Category: Historical fiction
+ 1950s, family, feminism, fiction, grief, Historical fiction, lies, literature, London, loss, love, marriage, mental health, mental illness, motherhood, music, obsession, psychiatrist, relationships, review, secrets, sisters, therapy, twins
The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 4 by Sophia Lambton
Curiosity can be a killer. The clock begins to tick on Anneliese’s moral compass as the sleuth-psychiatrist delves deeper into London’s social dregs – encountering a playbook too subversive for her tastes. While Isabel belittles the idea of jealousy Charles Anthony views his obsession as a Jezebel. Susanna’s (other) indiscretions are hard-pressed to rest in peace as torments old and new distort her life. … Read More The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 4 by Sophia Lambton
+ 1940s, childhood, fairies, fiction, Historical fiction, Ireland, Italy, List, Magical realism, nazi germany, review, USA, whimsical, WW2
My Top 6 Books of 2024
As we slip quietly into 2025 it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of 2024. It’s six this time, four of which are audio books. It’s always hard. There were instant standouts again. I have tried to include a mix of genres but failed yet again. I read a lot of crime fiction, which occasionally make my quarterly selections, but my Top books of … Read More My Top 6 Books of 2024
+ 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, cosy mystery, crime fiction, dark humour, Historical fiction, humour fiction, List, murder mystery, psychiatric hospital, Sci-Fi, superstition, thriller, time travel
My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Four
Here are my favourite ten books of 2024 Part Four, not counting audio books. Quite a disparate selection for a change. The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley I had no idea what to expect when I started reading The Portrait Girl. What we know is that Freya’s mother has just died and Freya needs to clear out her cottage and then decide whether to sell it, … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Four
My 4 Favourite Audiobooks of 2024 – Part Four
Here are my favourite audio books of the year Part Four. There’s always a Gothic mystery in there. Plus Chris Whitaker makes a second appearance of the year. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton I signed up for this as an audio book on Borrowbox. It’s 20 hours long – which is huge – I can see it’s six hours and 48 mins as … Read More My 4 Favourite Audiobooks of 2024 – Part Four
+ audio book, childhood, fiction, gothic, Historical fiction, kidnapping, review, supernatural, superstition, Victorian Britain
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
Bridie Devine, female detective extraordinaire, is confronted with the most baffling puzzle yet: the kidnapping of Christabel Berwick, secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, and a peculiar child whose reputed supernatural powers have captured the unwanted attention of collectors trading curiosities in this age of discovery. Winding her way through the labyrinthine, sooty streets of Victorian London, Bridie won’t rest until she finds … Read More Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
From the author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran. In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless … Read More The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
+ Catholic Church, female friendship, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, history, loss, love, review, secrets
Broken Madonna by Anna Lucia
Elena Ferrante meets Bernadette of Lourdes in a story of love, loss and belonging, spanning post WW2 Italy through to 90’s England Italy 1949At an orphanage in the poverty-stricken Apennine Mountains, 15-year-old Adelina has only one friend – enigmatic, fragile Elisabetta, 11. When Elisabetta claims to see the Madonna by the river, Adelina has doubts. But after Elisabetta appears to heal a traumatised young … Read More Broken Madonna by Anna Lucia
A Perilous Premiere by Gail Meath Stone & Steele Mysteries #1
Solving their own murders is the least of their problems…and the beginning of Stone & Steele, a reluctant yet surprisingly skilled investigative team. The Golden Age of Hollywood, 1938. Vivian Steele moved to California to start a new life. She opened a fashion boutique in Beverly Hills, befriended Carole Lombard, the actress, and married a successful banker. But when her husband is murdered, Vivian discovers … Read More A Perilous Premiere by Gail Meath Stone & Steele Mysteries #1
Anywhen by Beth Duke
Baezy is born in 2069, the centennial of the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Everything peace, love, and flower power is celebrated that year in a wave of nostalgia that takes over fashion, music, and the public’s imagination. She grows up listening to and loving the artists of that time, dreaming of witnessing everyone from Joan Baez to Santana in person. When presented … Read More Anywhen by Beth Duke
The House Of Fever by Polly Crosby
A gripping and Gothic new historical mystery. Can she unlock the secrets of The House of Fever? 1935, Hedoné House, a luxurious sanatorium for the creative elite dedicated to the groundbreaking treatment of tuberculosis. As the doctor’s new wife, Agnes Templeton has pledged her life to a house of fever. But Hedoné is no ordinary hospital. High society rubs shoulders with artists, poets and … Read More The House Of Fever by Polly Crosby
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton. Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already … Read More The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke blog tour
ESTELLA’S REVENGE IS OUT TODAY IN PAPERBACK Think you know Great Expectations? Think again Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave. She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing? #EstellasRevenge Twitter/X @BCopperthwait @canelo_co … Read More Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke blog tour
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