I very rarely ready anything in the fantasy genre, but simply couldn’t resist trying Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett and I’m so glad I did and can share my blog tour review on Linda’s Book Bag today. My thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to participate in the blog tour.

Published by Little Brown and Hachette imprint Orbit today, 19th January 2023, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is available for purchase through the links here.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

My Review of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Emily is researching the faerie world.

I do not usually enjoy reading fantasy style narratives so I think it says something about the success of Heather Fawcett’s writing that I absolutely loved Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. However, this isn’t just fantasy, but there’s travel, mythology, romance, peril, self-knowledge and growth, community and danger too between the pages of a cracking read. 

The story is told through Emily’s conversational style that draws in the reader and makes them feel the narrative is being told just for them. In contrast to Wendell Bambleby’s more haphazard approach, Emily is assiduous in the mechanics of research, so that Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries has authenticity that I found brilliantly convincing. Footnotes add credence making the reader forgets it’s a narrative and not the real events that Emily is recording. These footnotes are often a wry or acerbic observation that helps develop Emily’s personality. I also thoroughly appreciated the narratives within the story, the folklore and stories about the fae because they added extra texture and interest. 

Emily is a fabulous character. She’s strong, somewhat blunt, not adverse to using expletives and absolutely determined to conduct her research with complete honesty. Her inability to form relationships, her lack of care about her personal appearance and her single-mindedness make her fully developed and endearing. I found her adversarial, and yet affectionate, relationship with Wendell thoroughly entertaining and I loved how their reactions to one another developed over the story. I’m delighted that there will be more about the two of them in future books.

The story itself is fast paced and exciting. It is beautifully written with Heather Fawcett blending poetic, almost ethereal landscapes with prosaic descriptions in a perfect balance. Reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a very visual experience because of the vivid language used. 

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a deliciously entertaining tale spiced by menace and humour, attraction and deviousness, that I found absorbing and entertaining. As someone not usually fond of the genre, I have a feeling Heather Fawcett has entranced my like the fae ensnare humans because I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and really recommend it.

About Heather Fawcett

Heather Fawcett is the author of the middle grade novels Ember and the Ice Dragons and The Language of Ghosts, as well as the young adult series Even the Darkest Stars. She has a master’s degree in English literature and has worked as an archaeologist, photographer, technical writer, and backstage assistant for a Shakespearean theatre festival. She lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.

For further information, visit Heather’s website or find her on Instagram and Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It seems like I’ve been waiting forever for a new Anstey Harris book. I adored both Anstey’s previous books The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton reviewed here and Where We Belong reviewed here. Consequently I was delighted to be invited onto the blog tour for her latest book, When I First Held You. My enormous thanks to Rhiannon at FMcM Associates for inviting me and for providing a copy of When I First Held You in return for an honest review.

When I First Held You will be published by Lake Union on 24th January 2023 and is available for purchase here.

When I First Held You

Silence tore them apart. Can the truth bring them back together?

In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.

More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy―so different and yet somehow the same―reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.

Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?

My Review of When I First Held You

From the very first sentence of an Anstey Harris book the reader knows they are about to encounter something very special indeed and When I First Held You is no exception. It’s fabulous. It’s breath-taking. It’s exceptional. 

Anstey Harris’ writing is exquisite. Her attention to detail, balanced by a spare and intense prose, means that reading her words is akin to shining the most powerful laser onto the tiniest atoms and making them leap alive with vitality and meaning. I found this almost painful to experience. This is by no means a criticism, but rather an expression of the immense effect her words have on the reader. When I First Held You is utterly compelling and affecting because Judith’s experiences and emotions become the reader’s experiences and emotions. This is not a book you read. It’s one you feel with visceral certainty. 

What makes When I First Held You so strong is the balance of personal and political experience. Anstey Harris illustrates how everything we do in our personal lives is influenced by the political environment we exist in, even when we don’t realise it. The force of Judith’s feelings about James is rooted in their past, their shared experiences and the personal and political narrative Judith has created in her life. I thought this was a profound and truly wonderful aspect of the writing, especially when seemingly ‘outside’ events are weighed against personal narratives and the stories we make for ourselves. Through Judith the reader is given a privileged glimpse into the very soul of human nature. 

