The three Cadogan children, Jessica, Kirsty and Patrick, haven’t spoken to each other for three years. An argument after their mother’s death was the latest excuse to blame one another for their family’s troubles in a long, unhappy series that’s lasted almost a decade.
When their father, Gerry, dies they are given instructions as to where he wants his ashes to be scattered. But first they must together drive his old camper van up the country to the Scottish Isle of Islay. For the journey, he’s given them his old fishing tackle box containing three photo albums through which they can explore their past, and a bottle of single malt whisky he had been saving for the 70th birthday he never reached.
Along the way, they’ll be forced to confront the most painful moments in their shared history, lay to rest a ghost who’s haunted them for years – and maybe even become a family again

Published April 2020 by Orion Books

Despite the (frankly gorgeous) cover, The Way Back is a darker book than I initially imagined. It begins with Gerry writing his last request to his children, and then alternates between each of them as they set off reluctantly to fulfill his wish

And boy, does this family have problems. Simmering problems that have festered over the years. Jamie Fewery really does capture the resentment eating this family up perfectly. Jessica in particular stands out and in the company of her siblings the front she puts on in her ‘perfect’ life slips revealing bitterness that is ugly but incredibly authentic

As the family set off on their journey, we’re given flashbacks to the past. I ended up feeling really sorry for Gerry, he seemed a lovely and decent man while his children behaved atrociously. Of course, throwing the three bickering siblings together in a camper van provided plenty of humour and emotion – this book made me laugh a few times, but also brought a tear to my eye on a couple of occasions!

I really enjoyed this book, reading it in a couple of sessions while enjoying the sun in the garden. Tackling subjects of sibling rivalry, PTSD, homelessness, and bereavement in an honest and touching way, yet littered with humour and hope. Well worth a read!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a gifted copy

The summer burns with secrets…
It is too hot to sleep. To work. To be questioned time and again by the police.
At the beginning of a stifling, sultry summer, everything shifts irrevocably when Lily doesn’t come home one afternoon

Rachel is Lily’s teacher. Her daughter Mia is Lily’s best friend. The girls are fifteen – almost women, still children. As Rachel becomes increasingly fixated on Lily’s absence, she finds herself breaking fragile trusts and confronting impossible choices she never thought she’d face.It wasn’t supposed to happen like this

Published 28th May 2020 by @headlinebooks

I started this book expecting a bit of a thriller, but this wasn’t what it was at all. It isn’t really about solving the disappearence of Rachel’s daughter’s friend Lily, but more a study of Rachel herself and her relationship with her teen daughter

Told in an almost stream of consciousness from Rachel, we hear her innermost thoughts, and boy is she flawed. She’s selfish, weak and incredibly vain. She lacks personal insight, and it’s her daughter who sees her as she is and challenges her. Their relationship is fraught, with Rachel often seeking validation from her daughter. As the mother of a daughter the same age, the authors depictition of teens certainly felt authentic at times, but I was completely unable to relate to Rachel

Nonetheless, I was compelled to keep reading. I loved the intensity of the writing and the discomfort from some pretty shocking turns. I enjoy a book with challenging and flawed characters, and Rachel was certainly that. I might not be able to relate to her, but I could still imagine her vividly, feeling her panic and desperation as the truth is revealed and she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions

It’s taken me a few days to put in order how I felt about this book. It’s so very complex and different to what I was expecting. The writing is exquisite, the characters difficult and the subject uncomfortable. It’s a book that will make you ask questions, reveals flaws and tackles the darker side of the mother/daughter relationship

I read a proof copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine program

A cache of unsent love letters from the 1950s is found in a suitcase on a remote island in this mysterious love story by top ten bestselling author, Kayte Nunn

1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon becomes her refuge.

2018. Free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker embarks on a research posting in the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast. When a violent storm forces her to take shelter on a far-flung island, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel determines to track down the intended recipient.

Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.

Published August 2019 by Orion Books

A secret love affair, a dual timeframe and an incredible setting – this book ticked all my boxes!

When Rachel is marooned on an island off Cornwall, she discovers the most romantic unsent love letters dating back seventy years. Determined that the intended recipient should finally receive them, she tracks down the impressive Esther and her Grandaughter Eve. But the letters reveal a hidden past and family secret…

I say this over and over, but I absolutely adore dual timeframes, and Kayte Nunn gets it perfect in this gorgeous book. She mingles past and present beautifully and I enjoyed both timeframes equally

Told from the perspective of three strong women, themes of independence, self belief and autonomy ripple across the decades. In fact, although she doesn’t have her own narrative, a fourth woman, Leah, cements the theme. But the women are also linked by their realisation that reaching out to others can also make them stronger

The prose is atmospheric and the setting beautifully imagined. I loved the romance in this story, it’s full of heartache and missed chances. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a charming book from beginning to end, it’s one to get completely swept away in and I adored every page

Thank you @orionbooks for the #gifted copy

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end

Published April 2020 by Avon Books

This is a really late post I’m sorry. I read Strangers a couple of weeks back and this should’ve been posted on 4th but for some reason I thought the 4th May I’ve only just realised while sitting here typing reviews and a bit of book organising that I’d missed it

Anyway, I’m fairly certain that C L Taylor needs little introduction. Undoubtedly queen of the psychological thriller, year after year readers are not let down Strangers is no different!

