
I’m going to let you into a secret about book bloggers. When it comes to blog tour invites we’re like kids in a sweet shop. I knew I’d be moving around this time this year, but when the emails roll in it’s so tempting to say yes and think about the consequences later. So, in the month I attempt to move two adults, two teenagers, a dog, two cats and over 1500 books (yes I counted) I took on seven blog tours. Four of them in the week of moving, and having to use my other half’s phone as a hot spot because he had the broadband turned off three days too early. We are existing with only four of everything in the kitchen, and walking around sideways through corridors of boxes marked ‘Books Hallway’, ‘Books Office’ and ‘HAYLEY’S MARCH TBR DO NOT TOUCH’. This is only the first phase too. The next weekend is when my furniture comes that’s been in storage. When I met my other half he was living in a three storey town house and I was in a tiny barn. When it came to moving in together it had to be the townhouse because we couldn’t all fit in my tiny barn. Of course we were so in love that waiting and buying something later simply wasn’t an option. Three years ago it was’i love you, I can’t live without you’; last night as I was going to sleep I apparently said ‘I’ll never leave you; I couldn’t face the packing’. My vertigo is playing up, I have one swollen eyelid and I’m having nightmares about catching two semi-feral cats on Friday morning. Despite this it’s been a great month for books,
Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium was an unsettling read for someone who gets claustrophobic and the author used cleverly layered ideas and images to push that sense of being trapped. The Sanatorium was a rehabilitation hospital for people with TB in Switzerland; being trapped in your body and struggling for breath is in the very DNA of this building. Redesigned by a famous architect, it is now a luxury hotel where Elin and her boyfriend Will have been invited to celebrate her brother’s engagement. Our heroine, Elin, has panic attacks and is haunted by the thought of drowning. The remote location, prone to becoming cut off by avalanche, feels like it’s weighed down by its own past. Added to this was the sinister sound of breathing through a mask, as a killer stalks the grounds and the halls in a black, rubber gas mask. With so many secrets to unearth, Elin tries to rely on her police training to investigate, but until her own family secrets are uncovered can she unmask the killer and their motives? This was a great thriller, full of atmosphere and built on a sinister history.
Also set in Switzerland and full of family secrets is Caroline Bishop’s debut novel The Other Daughter. Part historical fiction and part dissection of mother/daughter relationships this is a dual timeline structure that works well. In the present day, Jess is learns a shocking secret about her birth that affects her so strongly she is struggling to function. Her godmother suggests she take a sabbatical from work and look for answers surrounding her mother and time she spent in Switzerland researching the women’s rights movement. Switzerland didn’t give women the vote until the 1970s, a fact that has always shocked me. Our other timeline follows journalist Sylvie as she pitches the idea for a story to her boss, and takes a research trip out to Switzerland. The truth comes to light slowly as Jess tries to uncover what happened, then Sylvie’s chapter show us what it was like to be there at that time. I found myself drawn in by these interesting women, such well rounded and believable characters. The sense of place was very strong in Switzerland and London and it’s clear that an awful lot of research went into bringing this chapter of history to life. The book made me think again about who gets to write history, and how much we need journalists like Sylvie to bring another part of the jigsaw to light. A brilliant debut about women’s rights, but also relationships between mothers and daughters.
Another book about mothers and daughters is Helen Fisher’s brilliant time-hop novel Spacehopper. I was a child of the 1970s/early 1980s so much of the background of this novel felt strangely familiar. Faye lost her mother when she was very young, so knows how important it is to create moments and family traditions for her daughters Esther and Evie. When looking for Christmas decorations in the attic, Faye finds an old box that has moved with her from house to house. It’s the box for the space hopper her Mum Jeanie bought for her one Christmas. It brings back so many memories of wonderful times she had with her Mum, but also stirs up the emotions of finding herself alone in the world. Faye has a photograph of the day she unwrapped this box and it is her only tangible link with her mother. Although Jeanie isn’t in the picture, it’s just Faye stood in the box, everything about it is suffused with love and it makes her realise how much she lost when her mum died. As she stands in the box once more, Faye finds herself back in the 1970s under their old Christmas tree. She’s now an intruder in her childhood home, which means her six year old self and her mum are both asleep upstairs. I loved the audacity of the concept, it made me smile and I trusted the author to take me somewhere special. This is a curious mix of time travel, loss and the relationships between mothers and daughters. It asks the question of whether we can ever truly know our mothers and would we sacrifice our ‘now’ to spend just one more day with the person we’ve lived and lost. Humorous, heartfelt and so incredibly charming, I really loved this incredible debut.
