+ austria, germany, jewish history, jews, review, Russia, secrets, spy story, World War Two, WW2
Parallel Lives by Maryam Diener
When Maryam Diener began to research Edith Tudor-Hart and Ursula Kuczynski, she noticed the many parallels running between their lives…
Edith Tudor-Hart was a Bauhaus-trained photographer, and Ursula Kuczynski a writer and polyglot. Both were immigrant dissidents fighting fascism throughout the turbulent 30s and 40s.
They never met, and yet communist agents, radical activists and devoted mothers both, their lives regularly crossed on the leafy streets of Hampstead and in the sophisticatedly bohemian world of the Isokon building – a haven for free-thinking émigrés and modernist marvel that promised a new way of living. Maryam Diener is masterful at the blending of fact and fiction.
In Parallel Lives she traces the haunting secrets, traumas and victories that bound these remarkable women.
My Review
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the lives of these two women, but I struggled to actually ‘admire’ them. They were, after all, spies for the Russians.
Edith Tudor-Hart’s photos are remarkable. She was undeniably a real talent. Ursula Kuczynski travelled to China, and while I understand that she was appalled by the living standards of the poor (I wonder what she would think now), she still left her two-year-old son with her in-laws, so she could train to be a spy in Moscow.
It’s easy for us to criticise, but the two women, being Jewish, (one German, one Austrian), were afraid of the rise of the right and fascism in Nazi Germany. I do understand – my Jewish mother fled Vienna in 1938. But my father, a Polish Catholic, was a prisoner-of-war in Siberia during WW2, so you’ll have to forgive me for having strong feelings where the Russians are concerned. And of course feeding secrets to Russia today would be unthinkable. Kim Philby was notorious for being a Russian spy, and one of the ‘Cambridge Five’, and he figures in the book. His first wife was Litzi Friedmann, who was great friends with Edith.
I cannot criticise the writing of Parallel Lives. It’s brilliant. It’s just about where I stand on the womens’ beliefs. I rarely get political in reviews, but it’s unavoidable here. I read around the subject quite a bit, during and after reading. Apart from Philby, there were other interesting characters, like Arnold Deutsch who had recruited Philby, Edith’s husband medical doctor Alex Tudor-Hart, Ursula’s first husband architect Rudolph Hamburger, and the nuclear scientist Klaus Fuchs.
Edith’s son Tommy, who was severely autistic, ended up in a home from the age of eleven and was never released. But again hindsight is a dangerous thing. Maybe not our place to judge. Edith was broken by it, and eventually gave up her photography to open an antique shop in Brighton. She died fairly young, unlike Ursula who lived till she was 93.
But one of the most interesting things for me was the connection with the Bauhaus (which I have recently read about in another story), and the famous Isokon building in London where some of them lived. The occupants were mainly bohemian artists, writers and architects, free thinkers, who also believed in free love, something which our two women seemed to indulge in regularly. Maybe it’s not our place to judge once again, but they both seemed to become too emotionally and sexually involved with their fellow spies. I think this was probably their undoing.
An outstanding 5 star read for me, regardless of my personal views on the ‘protagonists’.
Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity for inviting me on the #ParallelLives blog tour
Buy link: www.amazon.co.uk
About the Author
Maryam Diener was born in Iran and attended the Sorbonne in Paris before receiving her Masters from Columbia University. She is the author of The Moon (1998), Sans te dire adieu (2007) and Beyond Black There is No Colour: The Story of Forough Farrokhzad (Quartet Books, 2020) and Exquisite Corpse (2021). In 2012 she co-founded Éditions Moon Rainbow, a publishing company specialising in limited-edition books on poetry and the visual arts including There Must Be Someone to Rewrite Love, which features contributions from Bei Dao and Francesco Clemente.
+ cult, dark humour, feel-good, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, Historical fiction, humour fiction, List, Magical realism, murder mystery, mystery, thriller, Victorian Britain, World War Two, WW2
My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Two
Here are my favourite 10 books of 2024 Part Two, not counting audiobooks. Quite a disparate selection for a change.
Away Weekend by Lesley Fernández-Armesto
Geraldine is divorced. Her military ex-husband Jonty has run off with Sally, leaving Geraldine with only her apricot poodle Bolly. She now lives in a tiny mews house in St John’s Wood. Then she meets Ellis, smooth, handsome, American, and a dead ringer for Cary Grant. He invites her to go to Indiana with him for the All Saints football match. As her sister and her two pugs, her daughter Cassie and God knows who else, are coming to stay, it couldn’t be better timing. But little does she know what she’s let herself in for. It would be my worst nightmare.
This was so funny. Geraldine’s observations about the Americans she meets at the football match are hilarious. The yanks (apart from functioning alcoholic Barb) all find her a bit weird. That’s because they have no idea what she’s talking about, but put her eccentricity down to her ‘Englishness’. Not that I think Geraldine is that wonderful herself. She’s a terrible snob, who does basically nothing except go to the theatre and lunch with her friends.
For my full review click here
A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
I knew as soon as I started reading A Bitter Remedy that it would become one of my favourite books of the year so far. In fact I’ve already recommended it to my brother and downloaded a sample of the next book in the series.
Set in 1881, we meet Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, an unusual and very liberated young woman, who has come to Oxford from semi-rural Wales. Life was different there and Non hates that she has to keep her mouth firmly shut at Oxford, so as not to hinder other women from being admitted to the university. She is so far only allowed to attend lectures – she cannot be a ‘proper’ student as such. Any bad behaviour could put the women’s movement back years.
