Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

1976: Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children and listening to her mother's grand piano, but her pretty life is about to change.

Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions for the end which is surely coming soon, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote European forest. There he tells Peggy the rest of the world has disappeared.

Her life is reduced to a piano which makes music but no sound, a forest where all that grows is a means of survival. And a tiny wooden hut that is Everything.

Our Endless Numbered Days will be published in hardback on 26 February by Fig Tree Publishing (part of Penguin), and is Claire Fuller's debut novel.

Peggy Hillcoat tells her story in two parts. We begin in 1985, in London, and 17 year old Peggy is rediscovering her childhood home and coming to terms with that fact that her mother is alive. She's also finding it hard to believe that anyone else in the world is alive, after all, her father told her that she and him were the last two people left on Earth.

The majority of the novel is taken up by Peggy's 1976 story, that long hot summer when her father took her away from everything she was familiar to a run-down hut in the middle of an Eastern European forest. Peggy's father was a survivalist, he and his hippy-like friends were convinced that the end of the world was near. He'd spent years building up his supplies, writing his lists, making sure that Peggy knew the drill and could pack a rucksack in double quick time.

Peggy's parents fight, their relationship has always appeared to be one-sided. Her mother Ute is a celebrated German pianist, her father is the young teenager who stole her heart, their marriage was a scandal, and it's quite clear that Ute may have some regrets.

Suddenly, Peggy is snatched away by her father. Peggy thinks that they are going on a holiday, that Ute will join them when she returns from her latest concert tour. Her father has other plans....

Peggy is not seen or heard of for another nine years.  Our Endless Numbered Days is the story of Peggy's life in the forest with her father.

The writing is raw and to the point, with flowing descriptive passages of their journey across Europe that evoke a particularly strong sense of place. This is no fairy story, this is no package holiday, this is a story of how one man's beliefs can trigger events that will ultimately change and damage the life of his family.

Claire Fuller builds up the tension, and anticipation through some excellent writing. Peggy's experiences in the cabin are sometimes joyful and innocent, yet she also experiences anguish, abuse and frustration as she matures physically. Peggy's views and voice remain those of an eight-year-old, it is the reader - older and more experienced, that slowly comprehend how desperate her father has become.

Our Endless Numbered Days is a very clever story, the writing is mature and betrays the fact that this is a debut novel. The dual time-frame narrations works very well and answers some questions that are raised during Peggy's time in the forest.

Peggy is a complex character, she appears older than her eight years at times, whilst at others is is very clear that she is little more than a baby. Her dolly Phyllis plays a major part in this story, becoming her confidant and friend. Peggy's mother and father are an excellent advert for those people who should never marry, their whirlwind romance could not last and it is clear that their relationship is uneven and affected by mental health issues.

And, then there is Reuben  ... and that is where I stop talking about what happens in this story and urge you to read it for yourself. If you enjoy a story with an ending that is neatly tied in a bow, then be prepared, you are going to have to do some working out of your own at the end of this one. Claire Fuller makes her readers do some work too - for me, that is perfect, there is nothing that pleases me more than an end chapter that makes me think, that makes me question the entire story.

My thanks to the publisher Fig Tree who sent my copy for review.

Claire Fuller is a novelist and short fiction writer. For her first degree she studied sculpture at Winchester School of Art, specializing in wood and stone carving. She began writing fiction at the age of 40, after many years working as a co-director of a marketing agency. Claire has a masters in Creative and Critical Writing from The University of Winchester.Her first novel, Our Endless Numbered Days will be published in the UK on 26th February 2015 by Fig Tree / Penguin, by Tin House in the US on 17th March 2015, as well as seven other publishers around the world.She is represented by Jane Finigan from Lutyens & Rubinstein.

Claire’s short fiction has been published in Vintage Script, From The Depths, After the Fall, and the soon to be released, Rattle Tales Anthology.

One of her stories was shortlisted for the Brighton Prize, whilst another, Baker, Emily and Me won the BBC Opening Lines competition, and was broadcast on Radio 4.

The Untelling, is published by Bookanista, and Crab Wood, a piece of non-fiction has been published on Tin House’s blog.

Claire lives in Winchester with her husband and two children.
For more information visit her website www.clairefuller.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter @ClaireFuller2

A Weekend of Food & Farm Shops ~ Uncle Henry's

I guess most people know that I like food. I like food very much. I like cooking, I like eating, I like discovering new foods. I like food!

I'm really lucky to live in rural Lincolnshire, surrounded by wonderful local ingredients and people who love to produce them, and sell them, and feed me!
Over the past few years, there have been lots of new farm shops appear around the countryside, some small, some large, some who win awards and some with cafes attached.

Uncle Henry’s is an award winning Farm Shop, Butchery and Café based in the Lincolnshire countryside.  Uncle Henry’s showcases the best in local and regional food and drink and are able to offer a wide range of products from Lincolnshire producers and their own farm, providing a real farm to fork experience.

Winners of over 100 awards, including Non Multiple Retailer of the Year 2011 and Contribution to the Community 2011 and winner of Select Lincolnshire ‘Producer of the Year 2013′. They have also just been awarded “Retailer of the Year 2014″.

Uncle Henry’s award winning café is run by Julie and her team. The café serves homemade dishes freshly cooked on site by chefs Nicki, Linda, Heidi and Tracey. As Select Lincolnshire members they source and use a wide range of Lincolnshire products in their dishes. Many of the products they sell in the cafe are grown in their walled garden or produced from their own pigs in the Butchery.

If you like what you have tried in the café, many of the products they use in the meals can be found in the Farm Shop for you to buy.

The café runs a daily menu including breakfasts (served 9.30am – 11.30am.) A popluar option  is Uncle Henry’s “The Works” breakfast. This includes their award winning Lincolnshire Sausage; so tasty it is something they have become known for!

The daily menu includes jacket potatoes, hot and cold baguettes, and homemade soups. The cafe is fully licensed and they run a specials board daily 12 – 2.30pm. The specials change every month and include delicious dishes such as Lincoln Red beef with Tom Woods Ale Pie or home reared gammon with Lincolnshire seasonal veg.

Food is served all day (9.30am – 4pm) with tea, coffee and cakes available until 4:30 pm.

In the winter you can enjoy tea, coffee and cakes by the log fire in Uncle Henry’s lounge and in the summer relax on the decking by the water fountain.

In the outside courtyard there is a small playhouse for young children to enjoy or a farm trail for older energetic children to explore.

It had been a couple of months since we had been to Uncle Henry's, it's just 20 minutes away from us in the car and I'd had a Twitter conversation with them last week, so we decided that Saturday would be a good day for a treat! It would be our "First week back to work after Christmas completed successfully" treat - good excuse eh?

We arrived just before lunchtime and were able to get a set in the cafe quickly, we timed it just perfectly as within 20 minutes the place had really filled up and people were waiting for tables. We were both hungry, but the menu has such lovely tempting dishes, it took a while to decide. In the end, we both went for something from the daily specials board.

I choose the warm home-made Quiche Lorraine, with salad, coleslaw and wedges and Martin opted for the Pulled Pork Roll, again served with salad, coleslaw and wedges. We also ordered hot drinks which arrived really quickly.

 Our meals arrived, and oh my, they looked and smelled delicious. I'm really fussy about Quiche, I can't stand those supermarket quiches, and I hate it served cold, but this one was just perfect. Flaky short pastry and a beautifully creamy centre - it really was so good. Oh, those wedges - they are a thing of beauty - they really are. Large, chunky, fried to a deep brown, with crispy bits on the outside and then soft on the inside - they are just how I like my chips and wedges. The salad was fresh and crisp and the coleslaw was creamy and delicious.  Martin's Pulled Pork roll was full to bursting of tender, steaming, falling-to-bits pulled pork and came with a little jug of barbecue sauce - he was in his element.  We were absolutely stuffed by the end of our lunch, and couldn't fit another mouthful in, but it was so so good!

We then dragged our bodies around the deli and farm shop and I treated myself to a few goodies from their shelves. There was no way I could go home without a couple of their home-made fruit scones and of course I had to buy a jar of clotted cream to go with them. I also treated myself to a slice of Brie with Truffle - yes, it's fairly expensive, but one small slice is just enough - it's creamy, and cheesy with that mushroomy taste of truffle - delicious.

Oh, and I noticed that the butchery counter had pig's cheeks. The last time I bought pig's cheeks, from a local butcher, they came attached to the pig's face!  Yes, honestly! And, although they were delicious, I swore that I wouldn't buy them again as it took me so long to get the meat from the skin. Uncle Henry's sell them ready prepared, I'm certainly going to go back and get some - that pig's cheek recipe was delicious - I can't wait to make it again.

Uncle Henry's

Phone: 01652 640308

Email: info@unclehenrys.co.uk

Grayingham Grange Farm,

Grayingham,

Gainsborough,

Lincolnshire.

DN21 4JD.

Find Uncle Henry's on Facebook     Follow Uncle Henry's on Twitter @UnclehenrysLinc

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Delayed in London, Ted Severson meets a woman at the airport bar. 

