This is the first-but definitely not the last-book I will read by Sheryl Browne if they are all like 'The seWOW!
I totally agree with all of the above!
This is the first-but definitely not the last-book I will read by Sheryl Browne if they are all like 'The second Wife'.
The second wife of the title is Nicole,who was hoping that her marriage to Richard would be everything that her first was not-love,happiness and children were all she ever wanted.
So why did she kill herself?
And what is the real story of his first wife's death?
Rebecca,Nicole's childhood best friend,full of regret for drifting apart, has her suspicions.
Richard, his daughter Olivia, and their perfect house and life look just too good to be true...or is there something even darker and more deadly than anyone could guess at beneath the gleaming veneer?
Told in alternating timelines of Nicole's last year and Rebecca of now,it races forward until both stories collide and then goes.on to a stunning finale I did not see coming.
Merged review:
WOW!
I totally agree with all of the above!
This is the first-but definitely not the last-book I will read by Sheryl Browne if they are all like 'The second Wife'.
The second wife of the title is Nicole,who was hoping that her marriage to Richard would be everything that her first was not-love,happiness and children were all she ever wanted.
So why did she kill herself?
And what is the real story of his first wife's death?
Rebecca,Nicole's childhood best friend,full of regret for drifting apart, has her suspicions.
Richard, his daughter Olivia, and their perfect house and life look just too good to be true...or is there something even darker and more deadly than anyone could guess at beneath the gleaming veneer?
Told in alternating timelines of Nicole's last year and Rebecca of now,it races forward until both stories collide and then goes.on to a stunning finale I did not see coming....more
Maybe the beginning is the best place for a book so damn good it gave me whiplash and possible permanant injury to my jaw from itOMG where do I start?
Maybe the beginning is the best place for a book so damn good it gave me whiplash and possible permanant injury to my jaw from it hitting the floor.
From the start it gave me ‘Rebecca’ vibes to read about an engagement party to which the bride to be, Claire, is not really engaged with. Following an excruciating speech by her father in law, and a brief description of her and Angus’ whirlwind romance you wonder where this book is going.
She obviously had a thing with a person named Daniel which hurt her really badly so is Angus a safe bet? He comes across as a complete tool and someone that Claire, with her high pressured, high profile job as an immigration lawyer would not connect with. I didn’t like him at all so when she begins a relationship with Mark, the Daniel look a like who owns the house she come to view for their marriage home, you raise your hand and squeak a cautious ‘you go girl!’
But he is far from a safe bet and as you reel from events happening now to events of 5 years ago, you begin to be teased with little details so as you are thinking ‘right so this happened then.. ok, I am getting it ..WAIT WHAT?!’
I cannot say too much without giving plot points away but honestly, it’s a great book, available in ebook and paperback now.
Merged review:
OMG where do I start?
Maybe the beginning is the best place for a book so damn good it gave me whiplash and possible permanant injury to my jaw from it hitting the floor.
From the start it gave me ‘Rebecca’ vibes to read about an engagement party to which the bride to be, Claire, is not really engaged with. Following an excruciating speech by her father in law, and a brief description of her and Angus’ whirlwind romance you wonder where this book is going.
She obviously had a thing with a person named Daniel which hurt her really badly so is Angus a safe bet? He comes across as a complete tool and someone that Claire, with her high pressured, high profile job as an immigration lawyer would not connect with. I didn’t like him at all so when she begins a relationship with Mark, the Daniel look a like who owns the house she come to view for their marriage home, you raise your hand and squeak a cautious ‘you go girl!’
But he is far from a safe bet and as you reel from events happening now to events of 5 years ago, you begin to be teased with little details so as you are thinking ‘right so this happened then.. ok, I am getting it ..WAIT WHAT?!’
I cannot say too much without giving plot points away but honestly, it’s a great book, available in ebook and paperback now....more
The way that Amanda Berriman creates, and then carries the voice of pre-schooler, Jesika over the course of 'Home' is truly astounding. It could have The way that Amanda Berriman creates, and then carries the voice of pre-schooler, Jesika over the course of 'Home' is truly astounding. It could have become wearisome, as the narrative is written in the way that a 4.5 year old would speak, but as with real life, the clear and innocent observations that Jesika makes are rounded out by the experience of adults.
So , for example, when she is in pre-school and overhears her teachers taking about 'another Baby P,' she thinks they are comparing the children to baby peas whilst the adult reader gets the implications loud and clear. Safeguarding, child protection and keeping a family together are all noticeable to the adult reader, but so is their inalienable right to a place to call home. It's the very basic foundation of a life, the bottom layer of Maslow's famous triangle is the most important one on which a person can build up to self actualisation. However, where we live and how we create a home is, in modern times, often at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords,councils and a society that reinforces the idea that people like Tina do not deserve a good home-what she has and where her children live is enough 'for the likes of her.'
Through Jesika's eyes we see the colours of her world, her love for her mum and her brother,Toby. It's a world full of contradictions but threaded through, consistently, with love and dreams and hope. It's a beautiful, horrible, heartbreaking read that I embraced wholeheartedly as a reader, holding this small family so close and turning each page, hoping on the next one that Toby's cough would have gotten better, that Tina,their mother, would have a better home or some support at least and that Jesika isn't playing join the dots with the mould on her walls.
This is a book of great beauty and honesty and I am not ashamed to say that it broke me in reading it-it's more than a book it is a lived experience and so common to so many houses and communities that I could relate to this so much. But at the same time, no one should be living like they are. It's grounded, as the best fiction is,, in reality but through the eyes of Jesika, the world is painted in colours and hope for the small pleasures that she takes such joy in. I would absolutely join her in eating jam sandwiches every day, they are the best kind.
Please read and love this book and hold this small family to your heart, it is a wonderful, life affirming read with such strength and warmth in it....more
I LOVE a good anthology and this is not just good , it is great. It covers the fields I love most to read-sci fi, fantasy and horror-and it’s concept I LOVE a good anthology and this is not just good , it is great. It covers the fields I love most to read-sci fi, fantasy and horror-and it’s concept is intriguing.
They are literal outcasts from daylight and people who haunt-literally-the hours of dusk throught the witching hour and beyond.
Shadows during day , they are free to emerge at night and symbolically represent the darkening of the soul-at night, without the glare of sunlight humans and inhumans alike can throw off the pretence of civility and wear their true faces.
Antologies, like compilation albums, usually hit a dud note somehwere, but this book is pitch perfect-the combination of authors all interlinked by micro stories from China Mieville, introduce you to authors you may not have heard of before, or those you know of are writing in different fields than you would expect.
The stories range from witchcraft, relationships , body horror and sci fi and each takes you to a place of thoughtfulness and contemplation with the palate cleanser of the micro story before moving on to the next one.
I could not pick my favourite, but the twist on the #MeToo story, ‘It was a different time’ by Will Hill is a standout for this reader as is ‘This Place Of Thorns’ by Marina Warner, is who one of my most admired deconstructors of myth and fable, as well as brilliant fiction writer.
Thanks to Tracy Fenton and Rebellion Publishing for my gifted copy of ‘The Outcast Hours’ which I was so grateful to receive, and have read twice already!...more
This is one of the phrases used by the father of Lizzie Lemalk, Salocin (Nicolas, backwards, as in Nicolas Flamel,”It’s not a life, it’s an adventure”
This is one of the phrases used by the father of Lizzie Lemalk, Salocin (Nicolas, backwards, as in Nicolas Flamel, scientist and presumed alchemist).
In this , the third in the series by Eva Jordan, explores Salacin’s past in London of the 1960’s whilst in the present, Lizzie and her family are interviewed by the police in connection with the death of celebrity, Hunter Black.
Beyond family ties, what links these two time periods? Eva Jordan skillfully weaves a narrative that pulls the threads of belonging, of family connections together across a multi layered novel that deserves to be savoured, rather than devoured whole.
I had not read the previous novels, but now intend to-‘Time Will tell’ can be read as a stand alone, however, I think it will mean more to read them in order. I took my time and enjoyed the complex, layered narrative as I got to grips with this sprawling family and their travels in time.
Many thanks to Eva Jordan and Love Books Tours for having me on board the blog tour!...more
The story is compelling, the setting even more so and I can completely see how people have compared Teresa Battaglia to Ann Cleeve’s Wow! What a book!
