I’m a big fan of thrillers and so I was delighted when Caoimhe O’Brien from Sapere Books got in touch to see if I’d like to be part of the blog tour for Simon Michael’s latest book. Had life been less frenetic I would have loved to have shared a review with you today. However, I’m thrilled to be staying in with Simon Michael today as he has some interesting things to tell me!

Staying in with Simon Michael

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

It’s an honour to be invited. I’ve spent some time looking at your back catalogue of previous guests and I’m in some pretty illustrious company.

I love staying in with authors as you can tell, and it’s great to have you here. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought The Waxwork Corpse, the most recent in the Charles Holborne thriller series, which was published in December.

Sapere Books have republished the first four books in the series (and done an absolutely stonking good job with them too!) but this is the first brand-new title since my move. While all of the books are based upon true high-profile stories from the 1960s, often involving the Kray twins, and cases on which I worked as a barrister, this one was particularly well-known.

How exciting. 

Some of your more mature readers may remember the TV and newspaper coverage of the case of the airline pilot who killed his wife and dumped her body in the deepest Lake in England, Wastwater, only for the body to be found almost a decade later almost perfectly preserved.

Oh my goodness yes! I remember that as it wasn’t long after I got married. Hmm. That must make me one of the ‘more mature’ amongst us!

When I tell the story as part of my “one-man show” I watch people’s mouths drop open when they hear of the series of extraordinary coincidences and mishaps which led to the man’s arrest. But that’s only half of it, because he then contested the murder trial at the Old Bailey, so that’s the part of the thriller which turns into the courtroom drama.

This sounds fabulous. I can’t wait to read it. What can we expect from an evening in with The Waxwork Corpse?

It might not just be an evening! Reviewers are often kind enough to say they couldn’t put Charles down, but this time I’ve received more than one complaint that the reader kept on promising to stop after one more chapter, then another, and then another, only to find it was 4 am before they fell asleep over the book.

You must be delighted to have that kind of response to your writing Simon.

Although I’ve fictionalised it and woven Charles through the investigation and the trial, it really is one of those true-life crimes from which it’s hard to tear one’s eyes away. I first learned of the case while sitting in a robing room waiting for a jury to return with a verdict. Barristers waiting for juries will often pass the time by retelling the story of their cases, but when we heard this one you could hear a pin drop, and I knew that one day I’d have to write it as a novel.

At the same time The Waxwork Corpse is in some ways the most personal book in the series. I can’t give too much away (spoilers) but there are distinct parallels between what happens to the accused and my family situation.

You can’t just drop that in to the conversation and move on Simon! Now, of course, I HAVE to read The Waxwork Corpse as soon as I can.

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

Well, I’ve brought two things, both related to the story. Hold your nose for the first, because I’ve brought a piece of what they call reflected scalp, taken off the deceased during the post-mortem, and now pickled in formaldehyde.

Oh. Most guests bring something to eat or drink…

One of the more gruesome things pathologists do when looking for cause of death, particularly in a corpse that has been long-dead, is to make an incision along the hair line and pull back (“reflect”) the scalp as if pulling off a swimming cap. It may, for example, reveal bruises which were not detectable on the skin surface. When I decided to write this story, the solicitor for the accused man sent me all the prosecution documents, including the post-mortem report, photos and all. The post-mortem is described in some detail in the book.

That sounds like research beyond the call of duty to me!

Secondly, I’ve brought a silver trophy cup. Watch out for it; it’s a big clue to the double twist at the end.

I definitely like the trophy more than the reflected scalp. Thank you so much for staying in with me to tell me all about The Waxwork Corpse Simon. You’ve thoroughly intrigued me. I think Linda’s Book Bag readers might need to see the full blurb and where they can buy the book:

The Waxwork Corpse

Charles Holborne is back – with his strangest case to date! Perfect for fans of John Grisham, Robert Bailey, Michael Connelly and Robert Dugoni.

A deadly crime has been dragged to the surface…

London, 1965

Charles Holborne, maverick barrister, will never fit in at the Bar; he is too working-class, too Jewish and too dangerous.

But that makes him the perfect outsider to prosecute a shocking murder case which has already made its way to the press.

By chance, a body was found, dumped in a lake. It had clearly been there for some time, but the conditions in the water have meant that it was nearly perfectly preserved.

The police have managed to match this ‘waxwork corpse’ to a missing woman and if her husband — a senior judge — was the one who killed her, the scandal threatens to rock the British justice to its foundations.

