When Gabrielle Ball from iNostalgia got in touch about their fabulous new collection of historical books I simply had to read and review Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45. Although iNostalgia have so many historical gems to choose from I selected Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 because my wonderful Dad was obsessed by the war and two of my aunts were land girls and another became a telephone engineer in Manchester; the home of iNostalgia. My enormous thanks to Gabrielle for sending me a copy of Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 in return for an honest review.

Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 was published by iNostalgia on 26th November 2021 and is available for purchase (including signed copies) here.

Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45

The war was only two weeks old when the British Government announced plans for the gradual drafting of at least one million women into war work. They would replace men in occupations such as bus conductors, railway cleaners, textile workers, clerks, shop assistants, and in processed food factories. At this early stage of the war, it was thought that at least 500,000 women would be needed by munitions works, though not in skilled work.

By 1945 it is estimated that around 770,000 women were working in engineering, shipbuilding, and vehicle construction. 640,000 were serving in the armed forces, 10,000 in the Merchant Navy, and 260,000 were working in munitions. Tens of thousands more were working in transport (railways, buses and trams, canals, road haulage) and 74,000 were in the Women’s Land Army with a further 6000 in the Women’s Timber Corps. Others worked in local government, the police, or the post office. Still more were employed in Civil Defence where one in six full time ARP wardens was a woman. Others were pilots ferrying new aircraft from manufacturers to RAF squadrons. At Bletchley Park, women played a major role in deciphering enemy codes, and a very brave few were trained as secret agents operating in enemy held territory.

This book contains 200+ Mirrorpix Archive photographs featuring some of the many roles undertaken in women in Britain during the six years of the greatest armed conflict world history. The Mirrorpix Archive includes images from the Daily Mirror, Daily Herald, Daily Record, Western Mail, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Post & Mail, Coventry Telegraph and the Derby Telegraph.

My Review of Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45

An account, with photographs, of the roles of women in war.

When my copy of Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 arrived I had no intention of reading it straight away, but I was so drawn in by the first couple of images and the introduction that I read it immediately, losing a whole day in the process. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because there is much that is familiar, such as women working at Bletchley, but equally, so much that was new to me. I hadn’t realised that it was women who had initiated the requirement for other women to quit their jobs when they got married, for example.

What I found most interesting and equally most disturbing in our modern era was just how much of the sexism, inequality, focus on appearance and the not infrequent hostility towards women featured in Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 still resonates today. That’s not to say that Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 is a navel gazing, miserable book –  far from it as it shares so much positivity too, but rather that it helps place the roles of women in a modern world, as well as during the 1939-45 war, in razor sharp perspective, making the read so engaging. I learnt so much from reading this book. I’m sure Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 will be enjoyed by older female readers because there is so much for them to relate to, but I think it would be a perfect gift for anyone at any age who is remotely interested in social history to entertain and inform them. I found it fascinating.

Engaging and informative text aside, it is the photography that truly enhances Women in Wartime Britain1939-45. Whilst some images are obviously staged or propaganda and are accredited appropriately, those showing the ordinary woman in extraordinary situations are incredibly affecting. There’s one of a Mrs Rayner and her daughter Susan that could have been taken in Ukraine within the last few weeks so that Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 feels modern, relevant and perceptive as well as detailed, historic and steeped in detail. There’s a humanity behind the history in this book.

Celebratory and yet honest and down to Earth, interesting and informative, educational and entertaining, Women in Wartime Britain 1939-45 would make a wonderful gift for any reader with an interest in C20th history. I thought it was excellent and thoroughly recommend it.

About iNostalgia

iNostalgia is a small publishing company based in Manchester and is a group of experienced publishers, editors and writers who believe passionately in recording local heritage. They love hearing, reliving and capturing the public’s stories. They are dedicated to bringing local history to life via images, social media, books, online magazines and events.

For more information, follow iNostalgia on Twitter @inostalgiauk, find them on Facebook and Instagram or visit their fascinating website.

My grateful thanks to Hollie for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for Stargazer by Laurie Petrou and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Stargazer was published by Verve Books on 23rd June 2022 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Stargazer

IT’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN ADMIRATION AND ENVY.