The story is compelling, the setting even more so and I can completely see how people have compared Teresa Battaglia to Ann Cleeve’s Vera Stanhope– both irascible women in their 60’s who bow to no man.
Teresa’s subordinate, Massimo Marini makes a fabulous first impression at the primary murder scene-he introduces himself to the male police officer never once assuming his new boss could be a woman!
The murder scene drips in icy intensity and eerieness, a feeling that only increases as the book progresses. The first victim is found, face down, naked and surrounded by small boobytraps to preserve the scene for maximum impact. Further away , at the edge of the Traveni woods but in view of the corpse is an effigy dressed in the dead man’s clothes.
But where are the victims eyes?
More bodies begin to pile up, as the story switches between now, and the mysterious ‘School’ in the late 1970’s Austria, just on the other side of the Alps ,where sinister experiments are conducted in the ward known as ‘The Hive’.
40 subjects are being observed in The Hive, by nuns who ‘Observe, record, forget’ whatever it is that they do in the room where the subjects live-they are all unexceptinal except for subject 39 who is not responding to the experiment as he should. How the two storylines dovetail is an intriguing and pleasing process to follow.
Gory, mysterious, tense and genuinely chilling,’Flowers Over The Volcano’ is at once both novel of suspense and loveletter to the author’s homeland and the power of women who will not be intimidated.
I look forward to reading more of Teresa Battaglia’s cases through the rest of the trilogy!...more
This debut offering, very cleverly uses the history of the eponymous hotel to run alongside the history of the Sheridan family. Springing from the unlThis debut offering, very cleverly uses the history of the eponymous hotel to run alongside the history of the Sheridan family. Springing from the unlikely friendship between a railway steward and Laurence Olivier, it begins with a deadline for Charlie Sheridan to find £10,000 to save the hotel, and goes back in time to Franco Sheridan starting ‘The Belle Hotel’.
Poised on the edge of losing everything that matters to him, Charlie has to reassess how he has ended up here and what he can do to rectify matters before his luck runs out.
Very cleverly drawing a parrallel to the social and econmic hostory across 40 decades, from the 70’s to now, Craig Melvin uses recipes that spark nostalgia and really help the reader reflect on times gone by and food related fashion.
‘The Belle Hotel’ has a very distinctive style and is a striking debut from an author with an instinctive knowledge of exactly what he wants to say....more
Edited by Martha Harris, ‘Through My Good Eye’ by Rebecca Holland is a memoir written in verse and I am hopeful this is the first of many publicationsEdited by Martha Harris, ‘Through My Good Eye’ by Rebecca Holland is a memoir written in verse and I am hopeful this is the first of many publications from her.
Beckie kindly asked me to review her poetry and I was only too happy to as she is a constant ray of sunshine and promoter of positivity on Twitter-where we first met- and I was keen to see how her vision translated into poems.
She is such an advocate for disability awareness, acceptance of people in all their forms for better and for worse that her name is a joy to spot amongst your Twitter feed. She has limited vision but these poems explore what vision is-how we see and how we perceive are not always the same thing.
‘Through My Good Eye’ means so much more than at first appears, the beauty of the world can be experienced through more than just one of the senses.
Those who may be put off reading this because of the religious angle of Beckie being a reverend are doing both themselves and her a disservice. I am not a follower of any organised religion, preferring instead to find my own way, but what is written about here has so many ways of being transposed to a non religious way of being, just life in general, that I would thoroughly recommend just even trying one poem and see for yourself.
One of my favourites, for example, deals with imposter syndrome-it has a universal application in my humble opinion.
Here is a taster of ‘Failure’
‘It is the same beast
That accuses me in the dark
With hate filled whispers,
“Lose weight Do better
Wake up pretty
Look busy
Don’t let them down.”
When I wake
It stares at me from the bathroom mirror
It sneers, “Not good enough.”
Then it follows me
Out the door
To a new day.
Failure
Is a word that follows me’
It is as extremely powerful, body based, richly toned debut book which I wholeheartedly recommend as it has such life affirming pieces, thought provoking words and a deeply felt sense of heart.
At 32 pages long, it is absolutely something worth taking time out of your day to read, and over which to linger.
