It’s a pleasure to start off the blog tour for Lesley Fernández-Armesto by staying in with Lesley to chat about her writing. My thanks to Grace Pilkington for inviting me to participate and for putting us in touch with one another.

Staying in Lesley Fernández-Armesto

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Lesley and thank you for staying in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought to discuss?

I’m bringing along my first novel, Away Weekend. It’s a comedy of manners, a send up of the differences between Brits and Americans. It was inspired by one of those ‘what if’ moments. I’ve spent a lot of time in Indiana, where my husband is a professor at a university famous for American Football. It’s the sort of place where most days one yearns for excitement, yawns with boredom, then, whoosh, it’s game day, and this quiet, Catholic campus erupts into a razzmatazz of parties.  The air is filled with the roar of the crowd, and the whiff of hotdogs. The blare of the marching bands wafts through the ether, as cheerleaders high kick their way to the stadium. The game – to me –is impenetrable, and the emotion it inspires in its followers overwhelming.

I think we’re still two nations divided by a common language Lesley! What can we expect from an evening in with Away Weekend?

One hot September afternoon, there I was, sitting on the balcony of our apartment, anticipating the start of a game. Watching the unfurling scene before me, I was utterly baffled by it all.  I sipped on a cooling glass of wine, and as the liquid trickled agreeably down my throat, I invented a character. For no reason whatsoever I called her Geraldine. This exacting creature, punctilious in her appearance, is curiously prone to faux pas. And she has a particular penchant for white wine. Back in London she has met a glamorous, rich, good-looking American guy, Ellis. He’s wined and dined her in all the very best places. And now she’s accepted an invitation to travel with him in his friend’s private plane – a real deal clincher – to spend the weekend with his old university chums at a football game.  She has absolutely no idea what to expect, has packed all the wrong clothes, and has already realised that Ellis is not quite the sophisticated gentleman she thought he was. To make it worse, she’s left her tiny, precious mews house in St John’s Wood in unusual disarray. Both her sister and her daughter have been dumped by their partners, and they’ve turned up unexpectedly on her doorstep, creating chaos. It augurs ill for the weekend away, as everything, but everything, is about to go horribly wrong.

That sounds rather rash of Geraldine. Tell me more about her – what would she bring along for an evening in?

There’s no doubt Geraldine, like me, loves a party.  I think she’s the sort of girl (ok, she’s in her fifties) who plays Black Eyed Peas ‘Gotta Feeling’ when she’s putting her make up on to go out, but tonight, to show she can be cultured, too, she’s bringing a much-loved vinyl of Maria Callas singing popular arias. And she’ll bring a bottle – or two – of Champagne in her Longchamp bag, which she’ll be happy to share.  She may be a little on the late side, because she’s been re-arranging her wardrobe according to colour – a frequently performed task which used to enrage her ex-husband, Jonty. 

Anyone bringing champagne is welcome here! What else might Geraldine add to the party?

It’s more than likely she’ll bring her dog, Bolly, too, as he doesn’t like being left on his own. He’s a small apricot poodle with an extensive collection of pashminas, and he’s an excellent judge of character.  He took an instant dislike to Ellis the minute he met him. Geraldine has taken much longer to form the same opinion, but perhaps her weekend away has made her realise that family and friends are more important than relationships with people one doesn’t really know. Her homecoming reveals even more surprises, but at least there’s a decent bottle of Chablis in the fridge.

I rather like the sound of Geraldine, Lesley. Thanks you for introducing us. I think you’d better get some music on and pour a glass of champagne whilst I tell Linda’s Book Bag readers a little more about Away Weekend:

Away Weekend

How could Geraldine resist the invitation from charming and enigmatic Ellis, especially as it includes travel on a private plane? It will be a glamorous change from her increasingly chaotic life, and a chance to meet his friends, as they reunite at their old college in Indiana for a football game. Not that Geraldine is interested in sport, unless shopping counts. She’s jet-set ready and eager for take off . What can possibly go wrong?

Published by Quadrant on 1st April 2024, Weekend Away is available for purchase here.

About Lesley Fernández-Armesto

Lesley spent an inordinately long time at university, and has a degree in Law, and a Master of Arts in War Studies.  Her first experience of the US was as an exchange student, ostensibly to study international law, but mainly to party up and down the East Coast. Lesley has ghostwritten the autobiography of an African president, adapted Shakespeare’s As You Like It for an opera libretto, and organised literary and opera events for a major charity.  Her greatest love – apart from her family, of course – are Dachshunds. Lesley acquired her first in 1981 and has remained faithful to the breed!

You can find Lesley on Instagram and there’s more with these other bloggers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My huge thanks to Katrina Power at FMcM for sending me a copy of the children’s book Superhero Animals by Chris Packham, illustrated by Anders Frang, which is part of the Little Experts Series.

I previously reviewed three of the Little Experts Books, Marvellous Vehicles by James May, Amazing Bodies by Dr Ronx and Why Money Matters by Deborah Meaden, here.

Published by Harper Collins’s Farshore imprint Red Shed, Superhero Animals is available for purchase through the links here.