A much darker tale of mothers and daughters emerges in this atmospheric slice of Nordic Noir written by two of the genres best writers and the second in their Blixx and Ramm series. Smokescreen starts with a bang, as on New Years Eve a bomb goes off at the harbour where revellers are gathering for the countdown to midnight. Journalist, Emma Ramm, has escaped her flat, and visiting boyfriend Casper, for some air and alone time when a bomb explodes in a dustbin, killing those closest and injuring dozens of others. Emma is shocked to find Casper, fatally injured at the centre of the explosion – he must have set out to meet her. Detective Alexander Blixx is soon on the scene and his attention is drawn to a body found in the water, someone he remembers from a previous case. Could one of them find who left the bomb? Is there a link with the cold case of a missing child that haunts Blixx? This book starts at a steady pace, slowly adding tension – one scene of a lone hotel worker followed as she’s walking home really stood out for me. As revelations come thick and fast you will not want to put this down.
One Night, New York is another novel that becomes addictive the further you read. Frances flees the Great Depression in Kansas for New York City life with her brother Stan. On the train she meets a bohemian pair, a journalist and photographer, who are fascinated by her untouched beauty and give her their card. So starts a tale of corruption, crime and exploitation that begins and ends with a tense stand off at the top of the Empire State Building. As Frances is introduced to art, fashion, champagne and the decadent 1930s, her brother Stan is embroiled in the dark underworld beneath the glamour. Girls are going missing; young naive girls lured into the sex trade or as escorts to wealthy and powerful men. Frances befriends Agnes, the photographers assistant and for the first time has a true soulmate. Agnes holds a terrible secret, her sister is one of the disappeared and she knows who’s responsible. Frances has a secret too, the terrible reasons she left Kansas. Highlighting the differences between rural poverty and city exes, Frances finds that newcomers are expendable in Manhattan and no one is who they seem. I loved Frances at once and although she left Kansas with no innocence to lose, there was still an awakening of sorts: a sensual awareness of art, fabrics, photography and her own sexual desire. She’d seen very little kindness in her life and I found myself hoping for happiness.
Finally, comes Liz Kessler’s novel about three childhood friends in Vienna before the start of WW2. As the Nazis begin to make their presence felt in Europe these three friends will find their paths going in different directions. This novel really does show evil, as it’s experienced by innocent children. Leo, Elsa and Max spend all their time together in and outside of school, but things are about to change. Told in three narratives, from each child’s point of view, we experience first hand their confusion, sadness and fear as life changes. From Jewish families, Elsa and Leo have different options: one family chooses to leave Vienna and the other stays for the Nazi occupation. It was heart rending to see Leo and Max separated at school, especially to hear their inner thoughts wondering why, when nothing has changed since yesterday? I was moved by Max, whose father is determined to further his position in the party, by openly violent means if necessary. When he forces his son to shout anti-Jewish slogans out of the window, despite him not believing them, I was so sad for him. Even worse is seeing their rise as a family within the SS and Max’s slow brainwashing into the youth movement. This is a great book for adults and young adults alike and packs quite an emotional punch.
So that’s my February. In March I’m looking forward to some great blog tours including Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone, The Favour by Laura Vaughan and A Beautiful Spy by Rachel Hore. I’m also reviewing Until Next Weekend by Rachel Marks, Bound by Vanda Symon and the wonderful We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan.