With 2020 having been such a difficult year and 2021 fast approaching I think now seems the perfect time to review Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal by Stella Eden as so many of us will be reflecting on our lives and perhaps making some new resolutions for next year. My grateful thanks to Stella for sending me a copy of Stella’s Open Road Trip in return for an honest review.

Published on 12th October 2021, Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal is available for purchase here, and directly from the author here.

Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal

This journal is funky, colourful and totally interactive. You can write on the pictures – your ideas, what you need to do, planning adventures, making to do lists and absolutely anything else you may want to write, draw and stick in. Be as creative as you want to.

My Review of Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal

An interactive self-awareness book.

In a sense, there isn’t a great deal of content to review in Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal as, star shaped corner illustrations aside, many of the pages here are blank. However, that is by no means a criticism because from the vibrant and quirky front cover, through the naïve illustrations on other pages, Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal absolutely invites readers to express themselves and to rediscover their child like enjoyment in life.

Where there is content, there are activities suggested like random dot-to-dots, or the suggestion to learn a new word, perhaps even in a new language – things that can distract a troubled mind without overwhelming them. I also really loved the word play and puns that lift the spirit so that I may well ‘paws for thought’ and I can certainly envisage completing a list of ‘books I want to read’! Many of the illustrations and suggestions are repeated throughout the book and although I think some may not appreciate this aspect, I thought that repetition fitted the book’s purpose perfectly. Stella Eden encourages us to start over as many times as we like and makes us realise that a destination isn’t necessarily reached by only one road. The only aspect I might have liked to be different is the book’s title as I think some may prefer ‘My’ as opposed to ‘Stella’s’ open road trip, but again this is ameliorated by the concept that you are joining Stella and have a friend to support you along the way. In addition, there is a place to write your name and make the book your own right at the very start.

I must just mention the physical attributes of the book too as it feels high quality with smooth pages, bold and colourful images and is a great size. It would fit in a handbag or large pocket and yet has space enough for reader self expression, art work and engagement.

I think Stella’s Open Road Trip Journal would make a great gift – to yourself as well as others – as a means to start afresh at any point in the year, not just on January 1st.

About Stella Eden

Stella Eden is an author and digital artist who raises awareness about domestic abuse and coercive behaviour through her motivational writing and speaking.

For further information, visit Stella’s website or follow her on Twitter @StellaEden1. You’ll also find Stella on Instagram and Facebook.

Now, I have a TBR pile that is enormous with over 900 physical and over 1200 ebooks awaiting my attention so I am not actually accepting new blog tours at the moment. That said, I think it tells you something about my love of Noelle Holten’s writing that I readily agreed to participate in the paperback tour for her third D.C. Maggie Jamieson novel, Dead Perfect. My thanks to Sarah Hardy of Books on the Bright Side publicity for inviting me to take part.

If you read my review of Noelle’s Dead Inside here, and Dead Wrong here, you’ll see why I was so keen to read Dead Perfect.

Out now in ebook from One More Chapter and published in paperback on 24th December 2020, Dead Perfect is available for purchase through the links here.

Dead Perfect

A murdered woman…

When the body of a young woman is found in a local park, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she’s dealing with no ordinary killer.  The murder victim has been disfigured; her outfit changed to resemble someone else.  Someone Maggie knows all too well…her close friend Dr Kate Moloney.

A determined detective…

Maggie is determined to keep her friend safe, but with Kate already struggling with a threatening stalker, Maggie now fears Kate’s life is in real danger.  Who else would want to harm Kate and why else would the killer be turning his victims into exact replicas – his living dolls?

Can Maggie find the depraved killer?  Or will Kate become his next living doll?

My Review of Dead Perfect

This case for Maggie is personal!

I rarely read a series of books and when I do I find it tricky to recall what happened in the previous book, but Noelle Holten has the ability to plunge her reader right to the heart of Dead Perfect without missing a beat from the previous book, whilst simultaneously not requiring them to have read anything before to grasp what is happening effortlessly.