The waxwork corpse is not the only thing to be raised from the past. The investigation also dredges up a violent mistake made by Charles in his youth which, if revealed, could put his own life at stake…

The Waxwork Corpse, based on a real Old Bailey case, is the fifth crime novel in an exciting historical series, the Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers — gritty, hard-boiled mysteries set in 1960s London.

The Waxwork Corpse is available for purchase here.

About Simon Michael

Simon Michael is the author of the best-selling London 1960s noir gangster series featuring his antihero barrister, Charles Holborne.  Simon writes from personal experience: a barrister for 37 years, he worked in the Old Bailey and other criminal courts defending and prosecuting a wide selection of murderers, armed robbers, con artists and other assorted villainy.  The 1960s was the Wild West of British justice, a time when the Krays, the Richardsons and other violent gangs fought for control of London’s organised crime, and the corrupt Metropolitan Police beat up suspects, twisted evidence and took a share of the criminal proceeds.  Simon weaves into his thrillers real events of the time,the cases on which he worked and his unusual family history in the East End.

Simon was published here and in America in the 1980s and returned to writing when he retired from the law in 2016.  The Charles Holborne series, The Brief, An Honest Man, The Lighterman, Corrupted and the latest, The Waxwork Corpse, have all garnered strong reviews for their authenticity and excitement.

For more information, follow Simon on Twitter @simonmichaeluk or visit his website. You can find Simon on Facebook, and there’s more with these other bloggers too:

It was a privilege last year to help announce the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Award longlist in a post you can read here and to attend the shortlist evening at The British Library. You can read about that evening here.

You can find all the latest news about this year’s award on Twitter by following #IDTP20 or @dylanthomprize. The Swansea University website has all you need to know too.

When I was asked by the lovely folk at Midas PR if I’d like to feature one of 2020’s longlisted books I immediately chose Surge by Jay Bernard because I hadn’t heard of the author before and wanted to find out more.

This year’s longlist comprises seven novels, three poetry collections and two short story collections:

• Surge – Jay Bernard (Chatto & Windus)
• Flèche – Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber)
• Exquisite Cadavers – Meena Kandasamy (Atlantic Books)
• Things we say in the Dark – Kirsty Logan (Harvell Secker, Vintage)
• Black Car Burning – Helen Mort (Chatto & Windus)
• Virtuoso– Yelena Moskovich (Serpent’s Tail)
• Inland – Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• Stubborn Archivist – Yara Rodrigues Fowler (Fleet)
• If All the World and Love were Young – Stephen Sexton (Penguin Random House)
• The Far Field – Madhuri Vijay (Atlantic Books)
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong (Jonathan Cape, Vintage)
• Lot – Bryan Washington (Atlantic Books)

Worth £30,000, it is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes as well as the world’s largest literary prize for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.

The 12 longlisted titles will be judged by a bumper guest panel chaired by Swansea University’s Professor Dai Smith CBE, including annual judge Professor Kurt Heinzelman, the award-winning writer and founder of Jaipur Literature Festival Namita Gokhale, acclaimed writer and 2011 winner of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize  Lucy Caldwell, the British-Ghanaian writer, poet and critic Bridget Minamore, celebrated writer and presenter of BBC Radio 3: The Verb Ian McMillan and national arts and culture journalist Max Liu.

The shortlist will be announced on the 7^th April, followed by a British Library Event, London on the 13^th May and Winner’s Ceremony held in Swansea on International Dylan Thomas Day, 14^th May.

My choice of book for review, Surge by Jay Bernard, is published by Vintage imprint Chatto and Windus, part of the Penguin group, and is available for purchase through the links here.

Surge

*Shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2019*

*Shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2019*

*Shortlisted for Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2019*

*Winner of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry*

Jay Bernard’s extraordinary debut is a fearlessly original exploration of the black British archive: an enquiry into the New Cross Fire of 1981, a house fire at a birthday party in south London in which thirteen young black people were killed.

Dubbed the ‘New Cross Massacre’, the fire was initially believed to be a racist attack, and the indifference with which the tragedy was met by the state triggered a new era of race relations in Britain.

Tracing a line from New Cross to the ‘towers of blood’ of the Grenfell fire, this urgent collection speaks with, in and of the voices of the past, brought back by the incantation of dancehall rhythms and the music of Jamaican patois, to form a living presence in the absence of justice.

A ground-breaking work of excavation, memory and activism – both political and personal, witness and documentary – Surge shines a much-needed light on an unacknowledged chapter in British history, one that powerfully resonates in our present moment.

My Review of Surge

A slim collection of poems concerning historical events including the 1981 New Cross Fire.

