“I know the power of stories and of voices. Even silenced ones. So let me end mine with what I have seen of Sycorax, and assure you again that once, she had a voice, and it was loud and melodious and filled with magic”.
I was entranced by this beautifully lyrical tale of the unseen sorcerous of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. This is my favourite Shakespeare play because I love its atmosphere and the use of musical sounds to conjure up this enchanted island, ruled by the magician Prospero. Sycorax isn’t even present in the play, but is mentioned as a sorcerous and mother of Caliban, who is depicted as a monster and a slave to Prospero. The author wants to give Sycorax a voice, one that she doesn’t have in the play, to tell us in her own words what it was like to be treated with suspicion and cruelty. Sycorax’s story is an emotional one as she wrestles with her identity, her powers and the loneliness of being an outcast. Each time her powers grow the more isolated she becomes.The author is clearly so passionate about this book and giving her central character a voice and I think she achieves it beautifully.
The story unfolds slowly while the author immerses us in the world Sycorax inhabits, at first with her parents. Taking her cue from Shakespeare her prose is lyrical and poetic. I really felt like I was in the presence of a magical being and it was the sounds that really grabbed me – the tinkle of sea shells on her mother’s anklets, the sounds of the sea, the lazy buzz of the honey bees they keep. I felt as if I was cocooned on a Caribbean island and strangely relaxed too. Everything is so aligned with nature and nothing interrupts, because even the market is just laying a blanket at the side of the road and selling in the open. By creating this mindful and harmonious background the author makes sure that when something does interrupt, it tears through this idyll and comes as a shock. So when Sycorax goes down to the marina and sailors are unloading goods, the noise is a huge contrast and the roughness of these men who are filthy and covered with lice makes us realise what a feminine energy the rest of the book has. This assault on her senses is violent and the unmistakably male. Despite the beauty of it’s language there are tough subjects here, that are based in misogyny and how women with healing skills are misunderstood by society. There’s also an element of colonialism here, over women’s bodies as well as where they live.
“Women are used as an instrument of war. Our bodies are another land to be invaded, destroyed and conquered.”
There’s a big hint that her mother was aware of men’s need to conquer and control. In fact, her mother blindfolds Sycorax from a young age, covering the incredible violet colour – I imagined them like Elizabeth Taylor’s amazing eyes. Yet she doesn’t hide them because something is wrong with them, but more because they are extraordinary and it might draw male attention. This could mean a sexual possession, such as the attention Sycorax experiences from Afalkay the Beautiful. However, nothing makes men more fearful than a woman with knowledge and if she won’t behave or remain hidden might they attempt to silence her? In spite of everything she faces, Sycorax remains strong, a strength that could be attributed to her upbringing with her tenacious and otherworldly mother. Sycorax’s ongoing inner strength and determination to find her own identity in a world that shuns her, is something to truly admire. Because of this she is vehemently hated among the townsfolk, especially men because she won’t disappear.
I admired Sycorax’s strength, just her ability to keep getting up each day and going on. Everything they try to be rid of her just doesn’t work. Described as born of the sun and moon and shaped by fire and malady gives us a sense of her resolve, she’s hard as forged iron. Of course my main interest would be disability and chronic illness, being a fellow sufferer. I wrote my English Lit dissertation on disability representation and my Renaissance literature exam on Caliban and a potential reading of his character as someone with a disability. Yet somehow I hadn’t picked up on his mother and here we see her as stiffened, bent over and in chronic pain. This is Nydia’s purpose in writing this story, she beautifully dedicates her book to readers with chronic illness. This is so moving to me because we’re so rarely seen these days in an empathic or positive way. We’re so rarely seen at all. I mean really seen by someone who knows our struggle. It’s important to point out that Sycorax is a woman with chronic illness and this is a very different experience to a man – it’s shown in research that women’s pain is taken less seriously when presenting at A and E. Even when when women visit multiple times, doctors are slower at ordering tests or referring to a consultant.
There’s a constant sense of give and take between Sycorax and her universe. Strangely the more she’s affected by illness, the more powerful she becomes. The power comes in the shape of wisdom, because people with chronic illness understand things about life that other people won’t get in a lifetime. It’s also about resilience, something that comes with time and getting to know how your illness affects you. By working with it, Sycorax knows what her body can do and how much activities will take out of her. Everything is a bargain and when she has to take to her bed she counts rest as an activity. I love that Nydia puts her own wisdom into the character, in the need to measure out energy daily and live with constant pain. Everything Sycorax goes through and learns about her illness, we follow and it was moving to hear words that have gone through my own head. I’ve woken up in agony, out of nowhere, trying to work out what tasks are absolutely necessary and which can wait. I was moved when Sycorax was taken to a woman in labour by a friend of her mother’s, teaching her how to help and support. The woman is screaming and thrashing, so Sycorax goes and kneels by her head, holding it gently and singing a song in a rhythm. She slows down the woman’s breathing and draws her attention to the ebb and flow of the pain. It calms the woman and allows her to work with contractions rather than fight them. This is something I do when in pain and something I’ve taught clients with chronic pain. Even severe pain is rarely continuous agony. It has a pattern, a shift, an ebb and flow. If you tune into the ebb and flow of pain you can go with it rather than fight it. That’s what I’m going to take away from this beautiful book, to remind myself of the ebb and flow in life and in my own body. Nydia has written a beautiful piece of work that takes us full circle to The Tempest. She’s managed to bring 21st Century injustices to the forefront without losing any of the magical beauty of the original play.
Meet the Author
From Leeds — although born on Merseyside and spending the first few years of life on the Isle of Man — Nydia Hetherington moved to London in her early twenties to embark on an acting career. Later she moved to Paris where she created her own theatre company. When she returned to London a decade later, she completed a creative writing degree graduating with first class honours.
Unusual police departments have been a bit of a theme this month, with this being the third unusual investigation I read in February. This was a very spooky second visit to the unusual police department, housed in Manchester’s Tib Street Ballroom. We follow DI Andy Joyce, his team and their consultant Peggy who has some otherworldly skills and expertise. We’re at the Palace Theatre, where the cast are struggling to rehearse their play thanks to a dark, swirling and angry spirit. For some reason it wants them dead or the play cancelled at the very least. Lady Bancroft’s Rose has been performed only three times since 1922, but there has been a mysterious death each time. Particularly affected is Lavinia, a blonde actress who has taken over the play’s main role, since the original actress is now too traumatised to continue. Lavinia seems to be the focus of most of the spooky activity and she’s quite happy to cast Andy in the role of her rescuer – cue a few eye rolls from Peggy. More disturbing than the theatre is Andy’s home, the same cottage he grew up in with mum Agatha and brother Rob. While he knows Rob is there, he’s never been a difficult or angry ghost. Now strange things have started happening that make him think the ghost is angry, leading his guilt over Rob’s death to go into overdrive. With Andy and Peggy at odds with each other, will he ever found out what’s going on?
Similar confusion was happening at the theatre as more of the spirit’s angry tricks come to light, including an attack on Lavinia and another on her dressing room where words are written in black all over the mirror and the ceiling. Nothing adds up. No one has had time to create this effect and the only person who’s been inside is Lavinia. Peggy makes contact with a rather dapper ghost called Alistair, who tells her that thanks to the theatre’s busy past there’s more than one ghost haunting various parts of the building. He identifies Jock as the swirling shadow ghost who’s causing problems, but what the team need to work out is why this theatre and this specific play? Despite being in shadow form Jock seems capable of manipulating objects and attacking those he isn’t happy with. Or is there a human element to to this mystery? This could explain Higson’s insistence that the team stay at the theatre even though no crime has been committed. Either way it is a bonus for Andy, who can’t bear to go home and sets up a camp in the empty ballroom. For Peggy, family is also a problem. Charlie is his usual self, popping in and out when he feels like it and drinking with Higson. When it becomes clear that the play is being staged for charity her worst fears are realised. It’s the charity run by her mother and her partner Edgar, previously Peggy’s fiancé. How will she cope in the same room as them?
I thought the author managed to combine all the elements of her story well, although it wasnt the theatre case that caught my attention most. It was the terrifying scenes at Andy’s house and the ‘will they, won’t they” of him and Peggy. I love the humour laced through the action, especially the North West tone. I love that female characters are in the thick of the action and Marnie is honestly the ghost that keeps on giving. We’re no further forwards in knowing how she flits from place to place and person to person, but her entertainment value is unrivalled. From a psychological perspective we can see certain characters setting their boundaries in life, especially where parents are concerned whether they are alive or dead. It was interesting to learn more about Andy and his childhood which sounds bewildering. Once his father is gone and mum disappears into her church, the boys are almost abandoned – especially if they don’t fall in line with her new rigid religion. I know the third book is on it’s way and I’m looking forward to it already. I’d love to know more about how Higson set up the unit and what happened to Andy’s predecessor who still haunts the ballroom and chips in at briefings. I’m also looking forward to more of Peggy and Andy’s story too.