Vision is not merely limited to seeing with one pair of functioning eyes-seeing through to the true colours of the heart is something you do with all of your soul....more
Mike O’Shea declares that the only 2 definites in police work are death and coffee-but in his second outing that cup of java which will keep him goingMike O’Shea declares that the only 2 definites in police work are death and coffee-but in his second outing that cup of java which will keep him going through the long hours of a shift seems surprisingly elusive.Death, on the other hand, is having a field day.
Struggling with the aftermath of his last big case, with a killer still on the loose, Mike is testifying in a paedophile court case that should be open and shut but is dragging interminably along. He is working so much that his family life is falling apart in front of his eyes if only he was at home long enough to see it. Add in his new, ex-Traffic police, by the book partner, Ron and you have a recipe for an intense police procedural .
In the midst of solving his newest case of a one legged man-a neat touch by the author in my humble opinion-details from Book 1 keep popping up in unexpected places . The way that Desmond Ryan ties in these cases whilst teasing the reader into wanting more is genius.
The realistic way that Mike is portrayed is so down to earth, he is juggling so many repsonsibilities that he has ignored his duty to himself-it is not until he comes face to face with a future version of himself that he gets the wake up call that he needs.
The glue that holds personal and professional together is his confidant Julia, and his mother for whom non attendance at her famous Sunday dinners is only acceptable in the case of death.
This book is everything I needed in a followup to ‘The Funeral’, now I just need the release date for Book 3 please !!...more
It begins with a retrospective,shocking act of violence, quickly followed by the modern day discovery of a woman’s scarf, the evidence that Olivia hasIt begins with a retrospective,shocking act of violence, quickly followed by the modern day discovery of a woman’s scarf, the evidence that Olivia has been looking for to end her 10 year marriage.
‘As Sick As Our Secrets’ is absolutely not for the faint hearted-I would have to agree! Olivia and Richard would seem to be a power couple. He is a business man who manages a charity which supports abused women and children. They have it all…and yet…
Olivia has grown up after a traumatic childhood to replace her abusive parent with a gaslighting husband, a vile mother in law who can’t stand her and even her housekeeper is a complete bitch-you literally stare at the page in disbelief when you read they have been married so long and realise this is exactly what people say to abused women-‘Why did you stay?’
They never ask, ‘What stopped you from leaving?’ You are both witness and voyeur to what each of them has done to get where they are with a third narrator, Ashley, being the ballast between them.
Her tiny acts of rebellion such as spitting in his shoes, hiding a page from the very middle of a report and so on are the only measures of control she has over her life. So when she finds the evidence of aother woman, she looks a little further and finds that her husband might actually be the Fifty Shades killer who is terrorising their city. But who does she turn to when trapped in this sham of a marriage? And is she even right?
Olivia’s only friends are Ashley and Betty, they start to put the pieces together after one of Ashely’s patients goes missing and the answer may lie in what Olivia has found in her husband’s office.
What you have is a symbiotic relationship between a psychopathic man, raised by a psychopathic mother who continues to exert an unholy control on her adult son and his damaged wife. He presents a front, a part of which is his ‘successful’ marriage, but behind closed doors, who knows what goes on when each spouse has secrets that bind them together in a twisted, matrimonial dance?
There were things I had to go back and re-read in order to clarify plot points, the changing narratives mean you have to slow down and close read-speed reading or skimming is absolutely not an option.
The only bones I would have to pick is that, as a dyslexic and dyspraxic reader, the formatting of the book made it hard to read. The text was not formatted well, so the on the left hand of the page the sentences were parrallel but the right of the page was completely uneven and had a huge margin. The lines were very close together,with no paragraph breaks, and the text took up only 1/2 the page so there was a massive, uneven gap to the right and it made it hard to read.
Otherwise, it was a really good read that kept me guessing!...more
Marian is married to Dean, and in a co-parenting arrangement with her ex, Tommy who is Brielle’s father. As Briella grows up, she has noticed, as haveMarian is married to Dean, and in a co-parenting arrangement with her ex, Tommy who is Brielle’s father. As Briella grows up, she has noticed, as have her teachers, health visitors and drs that Briella is super smart, and when she starts school, she is put on the gifted programme. Constant worry about making ends meet versus Tommy being held up as a paragon of virtue and a endless wallet causes friction between Dean, Briella’s step father and Marian is caught between them.