For my full review click here
The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
I’m beginning to think that Gothic Horror is rapidly becoming my new favourite genre. Maybe it’s because I was obsessed with Dennis Wheatley when I was a teenager, particularly The Devil Rides Out (not technically Gothic) and I kept getting those vibes while reading The Shadow Key. Nothing like a bit of devil worship and ritual sacrifice. I was waiting for Henry to recite the words of the ‘Sussamma Ritual’ or shine his headlights on the rising goat-like figure in his midst (ooops no headlights yet). But in the case of the Tresilian family and Plas Helyg, it’s just folklore and superstition. As a man of science Dr Henry Talbot doesn’t believe in any of that nonsense.
For my full review click here
Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
I’ve always loved Great Expectations in all its iterations – my husband loves the 1946 film version where John Mills plays Pip (I think he is far too old), but my favourite is the TV mini series where Gillian Anderson portrays Miss Havisham. As a child, the scene where Miss H goes up in flames terrified me and still does.
But back to Estella’s Revenge. I absolutely loved it and have given it a worthy five stars. The writing is impeccable and immaculate. The plot is original and entertaining. It’s not a retelling of GE though, you have to remember that – it’s the story from Estella’s pov, NOT Pip’s, so anything can happen, and it does. There are a lot of the original characters, but also others that are new
For my full review click here
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
This story is so character-driven, that you have to get to know everyone before you can really get into the book. First of all, we have Clayton Stumper, our reluctant hero, who as it says in the synopsis ‘dresses like your granddad and drinks sherry like your aunt’. Except he’s only 25 and was abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. He has no idea who he is in more ways than one.
Then we have Pippa Allsbrook – the Pipster – who is the matriarch of the Fellowship. She set it up and she looks after it and everyone in it. She is a crossword compiler for The Times newspaper, using the soubriquet ‘Squire’ as it makes her sound like a man and men are the usual setters.
For my full review click here
The Theatre of Glass and Shadows by Anne Corlett
When Juliet’s father died, his last words were ‘Madeleine, Mad…e…liene’. Juliet’s stepmother asked her, ‘What’s going on? Did he say something?’ ‘No. I mean it didn’t make sense,’ says Juliet.
Juliet never really connected emotionally with her distant father and her stepmother Clare treated her like an outsider. Her half sisters were always ‘the girls’, never ‘your sisters’. And who was Madeleine? Obviously Clare knew, but she didn’t say anything.
Juliet wanted to be a dancer, but Clare had taken her away from Miss Abbeline’s ballet school, so she could go to secretarial college. Juliet though has other ideas, especially when she discovers that her birth was registered in the Theatre District. I am not going to try and explain this because at times I didn’t really understand. I felt as though I was reading in an alternative reality, but that’s the whole point. The Theatre District is an alternative reality, an alternative London, where the police have no jurisdiction and the show must go on. And it does, in a loop, and performers are queuing up to be part of it. Punters must enter a ballot to secure a ticket, or pay a fortune to buy one.
For my full review click here
Paradise Undone by Annie Dawid
There were times this book made me cry, at others it made me cross. Often at night I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The babies and children who were murdered (yes murdered because they didn’t have any choice), but also about Christine, held down by four men and injected with the poison. That was the worst kind of murder if there is such a thing. It was very hard to read. The sedatives were supposed to help alleviate the suffering, but they took 15 minutes to work, by which time it was far too late – the victims were already dead, having suffered excruciating pain and convulsions.
By the end I hoped I would understand why they would follow a drug-crazed lunatic (which is what pastor Jim Jones became by the end). I would try to understand the power of brainwashing. For some of the very poor, any life was better than what they knew. Many had been drug addicts, and the African Americans had been racially abused all their lives. But what about the white middle classes? How were they taken in by him?
For my full review click here
Garden of Her Heart by Zoë Richards
I’m totally in love with this book. It’s not my usual genre, but I just adore it. I even woke up in the night and read it. Maybe it’s because I would love to go to a retreat like this. The only retreat I have ever been on was at my Catholic Convent School when I was 16, and the priest told us that animals didn’t have souls. My flirtation with Catholicism was well and truly over.
My friend goes to Champneys all the time, but it’s not the same, is it. Wearing an oversized towelling robe and slippers for bigger feet than mine, lolling around in the sauna and having facials and pedicures. Pinewoods is more spiritual. It’s a place where people go to find themselves (without sounding pretentious).
For my full review click here
How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
How To Age Disgracefully is my third book by this author and I really loved it. It has an eclectic mix of characters, just like the other two books.
Of course the first has to be Daphne, a glamorous but ill-tempered 70 year old, with whom I have literally NOTHING in common (I’m 71). What would I think of her if I met her? I certainly wasn’t sure at first.
Then we have Art, a failed actor, who at 75 is way past his sell by date, thespianly speaking, and whose personal hygiene is dubious, to say the least. His best friend since childhood is William.
For my full review click here
The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy
Hard to believe this is a debut novel. It’s so beautifully written and often heartbreaking. It’s not just the characters of Max and Bettina, but also Clara and Holger who stood out for me.
It’s a dual timeline novel, starting in 1929 and into WW2 itself, and then in 1993, when Bettina Vogel’s daughter Clara is trying to find out who her father was. Having travelled alone to America to bid for a selection of porcelain from the factory at Allach (which later moved to Dachau), she returns with a number of items, including the celebrated The Viking. The Nazis, particular SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, adored the porcelain, believing it to be pure, and loved pieces that showed German soldiers and animals in perfect representation. They did not like anything ‘degenerate’, as they called it, particularly expressionism. Unfortunately, Bettina, having attended the Bauhaus, is an expressionist, her hero and mentor being Wassily Kandinsky.
For my full review click here
Small Fires by Ronnie Turner will be published by Orenda Books in February 2025.
Poison runs through this land like blood…
When sisters Lily and Della Pedley are persecuted for the shocking murder of their parents, they flee from their home in Cornwall to a remote and unnamed island in Scotland – an island known for its strange happenings, but far away from the whispers and prying eyes of strangers.
Lily is terrified of what her sister will might do next, and she soon realises that they have arrived at a place where nothing is as it seems. A bitterness runs through the land like poison, and the stories told by the islanders seem to be far more than folklore.
Della settles in too easily, the island folk drawn to her strangeness, but Lily is plagued by odd and unsettling dreams, and as an annual festival draws nigh, she discovers that she has far more to fear than she could ever have imagined. Or does she…?
Chilling, atmospheric and utterly hypnotic, Small Fires is contemporary gothic novel that examines possession, female rage, and the perilous bonds of family – an unsettling reminder that the stories we tell can be deadly…
Midsommar meets Midnight Mass in a folk horror, modern gothic masterpiece.
#SmallFires Twitter/X @Ronnie__Turner @OrendaBooks #BookX #FolkHorror #SmallFires #Gothic #Thriller #coverreveal
Instagram @ronnieturner8702 @orendabooks #bookstagram #FolkHorror #SmallFires #Gothic #Thriller #coverreveal
Here is the fantastic cover.
Extract – Old Town
They say the Devil came here. He fell to the Earth long ago and he never left.
There is a silence over this land, the stillness of a muscle before it moves. Somewhere a bird calls a warning to us in its little throat. I see its body and think I should offer a warning of my own: We have arrived. Now leave, before we break those wings.
‘This place knows we are here,’ my sister says, and I take a breath.
‘Why do you say that?’ I ask.
‘It knows,’ she says, and yes, I almost expect the mountain to take a gulp of air like the body of some great beast come to see us. Della catches my wrist with her finger. I jump, check for blood. I always check for blood when my sister touches me. She smiles, says, ‘Mind me, Lil.’
In my head I carry memories of their deaths. And if I bring my fingers to my lips, I can feel their absence there too; words I will never speak to them. A ghost living inside a ghost. I think of our old home, our names, changing on tongues as the news spread. Until all anyone could think of were their pale bodies, emptied and hanging, and ours still very much pulsing, alive.
The Witches of Old Town. We have so very many names. They called us pariahs, and we ran fast. They called down their gods, and we ran faster. They called us a ‘condemning’, like a murmuration, a moving shadow that palms the sun and takes out the light. And now we have migrated. To this island with no name.
I count the shadows but I run out of fingers to count them on. The path from the harbour twists down into a valley. There are no animals or children. The houses are empty. Where are the people? There is nothing but the mountain. It watches us, throwing down its darkness, so unyielding it makes the light feel like a captive. What things has it seen? What will it say of us to the men and women who will come to this island in the future? They will not be good stories, this I know. My sister and I do not tell good stories. Mother and father knew that.
I rub my arms to bring some heat to my skin, but I rub too hard so it only hurts. I look at my sister.
‘Does it make you feel cold – the mountain?’
Della smiles. It does. And she likes it. I wish I had not asked.
We will find our new house, Lower Tor, later; we do not mind that it will soon be night. We have always been able to find our way in the dark.
I follow Della to The Molloch Inn, and as we enter, my spine shivers, my pulse sings. We have found the people.
About the Author
Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in the South West with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller and a barista, and her youth belies her exceptional, highly unusual talent.
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
A collection of theatrical misfits goes on tour across the Atlantic in this nostalgic post-war novel sure to delight fans of P. G. Wodehouse.
The Red Lion production of ‘Love and Miss Harris’ is booked to tour America, opening in Manhattan.
#MissHarrisInTheNewWorld X/Twitter #PeterMaughan @farragobooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour #BookX
Instagram @farragobooks @randomthingstours #bookstagram
On arrival the group finds that it’s not the Manhattan with the Great White Way of Broadway at its glittering heart, but the part between the Bowery and the East River, on the Lower East Side, in a vaudeville venue owned by a local mobster. And when members of a rival gang decide to disrupt the play, the action shifts from the theatre’s state to its auditorium…
Determined to fulfil the rest of their tour dates, the company heads west from New York. Try as they might to shake it off, trouble seems to follow them wherever they go.
My Review
This is a fun read about a troupe of eccentric British actors touring America with a play called Love and Miss Harris, shortly after the Second World War. The subject of the play is largely irrelevant – it’s the characters that are important. We first met the Red Lion Touring Company in London in Book One, after their East End theatre was bombed and they embarked on a tour of Britain instead.
There is also a side story about a man called Reuben Kramer, who having escaped from a high security prison for the criminally insane, is on the trail of leading man Jack Savage, so he can shoot and kill him. Reuben had murdered four people, and attempted to kill two more, one of which was Jack, who had got the better of him, something he will never forgive or forget. This was my favourite part of the book.
In the meantime, the troupe is travelling from town to town, city to city, having started in New York and visited such prestigious places as Carlston, Pennsylvania and New Littlehampton in Connecticut. Am I being sarcastic – I’ll leave you to decide. They travel in a no 9 red bus, plus a Rolls Royce, and these attract attention wherever they go, even if they are sometimes considered to be part of a circus sideshow. It’s all publicity after all! And we all know what they say about publicity.
Some of the people they meet along the way are interesting, some amorous, and some less friendly. I love the argument that Titus has with theatre manager Mr Potters at the end of the tour about whether Shakespeare wrote his own plays, or whether it was Sir Francis Bacon. Titus is incensed and makes his position known. And then the ‘ornamental’ sword comes out. Very theatrical.
There’s plenty of singing, flirting, carousing and alcohol involved, as well as a bit of ‘how’s yer father’ on the way, to use an East End colloquialism. So until we meet again, “Next stop Blighty!”
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Peter Maughan studied at the Actor’s Workshop in London, and worked as an actor in the UK and Ireland (in the heyday of Ardmore Studios).
He founded and ran a fringe theatre in Barnes, London and, living on a converted Thames sailing barge among a small colony of houseboats on the River Medway, wrote pilot film scripts as a freelance deep in the green shades of rural Kent.
He lives in a river valley in the Welsh Marches where he writes the Batch Magna novels.
Visit Peter’s website at http://www.batchmagna.com
Here are my favourite audiobooks of the year Part Two. Diane Setterfield appears twice, because I adored both her books.
Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
I think this has to be one of my favourite books ever. It’s so original, with a cast of characters that I absolutely adored. It’s set in the area around the banks of the River Thames in 1887. I love that it is set in my part of the country, so I recognised many of the places, particularly Kelmscott, which I associate with William Morris and the Kelmscott Press.
It’s a story about stories and storytelling, much of which happens at the pub run by Joe and his wife Margot. They have lots of children, the girls referred to as ‘the little Margots’, which tickled me no end, and Jonathan, the youngest, who today would be recognised as being Downs.
For my full review click here
Fyneshade by Kate Griffin
It’s one thing when the heroine is not very nice, but Marta is truly evil. Not because her French grand’mere was supposedly a witch, or because of the way she treats the young girl who she is sent away to ‘educate’, or the fact that she would be considered ‘no better than she should be’ in those days, but because of the way she views herself and others and is happy to wreak havoc on anyone who crosses her.
Discovering that she is not to be married to her lover Nathaniel, she accepts that she is to be sent away to be governess to ten-year-old Grace, the daughter of Sir William Pritchard, the owner of Fyneshade. She has never met him and told he is away for lengths at a time. She is shocked to discover that all members of staff at the house appear to be either old, unlovely, or in some way debilitated. They are shocked when Marta arrives and is young and attractive.
For my full review click here
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
My husband’s late granddad used to say ‘When I go, stick me in a bin bag Paul… (his daughter), and put me out with the rubbish.’ Of course we knew he was joking and wouldn’t have dreamt of doing it. But Sally takes things literally, so she does. When her father dies, she attempts a DIY cremation. Which attracts the attention of the guards, and the media. And that’s where the story begins.
Initially I found Sally intriguing, sad, often humorous, and I couldn’t stop listening (I had an audio version from Borrowbox). Then after a bit I wanted more – where was the story going – and I certainly got it. We moved from Sally to Peter and to be honest, I found his parts the more interesting of the two. If you think Sally’s childhood is dark, it pales into comparison with Peter’s. Because just when you think things couldn’t get any darker, they do. And then darker still.
For my full review click here
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
I am not going to leave a long review as this book has been reviewed so many times, there isn’t much I can add. Suffice to say it moved me to tears on more than one occasion. As with Once Upon A River, the writing is beautiful, perfect and evocative. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before (or in this case listened to). And the narration by Jenny Agutter is just right.
But there is one important thing about this book to remember before you embark on a remarkable journey. It’s long (especially as an Audiobook). It’s a slow, beautiful, moonlight cruise, not a 4-hour trip on a jet plane. It’s as much about the journey as the destination. In fact it’s all about the journey, with quite a few stops along the way for tea and cake. And there’s a cat. Need I say more. Oh and a bookshop.
For my full review click here
Patrice Chaplin takes us on a tour of the unknown lives of the stars of glamorous Hollywood, starting in the 1970s.
The swimming pools are shimmering with talent, but Goddess Hollywood looks further afield and finds its next protege amongst the puddles of Kentish Town.
When Patrice Chaplin left Kentish Town for Hollywood she did not envisage the extent of the excitement of the lives of its biggest stars, but she quickly found herself in its fold. And when Lauren Bacall and Alan Ladd Jr wanted to turn Patrice Chaplin’s book into a film, many expected her to jump at the chance, but she didn’t…
In this series of vignettes, established novelist Patrice Chaplin takes us through some extraordinary moments in time. Her time. From spider spotting by the swimming pool with Jack Nicholson and plotting ways to get him to take off his glasses, to food shopping for Marlon Brando’s fridge, to meeting Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles, this is a mini-memoir of an enthralling and bygone world of Hollywood.
My Review
Hollywood To Kentish Town is a fascinating insight into the world of celebrity and stardom in the latter half of the twentieth century. We jump around a lot, with little vignettes from Patrice Chaplin’s interesting life. Some of them are amusing, some sad and some rather worrying, especially where Silvio is concerned.
In the synopsis, we hear about Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Orson Welles and other famous Hollywood Stars. But two people stood out for me. Canadian Film Director Silvio Narrizano and Ivan Moffat, the screenwriter, born in Cuba of Cuban/American heritage, though most people thought he was British. I had never heard of either, but I looked them up and found they were responsible for many films I have seen and loved.
Silvio is an interesting character, though chaos seems to follow him everywhere. And he always turns up at the most appropriate (or inappropriate) times. Ivan, however, is my favourite. Handsome and charming, he was nominated for an Academy Award for the adaptation of Edna Ferber’s Giant. They are extremely eccentric, but it’s only to be expected. In spite of everything, they both lived to ripe old ages.
Incidentally, I was never a Jack Nicholson fan, though he’s made some brilliant films. I first saw him in Easy Rider when I was too young to be watching it. I was bowled over by the lovely Peter Fonda, so much so that I saw it four times at the cinema, on one occasion sitting through it twice in one afternoon. I only paid once. Born To Be Wild or what!
Drugs, particularly cocaine, seem to feature in Patrice’s Hollywood more so than alcohol. Patrice doesn’t ‘do’ either, which her famous ‘friends’ found strange. Her younger son however, mixes in ‘alternative’ circles in his mother’s large house in Kentish Town, where everyone seems to congregate. Or maybe it’s because where I live is sheltered and provincial. I worried for her sons. I looked them up too (as well as their father Michael Chaplin) and their lives are also interesting, though there isn’t that much about them online.
I don’t usually read memoirs or biographies, but I really adored this. I read it in one sitting, loving the stories and insights. Marlon Brando’s binge eating disorder for instance, is legendary, but other stars’ eccentricities may not be. You’ll be delighted you picked it up.
Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Patrice Chaplin is an internationally renowned playwright and author who has published more than 36 books, plays and short stories. Her most notable work includes Albany Park, Siesta – which was made into a film staring Jodi Foster and Isabella Rossellini with music by Miles Davis – Into the Darkness Laughing, Hidden Star, Night Fishing, Death Trap and City of Secrets.
As a Bohemian in Paris during the 50’s and 60’s, she spent time with Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. She was married to Charlie Chaplin’s son, Michael, and during her avant-garde journeys through occult circles her friends included Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau – who gave her a starring role in one of his films – Lauren Bacall, Miles Davis and experts on the esoteric practices of the Kabbalah in Spain.
As an accomplished writer, Patrice has contributed to many collections of short stories, including Black Valentine and The Minerva Book of Short Stories 1. Her plays, documentaries, and short stories have been extensively written and adapted for radio. The short story Night in Paris has been translated in many countries, and other short stories of hers have appeared in magazines and newspapers, including The Independent. Patrice’s stage play From the Balcony was commissioned by The National Theatre in London in conjunction with BBC Radio 3, and was performed at the Cottesloe Theatre.
Patrice is the director of Northern Bridge Productions, a non- profit organization that leads workshops based in the performing arts as a new and unique way to help fight addiction.
+ audio book, fiction, gothic, grief, Historical fiction, literature, mental illness, review, secrets, sisters, twins, whimsical, writer
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield narrated by Jenny Agutter
All children mythologize their birth…So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter’s collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.
The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself — all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter’s story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.
As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.
Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida’s storytelling but remains suspicious of the author’s sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.
My Review
I am not going to leave a long review as this book has been reviewed so many times, there isn’t much I can add. Suffice to say it moved me to tears on more than one occasion. As with Once Upon A River, the writing is beautiful, perfect and evocative. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before (or in this case listened to). And the narration by Jenny Agutter is just right.
But there is one important thing about this book to remember before you embark on a remarkable journey. It’s long (especially as an Audiobook). It’s a slow, beautiful, moonlight cruise, not a 4-hour trip on a jet plane. It’s as much about the journey as the destination. In fact it’s all about the journey, with quite a few stops along the way for tea and cake. And there’s a cat. Need I say more. Oh and a bookshop.
Biographer Margaret Lea is summoned by prolific author Vida Winter to write her life story. It must have a beginning, a middle and an end, in that order, Ms Winter informs her at their first meeting. Margaret says that everything she is told must be the truth and she will do her research to check where necessary. And then the story begins to unfold. It’s wonderful.
About the Author
Diane Setterfield is a British author. Her bestselling novel, The Thirteenth Tale (2006) was published in 38 countries worldwide and has sold more than three million copies. It was number one in the New York Times hardback fiction list for three weeks and is enjoyed as much for being ‘a love letter to reading’ as for its mystery and style. Her second novel, Bellman & Black (2013 is a genre-defying tale of rooks and Victorian retail). January 2019 sees the publication of her new title, Once Upon a River, which has been called ‘bewitching’ and ‘enchanting’.
Born in Englefield, Berkshire in 1964, Diane spent most of her childhood in the nearby village of Theale. After schooldays at Theale Green, Diane studied French Literature at the University of Bristol. Her PhD was on autobiographical structures in André Gide’s early fiction. She taught English at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie and the Ecole nationale supérieure de Chimie, both in Mulhouse, France, and later lectured in French at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. She left academia in the late 1990s to pursue writing.
The Thirteenth Tale was acquired by Heyday Films and adapted for television by the award-winning playwright and scriptwriter, Christopher Hampton. Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Olivia Colman, it was filmed in 2013 in North Yorkshire for BBC2. The TV rights to Once Upon a River have even sold to Kudos (Broadchurch, Spooks, Grantchester).
Diane Setterfield has been published in over forty countries.
Diane lives in Oxford, in the UK. When not writing she reads widely, and when not actually reading she is usually talking or thinking about reading. She is, she says, ‘a reader first, a writer second.’
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, crime fiction, fiction, murder, mystery, Nigeria, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
Under Her Roof by A.A. Chaudhuri
It seems too good to be true…
When struggling writer Sebastian finds a room to let in a palatial Hampstead residence he cannot believe his luck. The rent is ridiculously cheap and he immediately feels a connection with his beautiful widowed landlady, Adriana.
It is.
Genre: Psychological thriller
Publisher: Hera
Things take a dark turn when he finds out what happened to the last lodger. Could this be why the house is a fortress of security, and why Adriana seems so fragile? Adriana doesn’t want to talk about the death and sadness that seem to follow her wherever she goes and Sebastian has secrets of his own.
Now someone is watching their every move and there is nowhere to hide.
This house of light becomes a dark nightmare as the threat ramps up – what does the watcher want? And how far will they go to get it?
A gripping, twisty thriller perfect for fans of B.A. Paris, Shari Lapena and Lucy Foley. If you were hooked by Netflix series You or The Watcher you’ll love this.
Author website: https://aachaudhuri.com/
My Review
It’s been a while since I read a psychological thriller. It used to be that it was all I was offered and they began to become a bit samey. But not Under Her Roof! It has some very unexpected twists and dark turns. One or two involve coincidences that are a tad far-fetched, but I never mind that. It’s fiction after all!
Writer Sebastian is looking for somewhere to live. He’s been staying with best friend Jasper, whose wife Rochelle must be getting a bit sick of her lack of privacy, and the place is a bit of a chaotic tip. Then a room comes up in Hampstead, in a beautiful house, with a gym and swimming pool, but it’s just a room and he’ll be a ‘lodger’ – which is not really what he wants. But the rent is ridiculously cheap.
The landlady is called Adriana, widowed and beautiful, fourteen years older than Seb. Jasper sees trouble on the horizon, but Seb feels it’s an opportunity too good to be true and decides to go for it. There are rules, some strange ones, and the house is secured like a fortress. Why is Adriana so scared? Is it to do with her husband’s death, or the death of the last lodger?
The story is told from the point of view of Seb, Adriana, and another voice from ‘before’. Who is this person, and who is the shadowy figure sometimes seen hanging around the Hampstead house? Is there a connection? And if Adriana is so worried, why doesn’t she sell up and find somewhere she feels less insecure? And why didn’t Seb get out of there as fast as his feet would carry him? There are also multiple timelines, but don’t be put off – they are never confusing.
The book is full of secrets, sadness and tragedy, but there is so much more hidden underneath. No-one is who they say they are, and what are they hiding? Sometimes you’ll gasp and think ‘Oh my God!’ It can be very dark at times, but it’s also great fun (or maybe that’s just me).
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #UnderHerRoof #BlogTour.
About the Author
A.A. Chaudhuri is a History graduate and former City lawyer. Born and raised in Portsmouth, Hampshire, she now lives in Surrey with her family, where she writes full time.
The Scribe and The Abduction, published in July and December 2019 by Lume Books, are her first crime book series, plunging readers into London’s glamorous legal world and featuring series’ heroine, Maddy Kramer, fiction’s first female City lawyer amateur sleuth, who teams up with charismatic DCI Jake Carver to solve a gruesome series of murders and a puzzling abduction. Both books were published in audio by Isis Audio in January and March 2021.
She also contributed a short story, The Encounter, to Lume Books’ crime anthology. Given In Evidence, published May 2020, and had two short stories published on the CWA website.
Her first psychological thriller with Hera Books, She’s Mine, was published in August 2021, her second, entitled The Loyal Friend, was published in June 2022. It will be published in the USA in August 2023. Her third psychological thriller with Hera, The Final Party, was published in May 2023.
Besides being an avid reader, she enjoys fitness, films, anything Italian and a good margarita.
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+ abuse, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, Iceland noir, murder, Nordic noir, police drama, police procedural, Scandi noir, secrets, thriller
Boys Who Hurt by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (Forbidden Iceland #5) translated by Victoria Cribb
Fresh from maternity leave, Detective Elma finds herself confronted with a complex case, when a man is found murdered in a holiday cottage in the depths of the Icelandic countryside – the victim of a frenzied knife attack, with a shocking message scrawled on the wall above him.
At home with their baby daughter, Sævar is finding it hard to let go of work, until the chance discovery in a discarded box provides him with a distraction. Could the diary of a young boy, detailing the events of a long-ago summer have a bearing on Elma’s case?
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Once again, the team at West Iceland CID have to contend with local secrets in the small town of Akranes, where someone has a vested interest in preventing the truth from coming to light. And Sævar has secrets of his own that threaten to destroy his and Elma’s newfound happiness.
Tense, twisty and shocking, Boys Who Hurt is the next, addictive instalment in the award-winning Forbidden Iceland series, as dark events from the past endanger everything…
My Review
When I read The Creak On The Stairs, the first book in the Forbidden Iceland series, I said the following: ‘Everything about it is exciting, chilling, scary, I could go on with a list of adjectives. It’s the perfect police procedural but there is also so much more.’
Well, Boys Who Hurt is even more exciting, more chilling and more scary. We are back with police officer Elma, now living with Sævar and their seven-month-old baby Adda, in her childhood home town of Akranes. Her boss is still Hörður, whose wife died almost a year before, and he is devastated.
