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Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – February 2020

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February is even busier than January for books and it was much harder to slim down the ones I’m most excited about. This long list is the smallest I could make it and there were easily at least another six books I could have included. At the time of writing, I have read two of the books on this list – The Foundling and Firewatching – and they more than deserve their places here. 

BEHIND EVERY LIE by Christina McDonald

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Published: February 4th, 2020
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
SYNOPSIS:
If you can’t remember it, how do you prove you didn’t do it?

Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her.

Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London–Kat’s former home–for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.

Told in alternating perspectives from Eva’s search for answers and Kat’s mysterious past, Christina McDonald has crafted another “complex, emotionally intense” (Publishers Weekly) domestic thriller. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell’s I Found You and Karin Slaughter’s Pieces of Her, Behind Every Lie explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships, family trauma, and the danger behind long-held secrets.

THE FOUNDING by Stacey Halls

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Published: February 6th, 2020|
Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction.
SYNOPSIS:
Two women, bound by a child, and a secret that will change everything . . .

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, she is astonished when she is told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why.

Less than a mile from Bess’s lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

From the bestselling author of The Familiars comes this captivating story of mothers and daughters, class and power, and love against the greatest of odds . . .

SAVING MISSY by Beth Morley

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Harper Collins UK
Genre: Humourous Fiction.
SYNOPSIS:
Prickly. Stubborn. Terribly lonely.

But everyone deserves a second chance…

A dazzling debut for 2020 – are you ready to meet Missy Carmichael?

Missy Carmichael’s life has become small.

Grieving for a family she has lost or lost touch with, she’s haunted by the echoes of her footsteps in her empty home; the sound of the radio in the dark; the tick-tick-tick of the watching clock.

Spiky and defensive, Missy knows that her loneliness is all her own fault. She deserves no more than this; not after what she’s done. But a chance encounter in the park with two very different women opens the door to something new.

Another life beckons for Missy, if only she can be brave enough to grasp the opportunity. But seventy-nine is too late for a second chance. Isn’t it?

THE MERCIES by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Picador
Genre: Historical Fiction.
SYNOPSIS:
On Christmas Eve, 1617, the sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a reckless storm. As Maren Magnusdatter watches, forty fishermen, including her father and brother, are lost to the waves – the menfolk of Vardø wiped out in an instant.

Vardø is now a place of women.

Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Summoned from Scotland to take control of a place at the edge of the civilized world, Absalom Cornet knows what he needs to do to bring the women of Vardø to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In Vardø, and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs.

Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1621 witch trials, Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s The Mercies is a story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, and a love that may prove as dangerous as it is powerful.

THE SISTER’S GRIMM by Menna van Praag

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Bantam Press
Genre: Fantasy
SYNOPSIS:
There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of sisters Grimm on Earth.

You may well be one of them, though you might never know it.

This is the story of four sisters Grimm – daughters born to different mothers on the same day, each born out of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire.

They found each other at eight years-old, were separated at thirteen and now, at nearly eighteen, it is imperative that they find each other once again.

In thirty-three days they will meet their father in Everwhere. Only then will they discover who they truly are, and what they can truly do. Then they must fight to save their lives and the lives of the ones they love. Three will live, one will die.

You’ll have to read on to find out who and why . . .

THE ALIBI GIRL by C. J. Skuse

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Dark Comedy, Coming-of-Age Fiction.
SYNOPSIS:
JOANNE HAYNES HAS A SECRET.

THAT IS NOT HER REAL NAME.

And there’s more. Her flat isn’t hers. Her cats aren’t hers. Even her hair isn’t really hers.

 Nor is she any of the other women she pretends to be. Not the bestselling romance novelist who gets her morning snack from the doughnut van on the seafront. Nor the pregnant woman in the dental surgery. Nor the chemo patient in the supermarket for whom the cashier feels ever so sorry. They’re all just alibis. 

In fact, the only thing that’s real about Joanne is that nobody can know who she really is.

But someone has got too close. It looks like her alibis have begun to run out….

PERFECT KILL  (DI Callanach Book 6) by Helen Fields

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Avon Books
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural.
SYNOPSIS:
He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.

Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

GROWN UPS by Marian Keyes

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Humourous Fiction.
SYNOPSIS:
They’re a glamorous family, the Caseys.

Johnny Casey, his two brothers Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together – birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they’re a happy family. Johnny’s wife, Jessie – who has the most money – insists on it.

Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much . . .

Everything stays under control until Ed’s wife Cara, gets concussion and can’t keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny’s birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets.

In the subsequent unravelling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it’s time – finally – to grow up?

THE HOUSE OF TRELAWNEY by Hannah Rothschild

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: Domestic Fiction, Saga, Satire
SYNOPSIS:
The seat of the Trelawney family for over 800 years, Trelawney Castle was once the jewel of the Cornish coast. Each successive Earl spent with abandon, turning the house and grounds into a sprawling, extravagant palimpsest of wings, turrets and follies.

But recent generations have been better at spending than making money. Now living in isolated penury, unable to communicate with each other or the rest of the world, the family are running out of options. Three unexpected events will hasten their demise: the sudden appearance of a new relation, an illegitimate, headstrong, beautiful girl; an unscrupulous American hedge fund manager determined to exact revenge; and the crash of 2008.

A love story and social satire set in the parallel and seemingly unconnected worlds of the British aristocracy and high finance, House of Trelawney is also the story of lost and found friendships between three women. One of them will die; another will discover her vocation; and the third will find love.