In this book, three seemingly unconnected strangers are brought together in a terrifying twist. Alice is just re-entering the dating scene after a divorce when she starts receiving anonymous messages warning her off. Gareth’s caring for his alzheimer’s suffering Mum, but a ghost from the past is making him doubt his own mind. Ursula thinks she’s hit lucky with her new flatshare, but just what is her landlord hiding behind the locked door?

Fast, gritty and slick – Strangers is another edge of your seat thriller. With Taylor’s trademark ability to create believable characters with raw human flaws and emotions, I found myself entangled in the lives of these three characters. As well as being tense and gripping, there’s some real heartbreaking moments too. Thoroughly recommended

“Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.”
New York, 1940. Young, glamorous and inseparable, Vivian and Celia are chasing trouble from one end of the city to the other. But there is risk in all this play – that’s what makes it so fun, and so dangerous. Sometimes, the world may feel like it’s ending, but for Vivian and Celia, life is just beginning.

City of Girls is about daring to break conventions and follow your desires: a celebration of glamour, resilience, growing up, and the joys of female friendship – and about the freedom that comes from finding a place you truly belong.

Published by Bloomsbury UK April 7th 2020 (PB)

Oh MY. This book was EVERYTHING. You know when you get that perfect book for the perfect moment? City of Girls was THAT book. Transporting me from the worry and concern of the moment right to the very heart of 1940’s New York

This is the epic story of Vivian, a naive young woman from a good family, thrust into the glamour and flamboyance of the New York theatre scene in its heyday and her life as a revolutionary, independent woman who learns to accept herself for who she is

It’s told in a conversational tone as Vivian, now an elderly lady, tells her story in a letter. I adored the way it’s written. I was captivated by the confessional and chatty style which feels as if she is talking directly to you. It’s fascinating and exciting, I never wanted to stop reading

Both New York itself and the era are vividly brought to life – with fashions described in breathtaking detail and characters brought to life in such a way they leap from the page. It’s incredibly fun and racy, but poignant and touching too.

Vivian will stay with me for a long time to come, and City of Girls has earned a place on my favourite ever shelf. I LOVED it so much and would recommend it over and over

Thank you @tandemcollectiveuk for inviting me to participate in this wonderful #readalong

Drawing on Maggie O’Farrell’s long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play, HAMNET is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

Published March 2020 by Tinder Press

It’s taken me a few days to compose my review of this stunning book and even now I’m certain I won’t be able to do it justice. This book is STUNNING

Telling the fictional story of the little known wife of Shakespeare, Agnes (Anne) Hathaway, it gives voice to the voiceless from a time where women were erased from history books in favour of men

I adored Agnes – ethereal, wise, spiritual and courageous. Her spirit shone though the pages as vividly as the rich and evocative descriptions of sixteenth century England. It’s harrowing at times, with themes of loss and grief and a coincidental parallel to the difficulties we currently face today. But it’s also inspiring and I adored every moment

My knowledge of Shakespeare is hazy at best, so if that’s you too don’t be put off. O’Farrell chooses not even to name him, making this uniquely Agnes’s story. Fans of The Familiars, The Doll Factory and The Binding are sure to find their next historical fiction fix here and love Hamnet as much as I did. It really is historical fiction at it’s very best

Thanks to the wonderful @tandemcollectiveuk for inviting me to be part of the fantastic #Hamnetreadalong

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

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

Published March 3rd 2020 by Faber Books  

I talk often about my relationship with my Grandmother and how she instilled a love of books in me. She adored crime, Murder and Mystery and if she was here today this is absolutely a book I’d be pressing into her hands. I know she’d love it!

While I have to admit to not reading an awful lot of classic crime, I know enough to have got this book, and I definitely think that fans of the genre would really enjoy it. With reference to all the big classics, it has all the ingredients of an old fashioned who done it.

I loved how the eight classic murder mysteries formed the basis for this book, it was such a unique story and has definitely inspired me to pick some of them up. I thought the many twists and turns were very clever, and I was kept constantly on my toes.

Rules For Perfect Murders is a gripping, fast paced read which I really, really enjoyed. It’s clever, twisty and despite me not being familiar with the classic murder mysteries featured, I got it. I loved the tension, the characters, the clever twists and yes, the sense of nostalgia even, which it evoked. Thoroughly entertaining and well worth a read.

Thanks to the publisher my my gifted copy

The river can take you home. But the river can also drag you under…

‘It’s something she learned years ago – the hard way – and that she knows she will never forget: even the sweetest fruit will fall and rot into the earth, eventually. No matter how deep you bury the pain, the bones of it will rise up to haunt you … like the echoes of a summer’s night, like the river flowing relentlessly on its course.’

Margot Sorrell didn’t want to go home. She had spent all her adult life trying not to look behind. But a text from her sister Lucy brought her back to Somerset. ‘I need you.’