Meet the Author
Keira Willis was born in Manchester in 1986. and grew up irresistibly drawn to mystery novels and ghost stories.
Her captivating 1980s-set ‘Tib Street Ballroom’ is a thrilling crime and mystery novel with a ghostly twist, following DI Andrew Joyce’s transfer to an obscure police department in Manchester. Joyce must put aside his inherent scepticism and confront the impossible if he has any chance of solving Marnie Driscoll’s murder, working alongside reluctant ‘consultant’ Peggy Swan, who just so happens to be able to speak to the dead.
Book two of the Tib Street Ballroom series – ‘Exit, Pursued by Death’ – was published to acclaim in October 2024, and follows the Tib Street team as they investigate the dark history of a play, while trying to prevent another death from occurring on opening night.
With a belief that adults deserve their own share of action-packed, thrilling, and humour-infused adventures, Keira tells stories that blend intrigue with spirited storytelling and memorable characters, inviting adults to rediscover the exhilarating action-packed adventures that they immersed themselves in as children.
This week I celebrated an important anniversary. Not a personal one, but a writing one. I was informed on JetPack that I’d been book blogging for five years. As many of you probably know, rom coms are rarely my thing. I need a love story to have lots of different aspects to it, because I don’t want to read about dating. What I do like to read is real love: everyday married love; second time love; inconvenient love; love that triumphs over terrible odds and love that’s been lost. All of these books have something extra that made me want to shout about them. It might be something weird – husband turns into a shark. It could be something forbidden or secret – two women in love in 19th Century England. It could be first love, but interrupted by murder. It could be two middle-aged people who get very grumpy with each other walking from the Lancashire to Yorkshire coast. Maybe there’s a magical element, like a girl who receives anonymous notes that tell her when her relationships will end. I fell in love with the love story in all of these books over the last five years of my blog. Hope you enjoy them.
Leaving by Roxana Robinson
Leaving was the last book that absolutely tore my heart out. Sarah sees Warren, who she dated for a while in their college years. She had ended it, unsure whether they were a good fit. Yet they never stopped thinking about each other. Sarah is divorced now and lives alone in her country home with her dog Bella for company. Warren lives just outside Boston and is married to Janet, exactly the sort of wife he has needed: attractive, a good hostess and great mum to their daughter Kattie who is an older teenager. However, Janet is very aware of who should be in their social circle and how things should be done. They don’t talk about current affairs together, listen to an opera or read the same books. Perhaps their marriage has always been like this, but it feels empty since he saw Sarah again. Can he spend the rest of his life in this marriage as he promised or can he be with Sarah? If he leaves what price will he have to pay? Once an affair starts turning into something more, so many decisions have to be made and the sacrifices those choices will create become stark and very real. Sarah has imagined living with Warren, but she’s always thought of them at her home. This is where she rebuilt herself after her divorce. It’s a place she loves and doesn’t think she can give up. Arguably, Warren’s choices are even more difficult. He knows if he does this, his relationship and happiness with Sarah will come at the cost of someone else’s feelings. On the scales does one happiness outweigh another? Or are some costs simply too great? I simply loved this book and although it’s only January I have no doubt this will be in my best books list come the end of the year. On the strength of this novel I would happily read everything else the author’s ever written.
The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase
Maggie is an author, living in Paris and struggling with writer’s block. Something from her shared past with brother Kit keeps coming into her mind. Her mother Dee Dee died from cancer recently, but Maggie’s mind is drawn back to her late teenage years when Dee Dee was a famous model, living close to the Portobello Road. Maggie took Kit out with his skateboard and he has a fall, breaking one of the wheels. A stranger comes to their aid, introducing himself as Wolf. When his eyes lock with Maggie’s they’re the clearest blue she’s ever seen, there’s also a spark between them and for Maggie it’s instantaneous. First time and first sight love. He recognises the connection too. It’s what makes him take the skateboard back to his uncle’s antique shop and use his tools to properly fix it, just so he has an excuse to go back. I fell in love with Maggie. I was a similar age when I first fell I love and reading about her summer with Wolf brought back all those feelings. The wonderment when someone suddenly becomes your absolute world. The beautiful surprise when they feel exactly the same. The discovery of sexual chemistry, totally losing yourself in another person, being vulnerable physically and emotionally, it’s all here. In very delicate strokes Eve sketches a teenage girl who is emotional and intelligent. Little hints about her physical appearance makes us aware that she is a curvy girl, she wears glasses and is a little lacking in confidence. She’s astonished that Wolf loves these things about her and Eve captures that self-consciousness, the apprehension about revealing her body to this young man totally swept away by his obvious desire for her. She and Wolf never had a proper ending and I found myself longing for that closure to happen when she comes back to England. This was a wonderful read, deeply emotional but also a compelling mystery. I honestly think this is Eve’s best novel yet!
The Moon Gate by Amanda Geard
1939 – Grace Grey lives in Grosvenor Place in London, with her mother Edeline who is a friend of the notorious Mosleys and wears the uniform of the Blackshirts. As war comes ever closer, Edeline makes the decision to send Grace and the housekeeper’s daughter Rose Munro to stay with her brother Marcus and his wife Olive on the north west coast of Tasmania. After an eight week voyage the girls are welcomed to Towerhurst, an unusual house with a whole tower where Uncle Marcus writes his poetry. Olive immediately takes to the beautiful Rose, but Marcus forms a bond with Grace over the poems of Banjo Patterson, an Australian ballad poet. Grace is reserved and shy, but is slowly coaxed out of her shell by Daniel McGillycuddy an Irish lad working at his aunt and uncle’s sawmill. As war creeps ever nearer to their part of the Pacific there are dangerous emotional games at play between these young people with fall out that will extend over the rest of the century. The main love story is so touching as the slightly awkward Grace is lured down to the beach by neighbour Daniel where he tries to kiss her. Sadly though it’s for a five shilling bet and as his mates turn up in a boat to witness her humiliation she runs away into the sea. Daniel regrets his actions deeply, apologising the very next day and asking if Grace would perhaps share the book of ballads she’d been telling him about. They pass through the Moon Gate, a perfectly round doorway made of Atlantisite that leads to the waterfall and a small freshwater pool. Uncle Marcus claims that to pass through the gate is to become a new person and that certainly seems the case with Grace who not only forgives Daniel, but shares the ballad poems and agrees that he can teach her to swim. It’s so beautiful to watch them become close friends. As we passed through the three timelines in this book I was hoping with everything I had that eventually these two would end up together.
Spirited by Julie Cohen
Viola Worth has grown up cared for by her clergyman Father, as well as his ward, a little boy called Jonah. Viola and Jonah are the best of friends, spending their childhoods largely inseparable. As we meet them in adulthood, they are getting married, but in mourning. A lot has happened during the period of their engagement. Jonah had been out to India, staying at his family’s haveli and checking on his financial interests. For Viola, it’s been a tough time nursing, then losing, her father. He encouraged her in his own profession as a photographer and she has become accomplished in her own right. Viola’s father wanted her to marry Jonah, and they are still the best of friends, but the time apart has changed them and neither knows the full extent of the other’s transformation. Through new friends the couple meet a visiting spirit medium called Henriette, although as daughter of a clergyman, Viola would never normally enjoy this type of entertainment. Little do they know, this woman will change their lives. Jonah spends less time with Viola than before and at bedtime they still go to their separate bedrooms. Viola knows there is more between husband and wife but doesn’t really know what and has no idea who to talk to. Yet between her and Henriette, a beautiful connection is blossoming and it’s so beautifully written. It is Henriette who opens up the world for Viola and this extends to sharing a bed. Viola worries what the servants might think, but Henriette frees her thinking again. Love between women does not exist, she tells her, there are laws and conventions regarding love between a man and a woman, and even the love between men. What they are to each other is beyond the thoughts of most people, the servants will see two friends staying together and nothing more.They’re neither totally respectable, but are not shunned either. This is a novel of people, particularly women, learning to live in the spaces between; the places that promise more freedom.