Now, as a white, heterosexual middle aged woman approaching 60 you’d think I have little in common with someone young enough to be my child who identifies as black and queer and likes to be described under the pronoun they, rather than he. You’d be completely wrong. Jay Bernard’s collection Surge spoke to the very heart of me and I feel privileged to have read it.

At less than 70 pages, Surge provided an uncomfortable and moving insight into a world of which I was mostly ignorant and unaware. I can’t decide whether the fire at New Cross, that so much of the writing refers to, more or less passed me by because I as at university and living a cocooned life, or whether, at the time, the loss of so many young black lives didn’t warrant the attention it deserved. Either way, in Surge Jay Bernard creates a vivid memorial to those lives lost that left me feeling deeply saddened and not a little ashamed. Surge is political and fierce and deserves to be read far and wide.

I loved everything about Surge, especially the structure of the work and the quality of the writing. I was challenged by some of the language, especially the more dialect words and felt this reflected the challenge endured by those represented in the pages of the collection, such as those spat upon by office workers in Patois, for example. I found the often fragmented layout and the use of blank space illustrated the lack of cohesion in society and lack of esteem in which the lives of non-white people can be held. Blank, in particular, exemplifies this so perfectly. It also seemed to echo the author’s personal disjointed identity. So much here in Surge made me think and brought me up sharply that it has depth belied by the slimness of the volume.

I was moved by the echoes of society and history I take for granted so that whispers of Peter and Jane Ladybird books, Laurence Binyon’s For the Fallen, religious ceremonies and so on all swirled around my reading to the extent that Jay Bernard has achieved exactly what they claim in their introduction; they might be haunted by the history but they are certainly haunting it back. Finishing reading Surge isn’t the end of the book. So many references sent me scurrying off to find out more, especially the notes at the end. I’m discomfited that, in spite of all the news coverage of the Grenfell Tower fire, I probably would never have heard of photographer Khadija Saye who died there without Jay Bernard’s writing.

I’ve read Surge several times over now and each time I return to it I find something new. Jay Bernard’s writing has engendered so many emotions in me as a reader. I was floored by the rawness of grief in + and -, angered and shamed by so many entries, and yet despite this I found it comforting to know Jay Bernard cares enough to have written Surge. It’s no surprise to me that Surge has been so critically acclaimed. I loved it.

About Jay Bernard

Jay Bernard is the author of the pamphlets Your Sign is Cuckoo, Girl (Tall Lighthouse, 2008), English Breakfast (Math Paper Press, 2013) and The Red and Yellow Nothing (Ink Sweat & Tears Press, 2016), which was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award 2017. A film programmer at BFI Flare and an archivist at Statewatch, they also participated in ‘The Complete Works II’ project in 2014, mentored by Kei Miller. Jay was a Foyle Young Poet of the Year in 2005 and a winner of SLAMbassadors UK spoken word championship. Their poems have been collected in Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe, 2009), The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2011), Ten: The New Wave (Bloodaxe, 2014) and Out of Bounds: British Black & Asian Poets (Bloodaxe, 2014).

You can find out more on Jay’s website.

My enormous thanks to Josh Smith for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for Peter Swanson’s Rules for Perfect Murders.

Out today from Faber and Faber, Rules for Perfect Murders is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Rules for Perfect Murders

If you want to get away with murder, play by the rules

A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels.

The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to mystery bookshop Old Devils. Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted online an article titled ‘My Eight Favourite Murders,’ and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list – which includes Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted?

An Extract from Rules for Perfect Murders

I’d worked in bookstores ever since graduating from college in 1999. First briefly at a Borders in downtown Boston, then as both an assistant manager and a senior manager at one of the few remaining independents in Harvard Square. Amazon had just won its
war for total domination and most of the indies were folding up like flimsy tents in a hurricane. But the Redline Bookstore was sticking it out, partly due to an older clientele not yet savvy enough to figure out online shopping, but mostly because its owner, Mort Abrams, outright owned the two- story brick building the store was housed in and didn’t have to pay rent. I was at Redline five years, two as an assistant manager, then three as senior manager and part- time book buyer. My specialty was fiction, and in particular, crime fiction.

During my time at the store I also met my future wife, Claire Mallory, who was hired as a bookseller shortly after she’d dropped out of Boston University. We got married the same year that Mort Abrams lost his wife of thirty-five years to breast cancer. Mort and
Sharon, who lived two streets over from the bookstore, had become close friends, substitute parents really, and Sharon’s death was hard, especially since it robbed Mort of any remaining zest for life. A year after her death he told me that he was shutting down the store, unless, of course, I wanted to buy him out, take it over myself. I considered
it, but at that point Claire had already left Redline, going to work at the local cable access station, and I didn’t necessarily want to take on the hours, or the financial risk, of running my own store.

