Today, I’m delighted to share my review of The House by the Loch by Kirsty Wark which was the book discussed at my reading group this month.

The House by the Loch was published by Two Roads on 13th June 2019 and is available for purchase through the links here.

The House by the Loch

Scotland, 1950s

Walter MacMillan is bewitched by the clever, glamorous Jean Thompson and can’t believe his luck when she agrees to marry him. Neither can she, for Walter represents a steady and loving man who can perhaps quiet the demons inside her. Yet their home on remote Loch Doon soon becomes a prison for Jean and neither a young family, nor Walter’s care, can seem to save her.

Many years later, Walter is with his adult children and adored grandchildren on the shores of Loch Doon where the family has been holidaying for two generations. But the shadows of the past stretch over them and will turn all their lives upside down on one fateful weekend.

The House by the Loch is the story of a family in all its loving complexity, and the way it can, and must, remake itself endlessly in order to make peace with the past.

My Review of The House by the Loch

Walter keeps his family close.

I’m going to be totally honest and say that to begin with I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy The House by the Loch. Initially it felt a little too descriptive. However, once I attuned myself to Kirsty Wark’s writing and realised that setting is absolutely essential to the narrative I realised my original concern was entirely misplaced and I ended up absolutely loving this evocatively written story. It’s difficult to say too much about plot for fear of spoiling the story for others, but I found The House by the Loch captured me completely.

The loch, the countryside and the physical buildings are beautifully presented so that I could envisage them in my imagination. Kirsty Wark’s writing had the ability to transport me right into the setting and I found her dialogue felt so real it was as if I were listening in to conversations rather than reading about them. The House by the Loch is a visual and auditory feast to the extent I did actually forget I was reading a book.

The characters are vivid and real, depicted through carefully crafted nuances so that I cared about them all. The portrayals of Walter, Carson and Jean in particular held me spellbound. Jean’s brittle, glittering, alcohol fuelled life felt every bit as tragic to me as any Shakespearean character and I frequently felt that Walter was a man more sinned against than sinning. It was Carson who gained my compassion the most. Her relationship with Walter, her guilt, her ambition and her development through the novel felt so true to life.

Indeed, it is relationships that make The House by the Loch such a compelling read for me. Kirsty Wark explores what family love and loyalty is, and how it can affect us, with such sensitivity that she managed to reduce me to tears several times. Her uncovering of truths, her exploration of addiction and mental health, of family, grief and guilt all blend into a hugely affecting read that builds through beautiful writing, understanding of humanity and moving plotting.

The House by the Loch is intense with feeling. It’s moving, emotional and ultimately hopeful. I began unsure if I’d like it and ended thinking it was a wonderful read.

About Kirsty Wark

Kirsty Wark is a journalist, broadcaster and writer who has presented a wide range of BBC programmes for more than twenty five years, from the ground-breaking Late Show to the weekly arts and cultural review show The Review Show and the nightly current affairs show Newsnight. Kirsty has won several major awards for her work, including BAFTA Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting, Journalist of the Year and Best Television Presenter.

Her debut novel, The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, was published in March 2014 by Two Roads and was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year Award, as well as nominated for the International DUBLIN Literary Award.

For further information follow Kirsty on Twitter @KirstyWark and find her on Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in this blog tour for West Camel’s Fall. I’m very pleased to share my review of Fall today.

Published by Orenda on 9th December 2021, Fall is available for purchase here.

Fall

Twins Aaron and Clive have been estranged for forty years. Aaron still lives in the empty, crumbling tower block on the riverside in Deptford where they grew up. Clive is a successful property developer, determined to turn the tower into luxury flats.

But Aaron is blocking the plan and their petty squabble becomes something much greater when two ghosts from the past – twins Annette and Christine – appear in the tower. At once, the desolate estate becomes a stage on which the events of one scorching summer are relived – a summer that shattered their lives, and changed everything forever…

Grim, evocative and exquisitely rendered, Fall is a story of friendship and family – of perception, fear and prejudice, the events that punctuate our journeys into adulthood, and the indelible scars they leave – a triumph of a novel that will affect you long after the final page has been turned.

My Review of Fall

Aaron and Clive are estranged twins.