You Are Here by David Nicholls
A group of friends travel from London to the Lake District to walk some of Wainwright’s routes through Cumbria towards the Pennines. Cleo has invited four single friends; Conrad is meant for copy editor Marnie and Tessa is intended to get on with geography teacher and dedicated walker Michael who is extending his trip to walk the entire coast to coast, ending in Robin Hood’s Bay. Michael is still getting over separating from his wife so finds these social occasions difficult, much preferring solitude. Marnie spends much of her time alone too, so this will be a step out of their comfort zone for both of them. When the others bail out after a day of endless rain, Marnie and Michael are left to walk together. Can they both strike up a friendship? David Nicholls has this amazing ability to articulate the minutiae of conversation and communication between the opposite sexes. He’s also brilliant with those tiny moments of shared humour, stolen glimpses and the body language of love. It may seem strange that a whole book is about two people walking across the country, but everything happens within that time spent together. After a couple of days Michael can see that Marnie is an inexperienced walker but determined, intelligent and well-read. She has been in relationships that eroded her confidence, has a keen sense of humour but tends to lose it a little when tired and hungry. Marnie is surprised by Michael. Although she knows little about geography she can appreciate how passionate he is about his subject, he wears his beard as a mask so that people keep their distance, is perfectly comfortable in his own company and is hurt very badly by the break-down of his marriage. This isn’t two young people swept up in the blind passions of love at first sight. This is a slow burn. It’s a potential romance that grows slowly and unexpectedly for both of them. It’s lovely to read a ‘real’ love story about people who are older and have been kicked about a bit by love in the past.
By the end my heart was breaking for these fledglings. I so wanted them both to be happy, even if they simply ended as friends. David Nicholls throws in one last obstacle that takes us by surprise, even while my heart was racing I could see how much it was needed for that character to have a final epiphany. He’s brilliant at creating that bittersweet feeling that comes as we’re older and have romantic baggage. At first when we lose someone the shock and pain is everything, then after time and doing a little bit of work on ourselves a day hopefully comes where we can look back and it not hurt. We can acknowledge the pain but not let it overwhelm us. In fact, eventually, we can look back and smile about the good times, the love that was shared and how glad we are that we experienced it. That we’re able to move forward and enjoy new adventures. I really understand this from my own life and I genuinely closed the book with a smile on my face, knowing that both Marnie and Michael have so much life to look forward to whether together or apart on their journey.
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
Lewis and Wren have fallen in love. They’ve no idea that their first year of marriage will also be their last. It’s only weeks after their wedding when Lewis receives a rare and shocking diagnosis. He has an unusual mutation. Although he might retain some of his consciousness, his memories and possibly his intellect, his body will become that of a Great White Shark. Lewis is complicated, an artist at heart he has always wanted to write the great American play for his generation. How will his liberal and loving heart beat on within the body of one of the earth’s most ruthless predators? He also has to come to terms with never fulfilling his dreams, but expressing that anger with shark DNA in his system has huge repercussions. He has to come to terms with leaving Wren behind, for her own safety. Wren wants to fight on. To find a way of living and loving each other as Lewis changes. She is told that there will come a point when this will be too dangerous. Lewis will then have to live in a state run facility or free in the ocean. It’s when she sees a glimpse of his developing carnivorous nature that a memory from her past is triggered. Wren has to make a terrible, heart-wrenching decision. I felt emotionally devastated by this beautiful novel that uses a fantastical premise to unleash experiences of grief, love, loss and potentially, healing.
In a beautifully unusual way and in an almost poetic prose, this beautiful debut is about life. It’s ups and downs, the horrendous losses and the gains: the naivety of first love, becoming a mother, our love and care for an elderly parent, friendships and realising that a special little girl sees you as her dad. Life is constant adaptation, evolving and developing all the time. Every end is a beginning. This is such a special novel, an incredible debut with such a keen grasp of what being human is all about. I can see this becoming an all-time favourite for me. It quite simply took my breath away.
The Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson
Alison and Dan live in Sheffield in the late 1970s when the city was still a thriving steel manufacturer. Dan is from the more family friendly Nether Edge, while Alison is from the rougher Attercliffe area, in the shadow of a steel factory. They meet while still at school and Dan is transfixed with her dark hair, her edge and her love of music. Their relationship is based on music and Dan makes mix tapes for her to listen to when they’re not together such as ‘The Last Best Two’ – the last two tracks from a series of albums. What he doesn’t know is how much Alison needs that music. To be able to put it on as a wall of sound between her and her family. Dan never sees where she lives and doesn’t push her, he only knows she prefers his home whether she’s doing her homework at the kitchen table, getting her nails painted by his sister or sitting with his Dad in the pigeon loft. Catherine, Alison’s mum, is a drinker. Not even a functioning alcoholic, she comes home battered and dirty with no care for who she lets into their home. Alison’s brother, Pete, is her only consolation and protection at home. Both call their mum by her first name and try to avoid her whenever possible. Even worse is her on-off lover Martin Baxter, who has a threatening manner and his own key. Alison could never let Dan know how they have to live.
About three quarters of the way through the book I started to read gingerly, almost as if it was a bomb that might go off. I’ve never got over the loss of Emma in One Day and I was scared. What if these two soulmates didn’t end up together? Or worse what if one of them is killed off by the author before a happy ending is reached? I won’t ruin it by telling any more of the story. The tension and trauma of Alison’s family life is terrible and I dreaded finding out what had driven her away so dramatically. I think her shame about her mother is so sad, because the support was there for her and she wouldn’t let anyone help. She’s so fragile as a teenager and on edge. Dan’s mum had reservations, she was worried about her youngest son and whether Alison would break his heart. I love the music that goes back and forth between the pair, the meaning in the lyrics and how they choose them. This book is warm, moving and real. I loved it.
Flamingo by Rachel Elliot
In split time frames and across the characters of Eve and Daniel we hear the story of two families who live next door to each other. Eve and Daniel move in next door to Leslie and Sherry who have two daughters Rae and Pauline, and some ornamental flamingoes on their front lawn. Eve isn’t used to making friends as she and her son Daniel move around a lot, but there’s something about Sherry. So Eve goes to a specialist off-licence to find just the right bottle of Sherry to take to her new neighbour. Sherry is delighted and immediately welcomes the wandering pair into her home. That summer is the happiest summer mother and son have ever had, as they are enveloped by this wild, eccentric and loud family – Eve uses the word rambunctious. Then Eve and Daniel leave. All the colours seem to bleach out of the world. We then meet Daniel as an adult, wandering and broken. Deeply affected by some kind words and affection from a woman in the library, he decides to return to where he was happiest. He turns up at Sherry’s door and it feels like coming home, but where is Eve and what is the story underneath the one Daniel knows. It’s so hard to express how much I loved this book. This is a slow burn novel, told in fragments like half forgotten memories and with such beauty it could be a poem. The writer conveys beautifully how certain people can heal wounds and hold space for each other. In light of recent times it’s important to remember that to live fully we must connect with each other. It shows humans in their best light and at their most powerful, when showing love and accepting others for who they are. Just like the flamingo is pink through his diet, we too are shaped by what is put into us. Through Daniel, and Rae to an extent, there’s an acknowledgment of how painful life can be, but that healing and change is possible. I was enchanted by this story and it will keep a special place in my heart.
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
It’s been a while since a romantic novel has made me shed tears but I reached just over half way through Rebecca Searle’s new novel and I felt a lump forming in my throat. My reaction was possibly more emotional than the average, because I felt seen. Rebecca has this habit of taking what seems like a simple romance and adding an element that immediately elevates it to something more. Daphne lives in L.A. and works as an assistant to a film maker, outside of work she is a busy bee flitting between visiting her parents, spending time with her dog Murphy and roaming flea markets for quirky household items. However, her favourite weekend mornings are those she spend with her ex-boyfriend Hugo: he wakes her early, they get to an early farmer’s market for the best choices such as the sunflowers that are always gone by ten am. Daphne is single, at a point in life where people she knows are staying together, having babies and getting married. She tends to have short term relationships, but she is starting to wonder about all these things. Are they something she’ll ever find? Her friends can’t understand it, she’s a great girl, and have started to offer to their friends and work colleagues as potential dates. What they don’t know is that Daphne keeps a box under her bed and in it are post-it notes, drinks coasters and theatre tickets all which have the name of a boyfriend and a length of time, an expiration date.These cards enter her life around the same time as a new man so she knows the finite amount of time they have together. This bit of magic from the universe is amazing in some ways, but in other ways she’s starting to think they hold her back. Are they starting to become a self fulfilling prophecy? Then her friend Kendra sets her up with Jake and Daphne waits for her expiration date to arrive. This time though, it’s just a name; no date. Does this mean Jake is the one?
