It’s a few days longer than a year since I reviewed Louise Beech’s This Is How We Are Human in a post you can find here. I so love Louise’s writing that when I was invited to participate in the blog tour for Louise’s latest book Nothing Else, I simply had to participate. My enormous thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part. I’m thrilled to have Nothing Else on my TBR.

Louise’s Call Me Star Girl was one of my 2019 books of the year, and my review is here. You’ll also find my review of How To Be Brave here and of Maria in the Moon here.

Published by Orenda in paperback on 23rd June, Nothing Else is available for purchase here.

Nothing Else

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet.

But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again.

When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night … coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget.

An exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma, about the unbreakable bond between sisters, Nothing Else is also a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything.

An Extract from Nothing Else

I dreamt of fire, my last night in the flat.

Brazen flames flickered and devoured everything around me; they crackled and snapped and then roared. There was music in the sound. Tempo. The sky blackened with billowing smoke. The air was thick with it. I couldn’t breathe and yet I couldn’t turn away.

Then I heard it. Music. Just behind me.

I turned. It was there, our cherry-coloured upright piano, sitting on the grass, grey ash raining down on the keyboard like tiny flying notes. She was there too. Harriet. Seated. Waiting for me. I joined her. We sat side by side, in the places we always took, me on the right and her on the left.

And we played.

Our song.

There was nothing else. The music swirled around us as wild as the flames, a physical force, a wave of love, a place of safety.

Then I woke, alone, my balcony doors wide open and the sounds of the harbour a cold reminder of where I really existed. I went to my piano in the dark and tried to evoke the full melody from my dream, but on my own the song was incomplete, a haunting tune without its ghostly accompaniment.

In the morning, a large brown envelope arrived in the early post. It was stamped with the local council logo. I knew what it must be – my care records – but there was no time to look now. I didn’t even know if I wanted to. Just holding the delivery my heart pulsed like a quaver followed by a quaver rest. It had arrived more quickly than I’d anticipated. Should I take it with me? Would reading what was inside it ruin my trip? Should I leave it here for when I returned?

I couldn’t decide, but I shoved it in my hand luggage anyway, and then left for the station.

I sat on a packed train for almost eight hours, stretching my legs and buying coffee when we changed at Sheffield and Birmingham New Street. Usually, I studied the other passengers when I travelled. I people-watched all the time, often creating their soundtrack in my head. An old man shuffling along might be a slow melody; a woman marching in crisp heels a faster beat; a running child joyful, her notes more random, jazzlike. But I couldn’t concentrate.

I kept thinking about the documents in my bag.

In the end, just after Birmingham, I took out the envelope and opened it. Inside was a black plastic folder; different pages were clipped together inside the cover – some handwritten, some typed, some official-looking, some yellowing. Everything was digital now, but back then, there were paper records. I slammed it shut, hands trembling.

Yes, I wanted to know what had happened to Harriet.

But that meant opening a door I had locked long ago.

***

Isn’t that just wonderful? If you haven’t yet discovered Louise’s writing you’re really missing out. She’s one of the most versatile and talented authors I’ve come across and I read an awful lot of books!

About Louise Beech

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Reader’s Choice in 2015. The sequel, The Mountain in My Shoe, was shortlisted for the Not the Booker Prize. Both of her previous books Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost were widely reviewed, critically acclaimed and number-one bestsellers on Kindle. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award in 2019. Her 2019 novel Call Me Star Girl won Best Magazine’s Book of the Year, and was followed by a ghost-story cum psychological thriller set in a theatre, I Am Dust. 

Louise  lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of Culture – and loved her job as Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

Follow Louise on Twitter @LouiseWriter, find her on Facebook and Instagram and visit her website for further information.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s just over a year since I stayed in with lovely Fiona Cane to chat about A Song Unsung in a post you can read here. Today I’m delighted that Fiona has allowed me to share the prologue from her latest book Angel Town which was inspired her mother’s comments to Fiona about cults.

Fiona has also appeared on Linda’s Book Bag here, writing about the impact of Haiti for her book The Other Side of the Mountain.

Published by Caracol on 16th June 2022, Angel Town is available for purchase here.

Angel Town

A doomsday cult. A stolen innocence. A reckoning.

What if you were born into a doomsday cult and knew nothing of the outside world?
What if everything you’d been told was a lie?

The clock is ticking …

Wayward teenager, Lola, is stunned when, out of the blue, she is summoned by her leader. Oblivious to the resentment her promotion has whipped up and determined to shine, she enters Michael’s inner sanctum.

Single mother and activist, Donna’s search for her son takes her from Brighton to Edenville, a once-peaceful commune in the Colorado desert. Trouble is brewing. The guards on the gate are armed. No one can leave; no visitors allowed.

But who is Michael? And what exactly is his agenda? As the line between what’s true and what is not grows increasingly blurred, time is fast running out …

An Extract from Angel Town

PROLOGUE

Three years earlier

The door slams with a bang, and my teeth start their chitter-chattering again. Why, I don’t know because he does that, Elijah. Slams doors. Every single day. No word of a lie. It’s a wonder ours is still hanging on its hinges. Bang. I’m leaving. Bang. I’m home. Bang. I’m headed for the yard.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

As if we give a damn.

All the same, the breath I didn’t know I was holding leaves my lungs in a satisfying sigh, and my limbs seem to melt like butter in the sun. I wriggle and writhe and shake my arms and legs. Boy, does that feel good. And smile because it’s Saturday, which means no more mean-faced Elijah and no more banging doors today. No school, chores, nor meetings neither.

