It gives me enormous pleasure to stay in with author Helena Halme today. Helena’s books look just my kind of read and although I haven’t been able to fit in a read yet, I’m longing to do so. Consequently, I was delighted when Helena agreed to stay in with me to chat about her latest release.

Staying in with Helena Halme

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Helena. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

It’s lovely to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me along!

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

I am deep into writing a series set on a group of islands in the outer archipelago off the coast of Finland. The Island Daughter, Book 3, came out 17th July, and the Love on the Island series compilation with all the three novels was published 27 August.

So I’d like to offer all the books in the boxset: The Island Affair, An Island Christmas and The Island Daughter to share with you and your readers tonight.

They look fabulous Helena. I love travel and a return to Finland sounds like a brilliant idea. How exciting to have a new box set out. Congratulations. So, tell me, what can we expect from an evening in with Love on the Island Series Books 1-3?

All novels in the series follow Alicia, who returns to the islands where she was raised, after losing her son in a tragic accident. Her marriage to Liam, a British surgeon, breaks down and she embarks on a torrid affair with Patrick, the blonde and blue-eyed husband of a local property magnate’s daughter. We also meet Alicia’s mother, the gutsy Hilda, her world-travelling friend Brit, and other characters living in the small island community. Readers have called this series of three books ‘sensational’ (NetGalley) and ‘a rich story full of twists and turns you can’t see coming’ (GoodReads).

I love the sound of your characters and those reader responses make me even more keen to add the box set Love on the Island Series Books 1-3 to my TBR pile!

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

I can offer you a piece of Ålands Pannkaka, a clafoutis type of dessert often enjoyed together with a cup of strong coffee on the islands. Made with semolina and cream, it is just divine, especially served with local plum or cloudberry jam! This rich treat features quite a lot in the books.

If you’re going to bring food like that Helena, I shall be asking you back very soon!

I’m also sharing with you a few images from this magical place, where I’ve spent many, many lazy summer days.

It was these holidays that inspired me to write the stories in the Love on the Island series. I hope you agree that there could not really be a more beautiful setting to spend your time writing or reading about? I could be biased, of course…. 😉

I think you have every right to be biased. What a stunning location. Truly inspirational. You’ve made me want to visit both in person and vicariously through your books. Thank you so much for staying in with me and introducing the new box set for the Love on the Island series Helena. 

Thank you so much for letting me be your guest on your blog!

My pleasure!

Love on the Island

Transport yourself through ‘sensational fiction’ to the fascinating and serenely beautiful Åland Islands between Finland and Sweden!

Love on the Island series by the ‘brilliant author’ Helena Halme is a sweeping saga set on a small group of Nordic islands filled with tourists in the summer and snow and ice in the winter. This boxset combines the three first full-length novels in the ‘must read’ series with Alicia, a journalist raised on the islands, her British surgeon husband, Liam, and a Swedish reporter, Patrick, who makes Alicia’s heart beat a little too fast…

The Island Affair (Book 1)

After her son’s tragic death, journalist Alicia and her husband Liam travel to the Nordic Islands where Alicia was raised. As they struggle to keep their marriage afloat, secrets are revealed which threaten to end their relationship, but at the same time give Alicia hope for the future. Enter tall, blonde Patrick with the most piercing blue eyes Alicia has ever seen. As the summer heats up, can Alicia find a way to embrace life and love once more?

An Island Christmas (Book 2)

It’s time for Alicia to enjoy her first winter back on her beloved Islands with her family. But her estranged husband, Liam, springs an unwelcome and devastating surprise and her ex-lover, Patrick, tempts her with an altogether different kind of future, making Alicia face an impossible choice. With her world crashing around her, can Alicia create the idyllic Island Christmas she’s always dreamt about?

The Island Daughter (Book 3)

Alicia returns home to the islands after a family tragedy, leaving behind a new life in Stockholm with Patrick. But when Mia Eriksson, Patrick’s ex, makes a move to rekindle her relationship with him, Alicia is torn between duty and her own happiness. Alicia’s world is further upended when deeply buried family secrets surface. How can she face the future when everything she believed to be true about her past is a lie?

Join Alicia’s small island community in the captivating new series set on the most picturesque of Scandinavian islands. Once you enter her world, you’ll never want to leave.

The Love on the Island series is available for purchase here.

About Helena Halme

You can find more about Helena and her books on Helena’s website, by finding her on Facebook and by following her on Twitter @helenahalme.

You’ll find all of Helena’s books here.

I’m delighted to participate in the launch celebrations for The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman by sharing my review today. My Thanks to Ellie Hudson at Penguin for inviting me to participate.