Jake couldn’t be more perfect. He’s attractive and intelligent. More importantly he’s kind and considerate. At first, Daphne isn’t sure but for once they have all the time in the world for her to explore and see where the relationship and her feelings go. Jake has emotional depth and a willingness to put those emotions on the line. Jake was married once and his wife died. Daphne marvels at his ability to be vulnerable when he has lost so much. It also worries her, because she holds a secret that has the ability to shatter this fragile and tentative relationship they’ve built. She has a perfect man who wants to live together, to marry and build a future. Everyone says he’s perfect, but is he perfect for Daphne? I couldn’t help but keep thinking back to Hugo, who seems like the one who got away. He knows everything about Daphne, the secret and the expiration dates, but he’s still here. If they’d had the chance of an open ended relationship, might they have been perfect for each other? For Daphne, falling in love has never been simple and I really related to that. I think a lot of other readers will too.
Remember Me by Charity Norman
Emily is a children’s illustrator, who spent her childhood in Hawke’s Bay but now lives in London. One evening she receives a call from her father’s neighbour, Raewynn, letting her know that his Alzheimer’s has progressed and he needs a little help. Despite both her brother and sister still living in New Zealand, Raewynn thinks Emily is the one best disposed to make the right decision. Emily’s father is well known in the area and is still known as Dr. Fitzgerald despite his retirement. He still lives on the family’s homestead with his two dogs and next door Raewynn and her son Ira who rents and farms the Arapito land. Until now they’ve managed to look after Dr. Fitzgerald, but trusting Raewynn’s opinion Emily decides to travel and check on her father. When she arrives she knows all is not well, her father has become very adept at seeming okay, he’s rather like a magician, creating a Dr Fitzgerald who everyone knows and recognises, while underneath feeling confused, bewildered and frightened. As Emily spends more time in her childhood home, memories rise to the surface: the unhappiness of her mother; her father’s distraction and avoidance of his family; the disappearance of Raewynn’s daughter Leah, who was lost on their range of mountains and has never been found. Emily was the last one to see Leah alive and the loss of this vibrant and beautiful girl still haunts the whole valley including, it seems. As his memory fades and his guard slips, she begins to understand him for the first time – and to glimpse shattering truths about his past. Oh how unbelievably emotional I felt at the end of this book, not just a lump in my throat, but actual tears. Yet I also felt such a feeling of ‘rightness’ that it ended the way it should.
Happy Valentine’s Day and here’s to a few more years of loving books ❤️📚
This first of Louise Hare’s novels really stayed with me, it grabbed me early and never let go. When a writer whisks you so convincingly to another time and place it’s such an incredible skill. I found myself in post-Windrush London where new people are making the capital their home and the huge social change is causing friction. As one mixed race character observed ‘she was no longer the odd one out’ as she went to the market. More immigrants are arriving, wandering the streets, weighed down by layers thrown on haphazardly as the reality of a British winter starts to bite. However, as those first pioneers answered the call from the motherland, they’d found London not at all what they were expecting. The British government had put that call out to its colonies. They needed workers, to replace those men lost in WW2 and to rebuild cities recovering from the Blitz. Yet no one seemed grateful, no one said thank you and the living was far from easy.
We follow two main characters: Lawrie and Evie. They are courting in the old fashioned sense. Lawrie sees in Evie a nice girl, a girl who has been well brought up even though she has never known her father. He wants to do things properly, do right by her. So he calls and they go to the cinema or for a walk. Lawrie has come over from Jamaica and works part time as a musician in a local band and full time as a postman, with a sideline in the odd special black market delivery too. Evie has lived in London her whole life with her mother Agnes. They have been Lawrie’s neighbours ever since a rented room opened up at the house next door. The two women understand prejudice, because they too have been victims of it, and live a life kept very much to themselves. Evie is mixed race and Agnes, who is white, has been the subject of gossip and judgement ever since she Evie was born. So, although what transpires in the book may be shocking to us, it barely surprises them, because they know how people feel about any sort of difference from the white British norm.
The story splits into two time frames approximately one year apart. In one, Lawrie is cutting across Clapham Common at the end of his postal route when he hears a woman shouting. She has found a baby in the pond. Lawrie rushes to help, but they are both too late. The baby becomes the book’s central mystery and because she has black skin, suspicion falls upon the already beleaguered Jamaican community. Rathbone, is the police officer assigned to the case and he relishes causing problems for the community. His suspicions fall on Lawrie, as the first man on the scene, but Rathbone doesn’t just investigate, he sets out to ruin Lawrie’s life. However, there is a secret to this baby’s background that is closer to home than Lawrie imagines.
I found myself rooting for Lawrie and Evie. I wanted them to be able to make marriage plans and live the simple, quiet life they dreamed about. Her mother Agnes has had to be very strong, being an unmarried mother of a mixed race child meant being ostracised. Evie has a childhood memory of her mother having the neighbours for tea when, against her instructions, Evie was caught looking down through the banisters. They never had tea for the neighbours again. It takes Evie several years to make the link; she is the reason her mum has no friends or visitors. This same hostility is now experienced by the men who arrived on the Windrush and it must have been bewildering. To be asked to this country, to fill a shortage of labour and pull a country out of difficulty, then meet nothing but hostility and suspicion from its people seems so unjust.
A lot of the tension in the novel is around sex and relationships. When the band are booked to play a wedding, the British host is immediately taken aback but decides they can play. All is well until a woman stumbles on the dance floor and one of the band rushes to help. Her husband doesn’t appreciate his wife being touched by a black man and a brawl breaks out causing the band to run for their lives. Provocative women, like the character Rose, stir up tension even more. The men refer to her as Rita Hayworth, the red-haired Hollywood bombshell. When the men first arrive she helps with getting them settled. Then she offers to take Lawrie and his friend to the Lido, dazzling them in her bikini and flirting with Lawrie. She makes it very clear that she wants him with no thought to the consequences if her husband finds out. Interracial relationships are simply not accepted. As Agnes points out, her daughter Evie is far better off in a long term relationship with Lawrie, because although they come from very different places, society will view them as the same due to their skin colour.
I felt immersed in this world the author has created. From the cold mornings on Lawrie’s postal round, to the smoky nightclubs the band plays into the early hours. This is my grandparents generation so I could also imagine the homes, the struggle of still being on rations and for the women, trying to look nice on a tight budget. It reminded me of stories my grandma and great- aunts told me about going out dancing in post-war Liverpool. I felt so much for Evie, especiallywhen her whole story unfolded towards the end of the novel. There is a whole cast of interesting characters, but Evie and Lawrie are this novel’s heart and I desperately wanted life to work out for them. Louise Hare has written a vibrant book with an incredible sense of place and time, and interesting characters. I loved it. In fact it’s a mark of how much I now love this author that I pre-ordered her next book due in 2026.
Meet the Author
Louise Hare is a London-based writer and has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. Originally from Warrington, she has found inspiration in the capital for much of her work, including This Lovely City and Miss Aldridge Regrets.
This Lovely City was featured on the inaugural BBC Two TV book club show, Between the Covers, shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize, and longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award. Louise was selected for the Observer Top 10 Best Debut Novelists list in 2020, securing her place as an author to watch.
I couldn’t wait to read this, after reading the third book in this series earlier in the year. So I snagged it on NetGalley and read it immediately full of anticipation. I wasn’t disappointed. I love Tanzy and her adventures, usually she’s confined to the UK but this time she’s a little further afield. When she meets charming Icelandic giant Einar in a bar I did wonder whether vampires were about to debut in the series. His ability to ‘glamour’ Tanz seemed almost supernatural. Soon they’re sharing champagne and a bit of naked dancing too. When he invites her to his holiday cabin in Iceland to get some writing done, she decides to be impetuous and throw caution to the wind. This impulsive decision takes her to an isolated cabin with log burners, cosy decor and of course the odd spectre or two, After their first night together Tanz wakes up alone, without even a note and no plans for Einar’s return. She’s annoyed but not heartbroken. At the least she has a few days holiday in a country cabin for free and time to process her last case. Maybe she could start working on ideas for her own play? However, Iceland has its ghosts just as much as London. Did Tanz really think they would leave her alone?
In a nightmare, Tanz sees a man staring over the edge of a cliff. Is he going to jump? Before she can act a second person appears, a strange man whose eyes seem bottomless and hold universes. She can hear a woman crying outside her cabin and eventually a vision comes of this woman and her empty relationship with a man who doesn’t appear to love her. She follows him to work and finds him in bed with another woman, she screams and Tanz can hear his roaring anger as she wakes. It’s clear there’s a mystery here and she’s going to have to find the crying woman to work out why she needs her help. She doesn’t know if it’s going to be dangerous, especially without her friend Sheila in tow. Yet there are signs of protection: the rowan tree at the front porch; the feeling in the bedroom as if there’s a protection spell around her; the strange man from her dream who seems to be magical. Tanz knows she must help the woman, who becomes increasingly desperate and starts to bang on all the lodge’s windows to make herself heard. Tanz just doesn’t know how to help. When her distant neighbour pays a call there’s an instant connection and Tanzy puts it down to the fact they’re both a bit witchy. Birta has the most amazing cabin a short hike away with a seventies style interior that’s retro and cozy. With their combined knowledge and skills surely they can find what their distressed ghost is looking for?
I loved the character of Thor who is Einar’s friend but also a cab driver. He helps Tanz escape the cabin for a while. He has such a wholesome feel about him and is the complete gentleman. He listens to Tanzy’s story and doesn’t seem fazed by her experiences, although the knocking at the cabin is a bit unsettling. Tanzy feels very comfortable and safe around him, as he takes her under his wing. He really does take care of her, cooking for her and showing her some of the sights too. He has been friends with Einar for many years and knows how he operates. He wants Tanzy to feel like her time in Iceland hasn’t been wasted and his care of her really makes her examine why she is drawn towards unavailable men rather than those that show her how much they care. She tends to put nice men in the friend zone before anything has had a chance to develop. There’s part of her that’s addicted to the adrenaline that comes with a ‘bad boy’ and she hasn’t realised before that love doesn’t have to come with a side order of drama. Thor also accepts every bit of Tanz, her charisma and attitude but also the spooky and paranormal side of her life too. He doesn’t ridicule or belittle her psychic abilities, showing real interest and a willingness to help as far as he can. He really does take on her quest as his own, but also knows when to step back – when and where it’s her time to shine. He’s not overwhelmed by her and for someone who might be described as too much, there’s safety and security in that. But can safety and security be sexy?
I’d guessed some of the mystery brought by the distressed woman but thoroughly enjoyed the journey as Tanzy looked for a way of fulfilling her wishes. This takes help from Thor, new friend Birta and the ‘hildunfolk’. All our usual characters are here, including Sheila and Tanzy’s delightful ‘little mam’ whose always there at the end of the phone. She is often more aware of her daughter’s exploits than you’d expect from all the way over in Newcastle. I thought the author delved beautifully into Tanzy’s character and her romantic choices particularly. She has to examine her choices; to follow an unsuitable and unavailable man all the way to Iceland, but to banish a kind, available and warm man to the couch. Why won’t she let good men love her? It works well with the unfolding of the mystery around the cabin and how the choices we make because of desire are often destructive and life-changing. It seems we can be left with so many regrets that they follow us into the afterlife. I enjoyed some of the final revelations, particularly around the character of Birta. This is another solid addition to the Accidental Medium series and I felt like I’d spent a few hours with an old friend. I have a list of literary characters I’d love to have for dinner and Tanzy is definitely there at the table, possibly next to Mr Tumnus. Although she’d have to promise not to flirt with him.
Out on 13th February Pan MacMillan
Meet the Author
Tracy Whitwell was born, brought up and educated in the north-east of England. She wrote plays and short stories
from an early age, then moved to London where she became a busy actress on stage and screen. After having her son, she wound down the acting to concentrate on writing full time. Many projects followed until she finally found the courage to write the first in her Accidental Medium series, a work of fiction based on a whole heap of crazy truth. Apart from the series, Tracy has written novels in several other genres and also writes mini self-help books as the Sweary Witch.
Tracy is nothing like her lead character Tanz in The Accidental Medium. (This is a lie.)
When I want a thriller that I’ll absolutely devour in one or two sittings, I always reach for Mark Edwards and his latest is very unsettling. Fiona Smith is new on the street and is trying to get to know her neighbours. Ethan and Emma Dove seem like a lovely couple, in fact they’re the ideal family. Their kids Dylan and Rose are targeted by the two tearaways who live across the road who circle the other teenagers on their scrambler bikes, as their German Shepherds circle their terrified cockapoo Lola. Fiona intervenes and when later one of the boys has a terrible accident their parents are convinced someone caused the tyre blowout that resulted in a head injury. It couldn’t have been Fiona could it? The boy’s parents can’t find a trace of Fiona online so no red flags. However, the elderly lady called Iris who lives on the corner, she’s sure she’s seen Fiona before but can’t quite put her finger on where. When Fiona offers to look after Ethan and Emma’s daughter Rosie for the summer she has definitely become a feature in their lives. Their son Dylan is unsure. He definitely doesn’t need a babysitter, but it isn’t just that. Fiona unnerves him. He’s noticed that when no one is looking her expression becomes neutral, like a robot. Rose is enraptured though and they begin to visit Fiona’s favourite places and play chess together when it’s raining. All the time Fiona is monitoring Rose. Has she seen a glimmer of herself in this ordinary seeming teenage girl? As Fiona starts to test out Rose’s limits, Ethan and Emma are oblivious to what’s happening to their daughter.
The action takes place over one summer, with steadily rising tension. I can promise you that you’ll reach a certain point and won’t want to put this down. Ethan and Emma have a fairly ordinary family life with the usual ups and downs. I felt Ethan was much more fleshed out than Emma, he’s recently taken the risk of opening a vinyl record store and taking the move further out of London. They had a recent crisis in their relationship after Emma became close to a work colleague – something Ethan describes as an ‘emotional affair’. Fiona is very amused by this description and sees it as a potential opportunity to drive a wedge between them. I was surprised that they so readily agreed to leaving Rose with their new neighbour, after all their knowledge of her is vague at best. They haven’t even been inside her house. However, I did understand the financial pressures and needing to be two working parents with teenagers pushing to do different things. Fiona is a godsend, a very rare adult that Rose enjoys being with. They definitely seem to have a bond, but is that down to a shared psychology? Rose could just be doing that teenage girl thing of being fascinated with a woman who isn’t her mum. Fiona allows little slivers of rebellion, like watching a horror film that her mum wouldn’t approve of. This builds a web of secrets between them and lets Rose feel like a grown-up.
Psychologically, the story is fascinating. The word ‘grooming’ has to be applied here. Fiona is very aware of the protection her gender affords and a further layer is afforded to mothers. No one suspects a mother and her daughter, it’s the same reason that female murderers become so infamous: women are creators not destroyers. There’s also the nature versus nurture debate, is Fiona simply harnessing a tendency already present in Rose or will her grooming bring out behaviour that would have otherwise stayed dormant. There are some heart-stopping moments as the novel comes towards the final showdown and I was absolutely gripped. I love that Mark Edwards doesn’t follow the usual tropes of thrillers, because I kept thinking that once Rose realises her full potential there would be no going back. Psychopathy has some treatment options available, but current thinking is that it’s an inherited or genetic condition where the areas of the brain controlling behaviour and impulse control are underdeveloped. Treatment is a combination of psychotherapy, behavioural training and an emphasis on the importance of connection to family and the wider community. However, it is a disorder that can only be controlled rather than cured. Once someone has been shown that society’s rules can be broken can they ever truly go back to how they were before? One thing that really stood out to me was that Fiona’s house has no books! Always a bad sign I think and as a piece of advice on dating it was invaluable; if you go home with someone and they don’t have books, don’t sleep with them. I won’t ruin the book by saying too much, but I highly recommend it to those who enjoy devouring thrillers. In fact if you’ve never read Mark Edwards before go and take a look at his previous books too. You won’t be disappointed.
Out now from Thomas and Mercer
Meet the Author
I write books in which scary things happen to ordinary people, the best known of which are Follow You Home, The Magpies, and Here To Stay. My novels have sold over 5 million copies and topped the bestseller lists numerous times. I pride myself on writing fast-paced page-turners with lots of twists and turns, relatable characters and dark humour. My next novel is The Wasp Trap, which will be published in July in the UK/Australia and September in the US/Canada.
I live in the West Midlands, England, with my wife, our three children, two cats and a golden retriever.
