Tag: friendship
+ fiction, France, friendship, humour fiction, List, Magical realism, mystery, mythology, novel-in-emails, relationships, review, secrets, sisters, supernatural, twins, whimsical, writers, writers group
My Top 3 Books of 2021
It’s January 1st 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my three favourite books of 2021. Last year it was hard but not impossible. There were instant standouts. This year I have found it much harder. I have tried to include a mix of genres but I’ve definitely failed. Maybe I should simply call them all slightly ‘whimsical’. And if that is not where … Read More My Top 3 Books of 2021
+ adventure, child abduction, crime fiction, Detective novel, family, fiction, Freedom, friends, friendship, haunting, Historical fiction, holocaust, Inuit, kidnapping, List, literature, loss, love, Magical realism, murder, nazi germany, poland, police drama, Polish, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, secrets, World War Two
My Top 8 Books of 2021 – part four
Here are my favourite eight books of the fourth quarter of 2021. So far this has been a good year for books if for nothing else, so it was a really difficult decision. Please note that there may be books amongst the list that are not published until 2022, but these are books I have read this year and may be ARCs. The Flight of … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2021 – part four
+ childhood, family, fiction, Freedom, friendship, Historical fiction, holocaust, literature, loss, love, nazi germany, revenge, review, World War Two, WW2
The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab
Readers of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice. Maria Florkowska is many … Read More The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab
+ audio drama, Cat on a Piano, Christmas, friends, friendship, loneliness, podcast, radio play, review, Theatrephonic
Christmas at No 5 by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic
Merry Christmas!It’s the season of giving with ‘Christmas at No. 5’Friends are the family you choose. Four people (and one child) living in a block of flats in separate apartments. They speak to each other occasionally, even know each other’s names, but they never socialise, never even borrow the sugar or drop in for a cup of tea. Well it’s hard to admit you … Read More Christmas at No 5 by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic
+ Cornwall, fiction, France, friendship, Historical fiction, literature, loss, love, marriage, mental health, review, World War One
The Visitors by Caroline Scott 
Esme Nicholls is to spend the summer in Cornwall. Her late husband Alec, who died fighting in the war, grew up in Penzance, and she’s hoping to learn more about the man she loved and lost. While there, she will stay with Gilbert, in his rambling seaside house, where he lives with his former brothers in arms. Esme is fascinated by this community of … Read More The Visitors by Caroline Scott 
+ Covid, family, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, Galapagos, literature, loss, love, pandemic, relationships, review
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s … Read More Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
+ childhood, family, female friendship, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, literature, loss, love, review, secrets, sisters
The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
Tartelin has been employed by Marianne Stourbridge to hunt for butterflies, but she quickly uncovers something far more intriguing. The island and Marianne share a remarkable past, and what happened all those years ago has left its scars. The island has a strange effect on Tartelin, too, finally allowing her to confront her own, painful, memories. As she does, Marianne’s story begins to unravel … Read More The Unravelling by Polly Crosby
+ brothers, fiction, friendship, germany, Historical fiction, holocaust, jewish history, jews, Magical realism, nazi germany, racism, revenge, review, World War Two, WW2
Man of Clay by Alan Derosby
Retribution comes with a price 1930s GermanyKarl Auerbach escapes Buchenwald concentration camp. Ashamed of the truth of how he fled, Karl vows never to speak of the memories of his imprisonment. Present Day: Rhode IslandWhen Karl’s grandson Zachariah is faced with prejudice of his own and a close friend is subjected to a horrific assault, Karl knows he must finally confront the demons of … Read More Man of Clay by Alan Derosby
+ childhood, family, family drama, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, literature, loss, love, review, secrets
The Midwife’s Secret by Emily Gunnis
A little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor – the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets. When six-year-old Alice Hilton goes missing … Read More The Midwife’s Secret by Emily Gunnis
+ adventure, Arctic, art, childhood, family, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, Inuit, journal, literature, loss, love, memoir, racism, review, Scottish Highlands, secrets, sisters
A Woman Made of Snow by Elisabeth Gifford
A gorgeous, haunting, and captivating novel of a century-long family mystery in the wild of Scotland, and one woman’s hunt for the truth. Scotland, 1949: Caroline Gillan and her new husband Alasdair have moved back to Kelly Castle, his dilapidated family estate in the middle of nowhere. Stuck caring for their tiny baby, and trying to find her way with an opinionated mother-in-law, Caroline … Read More A Woman Made of Snow by Elisabeth Gifford
The Lie She Told by Catherine Yaffe
All Kate Wanted Was A Peaceful Life. All Ryan Wanted To Do Was Destroy it. Living in the remote Scottish Highlands under Witness Protection, life is finally happy for Kate Ward and her young son Joe, until someone from Kate’s past appears. Ryan Albright is the only person that knows all of Kate’s secrets, and what she had to do to escape her previous abusive … Read More The Lie She Told by Catherine Yaffe
+ family, fiction, forgiveness, friendship, Ghost story, haunting, jealousy, motherhood, review, supernatural
The Perfect House by RP Bolton
They’ve finally found their forever home. So why is it tearing them apart? A fresh startEllie knows she has found her dream home – number six Moss Lane. The place she and Tom can settle down, raise their new baby and start again. A dark secretBut why do their new neighbours think they’re so brave for moving in? Why are Ellie’s keys never where … Read More The Perfect House by RP Bolton
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