The plot is so skilfully crafted as Judith’s past is interwoven with her present. And Judith is such a complex and layered character. Driven by extremes of love, bitterness and rage, she embodies humanity in its raw state. I loved meeting her. I adored too, the maturity of her age. When I First Held You simply couldn’t have been about a younger woman. The narrative needs her complexities, her insecurities and her strengths. She is the full sum of her 75 year old self. 

The touchstone of Judith’s friend Barbara adds lightness and humour in an almost Shakespearean light relief that perfectly balances the sheer emotion of Judith’s feelings. And I loved the underpinning theme also shown through the cover illustration that broken things can become repaired and more beautiful. Judith’s past and long held beliefs become shattered and fractured and yet they simultaneously become more valuable and exquisite in a kind of literary Kintsugi.

It’s hard to express how much I adored When I First Held You. It’s powerful, raw, emotional and totally outstanding. You’ll find it hard to read a more impactful book this year. When I First Held You is a magnificent book written by the genius writer that is Anstey Harris. Do not miss it. 

About Anstey Harris

Anstey Harris is based by the seaside in south-east England where she lives with her violinmaker husband and two dogs. She teaches creative writing in the community, local schools, and occasionally as an associate lecturer for Christchurch University in Canterbury. If you’d like to have a go at some writing exercises with Anstey, head over to Instagram and look at her IGTV channel, where she also interviews authors about their journeys and tips for writing.

Anstey writes about the things that make people tick, the things that bind us and the things that can rip us apart. In 2015, she won the H G Wells Short Story Prize for her story, Ruby and The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton (a Richard and Judy pick for July 2019) won the RNA Sapere Books Romantic Novel of the Year title in 2020.

In novels, Anstey tries to celebrate uplifting ideas and prove that life is good and that happiness is available to everyone once we work out where to look (usually inside ourselves). She enjoys writing issue-driven books where the issues take a back seat to the characters. Her short stories tend not to resolve quite so well and often feature sticky ends…

Things that interest Anstey include her children and grandchildren, green issues and conservation, adoption and adoption reunion (she is an adopted child, born in an unmarried mothers’ home in Liverpool in 1965), dogs, and food. Always food. She would love to be on Masterchef but would never recover from the humiliation if she got sent home in the first round.

You can follow Anstey on Twitter @Anstey_Harris, find her on Instagram and visit her website.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I’m delighted to share details of another of my My Weekly online reviews and this time it’s of Becoming Ted by Matt Cain.

Published by Headline Review on 19th January 2023, Becoming Ted is available for purchase through the links here.

Becoming Ted

A charming, joyful and surprising story about love, friendship and learning to be true to yourself, Becoming Ted will steal your heart.

Ted Ainsworth has always worked at his family’s ice-cream business in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke’s-on-Sea.

But the truth is, he’s never wanted to work for the family firm – he doesn’t even like ice-cream, though he’s never told his parents that. When Ted’s husband suddenly leaves him, the bottom falls out of his world.

But what if this could be an opportunity to put what he wants first? This could be the chance to finally follow his secret dream: something Ted has never told anyone …

My Review of Becoming Ted

My full review of Becoming Ted can be found online on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that Becoming Ted is a tenderly written insight into who we are and how we get to be the people we become.

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Matt Cain

Matt Cain is an author, a leading commentator on LGBT+ issues, and a former journalist. He is currently a presenter for Virgin Radio Pride UK, was Channel 4’s first Culture Editor, Editor-In-Chief of Attitude magazine, and has judged the Costa Prize, the Polari Prize and the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. He won Diversity in Media’s Journalist Of the Year award in 2017 and is an ambassador for Manchester Pride and the Albert Kennedy Trust, plus a patron of LGBT+ History Month. Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton, he now lives in London.

For further information,  visit Matt’s website, follow him on Twitter @MattCainWriter and find him on Instagram.

It’s a total frustration not to be able to read every book that I’m offered (or indeed that I buy) and life is so busy at the moment that blogging is going to have to take a back seat for a while. However, even when I can’t always read a book I sometimes can’t resist finding out more about it. Such is the case with AJ Campbell’s latest and I’m delighted she agreed to stay in with me to tell me more:

Staying in with AJ Campbell

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

Thank you for having me . It’s a pleasure to be here!

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

It’s a pleasure to be here! This evening, I’ve chosen my new release The Wrong Key, because once you’ve picked it up, you won’t want to put it down – so early reviews are telling me!

