Tag: Netgalley

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The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Posted on by thelotusreaders

Molly the maid is back! Back in a new adventure, but still living in her grandmother’s apartment, which she now shares with partner Juan Marco, and still working at the Grand Regency Hotel. Juan is on a long awaited trip, visiting family, but Molly decided to stay behind in order to supervise a really important event at the hotel. Mystery writer Mr J.D. Grimthorpe is using the newly decorated Art Deco tea rooms to make an announcement to his fans and the press. Molly knows that Mr Grimthorpe is a very particular man, a knowledge that goes beyond the average bit of research, so it must be her that oversees how he’s looked after. Against most people’s judgement she has chosen her protege Lily to prepare his tea cart, because she’s sure that she’s passed on the requisite skills for her to make a success of it. However, at the crucial moment something goes badly wrong. As Mr Grimthorpe reaches out to his personal honey pot to add just a little sweetness to his tea, a hush descends. As he takes a drink however, chaos ensues. He suddenly plummets to the ground, dead. Molly knows that Lily will be terrified especially since it’s ‘always the maids fault.’ As a detective appears to take on the case, Molly’s skills in observation and brilliant memory turn out to be useful. Yet Molly has another insight that she hasn’t disclosed to her boss or the police. She has met J.D. Grimthorpe before and her memories of that time are not the most flattering to the famous author.

Nita Prose gives us a dual narrative, but both of are Molly. We follow the aftermath of Mr Grimthorpe’s death, but also go back to Molly’s childhood when she is taken to the Grimthorpe mansion by her grandmother who is their maid. Neither narrative is simple, but Molly’s different way of observing the world and her incredible memory create an exciting and complex journey. In one we see Molly’s childhood perspective and we understand that wide-eyed wonder of visiting such a rich house with all its treasures including a Faberge egg! Through a mishap with the egg, Molly is assigned a job in the silver room, polishing all the cutlery. This is supposed to be a punishment, but Mrs Grimthrope has no idea that cleaning is Molly’a idea of fun. I loved following this unique little girl as she uses her privileges to get into every nook and cranny of the house. It’s very atmospheric, quiet with just the steady tap tap of the keys on a typewriter as Grimthorpe creates his next masterpiece. Usually she uses his well stocked shelves to read, particularly the classics like Great Expectations. Molly discovers that if she attempts to take a particular book from the shelf it opens a secret door into his study. This proves to be a vital discovery that will shape their lives forever.

In the present, Molly is making great progress by thinking back to that time all those years ago for clues. When Grimthorpe keeled over nobody noticed what happened to the tea cart, but when it’s inspected they realise two items are missing – his particular honey pot and spoon plus a signed copy of his latest book. With so many super fans and book bloggers around that day, it could have been one of a hundred people, either looking for a macabre souvenir or looking for a good way to make some quick money – the moment Grimthorpe died his books suddenly became more valuable, especially the one he’d only just signed. Molly wants to check out local pawn shops and book collectors to see if anyone has recently brought the book in. Meanwhile suspicion falls on Lily as she knew it would, she needs all the support someone like Molly can give her.

I love Molly as a character and her development in the last novel was an important part of the story. Here we see her take another person under her wing. In the interviews, the others were not impressed by Lily but Molly knew she had all the skills to become the perfect maid. She might be quiet and introverted but that meant she wouldn’t waste time talking with colleagues or guests. She might have a polite and deferential way of talking to the customers too. Molly can clearly see something of her old self in this nervous and slightly strange girl. Molly is now head maid so has the hiring and firing power, and she’s certainly found some brilliant staff for the Regency so she is trusted. Lily shines under Molly’s directions which is lovely to see, but other members or staff are suspicious of her, especially Cheryl who is a loud and greedy chancer! I thought Lily’s manner became confusing, especially after Grimthorpe’s death. She keeps repeating that ‘loose lips sink ships’ but not elaborating on the meaning. She needs careful handling and Molly knows how to manage her. I loved how impressed the detective is with Molly, and the respect that builds between them.

Mr Preston, the doorman at the Regency, is still there and still having lunch every Sunday at Molly and Juan’s flat. His relationship with Molly becomes more significant here, not just because of the investigation but because Molly is delving into her past. Mr Grimthorpe had a very closed circle of people he trusted, including his wife, Molly’s grandmother and the secretary who faithfully turned his notes and verbal ramblings into a proper plot. It was her fingers making the steady clacking sound that was the heart beat of the house. Delving this far back brings up memories for Molly, including the reasons they were banished from this inner circle. She also has to process memories of her mother, someone barely mentioned during her upbringing. Despite having a happy and healthy family unit with her grandmother, Molly still missed her mum desperately and always wondered what happened to her. The mystery is interesting and kept me guessing throughout, with me almost thinking Nita might do something wholly unexpected and pin the blame on Molly. However it’s the love of Molly that will draw readers to this story and the fact that the mystery fills in some holes in her background is a huge bonus. I found myself finishing the book, hoping that Nita Prose would be kind enough to give us at least one more adventure with this charming and unique character.

Out on 18th Jan from Harper Collins

Meet the Author

Nita Prose is the author of The Maid, which has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and was published in over forty countries. A #1 New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction and was an Edgar Award finalist. Her second novel, The Mystery Guest, publishes in November 2023 in North America (January 2024 in the UK). Prose lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is moderately clean.

Posted in Netgalley

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Posted on by thelotusreaders

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American–in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang

June Hayward and Athena Liu were in the same year at Yale and both debuted in the same year in publishing. Yet that’s where the similarities end. Athena is picked up immediately in the world that’s always looking for the next big thing. Stories about basic white girls just aren’t cutting it any more, so Athena is a cross genre literary darling. Her death is a freak accident that allows June an opportunity, she acts impulsively and steals Athena’s work in progress. Her work is an interesting novel about Chinese labourers and their part in WW1 helping the British and the French. Could she perhaps edit the manuscript and submit it to her own agent? Would it be wrong to start a new pseudonym? Enter the ethnically ambiguous new novelist June Song.

