She’s the most scapegoated heroine in Greek mythology, but there’s never just one side to any story. This new framing uncovers the complexities of Helen of Troy–a woman tormented by the blame placed on her by others, and tortured by her own guilt.
“We all blamed Helen”
Haunted by her decision to leave her child behind in fleeing her unhappy marriage, Helen seeks to build a new life in Troy with her lover, Paris. She yearns to recreate the childhood family she lost when she married Menelaus, but her outraged husband vows to regain her by force, at the head of a vast army.
Facing hostility from all sides, Helen must decide where her loyalty–and her safety–lies.
Perfect for fans of Greek mythology retellings, and Madeline Miller’s Circe, Jennifer Saint’s Elektra, and Pat Barker’s The Women of Troy.
My thoughts: Helen of Troy might be one of the most hated women in literature, the face that launched a thousand ships, the woman who cuckolded her husband, ran away with a prince and brought about the destruction of the legendary (and real) city of Troy.
Narrated by the ghost of Achilles, this is Helen’s story.
When Agamemnon and Menelaus arrive at her childhood home, Agamemnon has already murdered her brother-in-law and nephew and forced her sister Clytemnestra to marry him, so she isn’t too favourable. His brother doesn’t appeal, he’s not the handsome prince of her imagination, but her father has little choice, Agamemnon threatens to seize their kingdom too.
Not the most auspicious start to a marriage, but not an entirely unexpected one considering the time. When Helen runs off with Paris to Troy, abandoning her daughter, and leaving her homeland behind, she hardly expects what happens next. King Priam refuses to send her back and the Greeks famously come together to lay siege to Troy for ten long years.
Achilles also tells us about the goings on inside the Greek encampment. Agamemnon rarely leaves his tent, preferring to let the others fight, like generals ever since, which annoys Achilles. Then comes the infamous falling out that results in the death of Achilles’ cousin and closest friend Patroclus, Achilles’ revenge killing of Hector and finally Paris’ cowardly killing of Achilles. Finally the horse makes an appearance.
Some of the most famous events of the Trojan war. I always wondered why Shakespeare never staged this – it feels very in keeping with some of his tragedies.
Obviously Homer (whoever he or they were) got there first, but Susan C. Wilson retells this most famous of stories from new perspectives – Achilles and Helen. Had Helen’s father held out and she married Achilles, none of this would ever have happened, nor any of the resulting events.
Helen’s account of the destruction of Troy is shocking, graphic and you can imagine people’s genuine horror as the Greek soldiers lay waste, killing the men and taking the women to be slaves. King Priam’s death is awful, the proud man reduced to blood and bones in moments.
But Helen’s end is equally gruesome, she won’t be returning with Menelaus, she will never see her daughter again. The Greeks have spent ten long years waiting for this moment. The judgement of Helen.
The title can be seen in different ways – Helen’s own poor judgement in running off with the vapid but pretty Paris, the judgement of the Trojans on her, and that final judgement after the long years of fighting. A fight that doesn’t really have much to do with her, one that feels like an excuse as the Greeks also want access to the Hellespont, and to establish themselves in Asia, beyond the walls of Troy and its allies.
This was a really interesting retelling of this most famous story, one I’ve studied in depth before and often enjoyed, but that gives agency back to Helen, and furthers the story of the House of Atreus from Clytemnestra’s Bind, the first book in this series.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Issey considers himself a masterful and elegant thief. He’s just as meticulous with his lockpicking tools as he is with his ankle boots and slimming turtlenecks. He’s also easily confused, stupid, and maybe not so good at being a thief. Unforeseen circumstances bring him back to his childhood town, the wonderland that is Vermont’s Bell River Valley. With the holidays on the horizon, he sets his sights on the town’s open doors. But just as his thieving begins, with accompanying shapewear and accessories, something unexpected happens—he falls backwards into becoming the town hero. The sudden hero role ushers in wealth, adoration, and a love interest so mysterious he hardly knows her name. However, before he can get too cozy, an uninvited associate from his past reappears—as does every last item Issey has ever stolen. Second Pocket First shoehorns comedy, crime, and small-town charm into this delightful romp as Issey must decide between old habits and a sudden devotion to the town’s goodwill.