Short fast paced chapters, natural dialogue and realistic police procedures threaded throughout Dead Perfect keep the reader hooked right the way through and make for an exciting read. I love the way the pace escalates towards the denouement with the next book in the series set up so cleverly. What I enjoyed so much about the plot of Dead Perfect was the fact that although it contains surprises, it never feels unrealistic. On occasion I’d have liked the police to behave differently, but at no point did I feel their actions were not completely authentic.

In Dead Perfect, Maggie’s personality is further developed so that I felt I really had come to know her well, and further to that I cared about her even more. She is by no means perfect, frequently quick tempered, sometimes reckless but loyal and determined so that she has a credibility for the reader. Indeed, I found her psychology almost as engaging as the plot.

An aspect of Dead Perfect that I found quite disturbing was the author’s understanding and knowledge of crime, of criminal psychology and of previous real life cases that add extra layers of interest but at the same time made me wonder just what kind of authorial mind can create this kind of book! Noelle Holten knows exactly how much to reveal to her readers to create tension, to make them anxious and to keep them turning the pages, desperate to know the outcome of the case.

Dead Perfect is another crime book winner from Noelle Holten. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am still wondering what might happen next in the lives of Maggie et al. I will just have to read the next book in the series to find out!

About Noelle Holten

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR and Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the #booklove via her blog.

Dead Inside was her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

For more information about Noelle, follow her on Twitter @nholten40, find her on Facebook, Amazon and visit her blog.

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Given that I simply didn’t get round to writing a review of last month’s U3A Book Group book, I’m delighted today to share my review of this month’s choice, Snap by Belinda Bauer, especially because I’ve been wanting to read Snap for ages.

Published by Penguin on 23rd August 2018, Snap is available for purchase through the links here.

Snap

SNAP DECISIONS CAN BE DANGEROUS . . .

On a stifling summer’s day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. Jack’s in charge, she’d said. I won’t be long.

But she doesn’t come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.

Three years later, Jack is still in charge – of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they’re alone in the house, and – quite suddenly – of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother. . .

My Review of Snap

Jack wants answers about his mother’s murder.

I’ve seen mixed reviews about Snap, and I would agree that grumpy detectives with a chip on their shoulder like Marvel are very prevalent in crime fiction and that I did have to suspend my disbelief at the neatness of some of the plotting, but I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Snap nonetheless.

There’s a cracking pace to Snap, partly achieved by the short snappy (forgive the pun) chapters so that I thought I’d just read one more, and then another, devouring the narrative very quickly because I found it highly entertaining.  Even at sentence level the writing is pared down, brisk and sharp with naturalistic dialogue that drives the story on so that reading it becomes absolutely addictive.

I especially enjoyed the injection of dark humour, the way my pulse increased on occasion and the touching moments that illustrate just how it isn’t only the victim of a murder who is affected by the event. Whilst I guessed some aspects of the story, there were also some surprises that made me exclaim aloud so that Snap is a compelling read.

With the odd exception I can’t reveal for fear of spoiling the book for others, I enjoyed meeting all the characters in Snap, but it was Jack who held my attention most. His desperate desire to hold his dysfunctional family together is poignant, and unfortunately all too possible for some youngsters in today’s society and he reminded me of students I have taught in the past. I found his sense of honour amongst thieves, alongside Louis, far more acceptable than some of Marvel’s behaviour and tactics. Snap illustrates that life isn’t necessarily straightforward and that morality can have very blurred edges.

Indeed, it is the exploration of moral and legal right and wrong, of whether the end justifies the means that I found so intriguing about Snap. Reading the book made me think, and it was intriguing how Belinda Bauer made me empathise more with the criminals than the police. I was also made quite uncomfortable about how disinterested we can be about other people’s lives and how they can be living lives of deep awfulness but we choose not to get involved, not to notice or offer help. Add in themes of family, loyalty, manipulation, loss and grief and even mental health and Snap can actually be read on a deeper level than just as a really good crime thriller.