I contacted Old Devils, a mystery bookstore in Boston, and John Haley, the owner at the time, created a job for me. I would be the events manager, but also create content for the store’s burgeoning blog, a site for mystery lovers. My last day at Redline was the store’s
last day in business, as well. Mort and I locked the front doors together, then I followed him back to his office, where we drank from a dusty bottle of single malt that had been given to him by Robert Parker. I remember thinking that Mort, without his wife, and
now without the store, wouldn’t make it through the winter. I was wrong. He lived through the winter and spring, but he did manage to die the following summer at his lake house at Winnipesaukee, a week before Claire and I were planning to visit.

“Eight Perfect Murders” was the first piece I wrote for the Old Devils blog. John Haley, my new boss, had asked me to write a list of my favorite mystery novels, but instead I pitched the idea of writing a list of perfect murders in crime fiction. I don’t exactly
know why I was reluctant to share my favorite books yet, but I remember thinking that writing about perfect murders might generate more traffic. This was right around the time that several blogs were taking off, making their authors rich and famous. I remember someone doing a blog about making one of Julia Child’s recipes every day that was turned into a book, and maybe even a movie. I think I must have had some delusions of grandeur that my blog platform might turn me into a public and trusted aficionado of crime fiction. Claire added fuel to the re by telling me repeatedly
that she thought this blog could really blow up, that I’d find my calling— a literary critic of crime fiction. The truth was that I’d already found my calling, at least I thought I had, and I was a bookseller, content with the hundreds of minute interactions that make up a bookseller’s daily life. And what I loved most of all was to read— that was my true calling.

(And I don’t think any of us would argue with that sentiment!)

About Peter Swanson

Peter Swanson is the author of five novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.

A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.

You can follow Peter on Twitter @PeterSwanson3 visit his website for more information. You’ll also find him on Facebook and Instagram. There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m absolutely thrilled to be starting off the blog tour celebrations for the paperback of Messy Wonderful Us by Catherine Isaac because this novel was my book of the year last year. You can read my review of Messy, Wonderful Us here, but today I have an extract to share with you so that you can see for yourself what a lovely book it is.

As well as loving Messy, Wonderful Us, I adored Catherine Isaac’s You, Me, Everything which I reviewed here and was delighted to chat with her about that book on Linda’s Book Bag in a post you can read here.

Messy, Wonderful Us

One morning in early summer, a man and woman wait to board a flight to Italy.

Allie has lived a careful, focused existence. But now she has unexpectedly taken leave from her job as an academic research scientist to fly to a place she only recently heard about in a letter. Her father, Joe, doesn’t know the reason for her trip, and Allie can’t bring herself to tell him that she’s flying to Italy to unpick the truth about what her mother did all those years ago.

Beside her is her best friend since schooldays, Ed. He has just shocked everyone with a sudden separation from his wife, Julia. Allie hopes that a break will help him open up.

But the secrets that emerge as the sun beats down on Lake Garda and Liguria don’t merely concern her family’s tangled past. And the two friends are forced to confront questions about their own life-long relationship that are impossible to resolve.

The dazzling new novel from Richard & Judy book club author Catherine Isaac, Messy, Wonderful Us is a story about the transforming power of love, as one woman journeys to uncover the past and reshape her future.

An Extract from Messy, Wonderful Us

There were certain scents that could whisk her back to that sultry night at any moment. It would happen for months afterwards. She’d be getting on with her life, trying to keep her head down, when she’d breathe in and a rush of memories would follow. Of hot skin and the spike of perfume. The fug of cigarette smoke and hairspray. The musky aroma that had clung faintly to his neck, as he’d slipped his hand around her waist and whispered to her. And the pollen- rich grass that infused the darkness as she’d followed him, until the boom of music grew faint and they were out of sight, heading towards a tangle of woodland.

She hadn’t set out to be reckless that night. But then, she hadn’t set out to tell all those lies so she could be with a boy – no, a man – she shouldn’t have been with. In the preceding weeks, she’d found herself floating towards this point, unable to stop herself. Unable to think about her betrayal and the pain she had the capacity to inflict on theone man who really loved her.