Gregory Grosvenor grew up in Ansbach, Germany. He moved to the US, earning an MFA from Old Dominion University. For two decades, he has taught writing and the art of the short story at various colleges in Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. Grosvenor currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his three cats, Dinah, Theo, and Bramlet Abercrombie
My thoughts: Required to go home and sort out his mother’s house after she remarries and leaves town, useless thief Issey is stuck in Vermont, where his brother and sister-in-law still live, no car unless he steals one, one old friend he’s not actually that keen on, not much to do. So he starts taking things, stupid, little things, like a lighter, a bracelet, a diary.
Then he’s accused of taking three horses from the local riding school. Except he knows he didn’t do that particular job. After a very confusing night in the snow, he somehow finds the horses and is suddenly the town hero. Except he has no idea how he did that.
The local sheriff is still suspicious of him, especially after he starts “finding” things people have lost, like it’s a magical power. Then his old boss shows up and things just keep getting stranger. Poor Issey has no idea why things keep happening to him, or what his sister-in-law keeps doing showing up at the house. He’s confused, not very bright and everything he returns to its owner, has started reappearing too. What is he going to do?
Quirky, funny and a bit confusing, so you feel like Issey, this was an interesting read about a man who really should find something he’s actually good at.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Step into the sandals of Neferet and Bener-ib — two women doctors in ancient Egypt who never expected murder to become part of their medical routine. With the help of their perceptive teenage apprentice and Neferet’s steadfast father, this unlikely investigative team takes on crimes that shake their community to the core.
Across four rich, standalone books — Flowers of Evil, Web of Evil, Wheel of Evil, and The Melody of Evil — N.L. Holmes brings ancient Thebes to life through everyday lives touched by extraordinary events. There are no pyramids here — just humanity, heart, and a whole lot of suspense.
One of the things about ancient Egyptian society that inspired the character of Neferet is the status of their women. They were freer and more respected than in almost any other contemporary society, even though we’d have to admit that that society, like our own, was basically patriarchal. Apart from being honored as mothers, lovers, and helpmeets, women were legal majors, able to own property, testify in court, bring lawsuits, and conduct business under the same legal protections as men. They could sit on village councils, and we even have records of women who served as the mayor of their village. Although it was definitely the exception, they could rule the entire country in the person of a queen,.and these were very hands-on monarchs with few limits to their authority. In the Old Kingdom, Egypt’s formative period, at least one woman served as vizier or prime minister, and there were classes of priestesses that corresponded to almost every class of priest. Unfortunately, these opportunities for religious authority were restricted in later periods to women of the royal family.
The idea of a female vizier or priest raises the issue of whether women were literate. Only 1% of the population could read and write, and literacy was the key to social status. We have no positive testimony that this golden skill was confided to any but males. However… it’s hard to imagine a vizier who couldn’t read the reports that were brought to her. It’s difficult to conceive how the female stewards of large royal or private estates could supervise the running of palaces without being at least basically lettered. The same is true of female physicians—who did exist— since Egyptian medicine rested upon casebooks based on generations of trial and error. Thus, I think the case of our Neferet, whose menfolk are all literate scribes, isn’t improbable. There must have been women now and again who were trained by their fathers or brothers, even if they didn’t formally attend the scribal school conducted at the temple of Amen-Ra, the House of Life.
That’s why Neferet became the character she is: headstrong, pushy, and unconventional. She does a lot of things that wouldn’t have been common in her day but wouldn’t have been forbidden either. She was lucky enough to live in an age when women were strong and sometimes independent, visible, and fully able to contribute to their society in a variety of ways. She would have had those all-important role models. Some men might have disapproved of her, but others would have accepted her forwardness. And I think the great and proactive goddesses of Egypt’s pantheon would have looked on with affection.
Excerpt
“Can you do anything?” the woman cried tremulously, clutching at Neferet’s arm.
But Neferet could think of nothing encouraging to say. Her insides had that hollow, leaden feeling that meant the worst was about to happen.