The Thursday Murder Club will be published tomorrow, 3rd September 2020 by Penguin imprint Viking and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Thursday Murder Club

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

My Review of The Thursday Murder Club

The retirement village Thursday Murder Club has a new case to solve.

Now, I confess I’m not usually attracted to ‘celebrity’ authors, but I am so glad I made an exception in Richard Osman’s case. The Thursday Murder Club is an absolute gem of a book, written with wit, wry and dry humour as well as outright comedic moments so that few pages passed without me laughing. However, there’s also some lovely insight into the human condition, especially love and loneliness so that I confess I found a tear in my eye on more than one occasion too.

The plot is cleverly constructed so that Richard Osman withholds and reveals just enough detail to tantalise the reader and keep them hooked. Short chapters keep the pace snappy and fast, but also give an episodic approach that would work brilliantly in television. The Thursday Murder Club seems to blend disparate elements of every crime of police series there’s ever been into a coherent, thoroughly satisfying whole that a diverting and fun read.

There’s quite a cast of characters both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Elizabeth is absolutely brilliant in undermining the little old lady stereotype of older women, so that I finished reading The Thursday Murder Club rather wishing I could meet her or that I’ll be like her when I reach her age. Contrasting perfectly with the dynamic, and probably quite overpowering, Elizabeth I found Joyce’s gentler, first person, sections worked extremely well in giving the reader time to pause and restock, whilst adding to the pathos that threads between the humour. Her voice is clear and illustrates just how much those frequently overlooked have to offer. 

In fact, much as I enjoyed the romp of a plot, the smashing humour and the vivid characters, I think what appealed to me most about Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club was the exploration of theme. The author has such a crystal clear insight into human nature and such a witty style that he presents weighty themes of crime and retribution, suicide and murder, relationships and stereotyping in such a way as to challenge reader expectations whilst entertaining them brilliantly. 

I thought The Thursday Murder Club was a cracking read. I hope the team have another case to solve very soon.

About Richard Osman

Richard Osman is an author, producer and television presenter. The Thursday Murder Club is his first novel. He is well known for TV shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games. As the creative director of Endemol UK, Richard has worked as an executive producer on numerous shows including Deal Or No Deal and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He is also a regular on panel and game shows such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You and Taskmaster.

You can follow Richard on Twitter @richardosman and there’s more with these other bloggers:

When Natasha Randall got in touch to see if I would like to review her debut book, Love Orange, I could see immediately that it would be my kind of read. However, with over 600 new books coming out on 3rd September and my TBR still standing at well over 900 physical books I knew I’d never read Love Orange by the time it was published. I was so intrigued though that I simply had to invite Natasha to stay in with me to tell me more about it.

Staying in with Natasha Randall

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

In case readers haven’t guessed yet, tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I have brought my debut novel Love Orange with me. It is a very orange book. And there is a trick on the cover. Did you ever see Margaret Atwood’s latest Handmaid’s Tale cover – where the negative space actually depicted something too? Something similar happens with my cover. It’s a strong design, but there’s a reason the title is placed where it is… You have to read it to find out, though.

Oo. Now that is intriguing. I’m so glad I have a copy of Love Orange on my TBR waiting to be read so that I can find out. I have all kinds of theories as I can see a letter, a warning sign, an inverted house or home, a possible love triangle – or two – so it’ll be fascinating to see if any of my initial impressions are right. 

With all that in mind, what can we expect from an evening in with Love Orange?

You can expect to laugh, and then to feel like something a little weird is happening. Online reviewers say it reminds them of Ray Bradbury – but if he was writing about now, instead of some future moment. I have to warn you, the first 100 pages are spread wide. The story is told by four characters so there’s a bit of getting to know each of them. They are all in the same family, and they all see the same things but very differently.

I think that’s true of any family! I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy reading Love Orange.

What else have you brought along and why?

I have brought a basket of oranges for you because they are a gesture of health. My book isn’t about health— it’s about a lonely search for identity, so this is a kind of effort at contributing an antidote. I will also say that Aperol is really delicious with light beer instead of sparkling wine.

I have brought that too for you to try. It’s also orange, so that’s cute – right?

I’ll have to try that as I don’t normally like Aperol!

You’ll hear that Hunger by Florence and the Machine is playing on the radio—I asked for that. That’s a song that tells you that we’re all hungry. And sometimes, the hunger is an ache for something other than food.

I think we all recognise that feeling Natasha!

Jenny Tinkley is here, she’s waiting outside – she’s one of my characters. She’s tired today. We could ask her to come inside, maybe.

We could. You go and call her in and I’ll tell readers all they need about Love Orange. Thanks so much for staying in with me Natasha to chat all about it. I can’t wait to read Love Orange!

Love Orange

An extraordinary debut novel by Natasha Randall, exposing the seam of secrets within an American family, from beneath the plastic surfaces of their new ‘smart’ home. Love Orange charts the gentle absurdities of their lives, and the devastating consequences of casual choices.

While Hank struggles with his lack of professional success, his wife Jenny, feeling stuck and beset by an urge to do good, becomes ensnared in a dangerous correspondence with a prison inmate called John. Letter by letter, John pinches Jenny awake from the “marshmallow numbness” of her life. The children, meanwhile, unwittingly disturb the foundations of their home life with forays into the dark net and strange geological experiments.

Jenny’s bid for freedom takes a sour turn when she becomes the go-between for John and his wife, and develops an unnatural obsession for the orange glue that seals his letters…

Love Orange throws open the blinds of American life, showing a family facing up to the modern age, from the ascendancy of technology, the predicaments of masculinity, the pathologising of children, the epidemic of opioid addiction and the tyranny of the WhatsApp Gods. The first novel by the acclaimed translator is a comic cocktail, an exuberant skewering of contemporary anxieties and prejudices.

Love Orange is published by Quercus imprint Riverrun on 3rd September 2020 and is available for pre-order here.

About Natasha Randall

Natasha Randall is a literary translator whose translations include Notes from an Underground by Dostoyevsky, A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov, and We by Zamyatin. She has edited a volume of Gogol for Riverrun, Quercus. Her articles and reviews have appeared in the TLS, LA Review and the NYT. She lives in London with her husband and young children.

You can follow Natasha on Twitter @NatashaRandall and visit her website for more information.

My enormous thanks to poet Sunita Thind for sending me a copy of The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems in return for an honest review.

The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems was published by Black Pear Press on 30th March 2020 and is available for purchase here.

The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems

This debut collection of poems from the Indian, female perspective gives an insight into Punjabi culture in the UK.

Sunita says, ‘I don’t often find mainstream poems that share ideas on other cultures.’

Her poems are layered with deep imagery and display an irreverant, playful approach to language. Sunita is a poet who draws deeply on her dual UK-Punjabi heritage to cast a new light on multicultural Britain.

My Review of The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems

A collection of poems considering a multi-cultural life.

I have one small criticism of The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems that I would like to express before my review. I’d have preferred not to have translations into English within some of the poems themselves as I felt it broke the flow of the writing. That said, embodying the English translations alongside the original writing does model a blending of cultures, which is something we need, and is part of the poet’s life so I can appreciate why the poems may have been presented in this way. Indeed, one of the pleasures of reading The Barging Buddhi is that I learnt new language words and felt at first hand a sense of otherness that so many in the BAME community must frequently feel.

There’s a glorious richness in The Barging Buddhi so that reading the collection felt like looking at a bejewelled casket. Colours and textures weave through the writing in a very visual manner and there are even real gems like diamonds within the poems. Similarly, the other senses are wonderfully explored. I found the sense of taste, conveyed by the references to food, almost overwhelming at times and was ravenous by the time I’d finished reading the poems. I loved Sunita Thind’s ability to manipulate language with stunning metaphors and so many images of things glittering or sparkling and contrasting with the ooziness of coconut oil and honey, so that there’s a sensual and sensuous sensation reading these poems. Equally, Sunita Thind’s ability to create visceral pictures is both striking and effective so that I found many of the poems in The Barging Buddhi very affecting.

I found the themes incredibly thought provoking. Sunita Thind considers race and colour, obedience and rebellion, language and identity with general societal approaches as well as more intimate poems that reflect intimate aspects of her own life. A couple of the poems relating to the poet’s ovarian cancer are almost unbearable in their intensity.

I didn’t always find the writing in The Barging Buddhi And Other Poems immediately accessible. This is by no means a criticism. Rather, I loved the fact I needed to read closely, to concentrate and to consider what I’d read. This is a collection I will return to many times and where I’m sure I will uncover something new on each occasion. I really recommend it.

About Sunita Thind

You can follow Sunita on Twitta @sunitathind and find her on Facebook for more information.

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to ‘stay in’ with Peter Taylor-Gooby in a post you can read here. We chatted about Blood Ties which I’m delighted to be reviewing today as part of the Love Books Group blog tour. It’s a privilege to help start it off. My thanks to Kelly for inviting me to participate.

When Peter’s The Baby Auction was published he provided a fabulous piece for Linda’s Book Bag on writing dystopian fiction that you’ll find here. I reviewed Peter’s excellent Ardent Justice here.

Blood Ties

Blood Ties is about love, betrayal and compassion. Ritchie, a successful advertising executive, is blackmailed into leading a campaign to make modern slavery acceptable to the public. His children, activists in the struggle against people-trafficking, are horrified. The novel tells of his journey through a Britain where rich and poor live as close and as distant as the cheeks of the blade of an axe, and how he finds that it is only through self-sacrifice that he can reunite his family.

Blood Ties is currently available in e-book from all online sellers including here.

My Review of Blood Ties

Blood Ties is absolutely brilliant. I loved it.

Peter Taylor-Gooby writes with erudite style, intelligence and pitch perfect plotting, but above all that, he writes with humanity so that whilst his reader is entertained, they are educated and affected too. The themes of Blood Ties are incredibly pertinent to Britain today, with modern slavery, political corruption and family relationships at the very heart of the writing. And heart is the correct term. The author displays such moral empathy whilst crafting a brilliant thriller of a book. However, none of the story is self-righteous, so that its impact is all the more powerful. I genuinely felt ashamed of my lack of knowledge of some of the subject matter and hugely grateful for the comfortable, privileged life I have. Blood Ties is a book with real, emotional impact. It has come as no surprise to me to discover that Peter Taylor-Gooby is both a Professor of Social Policy and has an OBE for services to social science, as the authenticity of Blood Ties is astounding.

The plot zips along at breakneck, thrilling speed but manages to retain complete credibility so that I couldn’t trust the narrative not to move on without me if I put the book down. I was completely captivated and in fact read Blood Ties in one sitting. There’s an episodic nature the the story that would make a simply fabulous television series. I think Blood Ties is a book that needs championing in every quarter to bring it to as wide a readership as possible.

Peter Taylor-Gooby has a deft touch in imparting textual details that enliven the prose but don’t cause a break in the pace. I found Blood Ties surprisingly visual and this effect enhanced my enjoyment still further. I loved the variety of sentence structure, the natural dialogue and how brilliantly meaning is conveyed just as effectively by what is withheld as by what is revealed. I confess I was moved to tears more than once.

The characters are all wonderfully drawn, but it is Ritchie’s first person voice that rings out so clearly making him completely compelling. I finished reading Blood Ties feeling I wanted to sit down with Ritchie, talk through the events and issues he’d told me about and to support him in any way I can.

Blood Ties is thriller with a moral conscience that never preaches, but rather grips the reader to the extent they feel they are sitting on Ritchie’s shoulder in the thick of the action throughout. Blood Ties is splendid in every respect and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Peter Taylor-Gooby

Peter enjoys talking to his children, holidays, hill-walking and riding his bike. He has worked on adventure playgrounds, as a teacher, as an antique dealer and in a social security office in Newcastle. Before that Peter spent a year on a Gandhian Ashram in Vijayawada, supporting himself as assistant editor on a local English-language newspaper. In his day job Peter is an academic but believes that you can only truly understand the issues that matter to people through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That’s why he writes novels.

His first novel, The Baby Auction, 2017, is a love story set in a fantasy world where the only rule is the law of the market. That someone should help another because they care for them simply doesn’t make sense to the citizens of Market World, any more that auctioning babies might to us. His second, Ardent Justice, 2018, is a crime story set in the world of high finance and city fat-cats, where money rules, but greed can trip even the most successful. Peter’s latest book, Blood Ties, 2020, is about the ties of love in a troubled family, and the bonds of debt that chain illegal immigrants to people-traffickers, and how they can be broken through self-sacrifice. He hopes you enjoy them.

For more information you can follow Peter on Twitter @PeterT_G. He’s also on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

 

It gives me enormous pleasure to participate in the publication day blog blast run by Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for Under a Siena Sun by T.A Williams. What better way to start my 37th wedding anniversary than by sharing a review of a romantic book?

T.A. or Trevor, has featured many times on Linda’s Book Bag, having written about how much of himself goes into his books here, and why he writes books for women here.

More recently I reviewed Dreaming of Italy here, Dreaming of Verona here with a review of Trevor’s Chasing Shadows here. Other reviews include Dreaming of Venice here and To Provence, With Love here and Dreaming of Christmas here. There’s also an extract from Dreaming of St Tropez that you can read here.

Under a Siena Sun is published today, 27th August 2020 by Canelo Escape and is available for purchase here.

Lucy needed a change of scene. She didn’t expect the change of a lifetime.

Doctors Without Borders has been Lucy Young’s life for the past four years. After being rescued from a conflict zone, she’s making a change from saving lives under gunfire to practising medicine in safe, serene Siena.

Now treating wealthy patients at a private clinic, she’s never felt less comfortable. She’s used to helping those in dire need – not those in need of a nip and tuck. Her turmoil grows when she encounters injured tennis star David Lorenzo, whose smiles make Lucy forget her aversion to the rich.

She’s soon falling for the sportsman but is she losing herself in this world of excess? All she’s ever wanted was to help the underprivileged, so can her future lie in Siena at the clinic – with David?

My Review of Under a Siena Sun

Following her dramatic escape from DRC medic Lucy needs a break.

Under a Siena Sun is a perfect example of the romantic stories I’ve come to expect from T.A. Williams, but this time with a slightly edgier atmosphere created partly by the dramatic opening to the narrative and partly by a clear underpinning social message of wealth versus poverty and privilege versus disadvantage so that I thoroughly appreciated the added depth and enjoyed the narrative all the more.

There’s a super story in Under a Siena Sun that entertains the reader royally. The plot is fast and interesting so that I loved being in Italy with Lucy. Her relationships with different men, her principled attitudes and the glorious Italian settings transport the reader completely. It’s unwise to read a TA Williams book when I’m hungry as his descriptions of food are so mouth-wateringly realistic that they make me desire all kinds of forbidden and out of reach food. I always finish reading T.A. Williams feeling as if I’ve been taken on a holiday away from the trials of my own life and Under a Siena Sun is no exception, but this time with a glorious element of extra glamour too as I visited vicariously the areas of Tuscany I’ve never been to. The sheer escapism is as much a pleasure of reading Under a Siena Sun as is the entertaining plot.

I thought Lucy’s character was extremely well crafted even if she did make me feel slightly shallow, because I’m not sure I would have maintained such a moral standpoint when faced with a gorgeous romance! Joking aside, I loved the fact that Under a Siena Sun gave me cause to think when I read Lucy’s thought processes and romantic dilemma. Indeed, it isn’t an exaggeration that Lucy, albeit a fictional person, has helped restore my faith in humanity which has been somewhat lacking of late. She is adaptive, feisty and intelligent and it’s so good to have a romantic read where a relationship with a man isn’t the be all and end all for the lead character.

Under a Siena Sun is a lovely new addition to the TA Williams canon. Familiar elements such as a black a Labrador, romance and transporting travel are there so that fans will be reassured that they are getting another super read, but there’s something a little bit more here too with reference to war and difficulty so that the writing feels deeper and more important somehow. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just wonderful.

About T.A.Williams

T.A. Williams lives in Devon with his Italian wife. He was born in England of a Scottish mother and Welsh father. After a degree in modern languages at Nottingham University, he lived and worked in Switzerland, France and Italy, before returning to run one of the best-known language schools in the UK. He’s taught Arab princes, Brazilian beauty queens and Italian billionaires. He speaks a number of languages and has travelled extensively. He has eaten snake, still-alive fish, and alligator. A Spanish dog, a Russian bug and a Korean parasite have done their best to eat him in return. His hobby is long-distance cycling, but his passion is writing.

But let’s see what Trevor has to say about himself:

I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

The fact that I am now writing romantic comedy is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations and, as a writer, I obviously have to go there in person and check them out first. I love my job…

You can find Trevor on Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter @TAWilliamsBooks and visit his website.

I’ve long been a fan of Jenny Eclair, but have never got round to reading one of her books so I thought it was time to rectify that situation. My hugely grateful thanks to Hannah Robinson at Quercus for sending me a copy of Older and Wider in return for an honest review.

Older and Wider was published by Quercus on 2nd July 2020 and is available for purchase through the links here.

Older and Wider

‘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.’

My Review of Older and Wider

One woman’s insight into the menopause.

I was having a bad day when I picked up Older and Wider, and I’d just read a pretty intense book so I was hoping for something entertaining and humorous from Jenny Eclair to raise my spirits. My word I got what I’d hoped. And more. Much more. Older and Wider is absolutely brilliant.

Written with pithy humour, complete honesty and a witty style that feels as if Jenny Eclair is chatting with you over a cup of tea (and probably a large plate of cheese), Older and Wider is such an effortless, engrossing and entertaining read.

I thought the structure of Older and Wider worked so well. Although I read the book straight through and in one sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down as I was so absorbed, the A to Z nature affords the opportunity to dip in and out of areas of interest too. The short sections allow those readers suffering from menopausal brain fog fully to absorb and enjoy each part without their frustrating symptoms spoiling it! I can’t comment on the plot as, well there isn’t one and as Jenny Eclair might tell you, most menopausal women have probably lost the plot anyway.