From the moment this stranger had swept into her life, everything about him had bewitched her. The lilting way he spoke, in an accent that captured the intrinsic beauty of words. The muss of hair around the nape of his neck. The way he looked at her, as if every other girl was invisible. She’d glanced up at the shadows on his face as the moon glowed behind him, trying to pretend she was more experienced than she was. But he can’t have failed to notice that she was trembling.

His features were unusual, striking rather than handsome. But this wasn’t about his looks.It was about what she saw behind his eyes, the antidote to every humdrum thing in her life, a world of adventure, a foreign land. He was leading her to a new place inside herself, away from the person everyone thought she was.

They followed a secluded path beyond the trees and found a spot where the air had stilled. Nobody could see them or hear them. She knew what was about to happen and it made her chest burn. His lips felt like velvet as his mouth travelled along her jaw, her temple,the stretch of her collarbone. Bark scratched through her dress into the damp flesh on her spine and her hem rose to the top of her thighs.All she could do was abandon herself to the exquisite ache in her belly. The weightlessness of the moment. The sky-high feeling of being a woman.

I love this scene setting extract and hope you do too!

About Catherine Isaac

Catherine Isaac was born in Liverpool and was a journalist for many years before she wrote her first book, Bridesmaids, under the pseudonym Jane Costello. She wrote nine novels under that name – all bestsellers – before You Me Everything was published under the name Catherine Isaac in 2018. It was selected by the Richard & Judy Book Club,
has been translated into 24 languages and a movie is in development by Lionsgate and Temple Hill. In 2019 she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association award for Popular Romantic Fiction. She lives in Liverpool with her husband and three sons.

You can visit Catherine’s website for more information and follow her on Twitter @CatherineIsaac_. You’ll also find Catherine on Facebook.

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Back in October 2019 I went to a wonderful Quercus books Word of Mouth Best Seller blogger event that you can read all about here. At that event I was lucky enough to get a copy of Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years. Now I’m thrilled to be invited to participate in the launch celebrations for In Five Years and would like to thank Milly Reid for asking me.

Published by Quercus on 10th March 2020, In Five Years is available for pre-order here.

In Five Years

Where do you see yourself in five years?

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

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

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

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

My Review of In Five Years

Dannie finds life isn’t all about numbers.

Having heard so much about In Five Years I was sceptical about its emotional impact, stubbornly deciding I wasn’t going to be affected by Rebecca Serle’s writing. How wrong could I be? I resisted as long as possible before finding myself sobbing uncontrollably as the narrative unfolded and by the time I’d finished the book I was in pieces.

I thought the setting was magnificently displayed. It’s not just Rebecca Serle’s knowledge of New York but her ability to convey its impact on her characters that makes it so effective. The delis and restaurants, the lofts and apartments form an ideal back drop to the events. At times the setting is quite prosaic and yet enhances the emotions that her characters, and readers, are feeling.

There’s a heart rending story here. It might be set in corporate New York, but In Five Years explores universal themes of love, ambition, expectation and friendship that resonate for any reader in any location. It’s difficult to explore the plot without spoiling the read for others but I will say that I was so caught up in events that I read this book in one sitting because I was so captivated. I absolutely loved it.

What I think works so well in In Five Years is that there is a reduced number of main characters so that we get to know them intimately; even more deeply perhaps than they know themselves. Dannie’s first person narrative is honest and raw making her vivid and realistic so that I was completely attuned to her emotions, decisions and life. Her relationship with Bella is simultaneously harrowing and beautiful so that I was incredibly touched by it.

I’ve finished In Five Years not able to distance myself from Rebecca Serle’s wonderful writing. In spite of my intentions, she drew me in, mangled my heart and replaced it irrevocably and irretrievably altered. I loved this book unequivocally and cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Rebecca Serle

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives between NYC and LA. She most recently co-developed the television adaptation of her YA series Famous In Love for Freeform and Warner Brothers Television. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Her bestselling US debut adult novel Dinner List was a Book of the Month club pick, Costco bookclub pick, and Bustle Bookclub selection.

You can visit Rebecca’s website for more information, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @RebeccaASerle.

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I have a particular fondness for Elisabeth Gifford because she was one of the authors I was lucky to read in the early days of Linda’s Book Bag. Hopefully the blog has developed since then so that I feature books and authors more effectively, but you can read a fabulous guest piece from Elisabeth about the Harris setting for her book Secrets of the Sea House, alongside my review here. I’ve also reviewed Elisabeth’s wonderful The Good Doctor of Warsaw here.