“There’s no point in stitching up the outside,” she said gently. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and they’ve chopped him up pretty seriously inside. As the medical books say, ‘This is not a case I will treat.’”
The woman understood and began to whimper. She reached out a hand to touch her husband’s shoulder but then drew back as if she’d just discovered it was someone else. A gloomy silence fell over the group, broken only by the increasingly weak huff of the patient’s breath. His lips moved feebly, and Bener-ib leaned over his face.
“I think you’d better stand with him, mistress,” Neferet said. “His soul is ready to fly. He might have something to say to you.”
The woman drew closer fearfully. “Sen-em-iah, my brother, I’m here.”
At first, Neferet wondered if she’d misunderstood and the woman was really his sister—although from her age she might have been his daughter—but brother and sister were terms of endearment often used by married people. Everyone stood, hushed, waiting for a final word from the threshold of the other world. Sen-em-iah said nothing. His head lolled finally, and a tiny sibilance of breath escaped him.
They all stared at him expectantly until Neferet said in a quiet tone, “I think he’s passed to the West, mistress.”
She took the patient’s hand and pressed her fingers against the inside of the wrist. No pulse.
The woman stared at Neferet as if she couldn’t believe her. She made no move to wail or tear her hair.
“Who is he? Why might someone have done this?”
Since the wife was frozen, one of the servants answered. “Sen-em-iah son of Nakht is—was—Bearer of Divine Offerings of Amen, mistress. Chief florist of the Hidden One’s temple, like his father before him.”
Yahyah. That explains why he was just coming home at this hour of the morning. Florists work all night, while it’s cooler.
“Who would want to kill a florist?” she asked. “They don’t hurt anybody.”
“Maybe it was just a random attack,” suggested another of the servants. “Maybe they were going to rob the master.”
“Were you all with him when he was attacked?”
“Not me,” said an older man. “I’m the steward. I came out with the mistress of the house when the others yelled. These young fellows are the litter bearers and bodyguards. Yes, they were with him.”
No casual robber would have attacked anybody protected by eight stalwart young men. And Neferet knew what the servants didn’t—the attacker had not just stabbed Sen-em-iah but had ripped viciously. He had aimed to kill.
The steward said, “We brought him all the way here because we didn’t know where else a sunu could be found at this hour of the morning. One of these fellows lives in this neighborhood.”
Bener-ib, who had been listening intently, leaned over Sen-em-iah and drew down his eyelids.
That gesture brought his wife out of her shock, and she began to cry, quietly at first, but soon she was howling, keening, raking at her face with her nails.
“Perhaps mistress would like to go home, notify the children?” suggested the steward, taking her by the elbow. “If we could leave the master here briefly until we can call the servants of Inpu…?” He raised inquiring eyes to the two sunets, one after the other. Already, he was edging the distraught widow toward the door. The block of servants crowded after them.
“Of course,” said Neferet. “Is it all right if we come by later to ask a few questions? We’ll have to report this murder, now that we’re involved, and we’ll need to explain what we see’s been done to the body.”
The steward nodded distractedly over his shoulder, and the entire crowd disappeared through the door. The woman’s wails trailed off as they exited the gate, and soon Neferet, Bener-ib, and Mut-tuy were left staring at one another in silence. The young girl’s eyes were round as plates and scalpel sharp.
Mangler had entered and was lapping blood from the smooth plaster floor, his tail wagging in pleasure at the windfall.
Neferet gave her partner a long significant stare. “Do you realize what this is? Our first murder case.”
“Our first? Will there be more?” Bener-ib said faintly.
“Look at that wound. Somebody wanted to be sure this florist died. Somebody who knew what they were doing. A soldier, maybe. A professional assassin.” Neferet turned to the body of Sen-em-iah, whose eyes had popped open a slit. He seemed to be watching them. “If only he could tell us who did this. I feel sure he knew. But he didn’t have any final words.”
“Oh yes, he did,” said Bener-ib, brightening. “I distinctly heard him say something just before you called his wife over.”