Fall is exactly my kind of book. I loved it because it is exquisitely written, elegantly constructed and completely mesmerising. West Camel’s writing is beautiful. The variety of his sentences means that depth of feeling and meanings are conveyed with almost a visceral intensity. West Camel’s use of the senses, his direct appeal to the reader and his atmospheric prose are truly captivating.

There’s a tension, an air of expectation, bordering menace from the very first moment in Fall that ensnares the reader. The oppressive heat adds to the atmosphere and the switch between past and present tenses for the two time lines adds weight and immediacy, linking both eras perfectly. Whether the nod to Cain and Abel suggested by the fact the twins have names beginning with A add C was intentional I don’t know, but it added a sense of danger lurking in the back of my mind as I read.

In many ways the plot is relatively simple, as Clive wants Aaron out of the tower block he wants to develop, but that belies the intricacies of West Camel’s narrative that only finally fit together as the story reaches its last sentence. In the same way that Zoe’s tower block has secret passages, so reading Fall is the literary equivalent of viewing an Escher painting. Perspectives and truths shift and change so that I thought it was absolutely wonderful. Indeed, Fall is perfectly entitled. Here we have fallings out, physical falls, falls from grace and favour, and so on, that build layers of interest in the story. As soon as I’d finished reading Fall I wanted to read it again as I’m sure there is even more for me to discover. I’m convinced it’s no coincidence that the tower is called Marlowe Tower, because of the connotations of intrigue and links to themes of ambition, power and manipulation in Christopher Marlowe’s life and works that thread through Fall. It’s hard to explain further without spoiling the plot but Fall is such convincing storytelling.

Part of the delicious intensity in reading Fall comes thought the fabulous characterisation. The almost psychic link between Aaron and Clive and between Annette and Christine feels so convincing. Although Aaron seems more prominent in the story because he is still living in Marlowe Tower, Fall feels balanced and nuanced. I found Zoe both abhorrent and fascinating and at no pint could I decide whether she had been entirely honest or entirely duplicitous so that she’s a really flawed, but compelling, individual.

Add in simmering racism, secrets and lies, community and design, relationships and identity and Fall is a book that feels simultaneously modern and timeless. It’s one of my favourite reads of 2021. I thought it was excellent.

About West Camel

Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editorial director at Orenda with editing The Riveter magazine and #RivetingReviews for the European Literature Network.

He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. His debut novel, Attend was published in 2018, and was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. His second novel, Fall was published in December 2021.

You can follow West on Twitter @west_camel and visit his website.

I couldn’t be more grateful to the lovely folk at Team Bookends and to Milly Reid at Quercus for sending me a copy of Anything Could Happen by Lucy Diamond in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Published by Quercus in ebook on 14th December and other formats next year, Anything Could Happen is available for pre-order through the links here.

Anything Could Happen

Your big secret is out. What next?

For Lara and her daughter Eliza, it has always been just the two of them. But when Eliza turns eighteen and wants to connect with her father, Lara is forced to admit a secret that she has been keeping from her daughter her whole life.

Eliza needs answers – and so does Lara. Their journey to the truth will take them on a road trip across England and eventually to New York, where it all began. Dreams might have been broken and opportunities missed, but there are still surprises in store…

Anything Could Happen is a warm, wise, funny and uplifting novel about love, second chances and the unexpected and extraordinary paths life can take us down.

My Review of Anything Could Happen

Life hasn’t always been straightforward for Lara and Ben.

Not having read Lucy Diamond before I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from her writing. What I got in Anything Could Happen was fabulous story-telling, perfect characterisation and the most wonderful reading experience. I loved Anything Could Happen unreservedly from the very first word. There’s just enough description to create a sense of place, Lucy Diamond’s direct speech is natural and convincing and her narrative is spellbinding.

What drew me in so completely was that there are no unrealistic heroes, no super human wonder women between the pages of Anything Could Happen, but instead I found glorious, flawed, perfectly imperfect human beings that were real, vivid and as important to me as any real person I know. I was so invested in the outcomes for Lara, Eliza, Ben and Kirsten that I put life on hold, unable to tear myself away until I discovered what the final outcomes were in their lives.