Superhero Animals

Get up close to nature with naturalist and TV presenter CHRIS PACKHAM CBE and encounter the amazing animal superheroes that will help us save the world.

Our EXPERTS are famous for their incredible know-how and passion for their subjects, and now they have made it their mission to share that knowledge with you in LITTLE EXPERTS: the inspirational non-fiction series for six- to nine-year-olds.

This jaw-dropping non-fiction journey has vibrant, playful artwork throughout by Anders Frang.

Little Experts is an unmissable series that will empower and inspire a new generation of experts.

Also available in the LITTLE EXPERTS series:

• How to Build a Home by GEORGE CLARKE, an architect, writer, lecturer and TV presenter.
• How Families Are Made by DR AMIR KHAN, an award-winning full-time GP and resident doctor on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain.
• Why Money Matters by DEBORAH MEADEN, entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den investor and host of the BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money Show podcast.
• Amazing Bodies by DR RONX, award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter.
• Marvellous Vehicles by JAMES MAY, a writer and broadcaster who is best known for co-presenting Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
• Running the Country by ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, a writer, podcaster and strategist who is best known for his work as former PM Tony Blair’s spokesman.
• How to Save a Life by DR RONX, award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter.

My Review of Superhero Animals

A children’s book about animals!

As with the other Little Experts books I’ve read, this is another super addition. I love the robust, vibrant cover (which has a nod to Chris Packham’s dogs on the back cover) because it means the book will endure, whether it’s used in the home or another setting with bigger groups of children. It feels right that Superhero Animals is published using sustainable materials too.

Chris Packham’s Introduction sets the tone for the whole book because he gives autonomy to the young reader, making them aware they have a role to play in the planet’s ecosystem. There’s a real sense of inclusion with a female blind person of colour in the illustrations and creatures covered that are familiar, like wasps and worms as well as final section on Superstar Dogs which provides a relatability for children.

Superhero Animals is packed with the kind of facts children will find fascinating, from the importance of whale poo, to eating ants as part of the human diet. It’s hugely entertaining as well as educational.

The illustrations are perfect for the text because they have a naïve style that will appeal to the target audience, but that refrain from being childish or overly anthropomorphic so that Superhero Animals retains an authenticity that is vital in engaging rather than patronising young readers.

Indeed, Superhero Animals has educational potential far beyond the information about animals to be discovered in its pages.  There’s such potential for project work, researching further the creatures included such as in the shark challenge (and yes, I did find out more about the blue mountain frog!), giving talks about the creatures in Superhero Animals to support oracy, using the alliterative titles and the glossary – even the breaking down of phytoplankton into phonic syllables – for literacy and so on. I can envisage reluctant readers, especially boys, being drawn into enjoying reading through Superhero Animals almost without realising what they are doing.

Superhero Animals is a smashing children’s book and this middle aged child thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Chris Packham

Chris Packham CBE is one of the UK’s leading naturalists and an award-winning conservationist. He began his TV career presenting children’s series The Really Wild Show, and has since presented outstanding nature programmes such as Springwatch.

For further information, visit Chris’s website, follow him on Twitter/X @chrisgpackham or find Chris on Facebook and Instagram.

About Anders Frang

Anders Frang is a freelance illustrator from Denmark. He studied at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen as well as Edinburgh College of Art.

For further information, visit Anders’ website, and find him on Instagram.

When Deborah Jenkins got in touch about her book Braver, I knew it would be one I’d love. Sadly, there are only 24 hours in a day and I haven’t been able to squeeze it onto my TBR pile. However, I wanted to feature it on Linda’s Book Bag so I asked Deborah if she would be willing to ‘stay in’ with me and luckily she agreed. I’m only sorry it has taken me so long to share our chat – there’s been a bit too much ‘life’ happening of late!

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with Deborah Jenkins

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

Thank you for inviting me. I’m honoured to have been asked for an evening with you!

Tell me, (although I have a jolly good idea) which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought my novel, Braver, with me and I’ve chosen this one because it was my debut, published by Fairlight Books in 2022, the year I turned 60.

As someone in their 60s too Deborah I love the fact that Braver was published then.

I’d been trying to get published for a long time so for this reason, Braver holds a special place in my heart. But also, because the themes of the book – anxiety, loneliness, the power of friendship and community to change lives- are timeless, I think.

They are – and themes that are more important than ever in today’s world.

What can we expect from an evening in with Braver?

You can expect a fair amount of quirkiness. Braver is narrated by three people: Hazel, a neurodiverse teaching assistant; Harry, a vulnerable teenager and Virginia, an unconventional church minister with a past.

They sound really interesting characters. Tell me more!

You can expect unlikely friendships and impossible choices. You can also expect disability and inclusion. I am profoundly deaf due to an ongoing condition which, sadly, I can’t do much about. But I can make sure my books include characters from the full spectrum of society. Several reviews mentioned smiles and tears and one or two of my favourites compared my writing to people like Frederik Backman and Rachel Joyce which had me swooning with disbelief.

That’s brilliant. 

I was also amazed and overjoyed that the book was shortlisted for the Society of Authors’ ADCI Award and the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel.

You must be so proud of those achievements. Congratulations. Could you give us a flavour of the book?

Here is a taster from quite near the beginning. Hazel has just had an accident during which she met Virginia and Harry. She is now at Virginia’s house:

After a few moments, the dizziness begins to subside, and Harry helps her up. They sit, the young woman, the boy and the older woman, at the huge table drinking coffee and eating bacon while the world wakes up and drifts through the open window: a milk float whines, an aeroplane drones. There is an outside smell of earth and sky and city things.

Hazel feels as though she’s in a dream. She can’t remember the last time she went inside another person’s house, unless you count the counsellor’s, which is a poky semi in Milton containing an enormous TV and a number of rather dubious fish. Hazel watches them swimming up and down behind glass at Moira’s shoulder, their unblinking eyes filled with suspicion. They make her freeze when Moira asks things like, ‘So when did you first feel the need to make everything symmetrical?’ or ‘What makes you think your mother hated you?’

Hazel glances at Virginia. She is cutting up her bacon with cool precision, squaring her knife and fork, discarding rind, as if performing a well-practised dissection. She smiles at Hazel, an open, friendly smile without guile or agenda.

‘Nice bacon,’ says Hazel and she realises, with a frisson of surprise, that she has said this spontaneously, without any planning at all. Usually, she needs to plan to avoid saying inappropriate things…’

That has me hooked Deborah. Braver sounds EXACTLY my kind of read. 

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

     

When Hazel isn’t working, she spends most of her time in her small flat indulging her passion for chocolate and box sets. So, I think I would bring a large packet of peanut butter flavoured Kitkat bites and some Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. Can you see the theme here? 😉

Oh I can and it’s one I heartily approve! How have these escaped my notice before?

I would of course bring some Cadbury’s or Green and Blacks in case you don’t like peanut butter (in credibly some people don’t). Virginia is a church minister, so I might bring you one of those gorgeous tall ecclesiastical candles as a gift. As the book is set around Easter, we could listen to The Messiah by candlelight. Or if you don’t fancy that, we could watch a film version of a book and discuss what we think of it. 

With Easter approaching rapidly, I think the music might be perfect Deborah. 

Harry gets into quite a few fights, but I think we’ll leave that one as I’d quite like to be invited back!

With a wonderful sounding book like Braver, and those chocolates, you’re welcome back any time Deborah. You can even bring Harry!

Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about Braver. You put the music on and I’ll give readers a few more details:

Braver

Hazel has never felt normal. Struggling with OCD and anxiety, she isolates herself from others and sticks to rigid routines in order to cope with everyday life. But when she forms an unlikely friendship with Virginia, a church minister, Hazel begins to venture outside her comfort zone.

Having rebuilt her own life after a traumatic loss, Virginia has become the backbone of her community, caring for those in need and mentoring disadvantaged young people. Yet a shock accusation threatens to unravel everything she has worked for.

Told with warmth, compassion and gentle humour, Braver is an uplifting story about the strength that can be drawn from friendship and community.

Published by Fairlight on 30th June 2022 Braver is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

About Deborah Jenkins

Deborah Jenkins is a freelance writer and primary teacher who has worked in schools in the UK and abroad. She has written educational textbooks and articles for the TES online and Guardian Weekend among other publications. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies and she has also published a novella, The Evenness of Things. Her debut novel, Braver, was published by Fairlight Books in 2022 and Winter Lights, a book of short stories, came out in November 2023.

Deborah lives in Sussex and enjoys reading, walking, gardening, and good coffee.

For further information, visit Deborah’s blog, find her on Instagram or follow Deborah on Twitter/X @Loverofhats.

My enormous thanks to Rachel Kennedy at Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of Seven Summers by Paige Toon. I’m delighted to share that review today.

I love Paige Toon’s writing so imagine my horror when looking back over my blog posts featuring Paige to discover I haven’t actually reviewed her for a few years.  You’ll find my posts featuring Paige here.

Published by Penguin imprint Century on 28th March 2024 Seven Summers is available for pre-order through the links here.

Seven Summers

Two epic love stories. One impossible choice. The stunning new novel from Paige Toon.

Six summers ago

Liv and Finn meet working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn’s life is in LA with his band, and Liv’s is in Cornwall with her family – so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.

This summer

Liv crosses paths with Tom – a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn’t broken every year.

Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she’ll need to trust her heart even more . . .

My Review of Seven Summers

Liv’s life is about to change.

I didn’t so much read Seven Summers as completely inhale it. It’s quite, quite wonderful and I loved every moment sharing Liv’s life. Told in the first person, her story feels emotional, intimate and intense so that Liz’s emotions become those of the reader, making for a highly charged and affecting story.

There’s such skill in the plotting as past summers intersperse with the present summer and Liv’s life with Finn and Tom becomes entangled. As I read I found myself becoming more and more enmeshed in the story, desperate to know what would happen and equally not wanting this spell-binding narrative to end. It’s no exaggeration to say I felt the emotions of the story literally and physically.

