The One plus One by Jojo Moyles

I have to be honest and say I have no idea how she does it. Jo Jo Moyles takes a storyline, which in many other writers’ hands would become bland, mundane and predictable, and effortlessly weaves it into a brilliant novel. Her latest novel, The One plus One, proved to be just as irresistible and enjoyable as her previous other books.

Jess is a single mother, with two kids and who is struggling to make ends meet. Tanzie, her youngest and a maths genius, has been offered a scholarship to a private school where her love of all things numerical will be nurtured. Nicky, her ex-husband’s son, is going through his own private hell, as he tries to avoid the local bullies on a daily basis. Enter Ed, a rich business man who has just been charged with insider dealing. He ends up taking Jess, Tanzie, Nicky, and their flatulent dog, Norman, to Aberdeen, to give Tanzie a chance of winning a maths competition.

Needless to say, this book was absolutely brilliant. Told through each of the character’s view points, we get to see events through different eyes. Never too obvious or sentimental, the story still manages to tug at your emotions in all the right places (there may have been a tear or two at the end) and leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy, and yet strangely bereft at having to leave the world of Jess and Ed.

Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

This book came at just the right time for me, as I had started watching Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen on BBC1. Although I have read many of the books that write about the Tudor reign, this book featured an earlier part of their history than I had previously read about. As I don’t know very much at all about this era of British history, I’m obviously not in a position to comment on the accuracy of the novel. Nor am I aware enough of the events and battles to know whether or not they are true to form.

However as a novel, I found it enjoyable and I was able to keep up with all the events. Focusing on the events in Normandy and Kent during Henry VI’s reign, the action switches back and forth from France to the UK, with a few stop offs at the Tower of London for a gruesome torture scene. The main characters, both royal and peasant, feature throughout and are well written. I found it interesting to note some of the events and how they lead onto later monarchs and the later Tudor reign. Henry’s wife, Margaret, who continues to play a large role in the other books I have read about the Tudors, fitted in well and her description as a young girl, matched the older descriptions of her and blended in seamlessly.

As with many other stories of the Tudors, there is a person behind the crown, in this case Derry, who uses and manipulates the young and ill king and enters into a battle of wills with his young wife. Derry sacrifices the English lands in France to create a truce between the warring countries. Whilst on the ground in France, is a farmer and his son, determined to fight against losing their land to the French knights.

I did find that the story and the plot maybe went on a little bit too long. By the end of the book I found that the action was really dragging and it could have been wrapped up a lot sooner. I would also be intrigued to see where the second book in the series falls, as this book faded out somewhat, rather than leading to an ending where the second book could pick up.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, by Anton Di Sclafani

There was something about this book, right from the start that got me hooked. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was, but from the moment I picked it up, I wanted to keep reading.

The storyline itself is quite simple – Thea has been sent away to the riding camp by her parents. At first we don’t know anything about the reasons why, only that Thea sees it as a punishment for something she has done. Whilst she gets to know the girls at the camp, Thea is able to enjoy herself surrounded by the riding that she loves so much. As the book progresses, we are given tantalising glimpses into Thea’s home life with her parents and her twin brother, and her aunt and uncle and cousin. Slowly we are drip fed information which helps us build up a picture of not only the life Thea lived before the camp but the series of events which led up to her being sent away.

I absolutely loved the style of writing of the book and found the descriptions of the people, the relationships and even of the camp to be brilliantly evocative. Even though I’m not a horse rider myself, I found myself carried away by Thea on the back of Sasi, her horse. I too wanted to ride in the mountain encircled ring at the camp and join the girls in their escapades. Whilst the background story to Thea’s arrival at the camp is not anything unusual, the slow and gradual reveal means that you become more and more enmeshed into Thea’s world and slowly you can see what she has lost, and gained.

This is a book to read again and again and each time enjoy just as much. A fantastic book from this author and I will definitely be looking out for future books by him.

My Husband Next Door by Catherine Alliott

My husband next door is a delightful example of lit chick .. chick lit… flick chick lit.. you know what I mean. Bumbling, clumsy, struggling mum of two Ella lives in a ramshackle farm house in the country, complete with dogs, sheep, husband in the outbuildings and a transsexual chicken. Her sister, in comparison, is beautifully turned out, busy with charity fundraisers and bringing up her two perfect children. Into Ella’s life comes her mother, having left her father, and the gorgeous new gardener Ludo.

Clumsy heroine with perfect sibling – tick. Handsome new love interest – tick. Amusing plotline complete with heroine embarrassing herself at every turn – tick. Oh and the obligatory happy ending – tick. Sounds familiar?

On the surface, My Husband Next Door is generically identical to so many other books of the same genre. And really, there’s nothing wrong in this. I like a book where I know what is going to happen, and how the book is going to pan out. I have nothing against an amusing romp in the countryside with chickens, hens and a disagreeable mother. And I defy anyone not to smirk on various occasions throughout the book. Once I thought I knew what the book was about, I settled into it with an air of amusement and relaxation. And yet, once the book gets going, I was able to forget all about the stereotypes and enjoy it for what it was. Ella’s troubled relationship with her husband gets given far more description and page time than I would have thought, and actually turned out to be far more interesting and surprising than I would have given the book credit for. Overall, the book was able to add depth to characters which I thought would remain 2d. I won’t lie and pretend the book doesn't end how you expect it to, but the journey to get there was enjoyable and fun.

Two Evils by P.J.Tracy

Two Evils is part of a serious of books featuring Grace McBride and her “gang” of computer hackers at monkeewrench.
Two men are found killed in their house, execution style, and the next morning another murder, this time of three men. However when the police start to investigate, it turns out that the men in question were hardly upstanding citizens. Local policemen Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are drafted in to try and solve these murders, along with a murder of a 15 year old girl. Grace becomes involved after thwarting an assassination attempt on an FBI officer and the action culminates in a violent confrontation on an isolated Indian reservation.

Starting off with a mixture of characters and murders, it takes a while for the different storylines to start blending together. Once I had got into the book and started to make sense of all the plots, it did begin to move along nicely, and I particularly enjoyed the moral dilemma aspects to the storyline. As the book’s title suggests, sometimes it’s a case of picking the lesser of two evils.

On the whole it was an enjoyable crime novel, but I did find that I was missing something from not having read the previous books. Unlike other crime novels which feature the same characters, I found that not having read the previous books was a disadvantage. At the start of the book Grace is on a boat and is clearly upset about something, but this is never really discussed in depth, and the author assumes that the reader has read the previous novel and therefore knows what is going on. Obviously as a rule most people will have read the books in order and therefore this is not a massive criticism, but it does make the series stand out from others, which I have previously reviewed, where prior knowledge of the books and characters is not a requisite for reading the other books in a series. I would be interested in reading further books by PJ Tracy (the mother/daughter crime writing duo) but I think I will be starting at the beginning….

Stop Dead - Leigh Russell

Stop dead is the 5th novel in a series about a female police detective – Geraldine Steel. At the start of this novel she has moved to a new police station and a new team this time in London. A man is found dead in a car, battered to death. Believing it at first to be a simple open and shut case, a second, unconnected man is also found dead, with identical injuries, and suddenly Geralidine has been thrust into a serial murder enquiry. Can she stop the killer before the bodies start piling up?

As with any book in a series, my main concern was whether I would have needed to have read the first four books first in order to enjoy this one. However I was relieved to find that I could follow the story and read it easily. There were references to people and events that were clearly based on earlier novels. And the reason for the move to London has probably been covered in more detail. But this would have only added padding to the story and wasn’t necessary to book number 5.

I did find the story a little frustrating, in that there were some screamingly obvious parts of the book. But it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading the story.

Stop dead was an enjoyable and gripping detective story, which kept the tension going and wasn’t too gruesome to read. Without being anything special, it was a solid read and fitted into the genre well. I found I didn’t personally identify with Geraldine, nor with the other characters in the book but maybe this would be different if I had read the previous novels, and I certainly wouldn’t use this as a reason not to read the book.

If you enjoy the crime and detective genre, then this is a good book to read.

Lethal Profit by Alex Blackmore

Eva Scott believed her brother Jackson had died in a car crash when he was 18, only to discover he was still alive. She had only just begun to get to know him again when he is found dead in Paris, supposedly of an overdose. Eva doesn’t believe the police report and decides to head over to France herself, in a bid to find out what really did happen to her brother. In doing so, she becomes involved in one company’s bid for power, and unleashes a violent series of events.

The sad thing about this book is that if it were a film, or TV programme, it would probably work considerably better. Yes the plot itself is incredibly far-fetched, but then so are so many films. Yes the main character is rather prone to being chased, beaten and knocked unconscious, but Kiefer Sutherland survived more in apparently 24 hours. So as a visual story, it would have stood up to the test much better. As a book it just runs away too quickly. I found myself completely and utterly exhausted from reading each chapter, as they all involved running, chasing cars or being in a fight. From an attempted rape in the first chapter, she went on to be unconscious at least twice, alongside being hit by a car, being tied up, kidnapped……. Every chapter some new calamity would befall her. I also found Eva Scott to be one of the most naïve and annoying characters. She believes all the wrong people, and ignores the screamingly obvious!!

I didn’t dislike the book, and to some extent I did enjoy reading it, because I wanted to know what happened. My main grumble would be that it was all a little too action packed. Too much action, not enough events or explaining.

The Queen's Gambit: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle

With the recent rise in Tudor fiction filling our bookshelves, it is easy for excellent reads to get lost in the confusing mixture of novels already available. However I would hate for this book to be one of those that was missed as it is an enjoyable and thrilling addition to the collection.

Focussing on the later years of Kind Henry VIII’s reign, The Queen’s Gambit looks at the life of his last wife, forever immortalised in history as the one who “Survived”. Katherine Parr is a strong lady, who marries a notoriously temperamental king and manages to keep her head in more than one way.

The novel starts with the death of Katherine’s second husband and her return to court. The novel captures the twists and turns of court life, and all the concerns within in. At the time of the book, the court is in turmoil and has been for years. With the rise and fall of each of Henry’s previous wives and his sudden changes in religious beliefs, many of the people who are part of the court are hanging on tenuously, scared to think too much in case it becomes the wrong thing to do. Katherine tries to rise above this and wants to be more involved in the decisions that Henry makes about his country and their religious beliefs.

The beauty of this book is that it brings to life the later period of Henry’s reign and the key players who later rise to power and try and benefit from the chaos after his death. Many of the Tudor themed novels I have read previously have tended to focus on the early years, with Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn so it was a breath of fresh air to see a different point of view and a different time period.

Henry VIII’s reign will also remain a source of fascination for us and there are countless stories of him and his wives, of the court scandals that followed them around and the queens (Mary and Elizabeth) who played such important roles later on. The Queen’s Gambit is a worthy piece of this fascination and is well worth a read.