This was a brilliant inside look at issues and timely arguments within the publishing industry. In the past couple of years I’ve seen the question of authentic voices rage back and forth, especially interesting to me when it comes to writers with disabilities and the way disabled characters are written. Is it more important that a marginalised story is told or is who tells it the vital issue? This can be especially urgent when it’s a previously untold story or a hidden part of history. June has so much success with the book, but struggles to protect her secrets. One wrong word could expose her, so how far will she go to protect her new identity?

I’m always fascinated with books where I don’t like any of the characters because it usually means I’m learning something. I think some readers are uncomfortable with this. Athena is the wronged party and should therefore be ‘likeable’. In fact racist or more accurately model minority thinking means that a Western audience might expect the Athena to be sweet, pretty, docile and diligent just because she’s Asian. The qualities are positive, but allow no room for difference unlike the endlessly unique white characters created every day by Western writers. Huang broaches the idea that the industry’s criteria for deciding which Asian writers to publish is based within this flawed expectation. There’s also an issue around the type of subject matter chosen by publishers. In the wake of George Floyd’s death a lot changed in the publishing industry and we all talked a lot about diversity, but when I think of the subject matter of books I’ve read from ethnically diverse writers, particularly African American or Black British writers, they have all contained sexual abuse, violence or intergenerational trauma. Can we say this is a true reflection of the experience of people from those communities? Or do publishers expect this type of story from black writers and favour publishing them over other narratives? Do we only accept marginalised voices when they’re saying things we expect, things that make us comfortable because they echo our ideas about that particular community?

June truly believes that she’s becoming the minority in the writing world. That unless you’re a BIPOC writer you can’t get a look in from agents and publishers. The focus is on ‘own voice’ fiction and no one wants to hear from yet another white girl. I thought about the controversy around the book American Dirt when reading this. Writing is all about imagination and an author can imagine anything. An author can also research anything, but is research enough when you’re attempting to write from the perspective of someone with a disability, or someone LGBTQ+. I have to mention the proliferation of books from a neuro-divergent perspective by writers who have experience in this area, but who aren’t neuro-divergent themselves. I can understand the concern about it, but I’ve also really learned from some of these books and been led to other reading so I could educate myself. Where does ‘own voice’ writing end? Are we saying that a male writer can’t write in the voice of a female character? Writing is all about creativity so if we can only ever write from our own viewpoint wouldn’t it get a little boring? Should publishers accept a manuscript from a white writer who’s writing outside their own experience, if they are inundated with own voice manuscripts of equal merit?

“She’s using the pen name Juniper Song to pretend to be Chinese American. She’s taken new author photos to look more tan and ethnic, but she’s as white as they come. June Hayward you are a thief and a liar. You’ve stolen my legacy and now you spit on my grave’.

I loved that this book addressed those big issues, but it was also entertaining, delicious and disturbing in equal measure. I really enjoyed the ins and outs of the publishing world and the gossipy social media ‘blow-up’ feel of the book. Then there were moments that were more uncomfortable and challenging. It addressed what a lonely job it is to be a writer and how that isolation magnifies other aspects of being an author such as the negativity of social media and the perils of comparison. I wasn’t sure about June but that meant her character stayed with me. On one hand I felt she deserved to be exposed, but when I saw the reality of that I felt really bad for her. This was such a clever novel, so complex, full of amazing contemporary issues and always entertaining.

Meet the Author

Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times bestselling and Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award nominated author of Babel, the Poppy War trilogy, and the forthcoming Yellowface. She is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Posted in Netgalley

The Island of Longing by Anne Griffin

Posted on by thelotusreaders

One unremarkable afternoon, Rosie watched her daughter Saoirse cycle into town, expecting to hear the slam of the door when she returned a few hours later.

But the slam never came.

Eight years on, Rosie is the only person who believes that her child might one day return home. Will this belief come at the cost of everything she has left?

My previous work in mental health and my counselling training always lead me towards books that either portray dramatic life events or feature characters that are deep and three dimensional, with a flourishing inner life. Anne Griffin delivers this and more, so I was interested to read her latest novel because it goes into the character’s reactions to a highly dramatic and distressing event. The worst thing that can happen to a parent is to lose their child and this happens to Rosie. Her daughter, Saoirse Dunne, disappeared eight years ago and since then she has been unable to think straight or get on with life. Her heart and spirit are broken, So she heads back home, an island off the coast of Cork. There she’s hoping to find solace and some sort of healing from the natural world around her and the community she knows on the island. She and her husband Hugh have grieved differently over the last eight years, the loss has slowly separated them emotionally and now they continue to need different things. When we see a comparison of their relationship, before and after their daughter’s disappearance, the difference is stark.

Rosie still holds on to the belief that Saoirse might return and she isn’t ready to let go of this. She’s also taking her son Cullie with her and they share so those questions many people ask in grief – ‘what if I’d just…’ and ‘if only I had …’. There’s a sense of survivor’s guilt in these thoughts and I was hoping that they would both find some peace too. Rosie’s decision to return home to where she grew up and even her old work operating the ferry to the mainland, could be seen as a way of cutting out the most painful part of my life and returning to a time when life was more simple. When she’s operating the ferry she feels closer to her daughter than she has in a long while. Of course this gives her solace, but it’s also a barrier to her accepting reality.

I really enjoyed the sense of place created by the author and it’s meaning in the novel. I could visualise Roaring Bay Island completely and the surrounding sea even feels soothing. It’s a refuge, but only for the summer. I worried that after this idyllic interlude in her grief, going back to reality would be a terrible shock. The author acknowledges this, writing that it’s merely a chance to ‘step out of the world for a while’. I loved the freedom she feels while piloting the ferry, with the rocking motion of the waves like a cradle. It was wonderful to witness the kindness and thoughtfulness of the people on the island too. Is this something she isn’t getting in her current home. The place where Saoirse is still missing.

The author keeps Saoirse’s disappearance at the heart of the novel and the family’s experience of loss and pain is devastating but beautifully done. I have experienced loss and this was so raw and real, with incredibly authentic dialogue. I did feel tears coming here and there because Rosie’s feelings were so close to my own. It gives the reader a window into an experience they hope never to share. Please don’t be put off though, there are moments of lightness in the community, they really are an example of humanity at it’s best. There’s also such resilience in the characters, in the face of a loss that is unthinkable. When she returns from the island, she’s moved forward emotionally and Dublin feels like a dark place. It feels like the past. I loved the author’s addition of a sentence from Saoirse, on it’s own page and in a larger font. This lets us get to know Saoirse a little. It also seems to amplify that feeling that she’s gone, yet always there for those who love her. I won’t say this is an easy read. In fact some people may be uncomfortable witnessing the family’s grief. If people do push through that, they’ll gain an understanding of a universal human experience. We all experience loss. For people like me who have had their lives, like Rosie’s, divided into a before and after, this type of emotionally literate writing is a God send. A comfort and a reminder that we’re not alone.

Meet the Author

I’m the international bestselling author of three books: ‘The Island of Longing’, 2023, ‘When All Is Said’, 2019, and ‘Listening Still’, 2021.

I’ve been published all over the world, from the UK to the US and from Taiwan to Lithuania. It has been published in twenty-five territories. In 2019, I was honoured to be awarded Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.

To me, writing is all about great storytelling and I hope you find that within the pages of my books, from Maurice Hannigan in ‘When All Is Said’ who sits to the bar of his local hotel to raise five toasts to the five most important people in his life, to Jeanie Masterson in ‘Listening Still’ who is struggling under the weight of obligation to the family funeral directors, and to Rosie Driscoll trying to find her daughter Saoirse who has been missing for eight years.

Thanks so much for all of the great support.

From Anne Griffin’s Amazon Author Page 1/11/23

Posted in Netgalley

Lady McBethad by Isabelle Schumer

Posted on by thelotusreaders

I was first introduced to Macbeth thanks to my crush on Sean Bean. I was living in Milton Keynes at the time and studying for my English Lit degree. We knew that Macbeth was coming in our final year and when we found out that Sean Bean would be playing the title role at our local theatre we had to see it. It was a production that had some unusual choices, but an incredibly clever banquet scene that has stayed with me. However, it was the more recent Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard film that I found absolutely spellbinding and moving in it’s depiction of Macbeth and his wife as two grieving parents. It gave some context to their actions in the play, particularly Lady Macbeth who is often depicted as a power hungry harpy who coerces her husband into a violent act that he’s unable to live with. I’ve always thought Lady Macbeth was done a disservice, depicted rather like Eve in the garden of Eden as a woman dissatisfied with her lot who convinces her husband to eat apples from the only tree God expressly told them not to touch. According to most dramatists she’s greedy, dissatisfied and power hungry. She was ripe for a rewrite and here it is in Lady Macbethad.

Gruoch has druid heritage and her grandmother prophesied that she would be Queen of Alba. She believes in this prophecy and will try her best to fulfil it. She was born the daughter of a King, even though her father has now been ousted. Her heart and desires are with Macbeth but she is the betrothed of Duncan, the heir elect and marriage to him should enable her to fulfil her destiny. Yet life at court comes with it’s difficulties, it’s lonely and uneasy to know every woman at court would do anything to be in her position. He coronation approaches, with the women keeping her at a distance and giving her the cold shoulder. An unexpected turn of events tears her plans apart and she’s forced to run for her life and leave her ambitions for the crown behind. Now she must fight just to survive, never mind the crown.

This was a really interesting take on the tale of Macbeth and a woman whose motivations are always unclear. There’s a feel of Eve about her, it is Macbeth who wields the knife yet in many depictions I’ve seen, the emphasis is on Lady Macbeth as the instigator of the killings. The evil temptress whispering in the blameless man’s ear. I was intrigued by a retelling of the story, based on a real woman who did marry a man called Macbethad who became the king of Scotland. The book starts as a fiction about Gruoch, but becomes an origin story for the character of Lady Macbeth. I thought these two women were brought together well, creating one character. She does have aspects of character that Shakespeare establishes in the play, becoming a scheming, power hungry woman. She’s also rather paranoid and even violent in her own right. However, whereas in the play we don’t know why she is this way, here we get her back story and have an opportunity to understand her a little better. Even if we don’t necessarily like her.

Macbethad seemed to be more balanced and measured in character. He stands out for this, which seems an irony when I expected to respond to Gruoch more sympathetically. There are other characters in the book based on real people from history, covering their family allegiances and their conflicts. I think it’s so difficult to marry historical facts with a fictional story in this way and I was impressed with the author’s attention to detail. She sets the book firmly in it’s Scottish setting by using Scottish Gaelic, as well as the stories and folklore of the area. She brought to life the conflict between the established pagan traditions and the growing practice of Christianity, something I found really interesting. Her descriptions of the place felt vibrant and alive, I could actually see it. She is equally vivid when it comes to the more brutal aspects of the story. There were parts of this book that I enjoyed immensely and I would definitely recommend it to those interesting in historical fiction and Shakespeare.