BEAST (Six Stories Book 4) – Matt Wesolowski

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Orenda Books
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Horror, Crime Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction.  SYNOPSIS:
Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories… In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old Vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death. Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong.’ However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible. Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses people who knew both the victim and the three killers to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’… Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return…

WRECKAGE by Robin Morgan-Bentley

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Published: February 6th 2020
Publisher: Trapeze
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
SYNOPSIS:
Things will never be the same again…

Ben is driving on the motorway, on his usual commute to the school where he works.

A day like any other, except for Adam, who in a last despairing act jumps in front of Ben’s car, and in killing himself, turns the teacher’s world upside down.

Wracked with guilt and desperate to clear his conscience, Ben develops a friendship with Alice, Adam’s widow, and her 7-year-old son Max.

But as he tries to escape the trauma of the wreckage, could Ben go too far in trying to make amends?

Gripping and sinister, The Wreckage is guaranteed to keep you up all night…

STRANGE HOTEL by Eimear McBride

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
At the mid-point of her life a woman enters an Avignon hotel room. She’s been here once before – but while the room hasn’t changed, she is a different person now.

Forever caught between check-in and check-out, she will go on to occupy other hotel rooms, from Prague to Oslo, Auckland to Austin, each as anonymous as the last, but bound by rules of her choosing. There, amid the detritus of her travels, the matchbooks, cigarettes, keys and room-service wine, she will negotiate with memory, with the men she sometimes meets, and with what it might mean to return home.

THE FORGOTTEN LETTERS OF ESTHER DURRANT by Kayte Nunn

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Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
A forgotten woman…

1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon becomes her refuge.

A cache of unsent love letters…

2018. When free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker is forced to take shelter on a far-flung island off the Cornish Coast during a research posting, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel is determined to find the intended recipient.

A dangerous secret…

Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.

THE ANTIDOTE FOR EVERYTHING – Kimmery Martin

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Berkley US
Genre: Medical Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
Urologist Georgia Brown’s sense of self-preservation is kicked into high gear after she’s sexually harassed by a male surgeon at her medical clinic, but her outrage grows when her best doctor friend, Jonah, is dismissed for treating transgender patients. After traveling to Amsterdam to attend a medical conference, Georgia concocts a plan to persuade the board to reverse their decision about Jonah. But when her scheme to teach the hospital administration an important lesson begins to spiral out of control, Georgia worries she’s caused more harm than good. After a medical crisis involving one of her friends, she learns that love and friendship are the antidotes for all the ills in her life.

THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Harper Collins UK
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
On an island off the windswept Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater. 

Old friends.
Past grudges.

Happy families.
Hidden jealousies.

Thirteen guests.
One body. 

The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. And as a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped.

All have a secret. All have a motive.

One guest won’t leave this wedding alive . . .

THE HOLDOUT by Graham Moore

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Legal Thriller, Mystery
SYNOPSIS:
One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong?

‘Ten years ago we made a decision together…’
Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar fortune, vanishes on her way home from school. Her teacher, Bobby Nock, is the prime suspect. It’s an open and shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed.

Until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not guilty: a controversial decision that will change all of their lives forever.

Ten years later, one of the jurors is found dead, and Maya is the prime suspect.

The real killer could be any of the other ten jurors. Is Maya being forced to pay the price for her decision all those years ago?

GRACE IS GONE by Emily Elgar

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Sphere
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
Meg and her daughter Grace are the most beloved family in Ashford, the lynchpin that holds the community together.

So when Meg is found brutally murdered and her daughter missing, the town is rocked by the crime. Not least because Grace has been sick for years – and may only have days to live.

Who would murder a mother who sacrificed everything, and take a teenager away from the medication that could save her life? Everyone is searching for an answer, but sometimes the truth can kill you . . .

DEAR EDWARD by Ann Napolitano

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Coming-of-Age Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
A luminous, life-affirming novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash

One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 192 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor.

Dear Edward depicts Edward’s life in the crash’s aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and find his place in the world without his family. In his new home with his aunt and uncle, the only solace comes from his friendship with the girl next door, Shay. Together Edward and Shay make a startling discovery: hidden in his uncle’s garage are sacks of letters from the relatives of the other passengers, addressed to Edward.

As Edward comes of age against the backdrop of sudden tragedy, he must confront some of life’s most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

FIREWATCHING – Russ Thomas

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural
SYNOPSIS:
ONE WRONG MOVE

A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear the dead man was buried alive. Soon, the victim is linked to an old missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.

WILL IGNITE

As the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.

THE CITY

And then Tyler discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him. He makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he and only he can solve the crime. But now Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.

Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire. . .

A taut investigative thriller bursting with character and tension, introducing an enigmatic, fresh lead detective unlike any you have met before – Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler – for fans of Adrian McKinty, Tana French, Steve Cavanagh and Sharon Bolton. 

THE MEMORY WOOD by Sam Lloyd

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Bantam Press
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS:
Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known.

Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape.

When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.

Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.

As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood . . .

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MIND by Kerry Daynes

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Cassell
Genre: Autobiography, True Crime
SYNOPSIS:
Welcome to the world of the forensic psychologist, where the people you meet are wildly unpredictable and often frightening.

The job: to delve into the psyche of convicted men and women to try to understand what lies behind their often brutal actions.

Following the footsteps of Kerry Daynes, one of the most sought-after forensic psychologists in the business and consultant on major police investigations.

Kerry’s job has taken her to the cells of maximum-security prisons, police interview rooms, the wards of secure hospitals and the witness box of the court room.