Artists are an endless source of material for novelists and have fascinated me for most of my adult reading life. I think we afford artists the right to behave badly, because what they do feels like alchemy. To be able to take mere pen and paint and turn it into something that’s beautiful or utterly new is magical to someone like me who can only just manage to sketch something if I have lots of time and patience. I stick to colouring for my artistic endeavours. If I think about it I’ve been going to art galleries since my teenage years when the chance to see Klimt’s work at Tate Liverpool was too exciting to pass on. I loved ‘The Kiss’ but this exhibit took his work and placed it into the context of the secessionist movement, just one branch of Art Nouveau. I continued to visit exhibits on Art Nouveau, at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow to see the Glasgow School exhibits, The Met in New York a few times, as well as the Guggenheim there and in Venice. I visited London for many exhibits at the V and A and the Tate including Lucian Freud, a painter I’ve come to appreciate more recently. One of my great loves are the Pre-Raphaelites, since having the chance to study their work at university. We visit my mum’s hometown of Liverpool very frequently and I’m a regular at the Walker Gallery and Lady Lever gallery in Port Sunlight both of which have a great collection of Pre-Raphaelite work. Artists are often unconventional, have complicated love lives and some have a reputation for being hellraisers. Is it any wonder that we love to read about them? I usually jump at the chance and have quite a collection! here are a few of my favourite novels that feature painters.
Mistral’s Daughter by Judith Krantz
I have a very cracked and broken copy of this novel and I’ve read it several times. I blame it for starting my fascination with painters, I used to swipe it off mum’s bookshelves when I was a teenager. It’s romantic and sexually explicit, two things teenagers are definitely interested in! It follows the story of three generations of women from Paris to New York. We first experience Maggie Lunel’s journey to become an artist’s model. She is chosen by Julian Mistral and becomes his muse, as well as his lover until his ego and arrogance make her walk out. Years later, Maggie’s daughter Teddy is working as a fashion model. Her father Perry Kilkullen was the last man Maggie would fall in love with. Teddy has a job in France posing with artists for a fashion shoot and as soon as she poses with Mistral it is love at first sight. Mistral is married, but he leaves and sets up home with Teddy, never returning to America. Fauve Lunel is Mistral’s daughter, brought up with her grandmother Maggie she visits Mistral in the summer at his villa in the south of France. Fauve is a talented artist and begins to look into her family roots, finding out they are Jewish. When she realise Mistral might have been a collaborator during WW2 the revelation tears father and daughter apart, will they ever reconcile? This is a great story, romantic and bit racy too.
The Marriage of Oppositesby Alice Hoffman
As you all know by now, I’m a big fan of Alice Hoffman, but when I first picked up this novel on publication day I found it was very different from her usual books. We always expect to find strong women in Hoffman’s novels but there’s usually an element of magic realism to her work. Our heroine Rachel is definitely a strong woman, but magic takes a back seat for this novel that reads more like an biography. Rachel lives on the stunning island of São Tomé or St Thomas and is the mother of Camille Pissarro, one of the founders of Impressionism. Rachel is brought up with a strict Jewish faith, but she has always dreamed of getting off the island and going to Paris. Unfortunately Rachel has no choice and is married off to a widower with three children. Nevertheless she makes of the best of things until her husband dies suddenly. When his nephew Frédéric comes from Paris to settle the will and there is an instant spark between them. For once Rachel decides to make decisions for her own life and begins a passionate affair. The scandal that ensues when they marry has the whole island in uproar, but Rachel stands firm and will not be moved. This is a beautiful story, set on a lush island that’s described in gorgeous detail by Hoffman – she made me want to go there. I loved her relationship with her son and hoped that one day she would get to go to Paris as she dreamed.
Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale
Set in the beautiful county of Cornwall, around Newlyn and Penzance, this is the story of a family struggling with secrets, brought back to the place they were born after a tragedy. Their mother, celebrated artist Rachael Kelly, is found dead in her Penzance studio after struggling with the creative highs and devastating lows that have coloured her life. As her family try to make sense of their mother’s life and it’s effect on them, devastating secrets come to light. As always with Patrick Gale the level of empathy in this book is incredible, he understands how different people think and respond to events. His depiction of mental illness is so authentic and heart-breaking. Rachael’s bi-polar disorder is the source of her art, but Gale also explores how it affects the rest of her working life and how it impacts on her family, especially her children. This is a favourite of mine and I’ve read it several times, but it never loses it’s power.
The Flames by Sophie Haydock
I devoured this brilliant book by Sophie Haydock, where she takes four women painted by artist Egon Schiele. Set in Vienna in 1912, on the back of the secessionist movement and artists like Gustav Klimt, Schiele paints four women and Sophie gives them a voice. Gertrude is in awe of her brilliant older brother, often posing for him but envying his freedom and agency. Then there’s Vally, a model for Klimt who’s trying to work her way out of poverty. Then sisters Edith and Adele move into the apartment building opposite Schiele’s in Vienna. The daughters of wealthy parents, they are not the type of girls who usually model for an artist and are expected to marry well. Yet both become embroiled with Schiele, professionally and privately. A portrait is always how the artists sees or wants to present you to the world, here the women step out from behind that image and tell their own story.
The Paris Muse by Louise Treger
Louise Treger’s 2024 novel concerns the life, or more accurately the love, of Dora Maar – a photographer and painter who lived in Paris for most of her life and most notably, during the German occupation in WWII. Born Henrietta Theodora Markovitch in 1907, she was known as a surrealist photographer exhibiting alongside Dali and other notable surrealists. She used her photographic art to better represent life through links with ideas, politics and philosophy rather than slavishly photographing what was naturally there. She was exhibited in the Surrealist Exposition in Paris and the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936. In the same year she was exhibited at MOMA in NYC. She first encountered Picasso while taking photos at a film set in 1935, but they were not introduced until a few days later when Paul Elduard introduced them at Cafe des Deux Magots. They met in quite a dramatic way that showed her intent to catch his eye. She sat alone and using a pen knife she drove the blade between her splayed fingers and where she missed, blood stained the gloves she wore. The fact that Picasso kept these gloves and packed them away with his treasured mementoes is a metaphor for their entire relationship – he fed from her emotions. The author allows Dora to tell her own story and we are inside her mind at all times. We could say this is only her viewpoint of their relationship, but in a world where she is most known through her relationship with a man instead of her own work, Treger is simply redressing the balance. This is tough to read in parts, showing the ego of Picasso and how his call for freedom in their relationship, means his freedom. I felt sad for Dora, possibly influenced by some of my own experiences. She seemed like a smaller woman at the end with none of her original vitality and flamboyance. I’m so glad to know that her art lives on and is still exhibited as part of the surrealist canon.
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
WELCOME TO ERIS – A TIDAL ISLAND WITH ONLY ONE HOUSE, ONE INHABITANT, ONE WAY OUT. . .
A place that is unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day. Once the hideaway of Vanessa, a famous artist whose husband disappeared twenty years ago. Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation. Local GP Grace, often referred to as Vanessa’s companion or friend, might have inherited Eris. However, Vanessa’s artworks were left to an art foundation set up by her first agent. The curator of the foundation is Becker, hired for his expertise in Vanessa’s work. He is under pressure from the new owner to extract the last of Vanessa’s work from Eris. They have tried polite enquiries, legal letters and ultimatums but they are sure this has all been in vain and that Grace is deliberately holding back. Now a situation has arisen with one of Vanessa’s found object installations already on display in the gallery. A visiting doctor is convinced that the bone suspended in a glass box is human. They withdraw the box from view and contemplate having to break it open to have the bone properly tested. The unspoken thought on everyone’s mind is whether this might solve the mystery of Vanessa’s missing husband? It’s an opportunity for Becker to tell Grace face to face, but also to address the missing works that must be on Eris. He feels this is the best way forward; a last ditch attempt before legal action. However, visiting Eris is not without it’s risks. Are all of it’s secrets and lies about to be uncovered? This is a great thriller, full of questions about what an artist needs to be able to create, who owns an artwork and when does friendship become obsession?
New Reads To Look Out For …
Sophie Haydock is delving back into the art world with her novel about the women surrounding the artist Matisse.
