The Invisible Women's Club by Helen Paris BLOG TOUR #TheInvisibleWomensClub @drhelenparis @DoubledayUK @RandomTTours @chloerose1702 #BookReview

 

Ignored.

Seventy-something Janet Pimm is invisible. Spending most of her days alone, she tends her beloved allotment with the care and love she doesn't receive from people. Plants, Janet thinks, are more important than friends.

Overlooked.

Janet's neighbour, Bev, has reached the age when a cloak of invisibility threatens to descend. Her friendly advances are rebuffed by Janet, but when the council threatens to close the allotments, Janet must swallow her pride and enlist Bev's help.

But they're about to prove everyone wrong.

As the two join forces, Janet realises that she isn't happy to be a wallflower after all. And that maybe there's more to Bev than she thought. As the bulldozers roll in and they fight to save Janet's treasured allotment, both women find their voice again. And no one can silence them now...

The Invisible Women's Club by Helen Paris was published on 3 August 2023 by Doubleday. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours blog tour. 

In March 2021, I read and reviewed Lost Property by Helen Paris. I adored that book so much and was so honoured to a quote from my review featured on the cover. 

I've been looking forward to reading more from this author, and certainly have not been disappointed at all by The Invisible Women's Club. She writes female characters so well, and especially the older woman, she tackles the issues that face many of us already, and that we can sadly expect to have to face throughout our lifetime. She does it with flair, and humour and with empathy, and it really is such a wonderful read. 

Janet Pimm is in her seventies. She's alone in the world, eating a cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch every single day, before setting off to tend her much-loved allotment. Although there are 120 allotments within the plot, Janet is a solitary figure who teeters on the edge of what is otherwise a tight-knit community. Janet doesn't fill her plot with pretty colourful flowers, or award-winning vegetables. She doesn't have a garden bench painted in pastel pink. Janet grows plants that have a purpose. Every single one of her crop is useful, helping every ailment that one could think about. The other allotment holders do not even notice Janet for most of the time, she feels completely invisible. 

Bev is Janet's next door neighbour, and she certainly does notice Janet. Forever putting flyers through her door, encouraging her to accompany her to locally produced plays and exhibitions. Janet is not interested, and avoid Bev as best she can. Bev also feels invisible. Menopausal, sweaty and angry, she has a great job and a lovely husband but life just feels so hard. 

These two women are eventually thrown together by an outbreak of knotweed at the allotments, some bio hazard tape and the threat of eviction. Janet worked at GCHQ for many years and to her, something just doesn't feel quite right. She is determined to get to the root cause (pardon the pun).

What follows is a beautifully structured story of a developing friendship between two unlikely allies. Janet is still brusque and straightforward, often appearing rude and quite blunt, but Bev's constant belief in her, and her motherly, caring attitude slowly wears her down, exposing a side to Janet that very few people have ever seen before, including Janet herself. 

The author deals with some very serious issues within this uplifting story, and allows her characters to be forceful and eventually successful. Their invisibility diminishes and by the end, both of them are gloriously colourful, well rounded and content people. 

A book filled with power and strength, with courage and unrelenting determination, and of course, with two incredible women who remain incredible despite their age.  Highly recommended. 

HELEN PARIS worked in the performing arts for two decades, touring internationally
with her London-based theatre company Curious. 

After several years living in San Francisco and working as a theatre professor at Stanford University, she returned to the UK to focus on writing fiction

@drhelenparis

Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen t. Don Bartlett BLOG TOUR #MirrorImage @OrendaBooks #Giveaway #Win #Prize #Competition

 

As Bergen PI Varg Veum investigates two different cases, it becomes clear that they are uncannily similar to harrowing events that took place thirty-six years earlier… A gripping instalment of the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.

Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.

 Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide.

 As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost...

 A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best.

Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen is published in paperback by Orenda Books on 31 August 2023. It is translated by Don Bartlett. As part of this Blog Tour, I am delighted to offer one copy as a giveaway prize. Entry is simple, just fill out the competition widget in the blog post. UK entries only please. 

GOOD LUCK!

One paperback copy of Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in
1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted in 2019. He lives with his wife in Bergen.

Don Bartlett completed an MA in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia in 2000 and has since worked with a wide variety of Danish and Norwegian authors, including Jo Nesbø and Gunnar Staalesen’s Varg Veum series: We Shall Inherit the Wind, Wolves in the Dark and the Petrona award-winning Where Roses Never Die. He also translated Faithless, the previous book in Kjell Ola Dahl’s Oslo Detective series for Orenda Books. He lives with his family in a village in Norfolk.

`As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times

`One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin

`The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø

`Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbø´ Independent

`Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists´ Financial Times

`There are only two other writers that I know of have achieved the depth of insight in detective writing that Staalesen has: Chandler, and Ross MacDonald …´ Mystery Tribune

`Employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic Noir twist … simply superb´ Wall Street Journal

`Masterful pacing´ Publishers Weekly

`The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it's in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies´ Herald Scotland

For fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Jorn Lier Horst, Harlan Coben and Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Bay by Julia Rampen #TheBay @JuliaRampenMM @SarabandBooks #BookReview

 

A tender and poignant debut of the redemptive power of unexpected friendship.

In an old-fashioned fishing community on Morecambe Bay, change is imperceptibly slow. Treacherous tides sweep the quicksands, claiming everything in their path.

As a boy, Arthur had followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footprints, learning to read the currents and shifting sands. Now retired and widowed, though, he feels invisible, redundant. His daughter wants him in a retirement home. No one listens to his rants about the newcomers striking out nightly onto the bay for cockles, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

When Arthur’s path crosses Suling’s, both are running out of options. Barely yet an adult, Suling’s hopes for a better life have given way to fear: she’s without papers or money, speaks no English, and chased by ruthless debt collectors. Her only next step is to trust the old man.

Combining warmth and suspense and recalling a true incident, The Bay tells a tender story about loneliness, confronting prejudice, and the comfort of friendship, however unlikely―as well as exposing one of the most pressing social ills of our age.

The Bay is an engrossing novel recalling the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster of 2004.

The Bay by Julia Rampen is published by Saraband on 10 August 2023. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

This novel won the 2022 NorthBound Book Award which celebrates the richness of writing from the North of England and is Julia Rampen's debut.

I can clearly recall the horror of the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster in February 2004. At least twenty-one undocumented workers were killed that night on the cold, dark desolate sands of the bay. Workers from other countries who were exploited by both the gang masters and the large corporations that demanded the cockles that they picked. Human beings with families and loved ones. Those deaths did impact the laws in this country relating to migrant workers, but we are all aware that innocent, desperate people are still being used and exploited for financial gain. 

Julia Rampen's novel is so beautifully written, it is rich and poignant, filled with characters who are perfectly formed, but are often flawed. Despite the theme of the story, there's also a gentle humour woven in the narrative, which enhances the story so much. 

Set in an imagined small town in the North of England that is populated by people whose families have lived there for generations. Hidden among these people are the undocumented workers who live in houses tucked away on side streets, often with twenty people in one room. Workers from far away countries who owe money to ruthless masters and who dream of a better life.

Arthur is a recently widowed man, he's a retired Accountant but also spent time before the war collecting cockles on the bay. Arthur knows the dangers of the bay at first hand and frets constantly about the cocklers and their safety. Arthur's daughter Margaret would like him to move out of his home into a local care home. Just like his friend Reggie. Arthur and Margaret have a tense relationship, she's often angry, appearing frustrated and tired by her father.

Suling is a seventeen-year-old migrant girl. She followed her boyfriend to the bay with dreams of making enough money to build a new home for her mother back in China. Suling is on the run from the debt collectors, she has no money, no phone and her only possession is a dictionary which helps her to understand English. 

When Arthur and Suling meet, in a dark shed on a cold cold night, neither of them can imagine how much they will learn from each other. Their initial mistrust is slowly overcome and this unlikely pair form a wonderful, unusual and supportive friendship. 

At its heart, this is a compassionate and tender story of friendship, highlighting the loneliness that can be felt even when one is surrounded by people. Rampen deals with important social issues here, including prejudice and the exploitation of vulnerable people. 

Arthur is a man who seems so set in his ways. Mourning his late wife Gertie, and missing his close friend Reggie, whilst trying his best to avoid his domineering daughter, he is a man of many mixed messages. Suling is an innocent young girl, used to hard work and constantly terrified and they teach each other so much about humanity and tolerance. 

The Bay is an absolutely beautiful read, the language is tender and compassionate and the themes are relevant and handled with sensitivity, whilst still exposing the horrors faced by so many.  One of my favourite books of the year so far. Highly recommended. 

Julia Rampen is a journalist and writer with a long track record of working with refugees
and undocumented migrants. 

Julia has worked for The New Statesman, the Mirror and the Liverpool Echo, has contributed to the Guardian, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 5 Live, and is co-founder of the Syrian storytelling platform Qisetna: Talking Syria.

Her novel, The Bay, won the 2022 NorthBound Book Award and was written in consultation with those who investigated the tragedy at the time and told the survivors’ stories.

Twitter @JuliaRampenMM

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott BLOG TOUR #DeadlyAutumnHarvest @tonymott_ T. @MarinaSofia8 @CorylusB #BookReview

 

A series of bizarre murders rocks the beautiful Carpathian town of Braşov. At first there’s nothing obvious to link what appear to be random killings.

With the police still smarting from the scandal of having failed to act in a previous case of a serial kidnapper and killer, they bring in forensic pathologist Gigi Alexa to figure out if several murderers are at work – or if they have another serial killer on their hands.

Ambitious, tough, and not one to suffer fools gladly, Gigi fights to be taken seriously in a society that maintains old-fashioned attitudes to the roles of women.

She and the police team struggle to establish a pattern, especially when resources are diverted to investigating a possible terrorist plot. With the clock ticking, Gigi stumbles across what looks to be a far-fetched theory – just as she realises that she could be on the murderer’s to-kill list.

Deadly Autumn Harvest by Tony Mott was published on 30 July 2023 by Corylus Books and is translated by Marina Sofia. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour. 

I am a huge fan of translated fiction, especially crime fiction and Deadly Autumn Harvest is another cracker from the Corylus Books stable. Translated by Marina Sofia, it's a slim volume but packed to the brim with a complex and intriguing murder investigation carried out by a lead character who has already become a favourite. 

The small town of Braşov is beginning to slow down at the end of the tourist season. The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter when the police are called in to investigate the murder of a local woman. Gigi Alexander is a forensic pathologist who has worked closely with the police in the past, and once again, her services are called upon to help with this new case. 

And then there is another murder, seemingly unrelated, the investigative team can find no connections between the victims, and the actual killings seem very different. However, Gigi is not convinced that there is more than one murderer, there's something about these cases that pull at her instincts, and she is determined to find out more. As the death toll increases, the investigation becomes more complex and more urgent. There's a huge media interest due to issues with previous cases and everyone involved knows that these murders have to be stopped. 

Gigi is an amazing character. Strong willed, forceful and often blunt. The author cleverly and subtly weaves her back story into the narrative, enabling the reader to understand more of her behaviours. Despite her prickly behaviour at times, one cannot help but back her all of the way. 

Interwoven between the accounts of the investigation are the thoughts and feelings of the killer. The reader knows far more about the workings of their mind than Gigi and the police do, although we are not aware of the identity of the murderer. This adds a sinister note to the story, increasing the tension throughout. 

This is a clever story that kept me intrigued and guessing right up to the end. Maria Sofia's translation is clear and precise and there's an authentic feel to this, especially around the setting.

This is the first in this series to be translated into English and I am really hoping that more is to follow. Gigi is a fabulous character and I'd love to learn more about her. 

Tony Mott was born and bred in Braşov, which often forms the backdrop for her novels.
She has worked internationally as a coach and HR professional, but her real passion remains writing. 

In 2022 she received the Romanian Mystery&Thriller Award. Deadly Autumn Harvest is the first novel in the Gigi Alexa series to be translated into English.

Twitter @tonymott_

Marina Sofia is a translator, reviewer, writer and blogger, as well as a third culture kid who grew up trilingual in Romanian, German and English. Her previous translations for Corylus Books are Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu and Resilience by Bogdan Hrib. She has spent most of her winters in Braşov skiing, so is delighted to translate a book set in her favourite Romanian town.

Twitter @MarinaSofia8

Love In War by Michael Farthing BLOG TOUR #LoveInWar #MichaelFarthing @UnicornPubGroup @RandomTTours #BookExtract

 

Love in War is a love story of its time. Joanna and Johnnie were born in South London in the shadow of the Great War and were still growing up when the narrative begins in 1936 during Hitler’s rise in Nazi Germany. It ends ten years later in 1946, when Johnnie is demobilised.

Despite the committed intensity of the five-year relationship, they spent only forty-nine days together. Thus, Love in War is more about managing life apart than being together. The story moves between London and Berlin (where Joanna visits in 1938 and her dear schoolfriend, Ursula lives out the war) and the horrific theatres of war in North Africa and Southern Italy, which have disastrous effects on Johnnie and render him almost unrecognisable on his return to England after the war.