The setting is beautifully depicted and somehow intimate. With Finn’s LA life happening ‘off screen’ as it were, and a limited series of settings such as the Seaglass bar and Liv’s cottage in Cornwall, Seven Summers is intense and achingly compelling. Similarly, there is a reduced palette of characters too so that we get to know them thoroughly and live and breathe their lives with them. I loved the inclusion of Michael as he adds lighter moments and is also Liv’s anchor, but his Down’s Syndrome is never patronised or romanticised by Paige Toon. Michael is simply Michael and an important part of Liv’s life.

Liv is wonderful. Whether it is her first person voice that makes her so vivid, or whether it is Paige Toon’s unerring ability to show the reader right inside Liv’s mind, heart and soul that makes her such an appealing character I’m not sure, but I loved her unreservedly. Similarly, both Tom and Finn engender the same sense of attraction that Liv feels. The enormous strength of the novel is that both men are right for Liv and the reader feels her agony of choice with her. I confess I was completely undone by this fabulous storytelling. You will need to read Seven Summers for yourself to see quite how Liv’s relationships pan out!

Alongside the most gorgeous exploration of romance, the themes in Seven Summers are immensely engaging. Grief is very much part of the story, along with loyalty, friendship, family and happiness. It’s so hard to review Seven Summers without revealing too much and spoiling the read for others, but I’d defy any reader not to be hugely moved and affected.

I’m aware this review is somewhat vague, but I don’t want to reveal too much. I adored Seven Summers. I felt a personal connection with the characters so that they were real people to me whom I keep thinking about. I thought Seven Summers was sheer, emotional perfection and cannot recommend it highly enough. But be prepared to have your heart broken on more than one occasion.

About Paige Toon

Paige Toon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eighteen books that have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Paige writes sweeping, emotional love stories – filled with characters you’ll never forget and incredible settings – that take you on a unique journey. She tells nuanced stories with big, thought-provoking themes at their heart which leave you uplifted and believing in the power of love. You will laugh, cry and feel like you’ve become part of a new family. Get ready to feel it all with Paige Toon! She writes her novel from a converted camper van in the garden of her Cambridgeshire home.

You can find out more by following Paige on Twitter/X @PaigeToonAuthor, visiting her website or by finding Paige on Instagram and Facebook.

It’s such a pleasure to share details of my latest My Weekly magazine online review today. This time it’s of The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse.

No, your eyes don’t deceive you. I have already reviewed Lesley Pearse’s The Long and Winding Road here on Linda’s Book Bag, as I hadn’t realised I’d been sent the book on behalf of My Weekly. Unexpected books arrive all the time so I went ahead and reviewed it. When I realised I should have reviewed for My Weekly, and given that my contract is that I don’t repeat my reviews, I wrote a completely new review!

Published in hardback by Penguin Michael Joseph on 29th February 2024, The Long and Winding Road is available for purchase through the links here.

The Long and Winding Road

One of the world’s bestselling storytellers, Lesley Pearse writes brilliantly about survivors. Why? Because she is one herself . . .

Born during the Second World War, Lesley’s innocence came to an abrupt end when a neighbour found her, aged 3, coatless in the snow. The mother she’d been unable to wake had been dead for days. Sent to an orphanage, Lesley soon learned adults couldn’t always be trusted.

As a teenager in the swinging sixties, she took herself to London. Here, the second great tragedy of her life occurred. Falling pregnant, she was sent to a mother and baby home, and watched helplessly as her newborn was taken from her.

But like so many of her generation, Lesley had to carry on. She was, after all, a true survivor. Marriage and children followed – and all the while she nurtured a dream: to be a writer. Yet it wasn’t until at the age of 48 that her stories – of women struggling in a difficult world – found a publisher, and the bestseller lists beckoned.

As heartbreaking as it is heartwarming, Lesley’s story really is A Long and Winding Road with surprises and uplifting hope around every corner . . .

My Review of The Long and Winding Road

My full review of The Long and Winding Road can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that The Long and Winding Road is completely riveting, being every bit as dramatic and engaging as Lesley’s fiction!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Lesley Pearse

International bestselling author Lesley Pearse has lived a life as rich with incidents, setbacks and joys as any found in her novels.

Resourceful, determined and willing to have a go at almost anything, Lesley left home at sixteen. By the mid sixties she was living in London, sharing flats, partying hard and married to a trumpet player in a jazz-rock band. She has also worked as a nanny and a Playboy bunny, and designed and made clothes to sell to boutiques.

It was only after having three daughters that Lesley began to write. The hardships, traumas, close friends and lovers from those early years were inspiration for her beloved novels. She published her first book at forty-nine and has not looked back since.

Lesley is still a party girl.

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

It’s almost two years since lovely Louise Fein featured here on Linda’s Book Bag with a guest post linked to her novel The Hidden Child. I’m delighted to feature Louise once more with my review of her latest book, The London Bookshop Affair and would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the blog tour.

Published by Harper Collins imprint William Morrow on 29th February 2024, The London Bookshop Affair is available for purchase through the links here.

The London Bookshop Affair

Two courageous women. One astonishing secret. A world on the brink of war.

London, 1962: The world is teetering on the brink of nuclear war but life must go on. Celia Duchesne longs for a career, but with no means or qualifications, passes her time working at a dusty bookshop. The day a handsome American enters the shop, she thinks she might have found her way out of the monotony. Just as the excitement of a budding relationship engulfs her, a devastating secret draws her into the murky world of espionage.

France, 1942: Nineteen-year-old Anya Moreau was dropped behind enemy lines to aid the resistance, sending messages back home to London via wireless transmitter. When she was cruelly betrayed, evidence of her legacy and the truth of her actions were buried by wartime injustices.

As Celia learns more about Anya—and her unexpected connection to the undercover agent—she becomes increasingly aware of furious efforts, both past and present, to protect state secrets. With her newly formed romance taking a surprising turn and the world on the verge of nuclear annihilation, Celia must risk everything she holds dear, in the name of justice.

Propulsive and illuminating, The London Bookshop Affair is a gripping story of secrets and love, inspired by true events and figures of the Cold War.

My Review of The London Bookshop Affair

A story of the Cold War.

The London Bookshop Affair is a totally wonderful story. Louise Fein’s writing is accomplished, engaging and entertaining, with such fabulous historical texture it is effortless to read. Indeed, the amount of research and the time spent crafting this book must have been considerable, as this supreme quality of writing is not easily achieved. I loved the story telling, the sense of history and the sheer sweeping drama. 

There’s a vivid, realistic and illuminating sense of the early 1960s in Celia’s thread of the story that I found fascinating. The impact of the narrative is even more highly charged as the aspects relating to espionage, mis-information and the threat to global peace feel prescient in today’s society too, making for a riveting story. I also found The London Bookshop Affair exciting and so absorbing I that I resented my ordinary life intervening in my reading time. It’s one of those books that permeates the reader’s mind, making them think about it in between reading and after it is read. 

However, whilst the backbone of The London Bookshop Affair is the Cold War with Jeannie’s story interwoven, it is the more personal elements that have the greatest impact. Both Celia and Jeannie are desperate for approval, love and recognition – themes that we can all relate to. The social aspects of the story, the role of women in society and the nature of trust at so many levels make The Bookshop Affair not only entertaining and engaging, but absolutely, and rather emotionally, affecting. The sense of inequality that permeates much of the narrative is brilliantly handled, making me rage and providing sensitive insight into the characters so that they become all the more real.

I think what I found so impactful was the way in which global events that seem so far removed from the ordinary person are shown actually to affect them at a very personal level. Indeed, Celia’s entire life and identity are wrapped up in them.

I loved Celia. Along with the more obvious examples of Daphne, Miss Clarke and Jeannie, Celia is spirited, free thinking and feminist regardless of how she might at first appear or believe herself to be. She’s such a realistic creation. Like Celia, I found myself enchanted by Septimus. It wasn’t until the very end of the novel that I was able to make up my mind about him, but to say what my conclusions are would be to spoil the story. 

And it’s a magnificent story. The London Bookshop Affair is, quite simply, fabulous. There’s personal tragedy and international danger. There’s historical accuracy and interest. There’s a touch of romance and lots of mystery and intrigue. Every reader will find an aspect that resonates with them. The London Bookshop Affair is historical fiction of the very best kind. I thought Louise Fein’s narrative was completely wonderful and feel it mustn’t be missed.

About Louise Fein

Louise writes historical fiction, focusing on unheard voices or from unusual perspectives. Her debut novel, Daughter of the Reich (entitled People Like Us in the UK edition) was published in 2020 into 13 territories and is set in 1930’s Leipzig. The book was shortlisted for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 and the RNA Historical Novel of the Year Award, 2021. Louise’s second novel, The Hidden Child, was published in 2021 and is centered around the eugenics movement in 1920’s England and America. It was a Globe & Mail bestseller in Canada. Her third novel, The London Bookshop Affair, about one woman’s journey to uncover secrets of her past, set against a backdrop of espionage and looming nuclear war in 1962 London, will be published in January 2024.

Louise, previously a lawyer and banker, holds an MA in Creative Writing from St Mary’s University and now writes full time. Equally passionate about historical research and writing, she loves to look for themes which have resonance with today’s world. Louise lives in the Surrey countryside, UK, with her family, and is a slave to the daily demands of her pets.

For further information about Louise, visit her website, follow her on Twitter/X @FeinLouise and find her on Facebook and Instagram. There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s an enormous privilege to help begin the blog tour for Imran Mahmood’s new thriller Finding Sophie. My enormous thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to participate in the blog tour and to Raven Books for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I am berating myself that I have other books by Imran Mahmood on my TBR pile awaiting reading as I think his writing is brilliant, but you’ll find my review of All I Said Was True here.

Finding Sophie is published by Bloomsbury Raven on 14th March 2024 and is available for pre-order through the publisher links here.

Finding Sophie

Someone is guilty.

For the last seventeen years, Harry and Zara King’s lives have revolved around their only daughter, Sophie. One day, Sophie leaves the house and doesn’t come home. Six weeks later, the police are no closer to finding her than when they started. Harry and Zara have questioned everyone who has ever had any connection to Sophie, to no avail. Except there’s one house on their block—number 210, across the street—whose occupant refuses to break his silence.

