Fragile by Sarah Hilary @sarah_hilary #Fragile @panmacmillan #BookReview #Giveaway #Win #Prize #Competition

 

Everything she touches breaks . . .

Nell Ballard is a runaway. A former foster child with a dark secret she is desperately trying to keep, all Nell wants is to find a place she can belong.

So when a job comes up at Starling Villas, home to the enigmatic Robin Wilder, she seizes teh opportunity with both hands.

But her new lodgings may not be the safe haven that she was hoping for. Her employer lives by a set of rigid rules and she soon sees he is hiding secrets of his own.

But is Nell's arrival at the Villas really the coincidence it seems? After all, she knows more than most how fragile people can be – and how easily they can be to break . . .

Fragile by Sarah Hilary is published in hardback on 10 June by Pan Macmillan. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review.


I also have one hardback copy to give away today. Entry is via the competition widget in the blog post. UK Entries only please.

GOOD LUCK! 

Whenever anyone asks for recommendations of a police procedural series, I always tell them to read Sarah Hilary's DI Marnie Rome series. One of the best crime series of our time, written with intelligence and grace and capturing so much more than just criminals.

When I heard that Sarah Hilary was to publish a stand alone novel, with a gothic theme, I was really excited. I haven''t been disappointed. Fragile is a dark, brooding and quite beautiful story that crawls under the skin whilst giving chills down the back of the neck. 

The reader meets Nell Ballard as she sits in a London cafe, looking out on to the street and pondering how different London looks in daylight. Nell is a runaway, she arrived in London with her boyfriend Joe and has slept in many places ever since. Last night, Joe followed a woman out of a club, and Nell has not set eyes on him since. Starling Villas, the long thin house across the road from the cafe is where Joe went, and Nell is determined to get inside and find out what happened to him, 

With devious ingenuity and more than a little deceit, Nell secures herself a live-in job at Starling Villas. She will attend to the needs of the strange and a little foreboding Dr Robin Wilder. Her days are strictly set out by a rota he has drawn up, and for Nell, this feels rather like the life that she's always known.

Nell grew up in care. Abandoned by her own mother at age eight, she was put into the care of Meagan Flack who was in charge of Lyle's, a soulless house in Wales.  Whilst Nell became the mother figure of the house; washing, cleaning and caring for the smaller children, Meagan sat back and allowed it, occasionally showing her cruel streak and always with eyes in the back of her head. When Joe arrived at Lyle's both Nell and Meagan fell for him. Nell with the passionate love of a young teen, and Meagan with the favouritism she showed him. 

When tragedy struck at Lyle's, all three of them lost their homes. Nell and Joe fled to London, whilst Meagan had no choice but to go. The reader is also privy to Megan's current situation; a bitter woman, living in filth and overcome with bitterness and an urgent need for revenge. 

Starling Villas is as much a character within this story as the human voices. With the incredible imagery that Hilary creates, from the spiders and dusty cobwebs, to the orchids and the fat pigeon that seems to appear at crucial points, this is a vivid and beautifully created setting. The author deals with some dark and important issues within her writing, with an insight that is quite breathtaking. As the novel progresses, the setting gets darker and the slowly revealed back stories become more heartbreaking.

Fragile is unlike anything that I've read before. It is a superb mix of gothic tension, obsession, young love and disappointment, woven together masterfully. It is ambitious, clever and haunting. The characters are flawed, yet precisely drawn, they will haunt the reader. Highly recommended.

Sarah Hilary's new novel FRAGILE will be published on 10 June 2021 by Pan Macmillan. Mick Herron called it 'a dark river of a book' while Erin Kelly said, 'Timeless, tense and tender, Fragile will worm its way deep into your heart.'

Sarah's debut SOMEONE ELSE'S SKIN won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015. It was a World Book Night selection and Richard & Judy Book Club pick. The latest in her D.I. Marnie Rome series NEVER BE BROKEN was published by Headline in 2019.

Visit www.sarahhilary.com for news, updates and reviews.

Twitter @sarah_hilary

Instagram @sarah_hilary999

One Hardback copy of Fragile by Sarah Hilary

Black Thorn by Sarah Hilary #BlackThorn @sarah_hilary @panmacmillan #BookReview

 

Blackthorn Ashes was meant to be their forever home. For the first six families moving into the exclusive new housing development, it was a chance to live a peaceful life on the cliffs overlooking the Cornish sea, safe in the knowledge that it had been created just for them.