Meet the Author

Isabelle Schuler is a Swiss Hawaiian-American actress, writer and former Waterstones bookseller. She has a BA in Journalism and her screenplayQueen Hereafter was longlisted by the Thousand Films Screenwriting Competition in 2019. In 2020, Schuler adapted Queen Hereafter into her debut novel, Lady MacBethad. She lives in Hertfordshire.

Posted in Netgalley

The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore

Posted on by thelotusreaders

The Hidden Years is a tender-hearted and bitter sweet tale about how life can take unexpected turns. In fact John Lennon was right, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. She also explores how patterns emerge in life: we might find ourselves unconsciously choosing a path that repeats a pattern or takes us to somewhere that has a hidden importance in our lives. Belle has done something very impulsive. From the moment she met Gray they had a connection and now he’s invited her to Silverwood, a mansion next to the Helford River, where a group of his friends are living a different life. They are a creative collective, living as self-sufficiently as possible but dependent on the kindness of the house’s owner. Luckily he’s very fond of his nephew Arlo, one of the residents at Silverwood. As she leaves university and misses her exams for this uncertain life she has no idea that Silverwood holds secrets and some of them are quite close to home.

The author tells her story through a dual timeline; Belle’s story set in the 1960’s and then Imogen’s story, a young woman who visits Cornwall in the 1940’s. Imogen has been working for an agency that secures placements for young women who work with children. It’s mid- WW2 and Imogen is tasked with taking two young brothers down to Silverwood, a boy’s boarding school in beautiful and relatively safe surroundings. She soon finds out that life can change in an instant when she’s asked to temporarily for the school’s Matron who has fallen ill. Imogen takes the booking and finds she loves working with the young boys in the sick bay, feeling unwell and far from home. So, when she’s offered the chance to stay on she decides to take a chance and loves her work. She also makes friends with one of the teachers, Ned. They explore Cornwall on their days off and as the war comes ever closer Imogen makes the huge choice to serve her country, by training in nursing at a hospital in Truro. A bomb narrowly missing the school pushes her to use the skills she’s gained for the war effort. Meanwhile in the 1960’s Belle settles into life at Silverwood with Gray’s friends, trying to help out where she can and joining in with meditation sessions where the incense is more than a bit potent. She’s drawn naturally to Mrs Kitto, a lady of her parent’s generation who lives in a cottage on the estate. She’s slightly taken aback by Belle, because she reminds her of someone she once knew. Their afternoon visits become story sessions as Mrs Kitto tells Belle about a woman she used to know, back in the war.

I enjoyed both sections of this lovely story. Often with dual timelines the novel suffers because one narrative is much stronger than the other. Here I thought the author got the balance just about right. Since Imogen’s story is set during WW2 there’s obviously heightened drama and the decisions made can be life and death. However, I think the differences in the timelines complimented each other. The difference in moral expectations and behaviour is huge. There’s also a difference in how people make choices, creating a huge generation gap like the one between Belle and her parents. The fact that she leaves uni with her lover and is clearly living with him at Silverwood is difficult for her parents to understand and would have been unthinkable in the 1940’s when they were Belle’s age. It would be understandable to think that the 1960’s characters have it so much easier compared with their parents. Yet I could empathise with Belle, in fact without WW2 her generation wouldn’t have the freedom to make choices in the same way. Her father has high expectations for her and he wants her to buckle down and make life choices. After all, his generation had to lay their lives and their hearts on the line with often very little understanding of the person they were making promises to. Belle’s not quite ready to make a choice. Should Belle follow duty, when she could be an idealist and follow her heart? Singing with Gray’s folk band The Witchers comes very naturally to her when she’s got over her nerves. There are so many opportunities, how do you know which is the right path?

Imogen is doing her duty in her working life, but her heart is torn. She has a best friend in Ned. They love the same things, they’re comfortable together and have a similar outlook in life. She knows he’s starting to feel more for her than friendship, but also teaching at Silverwood is the rather enigmatic Oliver Dalton and there’s an immediate frisson between them. Although they don’t spend any time together, the pull towards him is hard to resist. When they finally do get a chance to spend time together during her work in Truro, could their spark develop into something more lasting? I found myself rooting for Ned, because he’s so kind and supportive. I thought they’d make a great team. There’s no denying her attraction to Oliver, but he’s more of a closed book and I felt life with him might be more turbulent. Which way would she choose?

I know this area of Cornwall well and it was very easy to imagine myself there as the author explores the scenery. The area was a Mecca for artists in the 1960’s and I loved the ideas that the Silverwood residents had for the place. It’s ripe to be an artistic retreat, offering creative and self- care workshops such as meditation. It’s such a now idea that I wanted to do it myself. I thought it was interesting how Belle reacted to these ideas, making decisions about which parts she’s supports and which isn’t for her. She’s intervened with one resident’s treatment of her son and calls an ambulance rather than watching her continue with homeopathic medicines and see the boy suffer, or perhaps die. That takes bravery and faith in her own convictions. When her family turn up in Cornwall will she get the space she needs to work out what’s best for her. As to Mrs Kitto, how does her story connect to Belle and what impact will this wartime story have on her choice? The historical detail shone through and seeing through Imogen’s eyes the arrival of the American soldiers, the preparations along the Cornish coastline for the D-Day landings and the bombing of Truro really does bring it alive. There’s a realisation that we’re all the product of our experiences and trauma can take a long time to heal, even several generations. I thought this was such such a bittersweet ending and it left me feeling a bit autumnal, sort of melancholy but glad for the experiences of love both women had known.

Out now in hardback from Simon and Schuster U.K.

Meet the Author

I came to writing quite late, after a career editing fiction at HarperCollins in London. My husband and I had moved out to Norwich with our three young sons and I’d had to give up my job and writing was something that I’d always wanted to try. I originally studied history, so it was wonderful finally to put my knowledge to good use and to write The Dream House, which is partly set in the 1920s in Suffolk and London.

Most of my novels are dual narrative, often called ‘time slip’, with a story in the present alternating with one set in the past. I love the freedom that they give me to escape into the past, but also the dramatic ways in which the stories interact. My characters are often trying to solve some mystery about the past and by doing so to resolve some difficulty or puzzle in their own lives.

The books often involve a lot of research and this takes me down all sorts of interesting paths. For The Glass Painter’s Daughter I took an evening class in working with coloured glass. My creations were not very amazing, but making them gave me insight into the processes so that my characters’ activities would feel authentic. For A Week in Paris I had to research Paris in World War II and the early 1960s through films and books and by visiting the city – that was a great deal of work for one novel. Last Letter Home involved me touring a lot of country houses with old walled kitchen gardens in search of atmosphere and to explore the different kinds of plants grown there.

Places often inspire my stories. The Memory Garden, my second novel, is set in one of my favourite places in the world – Lamorna Cove in Cornwall – which is accessed through a lovely hidden valley. A Place of Secrets is set in a remote part of North Norfolk near Holt, where past and present seem to meet. Southwold in Suffolk, a characterful old-fashioned seaside resort with a harbour and a lighthouse, has been a much loved destination for our family holidays and has made an appearance in fictional guise in several of my novels, including The Silent Tide and The Love Child.

Until recently I taught Publishing and Creative Writing part-time at the University of East Anglia, but now I’m a full-time writer, which felt like a bit step. My boys are all grown up now and finding their way in the world, but we still see a lot of them. My husband David is a writer, too (he writes as D.J. Taylor), so we understand each other’s working lives.

I find I have to have a regular routine with my writing, not least to keep the book in my head. My aim is to sit down at 9am every morning and write till lunchtime, then again the afternoon, but there is often something ready to interrupt this, not least our Labrador girl Zelda, so I go with the flow.

I hope that you are able to find my books easily and enjoy them – I am always happy to hear from readers!

Taken from Rachel’s Amazon author page on 18th Oct 23.

Posted in Netgalley

The Haunting in the Arctic by C.J.Cooke

Posted on by thelotusreaders

All I could say after reading the final sentence of the book was WOW! I couldn’t stop reading, the housework is completely neglected and I even forgot to eat lunch! Yes, I read this in 24 hours. This is the absolute best of her novels and I’ve enjoyed them all.

Dominique is making her way through Iceland to an old whaling ship called the Ormen. Stranded in a bay, the ship is going to be sunk out at sea and Dom wants to document it before it disappears from view together. Ormen was an unusual whaling ship being a sail and steam hybrid that became beached in the early days of the 20th Century near the small village of turf houses called Skúmaskot. When she reaches the ship she sets about turning the cabin into a base to explore from and puts up her tent. There’s one door in the ship that she wonders about, it’s made of carved oak and when she touched the handle it emitted such a feeling of evil she was taken aback. As she settles, she hears someone walking about on deck and she realises she’s not alone. Three more explorers join her – Jens, Samara and Leo. They have more up to date equipment and soon the four are documenting the ship and their discoveries as well as Leo’s parkour sessions. The questions start to mount though, is she wrong or are the other three suspicious or even slightly scared of her? What are the strange noises she can hear – banging could be gunfire or chains banging against the ship? There’s also a strange mix of footsteps and dragging something heavy in a steady rhythm. Who is the woman in the dress that she’s seen standing in the shallows? This is a strange place where light is limited, the village is deserted and there is a strange stone throne by the beach, said to be a Mermaid’s Throne. These are not Disney mermaids though, these mermaids have teeth and a song that will lure a man to his death.

There are different types of haunting in this tale. I could see examples of my own theory of hauntings in the woman seen by the edge of the sea. She feels like an imprint on the landscape. A place where heightened emotion and terrible events have left such a strong imprint that defies time. The sounds also seem to come from another place, a repetitive echo from time past. This is what I call a proper ghost story. It isn’t gory or a slasher’s tale, it’s old-fashioned creepy and blended beautifully with local folklore. The ship is from Scotland and this is where the folklore of selkies comes from, a race of seal women who have a dual nature. They can be nurturing and helpful, such as saving a child who’s in trouble in the sea. They can communicate with other aquatic creatures and assume a human form when on land. However, selkies can also be seductive luring men to her and often having hybrid children. At their worst Selkies can be violent and vengeful, but their need for revenge gives us a clue about why; people seeking revenge have usually been wronged in some way. Mermaids are also depicted as sirens, luring ships and men with their singing and often thought to lure ships onto the rocks. However, there is also a terrible element of coercion in their mythology, stories where a man steals an item from the mermaid and while he has that item in his possession she belongs to him and lives as his wife. If she finds the object the spell is broken and she can return to the sea. Of course in the fairy tale we have a mermaid who has to choose between her land and sea lives, she can have love but to have legs she must suffer excruciating pain and she can never use her voice. It’s a hard price to pay. Icelandic mermaids have all these qualities, but use their seductive charms to lure sailors to their deaths – a nice reversal of their capture by human men. The author describes Icelandic mermaids as having rows of pointed teeth too. There’s a sense of devouring their enemies, particularly those who have wronged them. Is this Nicky’s end?