The plot is complicated, and at first we don’t see any link between the current gruesome knife attack, and the death of a teenager at a summer camp in 1995. Except for the writing on the victims’s wall (Take away my crimes and sins with blood, O Jesus), the mystery surrounding the boy’s ‘accidental drowning’, and the fact that the victims (yes there are more to come) were all present at the time, sharing room number four with the dead boy.
At times Boys Who Hurt is very dark, with not only murders, but also child abuse, bullying, rape, missing women, and quite a few truly horrible people, especially Hafdís, wife of Matthias, both of whom were at the summer camp in 1995, along with Thorgeir. Ottó is Hörður’s predecessor and Matthias’s father, who would make you want to quit the force if he was your boss.
There are quite a few theories as you read along, mostly red herrings. I only guessed one of them, which was fairly near the end. Boys Who Hurt is so good and so clever, I nearly missed my yoga class reading the last few chapters. When I say I couldn’t put it down, I really mean it.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir studied for an MSc in globalisation in Norway before returning to Iceland to write her first novel. Her debut thriller The Creak on the Stairs, was published in 2018, and won the Blackbird Award in Iceland. Published in English by Orenda Books in 2020, it became a digital number-one bestseller worldwide, was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Awards in two categories and won the CWA John Creasey Dagger in 2021. Girls Who Lie, the second book in the Forbidden Iceland series was shortlisted for the Petrona Award and the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger, and Night Shadows followed suit. In 2024, she won the Blood Drop Award for Crime Book of the Year in Iceland. With over 260,000 copies sold in English alone, Eva has become one of Iceland’s – and crime-fiction’s – most highly regarded authors. She lives in Reykjavik with her husband and three children. Follow her on @evaaegisdottir
About Orenda Books
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
+ Dogs, fiction, friends, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love
Exiles by LJ Ambrosio (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book 3)
In this final chapter, Ron’s story concludes from Reflections on the Boulevard (2023).
Michael’s wish was for Ron to exile himself in the heart of Paris with its beautiful culture and citizens as they protest and fight for the soul of the city.
Ron’s journey is met with life-affirming friendships and lessons along the way. The final book in the Reflections of Michael Trilogy, which started with A Reservoir Man (2022).
Excerpt
“Ron, weak in the legs from forgetting the spirit of his youth, had been managing bookstores more than living life. His legs pumped forward. but with the awkwardness of an old man who had forgotten how to walk. In a few seconds he was up to speed and ran faster to catch the thief.
“Near the corner, Ron had missed his opportunity to slow and check for other people walking, so he slammed into a group of women. He especially blasted into an old lady whose groceries flew into the sky, and a yogurt splattered against a wall and the faces of the other women. She turned to condemn her assailant, but he was already on the next block in pursuit of the thief. He spotted the thief at the Notre Dame Hotel, out of breath, leaning against a pillar. Surprised at the thief’s choice to stop here, he slowed down and let his feet pound the street into a halt. Ron grabbed at him but still missed his shoulder.
“Give me the book back!” he said, very loudly.
“The thief just shrugged his shoulder, a mocking smile. His smile made the act of chasing him through the streets feel silly, as if this were a game that had been played and he took it too seriously.
“The thief looked at Ron and asked, sarcastically, “What language are you speaking?”
“What do mean? I am speaking French!”
“Our thief laughed, turned to a random man who walked down the street, and said, “This young man thinks he is speaking French Go ahead say something to this stranger; he will tell you are speaking some other language other than French!”
“I will call the police,” Ron said firmly.”
Competition
L.J. Ambrosio will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card, a dragonfly necklace, or a second dragonfly necklace, to three randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour, and a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn host.
My Review
I was so glad that Rhonda, a wire-haired Jack Russell who Ron adopted as a stray, shortly after meeting Michael in the previous book Reflections On The Boulevard, is still with us. Considerably older now, she is blind in one eye and is mostly taken out in a baby buggy because she is afraid of burning her paws on the cigarette butts on the street. Past trauma I believe. We always had to carry our beloved Jack Russell, Pancake, across bridges if they were made of something you could see through. Dogs always remember the past trauma. In Pancake’s case, it may well have been in a previous life.
Ron is now living in Paris, with Rhonda of course, and working in a bookstore. It’s not like any other bookstore. Customers who have nowhere to live – Tumbleweeds as they are referred to – can stay for a few nights. They drift in and out.
Then one day, Ron chases and catches a young man who has stolen a book from the shop. The man explains that he isn’t really a thief. His name is Louie and he tells Ron about his reasons for taking the book. He has a girlfriend called Lily, who happens to be a friend of Ron’s girlfriend Julia. And so the friendship between Ron and Louie develops.
Ron has now taken Michael’s place as ‘mentor’ – he is the one mentoring Louie. He talks about love and friendship, not just of another person, but also the love of a dog like Rhonda. Incidentally, I am fascinated by Rhonda’s choice of food – she seems to live on ham and cheese sandwiches. I’m sure it’s not good for her.
While Ron really just minds his own business running the bookstore, Louie is very involved in the political scene under Macron. At one point, he and Lily are caught up in a demonstration against raising the pension age from 62 to 64. Ha! Here in the UK we are just about to move from 66 to 67. Everyone objected when it first went up about 10 years ago, but we didn’t riot like they did in Paris.
Once again it is an emotional read. I don’t want to go into why, as that would involve spoilers. Suffice to say there are some sad events, as there have been in all three books, and it is now time to say goodbye once and for all to Michael, Ron, Louie and of course my beloved Rhonda. I’ll miss them all.