Someone knows what happened.

As the question mark over number 210 devolves into obsession, Harry and Zara are forced to examine their own lives. They realize they have grown apart, suffering in separate spheres of grief. And as they try to find their way back to each other, they must face the truth about their daughter: who she was, how she changed, and why she disappeared.

Someone will pay.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Harry and Zara, and in a dual timeline between the weeks after Sophie’s disappearance and a year later in the middle of a murder trial, Imran Mahmood’s taut yet profoundly moving novel explores how differently grief can be experienced even when shared by parents—and how hope triumphs when it springs from the kind of love that knows no bounds.

My Review of Finding Sophie

Sophie is missing.

My goodness Finding Sophie is an affecting book. Intelligently written with an intense and mesmerising style it gradually unfolds so that the reader is drawn into the story of Sophie, Harry and Zara almost against their will. 

It’s quite hard to define the superb quality of Imran Mahmood’s writing. His own barrister experience imbues it with an authority and realism that builds confidence in the reader, but alongside that is a poetic observation of both character and setting, and yet there isn’t an extraneous word here. In addition, the author drops in small pebbles of information that ripple across the surface of the book, leaving the reader wondering just quite what life has been like for Sophie before she vanished. I was frequently taken by surprise. 

The structure of Finding Sophie is equally gripping. Alternate viewpoints from Harry and Zara illustrate the way their desperation to find Sophie both unites and divides them which I found fascinating. Similarly, not immediately knowing the identity of who is telling the first person courtroom scenes is a brilliant hook that kept me totally engaged. Starting in a relatively measured way, the tension in Finding Sophie builds and builds like a piece of mesmerising music so that Imran Mahmood ensnares his reader completely.

Whilst it’s the story of what has happened to Sophie, as well as the courtroom scenes some months later that drives the narrative, and as compelling as they are, it was the character and theme that held my attention most. Through Finding Sophie, Imran Mahmood explores grief that borders on insanity, he looks at the way we might turn to religion or spiritualism and he examines relationships, family, marriage and the way in which we never truly know another person with incredible dexterity. Finding Sophie is a a psychological thriller with many layers, but it is also a spotlight on human nature and the desperate link between guilt and grief that I found utterly fascinating.

Both Zara and Harry elicited strong emotions in me. I felt their loss and their desperation to trace their daughter keenly and yet at times I wanted to shake them and rail at them for their behaviour and their lack of communication. These are multi-layered, flawed and truly tragic people who are so convincingly conveyed that reading about them is almost an intrusion.

I thought Finding Sophie was exceptionally good. It’s a thrilling read, gripping in execution and astounding in the psychology underpinning it. The story might be clearly resolved but I’ve finished Finding Sophie with so many questions about justice, morality, family and relationships that its impact keeps reverberating in my mind. What a brilliant story! 

About Imran Mahmood

Imran Mahmood is a practicing barrister with thirty years’ experience fighting cases in courtrooms across the country. His previous novels have been highly critically acclaimed: You Don’t Know Me was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club choice, Goldsboro Book of the Month and was shortlisted for the Glass Bell Award; both this and I Know What I Saw were longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Gold Dagger. You Don’t Know Me was also made into a hugely successful BBC1 adaptation in association with Netflix. When not in court or writing novels or screenplays he can sometimes be found on the Red Hot Chilli Writers’ podcast as one of their regular contributors. He hails from Liverpool but now lives in London with his wife and daughters.

You can find out more by following Imran on Twitter/X @imranmahmood777 and finding him on Instagram and Facebook.

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My enormous thanks to Christian Lewis for sending me a copy of The Essential Harlem Detectives by Chester Himes in return for an honest review. I had hoped to share that review before Christmas as The Essential Harlem Detectives would make a fantastic gift book, but sadly there was a little too much life happening beyond my ability to deal with it. I am, therefore, delighted finally to share my review today.

Part of the Everyman’s Library, The Essential Harlem Detectives was published on 4th January 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Essential Harlem Detectives

Here in one volume is an exceptional selection from Chester Himes’s acclaimed Harlem Detectives series. Winner of France’s prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and lauded by Jean Cocteau as a “prodigious masterpiece,” A Rage in Harlem introduces detectives Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson in a searing escapade. In The Real Cool Killers, the duo investigates a shooting and discovers an unsettling personal connection. In The Crazy Kill, a man is found in a breadbasket, stabbed to death, leaving Himes’s detectives to find out who among the many suspects did it. And in Cotton Comes to Harlem, the brazen robbery of a notorious con man running a back-to-Africa scam sets off a hunt for a bale of Southern cotton. These masterful novels exhibit Himes’s evocative, baroque descriptions of Black life in Harlem and his famously blistering social commentary.

Everyman’s Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free paper, with full-cloth cases with two-colour foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-colour illustrated jacket. Contemporary Classics include an introduction, a select bibliography, and a chronology of the author’s life and times.