Snap is a fast-paced, exciting read that I very much enjoyed. It’s sheer escapism and I found it a brilliant distraction from the real world.

About Belinda Bauer

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. With her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work in 2013. Her fourth novel Rubbernecker was voted 2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2018 her eighth novel, Snap, was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. Her books have been translated into 21 languages. She has also written the thriller High Rollers under the pen-name Jack Bowman.

You can find out more by following Belinda’s publisher tweets @BelindaBauer or visiting her Facebook page.

It’s almost exactly four years since I interviewed John Nightingale about his thriller The Appearance of Murder in a post you can read here. I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t managed to read The Appearance of Murder, especially as Ian Rankin asked for a copy of the book in his Christmas stocking and it featured as one of the 2015 books of the year in The Times! However, I hope to rectify that omission from my reading soon, not least because the second book in John’s David Knight Series, The Direction of Murder has just been published and is sitting waiting for me on my TBR pile.

It’s a real pleasure and privilege today to be able to run a giveaway for both books in John Nightingale’s David Knight Series with one lucky blog reader receiving a hard back copy of both The Appearance of Murder and The Direction of Murder.

Before I tell you how to enter, here are the details you need about both books:

The Appearance of Murder

Crime writer David Knight is dragged back into a past in which it seems he might have fathered a child or even committed murder. Neither possibility is going to be popular with his wife Kate.

The trouble is that David hasn’t a clue about what actually happened…

The Appearance of Murder was published by Spider Monkey Books and is available for purchase in e-book, hardback and paperback here and directly from the publisher here.

The Direction of Murder

David Knight returns…

Crime writer David Knight finds himself a little out of his comfort zone when asked to develop the script for a film of one of his novels. And yet a week in a moated country house with A-list stars is too good to miss, even if the director is notorious for playing with the emotions of his actors, and everyone else.

It is only when he discovers that his detective is being portrayed by a method actor, who appears to believe he actually is Tom Travis, that David becomes seriously uneasy. Nor does it help that he has caught the eye of the director’s glamorous, and very rich, wife.

But that is only the start. David finds himself at the centre of events that not only involve unusual murder weapons and locked rooms, but sudden death.

Can David find a way of keeping fiction and reality apart?

The Direction of Murder is available for purchase directly from the publisher and on Amazon.

Giveaway

Don’t those two books sound brilliant? You can enter to win a hardbacked copy of BOTH The Appearance of Murder and The Direction of Murder by clicking here.

This giveaway ends at UK midnight on Sunday 20th December 2020. The winner will receive their books directly from the author John Nightingale.

About John Nightingale

John Nightingale is a thriller writer and creator of the David Knight and Jane Charles series. Before becoming a full-time novelist, John worked as a civil servant in a number of different roles, including as  an expert on pensions, playing a leading role in sorting out the Maxwell pension scandal.  He lives and writes in London and Suffolk and is married and has two daughters.

You can find out more by visiting John’s website and you can follow him on Twitter @johnnightingal4.

My enormous thanks to Isabelle Kenyon for sending me a copy of the chapbook Medusa Retold by Sarah Wallis in return for an honest review. I am not supposed to be taking on new blog material but I love poetry and have always been so impressed by Fly on the Wall‘s publications that I simply couldn’t resist.

You’ll find a performance of Medusa Retold here.

Published by Fly on the Wall Press on 1st December 2020, Medusa Retold is available for purchase here.

Medusa Retold

A feminist retelling of the Medusa myth, set in a run-down, modern seaside town, Medusa Retold is filled with the magic and fury of the original tale.

In this telling, loner Nuala is difficult and introverted, fascinated by creatures of the sea. Athena becomes her best friend and first crush, and together they form a duo which is ripped apart by circumstance, leaving Nuala unprotected, unable to save herself.

A long-form poem of poignant motifs which recur throughout, the poem is a mythic puzzle, an epic for ordinary girls, and a love letter to the sea.