As the story closes, it is evident that there are no winners, just losers. Perhaps it is love that emerges as the only victor. The future is uncertain for all concerned. They have almost nothing to show for the last five years; just time lost. There remains a rather modest ray of hope – as Johnnie says at the end, ‘but we are alive.’

Love In War by Michael Farthing was published on 10 July 2023 by Affable Press / Unicorn Publishing. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from Love In War by Michael Farthing 

PROLOGUE

LONDON, 4 MARCH 1946

‘Could this be the new beginning? The spring that brings new life? A re-awakening?’ 

Joanna was lost in thought as she sauntered along a sandy path which led to the entrance of an imperious, early Victorian building. It had a foreboding arched entrance, heavy dark oak doors, above which was a red tiled roof with spiky gables pointing skywards. Despite being erected in the mid-19th century, she had detected that its style was mock Tudor, typical stone-dressed red brick, with towering, spiral brick chimneys. Everything about the place was odd, you might say daunting; but then it was an asylum. The Surrey County Lunatic Asylum. If you drop the word ‘lunatic’, then asylum is a good word. It can spell safety, shelter and protection, care, even peace. Her progress was interrupted. In the distance, she could just hear the screams and shouts of a woman in despair. She guessed, from one of the ward blocks. A patient, struggling to unchain and liberate her demons which had been with her lifelong and unlikely to let her go now. The Asylum was renowned for a heavy presence of long-stay patients, some remaining there for decades, often for ‘minor offences’ such as being a ‘slow learner’ or for a single uncontrolled outburst of aggressive behaviour. When she reached for the handle of one of the heavy oak double-doors and found them firmly locked, she turned and looked back down the path, straight as straight, aligned almost perfectly on an East–West trajectory. She took a few steps back, as if expecting the door to open imminently, but paused. As was her habit, she had arrived at least fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. 

‘I suppose all the doors are locked in places like this,’ she thought, wondering how to fill the interlude. She became distracted by two men in hospital uniforms, starched white cotton jacket and trousers, which she had spotted in the middle distance propelling a trolley, one at each end, as elegantly as they could along a bumpy gravel path. There was no one lying on top of the trolley, but a crisp white sheet covered the body box below. She imagined it contained a recently departed on its final journey to the mortuary. The incongruous party disappeared into the mist which hung low over the path on which they travelled, unfurling across the orderly gardens and into the fields beyond. There was a farm behind hospital buildings which accounted for the sporadic bovine and porcine moans and grunts and their distinctive aromas. She had discovered that this farm had been a valuable source of decent quality food during the war and as important, it provided a therapeutic environment for the 2,000 or more inmates. 

The early morning chill had begun to lift, and she became aware of what would turn into a daffodil-studded lawn, beautifully manicured but densely spiked with confident, slender, upright dark green leaves held firmly by their pale bases, which were beginning to feed the bulbs below. The remains of the glistening overnight frost lingered. The ground was still cold and hard after the sharp winter, but she pictured the host of golden daffodils that was soon to be. She remembered the letter that Johnnie had written from Italy a year or more previously. He had gained such strength from Wordsworth’s, Despondency Corrected. 

Michael Farthing’s career has been as an academic physician in the UK and USA. 

In addition he has conducted medical research in several low-income countries including India, Zambia, South Africa and Belize and has written many scientific papers and medical books. 

Since leaving medicine, he has published a critique of Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings and a ‘memoire plus’, Finding India, which explored the emergence of modern, independent India tracked across the last fifty years through the eyes of a foreigner.

He is an Honorary Professor at University College London, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sussex and lives between London and Sussex.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons BLOG TOUR #FairRosaline @natashasolomons @bonnierbooks_uk @RandomTTours #BeforeJuliet

 

Romeo Montague is handsome and charming and the first time he sees young Rosaline Capulet, who has secretly snuck into his family's masquerade summer ball, he falls instantly in love.

At first Rosaline is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join the nunnery, Romeo offers her the chance of a different life. Gradually he convinces her that only true love could make him feel this way, that he is enraptured by her beauty. Indeed, he cannot live without her!

And so begins the story of Romeo and Rosaline. These star-crossed lovers must keep everything hidden from Rosaline's family, at least until they are wed. But when a destitute young girl appears, claiming to be carrying Romeo's child, Rosaline starts to doubt all that she has been told. And as whispers of more girls reach her ears, what once felt like a courtship begins to feel more like a pursuit.

As Rosaline recognises Romeo for the villain he truly is, his gaze turns suddenly towards Rosaline's adored and beautiful cousin, thirteen-year old Juliet.