My Review of The Essential Harlem Detectives

A collector’s edition of four Chester Himes books: A Rage in Harlem, The Real Cool Killers, The Crazy Kill and Cotton Comes to Harlem.

I’m going to be honest and say I haven’t read all four stories completely yet; partly because I have found the first couple much more gritty than anticipated and partly because I have so many other books awaiting review, but I wanted to make sure that other readers were aware of this quite astonishing edition.

I wouldn’t usually comment on the physical properties of fiction books written for adults, but with a sumptuous red cover with classic black and gold title and author lurking beneath the highly atmospheric slip cover, and a golden place marker ribbon, The Essential Harlem Detectives feels like a high quality product that would make a super gift.

That said, the contents are pretty astounding too. As a white middle aged British woman living in the 21st century, it’s quite hard for me to judge the impact of Chester Himes’s writing, but I would advise reading S.A. Cosby’s Introduction to the collection before beginning the stories, because, along with the fascinating Chronology, the reader gets an insight into the social and historical impact of this collection and into Chester Himes as a man. I could see The Essential Harlem Detectives being a book to return to time and again or even studied academically. The Select Bibliography would also suggest that and means that the book exists outside its covers, giving readers other avenues to explore.

I was expecting a golden era cosy crime collection and that could not be further from the truth. The Essential Harlem Detectives is written with unflinching clarity about the lives of often corrupt people existing in an even more corrupt world so that the lines of what constitutes acceptable moral behaviour are completely obfuscated. Protagonists Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are the investigative leads, but as their names suggest, they are not above using somewhat violent and underhand tactics. And yet they are not abhorrent. Chester Himes neither glorifies nor denigrates them. He makes no real authorial comment about them, but rather it is left to the reader to determine their own reactions and if I’m honest, I rather admired them – almost against my will.

The stories are fast paced, often quite violent and disturbing.  The dialogue is written with a realism which is highly engaging. I did find some of the actions and themes in The Essential Harlem Detectives uncomfortable – especially, for example, in relation to ‘God’s will’ being done – but that shouldn’t put off other readers. These are certainly stories to entertain, but they also educate and unsettle so that they are thought-provoking too. Indeed, this is a collection that engenders strong emotions in the reader because it has a dark humour, a gritty reality and leaves the reader wondering just how far we have come in terms of race relations and institutional corruption.

It feels wrong to say The Essential Harlem Detectives is entertaining (but it is) because I did feel uneasy at times, but equally, I think it is a collection that deserves frequent rereading to understand fully the nuances, the messages and the sheer impact of writing that is incisive, often unforgiving and always interesting. Read it for yourself!

About Chester Himes

Chester Himes was born in 1909 in Missouri and began his writing career while serving in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery (1929-36). From his first novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945), Himes dealt with the social and psychological repercussions of being black in a white-dominated society. In 1953 Himes moved to Europe, where he met and was strongly influenced by Richard Wright. It was in France that he began his best-known series of crime novels – including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965) – featuring two Harlem policemen. As with Himes’s earlier work, the series is characterized by violence and grisly, sardonic humour. He died in Spain in 1984.

My enormous thanks to Natasha Finn At DK Books for sending me a copy of the children’s book Make Art With Nature by Pippa Pixley in return for an honest review. What better way to celebrate World Book Day than by sharing my review?

Published by DK Books today, 7th March 2024, Make Art With Nature is available for purchase through the links here.

Make Art With Nature

Artist Pippa Pixley shows children how to make amazing art with materials found in nature in this hands-on book.

Get creative and make incredible pieces of art using rocks, wood, berries, flowers, and leaves in this nature craft book for children ages 7-9.

Find out how the very earth beneath your feet can be used to make paints and pastels, and how flowers can be repurposed to create inks. Children can learn how to pour paint onto a canvas, how to put pencil to paper and draw, how bits of old paper can make a beautiful collage, and how different mediums can come together to create incredible prints through nature.

Inside this hands-on craft book for children, you’ll find:

– Plenty of tips and techniques on how to draw, paint, print and collage, through easy-to-follow instructions.
– Art through nature encourages children to explore outside and find natural materials to make art.
– A clear layout divided into different art forms; drawing, collaging, painting and printing, so you can easily find the section you’re looking for.

Become inspired in Make Art with Nature, as Pippa takes you into the outdoors and shows you a wide range of artistic techniques, from understanding basic colour theory, to creating texture, movement, and fluidity in your own work. Kids will love learning how to master different art forms, but also how to make their own art supplies whilst getting outside and exploring nature.

My Review of Make Art With Nature

A children’s art book based on the natural world.

Wow. What a stunning book.

In common with all the DK children’s books I’ve encountered this one is produced to an exceptionally high standard with a very robust cover making Make Art With Nature durable in settings where it will get a lot of use. The endpapers are bright and colourful with a leaf motif that reflects the natural element of the book and throughout there are vibrant, engaging and colourful illustrations that work in fantastic tandem with the writing. I thought the inclusion of occasional photographs of the author, Pippa Pixley gave Make Art With Nature an intimate flavour when coupled with the font style and the final author letter, as if the book had been written especially for the young reader personally, making it a wonderful gift book.