Neferet’s heart stepped up its pace. She seized Bener-ib’s hand. “He did? Quick, Ibet! What did he say? This could be the clue to his murder!”
Bener-ib looked around as if searching for witnesses to support her, then she pronounced firmly in her girlish voice, “He said… he said, ‘Sekhat. Rabbit.’”
My thoughts: This series is so good, if you love crime fiction, historical fiction, strong female protagonists, loving families, adventure, cute animal sidekicks, it’s all here.
Hani is an important scribe working in the Egyptian empire for the boy king we know as Tutankhamen. His daughter, Neferet is a sunet or doctor, who along with her partner Bener-if (in life and medicine) provides medical treatment to the people and occasionally animals in their community. She has adopted a family of orphans, and is meant to be training one as her apprentice, only Mut-tay would rather be a detective.
When a man dies in their dispensary, Neferet takes it upon herself to investigate his murder and the series has her and her friends, as well as members of her family, look into suspicious deaths of various people from the community. Mostly people who would be overlooked as not important, like a florist, a musician, a scribe. The medjay (the police) are lazy and corrupt so if Neferet and Hani don’t look into things, no one else will and the dead will never get justice.
The books are really enjoyable and relatable, despite being set thousands of years in the past. The characters and their relationships are fully realised and I really rooted for them, to get justice and to be safe as they often come up against really nasty people. Luckily their canine bodyguard, Brute, is there to save them. There is a fifth book due later this year and I can’t wait!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller.
The truth will always come out, but at what cost?
Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.
When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results.
When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .
Jo Callaghan works full time as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. She was a student of the Writers’ Academy Course (Penguin Random House) and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Writing Competition and Bath Novel Competition. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019 when she was just forty-nine, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she spends far too much time tweeting as @JoCallaghanKat and is currently working on further novels in the series.
My thoughts: This series just gets better and better with each book, giving both a cracking read and plenty to think about.
Kat’s in the spotlight as an anonymous podcaster is determined to prove the conviction of The Aston Strangler, a man Kat arrested, was wrong and that Kat make mistakes and manipulated evidence.
With the remains of a young woman found on a local farm, and Lock’s involvement in the autopsy being questioned, could Kat lose her job or will her accuser go too far in their desire for the truth?
The title and the plot ask timely questions about the role of AI, Lock cannot understand why humans behave the way they do, there’s often little or no logic to their actions, he doesn’t understand human emotions.
His actions are also being called into question, the fact he can only really follow instructions to their logical conclusion and can’t deviate or use his own intuition leads to devastating consequences for the team, but is it his fault?
Their victim only came to be on the farm in the first place, following clues to try to find out what happened to her grandfather, who was a POW there but never returned home. Actions have consequences, even decades later, which will destroy two families. Lock can’t really understand the whys of this either, he’s a bit like Spock from Star Trek in that sense, none of the things anyone in this does seem logical, because humans aren’t logical. We act on instinct, emotions, our gut, all sorts of things you can’t define to AI. Even the doctor who designed him is starting to question whether she’s right, and she used to be sure she was.
A truly thought provoking, intelligent read that throws up plenty to chew over once it’s finished.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Now: When Megan’s father gets a letter containing a secret from the past, he asks her to go to the Cornish village of St Mawgen Cove to get to the bottom of the mystery. Megan is happy to take a holiday after a challenging year but as soon as she checks into The Ship Inn something feels amiss. There are noises in the room above, the locals tell tales of smugglers and shipwrecks and she can’t escape the story of the witch who waits and watches, weeping on the top of the cliff.
1625: Susanna and her daughter Katel live a contented life, but without the protection of a husband and father, Susanna fears for Katel’s future as she blossoms into womanhood. The fishing community of St Mawgen Cove is close knit but when misfortune arrives in the cove, it’s not long before villagers are looking for someone to blame. And when talk turns to witches, Susanna knows she and Katel are no longer safe.
Can Megan bring peace to St Mawgen and to two women who have been broken-hearted for centuries?