As Margot, Lucy and their eldest sister, Eve, reunite in the house they grew up in beside the river, the secrets they keep from each other, and from themselves, refuse to stay hidden. A wedding brings them together but long-simmering resentments threaten to tear the family apart. No one could imagine the way this gathering would change them all forever. And through the sorrow they are forced to confront, there is a chance that healing will also come. But only if the truth is told. 

Published 19th March 2019 by Orion (UK)

~ Review ~ 

As soon as I heard about The River Home, I wanted to read it. I’d read Secrets Of The Tides by Hannah Richell a few years ago and really enjoyed it, and stories that involve a large family home and dark secrets are absolutely my thing. I was most definitely in!

The River Home delivers on all counts for me. It’s got that wonderful, quintessentially English country home, a cast of interesting characters and a series of dark, deeply hidden secrets bubbling beneath the surface and ready to explode.

Hannah Richell’s writing is captivating and compelling. Very early on I was transported into this novel and the pages turned effortlessly. The three sisters, Eve, Lucy and Margot have distinct and individual personalities which made them very easy to relate to and become invested in, while their larger than life mother, Kit brims with eccentricity.

The book switches between the present, where Lucy is getting married in incredible haste and bringing the estranged family back together for the first time in years, and the past which reveals the events that lead to the fractures between them. I wasn’t expecting the turn it took, and felt incredibly moved at times by this story.

I flew through this book, finding large chunks of time passed easily while I was absorbed in this emotional and moving story. It’s a complex story of the betrayals and miscommunication that can tear a family apart, with the inspiring message that it’s never too late to put the pieces back together.

Many thanks to the publisher for my gifted copy

Three extraordinary lives intertwine across oceans and centuries.

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a heartbroken young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toymaker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada, where a journalist battling a terrible disease, drowning in her own lungs, risks everything for one last chance to live.

Moving effortlessly across time and space and taking inspiration from an incredible true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about love, loss, and the immeasurable impact of every human life.

Published 19th March 2020 by Doubleday/Transworld UK

Coming Up For Air is a book that I hadn’t heard of until just over a week ago. I’m surprised, because after reading it I genuinely think it’s a book that deserves more attention and needs shouting about more. I know some of my fellow book pals would adore it too.

Telling three different stories in three different time frames, they appear at first unconnected although water and drowning soon become an apparent theme. In 1899 Paris, an unknown and unidentified young woman – L’Inconnue – is pulled lifeless from the Seine. In 1950’s Norway, a grieving toy maker is on the verge of a lifesaving invention and in the present day Canada, forty year old Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, Anouk, awaits a life changing lung transplant.

I adored this book, the writing is lyrical and richly descriptive – particularly L’inconnue’s story which was my favourite. The individual stories are told in alternating chapters, and despite the apparent lack of connection, each one was easy enough to fall back into and there was no disjointedness to the book at all.

It’s towards the end where the connection is revealed and it both took me by surprise and moved me intensely. With some fact woven into the fictitious story, it was a revelation and incredibly interesting. I genuinely don’t think I will do a certain aspect of my jobs training again without thinking of this book. I often say that a book will stay with me, but this one absolutely will.

I feel I’ve had to be vague, because I really don’t want to ruin the book for anyone who reads it. I would urge anyone who enjoys entangled timelines, moving and poetic writing with a literary feel that will both engage, challenge and move you, to give this book a go. A unique, fascinating story – I recommend it highly

Thanks to the publisher for my gifted copy

Where do you see yourself in five years?

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

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

It was just a dream, she tells herself when she wakes, but it felt so real… Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.
That is, until four and a half years later, when Dannie turns down a street and there, standing on the corner, is the man from her dream…

In Five Years is a love story, brimming with joy and heartbreak. But it is definitely not the love story you’re expecting.

Published March 10th 2020 by Quercus

~ Review ~

This is one of those books that I’d seen everywhere. It was making waves across book twitter and bookstagram and everyone was raving about it. Yes, I was completely sucked in by the hype and FOMO, desperately trying to get my hands on a copy by entering every competition going but it wasn’t until it popped up on Amazon Vine a couple of weeks ago that I finally got my mitts on it.

* The hype was 100% Justified *

I started this book almost immediately, and within seconds was completely and utterly captivated. Rebecca Serle’s writing is just stunning and with a magical little twist early on, where main protagonist Dannie catches a brief glimpse of a surprising future, I was caught – Hook, Line and sinker – and devoured this story in two wonderful sittings.

In Five Years is exactly the type of love story I adore. It’s smart, surprising, tender, emotional, flawed and raw. I thought I had this book weighed up right from the start. Nope. While it might not have been the love story I expected, I utterly adored it and my heart both soared and shattered in tiny pieces through the duration of this book. Dannie is written with such clarity that, despite being the very antithesis of myself, I understood her wholeheartedly.

Love isn’t all hearts and rainbows, and isn’t always about the epic romance – and In Five Years reflects this beautifully. I know in five years, I’ll still remember this book and feel gratitude. Because that’s what this book is ultimately all about. Being grateful for the people who love you and living every moment.

I read a free proof copy courtesy of the publisher & the Amazon Vine program