Many thanks to Goddess Fish Promotions and the author for inviting me to be part of the review tour.
About the Author
Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio taught at seven universities. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.
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+ crime fiction, dark humour, fiction, kidnapping, mid-life crisis, online dating, revenge, review, thriller
The 23-Day Girlfriend by Mark Eklid
Lonely heart Barry thought Gina might be too good to be true. He was right.
Gina preys on vulnerable older men through online dating sites. She lures them in, uses them to set up a financial scam and then vanishes without trace.
But when an angry victim of her fraudulent scheme comes looking for Gina, Barry is drawn into deadly danger. He faces having to kill – or be killed.
My Review
This was so funny. It’s the fourth book I’ve read by this author and definitely my favourite so far.
Barry is in his fifties, when his wife Louise decides he’s too boring and that their marriage has gone stale. She decides to do a Shirley Valentine and find herself and see the world. The Isle of Man just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Barry is devastated. And lonely. So he joins an online dating site, where he meets Gina. She’s gorgeous. What would she see in him? Gullibility would be my first guess. Because Gina is not what she seems. She’s a con artist and Barry falls hook, line and sinker.
Unfortunately, one of Gina’s other scam victims appears and that’s when the trouble begins. Because he wants his money back and he’ll stop at nothing to get it. That includes extreme violence, because he’s the hardest geezer in Skelmersdale. Could Barry kill someone to protect his family? He might have to. And it may even involve using a squirrel-proof bird feeder from the middle of Lidl as a weapon – other brands are available.
Poor old Barry! He’s really out of his depth. He’s never done anything wrong in his life, he’s just a humble carpet fitter looking for love. As the story becomes more and more insane, the humour rises to an all-time higher level, as we follow our hapless hero through the wilds of the Peak district to Sheffield and back again.
Take the book on holiday. Read it on the train. People will wonder what you’re laughing at.
Many thanks to the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
Mark Eklid was an award-winning regional newspaper sports journalist before switching from cricket to crime thrillers.
The 23-Day Girlfriend is his sixth. His first novel was Sunbeam in 2019, followed by Family Business and Catalyst. The Murder of Miss Perfect and Blood on Shakespeare’s Typewriter were published through SpellBound Books.
All six are fast-moving, plot-twisting crime thrillers set in the city of his birth, Sheffield. Mark lives in Derby with his partner, Sue. They have two adult sons and have been adopted by a cat.
Website: markeklid.com
Facebook: @meklidauthor
Twitter: @MarkEklid
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Story and Structure – A Complete Guide – also by author, Leon Conrad.
Story and Structure tells the untold story of how story works. Using just six primary symbols, author Leon Conrad outlines eighteen story structures and shows how they all optimally solve the problems which give rise to them.
The book also demonstrates the much wider application of story, presenting new insights into story as a dynamic force of life, allowing the reader to access more harmony and flow in their life. Writers, storytellers, creative writing teachers, folklorists, narrative therapists, anthropologists, poets, and readers interested in how story works will all find this book useful and informative. Rethink your idea of story.
My Review
I don’t understand calculus. I’ll go further – I don’t even know what it is. My late father was a civil engineer and tried to explain it to me. It fell on deaf ears. I made sure I could answer every other maths question in my ‘O’ Level (yes I’m that old) so I could avoid the calculus one.
But in Story and Structure, Leon Conrad uses just six primary symbols to symbolise and outline eighteen story structures. So leaving the calculus element behind, Conrad suggests we select a story to analyse, summarise the story in ‘bare bones’ form, note the opening and closing, and identify the ‘problem’ which gave rise to the story in the first place.
“Stories are based on a series of steps and the order in which they come distinguish different story structures.” Conrad uses The Three Little Pigs as the first example, also using the ‘fortunately’ and ‘unfortunately’ steps. I am not going to rewrite the book here, as I am only reviewing it as a textbook for storytelling – I’ll leave the author to do the rest.
We begin with a simple Quest structure. It’s the first in our eighteen story structures. There are only basically four symbols (back to calculus), representing Opening, Initial Situation, Final Situation and Closing. I particularly like the example of Nasr-el-Din and the Walnut Tree.
The author examines the different structures in great detail, using the calculus symbols to explain the flow. Of course most stories are far more complicated than The Three Little Pigs and introduce a variety of characters other than the pigs (heroes), the wolf (villain), and who can help the pigs in their ‘quest’.
As we progress, we look at other structures such as Transformation, Trickster, The Chinese Circular Structure and Creation Myth. These are just a few examples of the eighteen types of story. There are examples of stories from around the world, beautiful illustrations by Jason Chuang, and numerous notes and references.
I studied Creative Writing as part of my OU Humanities degree and I remember discussing the classic story arc of plot structure ie Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and the Resolution (Freytag’s pyramid theory). However, Story and Structure takes this to a whole new level and should probably appear on the Creative Writing syllabus in the future. It’s certainly very interesting.
Many thanks to @LiterallyPR for inviting me to be part of the #StoryandStructure #blogtour.
About the Author
Leon Conrad is a multi-award-winning, traditionally published author and storyteller. He has been a regular columnist, had articles published in journals and magazines, written theatre shows, and contributed to radio programmes. He teaches creative writing and is a meticulous and collaborative editor and story structure consultant to both fiction and non-fiction writers, ‘plotters’ and ‘pantsers’ alike.
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