That sounds brilliant. What can we expect from an evening in with The Wrong Key?

True to my author tagline, I can sure promise you an evening of twists, turns & torment. The Wrong Key is a psychological suspense thriller about Steph Knight, a woman scorned, who goes to New York on a temporary work assignment with her teenage daughter, Ellie. Following her recent divorce, Steph needs a change of scene. Once in New York, she falls in love with Edward, a corporate lawyer… or so he says he is. Life is looking up. But then Ellie gets kidnapped… how far would you go to save your daughter?

Oo. I love the sound of The Wrong Key. How is it being received so far?

Here are a few one-liners from early reviews:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Holy fudge, what a brilliant story this was!’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A brilliant thriller leaving you feeling a kaleidoscope of emotions!’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A twisted, suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thriller!’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘The cleverly intricate plot made me constantly second guess!’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘The Wrong Key is a heart-pounding wild ride! You don’t know who to trust, where to turn or how it’s going to end.’

I bet you’re thrilled with those responses AJ!

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

A cool, crisp bottle of bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, a large bag of ready salted crisps, and an even larger bar of Cadbury Dairy Fruit & Nut… what more could one need for a perfect night in?

I’ll skip the wine. It makes me ill. Of course, that means I’ll need more of the crisps and chocolate to make up for it!

I’ve also bought along my saxophone. Steph’s daughter, Ellie, is a gifted musician, and she too plays the saxophone. I will treat you some tunes from Ellie’s playlist, which features in the book. Click here to listen.

I love a bit of saxophone. Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about The Wrong Key AJ. It sounds a cracking read and I wish you continued success with it. Let me give readers a few more details:

The Wrong Key

When her US counterpart is involved in a serious car accident, London-based Steph Knight is sent to New York to provide cover at the company she works for.

After her recent traumatic divorce, it’s the perfect opportunity for a fresh start and for Steph to spend some time with her teenage daughter, Ellie, a gifted musician, before she leaves for university.

In New York, Steph meets corporate lawyer Edward, and Ellie meets bartender Jack. Both women become embroiled in whirlwind romances that intensify over a hot and sultry New York summer. But as Steph begins to uncover a web of corruption within her company that seemingly reaches right to the top, she feels increasingly threatened, with no idea who she can trust. Not even the men they’ve fallen for are beyond suspicion.

And just when it appears things can’t get any worse, Ellie disappears.

When Steph receives an ominous text message and a video, she knows her daughter has been kidnapped. To secure her safe return, Steph must stop her investigation.

The clock is ticking. Ellie’s life is in danger.

Alone, terrified and far from home, Steph has to draw on all her inner strength and investigative skills to find Ellie before it’s too late.

Because a mother’s love knows no bounds, Steph is going to save her daughter, even if it kills her…

The Wrong Key is available for purchase here.

About AJ Campbell

It’s an absolute pleasure to continue reviewing for for My Weekly this year. Today I’m sharing my thoughts about The Last First Date by Hayley Quinn.

Published by Harper Collins imprint HQ, The Last First Date is available for purchase through the links here.

The Last First Date

At 31-years-old, Helen Pines is far from where she thought she would be. Whilst her ex-boyfriend is now engaged, Helen’s ordering Deliveroo for one, dreaming of her last first date.

Determined to give online dating a go, she matches with drop-dead gorgeous Brody… One date later, Helen’s heart is still singing. Brody’s sexy, charismatic, and the perfect gentleman. But then she receives an error message on the app… all her contacts have been deleted.

With nothing but Brody’s name and job title to go on, Helen is determined to track him down.

But despite the initial chemistry, Helen knows surprisingly little about her mystery man… Was it really love-at-first like, or will she find a new love along the way?

From international dating expert Hayley Quinn, comes an utterly hilarious, laugh-out-loud romance that will have you grinning from the first page to the last! Fans of Our Stop and Mhairi McFarlane will fall in love with this book.

My Review of The Last First Date

My full review of The Last First Date can be found online on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that The Last First Date is filled with fun and has an unexpected underlying depth that I thought was brilliant.

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Hayley Quinn

Hayley Quinn is an internationally recognised dating coach and founder of the UK’s largest dating coaching company. She has over 2 Million views on her TED talk and over 100,000 YouTube subscribers.

She is the spokesperson for Match, the biggest online dating platform in the world. She has been featured on BBC1, Sky and Channel 4 and is a regular columnist for Cosmopolitan.