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

1812 and a battlefield in Spain. Lord Nicholas Falcott, Marquess of Blackdown is fighting for his life, literally. A Frenchman bears down on him, sword in hand and Nicholas knows that this is the end. Only… seconds later Nicholas has jumped forward into the future, by 200 years and has been picked up by a mysterious organisation called the Guild. Nicholas has to learn how to live in the 21st century and accept he has left his family and friends behind in the past. The Guild supports Nicholas in his new life and by 2013 Nicholas is now living in America and has created a new life for himself. That is until the Guild summons him and asks him to do what he had previously been told was impossible – go back to the past.



The River of No Return is a thoroughly absorbing and fascinating time travel story. Without going into too many confusing stories, it casually and carefully weaves a tale between two centuries and allows the reader to become fully involved in the story. All the characters are well written and believable. The story runs along smoothly and doesn’t become too bogged down in historical details. Alongside the time travel, political intrigue and general sense of adventure, the author has managed to fit in a love story as well, one which fits gently into the rest of the story.

Overall it was a fascinating novel, with a real sense of enjoyment. The pace of the novel is strong and the action moves along at a steady pace, without a sense of dragging it out. Nor is there the sense of everything happening too quickly, even towards the end of the novel when some books seem to rush to get everything sorted in the final chapter. I also liked the fact that there is a conclusion to the story, and some loose ends have been tied, meaning it works well as a stand alone story. However, should the author wish… there could be scope of a second novel without it taking away from this one.

The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman lives a perfectly ordered and structured life. He has a weekly timetable of food (lobster on Tuesdays) and goes jogging every day to purchase the fresh ingredients for it. He works at his local university and happily goes about his day to day business with painstaking attention to detail. The only thing missing in his life is another person, a wife to be more specific, and after a few unsuccessful dates, Don decides to put his attention to detail to work and designs a questionnaire to allow him to select the most perfect candidate to become his wife. His best friend, Gene, a womaniser of the world, decides to help him out by screening the candidates. Therefore Don is touched when Gene sends Rosie to Don. However it quickly becomes clear that Rosie is far from wife material and ticks very few boxes on the questionnaire. Indeed she is almost the complete opposite of what Don was looking for. And yet, there is something about Rosie which means that Don finds ways and means of staying friends with her. Searching for Rosie’s real father is ideal, since Don’s background is genetics. For fans of the Big Bang Theory, the best way I can describe the protagonist is that Don Tillman is like Sheldon Cooper. That is where the similarities start and end, and in some ways, Don seems more real than Sheldon is. Although Don is never overtly described as Autistic or having Asperger’s syndrome, it’s more than obvious that he does suffer from some version of it. The story is written in the first person and Don’s thoughts and emotions are captured perfectly. It is easy to bring Don to life and to see him as a socially inept professor, attempting to maintain the order in his life. It is hard not to like Don and especially towards the end of the book, I found myself feeling quite protective of him. Innocent and childlike in many respects, Don is taking baby steps to having a “normal” life, and it’s hard not to feel like a proud parent as he begins to make those moves.

Rosie is slightly harder to bring to life, but she is described beautifully through Don’s eyes, and although we know about her through what she chooses to tell Don, the reader is still able to see her actions and thoughts separately from Don.

There are many funny moments in the book, although they tend to occur at the expense of Don and his mis-interpreting of a situation. But you never feel that you are laughing at Don.

The interesting thing about the book is that it does make you look at things differently. Don reads social situations in a completely different way to most people, and his interpretation of events, and what people say, makes you realise how much in communication is taken for granted and that not everyone picks up on the social nuances and behaviours that we assume everyone has.

The books has some lovely sweet moments in, and a few sad moments that were very bitter-sweet. But the ending was wonderfully written and definitely not what I was expecting. This book was refreshingly enjoyable and as well as a good read, makes you think a little bit more about the day to day parts of our lives which pass by us and we don’t notice.

A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger, by Lucy Robinson

A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger is a well written, funny and modern offering to the rom-com/chick lit genre. It doesn’t attempt to upset or change the genre and it sticks to the successful formula that has kept these kind of books going for so long. Although completely predictable, it still entertains and amuses the reader and is definitely worth a read.

Like many other heroines before her, Charley Lambert is a highly successful workaholic. At the start of the book we find her exhausted, but happy, having just arranged an engagement picnic for her best friend Sam. She has just been asked out on a date by her boss, who she has fancied for 7 years, and her company is about to enter into a highly successful launch, which she has organised. In short, everything was perfect until she falls over, breaking her leg in three (or wait, is it two) places.

Unable to go into work, she is forced to hand over to her second in command, who has made it obvious she wants Charley’s job. And just to really make things hurt, John, her boss, arrives at her hospital bed to announce he’s just got married. Used to scheduling every minute of her day, Charley is unable to relax during her enforced confinement and so settles for setting up her own business to keep herself busy. The business, is writing internet dating messages for people who are too busy, or who find themselves unable to communicate. The business quickly picks up and she finds herself writing letters to a man called William on behalf of her client Shelley. The only problem is, she begins to feel that William is more suited to herself than Shelley and when William wants to meet Shelley, Charley finds herself trying to sabotage the date.