Over cocktails they tell each other rather more than they should, and a dark plan is hatched - but are either of them being serious, could they actually go through with it and, if they did, what would be their chances of getting away with it?

Back in Boston, Ted's wife Miranda is busy site managing the construction of their dream home, a beautiful house out on the Maine coastline. 

But what secrets is she carrying and to what lengths might she go to protect the vision she has of her deserved future?

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson is published in hardback by Faber & Faber on 5 February 2015.


Ted Severson; hugely successful businessman, so rich he really doesn't have to work any more, married to a beautiful woman and delayed in the first-class departure lounge at Heathrow.
Lily Kintner; mysterious, eloquent and interesting, and also delayed by the same flight.

Ted and Lily drink down a couple of gin martinis. Ted reveals more than he intended, and Lily encourages him. By the time they board their flight to the US, they've decided that Ted's unfaithful wife Miranda will be murdered.

That's as much as I'm going to say about the plot. The story is deep, multi-layered and so incredibly well written that I was absolutely consumed by the story. Peter Swanson's writing is stunning, he has created a cast of characters who are cruel, obnoxious, evil and so incredibly clever, you may hate them, but you will be so connected to them, and their individual stories, that you just can't look away - believe me!

Be prepared for a story that has more twists than a theme-park roller coaster, with some screeching hand-brake turns that will leave you wondering what the hell just happened. The author structures this novel so very well, with alternative viewpoints from Ted and Lily, this enables the reader to have a little more information than either of these two characters, but with some unpredictable shocks thrown in.

The Kind Worth Killing is a study of the human psyche, it is also psychologically challenging and also an excellent thriller. Character development is excellent and the pace of the story is perfect.

There are liars and cheats, deceptions and illusions. Thrills, gasps and characters who range from downright evil to the most gullible.

This is a first class thriller; intelligent, surprising and incredibly moreish.

My thanks to Sophie from the publisher Faber & Faber who sent my copy for review.

Peter Swanson's debut novel, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart (2014), was described by Dennis Lehane as 'a twisty, sexy, electric thrill ride' and in the Observer as 'very hard not to read in one sitting'. 

He lives with his wife and cat in Somerville, Massachusetts.

For more information, visit his website www.peter-swanson.com

Follow him on Twitter @PeterSwanson3

After The Storm by Jane Lythell

Brits on holiday Rob and Anna have just met American couple Owen and Kim on the coast of Belize.  Seduced by their simple life of freedom on an old sailing boat, they climb aboard and set sail to a far off island in the Caribbean in search of adventure.

With only the four of them on board, it should be paradise; lazy afternoons spent snorkelling and long nights drinking under the stars.

But the weather can turn quickly at sea and questions begin to arise. Why does Owen never sleep? Why is he secretive about his past? And why does Kim keep a knife zipped into her money belt?

Anna has a knack for getting people to talk, but is she ready to hear what he might have to say? 

After The Storm is published by Head of Zeus as a trade paperback original on 7 January 2015 and is Jane Lythell's second novel.  Her first novel; The Lie of You was published in July 2014.

British couple, Rob and Anna meet Owen and Kim in a waterfront bar in a dirty Belize town. The American couple have been sailing from island to island, country to country for some months, and their lifestyle appears to be happy and carefree. Relishing the opportunity to explore, Rob and Anna arrange to join Owen and Kim on the next part of their voyage. Whilst Rob is keen, Anna is more reluctant to spend time cooped up in a smallish boat with people that she doesn't really know. Kim too, doesn't appear overjoyed by the thought. The arrangements are made and the two couples begin their journey.

The storm hits. The sailors battle to overcome the weather and reach their destination. But it is not just the weather that has turned stormy; relationships can be just as changeable as the weather, and during the days of the storm, these four people learn more and more about each other.

There is a real sense of foreboding and doom when reading After The Storm, even the opening chapters, set as they are, in the sunshine and warmth create a tense and quite fearful atmosphere. From the seedy hotel rooms, to the strangers carrying knives, this is not the beautiful paradise of tropical islands that most of us imagine.

The four characters are drawn particularly well, they are easy to understand, but maybe not so easy to like, with the exception of Anna, who is my favourite character. I liked her vulnerability combined with inner strength and intelligence and ability to draw out different traits in others.

After The Storm is a well-paced thriller, that will challenge the reader. The tension, fear and anticipation mounts up throughout the story. The setting is excellent, showing another side to the usual sun-soaked tropical island, the characters are strong and well rounded.

My thanks to Becci at the publisher, Head of Zeus who sent my copy for review.