My Review of Medusa Retold

Medusa Retold is a small book that packs a punch. Sarah Wallis takes the character of Medusa from Greek mythology and blends the traditional expectations of that story into a new, fresh and modern narrative poem about a strong young woman, Nuala, who has relevance to today’s society and yet embodies elements of the traditional Medusa tale so effectively.

I thought the quality of Sarah Wallis’s writing was excellent. The serpent like sibilance of the letter s as Nuala begins her journey gives a sinister effect and ensures the Medusa image of snakes lurks menacingly in the periphery of the reader’s mind, creating a feeling of unease in the reader. The same technique helps create the susurration of the sea that is so important a motif in this poetry so that Medusa Retold is an auditory experience as well as a reading one and indeed, all the senses are catered for in this poetry. The iterative image of the sea is beautifully woven through the writing. The power of the sea fades at the point where Nuala feels her life is over following Athena’s death, and its absence impacts the emotions of the reader as they experience Nuala’s loss with her.

I thought it fascinating how the internal rhyme of the poetry becomes stronger and more apparent later in Medusa Retold when Nuala is constrained in a relationship that confines her, so that the structure of the writing mirrors its meaning. The italics of Nuala’s first person sections contrasts with the third person narrative of the rest of the poetry making for an intimate insight into Nuala’s innermost thoughts and a highly effective means of affecting the reader’s perceptions. I loved the fact that towards the end, Nuala’s first person narrative is then no longer italicised. It felt to me that although her body may be destroyed, her spirit had strengthened and would live on. I actually found this very moving.

There’s an ambiguity to the ending of Medusa Retold that I loved. I hope Nuala manages to fulfil her desire because in a few brief pages I felt I had come to know her thoroughly. She comes from water and ends in ethereal air making her a motif for all women.

I’m sure some readers will shy away from poetry but I think they are missing a vivid experience here. Medusa Retold might be a chapbook of only a few pages, but it is a truly fascinating read.

It’s always such a frustration that I can’t accept or read every book I’m offered and today I’m featuring Brian Pendreigh because I love the sound of the book he’s brought along to share with me and even if I can’t fit in reading it, you might like to!

Staying in with Brian Pendreigh

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

I am very grateful to you for showing an interest, giving me your time and allowing me space on your blog.

It’s a pleasure. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it? 

The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition, which has just come out. I have had quite a few books out before, mainly books about films and film stars. But this is my first novel.

How exciting. Tell me more.

Actually a version came out in 2011 and got amazing reviews from people like Ian Rankin, Andrew Marr and Barry Norman. They called it things like compelling, breath-taking and a work of “mad metaphysical genius”. All the talk then was of the printed book being finished and my agent placed it with a new ebook company. But then the publisher went bust and it just disappeared. I have now reworked it. I have always had a publisher and agent before, so self-publishing and raising awareness is a new challenge.

My word. What a start to the life of The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition Brian. It sounds as if it’s a fascinating read. What can we expect from an evening in with The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition?

A unique and hopefully enjoyable experience. The basic premise is of a man in LA seemingly being sucked into the action of classic movies he fell in love with as a boy in Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. And we do not know if it is real or in his head or why this is happening.

The 1960s and 1970s are very much my era! I think I’d find The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition quite nostalgic.

There is a lot of nostalgia, a lot about love and loss, and obviously a dash of magical realism. And now the story continues, with new characters in three related stories or chapters, leading to a second ending, not a revised or alternative ending, but a second ending in a way that I have never known any other book attempt. I think it adds new meaning and depth to everything that goes before. The initial reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, people are being really moved by the story, but the difficult bit is getting the word out there. I have worked on this, on and off, for over 30 years and finally it is exactly where I want it to be.

I’m delighted to be part of that journey with you Brian and I hope readers will find The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition through this blog post. What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

Sixty-three years of life, the ups and downs, happy and sad the memories, and joy and laughter through the tears. Oh yeah, also some ale, gin and champagne. Not moderation anyway, never. I’ve also brought a short extract from the book:

‘I want to report a murder,’ says the visitor.