Her work has helped solve a cold case, convict the guilty and prevent a vicious attack.

Spending every moment of your life staring into the darker side of life comes with a price. Kerry’s frank memoir gives an unforgettable insight into the personal and professional dangers in store for a female psychologist working with some of the most disturbing men and women.

THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St James

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Berkley US
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Horror
SYNOPSIS:
Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden there. Upstate NY, 2017. Carly Kirk has always been fascinated by her aunt Viv who disappeared from the Sun Down before Carly was born. Using a small inheritance from when her mom dies, Carly leaves college to go to Fell to figure out what happened to her aunt thirty-five years ago. Soon, Carly is mirroring her aunt’s life, working as the night clerk at the motel, which hasn’t changed since 1982. The guest book is still handwritten, the rooms still have actual keys, and a haunting presence still lingers. Carly discovers that Viv had been trying to unravel mysteries of her own – including a possible serial killer working in Fell. If Carly can find the answers Viv was searching for, she might be able to solve the mystery that has haunted her family for years.

THE TEMPLE HOUSE VANISHING by Rachel Donohue

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Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Corvus
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Coming-of-Age Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
Power. Jealousy. Desire.

Twenty-five years ago, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl and her charismatic teacher disappeared without trace…

When Louisa arrives at Temple House, an elite catholic boarding school, she quickly finds herself drawn to sophisticated fellow pupil Victoria and their young bohemian art teacher, Mr Lavelle. The three of them form a bond that seems to offer an escape from the repressive regime of the nuns who run the cloistered school. Until Louisa and Mr Lavelle suddenly vanish.

Years later, a journalist with a childhood connection to Louisa determines to resolve the mystery. Her search for the truth will uncover a tragic, mercurial tale of suppressed desire and long-buried secrets. It will shatter lives and lay a lost soul to rest.

The Temple House Vanishing is a stunning, intensely atmospheric novel of unrequited longing, dark obsession and unintended consequences.

DEAD RINGER by Nicola Martin

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Published: February 27th, 2020
Publisher: Contraband
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
SYNOPSIS:
A pair of doppelgängers. A pack of lies.

The idea is simple, vain, exciting. Tap the app, upload a picture of yourself, find your lookalike. Set up a meeting to see whether you have anything else in common. When Ella and Jem meet, the physical resemblance is uncanny, but their lives couldn’t be more different. One is from a tiny island in a deprived Northern community – pretty much the back of beyond – where she has no job, no boyfriend, limited prospects. The other is a London socialite, an aspiring actress living in a multimillion-pound mansion. By all appearances, she’s living a charmed life, but she’s got some serious sh*t to run away from. Both of them have. Can either hide in her double’s skin? And at what cost? Will it solve any of the problems, or merely compound them? This is an all-too-believable, twisty, compelling story that will leave you reeling.

 

 

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Emma’s Anticipated Treasures: January 2020

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There are far too many books I’m excited about this year to create a top ten most anticipated, so I’ve decided instead to start writing a post of my most anticipated books each month and start the hashtag #EmmasAnticipatedTreasures

This month I’m doing this a little late and there is a book that would have been on this list, except I read it last month. The 24-Hour Cafe by Libby Page is a delightful novel that I devoured quickly. It is released on January 23rd, along with most of the books on this list. It’s going to be an expensive, but amazing, year for books.

THE DILEMMA by B. A Paris

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Published: January 9th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense.

SYNOPSIS:
It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding she never had. Everyone she loves will be there except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But although Livia loves Marnie, she’s secretly glad she won’t be at the party. She needs to tell Adam something about their daughter but she’s waiting until the part is over so they can have this last happy time together.

Adam wants everything to be perfect for Livia so he’s secretly arranged for Marnie to come home and surprise her on her birthday. During the day, he hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia, because how can the party go on? But she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive.

The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness?

 

THREE HOURS by Rosamund Lupton

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Published: January 9th, 2020
Publisher: Penguin UK
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense.

SYNOPSIS:
Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.
It is a morning’s lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.
It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.
It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

 

MR. NOBODY  by Catherine Steadman

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Published: January 9th, 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: Psychological thriller, mystery, suspense.

SYNOPSIS:
When a man is found on a Norfolk beach, drifting in and out of consciousness, with no identification and unable to speak, interest in him is sparked immediately. From the hospital staff who find themselves inexplicably drawn to him; to international medical experts who are baffled by him; to the national press who call him Mr Nobody; everyone wants answers. Who is this man? And what happened to him?

Neuropsychiatrist Dr Emma Lewis is asked to assess the patient. This is her field of expertise, this is the chance she’s been waiting for and this case could make her name known across the world. But therein lies the danger. Emma left this same small town in Norfolk fourteen years ago and has taken great pains to cover all traces of her past since then.

But now something – or someone – is calling her back. And the more time she spends with her patient, the more alarmed she becomes.

Has she walked into danger?

 

NINE ELMS by Robert Bryndza

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Published: January 9th, 2020

Publisher: Sphere
Genre: Psychological thriller, crime fiction, suspense, police procedural.

SYNOPSIS:
From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival.

Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly became a nightmare.
Fifteen years after those catastrophic, career-ending events, a copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.

Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. But there’s much more than her reputation on the line: Kate was the original killer’s intended fifth victim . . . and his successor means to finish the job.