Diana Martin has lived her life in the shadow of her sadistic older brother. She quietly watches the family next door, enthralled by celebrity fashion designer Marianne Taylor and her feted daughter, Aurelle.

She wishes she were a ‘Taylor girl’.

By the summer of 1995, the two girls are at university together, bonded by a mutual desire to escape their wealthy families and personal tragedies and forge new identities.

They are closer than lovers, intoxicated by their own bond, falling into the hedonistic seduction of the woods and the water at a remote university that is more summer camp than campus.

But when burgeoning artist Diana has a chance at fame, cracks start to appear in their friendship. To what lengths is Diana willing to go to secure her own stardom?

THE LINES BETWEEN LOVE, ENVY AND OBSESSION BLUR IN LAURIE PETROU’S UTTERLY ENTHRALLING, UNCEASINGLY TENSE NEW NOVEL.

My Review of Stargazer

Diana needs an identity of her own.

My word. Stargazer is an absolute treat of a book. It’s beautifully written, perfectly crafted and affords an insight into a world of both the prosaic and the unusual so that all life feels present in this wonderful book.

In essence, with a couple of exceptions, very little happens and yet the plot is absolutely gripping because Laurie Petrou lays bare the human psyche with such dexterity that reading Stargazer becomes a mesmerising activity. Stargazer felt to me like a literary equivalent to viewing Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings except that here we are discovering Diana and Aurelle’s emotions layered beneath the narrative. They are both so vivid, so real and so disturbing that I think they will resonate with me for a very long time.

The theme of belonging is the catalyst for so much of Stargazer, but that is just one element underpinning how humanity takes what it wants from others before discarding them. Stargazer is profound as well as engrossing. The title is perfect. There are moments of literal stargazing where the majesty of nature is displayed, but in addition, so many of the characters are stargazing metaphorically. Diana watches the famous Taylor family next door at the same time as orbiting her brother’s place as her family’s shining star. Minor characters (like Grace) and the media are obsessed with the success and trappings of those stars they gaze upon and Diana’s sole aim is to be a star in her own right.

I’m aware I haven’t really reviewed Stargazer but it really is a book to absorb, to experience viscerally and to reflect upon rather than one that can be conveyed easily to someone who hasn’t read it.

I found Stargazer intense, affecting and dramatic. It vibrates with sexual and emotional tension, with longing and loneliness, jealousy, passions, love and hate so that reading it heightens every emotion in the reader. Stargazer is, in my opinion, an absolute masterpiece. I thought it was wonderful.

About Laurie Petrou

Laurie Petrou is an award-winning author, and Associate Professor at the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. She lives in Niagara with her family. Stargazer is her fourth book.

For further information, visit Laurie’s website, follow her on Twitter @lauriepetrou or find her on Facebook and Instagram.

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I am so excited to help share details of Emily Stone’s second novel One Last Gift because I adored her debut Always, in December which I reviewed here and which was my outright Book of the Year in 2021. I have a very personal reason for being so excited about One Last Gift, but I’ll say more about that when I review it!

Let’s find out more about One Last Gift:

One Last Gift

For as long as Cassie can remember, it had been the three of them: Cassie, her big brother Tom, and Tom’s annoying best friend Sam.

Now, Tom is sorted, Sam is flying high, and Cassie thinks she’s figured it all out. Then tragedy happens and three becomes two.

For Cassie picking herself up seems unimaginable. Until she finds an envelope addressed to her, asking her to follow the trail to one last gift…

And suddenly what seems like an ending leads Cassie to something unexpected, beautiful and new…

Take a heartwrenching and uplifting romantic journey, from London to the Hamptons to the south of France and the Welsh mountains, with the author of Always, in December.

****

Doesn’t One Last Gift sound just wonderful?

One Last Gift will be published by Headline on 13th October 2022 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

About Emily Stone

Emily Stone lives and works in Chepstow and wrote Always, in December in an old Victorian manor house with an impressive literary heritage. Her debut novel was partly inspired by the death of her mother, when Emily was seven, and wanting to write something that reflected the fact that you carry this grief into adulthood, long after you supposedly move on from the event itself.

For more information, follow Emily on Twitter @EmStoneWrites. You’ll also find Emily on Instagram.