The plot is so brilliantly crafted. It follows the natural rhythms of ordinary life so beautifully, enchanting the reader and drawing them into the story completely. This makes Anything Could Happen relatable and emotional because there is something for every reader to identify with here. Relationships, family, love, second chances, loss and being true to yourself are just some of the wonderful themes explored with such humanity.

Anything Could Happen is a tender, realistic exploration of the ‘What ifs’ of life that I found utterly gorgeous, utterly convincing and a total must read. I adored this book. It’s one of my favourite reads of the year.

About Lucy Diamond

Lucy Diamond grew up in Nottingham and went to university in Leeds where she studied English Literature. After graduating, she lived in Oxford, London and Brighton, working in publishing and at the BBC. She now lives in beautiful Bath where she writes full-time.

As a Sunday Times bestselling author with sixteen novels, two digital novellas and a Quick Read under her belt, Lucy writes with warmth and honesty about the joy and surprises, as well as the complications, that love, family and friendships can bring. Her seventeenth novel, Anything Could Happen, is out as an ebook this December and published in hardback January 2022.

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

How can it possibly be over two years since lovely Shelley Wilson featured on Linda’s Book Bag? Then I was reviewing one of Shelley’s children’s books, Meditation for Children in a post you’ll find here. Previously, Shelley ‘stayed in’ with me here. I’ve also interviewed Shelley here on the blog and she has explained here why she writes for the self-help market. Speaking of which, I have reviewed another of Shelley’s self-help books, Motivate Me: Weekly Guidance for Happiness and Wellbeing here too.

Today, thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours I am reviewing another of Shelley’s books, Self-Help For The Helpless.

Self-Help for the Helpless is available for purchase here.

Self-Help for the Helpless

Bestselling self-help author and award-winning personal development blogger Shelley Wilson takes the fear out of self-help and makes it fun, helping you to make easy, positive changes to improve your life right now. Includes her 31-day self-help toolkit.

Have you ever felt helpless? Are you struggling to understand why you feel disconnected from your friends or family? Are you mystified by the words self-help, self-care, and personal development? Are you looking for answers but really have no idea where to begin?

In this beginner’s guide to personal development and understanding self-care, Shelley Wilson will show you how looking after your own needs can be a powerful tool for your mental, physical, and emotional health so you can begin making important changes today.

Discover what self-help means, how to become more self-aware, understand core values, and have fun mapping out what your best life looks like. Shelley includes tips, tools, and techniques and shares her 31-day self-help toolkit.

Be the person you deserve to be and join bestselling self-help author and award-winning personal development blogger Shelley Wilson on a journey of self-discovery.

My Review of Self-Help for the Helpless

A self help book!

Self-Help for the Helpless is a little cracker of a book because Shelley Wilson guides her readers to accept responsibility for their own health, success and well being whilst providing practical and accessible ways to change their lives for the better. It’s a no nonsense book that had me nodding in agreement and realising I CAN do something to improve my life the way I’d like. Shelley Wilson writes with such engagement and honesty about her own self-discovery that she is totally inspirational.

Self-Help for the Helpless is written in a conversational style the makes the reader feel as if a close friend is supporting them along their path to a happier and more fulfilled life. Little touches of humour are interspersed with honest and revealing aspects from the author’s own life so that Shelley Wilson really does practice what she advocates here, giving an authenticity to her advice that makes it all the more effective. I loved the references to ‘should’ because it felt as if Shelley Wilson had been listening in to many a conversation I’ve had and the ‘advice’ I’ve been given. Here Self-Help for the Helpless gave me permission to be myself and provided the practical tools I might need to achieve that balance.

In amongst the celebrity books about mental health or the plethora of self help manuals littering bookshops, Self-Help for the Helpless is a quiet, practical oasis of calm that I found motivating and inspiring.

Now, where’s that wretched internal parrot because I want a word with it!

About Shelley Wilson

Shelley Wilson is a multi-award-winning blogger and author. Her motivational and personal development blog has received numerous awards and was named a Top 10 UK Personal Development Blog. She is the author of How I Changed My Life in a Year!, How I Motivated Myself to Succeed, Motivate Me! An Oracle Guidebook, and Meditation for Children. Shelley divides her writing time between motivational non-fiction for adults and the fantasy worlds of her young adult fiction. She resides in Solihull, West Midlands, UK, where she lives with her three teenagers.

Find out more about Shelley on her author blog or via her personal development blog. You can also follow Shelley on Twitter @ShelleyWilson72 and find her on Facebook (or here on Facebook for YA writing) and Instagram.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

My grateful thanks to the lovely team at Avon for sending me a copy of The Couple on Maple Drive by Sam Carrington in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review today – publication day.

It’s far too long since I last featured Sam here on Linda’s Book Bag. Then I was sharing details of Sam’s Bad Sister. Before that I was delighted to host a guest post here from Sam all about the allure of psychology alongside my review of Sam’s Saving Sophie.

Published today, 9th December 2021 by Avon Books, The Couple on Maple Drive is available for purchase through the links here.

The Couple on Maple Drive

You think you’d know a killer if you met one?

Think again.

When Isla McKenzie is brutally mugged, it’s her boyfriend Zach who’s there for her, who moves in to look after her when she can barely bring herself to leave the house.

But then something else happens, right on their doorstep. And it’s almost like someone’s out to get her…

Can Isla and Zach find out the truth before it’s too late? …Or at least before the secrets they’re hiding from each other surface?

Because those may be even deadlier…

My review of The Couple on Maple Drive

Isla’s recovering from a mugging.

It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of The Couple on Maple Drive as it’s a slow burn thriller that builds gradually, but once I was into the narrative I thoroughly enjoyed this deftly plotted book. I loved the podcasts that drip feed information and some obfuscation so that the reader isn’t entirely sure how the book might be resolved. The short sentence hooks at the end of each chapter add urgency and engagement, even if they did mean my life wasn’t my own as I was compelled to read on. As the pace increased towards the denouement I appreciated all the more the way Sam Carrington had constructed the story so that it all came together so satisfyingly. This is very clever plotting.

Despite the fact that I I didn’t really warm to Isla, I was fascinated by the way Sam Carrington made me care about her in The Couple on Maple Drive. I think it’s the depth of the psychological element to the story that creates such a response. Isla’s gradual emotional and mental recovery from the attack is so well depicted. I also thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of how we become who we are; how our past helps construct who we are in the present. The psychological aspect of The Couple on Maple Drive is very convincing.

Indeed, I think it is the way the reader gradually uncovers what is happening at the same time as does Isla that makes the story so successful. Add in themes around business practices, competitiveness, friendships and relationships, family and memory and The Couple on Maple Drive becomes layered and interesting beyond just the entertaining story. I found it made me think about society and those around me with a sharper perspective.

I really enjoyed The Couple on Maple Drive although, to mis-quote the Christie’s Crime Addicts podcasters, I’m not sure I would feel safe in the bay!

About Sam Carrington

Sam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband and three children. She worked for the NHS for 15 years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a Psychology degree she went to work for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist.

For further information visit Sam’s website and follow her on Twitter @sam_carrington1 and Instagram. Find her on Facebook too.

My thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources, for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for My First Animal Moves by Darryl Edwards. It’s my pleasure to share both my review and a very special giveaway with you.

My First Animal Moves

Nathan loves to play, but he loves his video games more.

Can a trip to Animal Moves land convince him there’s more fun outdoors? Best-selling author and speaker Darryl Edwards has created this fun adventure inspired by his passion for encouraging kids to move in an ever-increasing sedentary environment.

MY FIRST ANIMAL MOVES

Discover the joys of animal moves with your little cubs in this first book of movement. Join Nathan and his cute, but sometimes lazy, dog as they crawl, jump and balance their way through the animal kingdom re-enacting moves designed to emphasise fun. It’s all in this exercise for kids book that focuses on family fun boredom busters.

HELPING KIDS MOVE AND GETTING KIDS OFF SCREENS THROUGH FUN ANIMAL PLAY

✓ Do you want to make physical activity for kids fun?

✓ Are you looking for ways to help your children develop strength, coordination and balance?

✓ Do your children love learning about animals?

✓ Are you worried about too much TV and screen time?

✓ Do you want to teach young children about the importance of physical activity?

✓ Would you like easy and fun fitness games to include in your day?

My First Animal Moves is your answer. Play along together, keeping everyone healthier and happier, promoting physical, mental and emotional well-being. You’ll all release more mood-enhancing hormones as a result, which help you feel good every day.