I pull on my bib overalls and tear down the stairs. I can’t see my shoes so I dash into the street in case Mom has me searching for them. I’ve got places to go, people to see, to borrow one of her favourite sayings.

‘Lois!’

‘What?’

‘Your shoes?’

I twirl around and look at Mom in such a way I know she’ll believe what I’m about to say. ‘They’re at Abi’s. Headed there right now.’

And before she can say another word, I’m sprinting down the road, my clean white feet kicking up the dust.

David is sitting in his usual place on the jetty, legs swinging, waiting for Fisherman Cain. Never seems to tire of those ugly, whiskery catfish, does David. Spends all his free time trying to catch ’em.

‘Hey, Lois. Fancy joining us?’

I stop to think about it. I’m sore tempted cos they fish on the ginormous river outsidda Edenville, and I like reeling in those monsters with the chicken-liver bait, too. But I like David even more. I mean, who wouldn’t? Even I can see he’s what Mom would call real handsome. Golden hair. The cutest smile. He’s a year older but a whole lot wiser, so I’m thankful he even notices me, let alone wants to hang out. Once he showed me a nest of fluffy grey cygnets he’d found hidden in the reeds. Our secret, he said. You mustn’t tell a soul. Boy oh boy. He could’ve shown any kid, but he chose me. Yessiree. He’s about the bestest boy in the whole of Edenville.

I screw up my nose. ‘I promised Abi.’

‘Next time, then.’

I nod so hard it hurts.

David laughs. ‘It’s a deal. Have fun. And Lois?’

‘What?’

‘Stay out of trouble.’

I grin and wave and set off again, slower now, more ladylike. Sometimes it’s important to create the right impression.

The fields around Farmer Samuel’s barn seem to be deserted, but I check the area, just in case. It’s not that we aren’t allowed to play here. It’s … well … I guess … better if no one knows we do. It’s kinda hard to get any privacy in a town like ours, see.

A couple of swans are swimming on the canal, but nothing and nobody else is about, so I dart inside. It’s dark after the white brightness of the sunshine. I blink rapidly, but there’s no rushing my eyes.

‘Psst. Lois.’

I squint and look up to the rafters where Abi’s white-blonde hair shines like a halo.

‘What you waiting for? C’mon.’

I clamber to the top and dive over the hay bales into the den the three of ’em have built already.

‘What kept you, Lois?’ Ben and Gideon ask.

I scrunch up my cheeks until their bug-eyes blur. Right away, Abi puts her arm around me, and I know I don’t have to say any more. She knows all right. No need to waste any words.

Next thing, Ben is stuffing hay down the back of my T-shirt, and pretty soon we’re tumbling about, squealing.

Later, Abi hands us all some lemonade she’s thought to bring along, and a loaf of bread which she tears into chunks. She’s like that, Abi. What Mom would call real practical. I cram mine into my mouth cos I skipped breakfast, what with avoiding Elijah and all.

‘I wish it could be like this always,’ I say when I’m done eating.

Ben clicks his tongue. ‘Three more years is all we’ve got.’

Those words seem to suck all the joy from the air. No one speaks for thinking things through. What lies in store? No more free time, that’s for sure. I guess I’ll be sent to work in The Mill and The Bakery, like Mom. I’m not clever like Abi. I swear she’s destined for something special. One of the chosen few. David will be a fisherman, no question. Ben a carpenter, perhaps.

‘I’m gonna run away,’ Gideon says.

Ben digs him in the ribs. ‘Don’t joke, Giddy.’

‘I’m serious.’

‘But it’s dangerous, you know …’ I tilt my head, ‘… out there.’

‘Yeah, but I ain’t gonna spend the rest of my life being told what to do.’

He’s got a point, but running away?

Abi sniffs. ‘It’s not that bad, and anyway, where will you go?’

‘Anywhere but here.’

I have a hundred questions I want to ask, but my thoughts are all tangled, and I don’t know where to begin. Not that it matters because the unmistakable thud of footsteps brings our chatter to an end.

Ben puts a finger to his lips, and I peep through a hole expecting to see Farmer Samuel or, at worst, Elijah’s mean face. But it isn’t. It’s half a dozen men dressed all in black. Black shirts, black jeans, shiny black boots, and black scarves wound around their heads covering all but their eyes. Hell, I know what they are even though I’ve never seen them before. Nobody has, at least none I’ve met. Us kids think they’re fiends made up by our parents to frighten us into behaving. But here they are. The Powers. The faceless, nameless men. Jet-black and menacing with guns in black holsters strapped around their waists.

I gulp down my fear, a solid, prickly ball, and turn to Abi. But that doesn’t help me one little bit. Silent tears stream down her cheeks, and from beneath her shorts, a trickle of pee dribbles past her knees.

‘It’s okay,’ I whisper, reaching for her hand. ‘They won’t find us.’

It’s what I’m hoping, but I’m thinking, what will happen if they do.

****

And now, of course, we’re all desperate to find out!

About Fiona Cane

Fiona Cane is ‘a natural storyteller, with a vivid writing style that is eminently readable.’ Best selling author Peter James.

Fiona was born and educated in Sussex. After graduating from Exeter University with a degree in Philosophy, she worked in London in film, tv and entertainment PR, before moving back to Sussex with her husband and young family. When she wasn’t coaching tennis or looking after her two children, she was scratching away at her latest novel.