I loved the tension between the group of four on the Ormen. Samara seems fine with Dom, but then she overhears a conversation with Leo where Samara seems terrified of her. She talks about ‘this time’ being different, but Dom can’t remember meeting them before. I loved this mix of psychological tension, the real dangers of the landscape around them and then the truth of what has happened to the previous crew of the ship and previous explorers who’ve also left their echoes here. I sensed a possible kinship between Jens and Dom, almost as if he already knew her. I was scared of Leo. There’s so much nervous energy in him, a rage running just under the surface that I feared might ignite at any point. Yet they’re also dependent on each other for their survival creating what feels like a truce between them, but how can a truce exist if they’ve never met? There are so many strange happenings, such as Dom’s dream of ponies running off a cliff followed by finding the skeletons of Icelandic ponies in a deep cave. I loved the bits of magic realism, such as Nicky’s leg. Everything about the voyage from Scotland is historically accurate and gives us such an incredible sense of place I can see it. However, Nicky’s broken ankle and wound start to heal in an usual way. She notices the grey colour of her newly healing skin and thinks she has an infection. The sensation is altered too, feeling rubbery and a little cold. As time goes on this patch of skin grows and she’s aware that the gap between her legs is becoming webbed. Could her legs be joining together? This could be a magical sort of protection against the assaults she suffers on a daily basis. It could also be a transformation. As the past starts to inform Dominique’s present I couldn’t leave the story and I was left with the worst kind of book hangover where I was stuck in the world and the feeling of the ending. It’s taken me two days to start another book but I can’t stop thinking about this one. In fact I’m already thinking about reading it again, a bit like watching The Sixth Sense again once you know the twist. This is a dark, disturbing ghost story of hauntings but also about the worst things human beings can do to one another, particularly men against women and the extraordinary ways they exact their revenge.

Out in Hardback now from Harper Collins

C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke’s works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen’s University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film. Visit http://www.cjcookeauthor.com

Posted in Netgalley

The Little Venice Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin

Posted on by thelotusreaders

A bundle of mysterious letters, a trip to Venice, and a journey that will leave a lasting impression.

When Luna loses her beloved mother, it feels as if she’s lost her identity She’s rootless and can’t ground herself. Once she has these doubts, she’s begins to question everything around her. They have enjoyed a rather nomadic way of living up till now, probably because home has been where her mother was, but as she tries to cope with grief, the lack of roots is a struggle.The discovery of a collection of letters in her mother’s possessions seems to signal the way forward and she embarks on a most unexpected adventure. Taking clues from the letters, Luna travels to Venice, in the hope of unraveling her mother’s mysterious past. Maybe if she finds the answers, she might find her own place in the world.

I love Venice. I’ve been lucky enough to spend two weeks there, once in the spring and then a couple of years later in the winter when it actually snowed. I actually travelled with my mum the first time and it was wonderful to see this place we’d always dreamt about come to life in front of our eyes. Venice is obviously a place of wonder, but it’s also got a spooky edge that’s been explored in literature many times. This is more of a ‘cozy’ Venice and I think the cute cover really sets the tone for that. It focuses on the quaint and romantic side of the city, so it’s an easy read, but enjoyable nevertheless. The bookshop is a lovely setting for the story and the rather grumpy owner is clearly crying out for something new, perhaps an antidote to loneliness? As Luna begins to work at the shop mentioned in her mother’s letters she tries to work out how her bohemian mother and the owner, Giancarlo, were connected. She also persuades him to let her develop the shop, improving its visibility through use of social media – to make it a destination place for bookish travellers.

There’s nothing better for an avid reader than a book about books. Luna is definitely a lover of stories and she appreciates what books mean to their readers and collectors. I love that this celebrated second hand books too, something I love too, especially ones that have dedications or messages inside them. Often they tell a story that’s all their own, separate from the printed pages. It’s an interesting thought that these books have been through so many different hands, each with their stories to tell. It was a joy to spend time with a character who’s so passionate about books and Luna’s bookish initiatives are great fun. The family of cats named after authors are particularly whimsical. The idea that her bereavement has made her think about her own life is such a relatable one and the realisation she wants her own family is understandable. The urge to set down roots comes from wanting to make connections, permanent ones that are entirely opposite to the traveller’s existence she’s grown up with. I enjoyed the romance between Luna and Oscar and wondered if perhaps she’d found her forever home?

Although I normally enjoy books that go a little deeper, I did come away from this with a smile on my face. This was a relaxing and soothing read for me. It had a magical feel and I guess it does read like a book lover’s fairytale. I have often daydreamed of a life far different to my own and Italy, books and handsome men are an irresistible combination for this reader. Yes there’s the sadness of loss, but the emphasis is on healing and the result is hopeful and uplifting.

Published on 30th March by HQ

Meet the Author

Rebecca Raisin writes heartwarming romance from her home in sunny Perth, Australia. Her heroines tend to be on the quirky side and her books are usually set in exotic locations so her readers can armchair travel any day of the week. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous heroes who have brains as well as brawn, is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true, once in a lifetime love. Her bestselling novel Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop has been optioned for film with MRC studios and Frolic Media.

Come say hello to Rebecca on her Facebook page : https://facebook.com/RebeccaRaisinAuthor

Posted in Netgalley

A Quiet Contagion by Jane Jesmond

Posted on by thelotusreaders

I was introduced to Jane Jesmond’s writing by a blog tour and I thoroughly enjoyed her series, the most recent of which was Cut Adrift – a novel I reviewed earlier this year. A Quiet Contagion is an inventive stand-alone thriller that brings together dark history and medical ethics for a fast paced and well-researched mystery. Phiney’s grandfather Wilf, committed suicide after an incident at the pharmaceutical company where he worked. Using a dual timeline narrative and six different narrators we jump between 1957 and 2017 to uncover the truth around work to find a vaccine during the polio epidemic. The author combines the tension of a thriller with extensive historical research to unearth the secrets of the past and ask questions about healthcare ethics in public health emergencies, never forgetting the human cost of the choices made.

There are obviously parallels to the the COVID pandemic here, including many lessons that still haven’t been learned. In contrast to the modern parallels, the author has grounded her narrative very successfully in the historic sections, creating a great balance. Having had oxygen therapy for MS, I’m very aware of the use of hyperbaric chambers and the antiquated ‘iron lungs’ that were used to treat polio patients in the 1950s. I thought the descriptions of the epidemic were outstanding, really bringing home to the reader the terrible truth of a disease most people younger than me have ever seen. I’ve met people with post-polio syndrome and there’s no denying the life-long disabling effects of this awful disease. The author’s medical knowledge brings the realities of the epidemic to life, but also brings an authenticity to the characters whether they’re affected by this disease or treating it.

I thought the challenges created by a real medical crisis were well-presented and illuminating. There’s a range of voices to represent the medical/scientific outlook and these resonated particularly with contemporary issues around the COVID pandemic, such as the race against time to produce a vaccine and get as many vulnerable people vaccinated as soon as possible. We can see the origins of ‘big pharma’ with profit becoming the main goal, rather than public health. I don’t know if the author used the recent pandemic to inform her character’s thoughts and feelings, but the anxiety and panic felt very real and timely. The novel’s characters were well-developed and at home in their world, but I connected particularly to Phiney and her determination to unravel the mystery of happened to her beloved grandfather. I admired her. but worried that she was taking too many risks in her search for the truth and this kept me hooked. I enjoyed the moral dilemmas faced by her friends and family too. The struggles of each character added so much depth to the novel and their individual perspectives, created some thought provoking contrasts. I love it when I find myself thinking about a book days later and I this one has stayed with me. Sometimes, thrillers are full of action and tension but feel empty because they stick to one perspective or the characters just aren’t developed enough. This story still had tension, but it was also intelligent and full of emotion. This combination made the book hard to put down and equally hard to forget once it was back on the shelf.

Out 7th November 2023 from Verve Books



Meet the Author

Jane Jesmond writes psychological suspense, thrillers and mysteries

Her debut novel, On The Edge, the first in a series featuring dynamic, daredevil protagonist Jen Shaw was a Sunday Times Crime Fiction best book. The second in the series, Cut Adrift, was The Times Thriller Book of the Month and The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month. Her latest novel, Her, a psychological thriller will be published in May 2023.

Although she loves writing (and reading) thrillers and mysteries, her real life is very quiet and unexciting. Dead bodies and danger are not a feature! She lives by the sea in the northwest tip of France with a husband and a cat and enjoys coastal walks and village life.

Stay connected to Jane and receive news about her books and giveaways by signing up for her newsletter – https://jane-jesmond.com/contact/

You can find Jane:

On Twitter – @AuthorJJesmond

On Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/JaneJesmondAuthor

On Instagram – http://www.Instagram.com/authorjanejesmond

Posted in Netgalley

The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon

Posted on by thelotusreaders

He took you and you have been his for five years. But you have been careful. Waiting for him to mess up. It has to be now.

Reading this novel was quite an experience! I didn’t want to put it down, I was reading so fast to get to the next bit that I sometimes had to go back and re-read a paragraph. I had to tell myself to read slower and take it in, because the urge to devour this story is so strong. The writer has chosen an interesting viewpoint, that of the women in a killer’s life. I loved that contrast to other serial killer novels where a male serial killer and a male detective often narrate the story. Where the only women are the dead ones. Women are not expendable here. Even the murdered ones.

This is still the story of Aiden, a serial killer, but told from the perspective of the women in his life: his daughter, the woman he has abducted and imprisoned in a shed, and the bartender who is infatuated with him. There are also small sections from the women he imprisoned before, now dead. Each woman’s narrative gives the reader a different side to this hidden monster. It’s an intimate reading experience, because I felt like I knew everything about this woman: how she thinks, how she feels and even the details of her dreams. It feels like you’re with her in that tiny space, sharing her experience. It’s a very tense existence, knowing that you’re here at the whim of a man who’s already killed so many times you mean nothing to him. As someone who gets claustrophobic it felt almost too close and I felt her fear that it might just take one wrong move for him to kill again.


Aiden’s wife has just died, so he and his daughter Cecelia need to move house and his captive moves with them. She goes from her place in the garden shed to being chained to a radiator in the house. If she puts a foot wrong he will kill her and somehow he does know everything she’s doing even while he’s out of the house. How is he watching her? Incredibly, he has a daughter in the main part of the house as well as a souvenir stash in the basement. This only adds to the tension. What is hard to understand is how he rationalises his killing of women when he’s father to a daughter.– to a place with no shed. After years of isolation, Rachel is allowed inside a house again, and meets her captor’s child. I had so many questions though. Why is she still alive? It’s been five years now and he’s always killed his victims. He also seems to be out stalking a new victim, Emily, a local restaurant owner. Is this good news for the captive, or is he looking for a replacement?

Since the book Rebecca I’ve always been intrigued by characters that we don’t see, but even more so, by characters without the right name or a name at all. We know this woman as Rachel, but the choice not to use her own name makes you think. It seems common sense that he wouldn’t use it, he’s trying to distance himself. To make her an object rather than a human being. Yet she doesn’t mention her name either. Maybe even she can’t remember it or maybe every one of his captives is ‘Rachel’. This is part of the mystery that I wondered about when I was going about my day. It has allowed the author to place emotion and the victims at the centre of this thriller, making it stand out. As others have noted there’s a hint of Emma Donoghue’s Room here, where the four walls you’re in become your whole world and you become whatever you’re called. Rachel is a complicated character, and it’s clear that she’s suffered at the hands of Aiden. There are moments where I was rooting for her escape. She has time and opportunity, but can’t take it out of fear. From reading cases of abductions and long captivity, this isn’t unrealistic. Yes, she’s a strong woman, but she’s been manipulated and terrorised by this man so has to be sure before she takes a chance.

In the local area Aiden is seen as a good husband and father, in fact there’s probably an element of hero worship. So, local restaurateur Emily is aware of him already and might even be a little into him. She’s also young and alone, so it doesn’t take long for till she’s under his spell completely. Through these three narratives, Aiden’s captive, his daughter and the new love interest, Aiden’s dark truths are unravelled. This is not about considering his motivation or perspective, all of this story is about his victims and the mess the man like this leaves in his wake. I loved how the style of the author’s writing, which is mesmerising and poetic contrasts strongly with the dark subject matter. I doesn’t rush like thrillers often do. The contrast shows us that life can be beautiful, but what Aiden does is twisted and sadistic. I was desperately hoping that Rachel would survive and we might know who she really is.

Meet the Author

Clémence Michallon was born and raised near Paris. She studied journalism at City University of London, received a master’s in Journalism from Columbia University, and has written for The Independent since 2018. Her essays and features have covered true-crime, celebrity culture, and literature. She moved to New York City in 2014 and recently became a US citizen. She now divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, NY.

Posted in Netgalley

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare

Posted on by thelotusreaders

Ever since the final page of Miss Aldridge Regrets I’d wondered what would happen next to Lena, who had managed to escape the clutches of a murderer, find her birth mother and become the lover of band leader Will all on board ship. She was sailing to New York to audition for a new musical on Broadway, but became embroiled in the life of a rich NYC family after being placed with them for dinner. Now in New York, what would become of her relationships – both with her mother and with Will? Would she be able to find work after finding out the Broadway job was a ruse to get her on the voyage? I was shocked when the novel began with a woman, sprawled on the sidewalk after failing from a high rise window. As the police arrived and start to look at the body they notice she’s clutching something in her hand. It’s a passport in the name of Lena Aldridge. The author then takes us back to Lena’s arrival in NYC nine days earlier, when Will had taken her to stay with friends of his until the return voyage. What could possibly have gone so wrong?

Lena has found herself dragged into Will’s world, perhaps a little sooner than would be expected in a conventional relationship. As Will takes leave she wonders if this will give them time to test their relationship out and whether they could have a future. His friends Claudette and Louis are a lovely couple who live in a good neighbourhood in Harlem. Claudette is a librarian and she settles Lena into their spare bedroom, telling her about how long they have known Will and that they’re looking forward to getting to know her. Will’s only family is his sister Belle and niece Joey, who he stays with when the ship’s on a fortnight turnaround. The five are pretty close knit, apart from the obvious tension between Will and his sister, despite which he absolutely adores his niece. Even though she’s wary, Lena and Belle get along enough to go out shopping and have cocktails in a fancy bar. I started to feel this creeping sensation that Lena was on the outside of something. The three friends have secrets and so does Belle, is it because Lena is new to the group and maybe not quite trusted yet? Is there something about her being British that makes them think she won’t get it? She is surprised to find out That despite their animosity, Will does go to any lengths to protect his sister. Lena is patient though, she has concerns about her own situation and doesn’t want to delve too far into their secrets, without knowing what’s going to happen between her and Will. It’s too early to say love or talk about permanence. She doesn’t even know if she could find herself living in Harlem. Lena’s also looking for people who knew her father to learn about his early life and if there’s family that Lena’s never met. There are also financial and emotional issues in her relationship with her mother that must be resolved. It’s a huge crossroads to negotiate and the tension builds as we start rooting for her future and worrying she’s plummeted to her death.

I love this combination of historical crime mystery, especially those set in such a stylish city and time period. I think in a lot of ways this was a more successful novel than the first and I definitely felt the time period in the social life of Harlem and the contrasting Sunday church going. The glamour of New York was set beautifully against those less fortunate and I was interested in the way colour had some bearing on this; Lena and Belle can ‘pass’ as white enough to get into a fancy bar, but the much darker skinned Will would have struggled. I enjoyed these deeper looks into racial divisions, class and privilege, as well as how they differed in the earlier timeline. Lena being bi-racial didn’t seem to have the same complexity in London as it did in New York, but she is reminded a few times that it would be worse in the south. There are references to lynchings, the prejudice around mixed race relationships (both for Alfie and his daughter) and the exploitation of black women by wealthy white men. In this earlier timeline I enjoyed this exploration of young black women’s lives as well as the contrast with the relative freedom Lena and Belle are enjoying. Have things changed or is it their lighter skin?

I thought the historical element really came to life and I enjoyed these sections that went back even further to 1908, when her father Alfie suddenly fled New York for London. As both of these storylines started to reveal their secrets, the novel became intense and gripping. I had suspicions around both Claudette and her husband, because although they were there for Lena in a practical sense they didn’t give much of themselves emotionally. There were also certain morals to their way of life, such as Will not staying with Lena at their flat. I wasn’t sure that they actually liked her, but wanted to do a favour for Will. The central mystery really held my attention and remained tense even with the flashbacks in-between. The more building blocks we had to construct Lena’s, the more I felt I knew her and the hope she’d have a happy ending grew for me. I would suggest reading the first novel before this one as there are links and recurring characters throughout. There was an open ended feel to the final chapter so who knows we may be able to spend time with Lena again. I’d be more than happy to join her.

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, the capital is the inspiration for much of her work, including This Lovely City, which began life after a trip into the deep level shelter below Clapham Common. This Lovely City was featured on the inaugural BBC TWO TV book club show, Between the Covers, and has received multiple accolades, securing Louise’s place as an author to watch.