I did enjoy this book, and the fact it ends so predictably doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of reading it. The character of Charley is written well, and with thoughtfulness. Her family are slightly more two-dimensional but they fit into the story and if they don’t come off as well as Charley in the writing, it’s more because they are less pivotal to the story and so perhaps were deemed not as worthy when being described. My only criticism, and this is a small one, is that on the back of the book, and in some chapters, Charley’s leg is described as being broken in three places. But when she first wakes up in the hospital, her doctor tells her two. This may be a mis-print or an attempt at confusing an already confused reader. Who knows, and it’s only minor but it still bugged me.

It was also refreshing to read a book that focused so positively on internet dating. Many of these kind of books either completely dismiss it, or use it as a comic focus, allowing the heroine to get involved in a series of unsuitable dates before, predictably, finding her Mr Right through other means. With more and more people using internet dating to meet people, it is inevitable it would find its way into fiction. And it makes an interesting point, for those people who may be living in modern times, with increasing technology, but who struggle to make themselves fully understood through emails and instant messaging.

The best thing about these kind of books is that you always know what to expect and as long as they are well written (which this book certainly is) and not too clichéd (again this book manages to inject fresh life into the genre) then you can lie back and relax whilst you read, knowing you won’t be disappointed by the ending.

Ferney/The Lives She Left Behind - by James Long

For anyone that knows me, they would know that any book emblazoned with the phrase “a novel for anyone that believes in love” is a guaranteed turn off. I’m not a lovey dovey person, nor am I a particularly romantic person. Despite the fact that many of my favourite books happen to feature a love story, I need more than that to make it a good book. A good story, believable characters, and a gifted storyteller who can weave the bits together to make a good story. Love, to me, is part of the story, not a reason for reading the story. A second turn off is anything that goes by the tag of “master piece” or “classic novel”. If it’s that classic, I’ll have read it already. So when I got my HUGE parcel through from real readers, which contained not one but TWO books, it wasn’t long before I was feeling slightly nervous. The editions I had were beautiful. No honestly, they were amazing. Hardback, with a lovely illustration on the dust wrapper and the edition of Ferney was limited, only 500 being printed. It even contained a message from the author. Yes, dear blog reader, this is how shallow I am. I was so excited about the book’s coverings (yes, I do judge) that I put aside my misgivings and my fears (I can handle a love story or two) and got reading…..

Ferney:
Ferney is, according to the blurb “A story of love and self-discovery that resonates across the ages” (NICHOLAS EVANS, author of 'The Horse Whisperer') So I’m expecting a classic novel, of times gone by, of people meeting and parting, and holding on to cherished memories and all the classic clichés. Or maybe something more romantic – “Time Travellers Wife” manages to pluck at the heartstrings like never before.
And this really, is where I felt the book fell down. Because although it sells itself as a love story, clearly defined on the front of the book and the blurb on the back, once you open the book, there is a conflict going on. James Long, according to the brief description, also writes historical novels. Why he chose to write this love story, I couldn’t say. Maybe he felt that he wanted to write it, and just forgot that people who read love stories don’t always want a history text book. Or maybe he felt the two could be mixed together and he was trying an experiment. My personal theory is that he really couldn’t make his mind up about what he preferred. At times he goes into long stories about the past. I learned an awful lot about the Danes and the monks and the power of sowing oats has on a community (seriously, fascinating stuff). Obviously the story being about two people who have been reincarnated again and again, you would expect a little history to come into it. But there were so many different stories and historical periods that were mentioned, that the main story became tangled and confused in all the other bits and pieces. The modern day love story became buried in the mire of the past. And whilst, ironically, this is part of the story they were telling, it also led to the reader becoming bogged down with the weight of the past. I love history and I found it to be incredibly interesting. But it detracted from the story, and became, to me part history text book, part Mills and Boon.
To cut a long story short, and to enable me to get onto the sequel of the novel, Ferney is about Ferney and Gally. Ferney is an old man who has lived in the village of Pen Selwood for a long time. In fact several times over. Gally is his love, his true love, who has lived with him in his previous lives. They were separated many years ago and he had searched for her, only for her to drive into the village one day in search of a cottage. The only snag being that Gally has no memory of who she was and she is happily married to Mike, a history lecturer from London.
I’m not giving any massive plot lines away here, as most of what I’m about to say next is either predictable or explained anyway. The reincarnation of Gally and Ferney is introduced quite early on and gathers momentum throughout the novel. I get the impression that the reader is somehow expected to automatically believe the reincarnation, and to support the growing relationship between Gally and Ferney. But for me, I kept feeling for poor old Mike. It’s not just that his beloved (although slightly crazy) wife suddenly discovers her true soul mate is an old man who she has lived with before in previous lives. He suddenly becomes side-lined and even the author seems to bore of him as he keeps getting sent off to London. His only purpose in the book seems to be arguing with Gally or delivering history lectures. (and don’t expect him to get treated better in the next book either)
I found that the book, with warts and all, was actually a good read. I did want to keep reading it and I found the style of writing was easy to follow and easy to get into. And the final chapters were incredibly compelling. To the point that the final chapter was read in a state of shock. I even ran upstairs to get the next book. Oh dear, how I wish I had stopped there…..