Her books cover several genres: cosy mystery, psychological thriller, literary thriller and coming of age. The one thing all her books have in common is they will keep you turning the page.

You can follow Fiona on Twitter @FionaCaneWrites, find her on Facebook or Instagram and visit her website.

Having been a recipient of a Romantic Novelists Association Media Star award in the past, I’m delighted to feature contenders for this year’s Joan Hessayon Award here on Linda’s Book Bag. Today I’m delighted to welcome Alex Stone to stay in with me to chat about The Perfect Daughter which has been shortlisted for the award.

First, let’s find out more about The Joan Hessayon Award:

The Joan Hessayon Award

Sponsored by Dr. David Hessayon OBE in honour of his late wife, Joan, who was a novelist, RNA member and supporter of its New Writers’ Scheme, the award showcases a variety of debut novels within the romantic fiction genre. The novels are judged by a panel of published authors from the RNA and publishing industry professionals. Previous winners include Jo Thomas, Charlotte Betts, Lorna Cook and Caroline Day.

The New Writers’ Scheme provides support to unpublished writers of romantic fiction. Manuscripts can be submitted for assessment and are critiqued by published authors. In addition, the members of the scheme can attend RNA events and participate in members-only activities and networking opportunities.

The ceremony to announce the winner will be held at 6.30pm on Saturday 16th July 2022 at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, as part of the RNA’s annual conference.

****

Bournemouth-based author, Alex Stone, is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Joan Hessayon Award for 2022 with her novel, The Perfect Daughter. The award is for authors whose debut novels have gone through the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and are subsequently accepted for publication.

Staying in with Alex Stone

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

My pleasure, there’s nothing better than staying in to talk about books!

Good point! So tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve bought my debut psychological thriller, The Perfect Daughter, which is a contender in the Joan Hessayon Award 2022. How exciting is that?!?!

Very exciting indeed! Congratulations. What can we expect from an evening in with The Perfect Daughter?

An evening with The Perfect Daughter will immerse you in the complex mother/daughter relationship between Jess and her mother, Abigail. It’s a thought-provoking thriller, where, as one Amazon reviewer put it: ‘the reader is kept guessing as to whether Jess is a reliable narrator or not – she’s not even sure herself’.

That sounds brilliant. Tell me more about Jess.

On the surface, Jess is seemingly the perfect daughter with a great boyfriend, Adam. But when Adam is declared missing, presumed dead, the police start asking if Jess is really as perfect as she seems. Her relationships with her mother, Adam and her past boyfriends all come under scrutiny.

It’s been described as ‘a stunning piece of writing with a message,’ which is just amazing to hear. I really wanted this novel to highlight the difficulties of family relationships and raise awareness of the impact of controlling and narcissistic behaviour.

You must be thrilled with that reaction Alex.

I’ve been stunned by the overwhelming response to The Perfect Daughter. Amazon reviewers have said The Perfect Daughter was a real page turner as truth and lies spiral together for a fascinating plot’. And the ‘characters get under your skin, grinding your teeth on the edge of your seat on their behalf… This book brings you every emotion.’

That’s quite a review!

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

I’ve bought along a photo of Anvil Point in Dorset. The Perfect Daughter is set on the stunning Dorset coast. Jess lives in Bournemouth and so Bournemouth beach gets a lot of attention throughout the novel, but the key scene takes place here, at Anvil Point. It’s where Adam’s van crashes over the cliff into the sea below, and Jess’s life comes unravelled.

Oo. I’m planning on heading to Dorset in the motorhome very soon. Sounds like The Perfect Daughter might be just the book to take with me – though I hope we don’t roll off a cliff! Thank you so much for staying in to chat about The Perfect Daughter and all the very best with the RNA Joan Hessayon Award. Whatever happens, you’ve done brilliantly to get this far. I look forward to reading The Perfect Daughter for myself and I’ll just give readers a few more details: 

The Perfect Daughter

Jess Harper has spent her whole life trying to make her mum, Abigail happy and proud. And everything Jess does, from the clothes she wears, the job she has, the men she dates, are all approved by Abigail first.

The perfect boyfriend…

So when Jess announces that she has a new man in her life – plumber Adam – Abigail is less than impressed. ‘A plumber? Really, Jessica….’ Adam encourages Jess to break free from her mum’s manipulation, can’t she see what’s happening?

The perfect mother….

But Abigail is only doing these things to keep Jess safe, to protect her from getting hurt again…isn’t she?

Or the perfect liar?

Jess, caught in the middle, doesn’t know who to believe or trust. And then Adam vanishes without trace.

Now Jess is the police’s prime suspect and they want to know if Jess really is as perfect as she seems….

Published by Boldwood on 19th October 2021, The Perfect Daughter is available for purchase here.

About Alex Stone

Alex Stone is an accountant from the West Midlands, who uprooted her life to pursue her dream of living by the sea and becoming a writer. She is proof that if you stick at it, anything is possible, and is now a psychological thriller author based in Dorset. This beautiful and dramatic coast is the inspiration and setting for her novels.

Alex has a keen interest in psychology, and her novels examine how situations in the past can shape a person for the better and the worst.

Her debut novel, The Perfect Daughter, has been described as; ‘cleverly written, powerful, shocking, and totally believable.’

Her second psychological thriller, The Other Girlfriend, is out on 28th July 2022 in all formats; ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook.