But six weeks later, paradise is lost. Six people are dead. And Blackthorn Ashes is left abandoned and unfinished, its dark shadows hiding all manner of secrets.

One of its surviving residents, Agnes Gale, is determined to find out the truth about what happened. Even if that truth is deadlier than she could have ever believed possible . . .

Black Thorn by Sarah Hilary is published by Pan Macmillan on 13 July 2023. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

One of the greatest pleasures in reading and reviewing books is discovering an author from their very first book, and following them for years afterwards. Eagerly waiting for their next novel and relishing the opportunity to read it. 

Sarah Hilary has been a firm favourite of mine since 2015 when she introduced readers to DI Marnie Rome. A couple of years ago she published Fragile; a stand alone story far removed from Marnie, but equally as gripping. 

Black Thorn is another stand-alone, and whilst I loved Fragile, I have to say that this one beats it for me. It is a crime story, of that there is no doubt, but it is also a lyrical, evocative and at times disturbing study in family and community relationships. 

The reader is introduced to the families who occupy the first six completed houses on the Blackthorn Ashes development.  The Ashes was sold as pure luxury, a place to escape and to make happy memories. Situated on a cliff in Cornwall, it's not an easy place to get to, but the houses are magnificent.

Despite the jollity of a summer BBQ, attended by all of the families, the reader immediately gets the feeling that something is not quite right. One neighbour is angry, a small girl is injured and Agnes Gale can feel things in the air that disturb her.  

The second chapter moves forward twelve days and all has changed. Blackthorn Ashes has been abandoned. Six people are dead. Agnes and her family are living in a caravan, their lives have changed beyond comprehension and Agnes is determined that the truth of what happened will be uncovered. 

Agnes Gale is autistic. She's twenty-nine years old and has only recently returned to her family. She spent over a decade living in London, but after losing her job and her lover, she had no choice to return. Her brother Christie is just thirteen, he's spent much of his life being treated as the only child and resents Agnes, especially as she has been warning everyone that something is amiss at the Ashes. 

Skipping back and forth, from before abandonment and afterwards, Hilary weaves a captivating and extremely well structured story.  Her own personal experiences have enabled her to create Agnes so well, allowing the reader to see and understand how her mind works so differently to most people, it really is incredibly rich and emotional. 

At the heart of this novel is the story of broken people, and relationships. Long-held secrets are carefully and slowly revealed, adding a tension that pulsates throughout. The development of both the parent-child relationship, and that of Agnes and Christie is complex and multi-layered, with resentment and guilt, but also grief and pain ebbing and flowing in each chapter. 

A crime novel. A psychological thriller; this is both of those, expertly woven and always beautifully prepared. Hilary's use of descriptive prose when talking about the forest that surrounds both the Ashes and the park is second to none and her character creation is sublime and exquisite. 

Highly recommended from me. An author that never puts a foot wrong. 

Sarah Hilary’s debut, Someone Else's Skin, won the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and was a World Book Night selection, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, and a Silver Falchion and Macavity Award finalist in the US.
No Other Darkness, the second in the series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award.
Her DI Marnie Rome series continued with Tastes Like Fear, Quieter Than Killing, Come and Find Me, and Never Be Broken.
Black Thorn is her second standalone novel, following Fragile.

www.sarahhilary.com

Twitter @sarah_hilary

Instagram @sarah_hilary999

The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke by Caroline Smailes @Caroline_S @RedDoorBooks #TheodoraQuirke #BookReview

 

Theodora Quirke has no reason to be merry. It's bad enough that she has to work on Christmas Eve but now there's a drunk bloke dressed as Santa and claiming to be St Nick hanging around outside her flat. Given he's professing to be the giver of Christmas miracles and nearly 2000 years old, she's wary.

Things get even more weird when St Nick insists he's there to save Theo. And with the next St Nicholas Day somehow fast approaching, he's even got a plan that'll change her life forever.

It all seems pretty straightforward, apart for one awkward fact:

Theodora Quirke doesn't actually need saving.

The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke by Caroline Smailes is published on 15 October 2020 by RedDoor Press. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review.