It’s written by professional movement coach and award-winning author Darryl Edwards who is best known for his groundbreaking TED Talk “Why working out isn’t working out“, viewed over a million times worldwide. My First Animal Moves distils the ideas in his bestselling Animal Moves book and Animal Moves Fitness Decks into a colourful picture book for children.

A Children’s Book to Encourage Kids and Their Guardians to Move More, Sit Less and Decrease Screen Time.

This unique story takes a different stance to many popular titles in this arena, with a fun activity that encourages children’s active play while aiming to get families moving and reading together. It takes the humour and colour in kids’ yoga books such as Breathe Like a Bear by Kira Willey, Yoga Bug by Sarah Jane Hinder, and You Are a Lion by TaeeunYoo to a whole new energy level with active play for the entire family.

Get My First Animal Moves to help your family thrive through movement today.

My Review of My First Animal Moves

Nathan prefers to stay inside playing video games.

At last! I’ve been waiting for a children’s book to arrive that features a child of colour so prominently rather than as a secondary character or as an illustration in the background. Here Nathan is at the forefront and it’s just delightful to see.

My First Animal Moves is a super children’s book. Certainly it tackles the modern issue of children being addicted to screens, but Darryl Edwards does it so effectively. He weaves in activity so cleverly that any child reading this book or having it shared with them will want to emulate the activities meaning that My First Animal Moves encourages a healthy lifestyle without preaching.

I loved the fact that activity comes through reference to a range of animals so that young children can learn about the environment and the animal kingdom whilst becoming more active within their own lives. There’s a lovely touch of humour with Lola too making for a fun read.

Alongside the written content, the illustrations are glorious, showing children the moves they need to make to be like the animals.

Simple in concept but packed with practical content, My First Animal Moves is a simply smashing book for children – and the adults in their lives. I think the book has value not just in the home, but in the full range of educational settings too. It’s great.

Giveaway

Win a Signed Copy of My First Animal Moves plus an Animal Moves Fitness Deck for juniors (UK Only)

(Please note this giveaway is run independently of Linda’s Book Bag)

Please enter using the Rafflecopter link here.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

About Darryl Edwards

Darryl Edwards is a Movement Coach, author of the best-selling books “Animal Moves” and “My First Animal Moves”, and a thought leader in the area of creativity and innovation in fitness and health.

Darryl developed the Primal Play Method™ to inspire others to make physical activity fun while getting healthier and more robust in the process.

You’ll find Darryl on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @fitnessexplorer.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

How wonderful to have a book about the environment that actually supports a place looking after seals. Some of the profits from copies of the children’s book Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure will go towards Cornish Seal Sanctuary. I’ve been to the Gweek site on numerous occasions (even losing a gold and diamond bracelet there) so I’m delighted to share my review of Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure today. My enormous thanks to Nick Jones at Full Media for sending me a copy in return for an honest review.

Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from Full Media here.

Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure

“My bus takes off with a sonic boom, straight through the wall and out of my room…”

Finn and Fred Octopus are off on a magical adventure to the Arctic. They meet a kindly seal, a hungry polar bear and an angry walrus. The whales sing to Finn, and Finn arrives home with an important message to share…

In association with the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Jocelyn Porter’s latest picture book is beautifully illustrated by the super-gifted artist Leo Brown, who has worked with everyone from Roald Dahl to Disney.

Aimed at children aged 3-8, this action-packed rhyming adventure will gently educate your child about protecting the oceans while entertaining them with terrific sea creatures – from seals and polar bears to narwhals and whales!

My Review of Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure

Finn has a magic suitcase under his bed.

As with all the Full Media children’s books I’ve reviewed, Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure has such a luxurious appearance with wonderful illustrations by Leo Brown that really bring the story to life. There’s so much to look at on every page that Finn and Fred will provide entertainment far beyond merely reading the story. I think the facial expressions on Finn and the animals are perfect for helping children to learn emotional literacy.

What works so well with Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure is the Arctic setting. So many young children will have little idea of the area or the creatures living in it and this story brings them into contact with land and sea creatures like polar bears and narwhals and with natural phenomena like the Northern Lights. I could envisage Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure being used in an educational setting every bit as as much as in the home, with all kinds of projects related to geography, nature and the environment linked to the book.