This is the story of three women – one an orphan and refugee who finds a place in the studio of a famous French artist, the other a wife and mother who has stood by her husband for nearly forty years. The third is his daughter, caught in the crossfire between her mother and a father she adores. Amelie is first drawn to Henri Matisse as a way of escaping the conventional life expected of her. A free spirit, she sees in this budding young artist a glorious future for them both. Ambitious and driven, she gives everything for her husband’s art, ploughing her own desires, her time, her money into sustaining them both, even through years of struggle and disappointment. Lydia Delectorskaya is a young Russian emigree, who fled her homeland following the death of her mother. She is trying to make a place for herself on France’s golden Riviera, amid the artists, film stars and dazzling elite. Eventually she finds employment with the Matisse family. From this point on, their lives are set on a collision course. Marguerite is Matisse’s eldest daughter. When the life of her family implodes, she must find her own way to make her mark and to navigate divided loyalties. Based on a true story, Madame Matisse is a stunning novel about drama and betrayal; emotion and sex; glamour and tragedy, all set in the hotbed of the 1930s art movement in France. In art, as in life, this a time when the rules were made to be broken…
Out from Doubleday on 6th March 2025
PROVENCE, 1920
Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle’s artistic genius possible. Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he’ll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe. But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers. Over this sweltering summer, everyone’s true colours will be revealed.
Because Ettie is ready to be seen. Even if it means setting her world on fire. This book will transport you straight to the south of France and straight to the heart of one woman’s rage.
Our story starts in 1768 on a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica, where a slave rebellion has been brewing. The signal will be sent to all the slaves by drum and Daniel has heard their rhythm. He needs to get to the house where his sweetheart Adanna works for the mistress, the house slaves aren’t in on the secret and he wants to get there in time. The field slaves might harm the house slaves along with their masters, perceiving their lives to be easier and their loyalties divided. When Daniel realises the house is already ablaze he leaves with his little sister Pearl, hoping to find a way to get off the island. His story then jumps to 1782 and the aftermath of the War of Independence where free slaves who fought for the British were promised a new life in England. Daniel was one such soldier fighting with the British under Major Edward Fitzallen, whose life he saved. Edward and his wife Elizabeth have taken Daniel and Pearl under their wing, meaning that both brother and sister have a level of education and independence one might think unusual for Jamaican slaves. When Edward is wounded he knows he won’t make the voyage home and calls Daniel to his side. He wants to ensure that Daniel and Pearl have a future in England and calls witnesses to his signature on a new will and testament. It hands all his worldly goods over to Daniel, telling him to call on his brother James to inform him of Edward’s demise and Daniel’s new position as his heir. Daniel naively expects the Fitzallen brothers to be equally honourable and he underestimates James who drugs Daniel, then throws the new will and all proof of Daniel’s claim and rank into the fire. Now Pearl and Daniel are abandoned in London with nothing.
There were many black soldiers shipped over here with the promise of a new life, without any provision made for them when they arrived. Many ended up in the area of St Giles, home to the infamous Rookery which was a warren of corridors and rooms under Covent Garden and accessed through St Giles church crypt. Here lived those forgotten black slaves, Irish immigrants escaping famine and others who had no means to live. People like Daniel and Pearl were outcasts from civilised society and known as the Blackbirds of St Giles, living in dark caves where sewage ran in channels through the rooms. The book was so beautifully detailed, taking us effortlessly into the late 18th Century like time travellers. I could sense absolutely everything from the steady thrum of the drums in Jamaica to the smells of London squalor and it’s poorest residences. The divide between those in poverty and those who are rich is a deep canyon, all the more shocking to Daniel who has become used to a certain deference and to Pearl who barely remembers the plantation and has grown up by Elizabeth Fitzallen’s side with all the privileges of a middle class young woman. Daniel and Pearl’s new home is a dark underground cave where it’s a choice between breathing or being cold because smoke from the fire can’t dissipate and simply sits in the room with them, making them cough and their eyes water. The rooms are filled with a sense of dark foreboding, worsened when Daniel sees the first ceremony with their self-styled King. I loved how the Black Apollo club is a haven by contrast with such an open and accepting feeling. Here black men are relaxed, having a drink or playing chess with friends. It’s a glimpse into the far future, because many of their customers can only dream of a time they’re not a servant, regarded with suspicion or hidden as a dirty secret. There’s also a contrast with Elias’s lodgings as King of the Rookery, he doesn’t share the dark caves of his subjects but instead enjoys plush lodgings policed by a beautiful, prowling cheetah called Infanta.
The sense of terrible injustice is palpable and I was desperate for Daniel to get what is owed to him. Daniel and Pearl have been defrauded and it all feels worse because of the dignity and command he’s had under Edward Fitzallen. I found myself rooting for them both pretty quickly. Their friendship meant that Pearl was always well-dressed and learned to read, something of a privilege for a young black woman born into slavery. The only man who could have corroborated Daniel’s claim is back on his ship by the time Daniel wakes from being drugged. There’s no way to get what he’s owed now. It’s only when he starts training with ex-boxer Melkie Trimme at his St Giles gym that Daniel starts to feel a sense of purpose and pride again. If he can beat the European champion then he and Pearl can get better lodgings and start to repay the kindness shown to them by young girl Jen who has organised their place at The Rookery, brought them food from her pub job and introduced him to some of the most influential men she knows. Daniel is drawn to her, but is still plagued with guilt about Adanna.
For me the women were particularly interesting. In the literature written or set in the 18th Century we’re used to the upper and middle classes, not people like these at the bottom. If we think of the Regency novels of Jane Austen and the more contemporary Bridgerton series the women are accomplished, but it’s all focused on making a good marriage. Women who are poor have no time for accomplishments as they’re too busy surviving, but they have more agency and autonomy. Jen is such a pretty girl but she’s fiery and used to making her own decisions. She has very little but she’s surviving and shows kindness and generosity to those she cares about. Having survived an horrific childhood she is keen for rebellion and knows that Daniel might have what it takes to lead people out of The Rookery and end Elias’s tyranny. She also takes Pearl under her wing and guides her into earning her own money for herself. Daniel wants to protect Pearl and keep her in the middle-class propriety she’s been used to, but this is no use to her when they’re living in a squalid underground cavern. Pearl really rises to the occasion with very little complaint, starting to work at the pub with Jen, then sneaking out in the evening for singing engagements. She has a beautiful voice and Jen thinks it might be her ticket out of the slums. As for the Marquise, she has used her beauty and poise to get where she is. When we’re let into her opulent townhouse Daniel is shocked at the squalor most black immigrants are living in compared to her. How could a black woman reach the heights she has? That’s without mentioning the residence in France or her wardrobe, full of all the gowns and perfumes she can wear. Could there be hints of a darker truth underneath the opulence?
All in all this is a fantastic historical novel; vivid and dark, but ultimately hopeful. I love it when authors take a character and write them back into the period of history they’ve been erased from. Middle class writers would rarely write about the people of The Rookery. Even Charles Dickens didn’t hint at this underground life, despite his interest in those living in poverty. Obadiah is such a great character, a disabled resident of the Rookery whose intellect and philosophies are articulate and inspiring. The fact that he runs the brotherhood at the Black Apollo and has a place at the head of the planning table is amazing. The other men do look up to him as their oracle. It seems strange to imagine that the novels of Jane Austen are only a few years away, because in them we never hear of people like this. It’s easy to forget that not everyone lives in the countryside and working class women are out there making things happen, working everyday and not at home with an embroidery hoop on their lap hoping for a gentleman caller. There’s no one from a different country and even the poor are ‘distressed gentlefolk’. Comparing this world with Austen’s shows how urban, dynamic and exciting London is, especially if women and people of all races have an opportunity to create their own future. Some did, like Olaudah Equiano who was enslaved to a master and a role in the Royal Navy. He came to Britain at the same time as Daniel and once he’d bought back his freedom had become a merchant. Sadly he had to stop travelling when he was almost captured and sold back into slavery in Georgia. However, he did write a memoir that’s still in print today. I came away from this book with everything crossed for Daniel and Pearl, as well as Jen. I was so immersed in the story that it felt strange to look up and find myself back in my own living room.
Meet the Author
Writing together as Lila Cain, Marcia Hutchinson and Kate Griffin are the co-writers and creators of The Blackbirds of St Giles, the first of two books centred on the lives of members of the little-known black community in Georgian London. United by their passion for history and a strong desire to tell an unfamiliar – and hugely resonant – story, Kate and Marcia are delighted that ‘Blackbirds’ and its sequel will be published by Simon & Schuster.
Marcia Hutchinson worked as a lawyer before founding educational publishing company Primary Colours and was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010. Her solo debut novel Mercy is due for publication in summer 2025.
Kate is the author of Fyneshade (Viper), a stand-alone Neo-Victorian gothic novel of witchcraft in a house of dark secrets. She is also the writer of the popular Kitty Peck thriller series (Faber and Faber) set in the Music Halls of Victorian London. After studying English Literature at university, Kate worked as assistant to a London antique dealer, as a journalist and in PR. Until recently she was Head of Communications for Britain’s oldest conservation charity, The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). Her love of old buildings and the stories they tell continues to inspire her.