It is no secret that I am a massive Caroline Smailes fan. I have read all of her novels, and also The Finding of Martha Lost which she wrote under the name of Caroline Wallace.  I was so thrilled to receive a copy of #TheodoraQuirke, it's been a long time ...

Caroline Smailes loves Christmas, there is no doubt of that. Personally, I'm more of a 'Bah Humbug' myself and it's not often that a Christmas-themed book will find its way onto my blog. However, I do know that this author writes unusual and unique stories, so I was certain that this was going to be festive book I'd enjoy.

What an extraordinary story this is! This is Christmas themed, but not the joyous holiday that you know of. The title is absolutely perfect, as this clever author slowly and surely unwraps Theodora Quirke, reveals to the reader, and to Theo herself, just how damaged and fragile she is. We and she also learn just what an incredible, brave and totally amazing person she is too. 

The story begins on the night of Christmas Eve as Theodora is about to leave for a night shift 'wiping shitty arses', nobody else wants the night before Christmas shift and Theo is perfectly happy to do it. After all, she's alone and unloved. What else is there to do?
However, Theo doesn't make it to work that night. She meets St Nicholas of Myra on the doorstep of her shared living accommodation, and this unkempt, smelly and pretty dirty version of Santa Claus is about to change her life. 

This is a sweary book. Theo has spent much of her life in foster-care, she's old before her time, she's suffered and she is still suffering. She swears, as would any of us in her position. Just wanted to point that out .. 

With hints of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but in glorious technicolour instead of the muted greys and browns that we are used to, St Nick takes Theo and shows her scenes from her past. There are utterly heartbreaking moments, when Theo sees her mother; a sad, frightened girl, younger than Theo is herself. The first time we see Gabe; Theo's boyfriend; the guy whose death has shattered her already fragile heart into the tiniest pieces. It's wonderful, enlightening stuff. It's also packed with humour too, a welcome and sharp contrast to what could be so so bleak. 

There's another story interwined throughout the novel. That of Dottie; another grieving woman, another woman whose heart has been torn. Dottie's life changed so much when she made the decision to go for drinks with her work-mates. She will regret that decision until the day that she dies. However Dottie has faith. Her faith is in St Nick, and how he performs tiny miracles all over the world for the people who need them the most. 

Theo and St Nick face challenges along their journey, it's certainly not an easy ride. Not a case of 'here's what you were, what you are and what you could be' and go back to bed and all will be well in the morning. Oh no, there is so much more here. It is an absolutely wonderful story, written with warmth and passion. A story of loss, but such a story of hope. It's just exactly what Christmas is about.

Bravo Caroline Smailes, this really is magnificent.

Caroline Smailes' acclaimed debut novel, In Search of Adam, was published in 2007 (The Friday Project/HarperCollins). The Big Issue North declared the book 'an engrossing and touching read from a new talent'. Caroline’s subsequent novels include Black Boxes, international bestseller Like Bees to Honey, an experimental digital novel with eleven endings 99 Reasons Why and modern-day fairy tale The Drowning of Arthur Braxton (all HarperCollins). 

The film of The Drowning of Arthur Braxton is in post-production, with an expected 2020 release.
Caroline lives in the North West of England. She is also known as Caroline Wallace, author of The Finding of Martha Lost (Transworld).

www.carolinesmailes.co.uk
Twitter @Caroline_S
Instagram @carolinereadsbooks

Caroline Smailes will be in conversation with Luke Cutforth to celebrate the launch of her new book THE UNWRAPPING OF THEODORA QUIRKE

About this Event

Join us to celebrate the launch of Caroline Smailes' fantastic new novel. Caroline will be in conversation with YouTube sensation and director of 'The Drowning of Arthur Braxton', Luke Cutforth.

Pour yourself a drink, grab your Christmas jumper and settle down for an evening of stellar entertainment! Festive dress optional!

You can purchase a copy of The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke with your ticket to this event by selecting 'signed copy ticket' when you RSVP. Signed copy tickets include a signed copy of the novel plus a limited edition launch badge!

Get your ticket at this link 

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu BLOG TOUR #TheFuneralCryer @wenyan_lu @AllenandUnwinUK @RandomTTours #BookExtract

 

An Yu's Braised Pork meets Flaubert's Madame Bovary in this unforgettable, tragi-comic tale of one woman's mid-life re-awakening in contemporary rural China.