‘Sit down,’ says the man behind the desk. There is a hard edge in his voice. He is a man who says no more than is necessary, sometimes not even that much.

‘Who was murdered?’ he asks.

His visitor takes a deep breath, considers the question ‘Who was murdered?’, and weighs up his response.

‘I was,’ he says.

The policeman’s face shows not a flicker of reaction. He picks up another piece of paper and begins to read it, as if the topic of discussion has turned out to be too trivial to warrant any further attention.

‘Do you want to hear my story or not?” asks the visitor. “I don’t have much time left. A day, two days, a week at the most. And then I will be gone.’

‘Where?’ asks the policeman.

‘The movies,’ says the man.

‘I’m disappearing into the second dimension,’ says the man. Quickly reconsidering the melodrama inherent in his comment, he feels he must elaborate. ‘The movies are taking me over,’ he says. ‘Taking over my thoughts. Taking over my body. I can walk and talk but I have no life of my own anymore, no life outside the movies.’

Most people in this city are taken over by the movies. That is why they are here. Serving beers. Waiting tables. Just waiting. Waiting for the big break that will turn them into the next Tom Cruise, or the next Julia Roberts. But more likely the only movies they will ever make will involve sex with strangers filmed by other strangers. They are no more than children when they come to LA. They quickly grow old, lose their looks and mislay their innocence. Every day the policeman sees people who have been taken over by the movies. They live in trailer parks and dirty, cramped apartments, and they turn tricks on Sunset Boulevard until their own suns set. He has looked on their corpses, abused by drugs and sexual perversion and sees a dream that turned into a nightmare. They were dead long before they were taken to the morgue.

The man from the seventh row looks at the policeman.

‘The name’s Batty,’ he says at last. ‘Roy Batty.’

*

Now, of course, I want to read on! I’ll join you in a glass of that champagne in a minute Brian when I’ve just given readers a few more details about The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition, as I’m sure they will have been intrigued too. Thanks so much for staying in with me to tell me all about what sounds like a really interesting read.

The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition

In Los Angeles, a man is sucked into the action of the classic films he fell in love with as a boy in Scotland, The Graduate, The Magnificent Seven, Blade Runner, Braveheart. Is this real? Or in his head? And why? And who or what is Rosebud?

Ultimately The Man in the Seventh Row is about childhood and adulthood, about love and loss and the possibility of redemption and it is about cinema and the nature of reality.

Acclaimed by the critics in its original version in 2011, it is literary fiction, with a lot of nostalgia and more than a dash of magical realism. It now transcends the confines of the novel, as the narrative concludes in a short story with different characters Sometimes She’ll Dance.

In the UK, The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition can be ordered through most bookshops, from Amazon and Waterstones. It can also be ordered from Brian post-free (in the run-up to Xmas) in the UK via the book’s Facebook page. In the US, you’ll find The Man in the Seventh Row and Related Stories of the Human Condition through Barnes and Noble. 

About Brian Pendreigh

Brian Pendreigh is an award-winning writer and journalist, whose regular outlets have included The Guardian (1999-2007), The Times and The Scotsman. He has written several film books and most recently was editor of The Times on Cinema (2018). He was twice Britain’s Film Journalist of the Year and his work has been picked by the Scottish Examination Board for English interpretation questions. He is a keen long-distance runner and pub quizzer (with wins on Mastermind, Eggheads, 15 to 1 and Only Connect). He lives in Portobello, Edinburgh. His lounge overlooks the Pentland Hills and his bedroom looks out to the sea and romance.

You can follow Brian on Twitter @BrianPendreigh or @ManInSeventhRow and visit his Facebook page for further information.

Now, I’m not really taking on additional books and blog posts at the moment as I’m finding life a bit overwhelmingly busy, but when Julia Stebbing got in touch about her new children’s books and publishing venture I was so intrigued by Remarkable Women in Verse that I simply had to take a look. My grateful thanks to Julia for sending me a copy of Remarkable Women in Verse and The Lost Smile in return for an honest review.

Both Remarkable Women in Verse and The Lost Smile are available for purchase here.

The Lost Smile

The Lost Smile – a tale of friendship. When Jasper Cat loses his smile, his four friends come to the rescue. Where can it be? Enjoy reading how Robbie Robin, Mimi Mouse, Freddie Flea and Dora Dalmation help Jasper Cat in his search to find it. An engaging and beautifully-illustrated story of friendship and kindness, written in delightful rhyming verse.

My Review of The Lost Smile

Jasper cat has lost his smile.

The Lost Smile is an utterly lovely story for young children. It’s actually quite lengthy so that there is real substance to the story, but at the same time, the rhyme makes it accessible and entertaining so that it holds the attention very effectively. I thought the balance of illustration to text was perfect and the illustrations themselves fit the narrative delightfully. There are some brilliant touches such as the portraits on the walls being of cats in Jasper’s home, making for plenty to explore with children. The illustrations have a charming naïve style that children will enjoy and adults appreciate. Aside from the story itself, pictures and text refer to shape and colour with nature being very prevalent so that there’s quite a lot to discuss with children outside of the boundaries of trying to find Jasper’s smile. Indeed, The Lost Smile has sufficient content to reward several readings. At the end of the book, as an added bonus are some colouring pages that make The Lost Smile interactive and creative too.

There’s so much in The Lost Smile that can educate as well as entertain. I loved the use of language so that children are exposed to such devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia, full and near rhymes and so on, that help develop their own reading, language and understanding. I can envisage promoting numeracy through counting the number of Rosinda’s babies for example, or the items found under the bed.

However, what I liked most about The Lost Smile was that because Jasper is feeling low and his smile has vanished, the story affords the opportunity to discuss feelings and emotions in a safe way with children and I thought the underpinning message that all the animals support one another in the search modelled positive behaviours really well. This is a book about being kind and considerate.

The Lost Smile is a a really beguiling children’s book that I thoroughly recommend. Young children will love it.

Remarkable Women in Verse

Imagine you are Rosa, a black child growing up in Alabama, barred by law from attending the same school as white children; Helen, a playful toddler who suddenly cannot see and hear; Anne, brought up in an almshouse who becomes Helen’s governess, and the only person able to get through to her; Florence from a wealthy family, seeking a career in nursing against the wishes of her parents.

Each story, told in rhyming verse, guides you through their early upbringing towards a particular iconic moment or time in their lives, and beyond, showing how they overcame their situations and the impact their achievements made. As one reader said, “It’s easier to remember when read in verse.”

My Review of Remarkable Women in Verse

The stories of Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan, and Florence Nightingale told in verse form.

What a clever idea. With strong female characters, the perennial problems of racism and the current focus on health, Remarkable Women in Verse couldn’t be more timely or relevant to today’s society.

All three sections in Remarkable Women in Verse have the same high quality rhyme and rhythm throughout so that the stories of what these women achieved become accessible and interesting. The ex English teacher in me would love to use them for choral speaking with a class to develop oracy, as a stimulus for children taking other characters from history and attempting their own verse portraits of them and as a basis for other creative writing so that I think there is considerable mileage in Remarkable Women in Verse, not just for individual readers but for classroom use too. This book may only be less than thirty pages long, but the depth of research and factual information is extremely impressive. I could see history teachers using the verses as a way in to the past, especially for those children less keen on reading. With the glossary sections at the end of each woman’s story, vocabulary and understanding are further enhanced.

However, I don’t wish to make Remarkable Women in Verse sound like an overly worthy or turgid educational text. It isn’t. It’s an exciting, fact-filled exploration of important women from the past presented in an engaging and captivating style. I thought it was unusual and excellent.

About Julia Stebbing

Julia has always lived in north London and was brought up in Stanmore. Opposite her house were only fields and the local school was a mere 5-minute walk. The spinney nearby provided opportunities for jumping a stream, picking blackberries, and hiding in the woods. Switch to three children later, husband David, and seven grandchildren – 3 girls and 4 boys. She used to write song lyrics and now loves writing children’s stories, especially in rhyming verse. S

he has published two books, The Lost Smile, a picture book which is the first in a series of The Fabulous Five. Remarkable Women in Verse tells the story of Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and her governess Anne Sullivan, and also Florence Nightingale.

Find out more on Sticky Bun’s website here and on Facebook.

My enormous thanks to F J Curlew for inviting me to participate in her blog tour for The Unravelling Of Maria and for sending me an ecopy of the book in return for an honest review.

The Unravelling Of Maria is available for purchase here.

The Unravelling Of Maria

Lovers separated by the Iron Curtain.

Two women whose paths should never have crossed.

A remarkable journey that changes all of their lives.

Maria’s history is a lie. Washed up on the shores of Sweden in 1944, with no memory, she was forced to create her own. Nearly half a century later she still has no idea of her true identity.

Jaak fights for Estonia’s independence, refusing to accept the death of his fiancée Maarja, whose ship was sunk as she fled across the Baltic Sea to escape the Soviet invasion.

Angie knows exactly who she is. A drug addict. A waste of space. Life is just about getting by.

A chance meeting in Edinburgh’s Cancer Centre is the catalyst for something very different.

Sometimes all you need is someone who listens.

My Review of The Unravelling Of Maria

Maria’s life is about to change.

Given that I usually don’t enjoy stories with multiple perspectives and different time frames I think it speaks volumes for F J Curlew’s The Unravelling of Maria that I loved this book because the beautiful quality of the writing drew me in and held my attention completely. By the end of the book I had been so captivated by the stories of Maria, Angie and Jaak that I was extremely moved.

Those different timeframes and perspectives are elegantly wrought into a beautiful narrative that is part history, part love story, part tale of endurance and suffering and part love letter to Estonia. There’s such a poetic beauty to F J Curlew’s descriptions, even when she is uncovering the less glamorous side to Edinburgh or conflict, that never becomes hyperbole, but rather touches each of the reader’s senses and immerses them in the settings and story. I was incredibly impressed. The Unravelling of Maria also made me feel quite ignorant. Shamefully, I had no real concept of Estonia’s history and in reading The Unravelling of Maria I feel I have been cleverly educated as well as entertained.

The plot is perfectly balanced because The Unravelling of Maria illustrates horror and joy, love and hate, inhumanity and compassion with such finesse that it feels as if the reader is living the lives of the three main characters with them. The structure has an almost Shakespearean quality to it, as if the book is in acts. I found the tension in the narrative almost too great to bear at times, but Angie’s dialect and accent serves as light relief so that I thoroughly enjoyed every word. Indeed, I usually find accents contrived but Angie’s Scottish brogue is perfectly accessible whilst adding depth and colour to her character.

All three main characters are so, so real. They have depth and flaws that bring them alive. My heart went out to Angie who illustrates perfectly how sometimes, all we need is a chance. Jaak had my empathy and my sympathy but it was Maria’s story that touched me most. Her resilience, her bravery and her search for identity both literally and metaphorically is presented by F J Curlew with real humanity.

I hadn’t really thought much about The Unravelling of Maria before I began reading, so I didn’t really have any expectations. However, I found a meticulously researched, beautifully written saga of identity, people and love in many forms. I really recommend it.

About F J Curlew

Fiona worked as an international school teacher for fifteen years, predominantly in Eastern Europe. Seven of those years were spent in Estonia – a little country she fell in love with. She now lives in East Lothian, Scotland, where her days are spent walking her dog, Brockie the Springer, and writing.

The Unravelling Of Maria is her fourth novel.

For further information, follow Fiona on Twitter @FJCurlew or visit her website.

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