Can Rosaline save Juliet, who falls under Romeo's spell just as quickly as she did? Or can this story only ever end one way?The subversive, powerful untelling of Shakespeare's best known tale. A fierce, forgotten voice: this is Rosaline's story.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons is published today, 3 August 2023 by Manilla Press. As part of this #RandomThingsTours blog tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons

The funeral was held at dawn and little more than an hour after Madonna Emelia Capulet passed out of this world. Rosaline trailed behind the bier, disconsolate with loss. Several times, she had to be chided by her father and brother to stay further back as the corpse – her beloved mother – was pestilent. 

The only porters they’d found who were willing to pull the bier were filthy and reeking fellows, not much better than beggars, and even they had to be bribed prodigiously. Rosaline had been forbidden from washing the body. A priest had come, clutching a nosegay of herbs to his mouth, and tossed holy water upon the dead woman’s face, before scuttling out again. There had been no time to find a golden or purple grave cloth to wrap her in. No one wailed the lament. No relatives gathered at the house or followed the family to the tomb. The mourning party was pitiful, the other Capulets and their neighbours cowering behind locked doors, sniffing posies and oranges studded with cloves to ward off the plague, or offering up frantic prayers and hasty confessions. Instead, there was only Rosaline, her father, who wept openly, leaning heavily on Rosaline’s arm and her brother, Valentio. 

‘You deserved more,’ she murmured to her mother. 

One of the porters stopped abruptly to scratch at the fleas in his groin, fumbling and dropping the handle of the bier. 

‘You oaf! You wretch!’ roared Masetto Capulet, who would have kicked out at him if he hadn’t feared that the man would drop the body entirely. 

Rosaline hid a smile. Her mother would have found it funny; she’d delighted in the wicked. Two stray dogs had started to follow their pathetic little troop, perhaps in hope of scraps. She’d count them too. Made the numbers almost respectable, even if the congregants themselves were peculiar. She would not mind the absent neighbours: hypocrites and liars all. Mama had sent them birthing gifts and wiped their tears and their arses when they were babes, but she had not loved them. She loved me. And I am here. At this thought, Rosaline bit her lip hard to stop from crying, and tasted blood.

Natasha Solomons is the author of seven internationally bestselling novels, including Mr Rosenblum's List, The Novel in the Viola, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club, and I, Mona Lisa. 

Her work has been translated into seventeen languages, and Fair Rosaline is her latest work. 

She lives in Dorset with her family.

#BeforeJuliet

#FairRosaline

Twitter @natashasolomons

Instagram @natashasolomonsauthor

Sigrid Rides by Travis Nelson BLOG TOUR #SigridRides @sigirides @Octopus_Books @RandomTTours #Prize #Giveaway #Win #Competition

 

When Travis Nelson arrived in London, he expected to embark on a new life and a new job. Coming from California, he'd uprooted his wife and his cat, Sigrid, and planned to be here for the long haul. Then Covid-19 struck. Travis's new job vanished as the company cut staff. For two years, and through successive lockdowns, he was stuck in limbo in an unfamiliar city, trying to find his way.

To keep himself occupied, Travis set out to discover his adoptive home. He bought a bike and began cycling through London's streets and parks with his unusual travelling companion, Sigrid - his deaf, Norwegian Forest cat - who came along for the ride. But what started as a way of injecting routine and purpose into Travis's life in stressful times, created an internet sensation. When Travis began posting videos of the pair's rides on social media, he drew in another community of people looking for moments of joy in an anxious world.

In this charming memoir, Travis charts his adventures with Sigrid. He unlocks a hidden London seen only from cyclist's viewpoint, as well as finding friendship and hope. Most of all, it is the story of one man's relationship with his feline companion - one that has given him direction and a sense of belonging at a time when he felt lost.

Sigrid Rides : The Story of an Extraordinary Friendship and An Adventure on Two Wheels by Travis Nelson was published on 6 July 2023 by Radar
As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to offer one copy of the book as a give away.

Entry is simple. Just fill out the competition widget in this blog post. UK entries only please.

GOOD LUCK! 

One copy of Sigrid Rides by Travis Nelson

Travis Nelson is a software engineer, lifelong cyclist, and a pet lover. 

His short videos of bike rides and adventures with Sigrid have been enjoyed by millions of people around the world. 

This is Travis' first book.

Find Travis & Sigrid on social media:

Instagram: @skintension

Twitter: @sigirides