Consequently, when to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours invited me to participate in this blog tour for The Lost Lights of St Kilda I jumped at the chance because I had been desperate to get to the book for some time. My enormous thanks to Elisabeth for an early copy and to the Corvus team for a finished hardback.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda will be published on 5th March by Corvus and is available for pre-order here.

The Lost Lights of St Kilda

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

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

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

My Review of The Lost Lights of St Kilda

A summer trip to St Kilda will have far reaching impact for Fred.

Having read Elisabeth Gifford before, I knew I would be in for a treat with The Lost Lights of St Kilda but I wasn’t prepared for how far this book would exceed my expectations. I absolutely loved it and have closed the pages feeling a little bit broken and then repaired by this affecting, dramatic and mesmerising story that is steeped in nature, romance and the past.

Firstly, there’s an historical depth, both in the St Kilda passages and the war episodes, that is absolutely flawless. I had no previous knowledge of St Kilda but I now feel as if I’ve been there, met the people and experienced a way of life that might otherwise have been forgotten. The meticulous research that must have gone in to the writing of this narrative makes for a smooth and convincing sense of the era. I’m not sure how to articulate what I mean except to say that this author engenders a confidence in the reader so that they are reassured about the realism of the story and can relax into the sheer pleasure of reading it. The Lost Lights of St Kilda feels intimate even when set against world events.

And what a story it is too. I felt as if events ebbed and flowed like the seas around St Kilda, equally as stormy and bleak as the winter gales at times and calm and serene at others so that this is a perfectly balanced narrative. As I neared the end of the book the tension was almost unbearable. I knew how I wanted The Lost Lights of St Kilda to end but I couldn’t be certain my wishes would be fulfilled.

Elisabeth Gifford’s writing is tangibly atmospheric and so beautifully written. The sense of place, the appeal to the senses, the total immersion in St Kilda especially, all combine into a vivid picture. I could see the birds on the crags, smell the fulmar oil, feel the texture of the tweed in my fingers, hear the gales and the crashing waves and taste the whisky and oatmeal so that reading The Lost Lights of St Kilda was an almost physical experience. in fact, I’d go so far as to say that the descriptions in The Lost Lights of St Kilda are amongst the best I’ve read by any author.

I loved the characterisation and the way the distinct voices of Fred and Chrissie form the weft and weave of the narrative every bit as tightly as the tweed is woven by the villagers. Chrissie’s blend of strength and vulnerability, the hardship of her life and her natural intelligence make her a true heroine. I thought Elisabeth Gifford was hugely skilful in making me loathe Archie and yet bringing me to tears over him too. She shows so sensitively the faults, flaws, passions, love, betrayals and loyalties that make us human. I felt there was a real sense of redemption here too that gave wonderful depth to the story.

I found The Lost Lights of St Kilda moving, enthralling, and oh so beautifully crafted. It is one of my books of the year and I’m only sorry to have finished it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Elisabeth Gifford

Elisabeth Gifford grew up in a vicarage in the industrial Midlands. She studied French literature and world religions at Leeds University. Her bestselling novel, Secrets of the Sea House, was shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association’s Debut Crown for Best First Historical Novel in 2014. She is married with three children, and lives in Kingston upon Thames.

For more information, you can find Elisabeth on Facebook, visit her website and follow her on Twitter @elisabeth04Liz.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I can’t believe how long it is since I last featured one of my favourite writers, Sheila O’Flanagan, here on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I  helped reveal the cover of her novel, Christmas With You. Also on the blog Sheila previously told me all about her inspiration for another of her books My Mother’s Secret in a guest post that you can read here. I reviewed My Mother’s Secret here. With Sheila’s latest book Her Husband’s Mistake out in paperback on 5th March, I’m delighted to have a copy on my TBR waiting to be read.

I’m absolutely thrilled to be staying in with Sheila today to hear all about Her Husband’s Mistake and I’d like to thank Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in these launch celebrations.

Staying in  with Sheila O’Flanagan

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Sheila. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. I’m sure I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Her Husband’s Mistake. It’s my latest book and I’m still very close to the characters so they come everywhere with me.

I can imagine it’s hard to shake off characters when you’ve been writing about them for so long. What can we expect from an evening in with Her Husband’s Mistake?

You’ll travel around Ireland with Roxy who has taken over her late father’s business as a chauffeur. She meets lots of different people in her job and all of them impact in her life in some way. She also has plenty of time to think , which she needs to do as her marriage is crumbling, she has two kids to consider and she’s worried about her recently widowed mum who’s acting strangely.

Now I’m intrigued. I’m so pleased to have a copy of Her Husband’s Mistake waiting to be read.