Leigh writes dual timeline stories under the name of Elena Collins: the name is a tribute to her grandmother who was a teller of stories and fortunes, and she had healing hands. These novels combine three of her passions: delving into rich historical tales, exploring stunning locations, and evoking the supernatural. They weave together stories of people’s lives both past and present, with some spine-tingling moments along the way. She loves writing these novels and hopes readers enjoy them as much as she does. The characters and settings are particularly close to her heart. Writing under the name of Judy Leigh, she is also the author of uplifting novels that explore the lives of older women and the possibilities of second chances, change, and happiness. Under this name, she writes the Morwenna Mutton/Seal Bay cozy crime series, set in Cornwall, featuring a sixty-something sleuth who enjoys solving crimes and getting into mischief. Outside of writing, Leigh enjoys traveling, reading, music, and theatre. She holds an MA in Professional Writing. When she’s not at her desk or spending time with her two black cats, she’s often researching her next novel in some of the country’s most beautiful locations and beyond.
My thoughts: The persecution of women seen as “witches” is a dark part of our national history, with people who had committed no crime tortured and executed on the say so of often bias and ignorant others.
Susanna is one of a long line of women who ministered to the sick, delivered babies and prepared the dead for burial. Her folk remedies and herbs probably saved some lives along the way, but all it takes is one tragic death after another for the villagers to start muttering and looking her way. Unmarried and with a daughter whose father she has never named, they’re instantly the suspects. What happens next will haunt the village for centuries, literally.
Megan runs a business selling herbal remedies and crystals, a sort of modern day version of Susanna. Drawn to St Magwen by a letter her father receives, she finds joy in the sea and the people she meets. She also finds relics of the darkest moments of its past, a weeping woman can be heard in one of the pub’s guest rooms, and a woman dressed in white haunts the clifftop. With the help of a few new friends, she decides to try to put the restless spirits to peace. She’s also looking for the half-sister she’s only just learnt about, a new relationship she’s keen to build.
Both women are unapologetically themselves, Susanna stands her ground until her world is shattered, and Megan’s open hearted, generous nature draws others to her, and helps her unlock the secrets of the past.
A really enjoyable and fascinating book with real heart and great characters. I was gripped from the start by the strong women in this book.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Set during the uneasy shift from World War II to the Cold War, Fantaisie follows Jan Orlinski and Sophie Gordon as they fight for freedom, love, and truth across war-torn Europe. Jan’s mission as a pilot leads him into dangerous and murky territory, while Sophie is forced into a deadly game of espionage that lands her in a brutal Soviet prison.
Michael Kenneth Smith, best known for The Postwoman, continues his exploration of the personal cost of global conflict through historical fiction rooted in rich detail and emotional stakes.
The black sedan was still following them as they neared the airport, albeit at a distance. Jan decided whoever it was wanted to keep an eye on them but wasn’t looking for a confrontation. He glanced back again as Brian made a quick turn and then another. After four years in Matadi, he knew the city’s streets well. Soon, they were headed back across the bridge into the heart of town, the sedan no longer visible behind them. The sun beat down as Brian guided the truck through Matadi’s bustling streets, which smelled of exhaust and overripe fruit from market stalls and street vendors. He turned down narrow alleys twice, the truck’s tires screeching in protest.
Five minutes later, they pulled up to a small, tidy house in an affluent neighborhood.
“Come on,” Brian said. “We need to talk.”
They entered the house, mostly empty and neglected in contrast to its well-maintained exterior. Dust motes danced in shafts of sunlight, revealing bare patches where furniture once stood. In the kitchen, a mountain of dirty dishes teetered in the sink. Brian gestured to one of two wooden chairs. “Water?”
“Yes, please,” Jan said, taking a seat and accepting the glass. The water tasted brackish; he grimaced.
“Matadi water,” Brian said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Safe, but an acquired taste.”
Jan’s eyes fell on a large black box next to the refrigerator. It hummed softly, its face a maze of dials, switches, and blinking lights. An antenna poked out from behind it, disappearing through a small hole in the wall. A large radio? He pushed the glass away and folded his arms as Brian sat.