Make Art With Nature would be fantastic to use in educational settings because, as well as the physical attributes I’ve mentioned, it has a clear table of contents and an index that can support literacy work. It would be perfect for Forest School activities too. I liked the historical and geographical aspects such as cave art too, as I think they would make brilliant further research projects. There’s also clear health and safety advice with red bordered advice panels and warning triangles so that children know when to ask an adult to assist such as when wielding scissors.

However, one of its greatest successes is that Make Art With Nature is inclusive for children who don’t necessarily have access to outside space. Whilst some activities like Japanese dorodango (and no, I hadn’t heard of it either) would require outdoor access, other things like using red cabbage to make colours for artwork can be achieved in any home or setting. Next time I burn my toast, I won’t be throwing the scrapings away!

I thought Make Art With Nature was absolutely wonderful. It is interesting, inspiring and inclusive. Although the stated target age range is 7-9 year olds, I can imagine children of all ages and adults alike being motivated to make their own art as a result of this fabulous book.

About Pippa Pixley

Pippa Pixley loves to combine her skills as an author and artist to create beautiful picture books.  She also loves to share her experience with children and their teachers, and with art groups and organisations.

For further information, visit Pippa’s website, follow her on Twitter/X @PippaPixley1 and find Pippa on Instagram and Facebook.

My grateful thanks to Sophie Goodfellow of FMcM for sending me a copy of This Could Be Us by Claire McGowan in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Already available in other formats, This Could Be Us is released in paperback by Corsair on 7th March 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here.

This Could Be Us

Fifteen years ago, Kate walked out on her family. Moving across the world, from the suburbs of England to glamorous LA, she cut all ties to her former existence and started afresh. Her ex-husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces, caring for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. But Kate’s past has finally caught up with her. Now, she must return to the life she abandoned and reckon with what she did.

Following a fractured family over a period of twenty years, This Could Be Us is an extraordinarily moving story of family, guilt, love and hope.

My Review of This Could Be Us

Kate’s life is imploding.

This Could Be Us is an uncomfortable, powerful and affecting story about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances who behave deplorably badly and bravely heroically in a messy, wonderful, exploration of what it is to try to live your life. At times there’s an almost dystopian feel to the narrative and yet terrifyingly, it is so firmly rooted in our present world. 

Initially I wasn’t keen on the the plot structure as Kate’s past is interwoven with her present day timeline and with dated parts relating to Andrew, because I had to concentrate on what was happening when. That was until I realised that the fragmented, disjointed pattern was in fact highly skilled in conveying how Kate feels shattered and broken by Kirsty’s birth and rare disability and how our lives are not simply linear, but ebb and flow with different experiences and emotions that are not always easy to contemplate or deal with. In fact, the structure of This Could Be Us is absolutely right for the story.

The characters are complex, humane and layered. I can see how those with a strong maternal instinct might find Kate’s relationship with her children hard to accept, but I thought she conveyed a raw honesty in her anger and grief that was eminently understandable. Her flaws are huge but she is so intelligently portrayed that she engenders true compassion. Her actions afford redemption as well as sanction so that reading about Kate leads the reader to question their own acceptance of morality.

I found Olivia equally fascinating because her role in Andrew, Kirsty and Adam’s life is almost unsettling. With an awkward relationship with her own daughter because of Olivia’s mental health, she simultaneously has a dynamism and strength that illustrates how we all function on different levels with sometimes conflicting personas depending on our situations. Olivia is stoic, unstable, weak and courageous.

What Claire McGowan does in This Could Be Us is to strip back each individual – even the seemingly impermeable Connor – and lay them raw and vulnerable in front of the reader in a powerful, visceral and emotive way. 

The themes of the novel are equally powerful. There’s an exploration of the practicalities of raising a child with profound challenges that is so vivid it made me appreciate my own life all the more. Elements of parenthood, mental health, addiction, insecurity, the need to belong and be appreciated are just some of the aspects to be found here, but above all else there is an exploration of family and how that is a fluid, amorphous definition. I didn’t find This Could Be Us an easy read, and although it’s quite brief it took me a long time because it is so intense, but I found it a compelling and important one. 

This Could Be Us is a story that could, in a twist of fate, belong to any one of us and shows to perfection that we should never judge others until we have walked in their shoes. It is a book to make you rage, weep and storm and I found it both searing and unforgettable.  

About Claire McGowan

Claire McGowan was born in 1981 in a small Irish village where the most exciting thing that ever happened was some cows getting loose on the road. She published her first novel in 2012 and followed it up with many others in the crime fiction genre, as well as in women’s fiction, writing as Eva Woods.

She has had three radio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and her thrillers, What You Did and The Other Wife both went to number one on Kindle in the US and UK.

She ran the UK’s first MA in crime writing for five years, and regularly teaches and talks about writing. Her first non-fiction project, the true-crime book The Vanishing Triangle, was released in 2022.

For further information, follow Claire on Twitter/X @inkstainsclaire or visit her website. You’ll also find Claire on Instagram and Facebook.