There are three rules about ghosts. Rule #1: They can’t speak. | Rule #2: They can’t move. | Rule #3: They can’t hurt you.
Ezra Friedman grew up in the family funeral home which is complicated for someone who can see ghosts. Worst of all was his grandfather’s ghost and his disapproving looks at every choice Ezra made, from his taste in boys to his HRT-induced second puberty. It’s no wonder that since moving out, he’s stayed as far away from the family business as possible.
However, when his dream job doesn’t work out, his mother invites him to Passover Seder and announces she’s running away with the rabbi’s wife! Now Ezra finds himself back at the funeral home to help out and is soon in the thick of it. He has to deal with his loved ones and his crush on Jonathon, one of their volunteers. Jonathon is their neighbour so Ezra is trying to keep the crush under wraps while also dealing with Jonathon’s relative, a spectre who’s keen on breaking all the rules. Ezra must keep his family together and avoid heartbreak, but is starting to realise there’s more than one way to be haunted.
This book came totally out of left field and I didn’t know what to expect at all, but I fell in love with it. I do connect to books about grief and loss as it’s something I’ve gone through but I also loved it’s emphasis on family, culture and tradition. Yes the book is about grief, but it’s also about love. Ezra is a Jewish trans man so it’s also firmly based in the queer community and I enjoyed that too. The romance is quiet and more of a slow burn than the heat of passion, tempered by Jonathon’s recent loss of his father. It depicts the chaos and disruption of death beautifully, especially in how it affects family members differently and can come between them. Ezra and the funeral staff treat deceased persons with respect; they’re both gentle and caring in their work with them and their grieving families. The author takes us deeply into the customs and rituals surrounding a death in a Jewish family and I find this so interesting because we can all learn from each other’s ceremonies and traditions. I felt that their attention to detail and the respect they had for the people brought to their funeral home was ultimately life affirming. Their deference shows how precious life is and that our relationships with family are the most important thing of all.
I also loved the author’s focus on something that I think is the secret to a happy and contented life – being your authentic self. We can see how Ezra’s connection to his communities – family, religion and the queer community – grounds him and reminds him of who he is. When we’re not true to who we are we start to feel dislocated and uncomfortable. Through Ezra’s story we explore how to find yourself again and hopefully be your authentic self. The book felt so much more than a romance, because it’s really a family story too. With a delicate touch the author also brings a light humour to the story, softening the grief and loss without being disrespectful which is a difficult balance to find. It surprised me that this was a debut novel because she’s managed that balance perfectly. My only criticism is that I was hoping for more ghosts. They were more of a background feature than relevant to the plot and from the blurb and title I expected more. Having said that it’s still a great story and I’d love to read more from this writer.
Published Aug 2024 from Trapeze.
Meet the Author
Shelly Jay Shore (she/they) is a writer, digital strategist, and nonprofit fundraiser. She writes for anxious queer millennials, sufferers of Eldest Daughter Syndrome, recovering summer camp counselors, and anyone struggling with the enormity of being a person trying to make the world kinder, softer, and more tender. Her work on queer Jewish identity has been published by Autostraddle, Hey Alma, and the Bisexual Resource Center.
I was born in Scunthorpe in the the 1970s and our family had a fairly set weekend tradition. On Saturdays mum and dad would take us into town on Saturday mornings where we would visit the market and mum would take us to Scunthorpe Library. This was a huge brick building in a square full of pigeons and had a entrance that was a glass pyramid giving it a strange futuristic look. I was left in the children’s library to make my choices. I was always a voracious reader and started reading more grown-up novels when I was ten, my first being Jane Eyre. I loved it when all my classmates were reading the scheme in class and I was allowed to sit in the library alone and read by choice. I can still smell that library when I think about it. But it was in the Scunthorpe library that I first met the Moomins and I’ve been hooked ever since. These plump white hippo- like creatures were so cute and I loved the range of characters Tove Jansson had created. From the tiny light-up hattifatteners that brushed against your legs and felt like nettle stings to the determined and bitey Little My, I’d never read anything like it and I’m sure part of me thought there might be an unknown corner of Finland where they actually lived. Moomin House was a blue tower by a lake surrounded by snow and ice. I’ve recently found out that Finland doesn’t just have the Moominland theme park, there is a genuine Moomin House where you can spend your holiday. It’s the perfect combination for me and my other half, I can immerse myself in reading and he can fish the lake.
Despite having an actual theme park, the Moomin’s world created by Tove Jansson is not a sanitised pink Disney experience where everything is beautiful and everyone is safe. Yes, there are floating clouds you can ride, fantastical creatures full of character and the safe space of Moomin House, always welcoming and happy to see you. Yet, the family have ups and downs from comets, floods and an evil hobgoblin. In Comet in Moominland Moomintroll and his friend Snufkin set off on a quest to find out about a comet hurtling towards earth. In Moomin Summer Madness the Moomin are flooded out of their home and have to go on a trek to find another. In the final book Moominvalley in November, the other characters are waiting for the Moomins to arrive, but there’s no sign of them. As we wait with the others there is a palpable sense of absence and potentially loss. Our beloved friends are often in peril, suffering anxiety or are openly depressed and despairing of life. I realised when I was older just how carefully the books address worries that children and adults both have. Sometimes, it’s a worry or issue that is affecting the real world at the time Tove Jansson was writing. It’s easy to see the comet in the first book as an allegory of real world concerns about nuclear warfare. When read now we can see issues about climate change and the experience of being a refugee in Moominsummer Madness. The Snork Maiden is in love with Moomintroll and worries about her appearance, particularly her plumpness. Snufkin comes and goes from Moomin House, sometimes needing a quest with his friend and sometimes he needs quiet, only his fishing rod and flute for company. This could be read as the response to sensory overload experienced by introverts and people on the autistic spectrum. There’s the rather melancholy Hemulen, he’s a botanist who likes to wear dresses. Mymble is a single mother to Little My who’s a force to be reckoned with. All of these creatures seem to find solace and community spending time with the Moomins.
I always felt that the Moomin house was like my own. The welcoming, non-judgemental and loving Moomin Mamma and Papa are so like my mum and dad. My brother and I did have a penchant for waifs and strays, sometimes people and sometimes animals. We’d bring them home and look after them for a while. I had a friend who would ring my mum and ask if they could come for tea, then he’d wait for me outside school and go home with me on the bus. To be honest he did worry my dad a bit with his huge flared jeans and red Mohican. I was probably a square teenager, I didn’t really rebel and we were brought up in church. I did wonder sometimes what our friends got out of being with us, but at fifty years old I can see that some of our friends were drawn to the comfort and stability of my family. My mum was always home, was a great cook and accepted everyone. My dad was a bit more concerned, especially about boys, but he was a youth worker and used to relating with teenagers. My brother is Snufkin through and through, preferring solitude to being with people and enjoying nothing more than fishing with his dog. He walks off into nature for a weekend with his tent and a fishing rod on his back. My late husband was rather like the Hemulen, not that he wore dresses, but he had that professorial air and focus. I’m an absolute Snork Maiden, impossibly romantic and a little too plump.
I think Tove Jansson created beautiful, endearing characters that would appeal to children, but she doesn’t hold back when it comes to plot. That’s the enduring appeal of these books and the merchandising that has exploded over the years. If friends or family go to Covent Garden they always bring me something from The Moomin Store. I have jewellery, note books, Christmas baubles (including a Moomin House), posters, mugs and glasses. I have a beautiful shadow box and various travel mugs and water bottles. So I couldn’t resist this beautiful Folio Society anniversary edition of Finn Family Moomintroll. As you can see it has beautiful illustrations and I absolutely treasure it. This year is the 80th Anniversary of the book so I’m looking forward to a year of the comfort and nostalgia I still get from these beautiful books.
Meet the Author
In the nineteen-fifties and sixties, one of the most famous cartoonists in the world was a lesbian artist who lived on a remote island off the coast of Finland. Tove Jansson had the status of a beloved cultural icon—adored by children, celebrated by adults. Before her death, in 2001, at the age of eighty-six, Jansson produced paintings, novels, children’s books, magazine covers, political cartoons, greeting cards, librettos, and much more. But most of Jansson’s fans arrived by way of the Moomins, a friendly species of her invention—rotund white creatures that look a little like upright hippos, and were the subject of nine best-selling books and a daily comic strip that ran for twenty years.
The Lotus Readers 