Tag: family
+ coming-of-age, family, fiction, history, literature, love, memoir, motherhood, piano, relationships, review, World War Two
Lessons by Ian McEwan
When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines’s life is turned upside down. 2,000 miles from his mother’s protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his pianoteacher Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later Roland’s … Read More Lessons by Ian McEwan
+ brothers, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, friendship, haunting, Historical fiction, kidnapping, literature, London, love, murder, police corruption, prostitution, revenge, review, secrets, sisters
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her … Read More Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
+ 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
The Other Side Of Night by Adam Hamdy
The Other Side of Night begins with a man named David Asha writing about his biggest regret: his sudden separation from his son, Elliot. In his grief, David tells a story. Next, we step into the life of Harriet Kealty, a police officer trying to clear her name after a lapse of judgment. She discovers a curious inscription in a secondhand book—a plea: Help me, he’s … Read More The Other Side Of Night by Adam Hamdy
+ child abduction, family, fiction, grief, kidnapping, lies, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, obsession, Psychological fiction, review, secrets, twins
Into The Woods by Lorraine Murphy
A lost child. A broken marriage. A ticking time bomb. Karen will do anything for her eight-year-old daughter, Scarlett. Even holding together a marriage that is way past broken. So when Scarlett disappears from their rural home, Karen is one hundred percent focused on a single goal – finding her little girl as soon as possible. #IntoTheWoods @MurphyLorr @inkubatorbooks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour And time is of … Read More Into The Woods by Lorraine Murphy
+ 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
+ adventure, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, grief, jealousy, lies, murder, police drama, relationships, revenge, review, secrets, serial killer, sisters, sixties, superstition, thriller
The Retreat by Sarah Pearse
Most are here to recharge and refresh. But someone’s here for revenge. . . An eco-wellness retreat has opened on an island off the English coast, promising rest and relaxation—but the island itself, known locally as Reaper’s Rock, has a dark past. Once the playground of a serial killer, it’s rumoured to be cursed. #TheRetreat @SarahVPearse #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour Detective Elin Warner is called to the retreat when a young woman’s body is found on the rocks below the yoga pavilion in what seems to be a tragic fall. … Read More The Retreat by Sarah Pearse
+ 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
+ brothers, family, fiction, grief, lies, obsession, Psychological fiction, revenge, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, thriller
The Lost Boy by Jane Renshaw
One island. Two women. A journey to hell. The Clarke family, Penny, Rod and their two young boys, are delighted when they are offered a holiday in a high-end guest house on a remote and beautiful island. Their hostess Anna seems like a lovely woman. But what the Clarkes don’t realise is that this is no random invitation, that Anna has carefully selected the family … Read More The Lost Boy by Jane Renshaw
+ crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, Iceland noir, lies, marriage, murder, Nordic noir, police drama, police procedural, Psychological fiction, review, Scandi noir, secrets, thriller, twins
Night Shadows (Forbidden Iceland #3) by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir translated by Victoria Cribb
The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects. What’s more, the dead man’s final online search raises fears that they could be investigating not one murder, but two. … Read More Night Shadows (Forbidden Iceland #3) by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir translated by Victoria Cribb
+ abuse, diary, domestic noir, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, lies, rape, relationships, review, secrets
Good Husbands by Cate Ray
Three wives, one letter, and an explosive secret that will change everything. He said, she said. Who do you believe? Jessica, Stephanie and Priyanka are complete strangers, but they have one thing in common: they’ve each received a letter accusing their husbands of committing a sexual assault more than two decades prior. Is the accusation true or is there more to the story? It … Read More Good Husbands by Cate Ray
+ 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
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