When I first began blogging one of the first people in the publishing world I encountered was the amazing Georgina Moore. Georgina is a tour de force whom I respect so much that so when I heard her debut novel The Garnett Girls was being launched today I simply had to be involved.

The Garnett Girls will be published by Harper Collins imprint HQ on 16th February 2023 and is available for pre-order from all good bookshops including here.

Let’s find out about the book:

The Garnett Girls

A brilliant debut and powerful tale of sisterhood and home, set on the beautiful beaches of the Isle of Wight…

Flawed, complicated, secretive, big-hearted, you’ll fall in love with the Garnett girls. Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff legends are made of – forbidden, passionate, all-encompassing. But ultimately, doomed. When Richard walked out, Margo shut herself away from the world, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.

Having finally put the past behind her, the charismatic Margo holds court in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness. The eldest, Rachel, is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home. Imogen, the dreamy middle child, feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiance, even when her life is taking an unexpected turn. And wild, passionate Sasha, the baby, trapped between her increasingly alienated family and her controlling husband, has unearthed the secret behind Richard’s departure… and when she reveals it, the effects are devastating.

Set on the beautiful beaches of the Isle of Wight, The Garnett Girls asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes their parents make.

****

Doesn’t that sound just wonderful? I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

About Georgina Moore

Now Deputy MD of PR Agency Midas, Georgina Moore is an award-winning book publicist who has worked in the publishing industry for twenty years. She has worked with a huge variety of authors across all genres and at all stages of their careers – from debuts to household names. Her most recent PR campaign for Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet has won the FutureBook and PPC awards for campaign of the year and is Nibbies nominated.

The Garnett Girls is Georgina’s first novel and is set on the Isle of Wight where Georgina and her family have a holiday houseboat called Sturdy. Georgina’s main residence is a houseboat on Taggs Island in the River Thames, where she lives with her partner, two children and Bomber, the Border terrier.

For further information, follow Georgina on Twitter @PublicityBooks or find her on Instagram.

It’s two years since I last featured lovely Lesley Pearse here on Linda’s Book Bag when I reviewed Liar. Today I’m delighted to share my review of Lesley’s latest book Deception. My thanks to Courtney at edpr for inviting me to participate in this blog tour.

Published by Penguin imprint Michael Joseph on 7th July 2022, Deception is available for purchase through the links here.

Deception

What happens when the person closest to you has led a life of deception?

After the funeral of her mother, Sally, Alice Kent is approached by a man named Angus Tweedy. He claims to be her father and tells her that he served time in prison for marrying Sally bigamously.

What does he hope to gain by telling her this now, thirty years on?
How can her adored dad Ralph not be her true father?
And why did her mother betray her so badly?

She had accepted Sally’s many faults, and her reluctance to ever speak of the past. But faced with this staggering deception, Alice knows she must uncover the whole truth about her mother.

Whatever the cost.

As Alice journeys into the past she discovers her mother may never have been the woman she claimed to be . . .

My Review of Deception

Alice’s mother may not have been who she thought.

Deception has a seemingly simple plot as Alice tries to find out about her mother’s past, but told through Alice’s modern 2015 perspective interspersed by her mother’s decades of life, there’s a gradual uncovering that draws in the reader and makes them experience the truth in the same way as Alice uncovers it in a very satisfying narrative.

Raunchier than I’m used to from Lesley Pearse, Deception conveys the eras, particularly of Fleur’s experience, to perfection. Touches of realism such as the musical Hair add a sense of authenticity and the sexist, male dominated world feels so convincing.

I loathed Sally at the start of Deception, but as she transmogrified into her different personas and Alice found out more about her, I felt I had come to know a real woman. Her life choices may have been forced upon her, unwisely chosen or even criminal, but what Lesley Pearse does so well is to show the reader why Sally behaved as she did so that there’s a reality to her actions and an understanding In the reader.

Whilst being entertaining and engaging, Deception tackles some very weighty issues. It’s tricky to allude to them without spoiling the story, but I thoroughly appreciated the harsh reality Lesley Pearse depicts of life for women throughout the middle decades of the last century. At the same time, Deception doesn’t feel dated so that the modern reader can relate to what happens completely.

I found Deception more thought provoking and deeper than other Lesley Pearse books, although her central themes of identity and self-resilience endure. As a result, Deception feels substantial and rewarding to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Lesley Pearse

Lesley Pearse was told as a child that she had too much imagination for her own good. When she grew up she worked her way through many jobs – from corsetry sales in Cooks of St. Pauls (featured in Dead to Me), to bunny girl to nanny; from gift shop owner to dressmaker – finally finding her true vocation when she became a published author age 49. Since then Lesley has become an internationally bestselling author, with over 10 million copies of her books sold worldwide.

A true storyteller and a master of gripping storylines, there is no set formula for a Lesley Pearse novel although strong heroines and difficult circumstances are pervasive. Whether historical adventures such as Gypsy or Never Look Back or the passionately emotive Trust Me, Lesley is inspired by stories of courage and adversity and often gives voice to women lost in history. She is passionate about her research and her stories have taken her far and wide; from Alaska to the Crimea. Lesley now lives just outside Torquay in Devon where she loves to spend time walking on the beach with her grandchildren and dogs.

A fantastic speaker and committed and passionate fundraiser for the NSPCC, Lesley is a much sought after guest at literary lunches, library events and festivals up and down the country. Lesley was also selected as the first Ambassador for National Libraries Day in 2014.

You can follow Lesley on Twitter @LesleyPearse, and find her on Facebook.

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I love receiving surprise book post and as a cat lover I was delighted to receive children’s book Cats in Chaos by Peter Bently and illustrated by John Bond. My huge thanks to Tina Mories for sending it to me.

Cats in Chaos is a companion book to Dogs in Disguise that I reviewed here.

Published by Harper Collins Childrens’ Books on 7th July, Cats in Chaos is available for purchase through the links here.

Cats in Chaos

A hilarious new picture book from Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning author Peter Bently and the incredibly talented illustrator John Bond, creators of Dogs in Disguise.

A fun-filled look into the chaotic world of cats and all the crazy things they get up to when their owners aren’t looking!

In the dark of night, as their owners sleep, the cats of the city are all headed to one place: Catsby’s Great Circus! Step this way and see conjuring cats, felines that fly, Siamese that swing from above, and don’t miss the mighty PURRCULES CLAW. But with so much activity, it only takes one little mouse in the wrong place to put the whole circus in chaos…

This jaunty rhyming text from hugely popular, award-winning author, Peter Bently, with brilliantly witty illustrations from John Bond, creator of the Mini Rabbit books, will have children laughing out loud!

My Review of Cats in Chaos

The cat circus is in town.

I have one small quibble to get out of the way before my review proper and that is my preference not to have occasional words entirely in upper case letters in children’s books as I prefer them to reflect how we would like emergent writers to write. That said, the target audience for Cats in Chaos would neither notice or care!

Cats in Chaos is fabulous. It’s so funny that I found myself laughing aloud on several occasions and I can envisage young children absolutely loving the antics of the cats and the chaos caused by the mouse. The word play like ‘cat-astrophe’ and the onomatopoeic words like ‘yowling’ add to the smashing educational as well as entertainment value of Cats in Chaos. The story is fast paced with a structure that works beautifully, beginning and ending with cats snoozing and snuggling (or not!).

There’s brilliant rhyming that helps promote children’s own language use and the names of the cat circus acts like Evel Katnevel the motorbike rider are perfect too – or should that be purrfect? All these features add to a huge sense of fun which I think is very much needed after recent times.

Add in the sensational illustrations, the vibrant colours and the perfect balance of text to picture and I think Cats in Chaos is destined to become one of those books children adore and return to time and again. I loved it!

About Peter Bently

Peter studied languages at Oxford University, England, and lives in Devon with his wife Lucy and their two children. After a career as a non-fiction editor, he turned to writing for children soon after the birth of his son Theo. Egmont published his very first children’s book, the bestselling A Lark in the Ark, which was shortlisted for the Red House award and the inaugural BookTrust Book of the Year awards.