Her first fiction book “The Last First Date” is published by Harper Collins.

Her goal is to bridge the gap with modern dating and help inspire people to learn to love dating.

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

My apologies to Julia Stebbing for keeping her waiting so long for reviews of two of her children’s books whilst life has been quite challenging, and my enormous thanks to Julia for sending me When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggie illustrated by Stephen Stone and Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy illustrated by Nivya Kuriakose in return for honest reviews.

Julia’s books last appeared on Linda’s Book Bag when I reviewed When Moggie Met Froggie here.

I also reviewed both The Lost Smile and Remarkable Women in Verse here.

Published by Sticky Bun, When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggy is available for purchase here and Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy is available here.

When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggy

While out seeking mice to eat, Moggie comes across a grumpy Doggie clinging to a tree, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start. Little did either of them know they would soon become good friends. In this amusing tale, with cute illustrations, read how Moggie and Froggie, with new friend Doggie, learn how to have fun together. An adorable sequel to When Moggie Met Froggie.

My Review of When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggie

Doggie is in a spot of bother!

As I’ve come to expect with a Julia Stebbing children’s book, When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggy is a cornucopia of fun, rhyme, humour and friendship. There’s a really lovely story as Moggie discovers Doggie stuck up a tree having been frightened by Froggie and which resolves itself through kindness, friendship and playing together as children learn not to judge others on first appearances. I love the concept that a dog, cat and frog can be friends as it illustrates to young children how diversity doesn’t have to mean alienation.

The language is so well balanced that Julia Stebbing blends familiar words with new vocabulary that enhances children’s language acquisition even as they are enjoying a light-hearted and humorous story. The rhyme not only affords the opportunity for children to predict what is coming next to reinforce language skills, but it is so smooth that it makes reading the story aloud a real pleasure because it flows so effectively.

Alongside themes of friendship, being scared, and learning about others, there are fantastic illustrations by Stephen Stone that bring the story to vibrant life. The expressions on the animals’ faces are not only hilarious, but they help children learn how we use non vocal or verbal communication too.

When Moggie and Froggie Met Doggy is a smashing children’s book that I thoroughly recommend.

Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy

When a colourful cat goes for a walk with a dog with one shoe and they come across a field strewn with rubbish – ‘The biggest mess that Cat has seen’– what can they do?

HOW will they tidy up the mess? WHO will help them?

This charming story, told in rhyming verse, helps a young child learn the importance of clearing up litter and of teamwork. A serious theme, with fun illustrations. For ages 3-7.

My Review of Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy

Rainbow Cat finds too much litter.

Whilst Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy is a book aimed at very young children, I think it is a highly important one for us all and it would fit perfectly into a home, school or other group involving young children because it illustrates the issues of the environment in a gentle and effective manner.

I especially liked the fact that Cat is indeed a rainbow coloured cat as I felt it helped promote all types of characters and countered stereotyped expectations so that children learn to accept others as a result of their actions and not their appearance. There’s a lovely message that working as a team makes life easier and fun too as Julia Stebbing includes a range of animals and birds who collaborate in clearing up litter and restoring nature.

The language used in Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy is so well constructed, with an effortless rhyme scheme and an easy rhythm so that children can hear patterns of language. Alternate end rhyme and rhyming couplets, ellipsis and parenthesis all provide concrete examples that enhance children’s own independent writing so that Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy is a brilliant educational tool as well as a fun and entertaining story.

I loved the illustrations by Nivya Kuriakose too. The animals have a style young children will love whilst I found the backgrounds almost ethereal at times, giving a sense of what might be if only we were more careful with our environments and took more care to take our rubbish home.

Filled with friendship, co-operation and playfulness, Rainbow Cat and the Big Tidy is a super children’s book.

About Julia Stebbing

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

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

You can find out more on Sticky Bun’s website and on Facebook. You’ll occasionally find Julia on Twitter @stickybunpub and Instagram too.

I’m a product of the 1970s and 1980s, being eligible to vote for the first time in 1979 and at university studying for my first degree from 1979 to 1982. Consequently, when I heard about White Riot by Joe Thomas I simply HAD to feature it on Linda’s Book Bag. My enormous thanks to Corinna Zifko at Quercus for arranging for me to host a guest post from Joe Thomas in advance of next week’s White Riot publication day.