The Funeral Cryer long ago accepted the mundane realities of her life: avoided by fellow villagers because of the stigma attached to her job as a professional mourner and under-appreciated by The Husband, whose fecklessness has pushed the couple close to the brink of break-up. But just when things couldn't be bleaker, The Funeral Cryer takes a leap of faith - and in so doing things start to take a surprising turn for the better . . .

Dark, moving, and wry, The Funeral Cryer is both an illuminating depiction of a 'left behind' society - and proof that it's never too late to change your life.

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu was published on 4 May 2023 by Allen and Unwin. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Great-Great-Grandma was dead.

The whole village was touched by an eerie atmosphere, almost a strange relief. It seemed everyone had been secretly

waiting for this moment to come.

She was Great-Great-Grandma to everyone in the village.

I didn’t know how old she was at the time; we just knew she was alive. I felt a moment of surreptitious excitement and a shameful buzz in my chest since I would earn some money from her epic death.

A young woman in a white linen gown and a matching cloth hood approached me in the cramped kitchen. Walking on the street like this would be enough to reduce little children to tears.

She read Great-Great-Grandma’s obituary to me while I dabbed powder on my cheeks. Several village chefs and their helpers were preparing food amid much shouting and chopping. I could hardly move. I was surrounded by stacks of large cardboard boxes with ‘FRAGILE: PORCELAIN’ printed on them in thick black letters.

The young woman didn’t look happy, but she didn’t seem too sad either. Then again, I could be wrong. What you saw was not always what was there.

‘Will you really be able to remember her obituary?’ she asked me.

‘Yes.’

‘I’m just worried. If you make any mistakes, my uncle will be mad at me.’

‘You don’t need to worry. I promise everyone will cry. Trust me.’

‘Let me read it once again. Just to make sure,’ she said. I nodded and she began.

‘Dear Great-Great-Grandma lived an extraordinary life of 106 years. She selflessly devoted herself to the continuity and prosperity of her family. She suffered various hardships during her exceptionally long and enduring life and she did many remarkable things. She had twenty-five grandchildren, sixty-two great-grandchildren and sixteen great-great- grandchildren. More than thirty of her descendants live abroad. She will be remembered dearly by her family and her village. She lived the longest on record in our county, so we all feel tremendously proud of her. Her heartbreak was that seven of her grandchildren predeceased her. Let us cry for her and keep hope in our hearts for ourselves.’

I took a brief look at myself in the mirror. My face was pale, my eyebrows were painted long and my lips bright red: the perfect image for a traditional funeral cryer. There were several black and red make-up stains on my white gown, but nobody would notice them in their distress. The youngwoman had helped me to tie the big black cotton bow on the side of my gown. My bun was neat. I tugged some strands of loose hair along my temples and ears to cover my wrinkles. Finally, I pinned a white fabric flower carefully onto my hair.

The young woman handed me a small tea cup. ‘Your hair looks nice,’ she commented.

‘We’ve got a good barber in the village.’ I felt my bun.

‘Your belt is nice. Look at mine.’ Hers was a linen rope, a symbol of bereavement.

‘It doesn’t matter what it looks like. You have to wear it.’

‘You’re right. By the way, you need to eat something. Some rice biscuits?’

‘Thank you. I’ll keep some for the husband. He likes them.’

‘I’ll ask them to pack a box for you. Now, shall we rehearse a bit more? It’s not easy to get all those numbers right.’

‘Twenty-five grandchildren, but seven dead, sixty-two great- grandchildren and sixteen great-great-grandchildren.’

‘And don’t forget: she lived for 106 years.’

Originally from Shanghai, China, Wenyan Lu is the winner of the SI Leeds Literary Prize 2020. 

Wenyan holds a Master of Studies in Creative Writing as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. 

Her unpublished historical novel The Martyr's Hymn was also longlisted for SI Leeds Literary Prize 2018 and Bridport First Novel Prize 2019. 

She lives in Cambridge with her family. 

Twitter: @wenyan_lu Instagram: @wenyanwrites

Unaccustomed To Grace by Lesley Bannatyne BLOG TOUR #UnaccustomedToGrace @BannatyneLesley @RandomTTours

Unaccustomed to Grace is a collection of short stories where the unlikely outcome for irresponsible acts and unfortunate events result in redemption. 