Jane Lythell is a writer and television producer. As Jane Clarke, she has worked for TV-am, Thames, Granada and BSB before becoming Deputy Director of the British Film Institute and then Chief Executive of BAFTA. She co-wrote a biography of Doris Day for the BFI and published her highly acclaimed debut novel The Lie of You in 2014. 

She lives in Brighton with her family and writes full time.

Follow her on Twitter @janelythell

The Wronged Sons by John Marrs

What would you do if the person you loved suddenly vanished into thin air? 

Catherine’s cosy life as a housewife and mum-of-three is quickly thrown into disarray when husband Simon disappears without explanation. 

She is convinced he hasn’t left by choice as confusion and spiraling debts threaten to tear her family apart. 

Meanwhile Simon has begun a carefree new life travelling the world. And he’s determined not to disclose his past to all he meets, even if it means resorting to extreme and violent measures. 

But why did he leave? 

Catherine only gets her answer 25 years later when Simon suddenly reappears on her doorstep. 

During their furious final confrontation, they discover the secrets, lies and misunderstandings that tore them apart, then brought them face-to-face one last time.

The Wronged Sons by John Marrs was published in paperback on 25 June 2014, and is the author's debut novel.

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.   

    They may not mean to, but they do.   

They fill you with the faults they had

    And add some extra, just for you. 

The lines above are from one of my favourite poems; This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin. For many years I worked with young people who were in the criminal justice system, or were leaving the care system and I had these words pinned above my desk. Every day I saw the pain and horror that can be inflicted upon young people by those who are supposed to love them the most. Some parents leave their children damaged, broken and unable to cope with life.

The Wronged Sons by John Marrs is not only an intriguing and fascinating story, it also captures the hurt and pain dealt out by bad parents. Although the lead character Simon is a fully-grown adult, in charge of his own destiny, and capable of making his own decisions, the damage inflicted upon him in early life shape his future.

The novel is cleverly structured. In the prologue, the reader sees a man pull up outside a cottage, and the mystery begins.

The story goes back twenty-five years.  Simon gets up one morning and just disappears. A father of three young children, married to his childhood sweetheart Catherine, a businessman. There was no indication that Simon was unhappy, and despite desperately searching for clues, Catherine cannot understand why or where her husband has gone to. 

Running alongside Catherine's story, is Simon's own story. The reader is aware throughout the novel just where he is, and what he has done, yet there is something huge missing. Although both Catherine and Simon allude to things that have happened in the past, these are never disclosed to the reader, allowing us to try to make our own decisions about what happened, and why.

Throughout the novel, the reader is brought back to the present day with snippets of the conversation between Simon and Catherine as they meet again twenty-five years later. This is a clever way of tying up loose ends, for both of the characters, and the reader.

I don't think that the reader is supposed to like Simon, I certainly loathed the man, and whilst I really didn't care if he dropped down dead on any page, his story intrigued me. Even as the reader learns more and more about his early life, it's incredibly difficult to find any sympathy for him, yet he is a complex character, and I wanted to know more.

Catherine too is a bit of a mixed bag. She's strong, she has to be. She manages to get her life back together and make a success of it. Despite this, there are some decisions that she made that I questioned, but then there wouldn't really be a story if she'd done things differently.

There is no doubt that John Marrs can weave a quite captivating story, at times thrilling, the plot is clever and the structure of the novel adds so much to the reader's enjoyment. There are a couple of pretty improbable coincidences along the way but this is a work of fiction, and they are very forgiveable. 

The Wronged Sons is an impressive debut from an author who clearly has imagination and writes very well. It's a self-published book and there are a few typos along the way, but nothing that spoilt my enjoyment of this thrilling story.

My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review.

John Marrs is a freelance journalist based in Northampton and London. 

After 20 years of interviewing celebrities, writing about movies, books and television for national newspapers and magazines this is is debut novel.

Follow him on Twitter @johnmarrs1

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin

Here is a truth that can’t be escaped: for Mia ‘Rabbit’ Hayes, life is coming to an end . . .

Rabbit Hayes loves her life, ordinary as it is, and the extraordinary people in it.

She loves her spirited daughter, Juliet; her colourful, unruly family; the only man in her big heart, Johnny Faye.

But it turns out the world has other plans for Rabbit, and she’s OK with that. Because she has plans for the world too, and only a handful of days left to make them happen.

Here is a truth that won’t be forgotten: this is a story about laughing through life’s surprises and finding the joy in every moment.

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes was published on 1 January 2015 in paperback by Transworld and is Anna McPartlin's sixth book.

It's almost seven years ago since I read Pack Up The Moon by Anna McPartlin which is her debut novel, but I do remember that I really enjoyed it. I have no idea why I've not read her later books, no idea at all, but I've just checked my (overflowing) bookshelves and found that I have two of her novels on my to-be-read pile. That thrills me because I have been totally engrossed in The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes for the past couple of days, and really really want to catch up on her other novels that I have sadly neglected.

So, where to begin?  The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes deals with a very difficult subject; a subject that will have touched most of us during our lives at some stage. As a woman who is fast approaching the big FIVE OH, breast cancer is something that terrifies me, and to be honest, at first, I thought that I was going to really struggle with this book.

I laughed so hard, I laughed out loud. Yes, laughed. Anna McPartlin has a way with words, a way of describing her characters, and a fine touch for dialogue that despite the seriousness of the subject matter adds another layer to her story. She has created the most wonderful Irish family that I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. My Mother's family are Irish, I've spent a lot of time with them, and I can honestly say that the Hayes family are truly authentic ... and sweary, and rude and oh so funny.

Rabbit Hayes has cancer. She had breast cancer, it went away, it came back and it spread. It wasn't until she fell and broke her leg that anyone realised just how far it had spread. The end is near and Rabbit will spend those last days in a hospice. She will be cared for, and the pain will be monitored and she will be surrounded by her family and closest friends.

Whilst Rabbit is in the hospice she dreams of Johnny Fay, the guy who let her go all those years ago. The reader is treated to different voices throughout the novel, the story is told by Rabbit, her daughter Juliet, her mother Molly, her father Jack, her brother Davey, her sister Grace, her best friend Marjorie, and by Johnny. Each character's voice is perfectly created, individual with their own personality, their own feelings and each one brings so much more to the story.

This really is a beautiful book. At times it is bleak, but it is incredibly moving and funny, there are times when your heart will feel like it is breaking, you will read the final page and feel as though you've been punched, hard, right in the face. You will also recognise the kindness of humanity, the importance of family, and the benefit of laughter.

Anna McPartlin is a novelist and scriptwriter. Her previous incarnation as a stand-up comedian left an indelible mark. She describes herself as a slave to the joke and finds humour and humanity in even the darkest situations. Anna lives in Wicklow with her husband and animals.

Find out more about the author and her novels at her website www.annamcpartlin.com
Follow her on Twitter @annamcpartlin

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Most people ignored the outrageous reports on the news.  But they became too frequent, they became too real. 

And soon, they began happening down the street. 

Then the Internet died. The television and radio went silent.  The phones stopped ringing. 

And we couldn't look outside anymore. 

Malorie raises the children the only way she can; indoors. 

The house is quiet.  The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows. 

They are out there.  She might let them in. 

The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall. 

Soon she will have to wake them. 

Soon she will have to blindfold them. 

Today they must leave the house.     Today they will risk everything.

Bird Box by Josh Malerman was published in hardback by Harper Voyager on 27 March 2014, the paperback edition will be released on 29 January 2015. Bird Box is Josh Malerman's debut novel.

The blurb for this book is intriguing to say the very least, and the cover of my hardback copy is fabulously dark and quite eerie.

To say too much about the plot would spoil the story completely for those who have yet to read this dark, disturbing and thrilling novel. I flew through it in a couple of days, and was hooked from the enticing first chapter.

The story focusses on Malorie and two children and opens as Malorie decides that today is the day that they will leave the house after four years. Four years in which they have lived together in self-imposed exile, with the windows blacked out and the children learning never to open their eyes if there is the slightest chance that they would be exposed to the outside world.

Malorie and the children are going to attempt to find other people. She has no idea what she will find on their journey, or who will be out there, or what will be out there. Are the trees still green? Do the flowers still bloom? Are the creatures still roaming the land? Is anyone else still alive?

Josh Malerman has created a story that will send shivers down your spine. He cranks up the pace and the suspense with every paragraph. Malorie reflects on the years gone by as she undertakes this huge journey, enabling the reader to learn why and how she has found herself alone and isolated with just two small children as companions.

The author's ability to create tension is excellent. Malorie and the children can see nothing around them, they remain blindfolded for much of their dangerous journey, yet despite this, the story is full of imagery. Malorie's imaginings and her terror are palpable, the fear of the unknown jumps from the page, leaving the reader feeling unsettled and sometimes just a little wary when turning the next page.

A tension-filled, thrilling novel that produces many questions, but not many answers. This is a fine debut novel from an author who writes skilfully.

My thanks to the publisher Harper Voyager who sent my copy for review.



Josh Malerman is the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band the High Strung. 

He lives in Ferndale, Michigan

Check out his author page on Facebook
Follow him on Twitter @JoshMalerman