Published by Quercus imprint Arcadia on 19th January 2023, White Riot is available for pre-order here.

White Riot

1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble’s superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he’s inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government.

1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher’s Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power.

Supercharged by the music and counterculture of the era, White Riot weaves fiction, fact and personal experience to record the radical tale of London’s most thrilling borough. Politics, music, police corruption, institutional racism and the power of protest all take centre stage in a novel that traces the roots of our current political moment.

Hackney

A Guest Post by Joe Thomas

I was born in Hackney in 1977 and for 25 years I wanted to leave. Now, it’s an aspirational address, gentrified and expensive. I was born in Hackney Mothers’ Hospital on Lower Clapton Road which was later to become known as ‘Murder Mile’. I lived on Mildenhall Road, just down from Clapton Pond. I wrote White Riot to try and better understand the Hackney I grew up in, the time and place, and how the borough, it seems to me, is something of a lightning rod for the political and social currents of the country.

White Riot is a historical, social crime novel about police corruption, institutional racism, the devastating effects of Thatcherism, and the counter-cultural movement of the late ‘70’s and ‘80’s. White Riot is a novel that reveals the dark heart of Hackney, shows the divisive roots of gentrification – and prefigures the political division of contemporary Britain. It is unashamedly political; I want to interrogate the discourses of power, of inequality, think about what and why and how it was as it was, as it is.

I remember the National Front graffiti on the canal towpaths, the sawdust on the floor of the public bar in the Prince of Wales (renamed the Princess in honour of Diana), the seafood stall where my brother and sister and I drowned our cockles and prawns in vinegar while mum and dad were inside fetching drinks.

I remember the day when we sat outside the Ship Aground pub just next door, and it started to rain. The landlord waving the families in, breaking the law to let us shelter. Except for an Asian family enjoying their crisps and their cokes; they weren’t allowed. We didn’t go back there again. I went past on the 55 bus the other day and saw the pub’s set for demolition.

I remember the Hackney Show on Hackney Downs, the Labour Club in Dalston, steel bands and heavy reggae, kids in I Love ILEA and GLC t-shirts, Granny’s takeaway and Chimes nightclub, where, for a period, serious violence was a regular occurrence.

Chimes nightclub is now the Clapton Hart, a hipster pub, all distressed wood and oversized board games, very nice it is, too. I popped in for a pint when on a visit to my cousins who still lived on Mildenhall Road. When I ordered, I asked the barman when the pub opened, when it changed, was no longer the notorious Chimes nightclub, told him I was born up the road. Oh, about a year ago, he said, I’m surprised you didn’t know. I nodded. Well, I said, for the last ten years or so, I’ve been away. What I mean was that I’d been living abroad. When I sat down with my drink it occurred to me that he’d given me a funny look. Local boy, been away, ten years. He served me pretty sharpish when I went back. I didn’t disabuse him, and it made me smile: Hackney’s come a long way if I look like a ten-stretch criminal.

****

I’m sure you look perfectly respectable Joe! Thanks so much for the insight into Hackney and how it has inspired White Riot. Fascinating!

About Joe Thomas

Joe Thomas was born in Hackney in 1977. He is the author of the critically acclaimed São Paulo quartet – Paradise City, Gringa, Playboy, and Brazilian Psycho – and Bent, which was a Guardian Best Book of 2020 and an Irish Times pick of the best crime fiction of 2020. His new novel, White Riot, will be followed by Red Menace and True Blue. Joe lives in London with his partner and son, and teaches at City University of London.

It was a real pleasure to be part of the cover reveal for The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore in a post you’ll find here. I cannot thank the author enough for sending me a copy of The Garnett Girls in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Published by Harper Collins’ imprint HQ on 16th February 2023, The Garnett Girls is available for purchase through the links here.

The Garnett Girls

‘Love makes you do things you never thought you were capable of.’

Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legend– but, ultimately, doomed.

When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.

Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.

Rachel is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home.

Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn.

And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core…

The Garnett Girls, the captivating debut from Georgina Moore, asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes of their parents.

My Review of The Garnett Girls

The Garnett family have secrets bubbling beneath the surface.

The Garnett Girls is an astonishing debut. The prose is achingly beautiful and enormously affecting, so that I found myself weeping on more than one occasion. It’s not just the stunning descriptions that capture the reader, but the thrum of life, of longing, and of emotion vibrating under the surface of every syllable. The Garnett Girls is not so much a book you read as one you feel. Georgina Moore has created a kind of emotional tuning fork in her narrative that the reader experiences viscerally. 

I loved the Isle of Wight setting because it created a claustrophobic atmosphere that suited the intensity of the narrative. It is as if The Garnett Girls could not have been set anywhere else. Similarly, I found the London settings added a sense of relief in me as a reader that echoed the increased freedom the characters felt when they were there, so skilled is the writing. 

The plot has its moments of high drama, but that isn’t the point of The Garnett Girls. Rather, it is a story of how and why Margo, Imogen, Rachel and Sasha are as they are. Their characters are so acutely observed that it feels as if Georgina Moore has peeled back their physical attributes to expose their very souls. She writes about family dynamics, marriage and relationships, shining a mature, incisive and totally understanding spotlight that shows the reader exactly who these people are and what makes them behave as they do, even whilst the characters themselves don’t have self-knowledge, or, when they do, they prefer to deceive themselves. Indeed, deception and lies form the bedrock of this story and hold the reader captivated.

I loved the way Imogen’s play echoes Margo’s life so that there are layers and depths to uncover as you read. Similarly, the powerful emotional pull between characters, particularly between Margo and her daughters, is akin to the relentless implacable pull of the tides around the Isle of Wight conveyed by Georgina Moore so effectively. She creates an atmosphere of brittle hedonism overlaying a murkier realism and vulnerability that I found incredibly affecting. 

The Garnett Girls is an intense, beautifully wrought portrait of family and the lies we tell, especially to ourselves. It’s fierce, passionate and affecting and I absolutely loved it. 

About Georgina Moore

Georgina Moore is an award-winning book publicist who has worked in the publishing industry for twenty years. She has worked with a huge variety of authors across all genres and at all stages of their careers – from debuts to household names.

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

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

Staying in with Katy Regan

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Katy and thank you for staying in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it? 

I have brought in my latest book How to Find Your Way Home. It’s my sixth novel and out in paperback last week (Thursday 5^th January).  The reason I have brought it today however is because I think it’s the perfect uplifting read for these January days when Christmas is over and we’re yearning for spring!

We most certainly are! What can we expect from an evening in with How to Find Your Way Home?

Well, it’s set in spring for a start – it begins in February and ends in early summer, and is definitely the most descriptive of my six novels in terms of landscape.

My main character Stephen is a keen bird-watcher and huge nature-lover, so think lots of scenes of the wonder of migration, the coming of the spring light and the re-emerging of wildlife in the English countryside.

That sounds wonderful – especially as I’m married to a nature lover called Stephen! I’m delighted to have a copy of How to Find Your Way Home on my TBR!

I like to think this is a novel with a big plot too though! And there’s a big, I hope, satisfying twist. I just got a message from a reader yesterday in fact that said, “This book! I didn’t want it to end!! …and did not see that twist coming AT ALL!!” Messages like that are music to my ears, obviously, since that twist was really hard to come up with!  My challenge with this book was to write something more lyrical but which also had a really compelling storyline so I hope I pulled that off.

I’m sure you have! 

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

I’ve brought a photo of some artwork by the mural artist Simon Bates, which depicts Glasgow’s patron Saint Mungo in modern day clothes, holding a robin. This is a reference to the legend that says that St. Mungo’s prayed over this bird – that had actually died and belonged to his master St. Serf – and brought it back to life.

I didn’t know this though, when I saw it on a wall on a street corner of Glasgow. I’d gone there for a solo writing retreat to wrestle with the book that was to become How to Find Your Way Home back in 2019. I was really struggling and thinking of throwing in the towel if I’m honest.

I’m very glad you didn’t.

Then, on a walk around the city I came across this mural of a man (I just thought it was a picture of an ordinary man – perhaps a homeless man), with a bird in his hand and it obviously reminded me of Stephen, the main character in the book, who is a keen ornithologist and also homeless.

That’s quite spooky…

I took it as a huge sign from the universe that I should carry on with this novel! I am so glad I did.

I cannot wait to read How to Find Your Way Home. I have a feeling it will be exactly my kind of read Katy. Thank you so much for staying in with me and telling me all about it. Let me give readers a few more details:

How To Find Your Way Home

About Katy Regan