For more information, visit Alex’s website, follow her on Twitter @AlexStoneAuthor or find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Having been a recipient of a Romantic Novelists Association Media Star award in the past, I’m delighted to feature contenders for this year’s Joan Hessayon Award here on Linda’s Book Bag. Today I’m delighted to welcome Laura R. Leeson to stay in with me to chat about The Valentine Retreat which has been shortlisted for the award.

First, let’s find out more about The Joan Hessayon Award:

The Joan Hessayon Award

Sponsored by Dr. David Hessayon OBE in honour of his late wife, Joan, who was a novelist, RNA member and supporter of its New Writers’ Scheme, the award showcases a variety of debut novels within the romantic fiction genre. The novels are judged by a panel of published authors from the RNA and publishing industry professionals. Previous winners include Jo Thomas, Charlotte Betts, Lorna Cook and Caroline Day.

The New Writers’ Scheme provides support to unpublished writers of romantic fiction. Manuscripts can be submitted for assessment and are critiqued by published authors. In addition, the members of the scheme can attend RNA events and participate in members-only activities and networking opportunities.

The ceremony to announce the winner will be held at 6.30pm on Saturday 16th July 2022 at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, as part of the RNA’s annual conference.

****

Salisbury author, Laura R. Leeson, is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Joan Hessayon Award for 2022 with her novel, The Valentine Retreat. The award is for authors whose debut novels have gone through the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and are subsequently accepted for publication. Let’s find out what she has to tell us:

Staying in with Laura R Leeson

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

Thank you for inviting me. I love a night in – slippers and a good book superseded heels and a dubiously-titled cocktail a while ago. Not that I don’t love a good cocktail every now and again, but these days I need a really good reason to exhume the heels!

Oh I’m with you on those heels – though I do like a good cocktail! I rather think I know, but tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought along my debut novel – The Valentine Retreat. I recently learned my novel is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon Debut Novel Award, which is breath-taking – but added to the excitement is the news that my book has also recently become available in paperback. A life-long dream was realised when I opened my author copies and flicked through the pages!

Huge congratulations Laura. You must be so excited. 

What can we expect from an evening in with The Valentine Retreat?

My readers tell me it’s exciting and fast-paced, so you might want to make sure you have everything at hand before you settle down. One lady told me she couldn’t stop and was reading into the wee small hours because she had to know what happened, another reader told me I’d made her late for work! For me that’s the ultimate accolade and I’m so pleased people are enjoying a story which started out as a ‘what if…’ thought I had while perusing the breakfast cereal aisle in the supermarket. (Breakfast cereal doesn’t play any role in the plot, btw!)

I’m intrigued now. Tell me more.

The Valentine Retreat is published by an e-first American press – Champagne Book Group – and falls into their romantic suspense category. Not necessarily a genre the UK market is overly familiar with, but at its centre is the story of a couple who fall for one another while they’re both juggling secrets, some of which could be life-threatening. The setting is a fictional hotel in Los Angeles – The Valentine Retreat – which is also not at all what it purports to be. In fact, the whole environment is a tinderbox of covert motivations, dangerous intentions, and hidden realities. Are the feelings Megan and Jim begin to have for one another the only solid ground in an ever-shifting reality – or is that just another lie?

I think that sounds fabulous. Is The Valentine Retreat a one off book?

The Valentine Retreat is the first of a trilogy – the second instalment is due for publication later this year and is currently with my editor. I’m eagerly/anxiously awaiting her first raft of edits…

Many authors tell me that the wait for edits is the worst part of writing!

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

My main character, Megan, has a penchant for eighties pop music. Perhaps that’s unsurprising, because so do I. But then, who doesn’t? It was clearly the best decade for music. Ever.

My era completely!

So, I’ve brought along a mini playlist of my favourite banging tunes – equally wonderful to leave playing in the background whilst reading or writing…

Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind

Soft Cell – Tainted Love

Genesis – Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

Housemartins – Five Get Overexcited

Prince (way before he became a squiggle) – When Doves Cry

Alison Moyet – All Cried Out

Yazoo – Nobody’s Diary

Kate Bush – The Man with the Child in his Eyes (a bit of a cheat – released in 1978)

Erasure – The Circus

A-Ha – The Sun Always Shines on TV

Robert Palmer – Addicted to Love

Abba – Head over Heels

George Michael – Kissing a Fool (actually, scrap that – anything by GM is good by me)

The Police – anything they ever did (I met Sting once – he’s lovely)

Witney Houston, Queen, Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, The Bangles, U2 – do I have to stop? I could keep going for days!

That’s a fabulous selection of music Laura. Thank you so much for staying in to chat about The Valentine Retreat and all the very best with the RNA Joan Hessayon Award. Whatever happens, you’ve done brilliantly to get this far. I look forward to Reading The Valentine Retreat for myself and I’ll just give readers a few more details: 

The Valentine Retreat

The Valentine Retreat should be the perfect place for Megan to take a mini break from her broken life. She’s determined to hide her imperfections and secrets, to allow herself to soak up the opulence and glamour of the hotel for a few days. But she’s not the only one at The Valentine Retreat with something to hide.

Jim is struggling with his new job. Working at The Valentine Retreat wasn’t even close to what he had in mind as his next career move, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter. He needs to keep his head down and make this a success. No one can find out the truth about his life.

Anthony Valentine believes he has everything under control. The Valentine Retreat is running smoothly and he’s sure the authorities think his illicit activities are hidden in plain sight at his hotel. They are dead wrong about that.

Megan’s arrival at the hotel reveals Valentine’s hidden agenda. And the flames of attraction that flicker between Megan and Jim ignite more than their mutual passion as the velvet curtain of deceit that hides Valentine’s deepest secrets catches a spark. As it begins to burn, their innermost fears are laid bare, and the fire threatens to destroy them all.

The Valentine Retreat is the first in Valentine’s Vendetta trilogy.

Published by Champagne Book Group on 22nd May, The Valentine Retreat is available for purchase here.

About Laura R. Leeson

Laura lives in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, and loves walking her Labrador, Murray, even when he totally ignores her and runs off. Repeatedly. She writes contemporary women’s fiction and loves to explore the messy bits of life – and if there’s a way to add in some danger for her characters, that’s even better. She enjoys weekends away with friends (preferably by the sea) and has a large collection of artisan gins. She says it’s purely because of the beautiful bottles, but nobody believes her.

For more information, visit Laura’s website, follow her on Twitter @Laura_R_Leeson or find her on Facebook and Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Soni Zuberi Shah for sending me a copy of the children’s book 101 Dishes For The Emperor in return for an honest review.

You can find 101 Dishes on Twitter @101dishes and on Instagram, but if you visit the 100 Dishes website you’ll find all kinds of extra goodies too.

Published on 14th May 2022, 101 Dishes For The Emperor is available for purchase here.

101 Dishes for the Emperor

Food-loving Anwar lives with his mum, Paro, in a humble village in India.
One day, the Great Emperor and his caravan of people are passing by.
What happens when Anwar dares to invite the mighty Emperor to dinner – and accidentally all his followers too?
No matter how frantically Paro chops more onions, mixes more spices and pours more water into her dal, it JUST isn’t enough…

Can Anwar save the day?

Inspired by a true story of sharing, community and food

Illustrated in a unique style that mixes contemporary and traditional Mughal miniature painting.

My Review of 101 Dishes for the Emperor

Anwar has invited the Emperor to a meal.

101 Dishes For The Emperor is a smashing story of community and how success can be achieved through collaboration and neighbourliness, providing inspiration for all readers regardless of age.

101 Dishes For The Emperor reads very much like a traditional tale and would be perfect for sharing with groups of children as well as enjoying in individual homes. I think it could also lead to some wonderful sharing of foods from different cultures within educational settings and the questions at the end of the story could be used to spark classroom discussion, creative writing and oracy.

There’s so much to recommend 101 Dishes For The Emperor because this is a story that celebrates Indian culture, giving interest and an insight into food and tradition to all children as well as status to those who have an Indian heritage. Equally important is the fact that it is a little boy, Anwar, who is the catalyst for action rather than an adult so that children have an example of self worth.

I thought the balance of text to image was perfect because there’s enough space not to daunt independent readers, but sufficient text to make an interesting narrative and to provide depth for shared reading. The language is accessible but not patronising and has a pitch perfect level of challenge too.

It’s impossible to review 101 Dishes For The Emperor without mention of the fabulous, sumptuous illustrations. Whilst Anwar is depicted in a more child like manner that children will be familiar with, the pictures including the Emperor are again traditional in style so that Indian culture is celebrated.

I thought 101 Dishes For The Emperor was simply lovely – even if it did make me hungry!

About Soni Zuberi Shah

Soni trained as an environmentalist and worked in conservation and development. She has also worked in science communication at the BBC and has gone on to work in the arts and community.

101 Dishes for the Emperor is Soni’s first children’s picture book, it is inspired by a true story her father used to tell her about her ancestral heritage. Set in 16 century India, the story is about a little boy who dares to invite the Emperor to dinner to try his mum’s delicious dal. Soni says ‘With universal values of sharing, kindness and the love of good food, 101 Dishes for the Emperor is as relevant today as it was in 16th century India.’

You can find Soni on Instagram.

About Fatima Zahra Hassan

Dr Fatima Zahra Hassan is a London based visual artist, educator, and researcher, trained in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts. She specialises in Indian, Mughal and Persian Miniature Painting. Zahra has also introduced new courses at the School of Traditional Arts, The Prince’s Foundation London, and the University of London and the British Museum’s joint World Art Programme in South Asian Art and Design held at the British Museum and Asia House London. Zahra has conducted many workshops and has given talks in museums in the UK on Indo-Persian Miniature Painting and Islamic Illustrated Manuscript Illustration. She is part of international research groups and publishes on South Asian and Middle Eastern Art with an approach that bridges the practice with theory.

You can find Fatima on Instagram.

I have heard nothing but magnificent praise for Tasting Sunlight by Ewald Arenz and I’m delighted to have Tasting Sunlight on my TBR and to be able to share an extract with you on the blog tour today. My huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me to participate.

Tasting Sunlight was published yesterday, 23rd June 2022, by Orenda Books and is available for purchase here.

Tasting Sunlight

Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she is to be treated for anorexia. She’s furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace. Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs singlehandedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.

From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn’t like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.

The first night lengthens into weeks as Sally starts to find pleasure in working with the bees, feeding the chickens, and harvesting potatoes. Eventually an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up – connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts through their shared work on the land.

An Extract from Tasting Sunlight

It was raining. For the first time in weeks. Good for the wine. As Liss pushed the courtyard door open into the dawn, the air, cool and grey, streamed into the kitchen, which was still warm, almost a little sticky with the warmth of summer. She drank her tea standing, leaning against the doorframe. It was a steady pouring rain. There were puddles in the yard. The hens ran from the stable to the barn and back. That was a life, and who was to say it was wrong, just because it looked pointless from a human perspective?