I loved the rhyme scheme as it supports language learning and literacy, as does the inclusion of more challenging vocabulary such as ‘atrocious’ so that reading Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure naturally enhances a child’s learning whilst they are enjoying an engaging narrative. It’s always pleasing to see direct speech so effectively used too as this helps model what is expected in children’s writing. I’d love to see Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure used for drama or a school play.

There’s peril in Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure that helps generate an understanding of how we impact on the natural world. Finn and Fred’s bus accidentally causes damage to the walrus and the pair find themselves under threat from the ravenous polar bear, but it is the lament of the whales that really brings home how children can help protect the seas. I think Finn’s actions at school are a brilliant example and actually empower even the youngest of children to realise they can make a contribution to saving the oceans. That said, the environmental message isn’t sanctimonious, but rather provides small practical ideas that can easily be adopted.

Packed with adventure and excitement that children will love, Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure has a powerful environmental message that couldn’t be more needed. I thought Finn and Fred’s Arctic Adventure was excellent.

About Jocelyn Porter

Jocelyn’s writing career began when she was asked to write a story for a preschool magazine. That story was the first of many. Jocelyn became the writer/editor of several preschool magazines and continued in that role for 15 years. Writing one new story every month, plus rhymes and activities was a tough gig, but very exhilarating.

Time is the big difference between writing for a magazine and writing a book.  You see your work on the supermarket shelves within a few weeks of completion. A book takes longer – a lot longer. Jocelyn has to be patient now – not something she’s good at.

Before becoming a writer, Jocelyn work in higher education as International Students Officer. It was a rewarding and interesting job even though she was on call 24/7.

Jocelyn also trained as a counsellor and volunteered at drop-in centers. She never knew who would arrive for counselling and had to be prepared for anything. This work gave her insight into some of the darker corners of life.

Motor sport was one of Jocelyn’s early loves, she had spine tingling thrill of taking part in a 24-hour national rally as navigator – those were the days when rallies were held on public roads!

Jocelyn work as an au pair in Paris in her teens. Having visited the city on a school trip, she fell in love with it, and always wanted to return.

You can find Jocelyn on Facebook.

It’s a real pleasure to feature Jennie Ensor on Linda’s Book Bag for the Silenced blog tour. I’d like to thank both Jennie and Rebecca Collins at Hobeck for inviting me to participate. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Previously Jennie stayed in with me here to chat about Not Having It All and provided a brilliant guest post about Blind Side that you’ll find here. I have also reviewed another of Jennie’s books, The Girl in His Eyes here.

Published tomorrow, 7th December 2021, Silenced is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from Hobeck here.

Silenced

A teenage girl is murdered on her way home from school, stabbed through the heart. Her North London community is shocked, but no-one has the courage to help the police, not even her mother. DI Callum Waverley, in his first job as senior investigating officer, tries to break through the code of silence that shrouds the case.

This is a world where the notorious Skull Crew rules through fear. Everyone knows you keep your mouth shut or you’ll be silenced – permanently.

This is Luke’s world. Reeling from the loss of his mother to cancer, his step-father distant at best, violent at worst, he slides into the Skull Crew’s grip.

This is Jez’s world too. Her alcoholic mother neither knows nor cares that her 16-year-old daughter is being exploited by V, all-powerful leader of the gang.

Luke and Jez form a bond. Can Callum win their trust, or will his own demons sabotage his investigation? And can anyone stop the Skull Crew ensuring all witnesses are silenced?

Silenced is the compelling and gritty new thriller by British author Jennie Ensor. A gripping story of love, fear and betrayal, it’s Romeo and Juliet for our troubled times.

My Review of Silenced

A young girl’s murder has consequences across the community.

What a totally cracking story. I was gripped by Silenced from start to finish because it’s exciting, written with compassion and authority, and brilliantly entertaining too. Silenced has so many layers that it can be read on several levels, giving it a fascinating depth – so much so that I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it. The quality of Jennie Ensor’s writing is so smooth and effective that she manages to permeate the reader’s mind, making them look afresh at the world and question their assumptions about others. I think it’s the natural dialogue that helps makes it so impactful as it is as if the reader is eavesdropping the conversations of real people. Add in the first person narratives that feel as if the characters are speaking directly to the reader, and Silenced really is a powerful, potent and important novel.

Firstly Silenced is a convincing police procedural narrative that completely hooks the reader from the beginning. A fast pace for the procedural element is created by timed or dated entries, short engaging chapters and an underlying sense of menace. Several times I found my heart thumping with tension as I read. I thought Callum was a wonderful character and the way in which his past resonates through his present life makes him all the more convincing. As his character is gradually built and revealed, he becomes increasingly vivid and appealing. Through Callum, Jennie Ensor illustrates the impact of crime on those investigating it with stark clarity.

I was mesmerised and horrified in equal measure by the gangland culture element of Silenced. Here I was presented with a world so far removed from my own that it should feel alien, but Jennie Ensor writes with such authority that I found myself plunged into a world of crime that felt all too real and scary. I was terrified of V, Zom et al, because I believed in them completely.

However, the element of the narrative that I found so compelling, so affecting and so thought-provoking was the exploration of society, of morality, of truth, and of how easy it is for youngsters like Luke and Jez to be sucked into a lifestyle they cannot escape. My heart ached for these two young people even when their actions should have made me abhor them. Jennie Ensor presents the real world with empathy, sensitivity and intense psychological insight. Having read Silenced I feel as if I understand the world better.

The themes of memory, truth, family, loyalty, violence, guilt and justice weaving through Silenced are presented with such dexterity that it is impossible to believe this is a work of fiction.

Silenced it a fantastic book. It’s exciting, enthralling, completely believable and an absolute triumph.

About Jennie Ensor

A Londoner with Irish heritage, Jennie Ensor began her writing career as a journalist, obtaining a Masters in Journalism (winning two awards) and covering topics from forced marriage to accidents in the mining industry. She isn’t afraid to tackle controversial issues in her novels, either: Islamic terrorism, Russian gangsters and war crimes in her debut Blind Side (a psychological mystery blended with a love story), domestic abuse and sexual exploitation in her second, The Girl In His Eyes.

Her third novel Not Having It All , a relationship comedy, is an excursion to the brighter side of life. A new edition was published in January 2021.

Ms Ensor’s poetry has appeared in many publications including Poetry Salzburg Review, Ink Sweat and Tears. Her poem Lost Connection placed second in the Breakout Prose category of the Fish Lockdown Prize in 2020.

In her spare time(?) she reads, walks and attempts twice-weekly yoga. She regularly cycles the punishing hills of north London and at the end of the day enjoys collapsing with a bar of chocolate/glass of strong alcohol in front of a TV crime drama.

You can find out more by following Jennie on Twitter @Jennie_Ensor, finding her on Facebook or Instagram and visiting her website.

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Now, I don’t watch much television and recently suffered terrible FOMO when Bridgerton was on as I don’t have Netflix and couldn’t see it. When Sophie Morgan told me about Daisy Chapman’s debut book and how it might help fill that gap I felt, I simply had to invite Daisy on to Linda’s Book Bag to stay in with me and tell me more.

Staying in with Daisy Chapman

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

Thank you for having me Linda.

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 debut novel Mary and the Duke which is a Regency romance that I’m excited to share with the world and it is available from the 28^th of November.

How exciting to have your debut published. Congratulations Daisy. 

What can we expect from an evening in with Mary and the Duke?

Well to start off with the heroine of my story Mary Barker isn’t like any other young woman from the regency period as she has no interest in balls or finding a husband. She’s a very knowledgeable young woman as her father didn’t stop her from studying. But when it comes to men and the world, she’s completely clueless. Mary has a way of telling it how she sees it and she tends to jump in head first and not think things through which sometimes lands her in trouble. But when she spends more time with the Duke she ends up learning more about herself and the world around her and that there is more to the man than meets the eye.

You have made her sound very modern and appealing Daisy. I have a feeling I’d like to meet Mary!

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

I have brought along a copy of Clementi Sonatinas and Sonatas for piano which my character Mary Barker would have certainly had a copy of as she is a truly talented pianist and it would have been her most prized possession and Mary would have most likely have spent most of her days practising the pieces of music at her piano.

Ah, that’s a skill I’d have loved to have.