The Lives She Left Behind
(or as I have re-titled it, the book I wish I’d left behind)
After such an exciting ending of the previous book, I read with anticipation the first few chapters of the new novel. Taking aside the fact that from the very first page it’s more than obvious who Joanne really is, from such a fast paced ending, the new book raced into a slow, plodding waddle that really never regained it’s former speed.
Don’t expect any surprises in the new book. In many ways it follows the same format as Ferney. Expect lots of history lectures and insights into the past which we may or may not enjoy. Lots of strange things happen which I think I was expected to marvel at, or enjoy, or possibly wonder at. But it was more than obvious who Ferney and Gally are in this modern age, and aside from wanting to know what happened to the Gally we knew at the end of the first book, there seemed little new information to be gained. Mike is still in the novel, and oh poor Mike. Honestly, this guy does not get a break. Not only does he get treated like rubbish in the first book, now he’s subject to police enquiries.
I found much of the book was going over what had been previously covered in the first book. Here was a scene were “Gally” remembers something sad. Here is a scene where Ferney tells her something happy. Here is a scene where Mike is left to pick up the pieces again. Oh a new character, let’s update them with who is who. I quickly became bored with what was becoming a repetitious story with no hope of an ending. My only salvation was to keep reading and hope that the ending would save me. However it would appear I hoped against hope. The ending was a damp squib. Whilst it wasn’t a surprise, and I can’t tell you how I did want it to end, I felt that the ending left me asking the question about what the point was in it all? Why hurt so many other people, just for that? Yes I really am a cynic and this book did not dent that opinion at all!
The relationship between Gally and Ferney seemed to me, to be incredibly selfish. Again and again we are reminded that it has always been the two of them. To the extent that no one else matters (Mike, Mike who?) I found it so selfish, I wasn't drawn into their affair and so found it hard to want them to be together. My attitude being that if they've been together before, they'll do it again in the next life.

Taking the books together, overall, they’re not necessarily bad books. And there are people out there who are more romantic than me, who may enjoy that aspect of the book more than me. So I wouldn’t dismiss the books at all. But really and truly, I don’t feel my life was massively enriched by the second book. The first book would have sufficed. And if I’m totally honest, it could have been one story, just without as much history.
So overall I would say if you’re looking for a love story, carry on down the bookshelves. If you’re looking for a historical read, hover and flick through but don’t linger. However if you’re less fussy about genre and looking for something a little bit different, to make you think, then go ahead. It’s not a bad read. And at least you won’t have to read it again, and again and again. At least not in this life……

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Having only recently finished Jojo Moye’s beautiful but weepy “Me Before You”, I was at first uncertain as to whether “The Girl You Left Behind” would be able to match it. My copy from Real Readers arrived on my doorstep though, and I was instantly drawn in by the story. Needless to say, I shouldn’t have worried and that her latest novel is just as fascinating and compelling, if not possibly better.

The book starts off in France, during the First World War. The village of St Peronne has been taken over by German soldiers and its residents forced to starve away in their homes, not knowing what’s happening even in the next village. Sophie Lefevre has moved back to the village with her sister and her sister’s three children, and together they are trying to keep themselves alive. Sophie’s husband is a painter and her prized possession is a portrait of her, that she keeps to remind her of him whilst he fights at the front. The German Kommandant in charge of the occupying forces sees the painting and tries to become friends with Sophie despite the war. When she gets news that her husband has been captured, Sophie fears that she will never see him again, and makes a decision to try and save him whatever it may take.

Fast forward to modern days and Liv Halston is living inside the house her architect husband build and designed, before he died four years ago. Liv is still grieving for him and her most precious possession and reminder of him is the painting that hangs on her bedroom wall, “The girl you left behind”.

Enter Paul, an ex cop from America. He works for a company that specialises in tracking down art works that had been stolen from families in the two world wars. He receives a request from a member of the Lefevre family, asking for his help in finding a painting which went missing after Sophie Lefevre was taken away by the Germans in 1916 and is believed to have been stolen by the German Kommandant.

The twists and turns of this novel had me reading far later into the night than I should have been, but I just didn’t want to put it down. It didn’t take long for me to become emotionally involved with the characters. Sophie’s world is dark and bleak and the suffering in the village is described so realistically, it was hard not to imagine the sound of soldier’s boots on cobbled stones. Sophie is full of life, and love for her husband, and it’s understandable she finds herself in a situation where she believes there is nothing else to do but to try and save him. When the book moves forward to modern times, the reader is still none the wiser as to the painting’s final resting place. This means that as the reader, I found out about Sophie’s ending, at the same time as Liv did. And despite a large amount of predictability in the earlier parts of the book, I was not expecting the ending I did. The whole novel was paced just right, with the story leaping about in time without it being too onerous or confusing. Letters and journals helped add to Sophie’s voice in the 21st century.

Liv has to make a difficult choice as well, for her, she wants to fight for a painting she believes is hers. It opens up an interesting debate about the restoration of lost pieces of art work, and cleverly blurs the line of right and wrong. After all, Liv and her husband did not steal the painting, so why should she be punished? Yet again I feel Jojo Moyes cleverly takes a subject matter and presents it in such a way you can see all sides of the story, and leaves you feeling completely absorbed by the plot.

Overall, this is another brilliant and excellent piece of writing from an author who has very quickly become one of my favourites. The only down side, is I am now getting through too many tissues when reading her books!

Trust Your Eyes by Lindwood Barclay

I love the idea behind this book. In particular because it’s something which has been talked about a lot in real life. There have been incidents in the news where images seen on Google Streetview have triggered searches for possible murder victims, or that have later been removed and of course there have been some incidents of peoples’ infidelity being caught out. So the idea of someone finding something dark – like someone being murdered, is incredibly appealing.