The house is constantly on a knife edge, Briella has no friends at school and whilst Marian tries no to panic that her daughter is different to a point where she is a concern.Her worries are confirmed when she befriends a raven whom she names Onyx, and who, bizarrely, saves Briella’s life. And then things begin to get really strange… Black WIngs’ is so well written, there is a creeping sense of menace where you are unsure if Marian is an over protective mother, is Briella super clever or a danger to herself and others? The raven is known in classical mythology as a psychopomp, a device used to great effect in ‘The Dark Half’ by Stephen King.
Is Onyx there for good reasons or bad? How will Brielle react when Marian falls pregnant and why are there suddenly deaths and accidents happening around them?
Marian is a fabulously drawn character, she fiercely loves her daughter and fights for her depite not always understanding her own child. Briella tells her on many occasions that she is smarter than her and she absolutely runs rings around Dean, Marian and Tommy.
In this family situation, Megan Hart has constructed a seamless sense of unease and tension that tightens itself around the reader , like a noose, until freeing you on the very last page…or does she?
Translated by Kari Dickson,.‘Inborn’ by Thomas Enger is published by Orenda Books and is out now in paperback,audiobook and ebook formats.
This Y.A reaTranslated by Kari Dickson,.‘Inborn’ by Thomas Enger is published by Orenda Books and is out now in paperback,audiobook and ebook formats.
This Y.A read is a cross between a court room drama and a small town expose in the light of a social media crossfire. Old secrets resurface and blame is cast on a not always reliable narrator as the village of Fredheim reels in the aftermath of 2 teens being murdered.
The shocking opener, followed by contrasting narratives between Even, the priniciple narrator and Yngve Mork, the investigating officer provide neat parrallels to the events of that night.
Normally with a whodunnit, you want to skip through the chapters, racing towards the end, however, in ‘Inborn’, you want to find out more about these characters and read more slowly, even though the fast paced, short chapters rattle you through the story.
Yngve is struggling in the aftermath of his wife dying, his guilt is such a hard weight to bear, but he has to put his feelings aside as the villagers look to him to solve the most shocking event to occur in their midst. Their need to feel safe is superceded by the right for justice to be seen to be done so as soon as Even is named . by an unknown source, as the killer on social media, and Even responds, he is automatically in the firing line of families literally baying for blood.
And even Even himself isn’t sure what has happened or why his girlfriend, Mari, was looking into the supposed accidental death of Even’s father.Are killers created , is it their destiny to become one and how society deals with this are all examined as Even is himelf-the reader is constantly on the edge of their seat waiting for the killer to be revealed, hoping it isn’t Even because of the insight you have into his mind, but at the same time, if it wasn’t him, then who was it?
In ‘Inborn’, Thomas Enger has created an intelligent, suspense driven narrative that delves deep into the effect of careless words typed hastily in response to a horrific tragedy, presents unreliable characters and drives home a sharply defined thriller.
Anyone who might disregard a book simply because of its Y.A classifiction does both themselves and the book a disservice. Because in my humble opinion, a great story told is purely that and people could try not to limit themselves by being reductive in this manner. It is an intelligent, well written book that I would have absolutely loved to have read as a teen!
‘Inborn’ is a magnifying glass to the behaviour of those in small towns or villages illuminated by the magnifying glass of social media wherein old values and new collide in the court of both law and public opinion. A truly first class read!...more
'Gallowstree Lane' is a police procedural which tackles a very real and prevalent issue without undermining it, and using it as a platform.It is sayin'Gallowstree Lane' is a police procedural which tackles a very real and prevalent issue without undermining it, and using it as a platform.It is saying that gangland violence is real, it happens and there is no honour in dying for a cause like Spencer did. It happens way too often, is morally unacceptable and these children are being preyed upon and used until they ultimately it is too late.
The investigation into Spencer's death and it's ensuing effects are played out across a timeframe for what you imagine is real life police work amidst interdepartmental wrangling-it then races towards a climatic showdown between those responsible and those searching to bring justice in death to a boy who was so ill served any in his short life.