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

Mary and the Duke

It’s the height of the regency period, and the season is in full swing…

Miss Mary Barker is one of two daughters in a fine family of seven that remains unmarried; Mrs Barker expects both to marry by the end of the season, but Mary has other ideas. She would much rather remain independent like a man and has no need of a husband.

‘Captain’ Dylan Cravendish, handsome and charming, hears his uncle’s final wishes in Bristol: for him to become Duke Cravendish of Cattleton.

When Duke Cravendish quite literally falls over Miss Mary Barker when attending his first ball in Cattleton, she’s the only one not bowled over by his charms and wastes no time on telling the Duke her opinion of him.

But as the two continue to cross paths in Cattleton and Bath, steadily getting to know each other, can Mary find a way to see past the pirate to the man underneath? Or will she allow his past to ruin their possible future?

Published on 28th November 2021, Mary and the Duke is available for purchase in all the usual places like Waterstones, and Blackwells and including directly from the publisher here.

About Daisy Chapman

Daisy Chapman grew up in the countryside in Lincolnshire but she currently works in the hospitality industry in a hotel in Northampton. During her free time Daisy enjoys baking and watching romantic movies.

My grateful thanks to Grace Pilkington for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for A Sin of Omission by Marguerite Poland. I’m delighted to close the tour with my review of A Sin of Omission today.

Published in the UK by Envelope on 18th November 2021, A Sin of Omission is available for purchase through the links here.

A Sin of Omission

Torn from his parents as a small child in the 1870s, Stephen Mzamane is picked by the Anglican church to train at the Missionary College in Canterbury and then returned to southern Africa’s Cape Colony to be a preacher.

He is a brilliant success, but troubles stalk him: his unresolved relationship with his family and people, the condescension of church leaders towards their own native pastors, and That Woman-seen once in a photograph and never forgotten.

And now he has to find his mother and take her a message that will break her heart.

In this raw and compelling story, Marguerite Poland employs her considerable experience as a writer and specialist in South African languages to recreate the polarised, duplicitous world of Victorian colonialism and its betrayal of the very people it claimed to be enlightening.

My Review of A Sin of Omission

Stephen Mzamane’s life isn’t quite what he’d hoped.

A Sin of Omission is, quite simply, a remarkable book. I’m not sure that I enjoyed reading it, because, despite its historical setting it felt too raw, only too familiar in a world supposedly now more enlightened, and so emotionally charged that it was a book that consumed and affected me as much as it entertained.

Inspired by a real-life person, Marguerite Poland’s depth of research, the beauty and variety of her writing, and her complete understanding of the human condition so sensitively portrayed here is amazing. A Sin of Omission is a feast for the senses and the writing is intense. I found the smatterings of local language added both to the authenticity of the narrative and the sense of place as well as to my feeling of otherness so that I experienced some of Stephen’s emotions with him.

Stephen is a complex character who touches the reader entirely. A man more sinned against than sinning he is not himself blameless so that he feels fully rounded and realistic.

Beautiful, affecting and assiduously researched writing aside, with powerfully depicted characters, A Sin of Omission is so impactful because of the themes Marguerite Poland explores. Our identity, race, sense of belonging and isolation, duty and belief, selfishness and generosity, all layer the textures of the narrative

I found A Sin of Omission a difficult book to read. It caused me to rage at the establishment of the late 1800s, to realise we are not so far advanced now as we might like to believe, and to grieve for a man displaced by his own existence; by his own sins of omission as well as those of others.  A Sin of Omission is a book I won’t forget in a hurry.

About Marguerite Poland

Marguerite Poland (born 1950 in Johannesburg and brought up in the Eastern Cape) is a celebrated South African writer of books for adults and children. She studied Social Anthropology and Xhosa, took a master’s in Zulu literature and folktales, and was awarded a doctorate for her study of the cattle of the Zulus. Two of her books won South Africa’s Percy FitzPatrick Award. The Train to Doringbult was short listed for the CNA Awards. Shades has been a matriculation set text for over ten years. The Keeper received the 2015 Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award as the title South African booksellers most enjoyed reading, selling and promoting the previous year. Translated into several languages but still largely unknown in the UK, the author won South Africa’s highest civic award in 2016 for her contribution to the field of indigenous languages, literature and anthropology.

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