The girl was still asleep. She was sleeping in the room Liss had given her as if it were her own. Liss walked over to the stove and poured herself more tea. Then she leant against the doorframe again and watched the rain. A day when you ought to just leave the world to drink and not bother it. When you ought to just let the hens run without shaking your head over them. A day when you ought to let a sleeping girl sleep. There was a reason for everything, she just couldn’t see it.

Liss stepped back into the kitchen, laid the table and then fetched her waterproofs. She was about to go when she looked back at the table and hesitated briefly, before eventually fetching a piece of dark bread from the larder and laying it beside the bowl of fruit. Then she went out into the rain and exhaled deeply as the first cool drops fell onto her face.

It hadn’t been raining then. But it had sounded like it. It had been thawing. Those days in February were the saddest ever. The icicles on the gutters melted and dripped ceaselessly onto the lead roofs of the hen houses, the rabbit hutches, the woodshed. The sky seemed to have no flavour. The puddles in the unpaved yard were up to her ankles. The fences by the road were still buried, metres deep, beneath the dirty, hard snowdrifts, a whole winter’s worth, and you couldn’t imagine that it would ever be summer again. She’d been doing her schoolwork and staring longingly out of the window. Now she was outside on this quiet Saturday afternoon, and it felt as though she were entirely alone in the village. Everyone else could have been dead or have suddenly vanished. She could hear nothing but the steady dripping and, now and then, the heavy soughing as a load of snow on one of the roofs started to slip, then drummed down onto the yard. She imagined actually being entirely alone. The village was as extinct as the aftermath of a nuclear war in one of the futuristic novels she borrowed from the local library and read when her father wasn’t at home. He didn’t like her reading. She left the farm and walked down Haselau lane, the heroine of a sci-fi novel. The village looked black and white amid the spent snow, like something out of an old film. In the bakery she could see Anni, tidying up the display. The woman gave her a pretzel every morning as she stood with the others outside the shop window, waiting for the bus. Now she was beckoning her in, but she couldn’t go, because she was on a mission and Anni was nothing but a flickering image on one last television running on the last of the electricity in a plundered shop in a deserted city. She walked further down the narrow street, past the Berger farm, past the parsonage garden wall, on which she sometimes lay face down in the summer, her whole body absorbing the heat of the sun-sated stones. Those were special afternoons, and only very rare. When she’d crept away with a book that she then couldn’t read, because as she read, the images sharpened and, if she squinted a little, the air above the parsonage roof gradually turned as blue as a southern sea. When she and the wall she was lying on had travelled away, unnoticed, into a small, hot town by the sea, and she was no longer Elisabeth but Zora, and no longer had any parents, but was free to go wherever she wanted. And shimmering over the rooftops was the sea.

She hunched her shoulders. On a February day like this, it was a certainty that she’d never see the sea; worse still, it wasn’t even certain that there’d ever be another summer day when she could dream, at least for an hour and a half, of being somebody else.

****

About Ewald Arenz

Ewald Arenz was born in Nurnberg in 1965, where he now teaches. He has won various national and regional awards for literature; among them the Bavarian State Prize for Literature and the great Nuremberg Prize for Literature. One of seven children, he enjoys nature, woodturning, biking, swimming, and drinking tea. He lives with his family in Germany.

For further information, follow Ewald on Twitter @EwaldArenz or visit his website. You’ll also find him on Instagram and there’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome Reshma Ruia to Linda’s Book Bag today as part of the blog tour and I’d like to thank Will Dady for inviting me to participate. Let’s find out what Reshma has to say about her latest book.

Staying in with Reshma Ruia

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

Thank you for having me! As writers we are used to hibernating inside our heads and how wonderful to share this space with you!

Gosh. You wouldn’t like to hibernate in my head Reshma! However, tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I have brought along my latest novel, Still Lives, which will be out end of June. This novel is a labour of love and has many layers to it that need exploring and examining. I am so excited about sharing it with the world! A huge thank you to Will and Renard Press for bringing it to life.

Congratulations on Still Lives Reshma. I have been hearing excellent things about it and had hoped to fit in reading it by our meeting but life got in the way, so what can we expect from an evening in with Still Lives?

An evening in with Still Lives will entertain you and move you. The book is set in Manchester and is told from the viewpoint of PK Malik, a middle aged man who is on a journey of self-discovery. He was successful once but now feels old, irrelevant and unloved. He has a wife, Geeta, who has problems of her own, and a young, troubled son called Amar. PK is drawn to another woman, Esther, who is beautiful and alluring, and is all that his life is not. The Maliks straddle different cultures and identities and try to find a stable point of reference between the past and the present in a rapidly changing world.

That sounds so relatable. Tell me more. 

PK has a hunger for a better life, and the book is as much about his emotional landscape as it is about the spirit of Manchester, where rain is the soundtrack to most days. It is about love – the kind of love that damages and has far-reaching consequences. The book has shades of dark and light like life itself, and the manuscript was shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Award. Tessa Hadley read the manuscript and found it, ‘involved and interesting, with a living sense of characters and their worlds.’ Preti Taneja, author of We That are Young also read the manuscript and liked the book for its social realism and direct style. She thought that the main protagonist’s voice reminded her of Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones.

Wow. That’s some endorsement. I really MUST fit Still Lives into my forthcoming reads. 