Thomas Kilbride believes he will be recruited by the CIA to help them in the future. Thomas has a unique gift that means he has a photographic memory. He is currently using the internet to explore the world and memorise the towns and cities. According to Thomas, one day in the future all the electronic maps will disappear, and he will be required to help produce maps using his recollections. Whilst researching New York, Thomas comes across an image in a window – it looks like someone being smothered. He sends his brother to New York to check out the building and sets in motion a series of events that will change everyone’s lives.

Switching from the present to an event taking place previously (there is little mention of how long ago this could have been), the reader is allowed to follow the events taking place, and has the position of knowing what really did happen, while watching the characters investigate for themselves. This omniscience doesn’t allow the reader to relax however, as there are a few twists and turns along the way, which make for plenty of page turning.

The characters were well written and were believable. At times the story is told from each of their points of view, and this fitted into the story. It wasn’t too sudden when the narration changed, and as it was told in the third person, it meant it didn’t create too many different voices to follow. I felt Thomas in particular must have been a difficult character to write, but it was done well, and it was done in a way that he did come across as different, even in his speech, whilst at the same time, sounding like a real person might. I did wonder at the schizophrenia diagnosis as earlier in the book I had assumed he was autistic but I suppose ultimately that’s not a massive issue.

I found the pace of the storyline was just right. It moved along nicely and kept you hooked for more, without revealing too much too soon. Nor did it then fizzle out once the drama had been concluded. It was finished nicely, and the story was concluded well…. With a little twist at the end, just to make sure you are paying attention.

The only downside to this book, was that whirl360 is blatantly Google. And I’m sure that there are legal reasons why this was changed, and obviously it is a work of fiction etc. It is only a small niggle, but still annoyed me. I had previously read one of Linwood’s books and whilst I had enjoyed it, I had found that the pace of the book was a little too hectic and ended up running out of steam. This is only the second book of his I have read, and a few years on I have to say his narration and story telling have definitely improved. I will now be seeking out his other books in the hope of being Just as enthralled!

Held up by Christopher Radmann

Paul Van NieKerk is proudly driving his brand new BMW home, when he is held up at gunpoint. Forced out of the car, Paul is forced to stand by and watch the hijackers drive off with his new car. It is only at this point that he remembers his 9 month old daughter Chantal is still in the back of his car. This is South Africa, where hijacking is a way of life and where whites and blacks live side by side in opposing worlds. Held up focuses on the raw grief and pain suffered by Paul and his wife Clara as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened. With a lack of interest or effort from the police, Paul is forced to believe the only way to find his daughter is to search for her himself. This search, at times bloody and violent, leads him into the poorest slums of South Africa and ultimately into the darkest recesses of his mind.

Held up is a book which is not given justice by the blurb on the back. On the surface, it looks like an ordinary, run of the mill action/thriller. I wondered if it had been a film, based on reading the short description. But the reality of the book is very much different. The story remains as described but what wasn’t, nor can’t be, portrayed, is the beautiful, at times poetic, use of language throughout the book.

What I had been expecting, alongside the standard thriller text, was a sub text based on South Africa. Not a country I know a great deal about, I had been looking forward to reading more about the politics, the day to day lives of people within such a troubled and confused country. We do get some insight into South Africa and the people who live there, but only through the eyes of the main character, Paul and so this viewpoint is, naturally, flawed and is based more on his experiences throughout the book rather than anything more descriptive. As a result, I did find it hard to get into at first, purely because it wasn’t what I was expecting. However, once I had got over this and was able to focus more on the book itself, I found I was able to relax more and get into the story.

Overall, this was a book that I am glad I have read. I hesitate to use the word enjoy, purely because the subject matter, and the ending, are hardly things I can say I have enjoyed. I am glad I stuck it out and I did enjoy the use of language and descriptions portrayed in the book. I would definitely look at reading more of this author’s works in the future.

Be warned, this is not an easy read, partly due to the content of the book and partly due to the language used. And don’t expect a happy ending. Held up is a bleak and painful book, showing just how far people will sink when they are floundering.

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves - Perfect Summer Love Story

On The Island – where do I start? From the very minute that I opened up my Real Readers parcel to discover this book, I was literally beside myself. I blame my English teacher, as after being forced to read Lord of the Flies at school, I have been ever so slightly obsessed with “castaway” stories ever since. And with a love story to boot, I was literally on cloud nine. I got it several days before I went on holiday, so I was (somehow) able to hold back my eagerness and waited a whole 48 hours before I gave in and read it.

I was hoping that my expectations and my anticipation would be rewarded, and dear blog reader, I can confirm, it very definitely did. I literally devoured this book from cover to cover in less than a day. And I really didn’t want it to end. I loved it from start to finish, and whilst it wasn’t necessarily the story I thought it would be, it worked out better than I could have thought. For this little old cynic to be moved by a love story, it has to be pretty special!!

Anna has been hired for the summer as a tutor for T.J, a teenager who needs help with his school work due to having been ill earlier in the year. On the flight to his family’s holiday home in the Maldives, the pilot has a heart attack and Anna and T.J crash land in the ocean. At 17, T.J is more worldly than some teenagers as a result of his serious illness, but he still has a lot of growing up to do. And it seems, with no one knowing where they are, time is one thing that Anna and T.J have in abundance.

