born on New Year’s Eve, in the same hospital, one minute apart.

Their lives may begin together, but their worlds couldn’t be more different.

Thirty years later they find themselves together again in the same place, at the same time.

What if fate is trying to bring them together?

Maybe it’s time to take a chance on love…

Gobbledy – Lis Anna-Langston

Ever since eleven-year-old Dexter Duckworth and his brother, Dougal, lost their mom, everything has been different. But “different” takes on a whole new meaning when, one day just before Christmas (or Kissmas, as they call it), Dexter finds a golden rock in the forest that hatches into an adorable alien. Gobbledy is smarter than he seems and is lost on planet Earth. Before long, Gobbledy takes Dexter, Dougal, and their best friend Fi on an adventure of friendship, family, and loss—one that requires them all to stay out of trouble, protect Gobbledy from a shadowy group called the Planetary Society, and prepare for their school’s Winter Extravaganza Play, where Dexter has to be a dreaded Gingerbread Man.

Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory, and one little alien far, far from home.

The Boy Between – Amanda Prowse and Josiah Hartley

Bestselling novelist Amanda Prowse knew how to resolve a fictional family crisis. But then her son came to her with a real one…

Josiah was nineteen with the world at his feet when things changed. Without warning, the new university student’s mental health deteriorated to the point that he planned his own death. His mother, bestselling author Amanda Prowse, found herself grappling for ways to help him, with no clear sense of where that could be found. This is the book they wish had been there for them during those dark times.

Josiah’s situation is not unusual: the statistics on student mental health are terrifying. And he was not the only one suffering; his family was also hijacked by his illness, watching him struggle and fearing the day he might succeed in taking his life.

In this book, Josiah and Amanda hope to give a voice to those who suffer, and to show them that help can be found. It is Josiah’s raw, at times bleak, sometimes humorous, but always honest account of what it is like to live with depression. It is Amanda’s heart-rending account of her pain at watching him suffer, speaking from the heart about a mother’s love for her child.

For anyone with depression and anyone who loves someone with depression, Amanda and Josiah have a clear message—you are not alone, and there is hope.

337 – M. Jonathan Lee

337 follows the life of Samuel Darte whose mother vanished when he was in his teens. It was his brother, Tom who found her wedding ring on the kitchen table along with the note.

While their father pays the price of his mother’s disappearance, Sam learns that his long-estranged Gramma is living out her last days in a nursing home nearby.

Keen to learn about what really happened that day and realising the importance of how little time there is, he visits her to finally get the truth.

Soon it’ll be too late and the family secrets will be lost forever. Reduced to ashes. But in a story like this, nothing is as it seems.

The Clearing – Samantha Clarke

This house has been a regular presence in my life for as long as I can remember. My heart has sunk a little every time I walk in . . .

Samantha Clark enjoyed a busy career as an artist before returning home to Glasgow to take care of the house that her parents had left behind. Moving from room to room, sifting through the clutter of belongings, reflecting on her mother’s long, sedated years of mental illness and her father’s retreat to the world of amateur radio and model planes, Samantha began to contemplate her inheritance.

A need for creativity and a desire for solitude had sprung up from a childhood shaped by anxiety and confusion. Weaving in the works and lives of others, including celebrated painter Agnes Martin and scientist of dark matter Vera Rubin, The Clearing is a powerful account of what we must do with the things we cannot know.

The Flip Side – James Bailey

It’s New Year’s Eve and Josh has a high-flying proposal planned. An exclusive pod on the London Eye, with champagne, truffles and the ring. It’s perfect.

Until she says no. And they have to spend the next 29 excruciating minutes alone together.

By the time Josh is back on the ground, his whole life is up in the air. He’s managed to lose his girlfriend, his job and his flat.

Realising he can’t trust his own judgement, Josh puts his faith in fate. From now on he will make every choice by flipping a coin. It’s reckless and scary, but Josh has tried the right way and look where he ended up.

And what if the girl of his dreams is just one flip of a coin away?

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day – Milly Johnson

It’s nearly Christmas and it’s snowing, hard. Deep in the Yorkshire Moors nestles a tiny hamlet, with a pub at its heart. As the snow falls, the inn will become an unexpected haven for six people forced to seek shelter there…

Mary has been trying to get her boss Jack to notice her for four years, but he can only see the efficient PA she is at work. Will being holed up with him finally give her the chance she has been waiting for?

Bridge and Luke were meeting for five minutes to set their divorce in motion. But will getting trapped with each other reignite too many fond memories – and love?

Charlie and Robin were on their way to a luxury hotel in Scotland for a very special Christmas. But will the inn give them everything they were hoping to find – and much more besides?

A story of knowing when to hold on and when to let go, of pushing limits and acceptance, of friendship, love, laughter, mince pies and the magic of Christmas.

Gorgeous, warm and full of heartfelt emotion, I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day is the perfect read this winter!

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Phew! That’s quite some list. I don’t know whether it was the quality of the books, my need for escapism in 2020 or something else but these particular books have stayed with me throughout the year and I’ve loved them. I only wish I could have included all those that scored 90-94% in my personal ranking system too! So, with this many books bringing me such joy, which was my overall favourite?

Like last year (see here), there are two which scored the highest marks jointly and they were Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton and The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley. Both books couldn’t be more different from one another and yet they both have an emotional quality I found exceptional.

However hard and unusual 2020 has been, books have remained a constant in my life. I am incredibly grateful to all the authors, publicists, blog tour organisers and publishers who have sent me books for review. I cannot thank you all enough. Similarly, to all of you who follow Linda’s Book Bag, those who share my blog posts and support me, I want to say thank you for helping me share the book love. I hope you’ve found a book to bring you joy through my posts over the year.

Here’s hoping 2021 will be happy and healthy for all of you. Happy New Year!

Linda x