Peter also wrote King Jack and the Dragon, which was shortlisted for the Kate Greenway Medal and selected as one of the American Library Association’s Notable Books of the year. Among his other titles, the hilarious The Great Dog Bottom Swap was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, which he won in 2011 with Cats Ahoy!

You’ll find more information on Peter’s website and you can follow him on Twitter @PeterBently and Instagram.

About John Bond

John Bond is an illustrator, author and artist. He grew up on a farm in the Cotswolds and went on to study a degree in Illustration at Kingston University, London. He now lives and works in Worthing on the south coast. His studio is based at Colonnade House.

With a background in animation and digital media, he spent 7 years working at an award winning creative agency – designing and directing a multitude of projects for broadcast, digital, and interactive content.

He now works independently as an illustrator and artist, balancing commercial jobs with self initiated projects alongside running his own online store. Bond’s work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and he has spoken at industry events such as Pictoplasma, Glug and Pecha Kucha.

For more information, visit John’s website, follow him on Twitter @iamjohnbond and Instagram or find him on Facebook.

It’s far, far too long since Holly Seddon appeared here on Linda’s Book Bag when we stayed in together here to chat about Don’t Close Your Eyes, so I’m thrilled to be part of the blog tour for The Woman on the Bridge by sharing my review today. My thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to participate.

Published by Orion, The Woman On The Bridge is available in all formats through the links here.

The Woman on the Bridge

How far would you go to save a perfect stranger?

Maggie is trapped. Dumped on her wedding day, rejected by her family and hounded by a man determined to make her suffer.

Charlotte is desperate. Double-crossed by her only friend and facing total ruin, she will go to any lengths to save what matters.

Two women, one night. A decision that will change everything.

My Review of The Woman on the Bridge

Charlotte and Maggie’s lives are about to change!

Picture a reader staring at page after page without blinking, jaw slack and breath held and you’ll picture how I read The Woman on the Bridge. Initially I was uncertain if I’d engage with the narrative as I didn’t warm to Charlotte but within a few pages Holly Seddon drew me in with her fast paced, devious plotting so that not only was I totally engrossed, but The Woman on the Bridge held me captive and resentful of anyone interrupting my reading.

Intricately plotted, The Woman on the Bridge might need a willing suspension of disbelief at times, but I genuinely had no idea what the outcome might be. I found it a brilliant, twisting story that took me by surprise on several occasions. Reading The Woman on the Bridge is akin to being on the Waltzers at a fairground. Just when you think you know which way you’re headed in, you’re spun round in the opposite direction. This makes for an exciting and compelling read.

The characters in The Woman on the Bridge are all devious, unreliable and duplicitous and the irony is, the one I suspected most transpired to be the most innocent, but I can’t say more without plot spoilers.

I loved the manner in which so many women in this narrative are both literally and metaphorically on the bridge. Obviously Charlotte finds Maggie on the  bridge, but both women are on the bridge of a new phase in their lives, as are Anne and Pamela at different points. I loved, too, the intensity of relationship between Charlotte and Maggie because it adds a layer of depth and emotion that is so affecting. Holly Seddon shows us how closely and rapidly it is possible to become embroiled in the life of another person.

Weave in themes of loyalty and betrayal, family and relationships, guilt and innocence to the compelling characters and breath taking pace and The Woman on the Bridge is an outstanding thriller that entertains so wonderfully. I really loved it.

About Holly Seddon

Holly Seddon is the international bestselling author of Try Not to Breathe, Don’t Close Your Eyes, Love Will Tear Us Apart and The Hit List. After growing up in the English countryside obsessed with music and books, Holly worked in London as a journalist and editor. She now lives in Kent with her family and writes full time. Alongside fellow author Gillian McAllister, Holly co-hosts the popular Honest Authors Podcast.

For further information you can follow Holly on Twitter @hollyseddon, Instagram and Facebook or visit visit her website.

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When I began blogging, Mike Gayle was one of the first authors I met in real life and I have never forgotten what a wonderful experience that was. Ironically, although I think I’ve bought them all since then, I’ve read too few of Mike’s books and so I’m delighted to rectify that error by sharing my review of The Museum of Ordinary People today. My huge thanks to the folk at Team Bookends for sending me a copy of The Museum of Ordinary People in return for an honest review and to Jenny Platt at Hodder for including me in this blog tour.

You’ll find my review of Mike’s All the Lonely People here.

Published by Hodder and Stoughton today, 7th July 2022, The Museum of Ordinary People is available for purchase through the links here.

The Museum of Ordinary People

Still reeling from the sudden death of her mother, Jess is about to do the hardest thing she’s ever done: empty her childhood home so that it can be sold.

But when in the process Jess stumbles across the mysterious Alex, together they become custodians of a strange archive of letters, photographs, curios and collections known as The Museum of Ordinary People.

As they begin to delve into the history of the objects in their care, Alex and Jess not only unravel heart-breaking stories that span generations and continents, but also unearth long buried secrets that lie much closer to home.

Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a thought-provoking and poignant story of memory, grief, loss and the things we leave behind.

My Review of The Museum of Ordinary People

The Museum of Ordinary People is classic Mike Gayle gorgeousness. It’s simultaneously heart-warming and heart breaking, bringing a tear to the eye and an ache in the heart because this author knows exactly how to convey our innermost hopes and fears through his fabulous storytelling and characterisation. What Mike Gayle does so effortlessly is to provide a glimpse into humanity and teach us what really matters in life but in a way that entertains and leaves the reader feeling a sense of love and belonging that might have been missing in our lives. He’s such an evocative writer.

I loved the plot. The discovery of the museum, Jess’s involvement in it, her relationship with Guy, her friendship with Luce, as well as the developments with Alex and the others are situations that are heightened by some twists and discoveries along the way so that The Museum of Ordinary People is really entertaining and interesting as well as moving and engaging.

Jess is quite wonderful. Like so many of us she is filled with self doubt, thinking she has rather lost her way in life so that the reader feels as if she’s a friend we know well. I was desperate for her to be happy. Her Mum is brilliantly depicted despite not being physically present so that we experience her memory every bit as vividly as Jess does.

Indeed, Jess’s self discovery, and finding what is important in her life, is a crucial thread and it is Mike Gayle’s themes that elevate the book into a fabulous read. He imbues his writing with such profound understanding of grief, of how we can find ourselves in places, situations and relationships that we never intended, of guilt, atonement and the need to belong, it is as if he has looked into our hearts and helped us find our place in life and heal. Certainly I expected a positive ending to The Museum of Ordinary People, but there’s no sense of simple contrivance; more a mature and insightful understanding of who we really are that touches and enlightens the reader.

I found The Museum of Ordinary People impossible to tear myself away from. It’s absolutely lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Mike Gayle

Mike Gayle was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a features editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan. Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as ‘full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations’, and by The Times as ‘a funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic’. Since then he has written sixteen novels, including The Man I Think I Know, selected as a World Book Night title, and Half A World Away, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 2021, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, kids and greyhound.

For more information, find Mike on Instagram or Facebook, visit his website or follow him on Twitter @mikegayle.

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I love being part of a book’s journey into the world so when Karl Muntz got in touch about his book, The Pain Eater, coming out today I simply had to invite him onto Linda’s Book Bag to find out more. Let’s see what he told me:

Staying in with Kyle Muntz

Hi Kyle, and welcome to Linda’s Book Bag. I rather think I know the answer, but what book have you brought along today?

I’ve brought along The Pain Eater. It’s a literary horror novel out today from Clash Books about two brothers who discover a creature that eats human pain.

Oo. Happy publication day Kyle. This sounds fascinating. What can we expect from an evening with The Pain Eater?

Anyone who has ever lived in a small town can expect something familiar, yet somehow uncomfortable—especially if you happen to grow up in the 2000s. The Pain Eater definitely has the darkness you’d expect from a horror novel; but beneath that, it’s about a time, and a place, and aspects of life I think anyone who has lived in a small-town will recognize.

I live in a very small town. You’ve got me thinking… What else have you brought with The Pain Eater?

I’ve brought a novel by Stephen King. I grew up loving King, especially the gritty realism of his setting and characters. But as I got older, I found myself disliking how, once you discovered what was going on, beneath the surface the characters always stumbled into some great struggle between good and evil. When I wrote the Pain Eater, I was curious to see what horror would look like if we looked into the darkness, and just saw more of ourselves.

Really, was it just Stephen King who had this effect on you?

Actually, maybe not. I feel the book might appeal to similar audience, probably especially because of the setting. But I haven’t read King much since I was quite young. Recently I’ve been a lot more influenced by writers like Larry McMurtry, Anne Tyler, and Jonathan Franzen, especially the techniques they use to make characters realistic and nuanced. At the same time, I was thinking of Haruki Murakami, who injects a bunch of surprising supernatural elements into realistic settings—but darker. So the book works gradually towards intense, grim moments that were ultimately intense enough the publisher felt it could be released as horror.

So does The Pain Eater reflect your own life?

The Pain Eater isn’t autobiographical, but it does happen to be set in the mid-2000s—right in the years when I was an angry teenager. I was quite surprised during the writing just how different many things were. The characters barely use social media; they don’t have cell-phones. One of the characters is very into Japanese nerd-culture, but they don’t stream anime on the internet—they steal DVDs from the store. The process of recreating the setting was an interesting reminder that it’s not quite “historical”, but still remote enough to feel both close and far away.

What would you drink while you’re reading the book?

Bell’s Oberon. It’s a wheat beer from Michigan that actually appears in the novel; when I was in my early 20s, I remember feeling it wasn’t summer until you could get Oberon in the stores. And these days, since I’ve lived overseas for quite a few years, it’s one of those details from home that has taken on a sort of mythical proportion.

I’d never heard of that beer. Pour me a glass and tell me what readers been saying about the book?

So far, I’ve gotten lucky with some pretty nice buzz! I was especially pumped about this blurb from Eric Larocca, author of the viral hit Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke:

“Absurd, grim, and wonderfully unique, Kyle Muntz’s The Pain Eater is an exceptional read from a new and distinct voice in horror.”

I also got a great blurb from Nick Mamatas, a multi-genre whose most recently book is The Second Shooter. I’ve been following his work for about decade now, so was incredibly excited to get this from him:

“What if the horror boom of the 1980s had instead exploded during the age of emo? Everybody you know would be reading and re-reading The Pain Eater. A dark slow burn of a novel.”

Those are fabulous responses. You must be thrilled.

Also, there have been some very kind pre-release reviews, including this one from Vanessa at Pirate Twinkie which also had some nice period references:.

“As the story spirals ever downward, it gets darker, angrier, and at times, pretty gross. There’s a level of melancholy with the characters like the feeling you would get if you listened to an entire Bright Eyes album. Maybe Bright Eyes mixed with screamo.”

And thanks to Christina, a very generous Goodreads reviewer who had this to say about the novel:

“Original, disturbing, and imaginative—all things that make for a great horror story, of which Muntz is not in short supply…Fans of horror will love this. It was graphic, it was unsettling, and it was a wildly dark take on trauma and family.”

I think The Pain Eater sounds brilliant Kyle. Thank you for staying in with me to chat about it. Happy publication day once again. Let’s raise a glass of Bell’s Oberon in celebration and I’ll tell Linda’s Book Bag readers a little more:

The Pain Eater

The Pain Eater is the story of two brothers from Michigan reunited after the death of their father. They’ve never been close, but now they have to live together―and it gets more difficult when one discovers a strange creature, vomited from the body of a dead cat. A creature that eats human pain. It feels good: too good. Soon he wants to hurt himself more, just so the pain can be taken away. But the more the creature becomes a part of his life, the more he damages everything around him. Some wounds are too deep to ever heal.

Published by Clash Books today, 5th July 2022, The Pain Eater is available here and here.

About Kyle Muntz

Kyle Muntz is an American novelist and author of Voices [2010, Enigmatic Ink], Sunshine in the Valley [2011, Civil Coping Mechanisms], VII (or) The Life, Times and Tragedy of Sir Edward William Locke the Third: Gentleman [2012, Enigmatic Ink], Green Lights [2014, CCM], and Scary People [2015, Eraserhead Press].

Excerpts and other pieces of his have also been published in Gone Lawn, Step Chamber, The Journal of Experimental Fiction and Fiction International.

You can follow Kyle on Twitter @kylemuntz and Instagram.