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

I would have to bring a big box of Alphonso mangoes. It is mango season in India right now, and the streets and homes are filled with the fragrance of this delicious fruit. Mango is an important leitmotif in my novel. PK Malik, the main character of my novel, tries to grow a mango tree in his back garden. The tree serves as an umbilical cord connecting him to his past in Mumbai, and is also a symbol of hope for the future.

I have childhood memories of clambering up a mango tree and trying to steal mangoes from my neighbour’s garden!

We could have a nice chilled glass of mango lassi, or even a mango cocktail

Oh we could indeed. I love fresh mango. Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about Still Lives Reshma. I know I’ll love the book. Let me give readers a few more details. 

Still Lives

‘The glow of my cigarette picks out a dark shape lying on the ground. I bend down to take a closer look. It’s a dead sparrow. I wondered if I had become that bird, disoriented and lost.’

Young, handsome and contemptuous of his father’s traditional ways, PK Malik leaves Bombay to start a new life in America. Stopping in Manchester to visit an old friend, he thinks he sees a business opportunity, and decides to stay on. Now fifty-five, PK has fallen out of love with life. His business is struggling and his wife Geeta is lonely, pining for the India she’s left behind.

One day PK crosses the path of Esther, the wife of his business competitor, and they launch into an affair conducted in shabby hotel rooms, with the fear of discovery forever hanging in the air. Still Lives is a tightly woven, haunting work that pulls apart the threads of a family and plays with notions of identity.

Shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize

Published on 29th June 2022, Still Lives is available for purchase here.

About Reshma Ruia

Reshma Ruia is an award-winning author and poet. She has a PhD and Master’s in Creative Writing from Manchester University, as well as a Bachelor and Master’s from the London School of Economics. Her first novel, Something Black in the Lentil Soup, was described in the Sunday Times as ‘a gem of straight-faced comedy’. She has published a poetry collection, A Dinner Party in the Home Counties, and a short story collection, Mrs Pinto Drives to Happiness; her work has appeared in international anthologies and journals, and she has had work commissioned by the BBC. She is the co-founder of The Whole Kahani – a writers’ collective of British South Asian writers. Born in India and brought up in Rome, her writing explores the preoccupations of those who possess a multiple sense of belonging.

For more information, visit Reshma’s website, follow her on Twitter @reshmaruia or find her on Facebook. and Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

It’s far too long since I read Amanda Jennings and I’m delighted to rectify that by sharing my review of her latest book The Haven. My huge thanks to the author for sending me a copy of The Haven in return for an honest review.

Amanda’s The Cliff House was one of my favourite reads of 2019 and you’ll find my review here.

Published by Harper Collins imprint HQ on 22nd March 2022, The Haven is available for purchase here.

The Haven

It was meant to be paradise…

Winterfall Farm, spectacular and remote, stands over Bodmin Moor. Wanting an escape from the constraints of conventional life, Kit and Tara move to the isolated smallholding with their daughter, Skye, and a group of friends. Living off-grid and working the land, they soon begin to enjoy the fruits of their labour amid the breathtaking beauty and freedom of the moor.

At first this new way of life seems too good to be true, but when their charismatic leader, Jeremy, returns from a mysterious trip to the city with Dani, a young runaway, fractures begin to appear. As winter approaches, and with it cold weather and dark nights, Jeremy’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. Rules are imposed, the outside world is shunned, and when he brings a second girl back to the farm, tensions quickly reach breaking point with devastating consequences…

The Haven is the compelling new novel from Amanda Jennings, author of The Cliff House.

My Review of The Haven

Jeremy, Kit and Tara are starting a new idyllic life.

Amanda Jennings writes the sort of books that make your heart ache because she has the ability to convey the very souls of her characters and connect them to the reader’s so that they experience everything as intensely as if it were them participating in the action. And that action is perfectly depicted here so that I experienced a gamut of emotions from sadness to fear, and elation to rage as I read The Haven and found it totally mesmerising.

It was Tara with whom I felt the most affinity because she is so brilliantly portrayed through her first person strands, but all the characters in The Haven, from the most minor like the neighbouring farmer or Tara’s parents, to the most central like Tara, Dani, Kit and Jeremy are absolutely real and vivid. The Haven has a cast of flawed, messy, complicated human beings who illustrate every aspect of reality.

The rural Cornish setting is every bit as important as the characters, with the fables and superstitions of its history serving as portents and warnings for present lives. Cornwall shows benevolence and malevolence in its seasons and weather, so that through the Cornish setting Amanda Jennings steers her reader’s reactions and experiences of reading The Haven with utmost skill. The depth of research that must have gone in to The Haven, particularly with regard to alternative medicine and sustainable living, makes the narrative totally convincing. The Haven is one of those stories you can read without being anxious because you know the author will exceed every expectation in a beautifully written and meticulously plotted narrative that is moving as well as being entertaining.

The ebb and flow of off-grid country life at Winterfall is fascinatingly compelling. I loved the way Amanda Jennings illustrated the fine line between inspiration and insanity, between love and hate, and between friendship and enmity. What we see in The Haven is the elusiveness of genuine happiness. Indeed, it is during winter that the utopia begins to fall so that the setting is perfectly named.

The Haven is impossible to categorise. It’s partly a thriller, partly literary fiction, partly a psychological exploration of relationships and ideals, but however it might be described, The Haven is always gripping, immersive and completely entertaining. I thought it was wonderful and I loved it.