 

AMERICAN DIRT by Jeannie Cummins

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Published: January 21st, 2020
Publisher: Tinder Press
Genre: Suspense

SYNOPSIS:
FEAR KEEPS THEM RUNNING. HOPE KEEPS THEM ALIVE.
Vivid, visceral, utterly compelling, AMERICAN DIRT is the first novel to explore the experience of attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border. Described as ‘a life-affirming triumph’ (Independent) and ‘essential reading’ (Tracy Chevalier), it is a story that will leave you utterly changed.

Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.
Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.
Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world.
Today, her eight-year-old son Luca is all she has left.
For him, she will carry a machete strapped to her leg.
For him, she will leap onto the roof of a high speed train.
For him, she will find the strength to keep running.

 

HAVEN’T THEY GROWN by Sophie Hannah

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense, crime fiction, police procedural.

SYNOPSIS:
All Beth has to do is drive her son to his Under-14s away match, watch him play, and bring him home.

Just because she knows that her former best friend lives near the football ground, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that, and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora Braid for twelve years.

But she can’t resist. She parks outside Flora’s house and watches from across the road as Flora and her children, Thomas and Emily, step out of the car. Except…

There’s something terribly wrong.

Flora looks the same, only older – just as Beth would have expected. It’s the children that are the problem. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily Braid were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are still five and three. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt – Beth hears Flora call them by their names – but they haven’t changed at all.

They are no taller, no older.

Why haven’t they grown?

 

THE OTHER PEOPLE by C. J. Tudor

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense.

SYNOPSIS:
She sleeps, a pale girl in a white room…
Driving home one night, stuck behind a rusty old car, Gabe sees a little girl’s face appear in the rear window.

She mouths one word: ‘Daddy.’

It’s his five-year-old daughter, Izzy.

He never sees her again.

Three years later, Gabe spends his days and nights travelling up and down the motorway, searching for the car that took his daughter, refusing to give up hope, even though most people believe that Izzy is dead.

Fran and her daughter, Alice, also put in a lot of miles on the motorway. Not searching. But running. Trying to keep one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them.

Because Fran knows the truth. She knows what really happened to Gabe’s daughter. She knows who is responsible. And she knows what they will do if they ever catch up with her and Alice . . .

 

PINE by Francine Toon

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Ghost story, horror

SYNOPSIS:
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men.

Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she’s gone.

In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren’s mother a decade ago.

Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father’s turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it’s no longer clear who she can trust.

In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.

 

LITTLE BANDAGED DAYS by Kyra Wilder

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Picador
Genre: Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A mother moves to Geneva with her husband and their two young children. In their beautiful new rented apartment, surrounded by their rented furniture, and several Swiss instructions to maintain quiet, she finds herself totally isolated. Her husband’s job means he is almost never present, and her entire world is caring for her children – making sure they are happy, and fed and comfortable, and that they can be seen as the happy, well-fed, comfortable family they should be. Everything is perfect.
But, of course, it’s not. The isolation, the sleeplessness, the demands of two people under two, are getting to Erika. She has never been so alone, and once the children are asleep, there are just too many hours to fill until morning…

Kyra Wilder’s Little Bandaged Days is a beautifully written, painfully claustrophobic story about a woman’s descent into madness. Unpredictable, frighteningly compelling and brutally honest, it grapples with the harsh conditions of motherhood and this mother’s own identity, and as the novel continues, we begin to wonder just what exactly Erika might be driven to do.

 

OUR FATHERS by Rebecca Wait

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Riverrun
Genre: Literary fiction

SYNOPSIS:
What kind of man kills his own family?
When Tom was eight years old, his father took a shotgun and shot his family: his wife, his son and baby daughter, before turning the gun on himself. Only Tom survived.
He left his tiny, shocked community on the island of Litta and the strained silence of his Uncle Malcolm’s house while still a young boy. For twenty years he’s tried to escape his past. Until now.

Without knowing how to ask, he needs answers – from his uncle, who should have known. From his neighbours, who think his father a decent man who ‘just snapped’. From the memories that haunt the wild landscape of the Hebrides.

And from the silent ones who know more about what happened – and why – than they have ever dared admit.

By turns gripping, beautiful, devastating and tender, Our Fathers is a story about violence and redemption, control and love. With understated compassion and humour, Rebecca Wait gives a voice to the silenced and to the silences between men of few words.

 

MIX TAPE by Jane Sanderson

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Bantam Press
Genre: Romance, contemporary

SYNOPSIS
You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape.

But that was years ago and Ali hasn’t thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him ‘the one that got away’; after all, she’d been the one to run.

Then Dan’s name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past.

For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her skin-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind.

And so begins a new mix tape.

Ali and Dan exchange songs – some new, some old – across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything…

Because what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

 

THE WOODS by Vanessa Savage

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Published: January 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Sphere
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense, crime fiction.

SYNOPSIS:
There’s a lot from Tess’s childhood that she would rather forget. The family who moved next door and brought chaos to their quiet lives. The two local girls who were murdered, their killer never found. In fact, the only thing she can’t remember is the one thing she wishes she could.

Ten years ago, Tess’s older sister died. Ruled a tragic accident, the only witness was Tess herself, but she has never been able to remember what happened that night in the woods.

Now living in London, Tess has resolved to put the trauma behind her. But when an emergency call from her father forces her back to the family home, Tess discovers that, sometimes, the past cannot be laid to rest . . .

 

ADULTS by Emma Jane Unsworth

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Published: January 30th, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Genre: General fiction, humour.

SYNOPSIS:
Jenny is unloved, unemployable and emotionally unfiltered. Her long-suffering friends seem sick of her and whilst her social media portrays her life as a bed of roses, it is more of a dying succulent.