It is the third in the series but you can absolutely read this without reading the others , as a stand alone novel, but I will definitely be seeking out the other 2 in the series....more
As a university student, the details of the life that Mike and his friends lead is very recognisable and notable for its authenticity. They aren’t carAs a university student, the details of the life that Mike and his friends lead is very recognisable and notable for its authenticity. They aren’t caricatures of a student, they are totally people that you knew during your time there. My reaction to them was very real in that I found them entitled, annoying and wished they wouldn’t be so flippant in their attitudes, much like the ones I see on a daily basis.
The pains that the author goes to to paint a rich and varied landscape are clear-I have never visited Scotland, or St Andrews in particular, but it feels as though you are walking down the streets , so clearly are the buildings and seascape rendered.
Mike was a hard character to get to know, it is a slowly burning character study of an emerging man who is hit with a tragedy before he really gets time to process it.
His casual attitude towards Charlie, the girl he takes home with him and who is subsequently found , dead, the nex day, and his aggressive language I found alarming-along with Charlie’s willingness to go home with him after he spoke to her that way on the very night they met.
I was unsure if this was a plot device to point out Charlie’s flaws , or to make Mike a suspect in her death but I foudn their entire encounter uncomfortable.
What I found interesting was the study of grief-did Mike actually deserve to be grieving after only knowing Charlie for one night? Was his process authentic? This is a question that only the individual reader can answer. However, I liked the juxtaposition of Mike being involved in an archaeological dig and uncovering the past as he literally buries his feelings in the present.
I did enjoy reading this book and am grateful for the opportunity to read ‘Material Remains’, and would recommend it, however I felt that Charlie was a victim of the story and was sidelined . She is introduced and dispatched very quickly and then a whole situation is created that she is not really a part of. But again, this is authentic as in real life, a death belongs to the people who remember them, rather than the person that it has happened to.
A very intriguing read that you really need to focus on and work at, and gets you thinking, ‘Material Remains’ by Richard W.H Bray is definitely worth investing your time in....more
Orenda Books have an established and critically acclaimed selection of translated works, and reading 'Beton Rouge', it is easy to understand why. It'sOrenda Books have an established and critically acclaimed selection of translated works, and reading 'Beton Rouge', it is easy to understand why. It's sharp, biting novel that at 186 pages packs in lots of story and characters without ever feeling overloaded.
Chastity Riley is on of those characters that gets under your skin, like the Hamburg fog, you don't realise she is in there until you are bone deep into the story. Her relationship with her new partner is precariously balanced, her friends minimal and she likes to control her personal life as much as her work life.
'Here's the hot iron,the saw,the squared timber.Here are the rusty pliers and all the bis of old dental kit.
The blocks of wood,the willow rods,the belts.
So,now, here's the question:with or without chloroform?'
Shudders, right?
Why has someone decided to display, like circus animals, 2 publishing managers? Tortured, humiliated and literally as well metaphorically exposed, the police have not only a hard time figuring out who done it, but how it was done with no witnesses and many thinking the men got their due.
Add in a narrator who makes you feel like you are living in her stream of consciouness, the landscape of Hamburg which is a character in and of itself plus a unique writing style which has me clamouring to read 'Blue Night' and follow where Chastity Riley goes next, and you have a winning combination of noir thriller.
My grateful thanks to Anne Cater and Karen Sullivan for my gifted copy of 'Beton Rouge' in return for an honest review....more
The Funeral is a very good bridge between the first two books in the Mike O Shea series, following, as it does, directly from ’10-33 Assist PC’.
The epThe Funeral is a very good bridge between the first two books in the Mike O Shea series, following, as it does, directly from ’10-33 Assist PC’.
The eponymous event is the subject of the novella and as hard as I found it to read-no spoilers on whose funeral it is-it was also absolutely fascinating .
How do you balance the need of the public servants who want to turn out in solidarity with their fallen comrade and the need to remember the wishes of the family?
In his inimitable style, grounded in the reality of having attended too many of these himself, Desmond P Ryan brings humanity, tears and a light touch of humour to a topic that could be too sad to read about.
It also provides a fascinating insight into just how a state funeral is organised in Canada and how complex the machinations are with the press who the police both need and despise their need for.
It was difficult not to read it without causing tears, it is a special kind of alchemy that a writer has when in one short novel they can introduce and dispatch a character who makes an impact as this one did.