“First of all,” he said, “my name isn’t Brian Rich. Until recently, I worked for the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS. It was established in 1942 by President Roosevelt as America’s first centralized intelligence agency, created to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines during World War II. Our work in the Congo was part of a larger operation called the Alsos Mission. Alsos is Greek for ‘grove,’ which was General Groves’s codename—he was the head of the Manhattan Project.”
“The people who created the atomic bomb,” Jan said.
“Exactly. And Shinkolobwe is where the uranium came from.”
“Hold on,” Jan said, feeling numb. “Are you saying—”
Brian nodded. “That’s not cobalt ore you’ve been hauling. It’s uranium. We kept it from the Germans, though truthfully, they never seemed that interested. Our Alsos teams discovered their program was years behind ours. But the Russians, on the other hand…”
Jan drank more water, taste be damned. “The Russians? Is that why—”
“Why did they steal your cargo? Most likely. They want the bomb, Jan. They want to be a superpower. And now that Alsos has been disbanded and the OSS is being dissolved, replaced by something called the Central Intelligence Group, there’s a vacuum. The Soviets are rushing to fill it.”
“But wait,” Jan said. “What about Gerston? If he’s supplying the Russians, why would they need to steal my cargo?”
“That’s the question,” Brian said. “Maybe multiple entities are competing to be Russia’s supplier. Or maybe this Gerston is trying to keep the uranium out of Russian hands. Or maybe he’s working for another country that wants the bomb. We just don’t know.”
“Okay, so what now?” Jan asked, his voice hoarse.
Brian stood, pacing the small kitchen. “I’m sending an encrypted message to Washington. We should hear back by tomorrow. Until then, let’s get you back to the airport.”
Brian took an entirely different route this time, but no one seemed to be following them. As they pulled up to the C-47, he turned to Jan. “I’ll be back in the morning after I get word from Washington.”
As Brian’s truck disappeared into the distance, Jan slumped against the side of the C-47, its metal skin still hot from the day’s sun. He hoped Burundi had found a mechanic and would be back soon. He wanted to get home. He was done working for Gerston, that much he knew. In fact, he would have abandoned the man’s plane, but Jan had no other way home.
The African sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant hues of orange and purple. Jan climbed into the plane for the night. With his cargo stolen, nothing was left to guard, and there was no reason to sleep outside again under the plane’s wing. He supposed that was a silver lining. He was about to close the rear door when something across the tarmac caught his eye. He squinted into the gathering darkness and saw the black sedan, parked almost out of sight behind a dilapidated hangar. He pulled the door shut, locked it, and lay down with the revolver at his side.
My thoughts: This was a really interesting book, set during the Cold War, where Sophie, exiled from the UK after her father was exposed as a Nazi spy in WW2, is offered the chance for redemption if she works for MI6, then a fledgling agency, in Paris. Unfortunately she’s being watched by the Soviets, who are keen to also recruit her.
Meanwhile her boyfriend, and father to her daughter, Jan, a Polish pilot, has signed on to fly a mysterious cargo from the Congo to Paris, he’s told it’s cobalt from the mines, but there are several interested parties including the Americans and Soviets, that suggest it’s something else…
An intriguing and engaging book, with a fantastic hero in Jan, and a brave heroine in Sophie, as their lives diverge and Sophie becomes a prisoner, while Jan is stranded in the desert, returning to find her missing and launches an audacious plan to rescue her.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
A darkly funny feminist debut about a resentful stay-at-home wife and her vindictive marriage therapist
Revenge is in session.
Eliza Sheridan is at her wits’ end with her husband, Richard. Not only did he uproot her and their daughter Mara’s lives for his career, but he also hasn’t honored the one thing he promised before moving to Dublin: that he’d make more time for his wife and daughter.
So when Eliza receives an anonymous photo of Richard with another woman, she’s just about ready to file for divorce. As a last resort, she pays a visit to a marriage therapist, Ms. Early, who Eliza quickly learns is a bit…alternative in her approach. As their sessions unfold, Ms. Early spurs her on to commit a series of vengeful acts against Richard—each more bizarre than the last—all in the name of “re-training” her husband. But when therapy takes a risky turn, suspicions grow and alliances shift… How far is Eliza willing to go to save her marriage?