Adults is what you want it to be. A misadventure of maturity, a satire on our age of self-promotion, a tender look at the impossibility of womanhood, a love story, a riot. And Emma Jane Unsworth is the only voice to hear it from. Adults is excruciating, a gut punch of hilarity and a book laden with truth that you will read again and again.

Jenny is unloved, unemployable and emotionally unfiltered. Her long-suffering friends seem sick of her and whilst her social media portrays her life as a bed of roses, it is more of a dying succulent.

Adults is what you want it to be. A misadventure of maturity, a satire on our age of self-promotion, a tender look at the impossibility of womanhood, a love story, a riot. And Emma Jane Unsworth is the only voice to hear it from. Adults is excruciating, a gut punch. of hilarity and a book laden with truth that you will read again and again.

 

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2019 in Review.

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I can’t quite believe that 2019 is about to be over and we are entering not only another year, but also another decade. It’s a cliche, but it really feels like the years are flying by more quickly the older I get. 

This has been one of the best, yet also one of the hardest years of my life. I’m going to focus mostly on the reading and blogging, which has been nothing but incredible. I started my bookstagram page on August 9th, 2018 and this blog a month later. When I did, I thought maybe I’d get 500 followers if I was lucky but was happy with any, as I only started the account to share my love of books and had no ambitions beyond that. In the new year I reached 1,000 followers and am in awe of how my page has grown since, reaching 3,000 earlier this month. I feel incredibly blessed to have made so many wonderful friends and receive so many books from kind authors and publishers. I still feel like a kid at Christmas every time I receive bookmail and know I’ll never take it for granted.

My personal highlights in my blogging life this year:

  • Meeting Sara Collins and Elizabeth Macneal in May at their book event in Leeds.
  • Meeting one of my book besties, Beth, for the first time in person in July. 
  • Attending the Women in Literature event at Haworth and introducing my Mum to the delights of book events. 
  • Attending the VIP launch of The Foundling in September. This was also a highlight as The Familiars is my book of the year and I was thrilled to meet the author as well as many other lovely people.
  • Meeting Jessie Burton and Laura Purcell at Jessie’s event in Nottingham in October.

A big change for me this year was beginning to take part in blog tours. I took part in my first one on January 16th for The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst. I didn’t get the chance to take part in any more for a while after that, but I’ve been lucky enough to take part in them regularly since July. The only problem is that I want to say yes to them all but I don’t have time! I have been fortunate to work with some wonderful blog tour organisers and publishers this past year and am excited for more to come in 2020.

In terms of reading, I set a reading goal of 100 and surprised myself by reaching it in August and reading a total of 150 books this year. Needless to say, reading so many books has made choosing my favourites of the year more difficult and I decided to stop trying to make them fit into the traditional mould of ‘top ten’ and instead just see how many favourites I actually had. The answer was twenty. You can read about these in my previous post about my favourite books of the year. As I mentioned earlier, my overall favourite was The Familiars by Stacey Halls, which was also my 100th read. 

There is so much I’m excited for in 2020: meeting more book friends and authors, taking part in blog tours and reading the fantastic books coming out (or even some of the ones sitting on my shelves). 

I would like to thank every person who has followed my page, the authors and publishers who have taken the time to comment and all the friends I’ve made this year. You have all helped make this a fantastic year and helped this blog become something more than I ever dreamed. 

Thank you to Sara , Carol, Carla Laura, Rowan, Stacey, Jackie and Emma for being simply amazing authors and encourages. 

Thank you to Anne, Tracy, Sarah, Kim, Noelle, MidasPR , Karen, Paper Charm, Darkroom Tours, The Tandem Collective and all the fantastic people who work so hard organising blog tours and promotion.

Last but certainly not least, to these fab ladies who have been there for me as more than just blogger friends at the high and low points this year – Beth, Claire, Claire, Janis, Kirsty, Shell, Clare, Jackie, Clare, Eva, Meg, Sonia and Lisa – I appreciate you and your friendship more than you will ever know. 

With thanks, Emma xx

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Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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SYNOPSIS:

The Richard & Judy Book Club Pick and Sunday Times Bestseller.

London, 1941. Amid the falling bombs Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a fearless Lady War Correspondent. Unfortunately, Emmy finds herself employed as a typist for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted.

But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer at this most desperate of times becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she must help and secretly starts to write back – after all what harm could that possibly do?

Irresistibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce is a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times.

 MY REVIEW:

This delightful novel transported me to 1940s London – a time of the dichotomy of being surrounded by the devastation and fear of the raging war versus the mundane ordinariness of daily life. The rich descriptive prose painted a vivid picture of the era that had me fully absorbed in the story from the first page right up to the last.

Emmeline Lake dreams of being a Lady War Correspondent so she is thrilled when she is offered a job with The Evening Chronicle. She’s finally on her way to doing what she’s always wanted to do. But on her first day she is horrified to discover she isn’t working for them, but for Woman’s Friend, a weekly magazine owned by the same publisher. Being a typist for agony aunt Henrietta Bird is not the job she wants at all but she decides to make the best of it.

But she is soon left feeling despondent about Mrs Bird’s rules that mean she isn’t helping those who are most in need. Any letters containing unpleasantness are to go straight into the bin, but Emmeline can’t bear the thought of people in need being left without assistance so she vows to secretly write back. Though she knows she’d be fired if she was discovered, she is sure that nothing can go wrong.