That’s not to say Older and Wider doesn’t deal with weighty issues like divorce, sexual intercourse, family relationships and physical and emotional changes for women experiencing the menopause, because it does. It’s just that Jenny Eclair strips back the secrecy and mysticism surrounding menopause and manages to provide solutions and advice with brilliant insight into human nature and so much humour that I chortled, nodded and laughed until I cried my way through Older and Wider as every word resonated with me. I may not have had all the same physical menopausal experiences as Jenny Eclair, but I could certainly recognise so many of her emotions. My husband seemed to think I had taken leave of my senses as I tried to read passages aloud to him but failed because I was laughing too much.

I loved the concept conveyed that embracing who we are and how our bodies are changing can be a positive experience and that where it isn’t an easy thing, there are services and people to help us. Equally wonderful was the level of autobiographical detail that made me feel I know the author a little better and consolidated my opinion that Jenny Eclair is an absolute star. I began reading Older and Wider as a grumpy old woman and ended it as an entertained, uplifted and happy one.

Utterly hilarious, completely relatable and totally fabulous, Older and Wider is a must read for any woman – or man!

About Jenny Eclair

Jenny Eclair is the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of the critically acclaimed novels Camberwell Beauty, Having a Lovely Time and Life, Death and Vanilla Slices, as well as the Richard and Judy bestseller, Moving, the short story collection, Listening In and her latest novel Inheritance. One of the UK’s most popular writer/performers, she was the first woman to win the prestigious Perrier Award and has many TV and radio credits to her name. She lives in south-east London.

To find out more, follow Jenny on Twitter @jennyeclair or visit her website. You’ll also find Jenny on Facebook.

It was back in January when I first encountered All About Us by Tom Ellen at a fabulous blogger, author and media evening in London. You can read about that evening and the other books and authors in Harper Collins’ HQ New Voices event here. Since then I’ve been desperate to read All About Us and I’m delighted to share my review today.

All About Us is published by HQ, an imprint of Harper Collins, and is available for purchase in ebook now and paperback pre-order here.

All About Us

If you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different life?

Ben usually loves the month of December, but this year, with his relationship with Daphne on the rocks, it’s missing its usual magic. And then his old friend Alice gets back in touch. Ben’s always thought of Alice as the one that got away, and he can’t help but wonder: what if he’d done things differently all those years ago?

He never imagines he might get to find out… but when a stranger sells Ben a mysterious watch one freezing winter’s night, he’s astonished to wake up the next morning on 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind.

Now Ben must make the biggest decision of his life, all over again. But this time around, will he finally find the courage to follow his heart?

Two loves. Two lives. One destiny…

My Review of All About Us

On Christmas Eve Ben and Daphne are not getting on well.

I absolutely devoured All About Us over a couple of days because it’s such an enchanting read. Although very much romantic fiction, it has a fairy tale aspect with the watch seller that is so perfectly woven through the narrative that I believed every word. There are those who might eschew reading All About Us before December as much of the action takes place on various Christmas days or dates nearby, but that would be to miss out on a simply wonderful book.

The plot absolutely zips along in a highly entertaining fashion that would make a fantastic film, but also tripping up the reader by surprising them by the level of humour and emotion in some of the sections. I found tears in my eyes on several occasions, and yet I have finished reading All About Us feeling optimistic and uplifted because Tom Ellen has shown me there is a world of glorious possibility if only we grasp it firmly. Indeed, it is the themes of All About Us that make it such a brilliant and affecting story. Ben’s time hopping actions make the reader realise that there may not be a second chance with some of those in our lives so we need to make the most of here and now, that being true to ourselves is far better than trying to make ourselves into someone that others want us to be and that love – deep abiding love – is the most precious commodity we have. I feel my personal life has been enhanced by reading All About Us.

It was so refreshing to have a romantic novel written from a male perspective too. Ben is totally realistic as a flawed thirty something man who has some considerable growing up to do. For all his imperfections, I so wanted him to be happy because Tom Ellen made him a character I cared about completely.  I loved his relationships with other men in the book, Harv in particular, and the way Tom Ellen illustrates how those relationships usually work. I found this a very insightful aspect of the narrative. The different time periods that Ben lives through had the effect of making me relive and reflect on some of my past memories too, giving me an added joyfulness as I read. I loved Daphne’s characterisation too and thought she was so cleverly conveyed through direct speech particularly. I began reading All About Us wanting one outcome for Ben, Alice and Daphne and ended it having have my expectations and readerly desires completely inverted by the super story-telling.