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

I’ve brought my iPad so that I can update my Insta feed with pix of our night in! Because Roxy has learned to use Insta in her job, I’ve started to use it too. It’s a much cheerier place than a lot of social media and I’ve really got into taking photos even though I’ve never been much of a snapper in the past. My own feed seems to be dominated by shoes and cocktails!!! Presumably we’re going to have some of the latter, so they’ll be a perfect fit.

That sounds like a plan to me! I’m rather fond of a Mai Tai. If I open up my Insta account maybe you can show me how to use it as I haven’t a clue! Thanks so much for staying in with me Sheila. Let me pass you a Margarita whilst I tell everyone a bit more about Her Husband’s Mistake.

Her Husband’s Mistake

Dave’s made a BIG mistake. What’s Roxy going to do about it? The riveting new novel from No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan. Perfect for readers of Marian Keyes and Amanda Prowse.

Roxy’s marriage has always been rock solid.

After twenty years, and with two carefree kids, she and Dave are still the perfect couple.

Until the day she comes home unexpectedly, and finds Dave in bed with their attractive, single neighbour.

Suddenly Roxy isn’t sure about anything – her past, the business she’s taken over from her dad, or what her family’s future might be. She’s spent so long caring about everyone else that she’s forgotten what she actually wants. But something has changed. And Roxy has a decision to make.

Whether it’s with Dave, or without him, it’s time for Roxy to start living for herself…

Her Husband’s Mistake that is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is the award-winning author of over twenty titles, including the Sunday Times bestsellers The Missing Wife, My Mother’s Secret and If You Were Me, and the winner of the Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year Award, All For You.

Sheila has always loved telling stories, and after working in banking and finance for a number of years, she decided it was time to fulfil a dream and give writing her own book a go. So she sat down, stuck ‘Chapter One’ at the top of a page, and got started. Sheila is now a full-time writer and lives in Dublin with her husband.

You can follow Sheila on Twitter @sheilaoflanagan, or find her on Facebook and visit her website for more details.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

As regular Linda’s Book Bag readers know, before I decided to ‘retire’ I used to work in education, with a particular focus on English, reading and literacy. I’m involved in my local Deepings Literary Festival which will be celebrating its third full festival in 2021 with a Read Dating event to come at the Deepings Library on May 2nd this year. There will be news to come about those events soon.

With this focus on books and words, and festivals away from London, when Steph from Words Weekend got in touch to see if I’d be interested in telling blog readers about the forthcoming event at the Lowry in Salford I knew it was something I had to support. The festival takes place the weekend of 27th-29th March 2020 and includes over sixty different events from poetry to television.

This is what Steph told me about Words Weekend:

Words Weekend is a brand-new festival series celebrating the power of words. Our central aim is to unite communities through the power of words and stories, speaking and giving a voice to demographics usually under-served by traditional literary festivals. 

Following the success of our first Words Weekend at Sage Gateshead in early December (where 12,000 people attended!), next up we’re heading to the Lowry from 27-29 March for what will no doubt be an equally exciting and engaging weekend. 

At least 25% of the programme is free and all events will be accessible, as well as BSL interpreted. We’re also committed to being a festival that works with and is driven by local voices and local concerns – we’re here to go beyond Londoncentricity! 

To give you a sense of our programme, we will be exploring issues such as the importance of access to education and the incredibly damaging personal and societal impact when such access is restricted, be that due economic reasons, religious or political motives, or on the grounds of prejudice.

Another strand is social activism and participation. The third core strand is mental health and how sense of place and identity tie in with self-expression and emotional literacy. 

We’re so excited to hold the second edition of our festival at the unquestionably iconic Lowry, and to embrace Salfordian narratives and culture. We want to showcase the confident voices of the North West, particularly in this current climate where so much important work never reaches the region. We intend to draw national focus back the North West, through platforming both local and international speakers. 

Now doesn’t that sound a fantastic rationale and basis for a festival? I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to attend as I’ll be in India but I hope some of you might be able to visit Words Weekend.

You’ll find the full line up of speakers and events here. With everything from children’s events like The Wimpy Kid Show, through celebrities like Sir Bob Geldoff to Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen there is something for everyone at this festival.

For more information, visit the Words Weekend website, or follow Words Weekend on Twitter @wordsweekend, Facebook and Instagram.

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction and it’s always a pleasure to discover new to me authors and books, so it gives me very great pleasure to support friend and tour organiser Kelly of Love Books Group in helping reveal the cover to The Gossip’s Choice by Sara Read today.

Published by Wildpressed on 6th May 2020, The Gossip’s Choice is available for pre-order here.

Let’s find out more:

The Gossip’s Choice

“Call The Midwife for the 17th Century”

Lucie Smith is a respected midwife who is married to Jacob, the town apothecary. They live happily together at the shop with the sign of the Three Doves. But sixteen-sixty-five proves a troublesome year for the couple. Lucie is called to a birth at the local Manor House and Jacob objects to her involvement with their former opponents in the English Civil Wars. Their only-surviving son Simon flees plague-ridden London for his country hometown, only to argue with his father. Lucie also has to manage her husband’s fury at the news of their loyal housemaid’s unplanned pregnancy and its repercussions.

The year draws to a close with the first-ever accusation of malpractice against Lucie, which could see her lose her midwifery licence, or even face ex-communication.

I don’t know about you, but I’m intrigued! 

About Sara Read

Dr Sara Read is a lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Her research is in the cultural representations of women, bodies and health in the early modern era.

She has published widely in this area with her first book Menstruation and the Female Body in Early Modern England being published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2013.

She is a member of the organising committee of the Women’s Studies Group, 1558-1837 and recently co-edited a special collection produced to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary.

She is also the co-editor of the popular Early Modern Medicine blog. With founding editor Dr Jennifer Evans, Sara wrote a book about health and disease in this era Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health and Healing, 1540-1740 (Pen and Sword 2017).

Sara regularly writes for history magazines such as Discover Your Ancestors and History Today. In 2017 she published an article ‘My Ancestor was a Midwife‘ tracing the history of the midwifery profession for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine in 2017. She has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s Freethinking programme and is often to be heard on BBC Radio Leicester and BBC Radio WM.

You can follow Sara on Twitter @saralread and visit her website for more information.

My enormous thanks to Holly Duhig at Exisle Publishing for sending me a copy of children’s book Tabitha and the Raincloud by Devon Sillett and Melissa Johns in return for an honest review.

Tabitha and the Raincloud by Devon Sillett and Melissa Johns is out in the UK on 10th March 2020 and is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from the publisher here where you’ll also find teacher notes to accompany the book.

Tabitha and the Raincloud

When Tabitha wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, she finds a big raincloud next to her. She tells it to go away, but it won’t budge. At school, she tries to draw a giraffe, but the raincloud distracts her and her art teacher compliments her on her dinosaur! By lunchtime Tabitha is so stormy none of her friends want to sit next to her. Tabitha realises she needs to change her attitude.

An empowering story of resilience and the importance of optimism.

My Review of Tabitha and the Raincloud

Tabitha wakes up in a bad mood.

Tabitha and the Raincloud is a beautifully presented children’s story. The quality of the book is impressive. It has a strong and robust cover that will survive many readings and much handling. The illustrations are engaging and appropriate with a calming and muted palette that suits the story perfectly. They also have a charm and simple style that children can easily relate to. Indeed, I can envisage children emulating the artwork and attempting the painting of a giraffe like Tabitha’s at the end of the story so that if Tabitha and the Raincloud were used in a school setting it could link with art or nature projects too.

The language in the story is accessible so that stronger independent readers could enjoy the story alone, but I think that Tabitha and the Raincloud would work best when read with a child by a parent, or with a class by a teacher, because it because it affords all manner of opportunities for discussion and exploration of emotional intelligence. There’s the consideration of other people’s feelings when Tabitha rejects her breakfast or when her behaviour leaves her isolated from her friends. There’s the way in which negative experiences can be turned into positive ones. There’s the concept of sharing with others. More subtle aspects such as exercise and action to ward off poor moods and unhappiness are also implied so that there really is a great deal to find and consider at the same time as entertaining children.

Tabitha and the Raincloud would make a super addition to any child’s reading. It really does show that every cloud has a silver lining!

About Devon Sillett

Devon Sillett is a former radio producer, turned writer and reviewer. Born in the US, Devon now calls Australia home. She has loved books as long as she can remember — so much so that she even married her husband Matthew in a library! Currently, she is researching Australian’s children’s picture books for her PhD at the University of Canberra. She is the author of The Leaky Story, Scaredy Book and Saying Goodbye to Barkley (EK Books).

You can find Devon on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @ladyliterology for more information.

About Melissa Johns

Melissa Johns is an artist, illustrator, an avid upcycler and a closet poet. She produces artworks predominantly made of recycled materials that lend her work a uniquely whimsical quality. Melissa is passionate about her family, her artistic creations and stimulating young minds through art and literature.