This delicious story was just what my spirit needed earlier this year when I immersed myself in it’s pages. It still lingers in my mind eight months later and is one of the most engaging, funny, uplifting and tender books I’ve read this year. It is both harrowing and hopeful, portraying the stark reality of war but remaining focused on things like small acts of courage in the midst of terror and the beauty and solace that can be found in friendships and love.

I really liked Emmeline. She was living in a time of great change where women were still expected to fulfill traditional roles but were also carving out careers and working for the war effort. She was likeable, kind and ambitious but although she meant well she has to do things like lie and sneak around to do it and didn’t always make the best choices. Mrs Bird was a formidable, spiky character who was entertaining to read. Her list of unpleasant subjects and words or phrases is so long that I’m amazed there were any letters left to answer.

Dear Mrs Bird is a heartwarming, funny and poignant story that was a joy to read. It is a book I loved from the first pages and would recommend to anyone in need of a book that will make them smile.

Out now.

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Publication Day – In the Lion’s Den by Barbara Taylor Bradford

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SYNOPSIS:

In the Lion’s Den is a gripping new Victorian epic novel featuring the characters of the House of Falconer series from beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author, Barbara Taylor Bradford.

London, 1889: Victorian London is a place of wealth, privilege and poverty, a city of extremes. For James Falconer, who grew up as a barrow boy on a London market, it is a city of opportunity.

Working his way up Henry Malvern’s trading company in Piccadilly, James faces fraud and betrayal. A fierce rivalry develops with Henry’s daughter and heir Alexis – but their animosity masks a powerful attraction.

Embarking on a love affair with the daughter of Russian émigrés, James’s life begins to transform. But as treachery and danger threaten, a secret comes to light that will change his life forever. James must decide where his future lies – with Henry Malverm or following his own dream…

MY THOUGHTS:

We’ve all heard of the legendary Barbara Taylor Bradford but would it occur to you to pick up one of her books? As soon as I read the synopsis for her latest book, In the Lion’s Den, I knew it was a book I’d enjoy. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction and this sounded like exactly the kind of book that was perfect to curl up with on a cosy winter’s night. But I admit that if I hadn’t received the email from Get Red PR about working together that I might have skipped past it. Instead I’m excited to immerse myself in a new series by a much-loved author.

Thank you to HarperCollinsUK and Get Red PR for my gifted copy of this novel.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and raised in England. She started her writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post and later worked as a journalist in London. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by many more, including the bestselling Harte series. Barbara’s books have sold over eighty-five million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty languages, and ten mini-series and television movies have been made of her books. In October of 2007, Barbara was appointed an OBE by the Queen for her services to literature. In the Lion’s Den is her thirty-fourth novel.

Visit barbarataylorbradford.co.uk 

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October Wrap Up

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Another month is over so it’s time for another monthly wrap up.

October has been another great month for me. I took part in eight blog tours and attended a book event in Nottingham where Laura Purcell interviewed Jessie Burton and I got to meet two of my favourite authors. On a personal level we celebrated my partner’s 40th birthday, he started a new job that means he’ll be home more and I went to watch The Wizard of Oz ballet with my Mum on a rare girls night out.

In terms of reading,  I’ve read eleven books and one novella. I was hoping to have finished The Photographer of the Lost but that will end up as my first completed book of November instead. I’m finding that I’m reading slower when the book is for a tour as I want to be sure I soak it all in and take as many notes as possible to write the best review I can. But I’m fine with that as I’ve read some incredible books I might not have picked up if it weren’t for being on the blog tour and I wouldn’t trade that for having a few more books on my total at the end of the month.

So, here’s what I read in October:

  1. The Family by Louise Jensen ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  2. The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot (previously titled In My Mother’s Name)  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  3. The Birthday House by Jill Treseder ⭐⭐⭐.5
  4. The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. The Blossom Twins by Carol Wyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  6. The Widow of Pale Harbour by Hester Fox ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  7. Her Mother’s Lies by Rona Halsall ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  8. Seven Days by Alex Lake ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  9. The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  10. Bad Seed by Jessica Eames ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  11. The Lost Ones by Anita Frank ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  12. Keeper by Jessica Moor ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As you can see it’s been a great month with some fantastic books – including four 5-star reviews. I’m not choosing a favourite this month as I think all the 5-star reads are deserving of that title, but the most memorable for me was definitely The Blossom Twins as it was nail-biting, shocking and emotional – the best yet in Carol’s Detective Natalie Ward series. I’ve still not recovered from the turmoil of that book! It is released on December 12th and my review will be posted December 14th as part of the blog tour.

What books did you read in October? Were any of these on your list?

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Blog Tour Review: The Lost Ones by Anita Frank ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The Lost Ones was one of my highly anticipated books this Autumn so I am thrilled to be able to take part in HQ’s Halloween takeover and to share my review with you today. Thank you to Joe Thomas at HarperCollins UK for the invitation to take part and my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiance, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeliene, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion. 

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…   

In the classic tradition of The Woman In Black, Anita Frank weaves a spellbinding debut of tragedy, loss and redemption.

MY REVIEW:   

“Things happen in this house that defy explanation.. I am afraid.. . I am afraid of this house.”

Wow! Anita Frank blew me away with this mesmerising novel. Atmospheric, tender, alluring, harrowing and chilling, The Lost Ones is an exploration of family, love, grief, tragedy, secrets and the supernatural expertly woven together into a breathtaking story that I couldn’t put down. 

“Of one things I was becoming increasingly convinced: behind the crass grandeur and tasteless opulence, the walls of Greyswick were infused with so many secrets and lies that the very fabric of the building breathed deceit.”

Stella Marcham has returned home from nursing the wounded in France after the death of her fiance, Gerald. She is crushed and desolate, overwhelmed by her grief. Only her sister, Madeleine understood and slowly brought her back from the brink. Her parents don’t recognise her grief and think there is something wrong with her and call Dr Mayhew saying they think she needs help. Like before, an asylum is mentioned, much to Stella’s horror. How can she get them to understand she isn’t hysterical and just needs time?

When her brother-in-law Hector asks Stella if she’ll go and stay with her pregnant sister at his ancestral home, Greyswick, she jumps at the chance – it’s the perfect excuse to get away and to repay her sister for all she did for her after Gerald’s death. Arriving at the mansion, Stella finds her sister a shadow of her former self and vows to do whatever she can to help.  That first night she experiences the first of many strange events that will lead the sisters to believe there’s a supernatural element at work, beliefs that will see them labelled troublemakers and hysterical. But even after Madeleine is sent back to their parents’ home, Stella is determined to investigate the dark history and secrets of Greyswick and discover the truth.

“And finally, I told him of that day, the day my nightmares were created.”

The Lost Ones is gothic fiction with heart. Interlaced with the chilling ghost story, scandalous revelations and shocking twists are love stories about the many different forms that love takes. But it is the sweet love story of Stella and Gerald that was one of my favourite parts of this book. The flashbacks where Stella remembered their happy times together would make me smile but also make me ache for what she’d lost when he’d been killed in France. Stella’s raw, agonising and overwhelming emptiness and grief was palpable and the chapter where we finally learn the circumstances of Gerald’s death broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

“Something happened in this house, something that led to terrible consequences…And there’s someone still here who never wants it revealed.”

The author has filled this book with an array of compelling and fascinating characters. Stella was a great protagonist. Though she feels weakened by her grief, she is a strong, determined and brave woman who was easy to relate to and root for. Annie Burrows, Stella’s housemaid, is vital to the story and probably the most intriguing character. She is a strange girl who unnerves people, but in fact she is an anxious, timid, quiet young woman who tries to keep herself unnoticed in the background as much as possible. As the strange occurrences increase Stella notices little things about Annie and begins to see her in a new light, realising she has a gift that could be the key to solving the mystery of Greyswick.

Mrs Henge and Lady Brightwell were fantastic antagonists and there was an oppressive atmosphere that radiates from the page anytime they were in a scene. Lady Brightwell is the matriarch of Greyswick, an imposing and unflinching woman who and insists on things being done properly. She has little time for what she considers to be the histrionics of Stella and Madeleine and is insistent that there are no ghosts or secrets to be uncovered. She’s a tough adversary, especially when everyone else is on her side. Mrs Henge, the housekeeper, is an ominous, foreboding character. I was suspicious of what she knew from early on but couldn’t ascertain how much Lady Brightwell or others were involved.  

“I would find a way to fit the pieces of this appalling puzzle together.”

Anita Frank is an author to watch. I am in awe of her talent and still can’t believe this is a debut novel. Expertly and elegantly written, flawlessly plotted and utterly immersive, The Lost Ones had me  hooked from the first page. The vivid scene setting made me feel like I was right beside Stella in the shadowy, claustrophobic halls of Greyswick, chills running down my spine as the eerie things begin to happen. I even had to sleep with the light on as I was so unsettled by sinister events and the ghost of a young boy. 

Even if spooky stories aren’t usually your thing I would urge you to try this one as I think it’s a story that has something for everyone. I can’t recommend it highly enough and I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

Out today.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anita Frank was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now a full-time career for her disabled son. The Lost Ones is her first novel.

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Blog Tour Review: Her Mother’s Lies by Rona Halsall ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this tense and gripping thriller. Thank you to Bookoture for my invitation to take part, and to Bookoture and NetGalley for my e-ARC of the novel in exchange for my honest review. 

SYNOPSIS:

‘She hasn’t told you, has she?’ He squeezed his eyes shut. She watched the muscles of his jaw tense, then his eyes blinked open and he took a deep breath…‘I’m not your father.’

He was there for her first steps, for her first day of school. He helped her with her homework, and took her for ice cream at the weekends. And then, two days before her ninth birthday, Martha’s father walked out. She never knew what went wrong, but she and her mother Fran never saw or heard from him again.

Fifteen years later, frustrated in a life which consists of caring for an increasingly-ill Fran, and heartbroken after the death of a beloved friend, Martha decides she needs some answers, and she knows it’s time to track down the father who left them behind.

Except when she comes face-to-face with him for the first time in fifteen years, he tells her a brutal truth.

He isn’t her father.

Her mother has been telling lies.

And not just about who her real father is.

A page-turning, gripping psychological thriller for fans of Paula Hawkins, Clare Macintosh and C. L. Taylor.

MY REVIEW:

I flew through this taut and twisty thriller. It had me hooked from the first page right until the last, immersing me in Martha’s world as she saw everything she believed to be true crumble and following her in her search for the truth.

Martha and her mother Fran have a difficult relationship. Martha loves her but the twenty-four-year-old craves freedom and resents Fran’s reluctance to untie the apron strings, as well as her financial and practical reliance due to her self-inflicted declining health. She’s torn between following her dreams and enjoying her youth, and being there to help the one person that’s always been there for her. But when Fran is rushed into hospital after a drinking binge triggers a diabetic coma, Martha uncovers a series of lies that shatter her whole world. Turning to the only person she can think of, her friend Izzy, Martha vows to unveil the truths she’s been denied all these years, having no idea that she’s setting down a path that will see her entire life unravel.

