Category: loss
+ family, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, loss, love, motherhood, review, sisterhood, suffragette movement, war, World War One
The Dictionary Of Lost Words by Pip Williams
In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. … Read More The Dictionary Of Lost Words by Pip Williams
+ art, coming-of-age, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love, Magical realism, memory, psychiatric hospital, relationships, review, secrets, Thirties, whimsical, World War Two, WW2
Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
1938: Lady Vita Goldsborough lives in the shadow of her controlling older brother, Aubrey. Trapped and isolated on the East Anglian coast, Vita takes solace in watching the birds that fly over the marshes. But then she meets local artist Dodie Blakeney. The two women form a close bond, and Vita finally glimpses a chance to escape Aubrey’s grasp and be as free as … Read More Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
+ family, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, loneliness, loss, love, relationships, review
Preloved by Lauren Bravo
Gwen’s life has stalled. She’s in her mid-thirties, perpetually single, her friends are busy procreating in the country and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around herbaceous borders and the council’s wheelie-bin timetable. Above all she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone? When Gwen’s made redundant from a job she drifted into a decade ago and never left, she realises it’s time to … Read More Preloved by Lauren Bravo
+ alcoholism, dark humour, fiction, grief, loneliness, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, murder, obsession, review, serial killer
Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater
In this “utterly unforgettable” debut (Catherine Ryan Howard), a disaffected, true crime-obsessed bookseller develops a dangerous obsession with a colleague. Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favorite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where she’s worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks … Read More Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater
+ abuse, child abuse, crime fiction, family, fiction, friendship, kidnapping, loss, murder, police drama, police procedural, revenge, review, Scotland, serial killer
The First Cut (A Jane Renwick Thriller #1) by Val Penny
It’s hard to escape a brutal past. A vicious killer is on the loose. Victims targeted include an academic and members of Edinburgh’s high society. When the Murder Investigation Team find out that the killer is connected to her past, DS Jane Renwick is banished to the side-lines and forced to look on as the manhunt ramps up at a ferocious pace. #TheFirstCut @valeriepenny … Read More The First Cut (A Jane Renwick Thriller #1) by Val Penny
+ Ceylon, family, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, history, literature, loss, love, memory, racism, relationships, review, Sri Lanka
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Welcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure. Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights – a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful … Read More Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
+ abuse, adventure, alcoholism, autism, childhood, crime fiction, dark humour, family, feel-good, fiction, friendship, grief, lies, List, literature, loss, love, Malaya, marriage, mental health, motherhood, murder, obsession, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, secrets, superstition, thriller, writer
My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part One
Here are my favourite eight books of the first quarter of 2023. One of these will definitely make it into my top three books of 2023. While I read a lot of crime novels all these books are other genres, as a crime novel needs to be totally unique and exceptional to make it into my favourites. So Pretty by Ronnie Turner Part way through … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part One
+ art, celebrity, fiction, grief, jealousy, lies, literature, loss, love, marriage, relationships, review, thriller
The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
‘It was always hard to tell where our marriage ended and my work began. I often dream now that I am drifting in a dark sea, the water around me lukewarm, like blood.’ Novelist JB Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Patrick is older than JB, formerly her professor. He is a film director. A cult … Read More The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
+ child abduction, childhood, crime fiction, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, kidnapping, lies, loss, marriage, motherhood, obsession, Psychological fiction, review, secrets
The Silent Midwinter by Jamie-Lee Brooke
Kate processes the mail day in, day out at Standington Prison. With her home life turning stale, she spends her days obsessing over the correspondence between an inmate and his girlfriend. Who is sexy Anna West and what does she see in a cold-blooded killer? Kate also suspects her husband of having an affair. Harper, her stepdaughter, is full of teenage angst and resentment … Read More The Silent Midwinter by Jamie-Lee Brooke
+ family, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, Italy, literature, loss, love, murder, review, suffragette movement
Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys
An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or a nightmare? In a remote castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:The ailing gentleman art-dealerHis dazzling nieceHer handsome Fascist husbandTheir neglected young daughterThe housekeeper who knows everythingand Connie, the English widow working for them #MurderUnderTheTuscanSun #RachelRhys #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible … Read More Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys
+ dystopia, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, love, reading, review, writer
End Of Story by Louise Swanson
Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing. It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government. Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading … Read More End Of Story by Louise Swanson
+ crime fiction, fiction, grief, journalist, lies, loss, murder, police corruption, police drama, police procedural, review, secrets, thriller
Eleven Liars by Robert Gold (Ben Harper Book 2)
Journalist Ben Harper is on his way home when he sees the flames in the churchyard. The derelict community centre is on fire. And somebody is trapped inside. With Ben’s help the person escapes, only to flee the scene before they can be identified. Now the small town of Haddley is abuzz with rumours. Was this an accident, or arson? Then a skeleton is … Read More Eleven Liars by Robert Gold (Ben Harper Book 2)
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