My thoughts: This was very funny, in a very dark way. Eliza carries out the strange Ms Early’s “therapy” techniques, while also getting sucked into the world of the “Chickadees” as she calls the group of mothers at her daughter’s school.
Her husband Richard is a bit odd, remote and distant, controlling but in a way that she hasn’t even really noticed until someone points it out. She’s obsessed with her daughter’s safety, to a slightly ridiculous degree – literally spending her days in a cafe across from the school playground just in case.
As things progress, instead of growing closer, she and Richard appear to be growing apart, she’s received an anonymous photo of him with another woman and has taken to spying on him, trying to catch him out. Who is Lady Languish in his diary?
Eliza is deeply unhappy, she misses her concert pianist career, even if she’s reluctant to admit it, she’s still reeling from loss, estranged from her family. Ms Early exploits that, manipulating her, much as Richard does. I liked Eliza, she badly needed a good friend – not the yummy mummies at the school, but someone like George (another mum at the school), who despite complaining about her husband and kids, is actually very happy with her life and tells Eliza the truth.
Richard is pretty awful, gaslighting and controlling Eliza since they met, he dictates where they live, what she does, the money she spends, belittling her in subtle ways, jealous of her talent and previous success.
This isn’t a happy book, it’s a marriage in free fall, and a woman on the edge after all, but it is compelling reading, a clever and enjoyable book.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
She craved purpose. She found danger. Now, there may be no turning back.
Genevieve Sturbridge was never meant for a quiet life in the English countryside. Once an artist in the heart of London, now she spends her days in restless solitude, longing for the passion and purpose she once knew. But when a familiar figure from her past arrives with an urgent request, she is thrust into a perilous world of spies and a formula that could shift the balance of power between France and England.
The thrill of the chase is intoxicating—the cryptic clues hidden in plain sight, the challenge of ferreting secrets from dangerous opponents, the undeniable rush of being needed again. But with every step deeper into the mystery, the danger grows. Someone is watching. Someone ishunting. And the more she uncovers, the more she wonders: has she walked willingly into a trap?
Torn between exhilaration and fear, Genevieve must decide—was this the life she was always meant for, or has she risked everything for a mission that will consume her completely?
Years ago, protecting this secret nearly cost Genevieve her life. Now someone could be willing to kill for it once more.
If you tell Nancy Bilyeau that reading one of her historical novels of suspense is like strapping yourself into a time machine, you’ll make her day. She loves crafting immersive historical stories, whether it’s Jazz Age New York City in “The Orchid Hour,” the 18th-century European chateaus and porcelain workshops in “The Versailles Formula,” “The Blue,” and “The Fugitive Colours,” or Henry VIII’s tumultuous England in “The Crown,” “The Chalice,” and “The Tapestry.” For her Genevieve Planche novels–“The Versailles Formula,” The Blue” and “The Fugitive Colours”–she drew on her heritage to create a Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a direct descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Nancy’s ancestor, Isaac, was born on the boat crossing the Atlantic. Pierre’s stone house is the third oldest house in New York State. Nancy’s mind is always in past centuries but she currently lives with her husband and two children in upstate New York. Her quest to cook the perfectly flavored cassoulet is ongoing.
My thoughts: I hadn’t read the previous books in this series before I read this, and while it isn’t essential to do so, it might help to understand the back story.
Genevieve is bored of her quiet, provincial life in the English countryside, summoned to her friend’s home in Twickenham, and invited to Sir Horace Walpole’s rather peculiar home, Strawberry Hill, to help unravel a mystery, fills her with hope for adventure and intrigue. She gets both.
Dispatched to Paris as Lady Jane Howard, she’s attempting to find out if a treaty, the treaty she and her husband are implicated in keeping, has been broken on the French side. But there is danger, and her life could be at risk if she isn’t very careful.
Smart, resourceful, intelligent and brave, Genevieve must outwit those who mean her harm to get the answers she seeks and safely return to her husband and son, even if it means giving up the possibility of more with the dashing Captain Howard.
I went back and read the previous books, which filled in the story of how Genevieve came to be married to a schoolteacher and buried out in the country, having lived a rather eventful life. I actually think she should return to it. She has the head for adventure and teaching local gentry’s bored wives how to paint water colours of flowers must be tedious in the extreme.
Very enjoyable and entertaining, studded with real life figures and events, during a particularly tumultuous time for both England and France.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
One week. Nineteen thousand pounds. A dangerous game. Can she win or will she die?
Since their parents died, Cassie and Sam only have each other. And now Sam is in trouble. Sam has got involved with the wrong guys and he owes them money. When he is found beaten and bloody, Cassie knows these people will stop at nothing. Sam has one week to find nineteen thousand pounds.
There’s only one way to make that much money that fast: DareMe — a new social media craze that is sweeping the nation, where players film themselves completing reckless dares for money. The only way Cassie can help Sam is to join the game.But the deeper Cassie gets into the dares, the more dangerous they become. Soon, Cassie isn’t just playing for money, she’s playing for her life.
A breathless, nail-biting thriller, perfect for fans of John Marrs, Blake Crouch, Squid Game and Black Mirror
Darren O’Sullivan is a bestselling author, screen writer and award-nominated theatre director. His books have sold over 150,000 copies and been translated into German and Polish and sold into America, Canada and Australia. Two of his novels were selected for the prestigious Karin Slaughter Bookclub. Darren has also contributed a short story, The Big Burn Bookclub, to EVERYDAY KINDNESS, a 2021 up-lit anthology with proceeds going to Shelter. Darren also writes under a pseudonym, B.B. Thomas. B.B’.s first book The Rain published in 2021 exclusively for Audible and was an editor’s choice. His first novel, Our Little Secret, is optioned by Rollick Film, and he is credited as the writer/director of the feature film.
My thoughts: While I don’t think I would have the guts to do what Cass does, risking everything undertaking dares on a social media app, even for my younger sister (sorry), you have to admire her determination and survival instincts, especially when things take a darker turn and her very life is at risk. All she wanted to do was get Sam out from under the terrible mistake he made, but now she’s being hunted across Peterborough and she has no real idea why.
Working out who to trust is impossible, even people who would otherwise never dream of harming another person could be willing for the life changing amount of money being offered. But what is it that the mystery man/woman behind this shocking dare really wants? Surely Cass’ death isn’t their end game.
Twisted, clever and with a protagonist I really rooted for, this will keep you hooked till the very last page.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Two strangers meet in Manhattan and spend a perfect night together. In Tokyo, they have seven days to see if that one night might mean something more.
Landon’s living alone in Tokyo as a British ‘expat’, Louie’s visiting while he anxiously waits for approval on his US visa. Against the backdrop of a misty Tokyo Spring, their precious time together is spent wandering into side streets and coffee shops, sharing unmade beds and plates of food. But as the days tick by, Louie’s expectations start to overtake reality and he falls too deeply for a life that’s not yet his.
Breathtakingly tender, Seven Days in Tokyo is an astonishing debut about the intricacies of desire and a search for belonging. It is a lyrical, immersive portrait of how some things, however beautiful and profound, are destined to be as short-lived as the cherry blossoms.
My thoughts: This is a lyrical, but rather melancholy book, Louie is in Tokyo for a brief few days, where he sees friends, the cherry blossom and tries to fathom out Landon, the Brit he met in New York, but who never really shares much of himself.
Louie doesn’t want to go back to the Philippines for good, but if his American visa doesn’t clear, he will have to, and his brief relationship with Landon, with its deadline of a week, both captures him and confuses him. Landon pushes him away, treats him so casually, but yet, sleeps soundly in his presence and cooks for him, sharing a single plate.
The relationship Louie has with Tokyo, how he falls for the neighbourhood he stays in, with the things he discovers and learns, the beauty of the place, feels much deeper and on leaving, more heartbreaking than leaving Landon. He might well return to Japan, but not to the man.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 