I was not prepared for this book. Nothing is as it seems. The author skillfully crafted a deceptive hall of mirrors, luring me into believing I had it all figured out. I didn’t see the bombshell coming until it was on the page. Bravo Rona, Bravo! I was now transfixed and on the edge of my seat, unable to look up until I finished the book.

Her Mother’s Name is layered, complex, emotionally charged, skillfully plotted and sizzling with suspense. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers.

Out today.

Rona Halsall new author.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rona is the author of Best Selling psychological thrillers THE HONEYMOON, LOVE YOU GONE and KEEP YOU SAFE. Her fourth book, HER MOTHER’S LIES is out in October 2019.

She lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and three guinea pigs. She is an outdoorsy person and loves stomping up a mountain, walking the coastal paths and exploring the wonderful glens and beaches on the Island while she’s plotting how to kill off her next victim. She has three children and two step-children who are now grown up and leading varied and interesting lives, which provides plenty of ideas for new stories!

To find out more about Rona’s novels, go to http://www.facebook.com/RonaHalsallAuthor or follow @RonaHalsallAuth on Twitter or instagram @ronahalsall.

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The Dark Mirror #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

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Purple books for #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

This is a very personal post that I’ve been considering sharing for about a year.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Twenty years ago today I married a man who turned out to be abusive. There were red flags before I married him but I was very young, just twenty years old when we wed, and I believed his apologies and excuses. I also didn’t see control and emotional and verbal abuse for what it was and thought because he’d “only” hit me a few times and had stopped, that everything was ok. I was wrong. Our marriage was dominated by various forms of violence that would fluctuate.

I found the strength to leave a few months before our 9th wedding anniversary. By that point we had a four-year-old son that this mama bear needed to protect.

A number of years ago I wrote this short story about that time. In honour of spreading awareness and to remind people that they can leave even after many years, I am sharing it today. I’m terrified and am shaking as I write this but I know it’s the right thing to do.

DVPic

The Dark Mirror

I’m ready. I’m wearing the ivory embroidered gown covered in lace and sparkling details, with a long train that flows out behind me like a royal robe. A tiara glitters in the mirror and a full length, white veil covers my perfectly made up face and my curled hair that cascades down my back like a waterfall. As I gaze at my reflection feeling excited about the promises I’m about to make and the life ahead something strange happens; the girl looking back begins to change. She still looks like me with the same blue eyes and auburn hair, but something is different. There is a sadness in her eyes and through them I can see her  head and heart are full of harrowing memories and broken dreams. I can see the pain, heartbreak and sorrow. Reflected in them I see the movie of her life start to play : the love and joy following solemn vows, then the anger in his voice, the plates smashing, the girl cowering in fear of his wrath, the jekyll and hyde of his character as he’s loving and adoring one moment, hateful and vicious the next. I see the anguish as she dreams of leaving but still loves him and wants to stay. I glimpse her heart breaking into a thousand pieces as he smashes up the house and tells her she’s worthless, that the child they will have is better without her and she should be dead.  I feel her longing for release so greatly that death seems favourable. She is destroyed from the inside. He’s taken away who she is and what she knows to be true piece by piece until she is nothing but a hollow shell. He’s destroyed her and thinks he’s won. That she is his and will do as he dictates forever. But he’s wrong. Deep down the fire in her is still there and she claws and fights her way back to the surface and she begins to stand up and be counted. Initially she suffers all the more for doing so. I see the hell she calls home until she can finally take no more and packing a few belongings and clutching the small boy’s hand, she flees, leaving the nightmare and all the broken promises and dreams behind. The vision has me fighting back tears, at all the woman has been through and because I know this is my future. I know she’s showing me what my happy ever after will become. I look away, not wanting to see anymore. When I look back she is gone and all that’s left is a discoloured white veil lying discarded on the floor. 

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Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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As always, this review won’t contain spoilers and I will give as little detail as possible so that anyone who hasn’t yet read the book can enjoy the surprises like I was able to. 

SYNOPSIS:

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, is a modern classic. Now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.

More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.

As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she’ll go for what she believes.

‘Dear Readers, everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.’ Margaret Atwood

MY REVIEW:

“History does not repeat itself. But it rhymes.”

Praise Be. The Testaments is finally here and it is a masterpiece. Margaret Atwood is a genius and she has written a powerhouse of a novel that I immediately became lost in. Thought provoking and moving, I was transfixed by every word. Reading it was like having an unquenchable thirst and I couldn’t stop until I was finished.

The story takes place fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale and is narrated by three very different women. Each offers their own unique perspective and gives us a broader insight into Gilead and the lives of its women. This book is about illuminating the truth behind the facade of Gilead in various ways and we finally learn the answer to the question posed at the end of the first book – how did it fall?

The multiple narrators give the book a tone that sets it apart from the first book. I enjoyed seeing a wider range of life in Gilead and understanding how different roles truly work. I thought the people the author chose to use to narrate were inspired and had me re-examining everything I thought I knew.

As someone who loves the book and show, I did wonder if this sequel would negatively affect my views towards the latter, but it has made me love it more. I plan to rewatch every episode for clues of what I’ve learned from this book and the chance to see certain characters through a different lens.

The Testaments is a magnificent, emotional, riveting ride and it felt like I held my breath for most of the book. It was an experience like no other and Ms Atwood far exceeded my expectations. I don’t think it’s a surprise to learn that I highly recommend this book. And if you’ve never read the first one then I have it on good authority that it works well as a stand alone too. The hype is real and you don’t want to miss this book.