With a sparkling plot and every emotion possible from confusion to fear and love to grief holding the reader spellbound, All About Us is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. I adored it and can see it becoming one of THE romantic fiction reads of 2020. Fabulous stuff Tom Ellen!

About Tom Ellen

Tom is an author and journalist from London, England. He is the co-writer of three critically acclaimed Young Adult novels: LOBSTERS (which was shortlisted for The Bookseller’s inaugural YA Book Prize), NEVER EVERS and FRESHERS. His solo adult debut novel is the romantic comedy All About Us (HQ/HarperCollins). His books have been widely translated and are published in 20 countries. He is a regular contributor to Viz magazine, and has also written for Cosmopolitan, Empire, Evening Standard Magazine, The Daily Mash, Glamour, NME, ESPN, ShortList, Time Out London, Vice, Stylist and many more.

You can follow Tom on Twitter @TomEllen7.

 

It was such a shame that the vagaries of technology failed us last week as I had hoped to stay in with lovely Rosie Blake on THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB publication day last Thursday but sadly our emails got lost in the ether. However, it means that instead I can have a wonderful start to a new week by staying in with Rosie today instead.

You see, Rosie has been very much a part of Linda’s Book Bag since the very beginning. Writing as Cesca Major, her book The Silent Hours, reviewed here, was one of my Books of the Year in 2015. I also reviewed Cesca’s The Last Night and interviewed her about it here. The Last Night made it onto my Books of the Year in 2016!

Quite early on in my life as a blogger I reviewed Rosie Blake’s How To Stuff Up Christmas here. That was followed by my review of How To Find Your (First) Husband, and then my review of How To Get A (Love) Life. My next review of one of Rosie’s books is here and features The Hygge Holiday. Now, I loved every single one of those reads so you can see why I was so desperate to chat with Rosie about her latest book (which is on my TBR).

So, with all that in mind, let’s see what happened when Rosie stayed in with me.

Staying in with Rosie Blake

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Rosie. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. I’m so sorry our emails got lost in transit!

It is lovely of you to have me here, I love a chat about books!

Me too. Now, I know I already know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it? 

I’ve chosen THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB which is my latest novel and inspired by the utter joy that was my own grandad. I always wondered what kind of advice he might doll out watching me rush around, often too busy to stop and smell the roses. The book is about Teddy and his eighty year old golfing mates that make up his ‘Gin o’clock club’ helping stressed granddaughter Lottie to slow down and save herself. Think old people on Tinder and young people on whist drives and you’re there!!

Knowing the fabulous humour in your books Rosie and with the reviews I’ve read from other bloggers I can’t wait to read this one. What can we expect from an evening in with THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB? 

A career highlight for me was receiving a letter from my idol Jilly Cooper who described this book as ‘touching and hilarious’. I grew up on a diet of Jilly and to know she has read something I’ve written blows me away.

That must feel incredible to have such an endorsement.

And the fact that this book is inspired by my own grandad always brings a lump to my throat. I hope everyone who reads it can be wrenched out of this rather miserable year and lose themselves in the joy and wisdom of the older generation. It’s all about family and friendship and love.

And with everything that’s going on in 2020, I think family and friendship and love are the things we all need the most! What else have you brought along and why? 

I thought I would bring along a photo of my grandad so you can see the type of man he was and imagine what life advice he might give you!

Oh he looks wonderful Rosie. Reminds me of my Dad. Thank you for sharing him with us and for staying in with me, albeit a bit later than we meant, to tell me all about THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB.

Thank you for having me Linda!

THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB

Bring the sparkle and fizz back into your life with the help of The Gin O’Clock Club

Lottie is always in a hurry, rushing through her days ticking tasks off her to-do lists. Teddy is worried about his granddaughter – and he knows that his late wife, Lily, would have known exactly what to say to make things better. Now that Lily has gone, it’s up to Teddy to talk some sense into Lottie.

With the help of Arjun, Geoffrey and Howard, the elderly reprobates who make up his Gin O’Clock Club, Teddy makes a plan to help Lottie find her way back to the things that really matter – family, friendship and love. But as Lottie balances a high-powered job with her reluctant attendance at whist drives, ballroom dances and bingo, Teddy wonders if she’s really ready to open up her heart to the possibility of true happiness…

Laugh, cry and fall in love with this colourful cast of characters in THE feel-good novel of the year

Published by Little Brown imprint Sphere on 20th August 2020, THE GIN O’CLOCK CLUB is available for purchase through the links here.

About Rosie Blake

Rosie is a writer, recovering TV presenter and mother of many children. She has written for Cosmopolitan, The Lady, Best and Reveal Magazines. She has appeared on ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. She enjoys hosting writing panels and running creative writing workshops. Rosie has written comic women’s fiction for Atlantic Books and Sphere Fiction. Her latest, The Gin O’Clock Club, a quirky inter-generational love story about friendship, gin, golf and whist, is out now.

She continues to attempt to become Julia Robert’s best friend but is starting to worry it might never happen despite “liking” all her Instagram posts.

For more information, follow Rosie on Twitter @RosieBBooks, Facebook or Instagram – she has twins so she says she is always keen to chat.

I’m a real fan of thrillers and have been hearing such good things about thriller writer Tom Bale from other bloggers that I simply had to ask Tom to stay in with me to tell me about his latest book.

Let’s see what happened:

Staying in with Tom Bale

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

It’s very kind of you to invite me, Linda. Thank you!

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

I’m bringing my latest novel, SURVIVE, because it’s been described as the perfect summer read. Okay, I’d originally envisaged it as a book to be read by the pool or on the beach in some exotic sun-drenched resort, but with the recent heatwaves in the UK I’m sure that a garden or patio will do just as well!

I’m sure it will. And with all that’s going on, a book that we can escape into whilst still at home sounds exactly what we need right now!

What can we expect from an evening in with SURVIVE?

SURVIVE is the story of Sam and Jody and their young children, taking their first ever holiday abroad. What should be a relaxing all-inclusive break turns into a life-threatening ordeal. It’s a slightly different kind of book from my others, though still very much a thriller.

Intriguing. Tell me more.

My initial inspiration for a novel is usually a character or a situation, sometimes a place, but with SURVIVE it was a theme: the growing power of the super rich, and the fact that such people can seemingly do whatever they like and face no consequences (as my poor family are to discover!) I drew inspiration from a Graham Greene novel, Dr Fischer of Geneva, which has a similar theme. Other influences included Stephen King’s MISERY and The Magus by John Fowles, stories where the main characters find themselves as pawns in a game, and also the movie Castaway.

SURVIVE sounds fabulous and with recent events I can see that your theme is incredibly pertinent. How have readers responded to it?

Because it is a bit different, I was even more apprehensive than usual prior to publication, but I’ve been stunned by the passionate response I’ve had from readers. You know a book has worked the way you hoped when people are messaging to say they’ve gone without sleep to finish it. The review headings on Amazon have included phrases such as: “Gripping, terrifying and absolutely brilliant!” “A real nailbiter!” “A riveting read.” “Could not put this down!” “Best book of the year!” “Edge of the seat thriller.”So I couldn’t be happier about the reception it’s had.

Crikey! No wonder you’re happy with those comments. I must get SURVIVE onto my TBR immediately after this evening Tom.

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve got a couple of cold beers to drink as we sit and chat in the garden. I also have some pictures of Shoreham upon Sea, a town just along the coast from Brighton. It was in a couple of the cafes here that most of SURVIVE was written, and after a few hours immersed in Sam and Jody’s world there was nothing I liked more than a swim in the sea before cycling home.

Those photos look wonderful. Next time you head for a swim give me a call and I’ll come too! Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat all about SURVIVE Tom. You pour us a beer and I’ll give readers some more information. 

Survive

From a bestselling author comes THE ultimate summer thriller.

Paradise is about to become hell…

On a remote island in the Adriatic, an enigmatic billionaire hosts a twisted form of entertainment to satisfy the jaded appetites of his exclusive guests. And for one unsuspecting family, the holiday of a lifetime is about to become a desperate battle for survival.

As young parents, Sam and Jody have managed to defy the odds once before. But years of struggle have taken their toll, and Sam’s demons return to haunt him at the worst possible time.

Caught up in a sick game of cat and mouse, can they put their differences aside and work under intolerable pressure to save themselves and their children?

Live or die. It’s the only choice they have.

Published by Bloodhound, SURVIVE is available for purchase here.

About Tom Bale

Tom Bale had a variety of jobs before realising his lifelong ambition to be a full-time writer. He is the author of eleven novels, including the best sellers SEE HOW THEY RUN, ALL FALL DOWN and SKIN AND BONES. His latest book is SURVIVE, described as ‘the ultimate summer thriller!’ A keen cyclist and swimmer, he lives by the sea in Brighton.

For more information, follow Tom on Twitter @t0mbale or visit his website. You’ll also find Tom on Facebook. All Tom’s books can be found here.