This is the first Adele Parks book that I have read; her work has always seemed a bit too 'chick lit' for me and I was never attracted. Headline very kindly sent me a review copy of The State We're In, and there's a lot of buzz around it, so I thought it was worth… Continue reading Review: The State We’re In by Adele Parks
Category: Fiction
Kipling and Trix by Mary Hamer (2012)
The premise for this novel is simple - that the story of Rudyard Kipling's sister Trix is fascinating. Who even knew he had a sister, the blurb exclaims. Author Mary Hamer wrote a blog post for me about why she chose to write about Trix (read it here) and I loved the idea of exploring… Continue reading Kipling and Trix by Mary Hamer (2012)
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Bone Ash Sky by Katerina Cosgrove
Like most people I hear about the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East on the news, and see them in the paper, and people's comments all over the internet. But am I really engaged with it? To be honest I never have been, as I have no personal connection to the Middle East and have… Continue reading Bone Ash Sky by Katerina Cosgrove
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Leave of Absence by Tanya J. Peterson
This review is part of the blog tour for Tanya J. Peterson's new novel Leave of Absence, published in April this year by Inkwater Press. When Leave of Absence was offered to me by Inkwater Press, it immediately appealed to me because of the subject matter. Author Tanya J. Peterson is a qualified counsellor and chose… Continue reading Leave of Absence by Tanya J. Peterson
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The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
1930s America. 15 year old Thea Atwell is 'sent away' from her home in Florida to The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, hidden in the North Carolina mountains. Her father drives her, though it is a long journey, as '[her] parents did not trust [her] enough to let [her] ride the train alone.' We soon… Continue reading The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
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Laura Lamont’s Life In Pictures by Emma Straub
What attracts people to fame? Narcissism? Feelings of inadequacy? A need to be loved? For Laura Lamont, it's all these things; but it wasn't always. Laura Lamont the movie star begins life as Elsa Emerson, a young girl growing up in Door County, Wisconsin, in the 1920s and 30s. Her parents run a theatre in… Continue reading Laura Lamont’s Life In Pictures by Emma Straub
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Midnight in St. Petersburg by Vanora Bennett
At university I signed up for a course called Demonic Literature, and started doing some of the reading in the summer holidays. When term began, we were told the course had been cancelled - cue mass anger from English Lit students (i.e. ineffectual grumbling). I had already read and annotated over half of Dostoyevsky's Demons for… Continue reading Midnight in St. Petersburg by Vanora Bennett
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The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain
The President's Hat is a charming little novel that really cheered me up on a dreary afternoon, and I am glad Gallic Books sent it to me. Set in 1986, the novel tells the story of a hat that belongs to French President Francois Mitterand; Daniel is sitting in a Paris bistro when the President… Continue reading The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain
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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
After last week's Maggie-fest, I went home, picked up my copy of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and read it in two days. It's not very long, and my copy has quite wide set print, but I read it so quickly mostly because it was compulsive. It is, simply, an amazing book. Examined once… Continue reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
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Published Today: A Treacherous Likeness by Lynn Shepherd
A Treacherous Likeness by Lynn Shepherd is a historical novel, but it is also a mystery, a thriller, a crime novel - there is so much inside its pages. It picks up where Shepherd's previous novel Tom-All-Alone's left off, with Victorian detective Charles Maddox finding a card left for him bearing the name 'Shelley' -… Continue reading Published Today: A Treacherous Likeness by Lynn Shepherd
These Little Words 