Bannatyne's mastery of the written word informs these stories of common conflict with a brilliantine magic rarely found in contemporary literature. 

From the unlikely romance between a zoo employee and a spiritualist/activist to the redemption of a grandmother's long-rehearsed vengeance, these heart-warming stories are the contemporary fables we need in these stressful days.

Unaccustomed to Grace by Lesley Bannatyne was published on 8 March 2022 by Kallisto Gaia Press. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I'm delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from Unaccustomed To Grace 

by Lesley Bannatyne

Corpse Walks into a Bar

JUST ME THERE AROUND CLOSING and Sid the owner is back in the kitchen loading highball glasses into the dishwasher and this corpse stumbles in and starts going on about how I gotta bury him. The juke is pumping heavy metal because that’s what Sid likes and it’s just me in the bar so he doesn’t care. Well it’s not just me and that’s the problem here.

“You’re none of my business,” I say to the corpse. “I don’t know you. I don’t know your people.”

“A decent person would honor a dead man’s request,” the corpse says. “A decent man would help a pal,” he says.

“You’re not my pal,” I say, eyes steady on my glass. “And I’m not a decent man.”

“You don’t have to be a decent man to do a decent thing.”

“Right.” I grab my jacket and head for the door. The corpse lets out this long spew of rot breath and starts to wail. I mean, really wail, like he’s crying for the sadness of everyone that ever lived, for the mothers that lost their babies right inside their own stomachs, for the little kids that wandered into swim- ming pools. I mean a deep, shin-splitting, gutted kind of crying.

I take a good look at him. Skinny guy, couldn’t have been much to him even when he was alive. Feet too big for his body. Not that old, maybe 50s. Thinning black hair combed straight back and shellacked. Hands—a little pulpy.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Dick Doyle.” He smooths his rumpled button-down. 

“Can you walk alright?”

“No,” he says, rubbing his eyes with a filthy sleeve. 

Every instinct says leave the bar. Go home. But when a man cries, well, I don’t know. What’s the harm, I think. I put on my jacket, sling the corpse’s arm over my shoulder. I know that this is not my last mistake.

Fucker still weighs about 120 pounds and I got arthritis in my shoulder from when I dislocated it when I was ten. August, me and Ray down by the Neponset River behind the power plant where the water’s always warm. Tied a fat rope to a sycamore and climbed up to swing out. But Ray pantsed me and shoved me from the tree so I flew out over the water with one arm holding onto the rope and the other holding onto my shorts. Doc eventually snapped the shoulder back into place. Man that hurt, but we laughed for years about me swinging Tarzan-style over the river with my white ass hanging out. It used to make me happy to think of us all as kids—me, my little sister Patty, Ray. Now I stuff the memories as far down as I can. When they pop up, I hammer them back.

“I can pay you,” the corpse says. “I’m serious. You bury me and I’ll sign over my store.”

“What store?”

“Stationery store. I’m not nobody, you know.”

I couldn’t turn it over in my head. I tried to picture the guy not as a corpse. Like a regular guy, with all his skin. Tried to imagine him in a sweater, pushing buttons on a cash register. Couldn’t do it.

I’m thinking I should leave the corpse at a shelter or church where someone would find out who he was and call the right people. Guy’d get put in a potter’s field. Or maybe they’d make his ashes into diamonds and sell them. They do that now, turn bodies into diamonds. The carbon. Only takes a pound of ashes, says my ex-buddy Ray, and he reads the Globe every day. I wouldn’t have turned Patty into diamonds for a million bucks. Buried her right, in a nice coffin, St. Mary’s. Rose quartz stone.

Praise for Unaccustomed to Grace 

 

There is a clear-hearted and humane writer at work here, whose work holds room for both suffering and grace.

--Shruti Swami, A House is a Body and The Archer

 

Bannatyne’s stories are full of heartache and loss, but they are never bleak or cynical. [She] is a superb writer of the mind, but an even greater reader of the heart. This book, filled with characters caught in between futility and redemption, was, for me, an exercise—a deliberation—in empathy."

