It’s been a busy month at home so there’s been a little bit less reading, but what I have read I’ve really enjoyed. As is often the case it’s a straight split between historical fiction and crime. Weirdly it’s also a straight split between debuts and books that are the third in a series. There are some definite contenders for my favourite books of the year too. I hope to be reading a bit more in May, getting back into my stride with a couple of blog tours and a read with my squad ladies too. One things for sure, I’ve enjoyed mood reading so much that I’m not going to overload myself with tours going forward. I’d forgotten the joy of picking up whatever suits, rather than having a rigid schedule, My bank holiday is going to be quiet with plenty of reading and journaling. We’re planning to spend some of it outdoors, accompanying my other half fishing. Just us, the dog, my comfy camp bed and outdoor cooking. Usually I end up sharing my bed with the dog because it’s so comfy. I’ll also be taking a book of course. ❤️📚
I really do enjoy my time spent in Molly the Maid’s world. It’s one of those books where I find myself smiling as I read. It only takes a couple of sentences for me to feel like I never left her world. In some ways her life could be seen as unchanged. She’s still Molly, as wholly herself as ever, living in her late grandmother’s flat with her fiancé Juan, chef at the Regency Grand. In other ways things have changed, Molly manages the maids and has become ‘Events Manager’ so she’s definitely gone up in the world at work. Two events loom in the near future – Molly and Juan’s wedding at City Hall is on the horizon – but today the two darlings of the antique world are filming an episode of their TV show in the tearoom of the hotel. Beagle and Braun, known jointly as the Bees, are the married presenters of ‘Hidden Treasures‘. A show runs like our own Antique Roadshow where people queue to have their valuables appraised. Before they leave the flat that morning, Juan suggests Molly takes her grandmother’s box of treasures, including a highly decorated egg. When the Bees see this particular treasure their eyes light up. They seem to know immediately that this is very special and they must have it on camera. As the cameras roll they tell Molly that this looks like a lost Russian imperial egg, the prototype for all the ones that follow. It’s one of a kind, decorated with rubies and emeralds by Faberge himself. Now worth several million dollars. Molly doesn’t seem to take the news in and wants to carry on as normal, but as the clip is shared online that becomes impossible and Mr Preston has to take them home. Will life ever be the same again? Things go from bad to worse when during an auction at the hotel the egg disappears, despite being on a plinth and glass case in the middle of the stage. Now Molly must work with Detective Stark to find it, but this is a search that will take us back into the past. Molly really does prove in this novel that she’s a ‘good egg’, pardon the pun. No temptation lures her from the things she values – her job, Juan, Mr Preston and her flat. It was interesting to get some back story on her grandmother too and understand why she brought Molly up the way she did. This is a charming and heartwarming novel and a brilliant trilogy to delve into if you haven’t already.
The Show Woman has been on my TBR since January and I was delighted to be accepted for a NetGalley ARC. I love all things circus, fairgrounds, mediums and freak shows so I was drawn straight away but this was so much more than I expected and has a lot in common with The Eights. Set in 1901 we meet Lena who has lost her father and after his death was left with his carousel and their caravan. She sells the carousel and has the idea of creating the first all-female show with herself as a ringmaster. The only female show woman is Serena Lind and she’s a hard, bitter and vengeful woman who rules her circus with a rod of iron. So when Violet meets with Lena about leaving Lind’s and becoming a trapeze artist for the new show, it sets a scene for what follows. With Rosie and her pony Tommy they have a bareback rider and Carmen the dancer and acrobat makes their four. With an old tent they start to practice and be ready for the next season and with a bit of help from Violet’s brother Harry, they start to become known. This is a story of revenge, friendship, love and women making their own way in the world. I loved how the women bond, living together in the caravan and travelling from show ground to show ground. Lena has the makings of a brilliant show woman but first she needs to find out who is trying to sabotage their circus. Lena becomes the head of this a community that fully supports each other, who listen and understand the circumstances and pain that has brought them here. I was rooting for all of these women and not just the show, but their new found independence and friendships. It was those evenings where they were talking in the caravan after a show, too full of adrenaline to sleep. Or the warm and sunny days when they got chance to swim in a local lake or river, to wash their hair. Then there were the joint efforts to save Rosie’s pony. It’s these moments that are just as magical for these women as the seconds before Violet lets go and flies through the air.
This was another novel set in the early part of the 20th Century, this time just after WWI. It also features four young women but these meet in the hallowed halls of Oxford University where they will be the first female cohort to be awarded a degree for their studies. Nicknamed the ‘Eights’ because of the room numbers on their corridor, Beatrice, Ottoline, Marianne and Dora are very different, but soon become firm friends as they navigate their first year. Beatrice is political, has a feminist and suffragette mother and is used to being noticed, as she’s usually the tallest woman in a room. Marianne is a scholarship student, but she seems to have secrets, including why she returns home every other weekend. Ottoline (Otto) comes from a wealthy family, but is haunted by her war experiences in a nursing role. She’s had symptoms of PTSD ever since, but also feelings of shame that she couldn’t do her duty. Dora also struggles with the consequences of war, having received the dreaded letter from her fiancé Charles’s regiment to inform her he’d been killed. Just two weeks later her brother George also lost his life. Being so close to Charles’s university only serves to keep him at the forefront of her mind. This seemingly random allocation starts strong friendships as the girls help each other negotiate their university work, their memories of the war and being taken seriously by their male counterparts. I loved every one of these characters and it was wonderful to watch them grow and help each other navigate the choppy waters of academic problems, financial worries, matters of the heart and the terrible experience of loss. I was so sorry to turn the final page and leave their world.
I’ve been re-reading Stig Abell’s Jake Jackson series after winning the latest instalment, The Burial Place, in a Twitter giveaway by the author. This is book number three and while Jake and his ‘team’ tangled with an international criminal gang in the last book, The Burial Place is more of a home grown mystery. There has been an archaeological dig close to Little Sky and a hoard of treasure found nearby. The ownership of this treasure is in dispute because it’s unclear who owns the land where it was found. Meanwhile, work carries on for the archaeologists, academics and local enthusiasts who have been working on the site but when a body is found it must shut down. It’s hard for new DCI McAllister to understand the motive and being new to the area he enlists Jake’s help, both for his investigative skills and his local knowledge. The community are aware that several nuisance letters have been sent to the dig office and various people who’ve worked on the site. They’re a strange mix of threats, Bible verses and ancient prophecies signed off by Wulfnoth – an ancient Briton from the area. They promise a terrible end for the dig and whoever benefits from the treasure found. Can Jake find the killer before anyone else is hurt? Looking at themes of belonging and sacred land, this is a quieter novel but no less deadly. A definite team have formed around Jake, a family of sorts who both work and relax together. There’s also the continuation of the romance between Jake and local vet, Livia and an appearance from his ex-wife Faye that brings about much soul searching and healing. Thankfully he has Little Sky as his sanctuary when things get too noisy and stressful. The home left to him by his Uncle Arthur, shows he clearly knew his nephew very well.
Here’s some of the fiction on my TBR trolley.
The Lotus Readers 