It can be read on its own but I would thoroughly recommend reading the first book because it is just so good.....more
This short story collection comprises of 18 stories which cover all of the procession of life from before birth, to after death. Divided into 3 parts This short story collection comprises of 18 stories which cover all of the procession of life from before birth, to after death. Divided into 3 parts which cover loosely states childhood, adulthood and being elderly, they are bite sized snapshots that form the steps from womb to tomb.
Lyrical and poetic, the stories build upon each other without being directly connected to each other although, I felt a thread ran from story 1 to story 18, and that they were perhaps autobiographical in nature (based on the author dedication and notes at the end).
Each covers a moment in time which could be memories,could be happening right now or what lies ahead of us. They are experiences within most of us to envisage such as waiting for Father Christmas, visiting the corner shop, doing something that seems like a herculean task with great satisfaction,only for the bigger kid, or adult, to come along and ruin it.
Friendship, neighbourly-ness, work and play are all under the microscope in these tales reassessing and reaffirming life with each step....more
This is a pocket manual, a guidebook, a Jimminy Cricket prescence that can be kept in your purse/bag/back pocket and is full of affirmations.
Going froThis is a pocket manual, a guidebook, a Jimminy Cricket prescence that can be kept in your purse/bag/back pocket and is full of affirmations.
Going from A-Z ,it aims to provide moments of clarity , a sense of grounding and an awareness of your part in a larger whole,
It is definitely coming with me on clinical placements as a reminder to destress oneself and remind oneself that actually, you are doing ok!
It will be the one self help/self care manual that I would not throw away in disgust at not making me magically ten stone lighter by eating a certain way or setting me on a path to enlightenment in 10 easy steps-what this manual does so well it reminds you that the power is within you.
You cannot change the actions of others, however, you have the power to change how it affects you.
Enlightening, uplifting and real, this is everything it says it is-a manual for your mindset...more
The Beauty of the Wolf' is every bit as rich and stunning as you would expect from having read Sally Gardner's other works, hwever, I can see from othThe Beauty of the Wolf' is every bit as rich and stunning as you would expect from having read Sally Gardner's other works, hwever, I can see from other reviews that some readers regarded it as Y.A. It is absolutely an adult novel, as apart from the language and sexual content,it reads like one.
However, I can completely appreciate the confusion as there have been quite a few retellings of fairy tales, most of which have been aimed at the Y.A market over the last year-but I personally think it unfair to judge a book by its (rather luscious) cover design.
The book is full of allegories-set in the time of Elizabeth the 1st, this is world where ‘modern’ thinking is set against superstition, old ways versus new.
And, as usual, when the world changes it is the rights of women and the ways of nature which get steamrolled over in man’s urge to build the tallest house (the House of Three Turrets in this case) or subvert long held beliefs (the treatment of the Widow Bott, midwife and herbalist).
Warned not to cut down any more sacred oaks by the sorceress who lives in the forest, the arrogant and cruel Lord Rodermere ignores her pleas and invites a curse upon his family.
However, as with the best of fairy tales, there is not always a cut and dried solution to the curse. Firstly, the son,Beau, whose beauty will be not only the undoing of him but also the death of his father,is not easily conceived so the sorceress and fae folf intervene.Then, the wording of the sorceress’ plea, written in gold on an oak tree chopped down by Rodermere, is open to interpretation…
I genuinely loved this book, the twist on the tale, the historical setting, the unsahamedly feminist plot-I finished the book wanting more! It’s very intimate, as though written like a bedtime story for adults and manages to weave together a time of upheaval (the destruction of the monasteries courtesy of Elizabeth’s father)the destruction of the environment and themes of greed and selfishness so well that you cannot see the stitiching.
And at the centre of it is Beau, the child whose beauty will kill his father (almost like a reverse Medusa)and Randa, daughter of an alchemist left to fend for herself after her father is taken by Rodermere,in a world where beauty and appearance is prized more than moral fibre or character.
Their story is the beating heart of ‘The Beauty of the Wolf’ and this is what I loved most of all-it is the centre of this forest entangled by the machinations of all around them that keeps you reading to the very last page.
As always, this is just this humble reader’s opinion, but I would recommend this if you enjoy the work of Katherine Dunn, Angela Carter,Theodora Goss and Sarah Waters....more
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