--Sui Li, 5 Under 35 honoree, Transoceanic Lights

 

From macabre fantasy to raw reality, Lesley Bannatyne's terrific stories introduce an authentic voice and unique vision. UNACCUSTOMED TO GRACE revels in danger, in warped heroes, in ebullient—sometimes devastating—fearlessness. A wise and thoroughly enjoyable book!”

Daphne Kalotay, Russian Winter, The Blue Hours

 

These carefully observed, sometimes surreal stories capture characters in freefall. Each one—wolf wrangler, tarot card reader, guru, anthropologist, Soviet farmer, or parents of children taken, gone, returned, or fragile—will find a place in your heart.

—Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Language of Flowers

 

Lesley Bannatyne’s stories in Unaccustomed to Grace are harrowing, funny, magical, and heartbreakingly, reassuringly human. Here we are with our flaws and troubles, and also our insight and even our grace. There’s a shimmering mythic streak through them, too, that sets Bannatyne in the tradition of seanchaithe – storytellers – who wield the old enchantments with an unerring instinct for revealing the soul’s sickness and its perfect cure. She seems to have x-ray vision that peers straight into the human heart, and a flawless ear for the bumps and rhythms of talk. This is a marvelous book, full of wonder, courage, and truth, and it’s a great pleasure to read. I loved it!

--Dr. Kate Chadbourne, A November Visit

 

These are stories to read and ponder, to share with others, to admire, and then to read again. Bannatyne’s themes are universal and her storytelling completely original. Pick up this book as you would a shining stone on the beach. Carry it with you and don’t let it go.

—Lynn C. Miller, The Day After Death and The Unmasking

LESLEY BANNATYNE is an American author who writes extensively on Halloween, especially its history, literature, and contemporary celebration.  

She also writes short stories, many of which are included in this debut collection Unaccustomed to Grace (Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022). 

Her work has been published in the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Christian Science Monitor, and Zone 3, Pangyrus, Shooter, Craft, Ocotillo Review, Fish, and Bosque Literary Magazines. 

She won the 2018 Bosque fiction prize and received the 2019 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award for fiction, the 2020 Ghoststory.com fiction prize, and was a finalist for many others, including the Tennessee William Literary Festival Writing Award, the Carve Prose & Poetry Contest, and the Hudson Prize. 

As a freelance journalist, she has covered stories ranging from druids in Massachusetts to relief workers in Bolivia. 

Lesley is a graduate of Wheaton College (MA) and holds an ALM from Harvard University Extension Studies. 

She lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts.

www.lesleybannatyne.com

Twitter @BannatyneLesley

The Ecliptic by Benjamin Wood

On a forested island off the coast of Istanbul stands Portmantle, a gated refuge for beleaguered artists. There, a curious assembly of painters, architects, writers and musicians strive to restore their faded talents. Elspeth 'Knell' Conray is a celebrated painter who has lost faith in her ability and fled the dizzying art scene of 1960s London. On the island, she spends her nights locked in her blacked-out studio, working on her elusive masterpiece.

But when a disaffected teenager named Fullerton arrives at the refuge, he disrupts its established routines. He is plagued by a recurring nightmare that steers him into danger, and Knell is left to pick apart the chilling mystery. Where did the boy come from, what is 'The Ecliptic', and how does it relate to their abandoned lives in England? 

The Ecliptic by Benjamin Wood was published in hardback by Scribner on 2 July 2015, the paperback edition was published on 28 January 2016.  The Ecliptic is Benjamin Wood's second novel, his first The Bellewether Revivals was published in February 2012.

I'd heard loads of great things about The Ecliptic on social media and was really keen to read it. It did take a lot of tracking down, there aren't many bookshops around here, and my local Waterstone's didn't have it in stock. I was delighted to find a gorgeous hardback copy in Waterstone's Birmingham, the last one in fact.

The existence of the  island of Portmantle, just off the Turkish coast is unknown to most people. Entry is by strict invitation only, and the inhabitants are all artists; writers, painters, architects, who have, for varying reasons, lost their way in the art world. Some only stay a short while, but Knell and her friends, MacKinney, Quickman and Pettifer have been there for many years. So many years that they've almost forgotten their original names and struggle to remember what decade it is, let alone what the actual date is.

Settled in their daily routines, and following the rigid rules set by the Provost who rules over the island, these artists are determined that they will, one day, be great again. Knell hides herself away in her studio creating and dismissing, convinced that despite the acclaim that she has received for her work in the past, she will never be good enough.

When teenage Fullerton arrives on Portmantle, the lives of the inhabitants change. Knell is determined that she will look after this strange, fragile and disturbed boy. Fullerton's presence triggers emotions in Knell that lead to the reflection of her life so far, and how she came to arrive on Portmantle.

The reader is then treated to Knell's story in full. From Scotland, to London and on to New York, life in the 1960s, becoming an established author, and falling love. When the setting moved from Portmantle, I was disappointed as I loved the feeling of life on the island and the eclectic mix of characters. However, I soon became immersed in Knell's, or Elspeth's, as she was known then, story.

We then arrive back on Portmantle and events and happenings seem to gel together. The reader is served up a host of twists and turns and a fairly huge revelation at the end.  Whilst the ending, for me, was very unexpected, it is also satisfying and ties up some loose endings.

Benjamin Wood has a very distinctive style of writing. His prose is incredibly atmospheric and his characters are larger than life. I was smitten by his descriptions of life on Portmantle, and became quite obsessed with Knell/Elspeth's back story, set in the 1960s, one of my favourite periods to read about.

The Ecliptic is a fascinating story that defies any labelling, is it a thriller, a mystery, I'm not sure. I am sure however, that it is quite challenging, but also explores many themes. The creative mind is a complex thing and this is the theme that runs through the story.

Quite striking, and beautifully written - a perceptive and challenging novel. I look forward to reading more by Benjamin Wood.


Benjamin Wood was born in 1981 and grew up in the North-West of England.
He is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London, and the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel The Bellwether Revivals

Check out his website www.benjamin-wood.com for more information about him and his books.
Follow him on Twitter @bwoodauthor










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Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe #HareHouse @sallyhinch @panmacmillan #BookReview

 

Hare House is not its real name, of course. I have, if you will forgive me, kept names to a minimum here, for reasons that will become understandable . . .

In the first brisk days of autumn, a woman arrives in Scotland having left her job at an all-girls school in London in mysterious circumstances. Moving into a cottage on the remote estate of Hare House, she begins to explore her new home. But among the tiny roads, wild moorland, and scattered houses, something more sinister lurks: local tales of witchcraft, clay figures and young men sent mad.

Striking up a friendship with her landlord and his younger sister, she begins to suspect that all might not be quite as it seems at Hare House. And as autumn turns to winter, and a heavy snowfall traps the inhabitants of the estate within its walls, tensions rise to fever pitch.

Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe was published in paperback in September 2022 by Pan Macmillan. 

Hare House was the choice of my local book group for our November read. I'd heard of this novel before, but have never read the author. I wasn't really quite sure what I was going to get, but packed my copy for my four-day break to Portugal at the end of October and absolutely devoured it in one day! 

The group discussed the book last night. It was a lively and intelligent debate, with varying views of the book. I'm going to try my best not to let other member's opinions sway my review! 

As I said last night at book group. I loved this book. I am a huge fan of the unreliable narrator and in Hare House we have one of the very best. I personally quite liked her (she remains without a name throughout the story). I always think that it must be more difficult to create a flawed character who often makes very strange decisions than to produce a lovely, fluffy, kind person! 

There is no doubt that this is a novel that the reader has to work on. Very little is actually explained and the ending feels some abrupt. However, I do like that type of book. I like an ending that makes me ponder, that makes me think about what may or may not have happened. 

Our narrator has moved into a remote cottage that is situated on the Hare House estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. We know that she left her teaching job under mysterious circumstances, but we have no idea what these are. 

There are not many other people about. A strange woman called Janet lives in the adjoining cottage and Hare House is occupied by Grant and his teenage sister Cass. Their parents are dead and these two young people now run the estate. 

As the narrator explores her cottage and the surrounding area, she realises that there is certainly something sinister about the place. Especially Hare Hall which contains a collection of stuffed hares, mounted in cases in the entrance hall. Hares do play a large part in this story, from the opening paragraph, right through to the ending chapters. 

What I loved most about Hare House was the fabulous sense of place. Despite me reading this in the sunshine of Portugal, I was easily transported to the cold, rain and snow of Scotland. The author cleverly incorporates the landscape and the weather to create more tension to her story. 

The characters are quite odd. It's difficult to find much to admire or like about any of them. Grant seems weak, his sister Cass is fragile and vulnerable. Janet next door is downright rude, but seems to know a lot about what has happened in the area. Then there is Ann, with her two dogs, seen by the narrator, but not noticed by anyone else. 

Decide for yourself about the witchcraft and the madness. We could look at each character and assume that, yes, they are a witch ... but are they, or are they just regular people with terrible traits? 

The reader needs to invest a lot into this story. I enjoyed every page, I was gripped, I loved the setting, I was enchanted by the mystery. Recommended by me. 

Sally Hinchcliffe was born in London but grew up all over the world in the wake of her father’s diplomatic career. 

She spent many years working at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew developing research systems for taxonomists until a two-year sabbatical in Eswatini gave her the impetus to take her writing seriously. 

After completing an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, her first novel, Out of a Clear Sky, was published by Macmillan in 2008. 

She moved to south-west Scotland to work as a writer and freelance editor full time, when she is now out exploring rural Dumfries and Galloway on her bike. 

Hare House is her second novel.

www.sallyhinchcliffe.net

X @sallyhinch

Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald BLOG TOUR @FitzHelen @OrendaBooks #AshMountain #BookReview

Single-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A devastating, disaster-noir thriller from the author of The Cry.

Fran hates Ash Mountain, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.

She returns to her hometown to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer.

As old friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…

Simultaneously a warm, darkly funny portrait of small-town life – and a woman and a land in crisis – and a shocking and truly distressing account of a catastrophic event that changes things forever, Ash Mountain is a heart-breaking slice of domestic noir, and a disturbing disaster thriller that you will never forget…

Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald is published by Orenda Books (ebook 14 March, paperback 20 August 2020).
I was delighted to be able to buy an early paperback release at one of the Orenda Roadshow events earlier this year, and my copy was signed by the author.

Here's my thoughts, as part of the Blog Tour

Helen Fitzgerald is an author who cannot be categorized. In Ash Mountain, just as in her previous book, Worst Case Scenario, she brings us a story that is populated by the most hideously real characters, and a plot that races along at a pace that can be both meandering, yet exhilarating at times.

Ash Mountain is an apt title for this story; it is not only the name of the small Australian town where the action takes place, it is also a perfect description of how the effects of discoveries made and memories realised can reduce people, and a place to, metaphorically speaking, a pile of dust. 

Lead character Fran is in her forties; a single mother of two. She's returned to Ash Mountain, the town where she grew up, to nurse her father. Fran's personal history is colourful and complicated. Her first child; Dante, was born when she was just fifteen, and still living at home with her widowed father. Her teenage daughter Vonny is a the result of her most recent relationship, with Vincent. Whilst she and Vincent remain friends, he's now moved on to a newer model and they share parenting of Vonny.

The story begins and ends on the day that Ash Mountain is consumed by the raging bush fires that have devastated large swathes of Australia. The opening scenes have a sense of despair and destruction that is hard to shake, even as this talented author takes her readers back through Fran's earlier life. We learn about three specific eras of Fran's life; thirty years ago when she was the same age as her daughter Vonny is now, moving to just a few days before the fire, and then to that awful day as the skies turn black, and then red and the heat and flames consume everything in its path.

Fran is a complex character; often sharp-tongued, with a humour that is as dark as night. As her story unfolds, the reader begins to realise that Ash Mountain is not just her home town, it is a place that has formed her future life. There are passages of discovery that are breathtaking, that will reduce even the hardest reader to tears, and are so beautifully depicted, yet starkly told. The writing is genius.

A story that encapsulates the realisms of small-town life, of how memories can be repressed and secrets known,  yet hidden. There's new love, there's the rediscovery of old attraction.

As the fire gets closer, the author does not hide anything from the reader. The pure horror and utter destruction is described in such detail, creating horrific images that almost sear into the brain. I found some of the final scenes very difficult to shake off. 

Tense, absorbing and very very clever. The characters and the town are brilliantly drawn. This is a compulsive yet moving story that I found very difficult to put down and will remember for a very long time.

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and is now a major drama for BBC1. 
Her 2019 dark comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in both The Guardian and Daily Telegraph. 
Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. 
She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband



helenfitzgerald.wordpress.com
Twitter @FitzHelen