The book starts at the airport and tends to focus on the present rather than providing the reader with flashbacks. Although we learn a little about Anna and T.J and their friends and family, the main focus is on the relationship between the two. Prior to the crash, Anna and T.J don’t know anything about each other and so not only are they forced to rely on each other , they have to work together to survive the dangers on the island. The narration switches between Anna and T.J, so we get to see the story develop through both of their eyes. As the story progresses, it’s hard to know how the story will end – will they get rescued, and if they do return to “civilisation”, what will happen to the two of them? Without spoiling anything, I was pleasantly surprised by, and happy with, the ending.

On The Island is, in many ways, the perfect summer holiday book, as it is light to read, and doesn’t drag too much in the descriptions. Without meaning to be critical of the author, the language is nothing fancy, nor is it particularly literary prose. But that means you can focus purely on the story, and a simple story like this doesn’t need flowery text. The language style works brilliantly with the story and carries it through to the end. This doesn’t downplay the interesting concepts the book arises. Topics of thought are touched upon (what are the rights and wrongs of Anna and T.J’s relationship?) but aren’t turned into a debate or a main focus, which would have detracted from the story. What would I do if I was on a desert island, and what would happen if I was Anna, and on the island with TJ?

This is very definitely a book to pack on your holidays (although maybe not if you’re flying over the Maldives)!

Me Before You by Jojo Moyles

I had a vague recollection of having read Jojo Moyle’s books before, and I think I liked them but nothing could spring to mind for definite. Me before you on the other hand, is one of those books I will never forget having read.

Will was an active young man, who went on adventure holidays and who loved nothing more than pushing his body to extremes. Until one day, when a chance accident leaves him not only in a wheelchair but completely paralysed. Now living at home with his parents, he has surrounded by anything and everything that he could possibly wish for, apart from the one thing he wants – his freedom.

Lou still lives at home with her parents and works in the local café. She loves to dress up in eclectic clothes and has no idea of where she wants to go in life. After the café, which has been her job for a number of years, closes, she struggles to find a job which she would enjoy. In desperation she attends an interview for a carer for Will. Her job it seems is to act as a companion to him, which would be easy if it wasn’t for the obvious fact that he seems to hate her and doesn’t even want her in the same room.



A few chapters into the book and I began to feel smug – I know where this is going. Even when the characters start to drop hints that Will has attempted suicide recently and needs to be under close surveillance, I still felt confidently I knew where this book was heading. Will and Lou will gradually learn to like each other and to become friends. Then there will be a slight romance and maybe even something more. Perhaps a medical breakthrough as well? And it will all end happily ever after.

And in some ways I was right. Will gradually becomes accustomed to Lou and her crazy ways. Lou gradually begins to understand Will and together the two start to become friends. Then Lou overhears a chance conversation between Will’s mum and sister and I realised how wrong I could be. Will has asked to die. After his failed suicide attempt, he started look at a specialist clinic in Switzerland, designed to help people end their lives, and has asked his parents to take him there. Initially horrified and disgusted by the idea, his parents have no choice but to consider his request, as the option is to live with the threat of him trying to kill himself again and again. As a compromise, they have given Will 6 months. After that, if he still wishes, they will take him to Switzerland. Lou is horrified and unable to understand that she has been brought in to try and offer Will hope, and to try and change his mind.

It is at that point that I realised not only had I completely mis-judged this book and the story but that ultimately, there are only a few directions that this story can take. Either he goes or he stays. He either lives or dies.

This must have been an incredibly difficult book to write and it is very very hard to read. There have been a few high profile cases in the media of assisted suicide and the clinic in Switzerland has come under focus of TV documentaries and newspapers. A reader coming to the book may already have their beliefs in place. They might believe suicide is wrong under any circumstances. They may believe it is wrong but in some circumstances it is right. They might even be able to identify with the characters and their dilemmas. But none of this can prepare you for the emotional impact of seeing life through Will’s eyes and seeing it through Lou’s. And nothing could have prepared me for reading the final chapter of the book. It really wasn’t what I was expecting. And no one else in my family was prepared for the crying that went on for some time after having read it.

This book is sad, it’s poignant, it’s funny and it’s real. Will himself maybe a figment of Jojo’s imagination but there are countless cases of people in similar situations to him and there are sadly many families and friends in the UK who are having to make a similar decision to Will’s family. There is no attempt at starting a debate on assisted suicide in the Uk. Jojo wisely makes the decision not to focus on the legal side of things, and doesn’t use the book as a platform to try and change people’s minds or to open up a discussion. But this book is still desperately compelling and never have I ever felt so confused at an ending before. Because by the end of the book, you don’t know how you feel about it all either.

Separate Lives by Kathryn Flett

There are two kinds of chick-lit books – the first focuses on the twenty somethings and their trials and tribulations. The second is more for the thirty/forty somethings – the yummy mummies if you like, married with children.

Separate lives falls into the latter category of chick lit and focuses on the lives of Susie and Alex, together for ten years with two children and Pippa, divorced with one son. Told through Susie and Pippa, with a few emails from Alex, the story follows their lives and the direction they take.

The book starts as Susie reads a text message on Alex’s phone that reads 'Start living a different kind of life ... P :-) xxx'. Susie doesn’t know anyone called P and doesn’t know why her partner has received this text. I personally loved this opening paragraph. It had me hooked with the line “if you dared look me in the eye and tell me you had never done the same thing, I wouldn’t believe you, because we all have”. As my friend said, when I showed her the book, it was so completely true, you had to laugh! And with that candidly honest opening, it's hard not to like Susie as she begins to tell you about how she realised her partner was being unfaithful.
BR> And yet at the same time, what is interesting, is that Susie begins to flesh out and as the book progresses you realise that she’s not the holier-than-thou person you think she is. The text message turns out not to be as clear cut as you’d think, but neither is Susie. She’s been having an affair too and ironically that’s the reason that Alex and Pippa get together. The real affairs and imagined affairs twist and turn beautifully around the characters to the point that it’s hard to know who started what when. It definitely isn’t what you think it will be that’s for sure.

The characters in the book are very well written and are brought to life through their narration. What I enjoyed most was the twists in the characters as you discover something about them you didn’t realise. The author uses the now familiar trick of multiple narration from characters and yet it somehow seems to feel new and fresh in this book. I also liked the way she would write about an event from one person’s perspective and wasn’t afraid to leap back in time and write again from someone else’s point of view. Again, this isn’t a new style of writing but it doesn’t feel clichéd in this book and it works well.

Not only does this book tick all of the chick lit clichés (laugher – yes, tears –yes, shock – yes, cheesy ending – yes) but it highlights the best of the genre. In some ways it is exactly what you would expect, and in others, not at all – in particular the depth of character the author has added to Susie and Pippa.

Despite tending to normally prefer the younger focus of chick lit books, I found this book highly enjoyable. The story flows well and despite the frequent changes of author, maintains the pace of the novel and the storyline flows well. The differences in narration between Pippa and Susie are subtle but enough to feel each character. Alex’s narration is carried out through emails to his twin brother, and this difference helps to highlight his character versus Susie.

Stay Close by Harlan Coben

17 years ago a man disappeared. The police have yet to find out where he is or what happened to him. Now, on the anniversary of his disappearance, another local man has disappeared and Detective Broome is beginning to suspect a possible pattern. Megan is a mum with two kids and a husband and is happily playing at being a soccer mum. Her family don’t know about her past though and despite her best efforts, this may all be about to change. Ray, a one-time documentary maker and now in a dead end job, happened to take a photo of a local beauty spot and accidently got a picture of the missing man, mere hours before he disappeared. Now the police want to know what he was doing there and why.

I read this book pretty much within a few days and I struggled to put it down, wanting to know what was going to happen next. I found the book was gripping and the story was told well. It moved at a fast pace, but not too fast and it allowed you to get your head around the twists and turns before moving on. The ending was suitably shocking and I certainly didn’t guess the ending, which always makes a book more enjoyable. It contained less actual violence and more hints of violence, for example the activities of Barbie and Ken, the preppy torturers, are hinted at and suggested, rather than given in graphic detail. Which cleverly makes them seem even more chilling. I’m not again violence as such but it made a change not to have to read gruesome accounts of torture and killing.

My one criticism, and the reason I haven’t given more stars, was that I couldn’t really engage with the characters. I didn’t really like, nor care particularly about their actions and whilst it wasn’t enough to detract from me wanting to carry on reading, it did mean I wasn’t quite so bothered about what happened to Megan and Ray. The characters seemed to be more stereotypes, a little more 2D than 3D and I found it hard to picture them as real people. I was very aware that this was merely a book and they were part of it, rather than being able to see it as more alive. I’ve not read any of Harlan’s other books but I am now certainly interested in picking them up to see if they are as good.

Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson

Island of Bones is the third novel in a series set in the 1780s. Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther are called to the Lake District to investigate a dead body found in the tomb of the Earl of Greta. The Earl’s tomb resided on the Island of Bones, which was previously owned by Crowther’s family. His own family has a violent and murky past and Gabriel, formerly the Baron of Keswick, renounced his title after his brother was hung for the murder of their father in 1751. Crowther has not returned home since giving up his title and it is a difficult and painful journey for him to return to his family home. Ghosts of his past seem to be present everywhere in Keswick and he will need to overcome his emotions in order to solve the mystery of the dead body. As the body count climbs higher, Westerman and Crowther seem to be fighting against the odds to resolve an ancient crime. This book was a delight to read. Despite my misgivings about it being the third in a series which I hadn’t read, the novel flowed easily and previous events were referred in a way that the reader felt they hadn’t missed out on anything. The events were cleverly described so that new readers would be able to go back and read the previous books without too much of the story being given away, and at the same time, readers who had read the previous books weren’t too bored with the recap.

The two main characters Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther are written really well. I liked Harriet and she came across as a very warm and friendly character. She was feisty enough to be a suitable heroine, without stepping out of the times she lived in too much. She was a believable woman of society in 1783. Crowther is just as well described, and comes across as a recluse and a hermit who is more interested in the dead rather than the living. I felt the historical side of the story fitted in excellently. The author has clearly gone to a great deal of research and the descriptions feel authentic, without it reading like a history lesson. I felt the author had opened a window into the past and I was able to experience it at close hand. The setting of the Lake District was interesting as this is an area I know well but it was a very different place in the 1780s and it was fascinating to see how different the area was then. Whilst capturing the mood of the times and the history, the sheer beauty of Keswick and Derwent Water manages to shine through at all times.

The story itself is full of twists and turns. There are several characters all interlinked and some relationships take a while to be revealed. I felt some of those relationships were easy to see, for example I felt it was quite obvious who Miss Hurt’s husband was, but this didn’t detract from the story. One of the final reveals was so unexpected I did find myself open mouthed at one point.

Overall this was an excellent book, beautifully fitting in my love of crime, regency novels and the Lake District! I will definitely be seeking out the first two books in the series and just as eagerly expecting future instalments.