About Amanda Jennings

Amanda Jennings writes psychological suspense and is the author of Sworn Secret, The Judas Scar, In Her Wake, and, most recently, The Cliff House. Her books have been published in translation. Like In Her Wake, The Cliff House is set in Cornwall, where her mother’s side of the family is from, and where she spent many long and very happy childhood summers.

Amanda is a regular guest on BBC Berkshire’s weekly Book Club and enjoys meeting readers at libraries, book clubs and literary festivals. Amanda lives just outside Henley-on-Thames with her husband, three daughters and an unruly menagerie of pets, and is currently writing her fifth book which will be published in 2019.

For more information, visit Amanda’s website or find Amanda on Twitter @MandaJJennings, Facebook and Instagram.

I’m a huge fan of C.L. Taylor’s writing and so when a surprise copy of her latest book The Guilty Couple arrived I was thrilled. My huge thanks to Becci Mansell for sending me an early proof and to Ella Young for sending me a finished hard back copy. I’m delighted to share my review of The Guilty Couple today.

Other reviews of C. L. Taylor’s books here on the blog include Strangers, The Missing, The Treatment, The Fear and Sleep.

The Guilty Couple will be published by Avon Books tomorrow, 23rd June 2022, and is available for purchase through the links here.

The Guilty Couple

What would you do if your husband framed you for murder?

Five years ago, Olivia Sutherland was convicted of plotting to murder her husband.

Now she’s finally free, Olivia has three goals. Repair her relationship with her daughter. Clear her name. And bring down her husband – the man who framed her.

Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her?

Because his lies run deeper than Olivia could ever have imagined – and this time it’s not her freedom that’s in jeopardy, but her life…

My Review of The Guilty Couple

Olivia is about to be released from prison.

Every time you pick up a CL Taylor novel you know you’re in for a twisty, exciting and compulsive read and The Guilty Couple is no exception. It’s an absolute cracker and I loved every word. Think of every aspect you want in a thriller and The Guilty Couple has it in spades. Unreliable, rounded and wide ranging characters fill the pages, and plot twists abound in The Guilty Couple so that it’s packed with surprise. There’s compelling writing, a fast pace and hooks that won’t let you go, making The Guilty Couple a fabulous read.

What C L Taylor does so brilliantly is to create flawed, nasty, repulsive, appealing and utterly brilliant characters that the reader loves, loathes and is totally mesmerised by. Except perhaps for Ayesha, the women in the story are far outside my experiences and yet I believed in every one completely. Although Olivia is at the heart of the story, I think it was Smithy I loved the best, but what we have here are women whose personalities are authentic, contradictory and complicated – just like any one of us in real life. The pairings and guiltiness in this story ebb and flow so that I found my head spinning with the relationships and interconnections ensuring that I was left breathless by the cleverness of both plot and character. The phrase ‘guilty couple’ could certainly be applied to more than just Dominic and Dani! Because both plot and character are so dynamic, settings are smaller and more familiar, like offices or flats, so that the contrast heightens the tension in the action, making for an even more satisfying read.

I loved the themes here too. I think The Guilty Couple would reward numerous readings even when the plot is known – or perhaps that should be especially when the plot is known, because the explorations of guilt, motivation, retribution, revenge, control, what constitutes criminality and so much more reverberate beneath the surface and the intelligent plotting becomes even more impressive in retrospect. It’s a story that makes you think long after you’ve finished reading it.

It’s so hard to review The Guilty Couple without spoiling the read for others. I thought it was a fabulous story. I always expect top quality from CL Taylor, but this time she has surpassed my expectations. The Guilty Couple might be my favourite of her books to date. It’s brilliant.

About C.L. Taylor

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. Her 2019 novel, Sleep, was a Richard and Judy pick. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.

You can follow C.L. Taylor on Twitter @callytaylor and find out more about her on her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

I think I have at least three of Jane Corry’s previous novels awaiting me on my towering TBR so when I found latest online My Weekly magazine review was to be Jane’s latest book, We All Have Our Secrets, I was delighted because I’ve heard such wonderful things about her writing.

Published by Penguin on 23rd June 2022, We All Have Our Secrets is available for purchase through these links.

We All Have Our Secrets

Two women are staying in Willowmead House.

One of them is running.
One of them is hiding.
Both of them are lying.

Emily made one bad decision, and now her career could be over. Her family home on the Cornish coast is the only place where she feels safe. But when she arrives, there’s a stranger living with her father. Emily doesn’t trust the beautiful young woman, convinced that she’s telling one lie after another. Soon, Emily becomes obsessed with finding out the truth…

But should some secrets stay buried forever?

My Review of We All Have Our Secrets

My full review of We All Have Our Secrets can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, here I can say that We All Have Our Secrets is a fascinating exploration of truth and relationships that leaves the reader reeling. I was hesitant to begin with and ended up loving this one!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review here.

About Jane Corry

Jane Corry is a former magazine journalist who spent three years working as the writer-in-residence of a high security prison for men. This often hair-raising experience helped inspire her Sunday Times-bestselling psychological dramas, My Husband’s Wife, Blood Sisters, The Dead Ex, I Looked Away and I Made A Mistake which have been translated into over 16 languages and sold over a million copies worldwide. Jane was a tutor in creative writing at Oxford University; an RLF Fellow at Exeter University; and is a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and My Weekly magazine. We All Have Our Secrets is her sixth novel.

For further information, follow Jane on Twitter @JaneCorryAuthor and visit her website. You’ll also find Jane on Facebook and Instagram.