Tag: childhood
+ childhood, crime fiction, fiction, Gothic mystery, grief, lies, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, murder, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, secrets, superstition, thriller
The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone
From the author of the “dark and devious…beautifully written” (Stephen King) Mirrorland comes a richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner. A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth. Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and … Read More The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone
+ childhood, coming-of-age, family, feminism, fiction, girl's school, Historical fiction, literature, London, love, music, piano, relationships, review, sisters, twins, World War Two
The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1 by Sophia Lambton
Lost are the creatures destined never to be understood. 1926. Professor Josef van der Holt obtains a post at an all women’s college overseas. Stuffy London suddenly becomes the site for the unseemly exploits of his half-Dutch and half-German daughters Anneliese and Isabel. When tragedy carves out a hollow in their lives, an ailing soul sends the sororal twins along a jagged path: while … Read More The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1 by Sophia Lambton
+ childhood, family, fantasy, female friendship, feminism, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, grief, haunting, loss, love, magic, review, sisterhood, supernatural, witchcraft, witches
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
The House in the Cerulean Sea meets The Golden Girls in this funny, tender, and uplifting feminist tale of sisterhood featuring a coven of aging witches who must unite their powers to fight the men determined to drive them out of their home and town. A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat. Summoned by an alarm, five octogenarian witches gather … Read More The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
+ child abduction, childhood, community, fiction, forgiveness, loneliness, loss, love, motherhood, review
Safe With You by RM Ward
It used to be more of a community round here. I was going to say something like this wouldn’t have happened then, but it would, wouldn’t it? Maybe a lot of it was kept quiet. But was it really any safer? Is anywhere safe? Kath has lived on the same London estate for decades. Lately she’s become friendly with the little girl next door, … Read More Safe With You by RM Ward
+ abuse, child abduction, childhood, eighties, family, fiction, Ireland, kidnapping, lies, loss, motherhood, mystery, relationships, review, secrets, thriller
Hide and Seek by Andrea Mara
The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn’t been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn’t happened – but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again. #HideAndSeek @AndreaMaraBooks @TransworldBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour COUNT TO TEN Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It … Read More Hide and Seek by Andrea Mara
+ brothers, childhood, coming-of-age, family, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, love, mid-life crisis, motherhood, relationships, review, sisters
The Wilderness by Sarah Duguid
Once it was a family home. Now they are all at sea . . . When Anna and David receive a phone call late one evening, their lives are upturned. Within minutes, they are travelling to the west coast of Scotland, preparing to care for two young sisters, tragically and suddenly orphaned. #TheWilderness @SarahDuguid4 @TinderPress #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour It’s a beautiful place, the heather is in … Read More The Wilderness by Sarah Duguid
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, coming-of-age, community, cult, family, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, friendship, germany, grief, Historical fiction, holocaust, jewish history, jews, lies, List, literature, loss, love, motherhood, murder, music, nazi germany, piano, rape, relationships, religion, review, secrets, sisterhood, suffragette movement, whimsical
My Top 8 Books of 2022 – Part Two
Here are my favourite eight books of the second quarter of 2022. You will notice that it doesn’t include any crime dramas, detective novels or serial killer thrillers. While I love those genres, they rarely bring something totally new to the table and my favourites tend to be feel-good, whimsical or magical realism. Or totally original or make me cry. There are a couple of … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2022 – Part Two
+ childhood, depression, Devon, diary, family, family drama, fiction, literature, loss, mental illness, motherhood, postpartum psychosis, Psychosis, review, Scottish Highlands, secrets
Still Water by Rebecca Pert
When Jane Douglas returns to the Shetland Islands, she thinks she has escaped the dark shadows of her childhood. She carves out a simple life on the bleak, windswept island, working at the salmon fishery and spending quiet evenings at home. And for the first time in her life, she’s happy. #StillWater Twitter @Rebecca_Pert Instagram @rebecca_pert_author @BoroughPress #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour Then the body of Jane’s long-missing … Read More Still Water by Rebecca Pert
+ abuse, childhood, domestic noir, family, fiction, grief, literature, loss, love, music, piano, review, secrets, sisters
Nothing Else by Louise Beech
Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet. But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when … Read More Nothing Else by Louise Beech
+ brothers, child abuse, childhood, crime fiction, family, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, mental illness, murder, psychiatric hospital, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, schizophrenia, split personality, thriller
Lying Beside You (Cyrus Haven #3) by Michael Robotham
The thrilling next instalment in the award-winning Cyrus Haven series sees Cyrus reckoning with his own dark and shocking past. When a man is murdered and his daughter disappears, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven must decide if Maya Kirk is running, hiding, or a hostage. Cyrus understands how killers think better than anyone; after all, he’s a survivor. Evie is a troubled teenager with an … Read More Lying Beside You (Cyrus Haven #3) by Michael Robotham
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, fiction, Historical fiction, lies, Mallorca, mystery, narcissist, obsession, psychopath, rape, review, secrets, spanish civil war
The Silk Pavilion by Sarah Walton
Lucy’s on assignment. The wild reclusive writer awaits her arrival in his Mallorcan home. She wants the story of his life. He wants her to become part of it. Villa Rosa hides a dark secret. Beneath Deià’s sunny olive groves are the bodies of a generation. Spain’s unearthed shadow entwines with Lucy’s as her own skeletons start to rattle out of her closet. Will … Read More The Silk Pavilion by Sarah Walton
+ brothers, child abduction, child abuse, childhood, crime fiction, Detective novel, fiction, loss, mental illness, murder, narcissist, obsession, police drama, psychiatric hospital, psychopath, rape, revenge, review, Scandi noir, serial killer, split personality, Sweden, thriller
The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler
IF YOU SEE HIS REFLECTION IT’S ALREADY TOO LATE . . . Seventeen-year-old Jenny is abducted in broad daylight and taken to a dilapidated, isolated house where she is chained and caged along with several other girls. Their captor is unpredictable, and as wily as he is cruel: he foils every one of their desperate attempts to escape . . . and once caught … Read More The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler
